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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingDecknight - Card-based roleplaying game [Android]
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Author Topic: Decknight - Card-based roleplaying game [Android]  (Read 5394 times)
Enrik
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« on: November 30, 2016, 11:00:39 AM »

Decknight is a  card-based role-playing game where you travel through different deck cards. On each card, you’ll find a situation where you have to make a choice in the same way as the old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. The combat is turn based with some tactical component.

I would like to know your opinions about the difficulty of the game. There’s a tutorial that is very recommended to understand the basic combat system, I would like to know your opinions about the tutorial too.

The game is in English and Spanish.

The game is mostly finished and the final translations is ready. Most of the typos and errors in the English text must be solved now. If you find any error or typo I'll really appreciate you tell me the card where you found it!



Game Trailer






In Decknight you will find:

  • A different game each time.
  • You can make your choice on each situation you find.
  • A different deck for each zone you visit. Grassland, Woods, Lake and Mountains.
  • More than 130 different cards with more than 500 areas.
  • Different creatures, weapons, spells and objects for each zone you visit.
  • Different endings depending of your decisions.


Play free at

Google Play Store

More info

You can find more info at Decknight game website


Screenshots

     
« Last Edit: June 09, 2017, 08:39:56 AM by Enrik » Logged

QuadrupleA
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« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2016, 12:05:56 PM »

Hey - I took a look at this one a few days ago - I started with the tutorial but the help text was obscuring the cards (hard to avoid I guess) and I ended up closing that help box, so not sure if I got the game into a weird mode or not. When I got to a battle, I couldn't figure out how to do anything - I could access the tooltips/descriptions of weapons but couldn't take any action. Tried clicking / dragging the small white circle icons around but no luck. Maybe because of still being in tutorial mode in the background? Also couldn't tell which was my stuff and which was the enemy's, maybe rearranging the layout there would help. Other than that I liked the graphics and the absence of clutter in the interface, looks like it'll be fun with some usability tweaks.
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Enrik
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« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2016, 02:11:21 PM »

Thank you very much for giving it a try! I really appreciate the feedback. There shouldn't be any problem when you quit the tutorial, the game should keep going in the same way as a normal new game. The odd part is that you couldn't use the actions (the circular buttons) on combat. They are normal buttons so only a click on them should work. If you give it a try again could you please confirm me it works Ok?

The player actions are the ones on the lower part. I thought it was easy to know because in the cards part of the game you only see the lower equipment but other players have told the same about being confused about what was their stuff and their enemy stuff.

One last question, why do you think you quit the tutorial? Was it boring? I don't want to force the player to follow all the tutorial but it's very hard to understand the combat system without the help of the tutorial. I'm still struggling with that part.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback, I'm happy you liked the art and if you give it a try again please tell me how it works this time.
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QuadrupleA
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« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2016, 04:39:17 PM »

Hey Enrik - so with the tutorial, I think the main issue is just that the window blocks the card artwork underneath, which really makes me want to close it Smiley. Maybe you can have have the tutorial dialogs take over the whole screen (and/or dim what's behind it) and have an "OK" button to close it each time? Then the player takes the action in the tutorial, and the next tutorial box pops up? Would be nice to get it out of the way when you're interacting with the game.

I just downloaded the latest version and tried the same thing I did last time, where I closed the tutorial on the "follow trail" step - this time I was able to interact and do the combat OK, so maybe it was a bug that got fixed. I might just not have been trying the right things the first time. Anyway yeah my gut feeling on the tutorial is that it got a little complicated / technical - maybe just how it's worded. I think the layout of the combat screen makes it tricky too - we're used to reading things top-to-bottom left-to-right and in this case top to bottom is enemy-you and left-to-right is you-enemy. Also it seems like when you make an attack, the enemy goes first a lot of the time which makes it confusing who's who. Usually you want your commands/actions to have an immediate effect. Anyway these are minor little things, there are usually a thousand of them in the process of developing games - tedious to fix but really nice when they're all ironed out.

I'll try to make some time to explore the game more now that I got it working.
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Enrik
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« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2016, 08:05:04 AM »

Thanks again quadrupleA, you feedback is very useful. I think you have a good point in the confusing portrait. I have been thinking about it and I think there is an easy solution just masking two clearly separated zones with the lower buttons and the player portrait an another one (maybe with a different backgrounds) with the upper buttons and your enemy portrait. An adding just a simple "entrance" effect at the beginning of the combat showing the player the enemy getting in.

About the tutorial and the "curious" players I will probably let the player to drag the tutorial window to the right side and merge again on each step. Anyway I have changed a lot of the text of the tutorial because now there is to much unnecessary reading and the player can get bored easily. I hope it's better on the next update.

About the enemy attacking first, some people already said the same before. I'm going to let the player attack first (in fact they are simultaneous but showing them at the same time make the secuence very hard to follow) it doesn't change the game play and is very easy for me to do it.

