For everyone that remembers this WIP here’s an update I wanted to make a new topic since the old one was so outdated, anyway the game has been updated with a couple new chapters, I’d really like feedback on continuity and how fun the game, whether it’s too hard or too easy, any improvements that you guys would like to see and etc. I’ll be making a few more improvements throughout the day as well.
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/xirhzknipd3mn5y/The%20Badlands_%20The%20Tournament.html?dl=0
Also if you guys could give me some feedback on the characters as well, what you like about them or don’t like about them, that would really help as well.
It good to see this back😀
I’m generally not a fan of the “guess what option corresponds to your best stat” method of fighting; it’s either repetitive and boring, or completely counter-intuitive. The fact that in the battle with Stiletto none of the available options worked was even worse. I assume I needed higher Control, but if there’s no way for a character to win the fight, then it’s not really an enjoyable experience. And I have no intention of replaying the game solely to have a character who is capable of surviving that fight. This is a pity, since I’d actually been quite enjoying the game up until that point.
@ParrotWatcher well I could probably find a way revamp the combat scenes to make them more enjoyable if players start to not like the way it works, but the Control check is necessary to the point of the story, because your Gift is central to the point of the story.
The only thing that is stopping you from ending up like your Father is the fact that your a Gifted Talent and especially in fights where your fighting against other Gifted Talents its unrealistic that you would be able to beat them without your Gift. Which is why Samuel (Someone trained in both Combat and Stealth) couldn’t defeat Stiletto, and also why you were able to beat Captain Vicar rather easily.
But at the same time I can still understand where your coming if you or anyone else have any other suggestions on how to make combat or the control checks more fun Id really appreciate your help with that, In going to brainstorm a bit to figure something out but I really want y’alls input as well.
@Terrell_Williams I’m glad you enjoyed the demo what was your favorite character in game if you had one, and why?
Honestly, I think that having a single stat that’s vital to the progression of the story somewhat defeats the purpose of the CoG/HG medium. If you can’t play the game without increasing the stat, then is there any real reason for having the stat? It’s like requiring the player to choose a specific RO in order to complete the game. Maybe it would be better if it was just assumed that the MC was always just strong enough (in terms of Control) to beat their opponent.
Also, again, I’m not really a fan of the “die/die/die/live” choices (even though they are better than “die/die/die/die” choices). Since everyone will just end up choosing the choice that fits their stats, it’s not really much of a choice. Everybody will just be picking “live” (if they can figure out which choice is “live”, that is), and so there’s not really any need for any actual choice on the player’s part.
Sorry if it sounds like I’m complaining about everything. I did enjoy the story, and am interested in seeing where it’s going. Admittedly, the main four characters all seem a little flat (up to the point I reached), but I’m sure we’ll see more of them with time, and Samuel and McKnight both seemed quite interesting.
~whistles~
This is amazing!
I noticed a things that bugged me, but nothing notable!
(The only thing notable is the “LastName” in the stats scene. That really bugged me)
Ooh, this one is back eh?
Still don’t get why we would want to win a wish form the guy even the game explicitly acknowledges is " The chief cause of all your pain, and sorrows," particularly since it seems the former winners have to actually join and work for his loathsome regime. My character would much rather end the “Lord Protector” and then we’ll see, though he wants absolutely nothing to do with the government afterwards in any case.
Well while I tried hinting at it in the game (I’m very bad at hinting at things btw) The tournament used to be a way for Lord Koh to gain access to individuals who possessed rather powerful gifts and recruit them for his army. Now the tournament is more purely based on entertainment purposes and instead of being recruited into the army, you get to make one request of Lord Koh that he must honor, and in the environment that Lord Koh that is only option Koh has left your player is to compete in the tournament in order to change things.
@ParrotWatcher no problem complaints help games grow, unfortunately the control stat has to stay without it there is no other way for you measure how powerful you are compared to other Gifted Talents which you see later on in the story. You don’t have to continue to increase the control stat to play the game however, but at the same time there is a minimum requirement for that stat that you have to measure up to in order to be able to stand a chance of winning. Which is the same as many HG/CoGs just like in Sabres of Infinity how you have to have your troops meet certain stat requirements in order for you to stay alive.
The problem is (and I can’t believe I’m basically making the same argument in three threads nigh-simultaneously) that any game which forces the player to have certain stats to play is basically making “winning” more important than “playing”. It almost becomes an exercise in trying to guess what stats the author wants the player to be increasing. It doesn’t help that I must have played a pretty large chunk of the game with a character who was already completely incapable of succeeding.
And it’s true that other games do similar things, but this seems like a particularly egregious case. Admittedly, I haven’t played the Infinity series; I’ve avoided that author since Kendrickstone, possibly the worst case of stat-choicing I’ve ever seen. Of course, if that’s the style of game you’re going for, I probably won’t bother playing it. EDIT: I’m not trying to say you have to do it the way I want you to; if that’s the game you want to write, go ahead and write it. But it’s not really the sort of game I’d want to play. Either way, good luck writing. 
I actually have to agree with ParrotWatcher here. It ends up not being much of a choice. It’s something I didn’t like very much about Kendrickstone or Sabres when I played it. Sabres’s redeeming quality was in the level of depth, but they’re not really player choices if they’re forced on the player in order to keep the story going.
Admittedly I am a fan of Paul Wang’s games so that actually might be a trait that I picked from reading his stuff lol, thanks for the feedback though guys you’ve definitely given me something to think about.I probably end up changing the fight scenes to make them more enjoyable in the future but I’ll probably still end up keeping the control stat.
I have to disagree with both poster, I’m a fan of HoK, Sabres and the most stats focused game, Lost Heir.
One thing I liked about those games is that you need to learn to raise your stats properly to advance in the game, and judging by the popularity of those games, I think people like the focus on stats of them.
The difference, Urban, is that in those games there are multiple paths of victory, not one stat to rule them all.
And the PC losing in this fight makes no sense, and honestly, makes the PC seem pretty pathetic.
The guy they fight has the power of persuasion. He doesn’t actually say one word in the fight. Which means he fought as muggle.
Which means that the PC with enough telekinesis to bring down a building lost to guy with a knife. If guys with knives trump the gifted, why does everyone in the game act like being gifted is so special?
About to play it and thanks for pulling this back from the dead I had a blast back when I first played this and to where it ended I think we were getting in the city and it ended there I think if I remember correctly going to read it now. Hope you continue with this WIP it was and still is one of the best close to completion? WIP I have played
I think this line is missing another ‘as’ it should be “As hard as the sword”
There’s a line in chapter 4 or 5
“keep the teams on their tows, I wasn’t sure this was the test either I saw all the other teams…etc.”
I believe that it meant to say ‘toes’ instead of ‘tows’ ?
Also, the fight to take back the city between our MC and the Captian in Chapter 3 is hard to read.
I recommend breaking it into even more paragraphs so it isn’t hard on the eyes.
Other than that I look forward to your updates and shall keep an eye out for any errors you may have missed.
Good luck!
(Sorry about the spamming since new users can only post one image at time and in hindsight, I was extremely tired and not think straight as it just occurred to me that I could have typed out the quotes instead)
@Nikil_Menon Thanks for pointing those out for me I’ll make sure to go back and correct those
Update (well not really): Since so many people feel so strongly about the Control Stat I think I’ll go and experiment with turning it into an opposed pair stat similar to the Unleash/Control stat in Heroes Rise. That way different types of players will both have options on how to use their powers.
