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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingPharmakon: tactical battles, drones, puzzles & beasts!
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Author Topic: Pharmakon: tactical battles, drones, puzzles & beasts!  (Read 2427 times)
LOUD
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« on: July 21, 2016, 12:02:15 PM »

UPDATE : Pharmakon is on Greenlight!
VOTE here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=883402376






PITCH:
A roguelite turn-based game about tactical battles
between puzzle-powered drones and elementary beasts.



TRAILER:





You power up a drone with elements’ parts to fight elementary beasts infesting your faction.





  • Become an agent dedicated to his/her faction
  • Fits elements’ puzzle parts to power your drone
  • Coordinate attacks against elementary beasts
  • Push beasts'position with attacks to order battlelield strategically
  • Setup tactical combos with collateral damages
  • Strategy based on tight puzzle-ressource management
  • Use lasers to configure special abilities to improve your control of the battle
  • Face new threat every game
  • Tactical depth in a simple and precise set of possibilities
  • Great 80’s style dark music by Janek Roeben (U-GameZ)


It is a challenge for your mind calling on skills of Evaluation, Adaptation, Optimisation and Anticipation.





The story unfolds in a sci-fi universe ruled by technological exploitation of nature's elements.

The world has been infested by threatening elementary beasts.
To face the problem, territories decided to counter the infestation and developed drones using elements as source of power.
Over time, this divided the world in 5 factions dedicated to the elements of Water, Fire, Ice, Earth and Electricty.
Now, trained agents equiped with such drones represent each faction security agaisnt elementary beasts.
Today, you are an agent sent on an urgent mission to protect a new territory from infestation.





If you like to Think, Measure, Calculate, Adapt, Coordinate, Manage space, Manage ressources, Optimize, Anticipate and Combine then Pharmakon is for you!





(old project names: "Drone Agent", "A Past Haven", "My Last Refuge")
« Last Edit: April 06, 2017, 02:40:04 PM by repstyle » Logged
schoko
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« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2016, 04:42:07 PM »

Took me some time to get into it. Was real fun to play then  Smiley .

The typewriter in the beginning is a bit slow and i think there should be more restrictions on the interface before the intro is finished. I almost got stuck in the introduction. Like is was able to dispose my parts before i had understood the mechanism of repairing. Some parts of the UI were a bit confusing i did not get their functionality. It also took me some time to understand that i have to pickup the new parts by dragging. I was also a bit confused about how often i could shoot.

I really liked the ranged damage when killing an enemy.  I would put a bit more emphasis on the shooting part. 
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« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2016, 02:09:10 AM »

@schoko

Thx Wink

Quote from: schoko
The typewriter in the beginning is a bit slow
It is difficult to adjust because not everyone read at the same speed. I'll increase speed if i get several requests about it.

Quote from: schoko
i think there should be more restrictions on the interface before the intro is finished
What do you mean ?

Quote from: schoko
I almost got stuck in the introduction
What happened ? If it was after using a cheat, it doesn't matter because cheats are made to playtest only.

Quote from: schoko
Like is was able to dispose my parts before i had understood the mechanism of repairing
Is it disturbing to have the opportunity to try/play with the pieces before being in 1st combat ?

Quote from: schoko
Some parts of the UI were a bit confusing i did not get their functionality
Can you indicate which parts ?

Quote from: schoko
It also took me some time to understand that i have to pickup the new parts by dragging
How did you try to pick them ?

Quote from: schoko
I was also a bit confused about how often i could shoot
You can shoot once. Then depending on the way you shoot, enemies counter attacks or not. If no beast counter attacks you, you can shoot again right after.
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schoko
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« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2016, 07:49:20 AM »

Concerning the typewriter: for me it usually works if you can chancel the typewriter by click. If you click while it is still typing just show all text at once.

Quote
What happened ? If it was after using a cheat, it doesn't matter because cheats are made to playtest only.
No cheat just was interacting with the game before all parts of the UI were revealed and got confused playing with them. Did not realize that there is more UI hidden. Being able to interact with the UI made me forget that i can click these text fields ( as they are not visually pervasive enough besides the other UI ).

