Vapourware Evil Cult

[infidel]

https://www.in-fi-del.net/static/cult/index.html





A humble peddler of smut and shovelware asks for your attention, gentlemen. Today on the offer is:

Evil Cult is a strategy board game about various sinister cults all vying for world domination. Whether through completing the Final Ritual or eliminating all opponents in the quiet but deadly conflict, the victory will not be easy. Managing a cult is a tricky job, you see. Pesky investigators, multiple offspring sects, bloodthirsty opponent cults, these are all threats that have to be dealt with or successfully evaded. And all that has to be done below the radar of the human society.

This version of the game was upgraded with a modern UI look and interface. However, the classic minimalistic black design is fully supported, too. Various long-standing bugs in the classic version were fixed and all gameplay features were backported to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the release of the first public version.

Features include:

• Multiplayer - Shared screen multiplayer is available. Join your friends or play against them.
  
• Custom Game - Tired of playing the base game? Start a fully custom one. Each of the gameplay variables is open for tweaking around in this mode.
  
• Four hours of music - An incredible electronica soundtrack by Jeremy Rice of Curious Inversions and Introspective fame, known by the fans of the original game.
  
• Classic Mode - Full classic mode graphics and UI included. Relive the nostalgia.
  
• Investigators - These irritating investigators never cease to vex the cults, bringing the additional challenge.
  
• Sects Management - Using manual micromanagement or an AI advisor, these, erm, devoted groups of unsuspecting people will help you reach your nefarious goals.

Spoiler

The first three people that post in this thread desiring a free key will have one.

 

[vortex]

Can I become an Elder God? I feel like an authority figure.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A humble peddler of smut and shovelware asks for your attention, gentlemen.

Anyone care to guess how many tentacles are hiding under that cloak without looking?

 

[infidel]

Can I become an Elder God? I feel like an authority figure.

You know, now that I think about it, an argument can be made that you do play as Elder God, directly controlling all your minions.

 

[Zann]

OK that looks cool. Watching this gameplay video right now :

Not enough games counting virgins as a resource.
Definitely up for a key if your offer still stands.

 

[infidel]

OK that looks cool. Watching this gameplay video right now :
Not enough games counting virgins as a resource.
Definitely up for a key if your offer still stands.

Of course. Sent one via PM.

 

[thesecret1]

Looks pretty interesting. I'd also like one of those keys you are handing out, if possible.

 

[infidel]

Looks pretty interesting. I'd also like one of those keys you are handing out, if possible.

Sure, sent one via PM.

 

[Zann]

Just played my first game on Easy because I'm a timid cosmic horror.
Victory in 30 turns by obliterating the rival cults and confusing two investigators to death in the process. Now to play the next game by summoning something eldritch.
I like the abstract, simple nature of it so far.

 

[lightbane]

Looks like a less hipstery, less pretentious game compared to Cultist Simulator. Chances are the dev is not an horrible human being like the latter to boot.

Can I have a key for an "extended trial", please?

 

[infidel]

Looks like a less hipstery, less pretentious game compared to Cultist Simulator. Chances are the dev is not an horrible human being like the latter to boot.

Can I have a key for an "extended trial", please?

Who knows, who knows, heh, heh. Here you go, my good man. Sent via PM.

 

[thesecret1]

