Slaves of Magic - tactical turn-based RPG inspired by XCOM and Guild Wars

[sipibaki]

Hey Codexers,

We are a couple, working on Slaves of Magic, a fantasy turn-based tactical RPG. The basic premise is very similar to XCOM, you will have to defend against an invading force. Just as we are in a medieval fantasy setting, the invader's primary advantage will be their knowledge of magic, which did not exist in the world till their arrival.

Gameplay-wise the most notable planned features are as follows:

• Turn-based combat system with procedurally generated maps.
• Build up the resistance: You will need to build and manage bases throughout the continent and handle researching new technologies.
• Outsmart the invaders on a strategic level: They have multiple armies conducting missions every month, and it is your job to figure out the best ways to slow down their advance.
• Manage and upgrade your team: In combat, you will lead a 6-8 unit team that you can fully customize with equipment and skills.
• Sabotage the invading armies in turn-based tactical combat: Position and teamwork are key to completing your objective.
• Try again: The game is being built from the ground up to focus on replayability. There are multiple invading forces with different enemies with a reactive campaign AI.
• Permadeath. Characters can (and will!) die permanently in combat.

We have a new combat demo which you can find on our Steam page!

(Edit: Updated the post to be more relevant as a lot has changed since its inception)

 

[Narushima]

Looks rough.

 

[sipibaki]

Well yes, it is rough as it is an alpha version, but I thought it would still be a good idea to show it to people as soon as we have a prototype. We are grateful for anyone willing to look past that for now, and try out the delayed turn-based system and give feedback about it. Any other feedback is appreciated as well of course, but our main goal would be to test out the combat system.

 

[Dyspaire]

Arms might be a nice touch. Unless you're going for that whole Black Knight vibe...

 

[JarlFrank]

Gameplay-wise the most notable planned features are as follows:

- Procedurally generated strategic and tactical maps.

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[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Taking this for a spin.

 

[Nortar]

Well yes, it is rough as it is an alpha version, but I thought it would still be a good idea to show it to people as soon as we have a prototype. We are grateful for anyone willing to look past that for now, and try out the delayed turn-based system and give feedback about it. Any other feedback is appreciated as well of course, but our main goal would be to test out the combat system.

I played it for 15 minutes before it crashed.
Even somehow managed to kill those 3 first hammer-guys in "Low Security" mode.

The game could really benefit from a tutorial or at least a manual.
It's not very intuitive how characters move through time and in which order they can select their actions.
Also it would be nice if there was a way to select any character at any time, to be able see what is his
current action and how long it would take to complete in a more visual way.

Maybe you could introduce a timeline (like in Othercide, for example) with icons for all character's planned action?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Some thoughts after I got trashed twice in Low Security -level. (3rd time game crashed soon after I got control of the VIP)
-Unit facing and flanking seems to matter a lot, it's way better to flank with archers than trying to do 30% to hit pot-shots into melee.
-Speaking about archers, friendly fire seems to be a thing. I'm pretty certain that I lost my wounded shield man because he stepped into way when archer tried to shoot devil.
-Game throws lots of enemy reinforcements even on "easy" mission.
-Characters seem to act on initiative order, no player choice there.
-Combat log would be nice.
-Also other tools that make easier to perceive whats going on. For example colour coded lines where each unit is moving or is doing. Symbols for what effects are on units should be better visible, now I wasn't certain if "Armor Crack" -ability did anything or for how long.
-It took stupidly long time for me to realise that I have to double click for doing action, also "Wait"-command took some figuring out that I didn't put my units into permanent coma.
-I would recommend developers to check out Titans of Steel: Warring Suns. That game has somewhat similar turn-system (and obscure UI).
-Felt kinda fun.

edit.
4th attempt at easy was success, but it cost all my frontliners.

Spoiler

 

[sipibaki]

I played it for 15 minutes before it crashed.
Even somehow managed to kill those 3 first hammer-guys in "Low Security" mode.

The game could really benefit from a tutorial or at least a manual.
It's not very intuitive how characters move through time and in which order they can select their actions.
Also it would be nice if there was a way to select any character at any time, to be able see what is his
current action and how long it would take to complete in a more visual way.

