Paper Wars

[t money]

definitely very cool. personally, i think it would be a bit easier to navigate if up/down on the analog moved the camera up and down, rather than forward/back, and have forward/back be controlled by the L/R buttons. another possible thing to consider would be to have the the X/Y/A/B buttons rotate the camera around the map. essentially making the center point of the map be the pivot point, instead of the camera itself. in that case, perhaps the analog would move the "pivot point" rather than the camera itself.

 

[AFAIK]

Wow, love the art, it's so cool
Are you planning to do a topdown view with all of the hexes visible, like in wesnoth, so it would be easier to think strategically?

 

[crow_riot]

definitely very cool. personally, i think it would be a bit easier to navigate if up/down on the analog moved the camera up and down, rather than forward/back, and have forward/back be controlled by the L/R buttons. another possible thing to consider would be to have the the X/Y/A/B buttons rotate the camera around the map. essentially making the center point of the map be the pivot point, instead of the camera itself. in that case, perhaps the analog would move the "pivot point" rather than the camera itself.

the camera is not final but rather just there; this isn't the camera we want to have in finally; the best would be like uni suggested that you dont need the buttons but only thumb stick to move/rotate the camera. i've coded several camera styles throughout my life and i think at least one of them will somehow fit our requirements

the biggest problem though is to predict the region of interest, which is (nearly) impossible? so clicking on a unit will probably reset (gradually) rotation pivot to that unit and the thumb stick will rotate around that pivot and zoom in and out. clicking on the map will do the same and set the pivot to a subpart of the map (need to talk with peter about that) so that you dont have all the map visible all the time - this would ruin the whole art style - and someone should really see the details of all models

Wow, love the art, it's so cool
Are you planning to do a topdown view with all of the hexes visible, like in wesnoth, so it would be easier to think strategically?

no, topdown view is not planned.

 

[traylorpark]

Wow, love the art, it's so cool
Are you planning to do a topdown view with all of the hexes visible, like in wesnoth, so it would be easier to think strategically?

Your gonna have to think ... spatially and strategically


Thank you guys for all trying out our early alpha thingy. 44 downloads already!
I'm really enjoying reading your feedback.

I just wanna warn you, that this is still pretty early, and significant gameplay alterations are being discussed this very moment. So brace for huge changes (that makes the game better of course).

 

[t money]

the camera is not final but rather just there; this isn't the camera we want to have in finally; the best would be like uni suggested that you dont need the buttons but only thumb stick to move/rotate the camera. i've coded several camera styles throughout my life and i think at least one of them will somehow fit our requirements

the biggest problem though is to predict the region of interest, which is (nearly) impossible? so clicking on a unit will probably reset (gradually) rotation pivot to that unit and the thumb stick will rotate around that pivot and zoom in and out. clicking on the map will do the same and set the pivot to a subpart of the map (need to talk with peter about that) so that you dont have all the map visible all the time - this would ruin the whole art style - and someone should really see the details of all models

that makes sense. it would also be nice if you had a tutorial mode for strategy newbs like me. just something to show the player what does what before jumping into the campaign. it looks like you guys are well on your way to a very cool game.

 

[rblacula]

Great work; really enjoyable! I'm impressed! The art is BEAUTIFUL!

 

[traylorpark]

that makes sense. it would also be nice if you had a tutorial mode for strategy newbs like me. just something to show the player what does what before jumping into the campaign. it looks like you guys are well on your way to a very cool game.

Now that is a quality idea right there!

 

[may88]

Gosh! This looks stunning. Great work and very much looking forward to trying a Pandora version (if I'm allowed to mention it here).

 

[crow_riot]

if I'm allowed to mention it here

sure you are

 

[kayuz]

I had made a video of the alpha of Paper Wars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bpn4x3NLVw

 

[traylorpark]

if I'm allowed to mention it here

sure you are

Crow can say that, 'cause he has one. Grrrrrr.

I had made a video of the alpha of Paper Wars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bpn4x3NLVw

Oh, that what the game looks like

Thanks for making the video! Its great to see someone else playing the game.
Since it looks like you've played the game for a bit now, I'd love to hear about the things that are starting to drive you crazy. The things that are making you angry when playing the game.

Not how fix them necessarily, just the stuff that annoys you.

 

[kayuz]

Oh, that what the game looks like

Thanks for making the video! Its great to see someone else playing the game.
Since it looks like you've played the game for a bit now, I'd love to hear about the things that are starting to drive you crazy. The things that are making you angry when playing the game.

