Turn-Based Tactics Phantom Doctrine - "tactical Cold War conspiracy thriller" by Hard West devs

[Space Satan]

They fix the least of PD problems. They still have glaring problems with MKULTRA and negligable and unbalanced rewards. Cosmetic changes is the last thing they should care for

 

[Dickie]

Improved wind sway animations for potted plants

Well, maybe I'll buy it now.

 

[Rahdulan]

On sale, guys. I don't know if dev came back to the thread, but at least they're still patching the game.



Also on couple of other sites as well:
https://www.gamebillet.com/phantom-doctrine
https://de.gamesplanet.com/game/phantom-doctrine-steam-key--3742-1

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like their next game is going real-time: https://www.skillshot.pl/jobs/8802-game-designer-regular-senior-at-creativeforge-game

CreativeForge Games, a team behind games Phantom Doctrine and Hard West, is looking to work on a new tactical real-time game (RTT) of candidates for the position:

 

[BEvers]

Deterministic Pillars clone set in medieval Poland?

 

[LESS T_T]

Or a new Jagged Alliance game after THQ Nordic saw the train wreck of Rage! and decided turn-based was a mistake.



(AFAIK THQ Nordic has published only one turn-based game in its history. It's Battle Chasers: Nightwar.)

 

[Space Satan]

Phantom Doctrine's problem is that irs replayability is ZERO. Even with different storylines few players would be ready to push themselves through a slog of PD gameplay. Unrewarding stealth, missions, repetitive gameplay, mandatory timers and other shit. We can throw shit at nuX-Com2 for all its flaws but you can easily replay it and it will be fun. not with PD

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Phantom Doctrine's problem is that irs replayability is ZERO

Finally rng>deterministic.

 

[Rahdulan]

Support still on-going.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/559100/announcements/detail/1697195073674101884/

Phantom Doctrine Patch 1.0.9

Greetings, Agents!

This time we're back with some additional content to spice up tactical side missions and provide you with some more insight on various mechanics and features in Phantom Doctrine. Also, we fixed some of the issues kindly reported by you, for which we're very grateful. You may review all of the changes below. Thank you very much for your ongoing support and now we're getting back to work, as more is in store.

Improvements & added content

• New variations of side missions throughout the entire campaign. They were added to the random pool of the following mission types:
  • Ambush
    
  • Conspiracy Cell
    
  • Enemy Recon
    
  • Informer Assassination
• An in-game encyclopedia, full of information and hints regarding all aspects of gameplay in Phantom Doctrine. It’s available from the main menu as well as from the pause menu during strategic and tactical play

Bugfixes:

• Fixed: endless black screen during the first launch of the game
  
• The interface can no longer be locked by bringing up the pause menu at the exact moment a panel on the world map opens
  
• The “ASSIGN” tooltip will no longer appear in all free slots at the same time on the Loadout screen after entering a secret cheat code on the gamepad
  
• Fixed: buttons on the Loadout screen are no longer assigned to both the support powers list and to unassigning agents / unequipping gear
  
• Suppressors have been slightly adjusted for a better fit on some weapons
  
• An enemy agent with the “Cabal Sleeper Agent” influence perk will correctly join the player’s team when combat is triggered in the first turn
  
• Enemy agents correctly appear on the POI screen from a tactical mission which ends in failure
  
• Minor text fixes

 

[Rahdulan]

Proper 1.1 and mod gates are flung open. Wonder if modding scene will do anything about it.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/559100/announcements/detail/3495260503224243430

Phantom Doctrine Full Clearance Update 1.1

Greetings, Agents!

We are back with another patch for Phantom Doctrine, this time introducing Update 1.1!

You will finally be able to alter the foundations of your spy agency by meddling with our declassified parameter sheets, and include some of your own ideas, based on a guide we've put together for you. Update 1.1 also includes additional Investigation Board content, improved support for ultrawide resolutions, minor improvements and bugfixes listed below.

As always, we sincerely hope that you'll enjoy the new possibilities, and the entire Team wants to express its gratitude for your ongoing support. Stay vigilant, Agents!

Mod support

• A plethora of game parameters can now be accessed and modded via .csv files to provide new gameplay experience with Phantom Doctrine
  
• Custom agent portraits can be loaded into the game
  
• Standard enemies can have their outfit presets changed
  
• You may modify images, texts and parameters of the existing sidestories or even create your new sidestory events to add some interesting context to the main plot
  
• You may modify all in-game text or create your own localization, however, it will be a bit more tricky

All the details concerning modding and localization can be found here.

