Voidspire Tactics

[V_K]

I think I liked the old color scheme better...

 

[Crooked Bee]

This new style actually looks harder on the eyes to me.

 

[Eldiran]

Yeah, the sample image is a little too sickly green. I'll be choosing better palettes in the actual game.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

So... without giving to much away, is this mostly a combat engine or is there some substance to it?
Are encounters well designed?

 

[CryptRat]

Encounters are well designed and spread over the open world.
It's more than a combat engine because of that but also because the game is not entirely about combat, exploring and especially searching for hidden areas (via interactions with the environnement) is also a thing.

 

[Roqua]

Some feedback - I liked the game in general but I am not a huge fan of the mixing and matching of classes to make new classes. I'd rather just have classes and then advanced classes or something. I also disliked and after a while completely gave up on the secret searching and digging, etc.

I think the next game would do better if it lost the Zelda and jrpg aspects and focused on the crpg aspects more. For some reason there are very few full party creation crpgs made, and fewer still with decent combat, and fewer still with a decent character development system. Look how popular Knights of the Chalice and Underrail are. The people who will buy and support games that look like this and make it popular are the crpg fans. Cater to us, and give us more crpg and less Zelda/JRPG and I think that will be a move in the right direction, regardless of graphics.

 

[Zanzoken]

Eldiran, congrats on the game, looking forward to purchasing and playing it once my backlog gets cleared out a bit.

Would you mind talking a little more about your development process? Like what kind of tools you used, how long it took you, etc.

Thanks! Sure; the game's made in C# using XNA - not something recommended now that XNA isn't receiving updates anymore - and the primary tool I used was Microsoft Visual Studio. The graphics were all done in Paint.NET. Because I created my own engine from scratch, the game took me 2 years (!) full time, and some part time prior, to make. Thankfully, now that the engine's done, the next game can come much faster.

I did also take a 2-month sidetrack to make Depths of Boatmurdered as a public test of the engine, so that slowed me down.

Also what are your plans for the art style on your new game? It looks like Voidspire has some great systems and content but the art is pretty basic. I don't mean this in a shitty way, just wondering if better art assets might get your next game some more attention.

No, yeah, I agree. But as @Kalasanty says, as the sole dev, I've got to spend most of my time on content. For the next game I've decided to try a high-contrast NES style so that the game is more colorful and less brown-on-brown. I'll be using the same sprites (plus new ones of course) but with NES palettes. I think it looks pretty neat, and should hopefully get more attention.

Here's a crappy sample using some unrelated content from when I was brainstorming game ideas:

<image snipped>

Cool man, thanks for sharing. I definitely appreciate that you aren't willing to sacrifice content for gfx... sure gfx are nice but at the end of the day gameplay is what matters.

I wonder though, Kickstarter does seem like it might really be a good opportunity for you. Since you can basically do everything else yourself, the KS money could all go toward art and production values... you probably wouldn't even need that high of a goal.

Anyway, I don't mean to labor the point. I just think polish is something the average gamer really responds to. People may not notice right away how good your mechanics are -- but visuals, music, etc are things that instantly draw attention. I think your games look cool and are part of the Incline, so I want to see them do well!

 

[Eldiran]

Roqua: I think you might be happy with the next game : ) While it will still have exploration, as that's one of the most-praised aspects of Voidspire, I'm expecting more emphasis on combat and character progression. I'll also be dropping the unlock-classes-via-XP system for a different unlock method.

Cool man, thanks for sharing. I definitely appreciate that you aren't willing to sacrifice content for gfx... sure gfx are nice but at the end of the day gameplay is what matters.

I wonder though, Kickstarter does seem like it might really be a good opportunity for you. Since you can basically do everything else yourself, the KS money could all go toward art and production values... you probably wouldn't even need that high of a goal.

