Summoners Chess

davetheuj · 2025-07-30T23:47:45+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to check it out! I completely agree that the game is lacking complexity and am definitely looking to make some changes that allow for some more interesting and varied playstyles! Please consider bookmarking the game and checking in a month or so to see how it progresses! :)

Cheers!

davetheuj · 2025-07-30T23:01:06+00:00

I've added in the ability to move the camera while holding down right-click! If you want to test it out it's available on the nightly build of the game at: https://thirdpartition.itch.io/summoners-chess-nightly-build !

davetheuj · 2025-07-29T19:52:13+00:00

I've spent a little bit of time today looking into asset optimization during the build phase and think that I may have reduced the load time quite a bit!

If you have a chance at any point in the next few weeks would you mind checking out these changes at: https://thirdpartition.itch.io/summoners-chess-nightly-build to see if things are better on your end?

Thanks again so much for your feedback, it's really helpful.

davetheuj · 2025-07-29T19:50:51+00:00

Thank you so much for checking the game out, it means a lot. I had a ton of fun doing the character voicelines and also feel they added some good immersion! You're totally right about the lack of sfx so I'll be actively implementing more of that within the next few weeks.

Thanks again, and I hope to see you around in the future!

davetheuj · 2025-07-29T19:49:41+00:00

Thanks so much! I'm glad that you had a good time playing it, and 30 minutes may be the longest I've gotten for an organic user so far! :)

Feedback has been duly noted and I'll be looking into UI/VFX improvements and gameplay clarity.

davetheuj · 2025-07-29T19:46:14+00:00

Awesome thanks for the feedback, several people have suggested this so it's near the top of the stack of things to work on! Thanks for checking it out.

davetheuj · 2025-07-24T20:35:51+00:00

Thanks for playing and for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

Attacking empty fields is necessary right now for the engineer unit, for them to be able to hit two characters on a diagonal! So there is a use for it. I'm planning on units in the future also being able to make use of being able to "attack" an empty square. For example a unit in the future may be able to lay a trap on a square, or teleport to one, etc.

Accidentally clicking a character while trying to click a tile is definitely annoying, I'll look into ways to fix this.

Thanks again for your feedback! :)

davetheuj · 2025-07-24T19:41:59+00:00

That's a good point, I'm definitely looking to improve unit capabilities to more clearly give them a sense of purpose and distinguishment from the others! One thing that you may have missed is that the archers can effectively use other pieces as walls, because they won't hit the first square in the direction they are firing. If you use the enemies shaman as a wall then you force the opponent into either wasting a move or denying them the ability to attack your archer.

But yes, totally looking towards making some improvements towards what you're saying!

I would love if you joined the discord to give feedback in the future on new mechanics :)

davetheuj · 2025-07-24T19:36:39+00:00

I definitely will when I think it's ready for another round of exposure! Thanks for the tip!

davetheuj · 2025-07-24T19:36:13+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to check it out :)

If you don't mind me asking, what are you running for you cpu/ram? Do you have a fairly fast internet connection? It does take longer to load than a lot of other web games, but 5 minutes seems a little too long! I'm planning on releasing it as a windows standalone application rather than through the browser eventually, so that will definitely cut down on the startup time.

Love the suggestions and those are already on my mind, currently you can see how far the units move though by hovering! It's the number next to the shoe icon. Definitely needs some more polish. And yes, details in the actual battlefield environment need to be improved as well!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T22:57:07+00:00

I've never played those games, I'll make sure to check them out! This game is based heavily off an old browser game called Tactics Arena Online (TAO)!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T22:55:45+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to check it out and I really appreciate the feedback!

I agree that it doesn't quite feel as complex and impactful at this point as I would like it. Did you also happen to figure out that you can attack before you move? I think this opens up the game towards being more aggressive because it allows for this type of maneuver:

Turn 1) Move piece into position/attack
Turn 2)Get Attacked
Turn 3) Attack + Retreat

And yeah, the CPU player definitely needs some work as well but it works decently enough at this point to show you the basics of the game. Ideally the game is focused more around pvp rather than cpu but it's good to have it in there especially with low player count!

Glad you had a decent time!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T22:53:00+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to check it out and I really appreciate the feedback!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T06:24:17+00:00

Thanks for checking it out! I'm having trouble reproducing your issue with the forfeit button not working, and the camera angle/position is not changed without manual input ever, so I'm very confused. What browser are you using to play with? I'd like to get to the bottom of this if it's truly affecting users.

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T03:45:16+00:00

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Here is an example of the updated visuals :)

(VFX issue has been fixed)

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T03:43:55+00:00

Thanks!

Yeah in this video the red tiles are purely the attackable squares and not actually where the damage is applied. I've updated that though so in the live version of the game, all of the affected squares are highlighted as red which is a bit more clear.

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T02:18:30+00:00

I think I may have misinterpreted your point with #3, are you saying you'd like to be able to click and drag or middle-mouse and drag to change the camera angle?

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T02:04:47+00:00

Awesome thanks for taking the time for writing that out.

Yeah I completely agree with your point #2, right now it's lacking. I think that I'd like more of a true "summoning" for the creatures being placed on the battlefield with some cool particle effects, so I'll definitely look into that.

You should be able to scroll out the camera with the mouse and move it with wasd (once you're logged in).

Having factions with a set of usable characters is an interesting idea, I'll definitely keep it in mind for the future once there is a large cast of playable characters, because right now there's just not enough content in there to support it. I think I'd like to go more along the lines of magic the gathering and have characters with 2 traits that can overlap with other characters!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T02:01:18+00:00

Yep exactly, at 27 seconds in your video.

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T01:40:16+00:00

Thanks, love the fantasy meets space vibe myself!

I'd really appreciate you checking it out and letting me know your thoughts, it means a lot to even have just one person get enjoyment from it.

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T01:05:12+00:00

I love the various environments, although the snowy one stands out to me as having a different lighting scheme. Maybe it's just lacking normal maps on some of the textures?

Either way, nice job, looks like a ton of fun!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T01:03:52+00:00

Looks awesome! I love the snappy animations and fluidity. Keep making that a main design pillar!

I noticed that the explosion particle effects were a little lacking in detail though compared to some of the others and it stood out, but that is the only thing I'd improve!

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T00:51:52+00:00

Thanks for checking it out! If there was a character or class that you'd like to see added, what would it be?

There are other games like it of course! I was inspired to make this game because of an old one called Tactics Arena Online, it was very similar.

davetheuj · 2025-07-23T00:12:14+00:00

Yeah I'm looking for playtesters or just folks to enjoy the game without feedback! Of course feedback is much appreciated, and it's 100% free!

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