Improvements & added content

• Additional variants of Investigation Board snippets and new satellite photos
  
• Improvements to the already available names and surnames for Agents of various nationalities, and addition of new ones for more variety
  
• Cabal and Beholder Agents were subject to some body engineering treatments and had their stats balanced
  
• The Point of Interest popup on the World Map now displays the maximum number of Agents that may embark on a given Assault Mission
  
• Agents carrying bodies have been trained to open and close doors on demand
  
• VFX tweaks for weapon muzzle flashes and explosions

Bugfixes:

• The "plant explosives" mission type is now always loaded with the appropriate non-story levels
  
• Bargain ability Damage Threshold tooltip is now consistent with the actual boosted value (50DT instead of 200DT)
  
• Alt-tabbing while having the gamepad selected as the primary input device no longer causes the game to receive additional input from the mouse
  
• Workshop’s crafting assignment button states should now be more consistent with other facilities
  
• Tiles no longer guarded by enemy units after the effect of the Distract ability fades are not marked as dangerous anymore
  
• Fixed: The issue of agents being sometimes blurred out in the Forger’s Agent Customization screen
  
• The game can now be launched also in 3840x1080, 3440x1440 and 2560x1080 resolutions, providing proper access to the Main Menu
  
• All loading screens should be now properly displayed in ultrawide resolutions
  
• All Investigation Board files and snippets regardless of the chosen language are now properly displayed and accessible also in the 1280x1024 resolution
  
• Fixed: A rare occurrence in which enemy agents who were supposed to enable the CCTV systems were not only disabling them, but also hijacking the game camera altogether, resulting in a softlock
  
• Various text and localization fixes

 

[LESS T_T]

Turns out, Kacper Szymczak, lead designer of Phantom Doctrine (also Hard West and Ancient Space) and occasional Codex visitor, became CEO of the company last October, but ultimately resigned and then quit:



(CEO before him was also lead programmer of the company. And new CEO seems... well, not developer.)

Also he will do a talk about design of PD at GDC: https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/theme-oriented-design-the-case-of-phantom-doctrine/863254

Theme Oriented Design: The Case of 'Phantom Doctrine'
Kacper Szymczak (Lead Designer, Creative Forge Games)

Location: Room 2009, West Hall
Date: Tuesday, March 19
Time: 3:00pm - 3:30pm
Pass Type: All Access, GDC Conference + Summits, GDC Summits, Indie Games Summit - Get your pass now!
Topic: Independent Games Summit
Format: Session
Vault Recording: Video
Audience Level: Intermediate

Reviewers say Creative Forge conveys its themes well. This is a design postmortem of 'Phantom Doctrine' (cold war espionage turn-based tactical), narrowly-focused on fleshing out a theme using gameplay systems. Kacper will talk about tricky relationships between theme and scope, systems, gameplay interactions and loops, and more, providing design methods, ways of thinking and step by step guides on how certain issues can be avoided, especially in system-heavy games like 'Phantom Doctrine'.

Takeaway
Attendees will learn how to build games and gameplay centered around a strong theme. Attendees will learn concrete methods on fixing conflicts when theme and gameplay occasionally clash.

Intended Audience
Talk is intended for gameplay designers, particularly gameplay system designers, as well as all developers working on a game structured around a strong setting, and turn based tactical and strategy game devs.

 

[Infinitron]

Kacper Szymczak What's up

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

Dear Codexians,
I do lurk here frequently, and I must apologize for not replying to any questions - things have been rather hectic.
I will try to make it brief, and here are the major bullet points:

* PD sold well, but not as well as some expected (there's no doubt it will break even somewhere along the way, but in Poland your game is always compared to Witcher 3 and Frostpunk )
* hence the previous, original CEO "resigned" (strong House of Cards vibe here)
* I was asked to step up, and I did (my major reason being keeping the team intact)
* we supported PD as much as it could have been supported (having lost the lead programmer) without jeopardizing daily operations
* late Dec it became clear that the CEO role was to become a puppet (you can check out the company statute changes prepped to be voted in late Jan)
* that was when I flipped the table and resigned from the CEO job
* given it wasn't clear to me personally how exactly the company will operate further, I also quit
* a massive chunk of the team also quit - the company is still there and operating though, although seemingly in a vastly different shape
* but on our last days on the company payroll we yet managed to push out as much as was possible of the modding support

The Polish game dev job market is in very good shape (imagine HR people dressed as mad max-ian warboys scouting the wasteland and fighting for any experienced gamedevs they can find) so there's no drama here, and meanwhile a handful of us came together and will try to do something.



edit: updated for more facts and less drama

 

[Rahdulan]

That's disheartening, but I certainly hope you landed on your feet well enough.