Anyway, I don't mean to labor the point. I just think polish is something the average gamer really responds to. People may not notice right away how good your mechanics are -- but visuals, music, etc are things that instantly draw attention. I think your games look cool and are part of the Incline, so I want to see them do well!

Thanks, me too! : ) And yeah, I think the weak visuals are the main reason Voidspire has recieved basically no press and minimal sales.

I'm actually sort of Kickstarter-weary from a player/donator perspective, so that contributes to my hesitance to do one. An artist is certainly the ideal thing to do a Kickstarter for, though, and art is the main thing I need... maybe I'll Kickstart further down the line, when I'm ready to replace placeholder graphics with good ones.

 

[Mustawd]

Added to my wishlist on steam. Thanks OP.

 

[Kalasanty11]

I still don't have any idea what repair tools do. No weapon seems to be broken, so there is no use for it. At least it seems so.
Also, too bad that you can't use abilities like push to throw enemies off the cliffs, like in Telepath Tactics.

 

[Eldiran]

I still don't have any idea what repair tools do. No weapon seems to be broken, so there is no use for it. At least it seems so.
Also, too bad that you can't use abilities like push to throw enemies off the cliffs, like in Telepath Tactics.

I put in way too many repair tools... they're meant for using when certain abilities break your equipment (such as the Breaker class). I just kept finding places they'd make sense to be, and so there's way more than you'd ever need in the game...

I'd like to try to get more push effects in the next game. In Voidspire I avoided it lest you push important items into the abyss.

 

[Kalasanty11]

What light sources, like lantern or sun gate actually do? They don't seem to increase my vision (unless I'm blind). Do they increase my stats? Or maybe just serve to disperse darkness, like in that creepy dungeon with undead or forest?

 

[Eldiran]

It's just to clear darkness. Being in the dark has a severe accuracy penalty, so it does have a mechanical use.

 

[Kalasanty11]

Another question: I think I may have encountered some kind of bug. I had entered anti-air batteries location, but immedietaly left it never to visit again (I wanted to explore diferent area first, than I couldn't find it again. Was it blocked for some reason?) Some time later Liss asks me to destroy AA batteries. I told him that I did, and game just goes on.

Also, combination for hidden path (with undead) doesn't seem to work (unless I missed some clues). I had to try random combinations of buttons, until it finally opened.

How many optional bosses are there (I want to know how much optional content I had missed)?

 

[Eldiran]

Another question: I think I may have encountered some kind of bug. I had entered anti-air batteries location, but immedietaly left it never to visit again (I wanted to explore diferent area first, than I couldn't find it again. Was it blocked for some reason?) Some time later Liss asks me to destroy AA batteries. I told him that I did, and game just goes on.

Hmm. How old is your save? There was a bug in one of the early patches where the fix let older saves trigger certain Liss dialog early. So that might be the cause.

Also, combination for hidden path (with undead) doesn't seem to work (unless I missed some clues). I had to try random combinations of buttons, until it finally opened.

How many optional bosses are there (I want to know how much optional content I had missed)?

Did you find the note with the combination?

As for hidden bosses, let's see... there are

Spoiler

2 Spidests,

Spoiler

2 hidden Graven bosses,

and then there's the

Spoiler

super tough optional boss in the undead area.

There's also a not-very-hidden optional

Spoiler

Great Wyrm boss battle.

I might be forgetting something, but those are the big ones.

 

[Kalasanty11]

Hmm. How old is your save? There was a bug in one of the early patches where the fix let older saves trigger certain Liss dialog early. So that might be the cause.

I started the game when it had already been 1.05

Did you find the note with the combination?

Spoiler

I had. It was 4 2 1 3, right?

I finished the game today. Wow, it definitely exceeded all my expectations. The best game I played last (and this, so far) year. For me, even better than Underrail. I can understand why it doesn't get much attention on sites like Kotaku or RPG Watch, but such prestigious assembly of gentlemen like Codex? Shame on you Dex, shame on you.

