Hard West - tactical turn based + wild west setting

[dukeofwhales]

I had noticed that enemies have stopped running up and shooting me in the face. It was very silly when they'd run up to my 8 health character, do 4 damage and end up right next to me with no cover. The original behaviour felt like the game was playing as a single AI attempting to beat me, rather than individual characters who would care about their own lives, and made optimal strategy more conservative than was desired (hide far away behind cover until enemies run towards you and get stuck out of cover half way across a clearing). That said, it did add a little more complexity than "make sure you always run to full cover and won't be flanked by someone else" as it is post-patch.

Ideally AI would be happy to run up to take point blank shots if they could take out a character with full damage and they were unaware of any other player characters that would be a danger to them (even if they were there but undetected by that enemy).

 

[ArchAngel]

I just want enemy AI to stop moving in a way that leaves them out of cover all the time. Also make them more active. They stick to their part of map and never move to find you.

 

[ArchAngel]

Kacper Szymczak
I must say I am really enjoying your game, you did excellent job especially the graphics, sounds, animations and whole atmosphere.

Can I get a comment from you on what I wrote here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/307670/discussions/0/485623406957905334/

 

[Grunker]

on overwatch

Great. I've put off my playthrough until further notice anyway. Seemed like my kind of game though.

 

[agris]

Hey Kacper Szymczak, I've got a few camera/ease of use requests.

it would be great if you guys could allow for fine rotation of the game's camera, rather than the fixed 90 degree increments currently used. Also, changing the pitch (angle) would be nice (the E and F keys could change angle) . If you can't implement an in-game menu option, at least allow for the editing of a configuration file to enable it. I'm essentially asking for the Age of Decadence camera controls. Unshackling us from the 90 degree rotation is more important than the pitch control though. This was one of the most annoying aspects of nuXCOM's camera.

The other suggestion is for an option to stop camera snap to the skull after moving to a location in the world map. I'm often clicking to move it while scrolling the world map, and the camera snapping to the skull is annoying- it takes control out of the player's hand. It's a small thing, but an option to remove it would be nice.

 

[Lucky]

Consider this: we'd either do a full fledged save system (implementation, debugging, support, at least 2 full ui screens) or, for example, the card screen. What'd you go with? I went with the cards. Might have cut the barter, tho. Dunno.

Also, I sort of relied on Jake Solomon's words that he wished saving/loading mid-game could be disabled in nuxcom. Makes for a save/load-fest. I know that's I played it, and I was bored to hell.

To mitigate the trouble resulting from lack of mid-combat saving, the encounters are short. I know that players tend to play cautiously, so that sort of fired back. Oh well.

Keep in mind that I haven't played the game yet, but from all that I've seen you're not wrong in how you went about implementing saving. The problem is players coming in with the wrong expectations in regards to how the game is meant to be played and then not adapting to the gameplay.

The optional combat in Hard Times was made easier, because numerous noobs reported getting stuck there. Sheesh.
But apart from that - ain't touch much about difficulty settings yet. Can't really say I can make out any repeating feedback. Except for OP abilities, and especially ability combos. Nerfing that would be a double edges sword, so I myself play on hard and pick some obscure abilities to flavor up the game, but don't really use them much.

If you want to accommodate both the hardcore and casual crowds, I'd suggest moving the harder version of the encounter to Hard, while keeping the easier version for lower difficulties. The kind of player that complains about optional encounters being too difficult usually either plays on easy or medium, while the kind that wants a challenge would either already be playing on hard or moving up to hard after completing the game, so they’d be expecting and hoping for a challenge. That would also add some replay value to the game for people who started on a lower difficulty setting and then want to replay the game on hard.

Yes, it's a tough time. But business-wise it still made sense. The development was REALLY short. As in, you'd never believe how short. And I'm pretty sure this little extra time saved the launch.
Also, allegedly this isn't a sort of game that sells in the first week and then nothing, but goes flat for a long time.
Anyway - the publisher is pleased.
The stakeholders are pleased. (they need to see growth, and we have growth, compared to the previous game and production cycle)
so we're good.

