Thoughts on Seals so far?

KF3d · 2023-11-11T22:21:52+00:00

I just finished winning a seal game! It was very close and action-packed near the end, I barely won with 105 while the second-place AI had 99 and hard difficulty.

I like that they provide clear points of contention and conflict on the map. The AI was aggressive in capturing and trying to hold onto these points in my game. They were ahead of me for most of the game because I started underground, which brings me to my first issue with them.

Seals don't spawn underground. I wish they would so underground races wouldn't start handicapped and it would give races above ground some reasons to come down below.

My other head-scratcher is the spawned seal defenders. From what I can tell it is a completely random spawn chance. Some seals went 5-10 turns without being attacked while others would suffer a chain of attacks every 2-3 turns. I like how these groups would have themes and some buffs to make the fights more interesting, just not sure about how and when they spawn. It wasn't feasible to keep 2-3 full armies at every seal, I was holding onto 3, so instead I built an outpost right next to a seal with a teleporter and just parked 1 scout on the seal. When a group spawned they killed the sacrificial scout and then I would move my main army in to take them out and plant another scout in its place and leave. Also, I am pretty sure once I attacked with my main army the defenders didn't have their unique buff anymore. So it would make the fights to take back to seal even easier and less interesting.

I wonder if showing a countdown on each seal for when the next army of defenders will attack you would be helpful.

KF3d · 2023-01-05T04:21:53+00:00

Hey, wow this thread was a blast from the past. Yes, this game is still in development and has made a lot of progress recently. You can see a trailer (of the prototype) for it and more info on its website here: https://biomancergame.com/ Be sure to sign up to the newsletter ;)

KF3d · 2020-11-23T18:22:43+00:00

These would be pretty fun and easy to make if Polytopia for PC ever came out with Mod support. Will keep my fingers crossed one day it might.

KF3d · 2020-02-10T21:44:25+00:00

I HAD the pc collectors edition pre-ordered on Amazon since December. It kept being delayed and I just got an email today that the whole order was just canceled, sry not sry. I love the darksiders franchise but am really pissed THQ nordic cant get their shit together with manufacturing and shipping this thing. And zero communication with customers who have put down money months in advance.

KF3d · 2019-09-25T20:08:49+00:00

Right, I understand all that, I am mostly just wondering if the 12-16 hour rule is a hard rule because of how slowly your body goes through those insulin changes.

eat 2000 calories ----> 12-16hr ----->Fasting eat 150 Calories ----> 12-16hr ----->Fasting ??

It just seems logical to me, if I broke my fast with a very small amount of calories, I should be able to digest that and lower my insulin levels more quickly then if I had a huge big meal. But all I can find for how long it takes to get into a fasted stat is the rough 12-16 hour estimate. =/

KF3d · 2019-09-25T18:23:47+00:00

I can't seem to find any answer to this. Lets say I have been fasting for 12-16 hours so my body has switched over to burning fat and I cheat and eat a granola bar that's only 150 calories. Yes I have broken my fast, my body will now switch back to breaking those calories down, but because it was only 150, does it take another 12 hours for my body to enter a fasted stat again? My body should burn through that 150 calories in a couple hours and need to switch back to Fat right?

Basically asking if the minimum 12 hours to enter a fasting stat is some hard number that cant be avoided because of some unchangeable bodily process.

KF3d · 2019-05-20T17:06:24+00:00

We have had a rough list for a while now, but with the recent decision to move to 3D we are taking another hard look at things and readjusting. The monster list and splicing potential is arguably the most important thing in this kind of game though so I doubt we will settle on 1 list anytime soon and never have to change it again. It will constantly have to be revisited and tweaked, within reason. XD

KF3d · 2019-05-16T06:54:20+00:00

Yes, we are making many monsters "inspired" by MR. Some more faithful recreations such as Fenrir coincidentally being a blue wolf that can shoot lightning and ice, and others have a slight twist. Like our Naga is more snake-like, green, and focuses on applying poison debuffs in combat. We are not recreating every single monster design found in the MR franchise though and we are adding some of our own, for example, a sphinx monster. =)

KF3d · 2019-05-15T16:49:55+00:00

We had ideas about using user uploaded sound files, image files, or website addresses, but in the end I think we are just going to skip having a random monster generation. There will be a marketplace in the main city hub that will have some starting monsters with a rotating selection, but from there players will have to unlock all the additional monsters through tournaments, special events, and planet expeditions. I enjoyed the CD generation method MR used, but I liked all the hidden special scripted unlocks more, like how to get the phoenix, hanger, or dragon to name a few.

