Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Thanks, guys! 
-
Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.
"This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.
Information Telepath Tactics Kickstarter Relaunched
- Thread starter Crooked Bee
- Start date
Tried the demo yesterday - the UI/control scheme is a bit fiddly but it's a lot of fun overall. I also like the art style more than I thought I would. Great to see this got funded so quickly!
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Nice--I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm definitely still tweaking the UI, so don't worry: making it better is on the agenda.
Elthosian
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,145
Tried the demo yesterday - the UI/control scheme is a bit fiddly but it's a lot of fun overall. I also like the art style more than I thought I would. Great to see this got funded so quickly!
You should try the older one if you can, it's shorter but it has an extra level which is much harder (and satisfying) to beat than the ones from this demo, it was sad to see it wasn't there but I suppose Craig had to remove it because it didn't feel connected at all to the previous maps.
almondblight
Arcane
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2004
- Messages
- 2,637
Any chance we'll see a Shining Force type town mode?
Thanks, bro! There are demo links on the old Kickstarter page, I might check 'em out to see if they're for an older version.
Some random thoughts...
This. There's a lot of screen estate on modern monitors, use it. And/or make a hotkey that shows basic info next to every character for a quick overview (currently you have to mouseover each character separately).
I don't like ranged counterattacks. I don't think this mechanic makes much sense, I can't think of any other tactical game that had them. In Servants of God I was constantly forgetting about them and getting a nasty surprise.
I think assassins' leap should use up movement points. Currently they can cross ridiculous distances by jumping around.
Rotating should be done by pointing the direction with the mouse (or cursor keys), not by clicking "Rotate" several times.
The actions bar should be close to the active character, to avoid unnecessary back and forth mouse movement. Maybe it should appear after right-clicking like a context menu so it doesn't obstruct the view when not needed. Also, clicking on an enemy should probably execute the default attack (if possible). You can show the movement range on mouseover, without the need to click.
The "A" hotkey mentioned in the manual doesn't seem to work. Though I guess "M" absorbed its function.
It would be nice if hotkeys were configurable. They should be shown in the tooltips.
You can't scroll the map when animations are playing.
Force Vsync on by default if you can. Without it scrolling the map looks bad because of screen tearing.
Maybe add a 2x zoom mode for people with EXTREME resolutions.
Rally doesn't work well if there are obstacles around, some units get stuck.
Sometimes when you click "Done" and undo it later the character's sprite is still gray.
Get a nicer title screen, it's ugly. OTOH I like the sprites and tiles.
I hope you really focus on AI this time. I say "this time" because it was crappy in Servants of God, and it was a pretty simple game.
That said,.
This. There's a lot of screen estate on modern monitors, use it. And/or make a hotkey that shows basic info next to every character for a quick overview (currently you have to mouseover each character separately).
I don't like ranged counterattacks. I don't think this mechanic makes much sense, I can't think of any other tactical game that had them. In Servants of God I was constantly forgetting about them and getting a nasty surprise.
I think assassins' leap should use up movement points. Currently they can cross ridiculous distances by jumping around.
Rotating should be done by pointing the direction with the mouse (or cursor keys), not by clicking "Rotate" several times.
The actions bar should be close to the active character, to avoid unnecessary back and forth mouse movement. Maybe it should appear after right-clicking like a context menu so it doesn't obstruct the view when not needed. Also, clicking on an enemy should probably execute the default attack (if possible). You can show the movement range on mouseover, without the need to click.
The "A" hotkey mentioned in the manual doesn't seem to work. Though I guess "M" absorbed its function.
It would be nice if hotkeys were configurable. They should be shown in the tooltips.
You can't scroll the map when animations are playing.
Force Vsync on by default if you can. Without it scrolling the map looks bad because of screen tearing.
Maybe add a 2x zoom mode for people with EXTREME resolutions.
Rally doesn't work well if there are obstacles around, some units get stuck.
Sometimes when you click "Done" and undo it later the character's sprite is still gray.
Get a nicer title screen, it's ugly. OTOH I like the sprites and tiles.
I hope you really focus on AI this time. I say "this time" because it was crappy in Servants of God, and it was a pretty simple game.
That said,
.
Sorry, but no significant randomness = no buy.
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Thanks, Niektory; I love getting detailed feedback like this! Some of this stuff (zooming, better AI) is already on the agenda. I'll keep the rest in mind.
As for ranged counterattacks and "no significant randomness"--I personally like those things, but you can easily mod them out of / into the game by switching a few values in the XML. (In fact, you can do this right now in the alpha demo.)
As for ranged counterattacks and "no significant randomness"--I personally like those things, but you can easily mod them out of / into the game by switching a few values in the XML. (In fact, you can do this right now in the alpha demo.)
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Just noticed this! It's not currently planned, but it's certainly possible. Ultimately, it comes down to priorities. If there's enough demand for it and I have time after finishing the campaign and putting in niceties like play-by-email and procedural battlefield generation (which we're currently about $700 away from hitting), then I don't see why not.
almondblight
Arcane
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2004
- Messages
- 2,637
Great. Front Mission or Unlimited Saga style menu driven towns would work well too. If not for this game, maybe the next.
