Turn-Based Tactics Showgunners (formerly Homicidal All-Stars) - turn-based tactics in a brutal late 21st century reality show from Hard West creators

[Kacper Szymczak]

Kacper Szymczak whats the camera control situation? We in baby mode 90 degree rotation increments? Full ubermensch fixed perspective?

It's fully freely rotatable to your liking, whichever angle feels the best.
You even get to zoom in and zoom out! (a bit)

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

You better have proper melee in this one. Click to expand... looks like melee is the only way to go deterministic?

@Kacper Szymczak what is this rng that im seeing

how can you possibly watch a 1 minute trailer and extrapolate something like this, tell me

indeed you tried to hide mechanic well. I did spot running to melee was 'guaranteed hit', while once there were percentages shown for unknown action.
Can one expect something like luck system from wild west after all?

Not at all.
Our research indicates that no one actually gives a f*ck, and it only complicates things for everyone.
So no.
We went with an rng that actually works, instead of trying to solve rng's problems with an alternative system.

Overall, it's far less a gimmicky game, or a "designer's game" - ie. a game designed to impress other designers, not necessarily, you know, actual people who play games for fun.
With HAS, my goal was primarly to - for once - make a game for other people, that's primarily exciting and fun.
It's by far the best game I've ever made, albeit least ambitious on paper.

 

[ArchAngel]

It is hard to say from that trailer if this will be worth playing. I hope you didn't go all Firaxis Xcom on us.

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

It is hard to say from that trailer if this will be worth playing. I hope you didn't go all Firaxis Xcom on us.

not sure I understand the sentiment, but I feel like I need to manage the expectations here

the closest point of reference to HAS is Mutant: Year Zero, except:
* combat is good
* abilities are great
* no duck with a shotgun
* very tight intense combat
* no stealth, that is: no way to win combat before combat
* actual gameplay in exploration

Compared to all the other games out there, HAS is all hand-crafted and carefully tuned. We made sure every combat encounter is significantly different, all enemies are distinct, choosing your team for a mission affects gameplay to a huge degree.

It's also much shorter and tighter - missions are significantly shorter and tightly packed with action, we rely on waves of enemies (as in Into The Breach), as opposed to missions taking forever to end.

In most missions you play with 3 characters (out of 6) to make sure it's not a grand complex strategy but a fast-paced tactical fuckery. I dare say its the fastest tactical game out there.

 

[lukaszek]

Not at all.
Our research indicates that no one actually gives a f*ck, and it only complicates things for everyone.
So no.
We went with an rng that actually works, instead of trying to solve rng's problems with an alternative system.

 

[Nortar]

In most missions you play with 3 characters (out of 6) to make sure it's not a grand complex strategy but a fast-paced tactical fuckery. I dare say its the fastest tactical game out there.

Only 3 characters field team is pretty sad.
By the way, have you played Dungeon of Naheulbeuk?

Looking at the trailer, the game is pretty brutal, with such a limited roster, is it one casualty and game's over?

 

[Acrux]

the closest point of reference to HAS is Mutant: Year Zero, except

And better camera controls, too, I hope.

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

Only 3 characters field team is pretty sad.

you guys have such strong opinions about experiences you haven't had, that I wish I had such confidence about anything in life

By the way, have you played Dungeon of Naheulbeuk?

nay

Looking at the trailer, the game is pretty brutal, with such a limited roster, is it one casualty and game's over?

nope:
* when a character is down, the rest get a temp boost
* all downed characters are revived after combat
* it's only when all are down that a game over occurs

the closest point of reference to HAS is Mutant: Year Zero, except

And better camera controls, too, I hope.

it does seem better!

 

[Nortar]

Only 3 characters field team is pretty sad.

you guys have such strong opinions about experiences you haven't had, that I wish I had such confidence about anything in life

Well, I'm looking forward to it, have it wishlisted on Steam already.
Given I have yet to see how it plays, but it does not change the fact that in most squad tactics even 4 characters feel pretty limited to my taste.
What is this, baby's first tacticool?

