Denied

So with my new android being delivered i thought i would look into make making apps for it.
http://code.tutsplus.com/articles/android-tools-of-the-trade--cms-21429 Summarizes the publicly available IDEs for creating android apps. Sorry boys, this is all java and XML. No C++ here.
With a quick youtube search, i found a very simple series on explaining the very basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObYbdoVV7Hg.

I must say, it is painful to learn. I know general programming fairly well. But all the different tools and libraries you are required to be familiar with seems quite overwhelming.

But anyway, my plan is a simple online player-vs-player ccg(collectible card game). Each player has a deck which they have built prior to the game consisting of spells and minions. To spice things up from more traditional physical card games, i plan to:
- Remove the concept of 'turns' in the game. Instead each player plays simultaneously.
- Implement a skill tree. Occasionally each player will receive a skill point they can allocate to gain various bonuses; increased maximum mana, mana regeneration, creation of a specific card into the players hand, passive bonuses to your units, etc..
- Resources(mana and card drawing) automatically replenish over time. With some cards or skills increasing this rate.
- Each spell or activated minion affect takes time before completion(indicated by several cogs turning)
- Unlike Hearthstone, give players the power to actually interact with their opponent's spells/abilities. Having played a lot of Magic, i know how much more depth is added to a card game by allowing players to respond to their opponents.
- Having weekly contests with the winners being able to submit a card design which( if accepted) is immediately implemented into the game.

As im not much of an artist, i figured i could call on the community of players to submit their own artwork. As a reward, i could offer them ingame currency they can use to unlock cards, add additional deck slots, etc.

What do you think?

The only issue I have with playing simultaneously is that it allows no time to read effects to determine the best counterplay. The idea of simultneous play just seems super messy and would pose huge balance issues. I dunno though, could work.

I am bad at a lot of things including Path, but I consider myself the Greek God of trading card games. When they added divination cards I was wondering when someone would try to make a game out of it.

I recomend making the art of your spells Divination cards and the art for the monster/creature/minion/whatever to be skill icons, maybe going with the lore that they are exiles using those skills.

Turns exist for a reason, they provide much needed structure. If you want a more interactive game I recommend splicing up the phases of a turn to give you something like:

P1 draw
P2 draw
P1 main1
P2 main1
P1 attack
p2 attack
Restart

That rough and would need balance but that my general idea.

I highly doubt people would jump through hoops to unlock stuff from you, that's a bunch of BS that's used to generate profit, besides with few players you will need as much testing as possible.

Lastly of no fault of you, more of a pet peeve, Please don't call Hearthstone a TCG. You don't trade, you lose the human to human interaction that is so important, and wile it is a game, I think solitaire is a more accurate depiction of its genre.

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PrinceOfPuddles wrote:

Turns exist for a reason, they provide much needed structure. If you want a more interactive game I recommend splicing up the phases of a turn to give you something like:

P1 draw
P2 draw
P1 main1
P2 main1
P1 attack
p2 attack
Restart

That rough and would need balance but that my general idea.

Well first off, i want to thank you for trying to contribute. I do not doubt you know a considerable amount about playing CCGs, but i think you are way off base in evaluating 'structure' as the reason for turns in a paper card game. To be more precise, the structure of CCGs exists to impose 'limits' on the play field. It is impractical in RL to have timers to denote when a creature can attack, when to draw, when to gain mana. Through the turn structure, those limits are enforced. But in a virtual game, timers can indeed be easily utilized to enforce these limits instead. Which i hope will lead to more engaging gameplay as you no longer spend half the game just waiting on your opponent.

"

PrinceOfPuddles wrote:

I highly doubt people would jump through hoops to unlock stuff from you, that's a bunch of BS that's used to generate profit, besides with few players you will need as much testing as possible.

Again, i must disagree. As a player i realize the aspect of disliking the limitations of locked content, we want all the power and options... and we want it now. But as a game developer(and a former medical student) i realize that it is those very limitations which drive ppl to play. That sense of reward when you do unlock the next card induces dopamine release which IS fun in the most literal sense possible. When you have to expend work to achieve something, you automatically value it more. It is human nature.

"

Einkil wrote:

The only issue I have with playing simultaneously is that it allows no time to read effects to determine the best counterplay. The idea of simultneous play just seems super messy and would pose huge balance issues. I dunno though, could work.

I have plans to start with slow timers for the beginner level games, for this very reason. But as players become familiar with the cards, such extra time will not be needed as much. And thus plan to have expert games go at a quick pace.
That fast pace i think is more of a positive 'feature' than a drawback. Its not enough to be able to determine the best possible play, you must do so in a timely fashion or fall behind.
Is it different than the traditional CCGs? Absolutely. And i hope the difference makes the game feel fresh, rather than just a clone of some other game.

Who do i contact about asking for permission to use IP and game assets for this card game?

Feel free to let me know when it's done, I'd enjoy checking it out a bit, if you can make the fast paced system work well you will deserve some really big kudos.

GGG denied permission. R.I.P.

I think i will continue with the CCG though. It just wont in any way be related to poe.

When i first got my new phone i spent a couple hours looking through a wide range of apps. All the low hanging fruit seem to be taken. There are several pages of high quality free CCGs already on the market, i couldnt possibly compete with their graphics... although im fairly confident i could easily surpass their gameplay. So i was feeling a bit low about my prospects of breaking into the app market.

But then. I had this android development series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld7kZRpMGb8&index=18&list=PLOU2XLYxmsIJOOTFfYzhR2d-rcSbBbEE_) on in the background while playing poe today when inspiration struck.

Card games for the blind dont need graphics! Assets are the biggest worry for a solo developer, graphical design and artwork is the lions share of most work involved in building a game (unless you are masochistic and try to develop your own engine) in this century. If i promote it for the blind, i might be able to get away with bare minimum graphics!

So catering to the blind might be my golden ticket.

I don't think catering to the blind will be the most efective way to get your game off of the ground >.>

Double Post