As for my opinion on story: It's certainly not the main focus of the game, but it's still nice. Concept of Voidspire is very interesting, and I also like the small scope of the story. No "sav da wurld" again, just "figure out what the hell is going on and save your own hides".
A video review.
I'm not the greatest writer myself, so I'll just post a link to opinion of someone definitely more outspoken.

About exploration:
"Voidspire Tactics falls somewhere in the middle with puzzles and obstacles which can be overcome by a wide variety of skills and items. For example, a lever might be on the other side of a large gap and needs to be flipped to progress deeper into the area. If a character has a particularly high jump skill, they can probably jump over the gap if set as the party leader or a Gatekeeper with a few points in the Gate skill might be able to teleport across it. Alternately, if the gap is filled with water any number of magic-based classes could cast an ice spell on it or an Enchanter could give a weapon an ice enchantment and use their weapon to freeze a path. If there’s a cave wall a pickax could always be used to tunnel an alternate path or perhaps vines could be placed along it to climb across. Of course, in this particular scenario the easiest option would probably be to just use a ranged weapon to shoot the lever and if it’s too far away perhaps a Sharpshooter’s ‘Farshot’ skill could still reach it. For a dark room, you can place down some seeds, have a Sage cast Growth on them a few times to grow them into a plant, and then set it on fire to illuminate an area for a few moments or have a Gatekeeper use Gate: Storm to summon a massive bolt of lightning for a brief glimpse at the entire area".

About combat:
"For the most part, this is a relatively standard grid-based tactical turn-based combat system, though with a few nuances worth noting. Other than the occasional ambush, groups of enemies, along with their classes and a general idea of what type of equipment they’re using, can be seen before approaching them. Combat usually starts once an enemy notices the party, though most buffs can be cast in advance even when not in combat and ranged attacks can be used to deal some damage before the fight begins. Movement and range are particularly important in Voidspire Tactics with most skill upgrades boosting range, area of effect, or some other element instead of raw damage and every melee-based class has at least one skill which allows it to move farther or attack at range. Turn order is flexible and always displayed in a banner at the top of the screen and movement can be performed either before or after taking an action; choosing to move without taking any other action will reduce the amount of time before a unit’s next turn. Most spells and many of the stronger attacks in general also have casting times and the skill in question will appear on the upper banner, where it can be moused over at any point to double check the area it will be hitting".

TL;DR:
Voidspire Tactics is very much a game worth paying attention to. There are so many ways in which the freeform exploration and skill interactions could have gone wrong, yet time and again I found myself surprised and amazed at the depth and fluid malleability of the systems at play. Unlocking a new class wasn’t just exciting because it gave me more options for how to fight in combat, it was exciting because it meant potentially gaining access to new ways to explore and interact with the expansive and unpredictable world around me. This is an entertaining, innovative, and solidly executed experience and I hope even more so than usual that this game eventually gains more attention than it currently has as I would gladly welcome the creation of more games like it.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I'll get my mitts on this game sooner or later, wait and see.

 

[Eldiran]

I started the game when it had already been 1.05

Hm, that's super weird then. I'll have to look into that.

Spoiler

I had. It was 4 2 1 3, right?

Yep, that should have worked. Not sure what's wrong if you did it correctly... I bet you did and it glitched, but just in case

Spoiler

The leftmost button is 1. If you enter part of a failed password, you also have to 'reset' the thing by pushing all buttons until it clicks.

I finished the game today. Wow, it definitely exceeded all my expectations. The best game I played last (and this, so far) year. For me, even better than Underrail. I can understand why it doesn't get much attention on sites like Kotaku or RPG Watch, but such prestigious assembly of gentlemen like Codex? Shame on you Dex, shame on you.