Maybe you could introduce a timeline (like in Othercide, for example) with icons for all character's planned action?

Thank you for trying it out! We did a 3 player marathon before release to try and solve all the crashes, but apparently, we didn't get all instances of it, we will definitely do another round of bug fixing!

Yes, the system is somewhat unique and that means it takes some time to learn. To be able to see the order of things and to see what every character is doing is in the game, just not explained (definitely noted as a problem!). Every character has the stamina and health bar and left of it, you can see it's active command if you have one, and to the right to how long till that command activates. If you hover over the skill, you even get a description, here is an example:

So in this case, the redhead is using an armor cracking strike, and it still takes 10 time units to resolve. You can see this information on all character if you have no command selected, or if you hover over them.

We do have a timeline at the top of the scene, though it only shows the order of the characters, not the actions. It is a good idea to show the command which they are doing there as well though!

Thank you again for giving it a chance!

Some thoughts after I got trashed twice in Low Security -level. (3rd time game crashed soon after I got control of the VIP)
-Unit facing and flanking seems to matter a lot, it's way better to flank with archers than trying to do 30% to hit pot-shots into melee.
-Speaking about archers, friendly fire seems to be a thing. I'm pretty certain that I lost my wounded shield man because he stepped into way when archer tried to shoot devil.
-Game throws lots of enemy reinforcements even on "easy" mission.
-Characters seem act on initiative order, no player choice there.
-Combat log would be nice.
-Also other tools that make easier to perceive whats going on. For example colour coded lines where each unit is moving or is doing. Symbols for what effects are on units should be better visible, now I wasn't certain if "Armor Crack" -ability did anything or for how long.
-It took stupidly long time for me to realise that I have to double click for doing action, also "Wait"-command took some figuring out that I didn't put my units into permanent coma.
-I would recommend developers to check out Titans of Steel: Warring Suns. That game has somewhat similar turn-system (and obscure UI).
-Felt kind fun.

edit.
4th attempt at easy was success, but it cost all my frontliners.

Spoiler

Thank you for trying it out! As I wrote to the previous comment, I thought I managed to clear all crashes for release, we will definitely do another round of bug fixing about that!

- I checked and friendly fire can happen if the target of the archer dies before he/she shoots, and somebody else walks into that tile. Probably the archer should stop firing before that happens to avoid this!
- Combat log is definitely a good idea, I have written it up.
- There are things helping to see what is going on, but again, I should have tried to explain it somewhere. For movement, you have the blue feet, and for melee attacks there is an arrow on the tile which will be attacked, which shows the directions as well. And for ranged attacks, you get a crosshair on the character which is attacked. What is not explained, that if you hover over any character, the action that character does will get highlighted. So even in a crowded situation, if you hover over a character you will be able to see which marker is his/her.
- I will check out Titans of Steel: Warring Suns!
- About the cracked armor, if an enemy has a debuff, they will have a red arrow left to their stamina, and if they have buff then a green arrow next to their health. If you hover over the arrow you will see the buffs/debuffs, their descriptions, and how long they will still affect the target. Example:

So in conclusion, what is sorely missing from the demo is some basic explanation, I think we will patch in a small tutorial, just a few pictures with explanations of these things. And to make it more stable!

Edit: The tutorial with some explanation is already patched in!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

sipibaki any plans for game to have movement option where character could keep certain facing while moving, for strafing or fighting retreat purposes?
Naturally that kind of movement should be slower than standard.

Spoiler

Unless 2nd movement type does just that and I didn't understand tooltip.

 

[sipibaki]

sipibaki any plans for game to have movement option where character could keep certain facing while moving, for strafing or fighting retreat purposes?
Naturally that kind of movement should be slower than standard.

Spoiler

Unless 2nd movement type does just that and I didn't understand tooltip.

There is an agility skill called dodge which is available for the archers in the demo. That is basically a very quick move that keeps you facing, and you can even leave tiles that are already attacked with it before the attack hits. In the full game, you will be able to set the skills of your units, so you will be able to create agile melee fighters with this skill as well. But the basic idea is that I did not want to give this option to the player by default, as this is what makes disengaging dangerous. The player will have options to circumvent this problem with skills if he/she needs it.