Alright, gave it a spin. Not a bad game – very simple, but fun. There were just four issues I had:
1. The tutorial is not very clear on the ritual part, I feel, since when it tell you where to find the rituals, there aren't any yet since they only become visible once you meet the requirements. This is sure to confuse any new player much as it confused me – you should definitely make those ritual buttons visible, but grayed out or something, while showing the tooltip with requirements upon hover. Prefferably do the same with recruiting adepts and priests, though there the situation wasn't so critical.
2. The RNG is is kinda shitty. I don't mean the recruitment chance, that was perfectly fine, but the way the nodes are distributed. In my tutorial game, I literally only found a single generator despite owning quarter of the map. Naturally, I lost. In my second game, I found five generators right near my origin, and dominated. This turns the game into a roulette where you hope to start near enough generators to not be doomed to a loss. Another time, I started literally right next to another cult's origin. Like we could straight up see each other. Also not ideal, in my opinion. You should refine the graph generation to ensure that the player isn't in an unwinnable setup, nor is OP right from the start. Also that there's some reasonable distance between starting points.
3. The log is shit. I hate that I have to hover over it and click every turn, especially when a lot of stuff is happening every turn, and while I could go into the log screen, that's even bigger a bother. Ideally, you'd slap a text window in the bottom part of the screen where I could read all the new logs instantly. Also, vital information is not communicated to the player. When I lose someone to an investigator, I'd like to know who I've lost. Similarly, if enemy cult takes over some of my people, I'd like to know about it. Consider giving some sort of graphical indication showing who you lost in previous turn (a colored outline? An animation at start of every turn quickly showing your losses? Anything is fine, certainly better than nothing).
4. The game is rather barren, to be honest. After playing a couple rounds, it feels like I've already experienced all that the game has to offer and have little reason to play again. I'd suggest expanding upon the game some more.

 

[commie]

The title made me eagerly enter this thread for a Islamic Simulator but I had to go away disappointed.

 

[infidel]

...

Thanks for taking the time to post. I'll answer point by point:

1) I appreciate that. It's surprisingly hard to find someone willing to detail what problems they've encountered during the tutorial.
2) For this release I made the origin generation somewhat fair by subdividing the map into segments. Each cult starts in its own segment. I'll definitely need to spread the generator nodes more evenly.
3) The nodes that were lost to another cult or an investigator are marked with a target outline for the duration of the next turn. Maybe it's not that visible. I might have to resort to animation. Making a full text log always visible, hmmm... What specifically do you need to read in there constantly? The log panel icons are color-coded and have different symbols, so it's not like you have to look at all of them one by one. I thought the more important ones draw enough attention from the player.
4) That's all right, the game was designed for short 5-30 minutes sessions in mind. Now that people are asking for longer games, I'll have to think about how and what to expand upon once I'm done with the small and obvious stuff.

 

[hoothoot]

Looks neat. Following

 

[Zann]

...

[snip]
1) I appreciate that. It's surprisingly hard to find someone willing to detail what problems they've encountered during the tutorial.

About the ritual part, unless I missed it the details are not in the manual either (how many priests and virgins you need to start, and so on).

 

[Storyfag]

Looks VERY neat. Are you going to get on GOG?

 

[thesheeep]

OK that looks cool. Watching this gameplay video right now :
Not enough games counting virgins as a resource.
Definitely up for a key if your offer still stands.

Of course. Sent one via PM.

A key or a virgin?

 

[thesecret1]

The nodes that were lost to another cult or an investigator are marked with a target outline for the duration of the next turn.

I confess I did not notice that at all. Some quick animation + outline would probably be the best, in my opinon.

What specifically do you need to read in there constantly? The log panel icons are color-coded and have different symbols, so it's not like you have to look at all of them one by one.

I'm sure that if I've played the game enough times, I would soon memorize it all and need not look. But as a new player, I do have to scout them all because I don't know the symbols, nor can be sure they are always unique to the event. You can easily keep the color coding in the log itself, too. Besides, even if I knew them all, it would still be annoying to clear them out all the time from the side panel, and if I don't, I'll soon forget which ones happened now and which ones are from previous turns.

That's all right, the game was designed for short 5-30 minutes sessions in mind.

That's how it works indeed, and would probably serve as a fun boardgame. But with boardgames, you have different people playing with you IRL, providing much of the fun. Here, I have little reason to replay the game since I don't actually play with other people (and no, multiplayer wouldn't fix that – playing a boardgame with friends IRL is just very different from playing with someone over the internet) and the game doesn't provide me with anything significantly different in subsequent playthroughs. I'd be all for a longer, more complex game, sure, but I always preffer such games. If you want to keep it a short game, I would, however, still advise providing something more, to give one a reason to replay and keep things fresh. Consider roguelikes, for example: many are quite short, but provide plenty of reason to replay since one just didn't experience it all in just one playthrough. Other games bet on a complex and varied gameplay where the AI performs in such a way that every game is a challenge and requires its own tactic.