As for my opinion on story: It's certainly not the main focus of the game, but it's still nice. Concept of Voidspire is very interesting, and I also like the small scope of the story. No "sav da wurld" again, just "figure out what the hell is going on and save your own hides".
A video review.
I'm not the greatest writer myself, so I'll just post a link to opinion of someone definitely more outspoken.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! That's way higher praise than I would give it, personally : P

Also nice review, I hadn't seen that. Very thorough and I agree with the complaints.

 

[Kalasanty11]

Yep, that should have worked. Not sure what's wrong if you did it correctly... I bet you did and it glitched, but just in case

Spoiler

The leftmost button is 1. If you enter part of a failed password, you also have to 'reset' the thing by pushing all buttons until it clicks.

Spoiler

Ah, I guess it's my fault then. I thought that third button would be first, second second, fourth third and first would be last. I immediately assumed it's a bug, without trying to think it through again. Sorry for my lack of faith

 

[Eldiran]

Spoiler

Ah, I guess it's my fault then. I thought that third button would be first, second second, fourth third and first would be last. I immediately assumed it's a bug, without trying to think it through again. Sorry for my lack of faith

Oh good, I'm glad I mentioned it then : P

 

[Seeric]

I'm not the greatest writer myself, so I'll just post a link to opinion of someone definitely more outspoken.

Thanks for linking to my article, I really did enjoy this game a great deal (I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in my top five favorite games from 2015) and almost passed on buying it. Since the developer is reading this thread, I do want to mention a game-breaking bug I stumbled across near the very end though:

Spoiler

I'm not sure of exactly what triggers this or precisely when, but I went up to the room with the final boss and then turned around and backtracked with the intention of using an anvil. However, when I reached the room where all the soldiers were gathered I could no longer go down the stairs and I could no longer go back up the stairs so I was stuck in that room until I reloaded my save (and I double-checked to make sure this wasn't a one-time thing).

As far as classes go, I'm not sure which one is my favorite (maybe Enchanter since the damage boosts are really useful and Force Lunge is both useful and fun), but Gate is definitely my favorite spell. It's not too useful in combat, but it's remarkably versatile while exploring and is just a fun spell in general, even if it does somewhat break the game at times by letting you teleport across pushable barriers to access areas from the intended 'exit'. You can even skip entering the

Spoiler

sealed house by using it, though I haven't gotten a chance to see if doing so affects anything.

The only major issue I had with the game was the inventory system, which gets really cumbersome really fast once you start getting a bunch of containers, especially if you start putting bags inside of bags to save on readily-accessible inventory space. I wish there was a way to simply combine containers or that there was just a general shared inventory on top of the individual character inventories. It's partially my own fault for doing things like devoting an entire bag to different types of bones or holding on to items like the tiny ship which the flavor text outright says is useless 'just in case', but I think sifting through containers would have become a problem even if I was more conservative in my collecting.

On a final note, I think I found something which probably has been unintentionally overlooked, though it's somewhat funny all the same. Near the end of the game

Spoiler

you can use Resuscitate and possibly other skills/items to revive all the villagers Vise killed and they say the same things as always, right down to the one guy saying "I'm sure the Seartial Alliance will come save us".

[/QUOTE]

 

[V_K]

I do want to mention a game-breaking bug I stumbled across near the very end though:

Show Spoiler I'm not sure of exactly what triggers this or precisely when, but I went up to the room with the final boss and then turned around and backtracked with the intention of using an anvil. However, when I reached the room where all the soldiers were gathered I could no longer go down the stairs and I could no longer go back up the stairs so I was stuck in that room until I reloaded my save (and I double-checked to make sure this wasn't a one-time thing).

Yeah, I had that too. I believe it's the stair itself that's bugged - I tried ascending from the room with the soldiers and immediately descending back, and got into the same walking-dead situation.

 

[Eldiran]

Thanks for linking to my article, I really did enjoy this game a great deal (I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in my top five favorite games from 2015) and almost passed on buying it. Since the developer is reading this thread, I do want to mention a game-breaking bug I stumbled across near the very end though:

Woops! I see the problem. The same condition that makes sure to disable the trigger before the fight, is also disabling it every time you enter the zone. Puttin' that in the next patch.

