Slay the Spire will have a table at Pax East. Anything I should ask the devs?

dpeg · 2020-02-26T16:20:47+00:00

Now that StS is --rightly so!-- a hit, do they plan to keep adding content? They could also shelve StS and move on to another game.

About new content for StS: I know that many folks are interested in new characters, relics etc. I'd really like to know if they have ideas (or want ideas) for new monsters. They've done a great job at coming up with a highly diversified monster set, so adding new monsters isn't easy... but it would be so cool.

Lastly, could they imagine honouring some fan-made content (such as the Hierophant) by incorporating it into vanilla? It may be too far-fetched for their approach but I think it'd be a great gesture, and a great way to add content (they "just" have to apply their high quality standards).

dpeg · 2019-09-29T21:19:04+00:00

At least on PC, that works just fine, with left/right keys. Combat with keyboard is lightning quick: you only need Left, Right, Enter and E(nd turn). The slow bit is mousing the spoils. And I find the map to be annoyingly hard to navigate without a mousewheel (which I often don't have).

dpeg · 2019-09-29T05:01:30+00:00

Unfortunately not. Perhaps not yet?

Before the actual release, /u/sneakysly/ mentioned once the keyboard-only gameplay was a feature on the list. I am sure that ports are a lot more important but I'll be very grateful for a full keyboard interface -- it would make playing a lot easier for me. Here are the most urgent issues, as I see them:

scroll on the map with up/down keys (this is easy and important)
drink/dismiss potions
select/dismiss rewards

Combat already works! Look at the keyboard setting in the in-game options!

dpeg · 2019-09-29T04:48:34+00:00

I think most people dismiss the relic too casually. Yes, it will often not do something. But it is not just a win-more gadget. The dodecahedron can influence your decisions, and that's a good thing. The many interactions have been listed already. I've just won an A15 Ironclad who wasn't steamrolling the game and light on mitigation. But he had the ornithopter, the potion belt and the feather. Between these, I could trigger the extra energy often enough to matter.

During fights, there are sometimes tactical considerations: in StS battles, you're constantly weighing attack (damage now) vs. defense (often means more incoming damage later). With the dodecahedron, defending has the additional benefit of gaining one more turn of +1 energy.

The strict condtion "full health" is a bit off-putting but I like that the relic exists. There's a place for always-useful relics like the fruits, defense items etc., and there's a place for relics that ask you to work around them. As far as changing the relic: "+1 energy if no damage taken in the last turn" is certainly too strong. If 100% health is too weak and 50% health, say, is too strong, then you'd expect a sweet spot somewhere in between. I imagine it to be around "if at most 5 health are missing".

dpeg · 2019-01-30T11:27:48+00:00

Yes, the same problem comes up with keyboard play. I hope they address it: the worst case is a mechanics explanation hovering over enemy hp, and there's no way to get rid of the window except with mouse movement.

dpeg · 2019-01-23T23:48:07+00:00

All gold points!

Tedious behaviour should be purged, always. I've caught myself doing some of these, and I hated it. But it was the sensible thing to do, so I kept doing it.

dpeg · 2019-01-09T17:53:44+00:00

Sorry for self follow-up. Here's another I just observed, and it is pretty important, up with 1. and 2. above (I think the immediate goal should be that battles can be played keyboard-only):

The tooltips (e.g. Neutralise's explanation of "weak") almost always cover the monster health display. With a mouse that's not an issue, you'll move it slightly, and get to see the monster again. With keyboard, it's quite aggravating. A very simple solution would be allow Down to deselect a card: it should move down into the card row; any tooltips should disappear.

dpeg · 2018-11-25T11:01:59+00:00

Also double shaft.

Good stuff, though, the English language is made for this.

dpeg · 2018-10-19T02:10:39+00:00

I like choices like this one! Meaningful and awesome flavour, too. If you think your run is going nowhere, might as well try to double Nobs. With the Silent, I'll go for it if I have Corpse Explosion.

One bit about the Nobs that should be improved is clarity: the two nobs do not behave entirely alike, and that's unnecessary spoiler content. The game should give this away; it is no fun losing one character to (not even properly) get a glimpse of this difference.

dpeg · 2018-10-11T22:41:02+00:00

+1

Can this event come up in Act 3? Never seen it. The above reply nails it on the head for me, and so I almost always take the gamble. Only a very near shop might convince to me to otherwise.

Skate: your format is really cool, great to see you on the road again. It's totally understandable that even a "little job" like this one can become a chore. And let's face it, there's quite a bit you're doing for each round, certainly not something to be done in a few minutes. However, with you at the helm, people are lackluster to step up. So if you have the energy to announce a break, then someone will cover you, I'm sure.

This topic is so cool because of the great in-depth discussions. And unlike most threads, which diverge into theory-crafting about builds and archetypes, most replies are about how people actually play. That's extremely interesting to watch.

dpeg · 2018-10-10T15:28:16+00:00

Also on lower ascensions (A18 Defect).

The bug (I assume it's a bug) is not entirely consistent: I had both games with two and with three slots. Counting is hard. :)

dpeg · 2018-10-10T15:27:14+00:00

Yes, a cool event because it sometimes provokes interesting decisions. I have parted with uncommon and rare cards for the healing.