By the way, have you played Dungeon of Naheulbeuk?

nay

The joke "I don't read books, coz I'm a writer, not a reader" never gets old I guess.
Give it a look if you get a chance, it's one of the best tacticools in the recent years.
It shares some similarities with your game - pre-made unique characters, handcrafted encounters, fun gameplay.
Except you control more characters than in your entire cast.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

If I were to discuss a TV show where a group of contestants was competing in events and they got to select a limited number of contestants for events with differing challenges I'd perhaps theorize that picking contestants with certain strengths for certain activities would then become an important strategic decision

 

[ArchAngel]

Only 3 characters field team is pretty sad.

you guys have such strong opinions about experiences you haven't had, that I wish I had such confidence about anything in life

Well you don't have time to game I guess. We get to choose from 100+ games, to lower it to 5 or 1 we need to eliminate unwanted ones based on what is small info like having even less soldiers than Firaxis Xcom which was already bad at 4-6.

 

[agris]

We went with an rng that actually works, instead of trying to solve rng's problems with an alternative system.

What does this actually mean? Is this one of those pseudo RNGs that, if you miss a shot, the next shot has a greater chance to hit to make the player feel better?

* when a character is down, the rest get a temp boost

Lame, do we get participation trophies too even if we don't win? Really, what's the thinking here other than to make it easier?


Game has cool aesthetics though, old FASA is an apt description. Although the UI is pretty bloated, aka looks industry-standard.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Really, what's the thinking here other than to make it easier?

You know, it might lead to some hilarity to purposely tank a squaddie just for some quick wins.

 

[lightbane]

Really, what's the thinking here other than to make it easier?

You know, it might lead to some hilarity to purposely tank a squaddie just for some quick wins.

This might work if you can have a black squaddie to have him die first, for the extra 90s factor.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Hard West was pretty good. I remember not too long ago there was another dev here advertising his Running Man inspired roguelike called "Lethal Running". Didn't care for that so much, but I'll have to pick this one up when it comes out. From the supernatural wild west to this Running Man style stuff, you guys sure have good taste in coming up with settings for your games.

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

The joke "I don't read books, coz I'm a writer, not a reader" never gets old I guess.

HA
not true though, I play plenty
I am kinda tired with tbt though xD
unless they're exceptional

Give it a look if you get a chance, it's one of the best tacticools in the recent years.
It shares some similarities with your game - pre-made unique characters, handcrafted encounters, fun gameplay.
Except you control more characters than in your entire cast.

it does sound promising
but I looked
it is a rare case where aesthetics are so bland I don't think I will be able to stomach that
I mean, how many cutesy fantasy games can a human organism withstand, really

If I were to discuss a TV show where a group of contestants was competing in events and they got to select a limited number of contestants for events with differing challenges I'd perhaps theorize that picking contestants with certain strengths for certain activities would then become an important strategic decision

yes, that is how it works

Well you don't have time to game I guess. We get to choose from 100+ games, to lower it to 5 or 1 we need to eliminate unwanted ones based on what is small info like having even less soldiers than Firaxis Xcom which was already bad at 4-6.

we're constantly moving towards smaller games of higher and higher quality, so you can skip the other, bloated ones and just play the good ones instead

What does this actually mean? Is this one of those pseudo RNGs that, if you miss a shot, the next shot has a greater chance to hit to make the player feel better?

you mean like almost all RNGs out there?
_maybe_

Lame, do we get participation trophies too even if we don't win? Really, what's the thinking here other than to make it easier?

well this is game design 101, i expected more of this forum tbh
the point is to reduce the difficulty spike resulting from losing a third of your team
sharp dififculty spikes are number one reason good games get dropped or refunded
it is known!

Game has cool aesthetics though, old FASA is an apt description. Although the UI is pretty bloated, aka looks industry-standard.