Thanks for reviewing the game, I'm glad you had fun with it!

As far as classes go, I'm not sure which one is my favorite (maybe Enchanter since the damage boosts are really useful and Force Lunge is both useful and fun), but Gate is definitely my favorite spell. It's not too useful in combat, but it's remarkably versatile while exploring and is just a fun spell in general, even if it does somewhat break the game at times by letting you teleport across pushable barriers to access areas from the intended 'exit'. You can even skip entering the

Spoiler

sealed house by using it, though I haven't gotten a chance to see if doing so affects anything.

I love giving weird ways to bypass stuff : ) I hope some day the game gets speedrun so I can see how much the intended path can be broken.

Spoiler

I don't think I made the game account for skipping the Sealed House. You have to be very deliberate about skipping it (by never entering it), so almost no first-time players should be able to.

The only major issue I had with the game was the inventory system, which gets really cumbersome really fast once you start getting a bunch of containers, especially if you start putting bags inside of bags to save on readily-accessible inventory space. I wish there was a way to simply combine containers or that there was just a general shared inventory on top of the individual character inventories. It's partially my own fault for doing things like devoting an entire bag to different types of bones or holding on to items like the tiny ship which the flavor text outright says is useless 'just in case', but I think sifting through containers would have become a problem even if I was more conservative in my collecting.

Yeah, Voidspire is not kind to hoarders : P A shared inventory would definitely be nice, and might be in the next game.

On a final note, I think I found something which probably has been unintentionally overlooked, though it's somewhat funny all the same. Near the end of the game

Spoiler

you can use Resuscitate and possibly other skills/items to revive all the villagers Vise killed and they say the same things as always, right down to the one guy saying "I'm sure the Seartial Alliance will come save us".

Dang, I was certain I specifically went out of the way to prevent that. Must have been something I changed later on that made it possible.

 

[Roqua]

Is there a way to open the manholes or am I wasting time and brainspace trying to open them.

I finished the game today. Wow, it definitely exceeded all my expectations. The best game I played last (and this, so far) year. For me, even better than Underrail. I can understand why it doesn't get much attention on sites like Kotaku or RPG Watch, but such prestigious assembly of gentlemen like Codex? Shame on you Dex, shame on you.

I agree in general with your point. I do like Underrail a lot better, even though I like party games more. I think a better chardev and chargen, like with using OGL like Knights of the Chalice, and having skills like lockpicking, instead of finding lockpicking tools, and more traditional envirmne t interaction (like perception spotting secrets versus me picking or trying to walk through walls).

This game, to me, is a solid game that everyone who considers themselves a crpg fan should buy at full price and play. I put it under Knights of the Chalice, Avernum 1 - 6, Antharion, but significantly above non-crpgs. The engine and mechanics do have potential, but like I said earlier it will need more crpg and less jrpg, with more towns, sidequests, and more opportunity costs.

 

[Kalasanty11]

Is there a way to open the manholes or am I wasting time and brainspace trying to open them.

I had thought about it too, until I used "look" option on them. Journal entry says that they are "virtually unpenetrable" or something like that.

I do like Underrail a lot better, even though I like party games more.

So do I, that's maybe the only reason I put Voidspire over Underrail.

I think a better chardev and chargen, like with using OGL like Knights of the Chalice, and having skills like lockpicking, instead of finding lockpicking tools, and more traditional envirmne t interaction (like perception spotting secrets versus me picking or trying to walk through walls).

I also liked KotC a little more than Voidspire, though I feel like it offered slightly less replay value - only 3 classes is a shame. It's going to be adressed in sequel fortunatelly... assuming it's ever going to be created of course. And I totally agree that every rpg should be more pc skill-dependant. Maybe Eldiran will use it in sequel too.