Quote
Is it disturbing to have the opportunity to try/play with the pieces before being in 1st combat ?
At least to have all options. Being able to place parts is okay. The selling parts to get repair points is not.

Quote
Can you indicate which parts ?
Those parts underneath these status bars for the different elements. I thought they just might be decoration.

Quote
How did you try to pick them ?
By a simple click. After nothing happend by that i concluded that they might be added automatically.

Quote
I was also a bit confused about how often i could shoot
Seemed really random to me I could usually shoot really often before they fired back. That made the game feel less strategic at the beginning. Getting shot every time would make it feel way more strategic. Enemies not firing back at you should feel more like a special event and maybe have some feedback ( Like a confusion animation ). 
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« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2016, 07:53:15 AM »

I've uploaded a new version of Pharmakon.

Available here Smiley

Changes :
- procedural content generation balanced
- dialogs about beasts behavior added
- help to select pieces on ground

Feedbacks always greatly appreciated !
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« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2016, 02:58:31 PM »

I've uploaded a new version of Pharmakon.

Available here Smiley

Changes :
- starting pieces shape diversity increased
- decrease bad luck of not finding new pieces

I am at a development stage where I need relevant feedbacks to validate what i've done to choose what i will improve, add or delete.

Here's an in-game screenshot :

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« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2016, 03:06:08 PM »

Played the newest version. I managed to kill 7 beasts before I died.

    Is it fun ?
Hard to say, not my fav type of game (turn based)

    Is it consistent ?
The mix of si-fi droid against animal beast was a bit wierd to me.  I don't think it fits together.

    Is aesthetic working ?
Polygonal enemys vs. flat 2D droid, inconsistantcy in art style and different perspective/view.

    Is it well balanced ?
Not sure yet, mainly yes.

    Is it alive through feedbacks ?
Pretty good, nothing super special, yet.

    Is it enough and equally polished ?
Alot to read, nice little text windows going on. I'm guessing there will be alot more things tike weapons, force-field, stun gun

    Is it repetitive ?
Right now yeah, but it's early in development

    Is there a bug ?
Nothing found

    What don't you like ?
Enemy destruction looks like a nuclear explosion
Separation of drone and beast.The drone has a black background like it's in space, while the beasts are on the ground and look tiny compared to the drone, and there's like a bar between them.

    Conclusion :
I thought this was going to be kind of a FTL like. Then I saw the tetris-ish mechanic. It's wierd that a drone would be built that way. Still in developent, so no conclusion.

Hope this helps.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2016, 03:20:12 PM by melerski » Logged

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« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2016, 02:54:17 PM »

Hi! Already play the game, its fun once you get it, few thing I can say about it,

one: dragging  the new parts its a little bit annoying, some times when I click on them, they doesn't move, and (maybe Im lazy but...) It's kind of a long way to drag from the top screen to the suitcase, and would be easier to double click. And the first time I play, I didn't realize they where there, but also I'd skip the dialogs.

two: Once, a beast with -5hp(or something) counter attack me Shocked ...
this was the situation...
- I shoot a beast in the left side to kill it, the beast move to the right and hit another beast with 1hp.
- Then the first beast explodes and hit a third beast with more than 3hp (the second beast its dead already "0hp").
- The second beast explodes and hit the third beast, so the third beast(with -5hp) attack me before explode.

three: I did love being able to push around a beast and do indirect damage(explosion or hit by another beast), but it's not cool if they counter attack by indirect damage, I mean... I hit 3 beast with one shoot, the target dies and they still attack me? Undecided

four(not a big deal): I do start with full ice pieces, on level 5, 6, or 7, 3 Ice beast apear, and I pick up like 3 pieces of another element, so I deal 6 ice damage and have to kill 3 ice beast, it ok, a little challenge, perfect I got it, but at the end I got stuck with lets say 10 slots to fix and 6 ice parts, that's cruel.  Beg

Great game! I like the concept! Keep working on it, and maybe spice it up a little, I mean, a miniboss that can only die by indirect damage will be cool, I don't know  Smiley
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« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2016, 11:56:50 PM »

Yhanks for your feedback @zbits !

