Hi again reader,
since our last endeavor, we have gotten a whole slew of feedback!
At first, we initially thought we had solved Omni’s sudden death problem, we had a solid map oriented control, we thought people understood what they were controlling and how it connected beautifully with the aesthetics, boy, weren’t we wrong.
What happens if there is a tie?
If ever a player makes the kill shot towards a player that does the same, we had a tie in the game, making sure the players would try another match. We later changed that to only the surviving players get to play it again but now, they were placed within a tile of distance of each other. We later changed it to simply having the players play the game again but only the last surviving players.
After a discussion, we tried to understand the tactical impact it made towards the players, nobody wants to change their initial tactical play that lead up to the tied shot. Therefore, we made up a new law; now, if the game becomes a tie, Omndrenalin charges body of the avatar, becoming aware of its imminent death and plays on with one hit point at the same place they tied it, moving on with the game and allowing the players for an extension. The games storyline wraps it up as these avatars are a first reconnaissance assault team, charged with securing the landing place for their respective civilization to extract the vital rock they were sent there in the first place. When one team is the only one alive, they have are the ones that signal the extractors down to work on the resource. Therefore, there are only small battles between these noble civilizations.
I wouldn’t say this is the definite way to do it nor can I promise the lore is final but our current explanation of the rules and its lore is true. So if that ever comes up, here is your reference card!
Map orientation
So our map is consisted of hexagonal tiles, allowing for six different directions for each action (unless there are no tiles there). Having no real orientation with the controller and the map is something we prided ourselves with, though now we are not that sure of it. There are some few problems when generating maps considering we have no real map art, no environmental tiles and no real co-ordinates. So our first rule was to generate each map like this:
The map on the left had people sitting on opposite sides of each other with the same map orientation, helping the controller to work pedagogically instead of being a cumbersome nuisance of tilting the controller or your head as the right example shows.
The controller:
The controller is designed in the same way the map design on the left is with the first ring symbolizes the first action and the second being the second action. A player simply chooses the direction of the action and which order its played out. It is a pretty simple tactical approach but there is a depth in the game which you experience if you play it (cutout blog post incoming). So one way we can solve the nuisance of tilting your head are co-ordinates, there is only one north and its marked on either every tile or just one, one reference tile which is placed anywhere.
We were also given the feedback to make sure each avatar has a view direction which changes depending on where you move or attack, generating possibilities such as a directional attack system or a back stab ability for a class. I am afraid we haven’t gotten this system into the current version but we are looking forward to developing it and we wanted you, the reader to know that we are looking into it.
What are you doing in the game?
So what are you actually controlling ? How are the mechanics connected to the aesthetic design of the game ? Well, we are not that sure yet.
This was our first impression when we got this feedback about five hours ago. We had a few ideas such as the battle itself is done is slow-motion where these stoic warriors are fighting a battle in slow-motion, and you are simply doing a few moves a turn. When the game is over, the game replays the whole event in real-time, all the mistakes and right choices you made are displayed in a beautiful cinematic. There was also an idea that these avatars were in reality massive ships or some sort, maneuvering space or sea to fight for domination. Another idea was that you were programming the minds of your avatar, but the controls never allowed more than you were allowed each turn.
Truth be told, we don’t know yet. We are debating as we are creating the universe in which the game takes place, as the game has had about four different forms of lore, we do not want to touch the subject until we feel Omni is exactly the way we want to play.
Our second tournament
So our second tournament draws closer (tomorrow) and we are really excited to show our new systems. Our new systems are in place, snacks will be bought and the prizes this time is warm food. Here is a sneak peak and oh, did I mention we have free-for-all ?
We have a new way to explain our characters with the brand new character sheet, our controller is now fully mobile with our website worldsatwar.xyz (will be changed to omnigame.xyz very soon) and our hit points tokens (as our stats have changed, this is a temporary solution). On the left hand side, we have our regular team deathmatch mode and on the right is the new free-for-all tournament map.
So next time, I will talk about what we are imagining next, what our plans are and what types of discussions are popular within the studio.
Thank you so much for reading, have a great night and stay true,
Ladbon
Board tiles in different patterns (there are around 7 unique tiles)
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