Thank you again for the feedback. I see you have updated infinitroid. I will try it again when I have a chance!
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QuadrupleA
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« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2016, 10:03:44 AM »

Cool, that fight entrance effect sounds like a good idea. I had a chance to play it some more last night, it's really fun - once I understood the combat and stuff the gameplay was really clear and made a lot of sense, and in my two playthrus I saw a lot of variety. I made it most of the way through the lake on my 2nd try (I had to continue-with-ads once along the way). Anyway cool concept and you did a nice job executing it, it has a lot of polish. The buttons and stuff feel really responsive, they react the moment you tap which is nice, and the little animations and stuff have a nice feel. The music loops are short but they change often enough to keep it interesting.

One thing I'd suggest is to have someone proofread the English text - there are a lot of little grammatical mistakes, not enough to confuse the concepts but enough to create little stumbling blocks while reading and disrupt the immersion a bit. E.g. "estrange" should be "strange". Pero su Ingles es muy superior de mi Espanol Smiley One idea, the site fiverr.com has people that offer all kinds of services for $5, I bet there are some English proofreaders on there who you could send a big file with all the text in it and they could make corrections.

Anyway cool game now that I got into it more, really nicely put together.

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Enrik
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« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2016, 09:04:59 AM »

Thank you QuadrupleA. It's good to know that once the combat is clear the rest of the game is enjoyable. And if you got to the final part of the lake in your second game that means it’s not too hard.

I tried to keep everything very simple, from the art to the animations and music, mostly to keep the size of the app small, that’s why the music loops are short. On the next version, there will be some graphics improvements because I’m preparing the game for tablets too, but the final size is going to be very small.

I will do the proofread for sure. I have some people for that already but I’m waiting to have all the writing finished to make all the work in one step. There’s going to be another deck (the mountain deck) that is the last one and small changes in some of the cards that already exist.

Thank you again. A lot of the things you told me have been very helpful.
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Enrik
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« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2016, 09:55:09 AM »

New version (0.5.5) uploaded to the Google Play Store

  • Improved art and interface for tablet compatibility (the play store doesn’t allow downloads for tablets in a beta phase but if somebody is interested in playing the game on a tablet I can send him the apk).
  • Now the decks screen is available.
  • There are some changes in the combat screen following the feedback from QuadrupleA (portraits and combat sequence).
  • Fixed some bugs and text errors in some cards
  • Improved performance.

As mentioned in the first post any feedback is welcome.


The new Deck screen to watch the previously visited cards.
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QuadrupleA
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« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2016, 09:17:57 AM »

Cool, I played a bit last night - at first I tried an upgrade from the Play store and it crashed right after the story screen (I tried 3 times). So I deleted and reinstalled and then it worked fine - incompatible save data maybe? Anyway I like the improvements to the combat screen, seems more intuitive now.  I played 3 or 4 games I think, and had fun. Only got to the lake this time before dying. The deck screen didn't make immediate sense, but I didn't spend too much time on it. Is it supposed to be a collection of the cards you've encountered in your plays?
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ldurniat
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« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2016, 03:29:53 AM »

Hi Enrik,

I have played several times in your game. It is pretty good:) But I like more games like Baldur's Gate or Ice Wind Dale 1/2. So you get picture. May be add  experience indicator or something like that will be good idea.

Thanks for playing my game and comment:)

ldurniat     
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Enrik
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« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2016, 04:31:12 PM »

Thank you QuadrupleA and ldurniat for the feedback!

You are right QuadrupleA about the upgrade problem. As you said the saved data are different now and that caused the problem. Just reinstalling or deleting the app data solves the problem.

I also think that the new combat screen makes more sense. Also, the tutorial now has an end instead of continuing with a normal game as before, I thought that was confusing for some players because there were two ways of starting the game (starting normal or through the tutorial). I’m now working too on smother animations and card movement for giving the player a better feeling.

About the deck screen, yes. It’s just a collection or the cards the player already visited. I doesn’t change anything of the gameplay but I think it could be interesting to show the player how much he explored and something interesting for those players who like to collect things. It still needs some improvement anyway and the performance in that part is very slow. That’s something I’ll improve in the next version.

Idurniat I also love that kind of games (I can’t remember how many times I played BG games) but this is a casual rpg for mobile platform. There’s some roguelike component instead of a hard story and the character progression is made through equipment and health improvement instead of abilities or attributes. Levels or experience here will make a deeper game but also will make it too complex for what I want it to be.

Idurniat did you find the game difficult or easy? Have you tried the tutorial or just played and figured how to play?

Anyway, it’s good to know you both liked the game. It seems the lake is at the moment the hardest part for a lot of players so I’ll try some difficult balance when the new deck (I’m working now in the last deck, the mountains) is available.

Thank you both again! I really appreciate the good feedback!
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ldurniat
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« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2016, 11:28:49 AM »

Hi Enrik,

I go through tutorial to know how to play. For me it is too long but this is only my opinion. What about level of difficult a game is not easy. Sometimes I win pretty fast. On the other hand couple of times I have met enemies which were strong enough to win with me:( When it is possible I attack enemy. I don't like use shield. So I try handle weapons in both hands. Also I don't like that I have no impact  how and when I get weapon, armor etc. May be adding chest with weapons will be good idea or getting some equipment after victory from enemy.