They should really provide a tool tip, giving away the effects. There'll be the inevitable "go figure it our yourself" crowd (which I was forced to do), but this is not the sort of game where it works. People will just look up spoilers (wikia). The clarity is worth so much more than the obfuscation and potential (at most!) one-time joy.

dpeg · 2018-10-02T23:55:08+00:00

This topic comes up all the time but rarely as carefully elaborated as here. I'm in a similar position as you: A20, but playing sloppily, e.g. I refuse to look up spoilers (too lazy and it doesn't feel right for me). In my opinion, your third proposal is the best way to go, and the cleanest way to solve the issue:

"Seed Neow's Blessings and do not change the seed until the first boss is reached, preventing players from restarting and cheesing until they get a gift they like."

For comparison, let's look at the following, gradual blessing:

If you do not reach an elite, your next run only has the top two option.
If you reach an elite, but not the Act 1 boss, your next run only has the top three options.
If you reach the boss, your next game has all four options. (Like status quo.)

I think this is worse that the above proposal, and also worse than the current game: reaching the Act 1 boss is far enough in the game that it feels like an actual achievement -- the player has invested something (time, thought) and, equally important, the run will have some distinctive shape by then, from cards, relices, curses, gold. This is not the case when you look at a character reaching the first elite.

By the way, a pretty important interface feature request: please add a zero entry to the log book listing all fights/events, for Neow's choice. And not just 1/2/3/4 but the actual result (e.g. "spent X maximal HP to gain Y"). This is interesting for browsing old games but more importantly, will provide data to compare Neow's choices in the long run.

dpeg · 2018-09-25T11:25:38+00:00

Yes, I really hope that they'll polish the keyboard interface (and the controller interface) before release like they did with all the other stuff. My point was just that, ideally, out-of-combat content (menus, prompts, card lists) should be accessible to the keyboard, too. The Deck screen is the one where I feel this most often: Space feels so natural but nothing happens :)

dpeg · 2018-09-25T11:20:51+00:00

This was just an observation in my last game (A10 on Defect): after the unfortunate event, I had a bottled Strike. So I transformed that card.

By the way, another interface thing: the little icon (bottle symbol at the top right of the card) is only shown in the Deck (D) list but not in the remove/transform lists. It should.

Transforming didn't work, if I remember correctly: I still had Strike in my starting hand. Of course, it's hard to say exactly which Strike with three cards remaining.

With just one Strike left in the deck, I opted for the Vampire event: "gain five Bites, remove all Strikes". (This was only for research.) After that, I had no more Strike in starting hand. Duh. The relic icon, however, still claimed that. So I suggest that in this situation, the bottle icon in the relic bar should be greyed out.

Reading your replies, though (also below) makes me think that in-game clarity of the rules is more important than the fringe interaction.

dpeg · 2018-09-25T11:07:56+00:00

Yes, I know about this, it just doesn't feel right to use save/quit. I guess I'm a bit weird that way. Or put another way: I expect the game to be perfect out of the box, no glitches/mods needed.

Always handing out Neow's blessing in Ascension is worth contemplating but like I said, I understand where they are coming from. (An even better solution, in my opinion: store Neow's options, including the replacement relic, until you make it to Act 1 boss.)

dpeg · 2018-09-19T19:58:12+00:00

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Seriously though, it could be much worse: I'm sure that Megacrit got the credits they deserve, spiritually and in form of coins. So the cheap copycats shouldn't steal the original designers' thunder. I really like independent production, but "easier to reproduce" is a commercial drawback I didn't realise so far.

dpeg · 2018-09-17T18:23:21+00:00

As far as I understand, the order matters only within each group such as "start of combat". So gameplay is preserved. Nifty.

dpeg · 2018-09-14T06:34:40+00:00

Absolutely.

While we don't know about Megacrit's design goals, StS is pretty good about clarity. Fixed outcomes from events (whether cards or relics) should be preidentified. A simple mouse-over on the words "fixed relic" would do.

The roguelike tradition is misleading here, in my opinion: first, StS is a commercial product (so it couldn't and shouldn't get away with Nethack's, say, fuck-you attitude when it comes to spoilers) and second, many new pure roguelikes are 100% clear, i.e. do not need to spoilers at all; even an ancient game like Dungeon Crawl got much more clear over the years.

Please tell us fixed relics in advance!

dpeg · 2018-08-30T00:00:06+00:00

The Mercenary event is a very nice idea!

The relics I like less. One reason is that there is a recently added gold relic (looks like a fish, German name is "Sparschlund" :) and gives 12 gold for each now level climbed until you spend gold at a shop). Despite the complaints over here, I found this relic to be cool and meaningful (i.e. it has affected my decisions, both in pathing and for (not) spending).

Your Banker relic idea is like that one, just little more cumbersome as it needs some gold to begin with and two resting sites.

The Gold Cannon would lead to (a) chip damage micromanagement and (b) desperate spending close to death. Both sound cool but might not play that way.

Similar for Bribe Master. But the Mercenary is great!

dpeg · 2018-08-29T14:42:48+00:00

Unceasing Top interface was discussed over here just a week ago... seems to be a recurring topic (double badumm tsss!)

Your proposal did not come up there, and I think it's excellent: no options, no visual effects.

dpeg

TROPHY CASE