Beta feedback for version 1.02

[drakon]

My thoughts on playing about 5 games so far with version 1.02


SUGGESTIONS:

- Using resources immediately does speed the game up. No further tweaking needed at this point unless major game changes down the road upset the balance. Granted the default deck doesn't have any 1 cost cards, but they are there. So while it might seem like the first turn or two still don't do much, with lower card cost options it will not be.

- I would suggest perhaps an auto target generation system. For example when you cast fireball it automatically lists the valid targets and which point you click on which one you want. Perhaps this might not be an issue on the iPhone version where you can flick-scroll and tap easier than the web version does right now.

- I'm assuming the final game will have win/loss statistics. Can you track them now during beta? Would be nice to see trends on how often the AI is winning/losing if playing a human with the same deck.

- EDIT: Just thought of this one. Is there a limit to the number of "item" cards you can have? I believe if there was a limit of like 4 item cards, it would reduce the power of cards like Research since you'd have to choose carefully which items you want in play.


AI ISSUES:

- Don't know if it was simply the card changes or you improved the AI, but the enemy seems smarter. I came very close to losing, something that didn't happen with 1.01 (although I still haven't lost to the AI yet).

- During one game, the enemy AI already has Poison Gas on one of my Allies. The next turn he wasted half of a Lightning Strike to kill the same Ally.

- The enemy AI still seems to sometimes sacrifice a card when there is no need. I.E. already has 6+ resources and zero cards in its hand.


BUGS:

- If you have engulfing flames and poison gas on their hero, it only shows a single -1 counter floating up although it still does the correct -2 total damage.

- If I use Arcane Burst, select a couple targets then cancel it still deals damage to those targets. (NOTE: I realized that the cancel button stops your selection of targets.) Perhaps whats needed is another button to stop selecting targets and cast the spell leaving the cancel button to cancel if you actually don't want to cast it.

- I started to cast clinging webs, then canceled. The card disappeared and the resources grayed out and were unusable.


Can't wait for the deck management part to go in!

[mastery51]

I've also played a few more times today. Then I notice on one of my games I ended up later having no more cards in my hand and every time I drew a card for my turn I was forced to sacrifice. I was unable to fight back anymore. Did this happen to anyone else?

[Diamondius]

You are not FORCED to sacrifice. U can press the done button w/o doing so. I don't know if u encountered a bug though

[airhead3]

I've played a couple of games in v. 1.02 now and wanted to add some feedback. First, I do like the change that allows resources to be used immediately - I think this is the way it should be.

Some issues I've noticed (in no particular order):

1. This needs drag controls! Especially when on the iPhone, but everywhere else, too. Should be able to drag cards everywhere: drag to rearrange your hand, drag from the library to draw a card, drag a card to the play area to cast, drag an ally onto an enemy to target and attack, drag to scroll the playing field (pinch to zoom for the iPhone, scroll wheel to zoom for the PC and web). All of this will add to the feeling of playing a physical card game with none of the hassles. (See Durak for iPhone for a good example of some of this)
2. Turn Phase indicator still dissappears during Sacrifice phase - needs to be displayed (or displayable) at all times as it is helpful
3. When targeting multiple enemies, should have some visual indicator to distinguish those that have been targeted from those that haven't. Need an indication of how many targets remain to be assigned. Need the ability to untarget a previously chosen card.
4. I like that the music played on the login screen mutes itself when the game window is not active (other windows/applications in focus). I would like to see this mirrored in the main game, so that when I don't have the game in the foreground there are no sounds/music to distract me when I turn away (to do work, for example...
5. When camera is zoomed in to your hand (default at the beginning of your turn) and you change the camera to one of the other presets, there's no way to return to the original view focused on the hand. I recognize that the camera button is a placeholder, but still thought I'd point it out...
6. During the uber-cool supernova effect, the background smoke layer pops up in the foreground over the explosion in the bottom-left quadrant and seems out of place. (Superficial, I know...)
7. Another superficial one (that very well may change later in the development process): The way the card image is displayed on the card polygon, there is a slight black border and black squared edges - this should be transparent so the rounded edges of the cards remain intact. The black border also cuts off the casting cost circle.
8. Having the same "Done" button for the Sacrifice phase as well as for the end of the turn becomes problematic: When I get used to skipping the Sacrifice stage, I hit the (Sacrifice) "Done" a lot; The next time I DO sacrifice, I hit Done (expecting to be done with Sacrifice) and realized I just skipped my turn
9. Maybe this is coming later, but it seems odd that Allies can't block for their Hero (granted I'm showing my MTG roots). It seems like games become a race to the bottom when everything, including allies, can essentially do direct damage to the hero. All Allies are good for, then, is attacking. I can see that this accellerates the pace of the game, but it makes allies and the game as a whole seem a bit more shallow to me. Anyone else feel this way?

Definitely enjoying the game, and am looking forward to the deck creation and multiplayer aspects! Great job, Kyle - this is definitely coming along!

[Mudkipz223]

Well, I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but the AI hero attacked my hero, but luckily it didn't do any damage.

[kaboom132]

Bug - I was about to cast Fireball, but then I saw that my target only had 1 life. I then hit Cancel, and the Fireball card stayed up - I didn't just lose it, but it blocked my vision for my side, so I couldn't see the cards I was about to cast.

EDIT: While the CPU didn't actually web my ally twice, she webbed and then froze her on the next turn. Simple solution: Change the text on both so they say "Target ally cannot attack or defend for the next X turns".

[izmail]

My 2cents:

Speeding up the sacrafice system was a good idea, the previouse version was too slow, not its a bit faster but still too slow for me, i usualy do only 1 thing in a turn, cast 1 ally or cast 1 spell, this makes the game feel dull for me, also the only draw engine in the deck is the pay 2 draw 1 card, if u dont pull that u would be basicly screwed against a batter ai. Also i would sugest to include the option of muligan.

About the cards.
Dots are way too overcasted 4 for a dot 1 is too expensive for my taste. Also the cc spell like freez and web (cant recall the exact name) shoud be cast much less then now, it theit effect are temporary. Whitout cheaper monsters the are usless as you cant realy gain tempo whit them.

[kaboom132]

Just a thought - for deck building, there should be symbols on the cards that differentiate the commons/uncommons/rares/epics.

[Insectosaurus]

Bug - I was about to cast Fireball, but then I saw that my target only had 1 life. I then hit Cancel, and the Fireball card stayed up - I didn't just lose it, but it blocked my vision for my side, so I couldn't see the cards I was about to cast.

Happens to me too.

[Shadow Era]

Thanks for the comments! Maybe next version you will get to play as the Shadow Mage to see how it is different when you have more allies in your deck. The decks are still very small, so it is hard to really get a feel for playing the game with a well-constructed deck, but I don't want to overwhelm people with too many cards to test at once