Game Controls and AI Questions?

[devxx]

Game looks very nice, looking forward to trying it out!

Do you play the game with just the mouse? (hope so) Can you play a two player game against an AI? 3 player as with 2 AI? etc. Are there difficulty modes? Thanks!

Oh, and 1 last question. I'm looking at the Let's Play videos but does the game have a tutorial or in-game rule book or tool-tips?

[Nives]

Hi! You can play 1 on 1 (human), 2 players and 4 bots, 1 player and 3 bots, e.t.c. - any combination works up to 6. And yes, it's just the mouse, clicks are the only thing that matters :)

We have a basic tutorial and a Steam guide to get you started, and you can always look up a particular section of the tutorial to remind yourself of something in the game.

As to the difficulty, for now, bots are pretty dumb, and we plan to make them way smarter in the future. Player-wise, you can disable Chaos Cards for a more "strategic" match.

[devxx]

So I can play 1 player and 2 bots, correct? I read you're gearing this towards Multiplayer and I have another game I like allot but with that same emphasis and they do very little to improve the game for singleplayers. In a few words, how do you envision this game for the singleplayer? Will there ever be difficulty modes for the player to learn on Easy and then advance to the more challenging levels? Thanks...

-- I'm definitely picking this game up when it drops in my area. It looks very nice and gameplay seems strategic but also unpredictable :-)

[Dr. John Snow]

For what we should be able to do with AI, you can look at the previous project of our game designer (Eador. Genesis), which was a single-player game.

Having said that, us being a fairly small team means we are going feature by feature (and bug by bug, of course :)) in the priority of how much value each brings to the players. Right now, the focus is on UI to enable players to make faster/better decisions. Single-player mode (with different bots who behave in a different way) is on the map somewhere between now and the full release in 2016.

As a player, I would love to have AI that wouldn't necessarily be super-strong, but maybe super-malicious? Arresting you and causing all sorts of trouble all the time. Or AI that would target just me, so that I can play against 5 bots who would all go after me. We'll see what our game designer comes up with...

[Nives]

Originally posted by devxx:

So I can play 1 player and 2 bots, correct?

Correct, any combination up to 6, as long as it's at least 1 player per match.

[Xerxes Aragon]

I just finished the Tutorial game, after which it took me to the Multiplayer lobby. Leaving that and going to the main menu I see buttons to play the Tutorial again or Multiplayer, but I don't see how to start a single player game against AIs. I'm really more of a solo player than online. So how do I start a 1 Human, multiple AI game?

[Nives]

Originally posted by Xerxes Aragon:

I just finished the Tutorial game, after which it took me to the Multiplayer lobby. Leaving that and going to the main menu I see buttons to play the Tutorial gain or Multiplayer, but I don't see how to start a single player game against AIs. I'm really more of a solo player than online. So how do I start a 1 Human, multiple AI game?

Just start a Multiplayer match and choose bots instead of players, in any combination you'd like.

[Dr. John Snow]

Originally posted by Xerxes Aragon:

I just finished the Tutorial game, after which it took me to the Multiplayer lobby. Leaving that and going to the main menu I see buttons to play the Tutorial again or Multiplayer, but I don't see how to start a single player game against AIs. I'm really more of a solo player than online. So how do I start a 1 Human, multiple AI game?

As @Nives writes above, at the moment, single-player is a multiplayer game with bots.

The bots are very basic at the moment, and you will spot certain "blind zones" in their decision making right now =). It's one of the things we work on improving with the nearest updates.

As to the final version, we plan to have a proper single-player campaign there, with different quests to play through.

[devxx]

I was watching a video and when it was the player's turn a clock appeared and started filling with red. I presume that's a time limit on your turn? If the time runs out is your turn skipped? Also, is the timer there because a true singleplayer mode has not yet been implemented? You select multiplayer then chose bots so the game "thinks" you're playing on line and I can understand a turn timer. But, in true singleplayer, once implemented, will you keep the timer in there?


And WHOOPEE to this: As to the final version, we plan to have a proper single-player campaign there, with different quests to play through.

[Dr. John Snow]

Heyho –

Originally posted by devxx:

I presume that's a time limit on your turn? If the time runs out is your turn skipped? Also, is the timer there because a true singleplayer mode has not yet been implemented?... But, in true singleplayer, once implemented, will you keep the timer in there?

There is an option to turn on the timer for any multiplayer game. You can set the timer to Relaxed/Normal/Fast.

If the time runs out, AI makes move/action for you. If this happens a few times in a row, AI takes over completely, and you'll need to press a button to return to controlling the game.

The timer is there because as a player, you may want to play a session only with players who move fast enough not to get you bored. OR, otherwise, only with players who will allow you to have whatever time you need, to make those decisions.

No plans to feature timer in single-player games as of now.

[devxx]

No plans to feature timer in single-player games

Great, I only play single player and would rather not have the turn timers.