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

[sipibaki]

What kind of sicko wants legs but no arms?

Your quote originated from like 2 years ago, but for your information, I'm living with this sicko :D . Besides, you make it sound like the origin point is that the units have both, and we wanted to remove the arms. In reality, the inspiration had none and we wanted to add legs to it. But this is a moot point anyway as since then, we have reduced the directions the units can face so that we can add fully animated units (with both legs and arms!).

 

[sipibaki]

 

[sipibaki]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1442610/view/5493840004382519985

Devlog #17 The calm before the storm
This devlog is mainly about how a player prepares for a combat mission. Plus the usual assortment of improvements we made, like UI, and new weapons.

Spoiler

Devlog #17 The calm before the storm

Hello everyone! This devlog's biggest focus will be on the teleporter room, which is an incredible piece of equipment, and the biggest prize of the resistance movement!

Preparation for the mission

In the beginning, the player will have 6 teleport pads so that will be the party limit. With additional resources and research, this can be increased to 8. The basic gameplay loop is to set up a team for combat, do the mission, then teleport back.

Units that don't make back are lost forever, and even those who did make it back will need a resting period. The length of it depends on the extent of their injuries, but even uninjured troops will be tired. Tired troops can be sent to another mission in a pinch, but then they become depressed and will need a longer rest. So the player will need to manage their troops well if they don't want to end up like this:

We did a bit of an upgrade on what exact enemies you will face during a mission as well. As a reminder, the invaders have their own armies on the campaign map and will conduct different kinds of missions. Now, they are spread thin, especially in the beginning, so there is a big difference between army sizes, which basically decides the difficulty of sabotaging the given army. The enemy has a science level as well, which will decide the units of the different army's fields. Like so:

Every army is set up from 4 units in this list. Like so:

The level 1 army consists of the leftmost 4 units, the lever 2 then shift 1 to the right, etc. The enemy squadrons in the given combat map are set up using these 4 units. And when the enemy improves their research, new units will appear at the rightmost spot of the list and shift every other unit down by one. So units that were part of only the hardest armies will eventually be part of the easiest armies. This process does mean that the player will have time to prepare to counter the new units before they appear in large numbers on missions.

New equipment

We have the animations for one-handed mace, one-handed axe, and shields.

Shields will work a bit different than simply reducing the chance to hit. They do not interfere with hit chance, rather every character has a separate shield block chance. This is mostly influenced by their skill in using shields. If a character with a shield is hit (and not from behind), then we roll another and check the character block chance. If he manages to block then the shield will take the damage, otherwise the character. Axes have a bonus against shields, so they will be the best weapon to destroy them, but other high damage dealing weapons can work in a pinch as well.

Ui improvements

On the UI front, we have created icons + bars to show the unit's stats, instead of using just text.

So that's it for today's devlog! One small piece of information, the prelude alpha demo will be removed from the Steam store on May 31st to avoid confusion with our planned new demo. It will be available from the full game's Steam page when it will be ready.

 

[Late Bloomer]

I hope you aren't using your "partner" for inspiration, as those female portraits are rough.

 

[sipibaki]

I hope you aren't using your "partner" for inspiration, as those female portraits are rough.

Well, the good news is that my partner is the one doing everything art-related, so the portraits as well. So that means I must be handsome if you had no problem with the male versions . Joking aside, they are placeholders, till we create a face generator.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Well, the good news is that my partner is the one doing everything art-related, so the portraits as well. So that means I must be handsome if you had no problem with the male versions . Joking aside, they are placeholders, till we create a face generator.

Sounds good. Wishlisted because you have a sense of humor. Whats the price point?

 

[sipibaki]

Well, the good news is that my partner is the one doing everything art-related, so the portraits as well. So that means I must be handsome if you had no problem with the male versions . Joking aside, they are placeholders, till we create a face generator.

Sounds good. Wishlisted because you have a sense of humor. Whats the price point?

Thanks! About the price point, we have not decided on it yet, plus I do not know your region where you would theoretically buy it. But obliviously not gonna be AAA or even AA price.

 

[sipibaki]

We have a new updated trailer, including all the new stuff we did since our previous one. When we are done uploading for youtube, I will edit our first post with it, but till then you can check it out here:



Edit:
The trailer is up for youtube as well:

 

[sipibaki]

 

[sipibaki]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1442610/view/3377155056824564599

Devlog #18 Filling the void with content
This devlog is about showcasing the content we are adding to our new demo, which gives us a good excuse to add a lot of gifs!