A key or a virgin?

Virgin. He came over, ate all my Cheetos, smeared his greasy fingers on my keyboard, and mocked me for all the popamoles he found while browsing my computer, before finally typing in the free key into my Steam account and letting me play. Making deals with the Elder Gods carries a heavy price indeed.

 

[infidel]

About the ritual part, unless I missed it the details are not in the manual either (how many priests and virgins you need to start, and so on).

I'll add it to the manual with some other things. I think I neglected the concrete numbers due to them being set according to the difficulty.

Looks VERY neat. Are you going to get on GOG?

I haven't thought about it but I can certainly try, once I check out what that entails.

I confess I did not notice that at all. Some quick animation + outline would probably be the best, in my opinion.

Hehe, just like with some other seemingly unnecessary things, it turns out that animation is needed for QoL I'll see if I can do it.

I'm sure that if I've played the game enough times, I would soon memorize it all and need not look. But as a new player, I do have to scout them all because I don't know the symbols, nor can be sure they are always unique to the event. You can easily keep the color coding in the log itself, too. Besides, even if I knew them all, it would still be annoying to clear them out all the time from the side panel, and if I don't, I'll soon forget which ones happened now and which ones are from previous turns.

I agree about the clearing being annoying but the only thing I can think of is "clear all" button on top. Though, the ones that are from the current turn, have a thicker outline. Perhaps it's not noticeable enough. As for showing full log on screen, no promises.

That's how it works indeed, and would probably serve as a fun boardgame. But with boardgames, you have different people playing with you IRL, providing much of the fun. Here, I have little reason to replay the game since I don't actually play with other people (and no, multiplayer wouldn't fix that – playing a boardgame with friends IRL is just very different from playing with someone over the internet) and the game doesn't provide me with anything significantly different in subsequent playthroughs. I'd be all for a longer, more complex game, sure, but I always preffer such games. If you want to keep it a short game, I would, however, still advise providing something more, to give one a reason to replay and keep things fresh. Consider roguelikes, for example: many are quite short, but provide plenty of reason to replay since one just didn't experience it all in just one playthrough. Other games bet on a complex and varied gameplay where the AI performs in such a way that every game is a challenge and requires its own tactic.

I will definitely leave the current short game available as a separate choice once I get to expanding the game. Adding more variety is also on my radar.

BTW, guys, if you want to check the game out for free, the classic version is available on my website: https://www.in-fi-del.net/static/cult/index.html
Gameplay-wise, it's 100% the same and I will keep it updated, maybe with some small delays.

EDIT: Weird, I don't recall adding the website to the initial post. Oh, right: "Last edited by a moderator"

 

[infidel]

Working on a maintenance update... Would someone be willing to participate in a small beta test? Specifically, you, thesecret1, since some of these were your suggestions. I've implemented both the node highlights animation and toggleable log console (turned off by default) among other things. I'm interested to see if this will be helpful for you.

If anyone wants to check it out, I've pushed the update to test branch. Here's how to enable it: Right click on the game name in the Steam games list -> Properties -> Betas tab -> Select the beta..., Choose test.

The full changelog so far is:

• More fair generator spread
• Button to clear all messages from log panel
• Upgrade/ritual buttons are now always visible but disabled if the requirements are not met
• Added images to the tutorial
• Map animations on node highlights (can be turned off in options)
• High scores table on the victory screen - top 3 records for best time/best turns per difficulty setting, and dates
• Log console (turned off by default in options)
• Linux platform support (64-bit only, if you're wondering)

Hoping for some feedback

 

[thesecret1]

I'm trying to launch the test branch, but it's giving me an error: An error occurred while updating Evil Cult (missing executable): C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Evil Cult\EvilCult.exe

I tried reinstalling the game but it didn't help.