Otherwise, if you want to disengage safely in the demo with other characters, the maceman's shield knockback skill can help you with that, or the spearman distracting strike.

The 2nd movement type goal is just to skip the default collision detection of the first type. The first type of movement will avoid collision with your own already set movement commands and known enemy movement commands. 95% time you should use the default first movement, but if you want to override it you can with the second movement type.

 

[Trash Player]

Pathfinding becomes atrocious in tight space and in groups but that is expected. Maybe some grouping function that synchronize to the slowest?
The interrupt screen is too uninformative. It is done so to reduce clutter? Just some alert/indicators would be better.
Won hard after 10 tries or so. Should have read up on the dev logs. Kited the enemies to no end and managed to get both archers out. Could have saved a few more, shame.

 

[sipibaki]

Pathfinding becomes atrocious in tight space and in groups but that is expected. Maybe some grouping function that synchronize to the slowest?
The interrupt screen is too uninformative. It is done so to reduce clutter? Just some alert/indicators would be better.
Won hard after 10 tries or so. Should have read up on the dev logs. Kited the enemies to no end and managed to get both archers out. Could have saved a few more, shame.

-Yes, I agree that moving in formation is not really possible if the units have different armors as their movement speed is different in that case. The one thing that helps is that the default movement command will not let you collide with your own movement plans, so you only have to think about where you want your units to arrive you don't have to bother with collision, they will sort it out. But they will not keep formation if they have different movement speeds. And I would try to avoid grouping as that would clash I feel with the turn-based control of the game, and have not found a better idea for more easily keeping formations yet.

- Interrupt screen, you mean the pause screen where in addition you can interrupt your own commands? So you mean this screen?

Could you elaborate on this point a bit more, what exactly do you feel needs alert/indicaton? Or you mean you want to be able to interrupt without the pause screen?

- Yes, kiting is absolutely a good tactic against the enemies in the demo, as they are generally armored but slow. In the high security level, you will have to kill the mage first because that can knock you down and slow you, which makes kiting harder, but after he is down, you are good . If somebody has the time the devlogs are great to understand how the gameplay systems work as I explain all the important aspects of them in detail.

In closing, let me thank you as well that you spent so much time on the demo! If you let me one last question, what was your general impression of the combat system (and especially the delayed turn-based part)? Have you found it generally interesting/fun?

 

[Trash Player]

Yes, that is the what I mean by interrupt screen. Sometimes I forget the second rank is put in waiting mode despite the front is already engaged.
Maybe change the color of the icon to red if enemies are nearby? And I want to know how much time til response if reset course without unpausing.

The combat system reminds me of Myth and those turn-of-century RTS with their campaigns. Frantically micro every troop with as much frame as possible.
It is fun for the demo. I suspect I would be tired of it in the later half of the full campaign though. But there is character building, so that is fine.

 

[sipibaki]

Yes, that is the what I mean by interrupt screen. Sometimes I forget the second rank is put in waiting mode despite the front is already engaged.
Maybe change the color of the icon to red if enemies are nearby? And I want to know how much time til response if reset course without unpausing.

The combat system reminds me of Myth and those turn-of-century RTS with their campaigns. Frantically micro every troop with as much frame as possible.
It is fun for the demo. I suspect I would be tired of it in the later half of the full campaign though. But there is character building, so that is fine.

Ah, I see yes forgetting to turn off the waiting is a common occurrence. It will automatically interrupt itself if there is an adjacent enemy, but that doesn't help the backline. Having some extra notification when enemies are near a waiting unit is a good idea! And you are right, you should be able to see the response time without unpausing I have written it up.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, I can see where you are coming from, as the actions are a lot more atomic, than in a "traditional" turn-based game, you do need to give more orders when in active combat. But at least in here time is not a factor, you can take your time to think through your decisions at every action. And of course, I agree that the demo itself is barebone for now, especially with a fixed party, I just wanted to test if the core system is fun before I seriously expand on it. Thank you for your insights !

 

[Tyranicon]

Best of luck to you, looks interesting.

What engine are you building this on?

 

[Ontopoly]

I hear anything about procedurally or randomly generated maps and I'm instantly turned off

 

[luj1]

Looks like dogshit but if you included deckbuilding from GW I don't care

 

[sipibaki]

Best of luck to you, looks interesting.