They're right about that. This kind of game is more of a long term investment, especially if you continue to polish it. You didn't get poor reviews (compared to what I've seen of the games in terms of quality) because it is a bad game, but because you lack the reputation to convince people that the game is good before they play it. The game will sell more as you release expansions and produce more quality games, because people will retroactively start to improve their opinion of your older titles. That's why I'd also recommend being very careful with putting it on sale - never above 50-60%. Higher than that without a substantial amount of time having passed makes the game come across as a being a bargain bin product and this will affect people's perception of your later titles.

Doing an expansion or two.

Would those be fat, old-fashioned expansions or slimmer, modern ones? Looking forward either way, but the former would be extra promising.

 

[phtmyr]

So - while I agree there could be use for that, it simply wouldn't pay off (production wise) (I guess, might be wrong ofc).

For myself, best parts of the games was the first couple of missions of each chapter, since they are designed and tightly balanced around your setup. Luck detection would be helpful and satisfying to use in some of those missions. Maybe add it to one of the Jokers? An ability that steals luck to the other Joker? As I said earlier, I think there's untapped potential with the luck mechanic which makes me sad.

Ironically, final missions are very easy, so my way of enjoying them was screwing around and killing with style, which is nice, having both type of missions. But I'd rather have the balance skewed towards challenging humble missions.

I personally would've preferred having access to character screen after restart.

Totally. Me too.

Why this isn't in the game again?

-AI looks as it knew it was out of ammo only when attempting to shot. Often they rush out of cover, take aggressive position in the open and instead of shooting they reload. And die next round.

Enemy runs to flank position. "I guess I'm dead."
Enemy reloads weapon. "Alright then!"

AI also moves from cover to cover for no reason and ends their turn by reloading. Even though they could've taken a shot from their previous location if they reloaded first.

 

[ArchAngel]

Yea, they need to tell AI to reload first and then calculate its next move. But the move then reload might be based on moving still giving them less than 20% hit chance so they spend action reloading.
They need to remove AI reloading if not in cover relative to your guys. In such a situation they should use other action to move to cover instead.

 

[jimmy_pvish]

Nearly finish it (2 upper scenarios left).
Gameplay wise, I like it (only playing on Hard with injury enable so far) a little too easy at later scenario because of super items from fate trader.

Story wise, a mix feeling, it has a lot of potential but lack continue between scenario, especially lower branch.
Each lower branch seem like a short adventure story on itself with litter connection instead a part of whole story.
It feel like a prelude to something and then...noting.

But all in all, I like it.

 

[Ludo Lense]

Can you close doors after you open them?

 

[dukeofwhales]

Hmm, I seem to have an issue where I can't play the last two scenarios despite completing all the others. Is it a bug or am I an idiot? Screenshot

 

[ArchAngel]

Hmm, I seem to have an issue where I can't play the last two scenarios despite completing all the others. Is it a bug or am I an idiot? Screenshot

Maybe you reached the end of your demo time ?

 

[Jimmious]

Hard West Patch 1.3 is here and it means business!
8 DECEMBER - CFG_BLAZE
Hard West 1.3 Patch Notes

Hello Gunslingers! Continuing the great tradition of regular patches and improvements, here's patch 1.3 for you. We're already working on the next one and something a bit bigger down the road so keep sending us your feedback and we'll keep doing our best to make your visit to the Weird West an enjoyable one!

- Fixed: blocker in the 'Meteor Crash Zone' location in the 'Method in Madness' scenario.
- Fixed: pressing ability hotkeys during the tutorial no longer causes a block.
- Fixed: some weapon stats no longer display incorrectly in stores
- Improved: various UI rendering tweaks for various screen resolutions.
- Fixed: text in Options menu scales correctly after resolution change.
- Improved: cursor indicator for the Move order changes depending on the 1AP or 2AP cost.
- Fixed: killing Diego before being told to do so no longer creates a blocker.

====================

By the way, remember the game has an official Manual (available in your Steam Library) as well as some cool community guides.

 

[Ludo Lense]

Can you close doors after you open them?

Seriously, does anybody know? I am gonna write the RPG Codex review on this game and I don't want to be wrong on technicalities. I've tried clicking on the damn things from all positions but I want to be sure.

 

[ArchAngel]

Hard West Patch 1.3 is here and it means business!
8 DECEMBER - CFG_BLAZE
Hard West 1.3 Patch Notes

Hello Gunslingers! Continuing the great tradition of regular patches and improvements, here's patch 1.3 for you. We're already working on the next one and something a bit bigger down the road so keep sending us your feedback and we'll keep doing our best to make your visit to the Weird West an enjoyable one!