I have collected 22/30 in Grassland, 8/30 in Woods, 0/30 in Lake.     
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Enrik
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« Reply #12 on: December 22, 2016, 02:51:11 PM »

Hi Idurniat, thank you for the feedback again!

I know the tutorial gets boring. I tried to keep it as short as possible but I think I must try a different approach to make it more accessible. Now it’s just about 5 minutes, but for a casual mobile game it seem to be too much when the player usually want to start playing as soon as possible.

The game must be hard but just in the firsts games. The idea is to let the player improve after each death. Due to the replayability of the game you can play several games and it’s normal to get to the end after 4 or 5 games.

It’s true that the risk/reward balance needs some work yet but you have a lot of impact on when you get or not equipment! The chances to get some equipment are higher when the player try dangerous decisions or confront enemies (in fact there is a chance to get equipment after killing an enemy in several cards). I noticed some players try the “continue” choice in all the cards they can. You can play the game that way but if you try that you’ll get no equipment or just some low-level equipment and you will probably die when you find a hard enemy.

Anyway, thank you again for the feedback. I really appreciate the time you spend on the game and if you give it another try let me know your opinion of the new gameplay!
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ldurniat
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« Reply #13 on: December 30, 2016, 08:53:58 AM »

Hi Enrik,

Some my thoughts

- I have collected 31/30 in Grassland, 8/30 in Woods, 0/30 in Lake,
- Enemy have no hearts but he can still kill me even in situation where we both have one heart on begining of turn,
- You could add some random equipments on start game every time. Maybe random weapon.

Keep working and good luck:)

ldurniat   
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Enrik
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« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2017, 03:21:42 PM »

Hi Idurniat, thank you again for the feedback!

You’re right. There’s a problem in the decks screen. It’s solved now and the numbers are correct now. Thanks for the bug!

You can die after killing an enemy because the attacks are simultaneous so your enemy will die at the end of the turn and he will attack you even if you killed him in that turn. Other people already mentioned it is confusing so I will probably change it to make it more clear or maybe just let the player attack go first and don’t let the enemy attack if he is death. I think that’s what you refer to, if I’m wrong and you saw another odd situation, please tell me what it is.

Yes. The first version had the random equipment but later I added a tip system at the beginning of the game and it was easier to explain things with the same weapon (a dagger). Now that the help system is a tutorial I can add some randomness again without problem. That’s for the tip. I’ll do it for the next version for sure.

Thank you very much for the feedback. I will upload a new version soon with the last deck and the ends of the game. I’ll try to make some work with the difficulty balance of the game too.
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ldurniat
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« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2017, 02:05:01 AM »

Hi Enrik,

You are right. This is exactly situaction I encountered in game.

Does this is your first game? 


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Enrik
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« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2017, 09:15:57 AM »

Thank you Idurniat. I'll try to change that part, as I said I will probably give the player the advantage of attacking first.

Yes, it is my first game. At least the first one published. I made a lot of unfinished projects and I also have another one for PC that I will post here as soon as it's playeble.

Thank you again for the useful feedback!
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« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2017, 11:52:14 AM »

This looks pretty interesting I'll download when I have some spare time...Any way for more direct communication?

I'm a huge fan of card games and I'm working on a mobile project of my own...I'd love to sit and discuss development ^^
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Enrik
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« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2017, 05:53:21 AM »

New beta version uploaded!

DOWNLOAD on Google Play Store

Now the game has all the content and you can get to the end.

New things for this version:

- Three different endings.
- New mountain deck added.
- Some weapons, spell and objects have been modified and balanced.
- If you kill an enemy his last attack is not resolved anymore.
- Your enemies can now use objects, and their equipment and behabiour are more varied.
- Some cards have been modified to make them more variable.
- Decks screen performance improved.
- Several minor bugs resolved.

I'm going to wait for some feedback and the final translation to publish the game. As usual any feedback is more than welcome.

PS. Sokom I sent you a private message but I'm not sure if you received it.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2017, 06:07:58 AM by Enrik » Logged

michaelplzno
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« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2017, 06:15:59 PM »

Bunch of small things:

-> Some grammatical errors, you might want to check it over once more.

-> It would help to identify your character by making him closer to the bottom that way it is a bit more clear who you are:

This screen is so much smaller than yours and yet so much more clear.

-> Some of the choices that pop up randomly are a bit arbitrary, "which sword do you choose?" Its just a guess so it doesn't feel good to make that choice. Think of FTL, all the choices don't feel arbitrary even though you never know what exactly will pay off until you have played the game a lot.

-> There is an option to "get" and an option to "continue" on the loot screen and its not clear what the difference is. I'd just make it continue and auto pick up the loot till inventory is full. If the inventory is full pop up a screen to choose what to drop with the default being the new item.

-> It might be nice to take a break from the one kind of screen layout you have going there. I know you are on a budget but some overworld shots explaining where you are or a map could break up the monotony a bit if it shows what region you are in. Just after each victory a screen with a map and a curvy line showing your progress would be good. Make it clear how far along you are every so often.

-> I died pretty easily in my first run. Most people will not like this and it didn't seem like I could have avoided it. Can I rest? Can I run from a goblin? If so idk how to.

-> I like the battle music!
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