Spoiler

Hello everyone! This devlog is focused on showcasing the content we are working on in our demo. In addition, I'm happy to announce that the release date of our demo is set in stone now, as the release of it will be part of a larger event. We have been asked to not disclose the exact event and date yet, but we are super excited that we have been chosen! When we get the permission we will announce the date properly.

Start menu improvements

Let's start with our new background for our start menu:

We wanted to have something a bit darker than our previous background, and of course, just like the previous one, it is animated in-game as well! But while we were at it, we have also added proper access to the settings menu while you are in the game, so no more going back to the main menu to change the volume settings anymore.

Another important improvement is that we have added situation-sensitive tutorial popups. These will help new players to explain the basics of the game at the relevant times. These can be turned off in the settings menu for everyone else.

Tactical phase improvements

In line with the darker tone, we replaced the mono-color edge of the map with a bit more sinister:

The idea here is that the commander(player) is looking at the battlefield through a scrying orb. Hence the purple fog that surrounds the map.

Another important improvement is that we have redone the UI with the mentality that it should be readable at every zoom level, not just fully zoomed in, as we saw a lot of people playing at least partially zoomed out. I think the result speaks for itself:

New enemies:

There are 2 new enemy types to encounter. Let's start with the Inquisitor priest:

The part of the old clergy, who freely followed the new gods have established the Inquisition, which job is to uphold the new order. Those inquisitors that have been deemed worthy received magic staff and training in using magic.

Gameplay-wise they can only go into a so-called leader spot in an army, at least in the early game, so that means their number will be super limited. They are stronger than your average grunt though. In their case, while unarmored they have access to magic. Don't want to spoil their full spell list just yet, but their basic spell is called guiding light.

This spell does not do a lot of damage, but it guarantees to hit the target and ignore armor damage reduction. Plus makes the target easier to hit till the end of the round which makes it the focus of other enemies as well.

For the elite enemies, check out the dwarf soldier:

They are troops that represent forces that came with the invaders from the other dimension. How or why they are aligned with the invaders is a mystery for the resistance at the moment, but the fact remains, that they are here, fighting for the false gods and they have superior armor to anything humans have ever produced.

New options for the resistance:

Of course, to handle these new challenges, the resistance has received new toys to play with.

The resistance now has access to heavy armor as well. Not as good as the dwarf one of course, but if the user can handle the stamina and movement penalty, it will make them last longer on the battlefield. Deploy your heavy unit well to counteract their slower speed.

In the demo, every resistance unit will start from level 3 to give the player room to personalize their team. That means you will have attribute points to spend on well, attributes, plus 3 skill slots. Of course, there is a default team ready to go for those who will just want to jump to the combat portion of the demo. Some example skills like aggressive stance:

This skill belongs to the berserker attribute. While active, the unit has improved attack but reduced defense. As it is a stance it can be toggled on or off. You have to pay its activation cost when you activate it, plus at the end of every round, so to get the most ideal stamina consumption you want to leave it on for as long as possible.

The next skill is called reorganize formation:

This skill belongs to the soldier attribute. Normally you cannot go through units, but when you activate this skill you will be able to swap places with friendly units. The swap does not provoke an attack of opportunity. While in itself the skill is not really flashy, it is a great utility skill. It makes repositioning in melee a lot easier, plus can be used to save for example a low-health unit that is engaged with someone.

Let's check out a weapon skill next. This one is called hook shield:

This skill belongs to the axe-wielding attribute, and I think the gif is very telling of what it does! Drastically reduces the enemy shield block chance as the axe user hooks their shield. The one tiny issue with this skill is that it counts as an attack and does no damage, so you will need some friends to take advantage of the situation!

Closing thoughts

Those who are following us for a while might wonder why I have not shown anything from the campaign portion of the game in this devlog. The reason for that is that we decided that this demo will be only combat-focused. The player will be able to check out the campaign map as well, and indeed they will be using it to choose the mission and organize their team, but the forward time button will be turned off.

The reason we choose to hold back the campaign portion is two-fold. For one, I felt that with the campaign portion included, it might be too long for a demo format. I'm still committed that I want to give you a chance to try it out and gather feedback about it, but probably in a different format like a limited-time beta or in early access.

The other and the admittedly bigger reason is that I felt that the campaign portion, especially the base building and the world map interaction is still a bit shallow. I have a few ideas on how to add a bit of extra depth there, but that will be a topic for another time!