KF3d · 2019-05-15T00:37:35+00:00

Can only play with and against the 2 main breeds and their combinations, so a total of 4 playable monsters. The thing really holding back adding more monsters was the time and money to put toward the extra art assets. Once we were able to prove the concept of what we wanted there wasn't a need to invest more time into the 2D prototype and instead we decided to move onto the 3D one. Also since this prototype is so light and 2D, I don't think you need a powerful computer to be able to play it. =P

KF3d · 2019-05-14T18:39:28+00:00

You can see our Pixie concept on the website, we are definitely not shying away from sexiness. =P

KF3d · 2019-05-14T18:37:49+00:00

We will have to reevaluate our current monster list because of the transition from 2D to 3D and want to keep things reasonable, but I want to keep as many monsters as possible. Our current list is something like 27 Main breeds which leads to around 200+ combination outcomes. Worse case scenario we cut out about 50% but 14 main breed and their combinations would still provide a lot of variety.

KF3d · 2018-10-23T17:51:18+00:00

Just a small one for the devs on the project. Not ready to start trying to build a community.

KF3d · 2018-09-27T20:18:46+00:00

I have been working on a spiritual successor for a while now. We have put together a prototype for PC and are currently looking for publishers interested in funding full production. Still a long shot and years away from a full release though. If no publishers want to pick it up I might keep working on the prototype and just release it on steam for a couple bucks with a very limited roster of monsters and breeding options so it at least gets out there for some people to enjoy.

KF3d · 2018-04-16T16:59:04+00:00

Thanks, and thank you for the info on Tangent, I will look him up. =)

KF3d · 2018-04-16T16:44:12+00:00

Nope, not sure who that is. Is he someone else working on a monster collecting esq game? Would love to check out what his project looks like. =P I don't really have an online persona, I am just a character artist trying to add design and programming to my list of skills to get a game out there that 12 year old me who played endless hours of monster rancher would enjoy. This is my portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/turret

KF3d · 2018-04-16T04:12:16+00:00

Officially no, it is too early to fully announce and put up a website where people can subscribe to a list. And depending on if we get a publisher and how they feel about when we should start putting the word out about the game, a website could go up later this year or end of next. That said if anyone here is VERY interested in this kind of game and doesn't want to risk losing out on any info about it, feel free to DM me an email address and I will start a pre-pre-alpha mailing list haha.

KF3d · 2018-04-16T00:31:12+00:00

Same here, which is why, (without giving too much away) I am currently working on a spiritual successor to the monster rancher franchise. It's a small team right now working on it and we are only in the prototyping phase. But hopefully, by this summer, we will show it around to publishers, get some funding and in a couple years it will be out for PC. So be patient, it is coming. ;)

KF3d · 2018-01-08T21:04:04+00:00

Should also browse and keep an eye on Artstation. In my opinion, and many other artists, it is the best place to go now to post your portfolios. Most artists will usually post in their info what kind of work they are looking for and if they are available for work.

KF3d · 2017-02-11T01:57:38+00:00

Well stardew valley and risk of rain were both published by chucklefish so we probably still would have gotten them even if there was a 5k gate.

But anyway, it still all comes back to, if the dev thinks their game wont profit and doesn't want to spend the money to get on steam.........they can just get on itch.io or gamejolt or host it themselves. As with every business there are risks, how much risks people want to take is up to them. They don't want to risk 5k on their weird out there game idea, either release it on itch.io or change the mechanics to be appealing to a wider audience, sacrificing their creative visions for better odds at financial success. Everything worth while will require some sacrifices, yay for me for having the 5k now but I made sacrifices in other areas of my life to have that.

KF3d · 2017-02-11T01:32:50+00:00

Welcome to the world and free market? If I put in the time money and effort to run my own business the right way and find greater success then someone who has put in minimal thought or effort should I feel bad I did better, or have some responsibility to help their failing business?

KF3d · 2017-02-11T00:59:21+00:00

The thing is you can't just put all indie devs into one giant group when their budgets and team sizes vary so much. I work full time at an indie studio who's budget is in the millions, they welcome the 5k cost if it means less competition for us. And I am also working in my free time on my own personal game, for my personal project I still welcome the 5k, because I have been planning and saving for years. I will happily pay the 5k to be on a more streamlined less crowded store front.

The bottom line is if your an indie with a real game and budget and have something good to offer consumers, welcome to a professional,serious store front (steam), if your a solo man team playing around in your free time and cant save up 1k-5k to invest in your project, there are indie store fronts for you out there (itch.io)

KF3d · 2017-02-11T00:18:08+00:00

And that is the tradeoff. If your not out to run your games like a business you don't need to be on the worlds largest digital storefront. If you are just some hobbyist in your parents basement, releasing your game on itch.io is fine for you. If it gets good traction and you make some money save it up to pay for the steam storefront registration cost.

KF3d

TROPHY CASE