 

[infidel]

I'm trying to launch the test branch, but it's giving me an error: An error occurred while updating Evil Cult (missing executable): C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Evil Cult\EvilCult.exe

I tried reinstalling the game but it didn't help.

Try it now. I forgot to add the new depots to the normal package.

 

[thesecret1]

Tutorial
Much better now. Much, much better, in fact. Only issues I had:
1. "Virgins are obtained by your neophytes" – that's terribly ambiguous. Do neophytes increase chance of getting a virgin that turn? Does each neophyte produce 0.1 virgins per turn? How exactly do they obtain virgins?
2. It is never shown how one is supposed to convert resources. It's not hard to figure out, but it might still confuse some people.
3. If you meet enemy cult quickly enough, you may get tutorial advising you to use sects against it before actually getting a tutorial about sects.
4. I met enemy cult so fast during the tutorial that he declared war on me and started taking over my followers before I even secured the origin with enough neophytes :D Probably not something you want to happen during the tutorial. By making a dedicated tutorial mission that is fully scripted (like everyone else does), you can avoid these issues from happening.
5. That recruitment success is based on chance (influenced by awareness) is not mentioned

Gameplay
1. I don't actually need to care about whether an enemy follower's resource is known or not. I can just try clicking him – if I have enough of whatever he wants, I will turn him over. If he does not, the game will inform me I don't have enough resources, and I will be penalized in no way despite blindly guessing.
2. The AI seem too aggressive for its own good. While immediately going to war with the first cult it discovers is not, by itself, necessarily bad, what is bad is that it discards everything else. For example, I had a situation where one cult was at war with me while the other two were slaughtering each other. I had shit luck so it was like turn 25 already when I finally managed to completely destroy the enemy. What lied past him was a no man's land covering a whopping third of the map or more, with several generators that nobody picked up because he was just too busy throwing every spare point into the war. It was literally in the enemy's backyard, he could have gone in at any point during our lengthy war and easily win with the added resources, but he didn't. Similarly, either of the other two cults could have tried to look there at any point and at little cost, but they didn't. Here's an image of how the map looked when I won the game, with circled areas I've mentioned:

3. You don't actually need to destroy the other cults. If you destroy all enemy origins, it's enough for victory. That's rather strange and anticlimatic seeing as how they could still recover...
4. Generator spread feels much better now. Or at least I did not run into any extreme situations like last time, though I suspect that with a relatively small map like this, you will always be at the mercy of fortune to some degree.

UI
1. Please put options into main menu instead of at the top of the screen. It makes no sense to have it there, and EVERYONE will expect options in the main menu, since that's where they belong.
2. Log console overlaps gameplay elements, see image:

3. It would be good to have visual feedback that you did lower investigator's willpower. Not a popup window (those are annoying as hell), but some small widget briefly appearing next to the button and reading "willpower decreased" or something like that before fading away would be perfect. It would also be good to highlight that you got rid of an investigator in a more visible manner.
4. A lot of things are missing from the log console. It should contain everything that the sidebar does, not just some things.
5. Clear all button is very appreciated. Log console is even more, though. Log console all the way, man (if only it were less buggy).
6. Clear button does not work correctly. It only hides the notifications, does not remove them. The moment a new notification comes, they all reappear.
7. I very much like the improvements you made. They really improve QoL a lot. I would make the animation of a follower changing sides even more visible, but they are already a massive improvement.
8. Why isn't fullscreen on by default?

Other
1. Other factions get a cool lore segment about what happens when they start doing their ritual. I'd like to see one for when I start doing my ritual.
2. I'd also welcome some end game message about what happens if I destroy the other cults, etc. It just feels a lot better than "GAME OVER here's your score"

Summary
I feel the game is significantly improved now, both in gameplay and in interacting with the user. The log console is a godsend and so are the animations and it feels more "fair" than it did before, with generator distribution being less at the mercy of luck. While I feel the game is still lacking in content, I think it's important to get a solid base down before expanding on it, and I believe that the improvements you made do just that.