So that's it for today's devlog!

 

[sipibaki]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1442610/announcements/detail/3388414690611249668

We are happy to announce that our new demo for Slaves of Magic will be released on September 22, and will be part of the Steam Tacticon festival!

Spoiler

 

[udm]

Well, the good news is that my partner is the one doing everything art-related, so the portraits as well. So that means I must be handsome if you had no problem with the male versions . Joking aside, they are placeholders, till we create a face generator.

Sounds good. Wishlisted because you have a sense of humor. Whats the price point?

Thanks! About the price point, we have not decided on it yet, plus I do not know your region where you would theoretically buy it. But obliviously not gonna be AAA or even AA price.

You can do what some of the smaller games have done: set a reasonable price point for an indie game, but put out a supporter pack that adds extra cosmetic stuff and goodies like soundtrack. I'd pay for that.

 

[sipibaki]

Well, the good news is that my partner is the one doing everything art-related, so the portraits as well. So that means I must be handsome if you had no problem with the male versions . Joking aside, they are placeholders, till we create a face generator.

Sounds good. Wishlisted because you have a sense of humor. Whats the price point?

Thanks! About the price point, we have not decided on it yet, plus I do not know your region where you would theoretically buy it. But obliviously not gonna be AAA or even AA price.

You can do what some of the smaller games have done: set a reasonable price point for an indie game, but put out a supporter pack that adds extra cosmetic stuff and goodies like soundtrack. I'd pay for that.

Sure, that is a possibility. Admittedly, it does feel a bit weird to put out a supporter pack that doesn't really provide much more value, yet costs more. Still, there have been other games that do this successfully.

 

[udm]

Some examples off the top of my head:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1093400/ATOM_RPG__Supporter_Pack/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/801860/Deep_Rock_Galactic__Supporter_Upgrade/

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I read the thread title as "Slavs of Magic" and immediately thought of magical version of @maxie and warpig .

 

[sipibaki]

 

[Fargus]

Been watching this for some time, looks cool. Kinda bugged by the lack of attack animations in the trailer gameplay.

Just a suggestion. If you're hell bent on having fighting wymminz in your game it would be good if their sprites are different from men's sprites. Maybe some size and height adjustment. And not making their portraits look like they belong to hideous scolding goblins would be nice too, but i'm afraid its too much too ask in this day and age.

 

[sipibaki]

Been watching this for some time, looks cool. Kinda bugged by the lack of attack animations in the trailer gameplay.

Just a suggestion. If you're hell bent on having fighting wymminz in your game it would be good if their sprites are different from men's sprites. Maybe some size and height adjustment. And not making their portraits look like they belong to hideous scolding goblins would be nice too, but i'm afraid its too much too ask in this day and age.

Yeah, we have not really focused on the combat part, as when the trailer was made, there weren't many animations done besides what was shown. But our new demo that is in the work has at least 3 skills for every weapon type plus not-weapon related skills. At some point, we will update the trailer as well to show the now more diverse combat.

We do want to allow female soldiers, as that was basically possible in every XCOM game. I think we can let a bit of fantasy into the game, but we have no problem adding an option to only generate male characters for those who want to keep it more realistic.

The portraits are just placeholders, they will be completely reworked with an in-game portrait creator. They are just a quick stop-gap solution till we create the proper generator. Sadly the sprites will remain unisex though. It would be great to create 2 sets for every armor, but that literally means to double the animation work for said armors, and they are the most expensive timewise as well. We would rather spend that time creating more skills/equipment, with gameplay relevance.

 

[Fargus]

I understand, many times i thought how it would be to draw and animate a bunch of 2d sprites and it always felt like a nightmare work. Even making a custom animated nosferatu portrait of shitty quality for M&MVIII took me a lot of time.

Looking forward to play your game.

 

[sipibaki]

 

[Galdred]

Some examples off the top of my head:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1093400/ATOM_RPG__Supporter_Pack/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/801860/Deep_Rock_Galactic__Supporter_Upgrade/

Battle Brothers did it too (but their base price was relatively high). It offered some comsetic items iirc.

 

[sipibaki]

 

[Infinitron]

New trailer:

 

[sipibaki]

You were very fast Infintron!

It is mostly an incremental upgrade. The trailer structure is the same, but we have re-recorded most of the footage to include some of the new equipment/enemy/skill which has been made since the previous trailer.

 

[sipibaki]

The Steam TactiCon event has started, and our new demo is out and you can check it out on our Steam page.