UI feeling like industry standard is literally what any UI designer worth their salt should aspire to
the alternative is UI that looks nothing like what gamers are used to
why not make a car steering wheel a triangle that you control with your left foot

Hard West was pretty good. I remember not too long ago there was another dev here advertising his Running Man inspired roguelike called "Lethal Running". Didn't care for that so much, but I'll have to pick this one up when it comes out. From the supernatural wild west to this Running Man style stuff, you guys sure have good taste in coming up with settings for your games.

I actually consider this my main talent, that and having things work together to make the mood and vibes strong
thank you very much, I really appreciate this comment

 

[rusty_shackleford]

it does sound promising
but I looked
it is a rare case where aesthetics are so bland I don't think I will be able to stomach that
I mean, how many cutesy fantasy games can a human organism withstand, really

It's based on a french(bear with me here) comic, rather well done humor which is very rare for the genre. Nobody was really expecting it to be good, but it was generally well received on the forum almost knocking Wasteland 3 out of its 2020 RPGOTY spot despite being much more of a tactical game. I concur with Nortar, good game and definitely good research material for gamedevs making similar games.

 

[Kacper Szymczak]

It's based on a french(bear with me here) comic, rather well done humor which is very rare for the genre. Nobody was really expecting it to be good, but it was generally well received on the forum almost knocking Wasteland 3 out of its 2020 RPGOTY spot despite being much more of a tactical game. I concur with Nortar, good game and definitely good research material for gamedevs making similar games.

sigh

 

[ERYFKRAD]

why not make a car steering wheel a triangle that you control with your left foot

It's all fun and games until the pointy ends have their revenge for being stepped on that's why.

I actually consider this my main talent, that and having things work together to make the mood and vibes strong

Yeah, whatever Phantom Doctrine's faults you nailed the vibe like an amphetamaniac with a nailgun.

 

[Nortar]

Give it a look if you get a chance, it's one of the best tacticools in the recent years.
It shares some similarities with your game - pre-made unique characters, handcrafted encounters, fun gameplay.
Except you control more characters than in your entire cast.

it does sound promising
but I looked
it is a rare case where aesthetics are so bland I don't think I will be able to stomach that
I mean, how many cutesy fantasy games can a human organism withstand, really

True that.
I wonder how many players who prefer their tacticools to be deeper and more complex than nuXcoms missed this gem of a game just because of it's visual style.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Give it a look if you get a chance, it's one of the best tacticools in the recent years.
It shares some similarities with your game - pre-made unique characters, handcrafted encounters, fun gameplay.
Except you control more characters than in your entire cast.

it does sound promising
but I looked
it is a rare case where aesthetics are so bland I don't think I will be able to stomach that
I mean, how many cutesy fantasy games can a human organism withstand, really

True that.
I wonder how many players who prefer their tacticools to be deeper and more complex than nuXcoms missed this gem of a game just because of it's visual style.

Heh if you thought this art style was bad, wait till we get you to Troubleshooter Abandoned Children.

 

[Falksi]

Hard West was fucking brilliant, so definitely have my eye on this.

One of the things which made it so brilliant though was the stunning commentary by Death, and the atmospheric overworld. Interested to see how they replace that here.

 

[gurugeorge]

This is one of those ideas where you wonder why nobody's thought of it before

 

[Falksi]

In most missions you play with 3 characters (out of 6) to make sure it's not a grand complex strategy but a fast-paced tactical fuckery. I dare say its the fastest tactical game out there.

Only 3 characters field team is pretty sad.

Tbh I think Hard West often worked best when you were as a 3.

4 was fun, but it did mean some scenarios were a bit easy, and the 4th member was a bit of a spare-part/meat shield.

3 was tight and more precarious, and would be more in keeping with the tense vibe required to convey the feeling of being trapped in a deathshow.

 

[lukaszek]

if it wasnt for cool deterministic system you guyz wouldnt hear of hard west in first place.

Man im upset. Sir Crispy help me