Quote
one: dragging  the new parts its a little bit annoying, some times when I click on them, they doesn't move, and (maybe Im lazy but...) It's kind of a long way to drag from the top screen to the suitcase, and would be easier to double click. And the first time I play, I didn't realize they where there, but also I'd skip the dialogs.

Yes, i am working to improve ground's pieces picking. I will position them closer to suitcase also. About double-click to pick pieces, i don't do that because you can drop pieces on ground in order to re-organie all your stuff. So using double-click to collect and drag and drop to leave a piece is a bit inconsistent imo.

Quote
Once, a beast with -5hp(or something) counter attack me Shocked ...

Yes, this happen sometimes because of the priority order of actions. I kind of like it when it happen, i see it like a final blow beast do in its last breath. I don't know if i will keep it. Maybe i will indicate this as a "last blow".

Quote
three: I did love being able to push around a beast and do indirect damage(explosion or hit by another beast), but it's not cool if they counter attack by indirect damage, I mean... I hit 3 beast with one shoot, the target dies and they still attack me? Undecided

Did you noticed the principle of rage ? If you didn't, each time you will hurt a beast with a collateral damage (push or explosion) beast's rage will increase by 1. If the maximum tolerance of rage is reached, beast counters you at full force. Max rage is 3 (that means at 3rd injuries beast will attack). To know rage level, you have to look at beasts illumination. The more it is illuminated the more it is enraged.
At a moment, i was wondering if it could be a good idea to make the beasts counter-attacking betwwen themselves but :
- it can drive to insane combo mess where one blow can eradicate all beast pack. Too powerful.
- player/drone will be attacked a lot less. And it will lead to a completely different balancing of pieces management. I don't know if it will be as interesting as now.
Well that idea is interesting too but i am not sure of its potential added value.

Quote
I do start with full ice pieces, on level 5, 6, or 7, 3 Ice beast apear, and I pick up like 3 pieces of another element, so I deal 6 ice damage and have to kill 3 ice beast, it ok, a little challenge, perfect I got it, but at the end I got stuck with lets say 10 slots to fix and 6 ice parts, that's cruel.  Beg

Yes, i am still balancing combat to never plase player in unfair situation where no matter he'll, he'll die.
The example you are talking about is one : random generation created ice beasts too often. I understand it sounds unfair. But sometimes, this situation comes because player chhosed to destroy the wrong piece in order to repair the drone. In doing so, player don't get the importance of keeping a good balance of which piece element/shape is better to keep.
The game leads to anticipation so it is kind of difficult to balance it Smiley.
Also, because it is procedurally generated, the more i will try to delete unfair situation with strict rules of generation, the more readable patterns will appear to the player and (maybe) fun will decrease.

I'm happy you liked the game !
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« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2016, 02:30:51 PM »

I have uploaded a new version of Pharmakon

Last changes :


  • Difficulty balanced improved
  • Fullscreen bug on Windows 10 & Windows 7 64bits fixed.
  • Dialogs lenght reduced and reorganized
  • Help to select pieces on ground
  • First background environment added
  • Some typos corrected

I would like to have feedbacks on :

  • Fun
  • Difficulty
  • Game mechanics are enough to entertain ?
  • Consistency
  • Which part do you prefer ?
  • Which part do you like the less ?
  • Accessibility
  • What where you expecting ?
  • Anything else ?
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« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2016, 07:46:47 AM »

I've uploaded a new version of Pharmakon : visumeca.itch.io/droneagent
(link in first post is updated)

This time, i've worked on the tutorial. Now, in-game interactions will make the tutorials dialogs go forward instead of annoying clicks.

I hope this will make the game clearer/accessible because before i noticed that players who didn't understand correctly the game couldn't reach level 6 but players who correctly understood every game's aspects could reach level 15 (= demo's end).

I would greatly appreciate your feedbacks Wink.
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Quicksand-S
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« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2016, 11:05:15 AM »

Well, I've finally gotten around to playing this.

I didn't read the instructions. I wanted to see how well the game would teach me things.

-I really like the idea of placing puzzle-like pieces in my drone to give it power.

-The first mission said I had to boost my electric power, but all my pieces were set up as 4,3,2,1 with 1 being the electric power. It was really unclear how to change that.