- Fixed: blocker in the 'Meteor Crash Zone' location in the 'Method in Madness' scenario.


====================

By the way, remember the game has an official Manual (available in your Steam Library) as well as some cool community guides.

I just got blocked by this yesterday while playing that scenario

But the worst thing is that I got a GoG version that has yet to release 1.2 patch and now I will be waiting for who knows how long for the 1.3 patch

 

[ArchAngel]

Can you close doors after you open them?

Seriously, does anybody know? I am gonna write the RPG Codex review on this game and I don't want to be wrong on technicalities. I've tried clicking on the damn things from all positions but I want to be sure.

I have not tried it. My guess is that you cannot if it cannot be done easily.

 

[veevoir]

Can you close doors after you open them?

Seriously, does anybody know? I am gonna write the RPG Codex review on this game and I don't want to be wrong on technicalities. I've tried clicking on the damn things from all positions but I want to be sure.

I have not tried it. My guess is that you cannot if it cannot be done easily.

Similar for me. Guess you kick down the doors like a boss.

 

[canakin]

Can anybody here give me a save file with Law and Order scenario's first mission completed? I have been stuck there forever because game keeps crashing to desktop while loading said mission, no matter which version I try.

 

[toro]

Today I've played a couple of hours of Hard West.

First impressions were great: solid TB combat, exceptional presentation, good story and everything else (except occasional stuttering). Really the game is great but ... *gasp* ... the cards abilities are ruining it. They are overpowered and they cannot be avoided.

So, I play on Hard with injuries, I play without using the special abilities because usually they are the "I win" button in games (Dishonored beware). Yeah, I know I'm retarded but I'm sick of special skills/powers that only the player possess in games.

Anyway, I go pretty fast through the first campaign and then I'm stuck in the second one - there is a mission where you have to fight a demon. Now, my characters setup was completely shit because I did not pay attention before entering this mission (one character had like 3 HP, my cards were not in the correct configuration).

And I struggle, I restart each time one character dies and in total I had like 30 restarts. Each time there is one critical shot coming out of nowhere or I have like 5 missed shots in a row. In fact the only way in which I could finish this mission was to setup an ambush so that all my characters had a chance to shoot the demon.

After literally hours of retries (3 hours), I have the perfect run and I kill that demon without any casualty. Fuck yeah!! I did it without using any special ability. I'm happy but frustrated cause it was a struggle. I google this mission and I watch a guy finishing it on Iron Man. The guy abuses the abilities. Everything seems easy. I feel stupid.

Now, I start the third campaign and this time I intend to pay attention to the abilities. By the second fight I already discovered the perfect cheese strategy:

1. Buy health elixirs on all characters before fights (they are cheap),
2. During the fight wait for the right moment and use Equalizer (this basically reduces the health of all combatants to 1 HP),
3. Use the previously bought health elixirs to cure your characters (or skip to step 4),
4. Use Dodge on one character, run with him in the middle of all the 1HP mobs and ... use Shriek.
5. Map cleared.

So, basically the abilities are fucked up: if you use them then the game becomes a joke (even on Hard) and if you don't use them then you will have a hard time finishing missions. They completely destroy the combat balance and they make the rest of the equipment redundant.

I rolfstomped the third campaign and I lost interest in the game. I will probably comeback to it but I did not expect to finish playing it on such a down note.

 

[toro]

Can you close doors after you open them?

No.

 

[dukeofwhales]

things

I'm not sure that the abilities being super exploitable is really an issue. You can always just not use them. You definitely need to spend some time in the setup screen making sure everyone is properly equipped, though - I consider it a pretty serious issue that when restarting a mission you don't get to change your loadout. The scenarios are too long for restarting them to be a practical option if you fuck something up and can't complete an encounter.

That said, I don't find regular combat too difficult. You just have to ensure you're unflanakable and behind full cover, at which point you only take 1/4 damage (usually 1-2 HP - there are a couple of enemies with sniper rifles but I didn't have issues with them). The luck meter gives you an indication of how close one of your guys is to being hit so you can always hide them behind full cover if their health is getting low rather than risking being flanked for full damage in what is a guaranteed hit.