What engine are you building this on?

Thank you, and the engine is our own made with c++ and OpenGL.

I hear anything about procedurally or randomly generated maps and I'm instantly turned off

I'm sorry to hear that, personally I feel like it is necessary for replayability. While the premade maps were nice for example in the XCOM remake, they quickly got old when replaying the Campaign. If it helps it is not completely random, the basic idea is the same as they did in XCOM 2, that there are premade houses and parcels, and the map is built up from those.

Looks like dogshit but if you included deckbuilding from GW I don't care

Well yes, while I can say that there will be improvements on that front for sure, but the fact that it will be a 2d isometric game won't change. I don't think that the look of the game will be ever the selling point, but we will do everything to make it at least passable inside our budget, to not distract from the gameplay. And yes, the idea is definitely to include the way characters are built-in GW, I grew up playing it, and I was disappointed in GW2 when they no longer used that system. And considering I never found another game with a similar system, I thought why not learn from it, and try to implement it into a single-player experience, focused on character building, my favorite part of the original GW!

 

[luj1]

yes GW had like 1000 skills and no need for balancing

 

[sipibaki]

yes GW had like 1000 skills and no need for balancing

Well, there was a question about this in the Guild Wars subreddit as well, though they were asking it less sarcastically . How can I handle the balance of the game if even the original creators decided that it was a pandora box, and impossible to balance for their purposes?

The short answer is, I don't think the game will be perfectly balanced. I'm just one man and probably a worse designer than the guys who originally designed the Guild Wars systems. What I can say is though that I think there are a few mitigating factors that make this a lesser problem than it was for Guild Wars.

- This is a single player game, not a PvP focused multiplayer game, and as such having an overpowered build will not ruin the fun of everyone.
- In the campaign, you will not have access to all of the skills. You will have to earn skills, and it will be somewhat random what kind of skills you earn. Think like a more elaborate draft mode in any card game (for example Hearthstone). That means even if there are overpowered skills, you cannot guarantee that you will always get it, so you can't base your strategy on it. The focus is to create the best builds with the tools you have available, not to create the best build from all the skills.
-The enemies you face will be random as well (though telegraphed so you can plan ahead). One playthrough, your beginning enemy legion is the earth legion, against which blunt weapons, and generally armor-piercing skills are great. On another, you will fight against the air legion, which are very fast agile enemies with barely any armor. Those previously mentioned skills are not so great now. Again the idea is that the player will have to create the best builds against the current enemy he/she faces with the tools available for him/her.
- Modding. This kinda goes back to the idea that this is a single-player game, but I want to make the statistics of the skills easily moddable, so if anybody does not agree with the way I balanced the game, they can easily modify it.

So in conclusion, what I want to emphasize, I don't think that I will be able to better balance the system than the guys that did GW. What I do think that the previously mentioned mitigating factors are enough that it will not become as big of a problem as it was for GW.

 

[luj1]

Fuck balance. My whole point was that you dont need to balance when there is a counter for everything

 

[Axioms]

Balance is pointless, even in MMOs much less single player. Original Guild Wars had the most fun skills ever, except they needed to let you run like 16 skills not 8.

 

[Kruno]

no rtx, no buy!

 

[sipibaki]

Fuck balance. My whole point was that you dont need to balance when there is a counter for everything

Oh, I'm sorry then, I misunderstood your point! While I wouldn't go as far as to say there is absolutely no need for balance, but yes, if a lot of the design is built upon counters, then that prevents having a dominant strategy.

Balance is pointless, even in MMOs much less single player. Original Guild Wars had the most fun skills ever, except they needed to let you run like 16 skills not 8.

Well, I think it does have big implications if the game is focused on PvP. If there is one (or only a few) dominant builds and you are always facing players using that, it kinda ruins the fun, at least for me. But absolutely agree that it is a lot less of a problem in a single-player game. And while I will definitely not go over 8 skills in my game, but you will control the whole party, so that's still a lot more skills that the player will have control over in Slaves of Magic .

no rtx, no buy!

Well sadly OpenGL does not support the RTX raytracing at least for now so sadly, so that is out of bounds of this project :D