Not how fix them necessarily, just the stuff that annoys you.

so, the 3 moves for turn... i don't like this... my suggestion is only 1 move for each units

 

[traylorpark]

so, the 3 moves for turn... i don't like this...

Sure, then what is it about this style of play that you don't like?

 

[u9i]

I'll chip in. I too suggested 1-move turns. My thought was, that the opponent can reach much further and attack and kill me before i have time to react. So i thought, if it was a 1-move turn, every single move i make the opponent can counter.

But it might change the game a lot. As now i can move into position, but before i can attack, the opponent actually attacks me. With 3-move turns, i could move in, attack, and move back.

So yeah, it is something that might be worth trying out, but could lead to a very different gameplay, which could be good or bad.

/Uni

 

[crow_riot]

But it might change the game a lot. As now i can move into position, but before i can attack, the opponent actually attacks me. With 3-move turns, i could move in, attack, and move back.

That is pretty much our intention - that you need to think a bit more what you do, and how you do it. As u said, may be good, may be bad - but still we want to stick with that.
The game should be different not only with the looks but also in gameplay mechanics.

I've just implemented an addon for attacking and healing - that you can consume all your turns with one click for those actions. makes clicking less annoying and furthermore emphasizes the multi-move feature.

 

[foxblock]

How about instead of making it "turn" based, assign a certain number of "action points" each round (5 for example and maybe transfer up to 2 left-over from the last move, so you can save them to some extend for one big push) and each move consumes some of those.
So for example, moving by one tiles consumes one point, attacking consumes another, moving after an attack consumes three (makes ambushing harder, which in general is a pretty frustrating mechanic when made too easy), healing two, etc. (tanks consume more than copters, etc.)

That might make things more complicated than you would like to maybe, though.
On the other hand, it allows more in-depth strategies and makes the gameplay less static.

Anyway, very nice project, watching it carefully

 

[crow_riot]

hm we're going to discuss that

maybe, well, we dont have any in-depth description of the current mechanics available, but one point is important to know: the attack power decreases with the number of moves a unit makes within a round. so it's good to have for example 3 units to attack on one round to inflict full damage.

 

[traylorpark]

Guys, I really wanna thank you all for writing in with your gripes and thoughts on the game! Honestly, Dr. Crow and I have been having a lot of long discussions about how to improve the mechanics of the game and solve some of your problems.

Foxblock, that's also a great suggestion! We definitely talked about the ins and outs of what that system might allow for quite a while (the awesomeness of saving moves for the next turn). What we decided on, for the moment, is that we're going to polish up and streamline the current gameplay mechanics.

After the compo we will take the time re-evaluate the gameplay, to make it awesomer for all of yall.

 

[kayuz]

hi!!!!! i'll know how this work proceds!
this is a great project and it don't fall down!!

 

[traylorpark]

Hey, update time!

Crow_riot has gotten vibration into the game! The system rumbles when a unit dies, or you capture a building.
Also, we are experimenting with a useful way to implement the G-sensor. Currently its a neat little feature that doesn't do much more then rotate the camera.

Speaking of camera. We have come up with a pretty elegant solution to that problem (at least I think so). It gives you a good field of view, maintains the 3D-ness of the game, is completely controllable with the thumb stick and you should never feel the desire to use anything else. We are hoping you can just forget the camera and enjoy the game

The map itself is done. There are some hardware peculiarities with the Caanoo that meant a good deal of time is being put into fixing graphical bugs. These are annoyances that I had simply not anticipated (like objects flickering through each other). Hopefully, the majority of the graphical blemishes will be out when the game is submitted.

Regarding play mechanics, we have implemented a couple features to reduce the amount of clicks it takes to input commands and complete a turn. If you have multiple moves left in your turn and are going to attack a unit, you are given the option of "X2" and "X3" attacking. The only benefit to using these options is that you don't have to repeatedly click the enemy and then attack him. It combines all the attack strength into a single click, and uses up the necessary moves.

We also included the ability to end your turn early, to avoid "hex jumping" when your ready for your turn to be over. It makes the experience a lot more fluid and less frustrating. We didn't put in "saving moves for next turn", that will be considered after the compo is finished.


Regarding builds, we are thinking that we probably won't release any more builds until its time to submit for the contest. The final build is going to be really pretty, and we want to keep it kind of a surprise

Next up ... animations!