So... game's getting bundled soon?

 

[AwesomeButton]

The Polish game dev job market is in very good shape (imagine HR people dressed as mad max-ian warboys scouting the wasteland and fighting for any experienced gamedevs they can find) so there's no drama here, and meanwhile a handful of us came together and will try to do something.

This is the best piece of news, and in stark contrast to the climate in other corners of the world, known for being game development hubs

 

[vortex]

Kacper Szymczak, could you create a game like Pathfinder Kingmaker (RTWP) but with supernatural/fantasy mythological themes?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dear Codexians,
I do lurk here frequently, and I must apologize for not replying to any questions - things have been rather hectic.
I will try to make it brief, and here are the major bullet points:

* PD didn't sell as expected (there's little doubt it will break even somewhere along the way, but in Poland your game is always compared to Witcher 3 and Frostpunk )
* hence the previous, original CEO "resigned" (strong House of Cards vibe here)
* I was asked to step up, and I did (my major reason being keeping the team intact)
* we supported PD as much as it could have been supported (having lost the lead programmer) without jeopardizing daily operations
* late Dec it became clear that the CEO role was to become a shareholder puppet (you can check out the company statue changes prepped to be voted in late Jan)
* that was when I flipped the table and resigned from the CEO job
* the moment it became apparent that we'll have to struggle with even basic operation tasks, I grabbed that table mid-air and flipped it again and quit
* and the rest of the team also quit
* and CFG as you know it ceased to exist
* but on our last days on the company payroll we yet managed to push out as much as was possible of the modding support

The Polish game dev job market is in very good shape (imagine HR people dressed as mad max-ian warboys scouting the wasteland and fighting for any experienced gamedevs they can find) so there's no drama here, and meanwhile a handful of us came together and will try to do something.

I wish you the very best, and sincerely hope you play Silent Storm someday.

 

[Galdred]

Dear Codexians,
I do lurk here frequently, and I must apologize for not replying to any questions - things have been rather hectic.
I will try to make it brief, and here are the major bullet points:

* PD didn't sell as expected (there's little doubt it will break even somewhere along the way, but in Poland your game is always compared to Witcher 3 and Frostpunk )
* hence the previous, original CEO "resigned" (strong House of Cards vibe here)
* I was asked to step up, and I did (my major reason being keeping the team intact)
* we supported PD as much as it could have been supported (having lost the lead programmer) without jeopardizing daily operations
* late Dec it became clear that the CEO role was to become a shareholder puppet (you can check out the company statue changes prepped to be voted in late Jan)
* that was when I flipped the table and resigned from the CEO job
* the moment it became apparent that we'll have to struggle with even basic operation tasks, I grabbed that table mid-air and flipped it again and quit
* and the rest of the team also quit
* and CFG as you know it ceased to exist
* but on our last days on the company payroll we yet managed to push out as much as was possible of the modding support

The Polish game dev job market is in very good shape (imagine HR people dressed as mad max-ian warboys scouting the wasteland and fighting for any experienced gamedevs they can find) so there's no drama here, and meanwhile a handful of us came together and will try to do something.

That is very sad. Does the team still get any money out of the sales of the game or not then?

 

[Burning Bridges]

This imo demonstrates how feedback from yes-men can actually be a very bad thing for you in the long run.

We could have told you in advance that your combat calculation was dogshit and no fun, but it was drowned in a wave of exuberance. Too bad that the company folded just months after release, I was actually planning to buy the game if the combat would ever get fixed.

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

Hopefully the modding scene can tackle some of this game's crippling blandness. And as other people have mentioned the way combat works is bullshit. Change that first, please modders!

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

Ok, this thing became a story of sorts the way I never intended it to be. To be clear, I was always focused on working on the games, not politics or the business side. CFG is doing ok under new management with a new team who should continue to support Phantom Doctrine. I wish them the best and I hope they succeed.

Sorry for stirring the pond, I'll be back with info on what I know, which is games.

*grumble, grumble*

Dear person, you sound like a stellar designer. You should make a living making games, let me know how it goes.

By the way, Hard West is about to go out on Switch, go take it for a spin, I'm told it's good (even tho I did that game w/o playing Silent Storm). External team, different publisher (ie. not Good Shepherd who did HW PC), but it's still the same nitty gritty thing about deals with the devil.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

w/o playing Silent Storm

w/o playing Silent Storm

w/o playing Silent Storm

 

[Burning Bridges]

*grumble, grumble*

Dear person, you sound like a stellar designer. You should make a living making games, let me know how it goes.

Dear stellar designer you make it sound like I was just laid off, not you.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG