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[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross - Episode 18: Test with Wes

We're back from Dreamhack Dallas and excited to kick off another Develop with Ross episode, LIVE at 9AM MT on Twitch.


In this Episode:
We're one bug fix away from releasing the next client build. Today, I'll be inviting my son, Wesley, to join the stream and help playtest and track down the bug. You'll get to see some of the exciting new cards and features in the upcoming build. We'll also talk about some of our breakthroughs in the single player campaign design. And, if we've got time to spare, I'll be creating a couple new floor trap cards.

Interested in playing Summoners Fate before it's out?
Check out our Prerelease.

[RossD20Studios]

Summoners Fate Build v0.32.1 Now Available on PC, Mac, Android and iOS!

Hey everyone! I'm excited to announce that our latest client build is now available for download for all prerelease players. This is a MASSIVE update that includes over 30 new cards and characters, several new player requested features, tons of bug and gameplay fixes, and more!

Haven't purchased the prerelease yet? Now is a great time to pick up the game and join our growing player community. I'd love to get your feedback and hear what you think as we make the final push for procedural single player and WW release.

Interested in playing Summoners Fate before it's out?
Check out our Prerelease.

[RossD20Studios]

Creating Original and Exciting Single Player Adventures

The path ahead unfolds...

Recently returned from Dreamhack Dallas, it's clear the most important next step we can make is to deliver on our promise of procedurally driven single player campaign adventures. We gained a lot of insight and ideas from our time at Dreamhack listening to player aspirations and learning from fellow indie devs showcasing games of like-minded spirit to Summoners Fate. Shout out to Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mask, Wildermyth, RoundGuard, Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG and Bound by Blades for the opportunity to play your games and learn from you.

We've shared our big-picture vision of the single player campaign here in our Kickstarter page and here in our development blog . I'm pleased to say that vision remains consistent with where we envision the path forward. What's changing as a result of our learning are the particulars of how we intend to implement that vision. The games that excited us at Dreamhack were those that exhibited unique and original mechanics. The parts less exciting were those that felt derivative to other titles and implemented to satisfy perceptions of trends in the current market. This gave us pause to question our own design - Why were we implementing systems like our saga-style map, and would players perceive these mechanics as original and exciting or derivative and out of place?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dNmHtPQELOY

Branching saga maps are trending in the market, but we learned we aren't doing ourselves a favor standing out by making derivatives.

Peter and I discussed the underlying motivations from a player perspective that make us feel compelled to move forward. Making a choice was the most prominent factor - but, not just any choice. It has to be a meaningful choice. It has to be a fair and informed choice. The choice must contribute to sense of progression and development of the ultimate character destiny we aimed to play out in our fantasy. Furthermore, at what starting point can we roll out our single player experience incrementally so that we can start getting player feedback as soon as possible to test our assumption?

Our first breakthrough was questioning why we were using certain mechanics in the first place. When I thought about our over-arching saga map, I reasoned it was there to provide break points and present choices to players - but were these choices meaningful or rudimentary? How informed is the choice I make on the path I take, and what can I do if I don't like the outcome (especially if the outcome is an unfair challenge I cannot overcome)? The saga map also directly conflicts with one of the unique and compelling aspects of Summoners Fate - our ability to tie tactical grid levels together as a seamless world.

What if we cut this feature and put our focus on what makes us unique?

We built an engine that supports seamless transitions between levels. Why aren't we doubling down on this?

It's amazing how an experience followed by some heartfelt discussion can change your perspective. Once we realized our mistake and let go of it, other pieces of our design started falling into place and got us excited about how we can deliver on choice. Here's a quick synopsis:

• The world is generated procedurally by placing tactical grid maps that connect together to form a continuous landscape. Key objectives such as treasures, new characters to recruit, and bosses to defeat are scattered throughout the world.
• We assume players desire to explore the entire world - but if they do, their choice on which path to take becomes less meaningful (since they are not choosing to lose something, simply the order in which to see everything). To give weight to player decisions, we add a survival modifier: The longer you explore the world, the more difficult enemies become until they ultimately overwhelm you.
• You get only one life and your resources (health, cards, number of rest points) are limited, so you have to make careful choices about where you want to explore. Make a wrong turn and stumble on a dragon? That's ok. Retreat and fall back, but remember that the longer you take to find the right path, the more imminent your defeat as the doomsday clock ticks down.
• Players progress their Summoner by over-coming challenges one room/area at a time. Upon completion, you make a choice about how to develop your character by picking a new card to add to your deck, choosing a new companion to join you, or resting to recover health or used cards.