-I found the interface a bit confusing. The fire button doesn't stand out, and it seems like a bunch of elements on the lower right are completely non-interactive so I don't know why they're so prominent.

-It feels weird not to be able to target the center of a beast. Maybe mention that you can push them in various directions by attacking their sides.

-It was also unclear why all my pieces had the same element icon on them, but rarely had much power of that type. It wasn't clear to me that those were the types those pieces were strong against. Maybe that needs to be made clearer.

-I wasn't sure what the numbers meant. If I had a power of 8 against fire, why did I only do something like 2 damage? I would've expected using water against fire to do much more than that.

-It might be a good idea to show the power distribution of a piece when you hover over it on the drone, so that you don't have to remove it in order to see what its values are.

-Why do repairs drain all my resources instead of only the type that matches the damage?

-When pieces show up on the battlefield, I usually have to click about six times before I can finally pick them up.

-The first time I played, the tutorial messages didn't show up.
On my first playthrough, I got through two battles just fine, then on the third my drone just wouldn't attack no matter what I did. My guess is that it's related the problem of tutorial messages not showing up. When I tried again, everything worked fine. When it works, the tutorial does a pretty good job of explaining things. The basic mechanics are pretty intuitive too, for the most part. I kinda enjoyed it.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2016, 11:22:44 AM by Quicksand-S » Logged

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« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2016, 03:01:06 PM »

@Quicksand-S :
Thanks for your feedback !

Quote
The first mission said I had to boost my electric power, but all my pieces were set up as 4,3,2,1 with 1 being the electric power. It was really unclear how to change that.
Damn it's an error from me, from what you said you were equiped with Water pieces and i would tell to boost power against Fire. Sorry about that.

Quote
The fire button doesn't stand out, and it seems like a bunch of elements on the lower right are completely non-interactive so I don't know why they're so prominent.
Fire button will maybe disappear to let the player use only targets on beast to attack.
About the schema with elements symbol, it's to show the relationship between elements.
And the thing completely to the bot right, i will remove it as well.

Quote
It was also unclear why all my pieces had the same element icon on them, but rarely had much power of that type. It wasn't clear to me that those were the types those pieces were strong against. Maybe that needs to be made clearer.
All pieces in your suitcase have same element because they belongs to your faction so you start with the element emblem of your faction.
Pieces with (as example) Water element do Water damages. So these damages have more or less power agaisnt other elements (that's power information shown when you hover a piece). That means a piece of Water will be powerful against fire but useless against water.
Again it was explained in the previous version but removed because players was bored by tutorial and some thougth it was clear enough. I will think again about it.

Quote
I wasn't sure what the numbers meant. If I had a power of 8 against fire, why did I only do something like 2 damage? I would've expected using water against fire to do much more than that.
If you attacked a beast of fire when your drone/command power (to the right) indicates 8 of fire, you inflict 8 damages. But if you attack a water beast with the same config, you will do only 2 damages. I think you targeted the wrong type.

Quote
-It might be a good idea to show the power distribution of a piece when you hover over it on the drone, so that you don't have to remove it in order to see what its values are.
I was wondering about that but i think it pollutes the view of the puzzle.

Quote
-Why do repairs drain all my resources instead of only the type that matches the damage?
Because when you extract repair from a piece, you have to consider it as a plasma cell. Let's say you destroy a water piece and gain a repair cell of water. With 100% of that cell, you can repair up to 4 fire damages but you can only repair 1 electric damage with these 100%. So if, firstly, you use 25% of that cell to repair a fire damage, it remains only 75% of that matter and it's not enough to repair an electric damage (because it needs 100% of water repair matter).

Quote
-When pieces show up on the battlefield, I usually have to click about six times before I can finally pick them up.
That's because you have to drag and drop them to the bottom and not just click it. I have to be more explicit about this.

Quote
-The first time I played, the tutorial messages didn't show up.
If you hit F1, tutorial texts weren't displayed. So things in tutorial was impossible to achieve and that's why you were stuck. I forgot to remove that. Sorry.