 

[ArchAngel]

Today I've played a couple of hours of Hard West.

First impressions were great: solid TB combat, exceptional presentation, good story and everything else (except occasional stuttering). Really the game is great but ... *gasp* ... the cards abilities are ruining it. They are overpowered and they cannot be avoided.

So, I play on Hard with injuries, I play without using the special abilities because usually they are the "I win" button in games (Dishonored beware). Yeah, I know I'm retarded but I'm sick of special skills/powers that only the player possess in games.

Anyway, I go pretty fast through the first campaign and then I'm stuck in the second one - there is a mission where you have to fight a demon. Now, my characters setup was completely shit because I did not pay attention before entering this mission (one character had like 3 HP, my cards were not in the correct configuration).

And I struggle, I restart each time one character dies and in total I had like 30 restarts. Each time there is one critical shot coming out of nowhere or I have like 5 missed shots in a row. In fact the only way in which I could finish this mission was to setup an ambush so that all my characters had a chance to shoot the demon.

After literally hours of retries (3 hours), I have the perfect run and I kill that demon without any casualty. Fuck yeah!! I did it without using any special ability. I'm happy but frustrated cause it was a struggle. I google this mission and I watch a guy finishing it on Iron Man. The guy abuses the abilities. Everything seems easy. I feel stupid.

Now, I start the third campaign and this time I intend to pay attention to the abilities. By the second fight I already discovered the perfect cheese strategy:

1. Buy health elixirs on all characters before fights (they are cheap),
2. During the fight wait for the right moment and use Equalizer (this basically reduces the health of all combatants to 1 HP),
3. Use the previously bought health elixirs to cure your characters (or skip to step 4),
4. Use Dodge on one character, run with him in the middle of all the 1HP mobs and ... use Shriek.
5. Map cleared.

So, basically the abilities are fucked up: if you use them then the game becomes a joke (even on Hard) and if you don't use them then you will have a hard time finishing missions. They completely destroy the combat balance and they make the rest of the equipment redundant.

I rolfstomped the third campaign and I lost interest in the game. I will probably comeback to it but I did not expect to finish playing it on such a down note.

I used Equalizer once and only in the mission where you are supposed to use it to beat it due to how it is set up. Equalizer is only "broken" ability.

Also in most scenarios neither money or healing elixirs are plentiful enough that you can use this tactic.

 

[toro]

Elixirs are cheap. 10 gold or something. Not all abilities are so exploitable. Equalizer is the big offender. However is not guaranteed that the card will drop during a campaign so it's ok. I guess.

On the other hand I encountered a strange bug: some character was in cover behind a wall and all enemies hit him for 1 or 2 damage. They were 5 therefore therefore my guy died. Normally this should not be possible cause of the luck mechanism.

 

[ArchAngel]

Elixirs are cheap. 10 gold or something. Not all abilities are so exploitable. Equalizer is the big offender. However is not guaranteed that the card will drop during a campaign so it's ok. I guess.

On the other hand I encountered a strange bug: some character was in cover behind a wall and all enemies hit him for 1 or 2 damage. They were 5 therefore therefore my guy died. Normally this should not be possible cause of the luck mechanism.

If enemy is within 5 squares they get 100% hit chance no matter your cover. In that case cover only reduces damage.

Currently I am stuck on second bottom scenario, the Inquisitor mission with the Church. I free the sister and then we are assaulted by like 15 guys from all sides
And I got no Equalizer, Shriek or Chain Shot. Only Barrage and Richoche shot.

 

[toro]

Elixirs are cheap. 10 gold or something. Not all abilities are so exploitable. Equalizer is the big offender. However is not guaranteed that the card will drop during a campaign so it's ok. I guess.

On the other hand I encountered a strange bug: some character was in cover behind a wall and all enemies hit him for 1 or 2 damage. They were 5 therefore therefore my guy died. Normally this should not be possible cause of the luck mechanism.

If enemy is within 5 squares they get 100% hit chance no matter your cover. In that case cover only reduces damage.

Currently I am stuck on second bottom scenario, the Inquisitor mission with the Church. I free the sister and then we are assaulted by like 15 guys from all sides
And I got no Equalizer, Shriek or Chain Shot. Only Barrage and Richoche shot.

Well fuck me, Idk

Did not play that campaign yet.