Incrementally, we believe we can quickly turn-around an initially linear/non-back tracking dungeon with player progression through deck building choices as a first iteration, giving players a chance to provide feedback. Then, we expand the experience by adding a mini-map overlay that allows you to see/choose paths to explore in a non-linear fashion (including backtracking).

What do you think?
We're eager to hear what you think about this design. Feel welcome to share your feedback, questions and concerns here and on our Discord. We love hearing from you!

[RossD20Studios]

Peter and I were just discussing how we will incorporate choice dialogs as a way to add more role-playing in the single player so it's not all just combat. Here's an example:

Bandits threaten you on the road, demanding you pay a toll of 50 gold. What do you decide?

A) Pay them (Lose 50 gold) - Choice unavailable if you do not have enough gold.
B) Intimidate them (Roll 13 or higher on a 1D20 + Your Power)
If roll fails, they attack you and get first turn.
C) Attack! You get first turn.

Peter's hilarious response: There's a great pay-to-win option right there.  
In all seriousness, we're excited to add meaningful choice (without the real-life pay-to-win, Peter  )

Today I vamped up the tools for our Encounter system and got it so that we can test individual encounters directly within our level editor. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get a first iteration of our card-choosing mechanic functional.

[RossD20Studios]

Kicking off a Developer Stream NOW!


Today, I create new starter decks that will become new AI opponents players will be able to battle following our DLC update during the stream. Watch it here: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios

[RossD20Studios]

Developer Stream Episode 20


Our team's animator/art lead Peter Jones joins me on our development stream today. We'll be making some new cards, pushing out another DLC update, and discussing updates to our single player design. We welcome the community to participate, share your ideas, and shape the development of Summoners Fate!

Watch it here: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios

[RossD20Studios]

Hey guys! I'm excited to share that we'll be featured on tomorrow's episode of the Kat & Kermit show at 3PM PT Tuesday July 2nd (approximately 23.5 hours from now) You'll be able to watch us on Twitch and Mixer on their channels https://mixer.com/TurboPlay and
https://www.twitch.tv/turboplaylive respectively. Special thanks to our friends @kat Snow and @Kermit . They'll be doing a developer interview with me and playing some multiplayer games. Who shall triumph? Find out tomorrow 

[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross Episode 21: Let's Make New Levels!
Going LIVE with Episode 21 Develop with Ross on Twitch. In today's episode, we're making some new levels: seemingly easy, yet harder than you might think. Join us and share your ideas, then play our new levels after the stream.

Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.

[RossD20Studios]

When Aquaman plays your game, you know you've got something good   

[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross Episode 22: Can we deliver Single Player Campaigns with DLC?
Our players are restless to experience our up-and-coming single player adventures, so in today's 22nd episode of
Develop with Ross, we're going to make the bold attempt to deliver new single player campaigns via our DLC content pipeline. Peter joins me to discuss our level design objectives and what we hope to accomplish in our early access play testing with this new release.

Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.

[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross Episode 23: Let's Make Gold
Today I'll be expanding on our design pillar of strategic resource management by adding gold and shop systems to our single player campaigns in Summoners Fate.

Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.

[RossD20Studios]

Goblins don't like fire.

[RossD20Studios]

Sunday mood.

[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross Episode 24: Level Progression System
Level progression systems define the pacing through which a player grows to acquire new skills and the escalation of difficulty such that they face challenges well-matched to their ability and timing within the game experience. Creating a properly tuned level progression is one of the most important faculties of game design. Join us today to learn how we're tackling the development.

Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.

[RossD20Studios]

Red Dragon. So majestic, so hungry...

[RossD20Studios]

Develop with Ross Episode 25: Designing Expandable Campaign Maps
With our next client release on the horizon, we are aiming to lock down a way to deliver new single player content to players via DLC updates. Enter the campaign map, your portal to exploring new levels within the world of Summoners Fate. Join as we discuss the the design challenges of creating an ever-changing world and develop this key game system together.

Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.

[RossD20Studios]

Happy Sunday everyone ! I am excited to announce that Arrustar, a welcome new player in our D20 community and a member of local StreamSLC community will be streaming Summoners Fate this afternoon from 1PM to 5PM MT.  You'll be able to watch the stream from his channel here starting in just an hour from now: https://twitch.tv/arrustar

[RossD20Studios]

Analysis paralysis on what creature to summon next?

Use the Gate of Fate card from Summoners Fate & let destiny decide.

[RossD20Studios]

Fan of insects?

We always have been & had to have a race of Insectoids in Summoners Fate.

[RossD20Studios]

Excited to announce that Summoners Fate was nominated for "Game of the Year" at the Utah Game Developers Choice Awards 2019!   

We will be attending tonight, and we're so excited to be nominated with so many awesome games.  Read more about it here.