Thanks so much for this detailed feedback! Your thoughts are incredibly valuable for sure. We really respect the opinions of this community! Most of your guys are probably more hardcore in your gaming then most people.
This is again sooooo smooth
A lobby system would be very nice. Also some labels on which mode I selected, since there's no highlight when I touch the mode "buttons". At first I wasn't sure I was selecting the network mode at all . I'm up for trying a match
Yeah, the menu`s are very not final at all. I`ll be sure to take this into account when I get to designing the new `beautiful` version.
Just played a game with Cloudef. His end froze halfway through. The system was still responsive so it was paperwars. Anyway, some constructive gameplay notes:
- Copters are underpowered. They fly and move fast, but do VERY little damage compared to the retaliation. They are also expensive. The healing ability is great, but since it costs a 50 per use, it's a bit steep. A copter can't really keep a unit alive on its own without massive income, but just sway single battles one side or another. I'd suggest either lowering the copter price to something like 120 or healing price to 30, if you want to keep the mas support units.
- The damage calculation is very random, and doesn't favor neither the attacker nor the defender. Usually these types of games scale damage based on health difference to give first striker an advantage, but here you can just stay put and wait for the enemy to waste his moves on attacking you until the last strike. There's no point attacking back if it's not for a kill shot, since you deal roughly the same damage back anyway through retaliations. We both first thought the defender always does 1x worth damage to reward the player using all his moves on attacking, but it's just the same.
- I'd probably make infantry move 2 spaces by walking and tank move three. Moving is slooow right now and making any sort of strategic moves is hard because all your moves are used on getting an infantry soldier somewhere without draining all your cash in the form of papery gliders.
Psyched that you guys had a chance to get a multiplayer game going! You may be the very first Pandora Vs. Pandora of Paper Wars yet! Sorry that the game bottomed out on you though.
Here's a reply to your points:
Actually, the copters are just as equally powered as all the other units IF you verse them against the correct opponent. Try pitting a Copter against a Tank
h34r: That is the ultimate point of the Copter, to keep the enemy's tanks at bay. On the maps with only one helipad, even just owning the Helipad without building a Copter is enough to give you the upper hand. If you can control the enemy's Tanks with your Copters, then your Soldiers can roam without worry, allowing you to capture more buildings and expand. That said, lowering the healing price could be considered. Right now the cost to benefit ratio is right on the edge of not being worth it.
Regarding damage ... there are a few things you should consider when attacking. Consider how many moves that unit took to get to where you are attacking as each move lowers it's attack power. Consider the height relation to the enemy as height is taken into consideration. Most importantly, consider which unit is versing which. The units are balanced in a rock/paper/scissors fashion. For example, attacking the enemy's Tank with your Copter, even after moving a bit will almost always result in victory. It's a bit of a different way to think about the game. A squad comprised of each unit, Tank Copter and Soldier is stronger then a 3 unit squad of all Tanks. With that in mind, things that should be considered on our part are the attack penalties for moving a unit and the retaliation strength.
Haha, on the conversations Crow and I have had about Soldier movement range. I am concerned that if we increase it's movement range, lessens the value of its ability to glide around the map. However, the soldier can also glide across gaps and over walls, that might be enough value for its gliding ability.
Also, another point was made about the clarity of the hexes. I understand it is a little unclear right now. New hex designs are in my personal todo. However, right now, if you see a number(price) pop up when you want to do an action, that means it will cost you money. We can work on better communicating this to the user.