Quote
When I tried again, everything worked fine. When it works, the tutorial does a pretty good job of explaining things. The basic mechanics are pretty intuitive too, for the most part. I kinda enjoyed it.
Nice Smiley
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« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2016, 03:29:01 PM »

Quote
If you attacked a beast of fire when your drone/command power (to the right) indicates 8 of fire, you inflict 8 damages. But if you attack a water beast with the same config, you will do only 2 damages. I think you targeted the wrong type.

Nope. I checked to make sure I was right about the type. It seems like a bug, because on the following attacks it always did the correct amount of damage.

Quote
Quote
-It might be a good idea to show the power distribution of a piece when you hover over it on the drone, so that you don't have to remove it in order to see what its values are.
I was wondering about that but i think it pollutes the view of the puzzle.

I suppose it would. Maybe when you pick up a piece, it should show the values on the side somewhere? That way, you can still look at the puzzle and not have anything in the way.

Quote
Quote
-When pieces show up on the battlefield, I usually have to click about six times before I can finally pick them up.
That's because you have to drag and drop them to the bottom and not just click it. I have to be more explicit about this.

I knew I had to drag them. What I mean was that it took six tries before the piece actually attached itself to my cursor so I could drag it.

One more question: Why is it that the repair resources you get from a block are the same as its power levels? Shouldn't it be the opposite to some degree? For example, a water block has high power against fire and no power against water. When you want repair resources from it, you get no water resources. It's a water block but produces no water resources and I find that really strange.
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« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2016, 10:18:51 AM »

Quote
Nope. I checked to make sure I was right about the type. It seems like a bug, because on the following attacks it always did the correct amount of damage.
Ok then i'll check that. And it's really weird inever noticed such a thing.

Quote
Maybe when you pick up a piece, it should show the values on the side somewhere? That way, you can still look at the puzzle and not have anything in the way.
I will think of a way to give that info.

Quote
I knew I had to drag them. What I mean was that it took six tries before the piece actually attached itself to my cursor so I could drag it.
Mmmh i don't have this problem. If youcould make a video or a give of the problem it could be nice. If you don't, don't worry Smiley.

Quote
One more question: Why is it that the repair resources you get from a block are the same as its power levels? Shouldn't it be the opposite to some degree? For example, a water block has high power against fire and no power against water. When you want repair resources from it, you get no water resources. It's a water block but produces no water resources and I find that really strange.
Mmmh i understand what you say but i don't get it that way.
For me, il i extract repairs from a water piece, i'll extract repairs with chemical-physics properties of water and i will use it against elements. Seeing it the other way is like saying, i can blow fire on fire to stop fire.
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« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2016, 11:57:13 AM »

Currently, i am looking for references of interface's background (animated or not) related to sci-fi/electronics.
Any good game/movie to consider ?
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« Reply #16 on: August 21, 2016, 12:47:48 PM »

Mmmh i understand what you say but i don't get it that way.
For me, il i extract repairs from a water piece, i'll extract repairs with chemical-physics properties of water and i will use it against elements. Seeing it the other way is like saying, i can blow fire on fire to stop fire.

You know, you're right. I guess I just find the way it's displayed a bit weird then. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the repair energy should be related to what's needed in order to repair damage. If I have a fire, then I should use up water-type repair energy to put it out. I know that's not how the interface is set up, but I guess I'm used to looking at meters like that as "You have this amount of resource X" rather than "You can repair this amount of damage type X". I'm pretty sure it's the opposite of most games I've played, so while it seems like it should be intuitive (damage matches repairs), it wasn't for me.
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« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2017, 08:16:23 AM »

BIIIIG UPDATE : Pharmakon is on Greenlight!

Quick reminder:

Pharmakon is a game about tactical battles between puzzle-powered drones and elementary beasts.
The story unfolds in a sci-fi universe ruled by technological exploitation of nature's elements.
More details in first post of the topic Wink.

VOTE here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=883402376
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« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2017, 03:19:25 PM »

Now the game is developed, i can finally share a step by step overview of Pharmakon evolution!

Let's begin!

At the beginning of Pharmakon's development, i wasn't able to code at all!
Programming was obscur. A kind of dark magic!

But i had to try to build my ideas no matter what, so i made a cardboard version of the game Smiley






I would appreciate a lot your visit, your VOTE and your comment
on the Pharmakon Steam Greenlight Page :
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=883402376

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