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Actually, menu-driven towns are totally doable in the game right now! It's more a matter of if/where they fit in with the main campaign's plot. (Even if they don't end up in the main campaign, there's no reason at all why they can't be in user campaigns.)
Oh, also, I just noticed that I typed the wrong thing above; we're really really close to the dungeons stretch goal (just $130 away!), not procedural battlefield generation (roughly $6,000 away). I still think we'll hit the procedural generation stretch goal, but that might take a week and a half or so.
Oh, also, I just noticed that I typed the wrong thing above; we're really really close to the dungeons stretch goal (just $130 away!), not procedural battlefield generation (roughly $6,000 away). I still think we'll hit the procedural generation stretch goal, but that might take a week and a half or so.
Elthosian
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,145
As long as you do add some kind of base for the campaign I am happy, one of the things I hated from the demo was how there weren't many opportunities to get your characters' inventories sorted.
Also, any chance you make the game autoloot every object in the ground (not the ones still inside barrels( when a mission ends? Because sometimes the last enemy I kill drops an item and I am not able to get it because I am instantly transported to the next conversation/map.
Btw, I think most stretch goals are assured, mobile support seems somewhat unlikely but I already see the game getting that delicious branching campaign
Also, any chance you make the game autoloot every object in the ground (not the ones still inside barrels( when a mission ends? Because sometimes the last enemy I kill drops an item and I am not able to get it because I am instantly transported to the next conversation/map.
Btw, I think most stretch goals are assured, mobile support seems somewhat unlikely but I already see the game getting that delicious branching campaign
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Yeah, I need to figure out something for that. I don't want to autoloot in every battle, because it wouldn't make sense in certain contexts (e.g. a battle where you're fleeing an approaching army and wouldn't possibly have the time to run around collecting all dropped items). Maybe I'll just create it as a default behavior, then add in a battle condition that lets me turn it off for scenarios where it wouldn't make sense.
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Hey guys! Just a quick reminder that there's less than 6 days left in the Telepath Tactics Kickstarter campaign. As of right now, we're about $2,900 from the stretch goal where the game supports procedural level generation, and are less than $6,900 away from the stretch goal where I branch the main campaign based on player choices. It'll take some work, but we can definitely hit these.
Anyway! Here's the update I posted yesterday, containing some info on dynamically changing battlefield conditions and a new music track the game's composer is working on. I'm off to go add support for death spawns into the game (i.e. things that spawn on the battlefield in place of a character or enemy that has died).
Anyway! Here's the update I posted yesterday, containing some info on dynamically changing battlefield conditions and a new music track the game's composer is working on. I'm off to go add support for death spawns into the game (i.e. things that spawn on the battlefield in place of a character or enemy that has died).
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
Heh. Well, I first got Brian's attention by tweeting him a link to my article on RPG character creation systems. He emailed me his thoughts on it, and followed me on Twitter (which just about made me piss my pants with glee--not gonna lie). He tweeted / FB-posted about it both times I ran the Kickstarter. He's a really good guy.
Chris, I interviewed for IndieRPGs.com, so I was able to email him when I launched the second campaign. I guess he liked the game enough to back it?
So those two guys I can account for. I'm honestly kind of shocked at how many other people I admire who somehow know about this Kickstarter through no doing of my own. Julian Gollop knew about it somehow. Ken Levine apparently backed it? (One of my other backers caught that one.) Jake Solomon came by my booth at PAX East and played Telepath Tactics, told me he really liked it, and signed up on my mailing list. (Stupidly, I didn't even realize that it was Jake Solomon until I was going back through the mailing list days later and saw the Firaxis email address.) I'm not sure what got the Larian guys on board, but I was really happy when I saw they'd donated.
So, uh, yeah. I guess the secret is just tenaciously reaching out to lots of people? Your guess is as good as mine!
P. S. I'm really looking forward to Barkley 2! :D
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 99,751
Networking. 
Elthosian
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,145
I would be, too, if I were a game designer, getting MCA to back my project...
Btw, I loved that update but I think fog of war would be better if it completely covered the areas you can't see, though it does have the advantage of being able to see if there is a road or a tree, have you considered graying them out like IS did with Advance Wars?
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
I would be, too, if I were a game designer, getting MCA to back my project...
Btw, I loved that update but I think fog of war would be better if it completely covered the areas you can't see, though it does have the advantage of being able to see if there is a road or a tree, have you considered graying them out like IS did with Advance Wars?
I might just provide fog of war options, so you can pick a custom fog tile type when you turn it on. (As it is, though, you can change it right now by just swapping out the semi-opaque png with a transparent or completely solid one!)
Craig Stern
Sinister Design
All right! We've hit the third stretch goal, are already 1/4 of the way to the fourth, and I've posted a new update answering backer questions concerning the lore of the Telepath universe. Check it out! :D
Craig, do you have ideas on why this campaign was a big succes while the previous campaign failed?
As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.