 

[infidel]

thesecret1
Ah, delicious, delicious feedback! I'll answer some of your points. Assume that the rest went straight to my TODO list and I'll work on it either soon or very soon.

Tutorial
> 3. If you meet enemy cult quickly enough, you may get tutorial advising you to use sects against it before actually getting a tutorial about sects.
> 4. I met enemy cult so fast during the tutorial that he declared war on me and started taking over my followers before I even secured the origin with enough neophytes :D Probably not something you want to happen during the tutorial. By making a dedicated tutorial mission that is fully scripted (like everyone else does), you can avoid these issues from happening.

I think for the tutorial I'll put the player cult in the corner giving him more time. As for the scripted tutorial, I'm against it for various reasons.

Gameplay
> 1. I don't actually need to care about whether an enemy follower's resource is known or not. I can just try clicking him – if I have enough of whatever he wants, I will turn him over. If he does not, the game will inform me I don't have enough resources, and I will be penalized in no way despite blindly guessing.

I've had to check the code out but it turns out if the cult info is not known, it's -20% to gain chance and another -10% if the node is not known. Completely forgot about that, so I think I'll add this info into the tooltip.

> 2. The AI seem too aggressive for its own good. <snip>

The AI is pretty simplistic. I'll need to work on it some more, sure. It sometimes ignores the generators even if they are next to its territory. Same thing with wars, it's not much of a conscious decision for them, mainly the wars are started when the AI wants a node owned by another cult.

> 3. You don't actually need to destroy the other cults. If you destroy all enemy origins, it's enough for victory. That's rather strange and anticlimatic seeing as how they could still recover...

That's a feature. I've even added the Unraveling ritual for the blitzkrieg game. The trick is to paralyze all of the opponent cults at the same time, which is possible only if they don't have backup priests anywhere you can grab ahold of them.

> 4. Generator spread feels much better now. Or at least I did not run into any extreme situations like last time, though I suspect that with a relatively small map like this, you will always be at the mercy of fortune to some degree.

Great. I'd say randomness is an important part of the design here. The game is somewhat akin to Minesweeper in that sense.

UI
> 1. Please put options into main menu instead of at the top of the screen. It makes no sense to have it there, and EVERYONE will expect options in the main menu, since that's where they belong.

For the longest time, the options were cult-specific for the multiplayer, that's why they were there. But I think you're right, that is unnecessary.

> 2. Log console overlaps gameplay elements, see image:

Console as an overlay is part of why it was easy enough to do. You can click through it, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

> 7. I very much like the improvements you made. They really improve QoL a lot. I would make the animation of a follower changing sides even more visible, but they are already a massive improvement.

Thanks!

> 8. Why isn't fullscreen on by default?

I just haven't thought about it I'll see if I can do it (it might not actually be possible, surprising as that may be).

Other

> 1. Other factions get a cool lore segment about what happens when they start doing their ritual. I'd like to see one for when I start doing my ritual.

I don't recall very well why the game lacks these texts but I'll ask the author if he wants to write them.

> 2. I'd also welcome some end game message about what happens if I destroy the other cults, etc. It just feels a lot better than "GAME OVER here's your score"

Hmmm, you might be onto something here...

EDIT:
Summary

> I feel the game is significantly improved now, both in gameplay and in interacting with the user. The log console is a godsend and so are the animations and it feels more "fair" than it did before, with generator distribution being less at the mercy of luck. While I feel the game is still lacking in content, I think it's important to get a solid base down before expanding on it, and I believe that the improvements you made do just that.

Forgot to say, I'm already designing the first expansion to the rules and thinking on the framework to bring move variety to the game. I have good grasp on how I want to do that but I'll stay silent for now. I've fixed the most glaring console and clear button bugs and will probably push the update to live tomorrow with the release of the soundtrack. Thanks again for all the feedback!