Thanks for playing! I'll rename the evolutions to something else, I think the word "Evolution" just causes some unfitting expectations in a Pokemon-like game
Just lost hours to this again. I remember you saying this was 90% done, so grats! I've had runs where I couldn't find a specific uncommon despite going for it every time, or oftentimes going into an area and only getting trash. Also, agreed with la_fafafa, the "penalty" thing next to the bonus multipliers is a little misleading. Otherwise, it's a lot of fun.
That's just RNG for you, sometimes you'll have a nutty triple evolved thing that obliterates, sometimes you won't. Usually when I don't get what I want, I just take anything decent that I did get, it makes it easier to switch to another strategy if an opportunity shows up.
This games is really interesting to me! Two of the genres I love, pokemon and autobattlers, mixed into one! I have played for a bit and always got crushed in the second gym. Since I feel I don't know how to play, I have no idea if this game is difficult or not or how the balance is. Some thoughts:
- For an autobattler, there are not many options to do apart from drafting to customize your team. You get 3 path options and then 2 or 3 mons to choose from. This is very little compared to other auto-battlers, where you always get 3 or more units options, there are options to re-roll or you get extra things (spells in hearthstone battleground, items in teamfight tactics/underlords). - Both times I fought against an earth gym, my team got crushed. - Going into an area that has the fire and electricity symbol on top and not getting any of those in fights is a bit odd. - Getting a team-wide penalty for assembling a comp feels punishing. - I havent assembled it, but the metal bonus +1 defense per hit looks like a much weaker version of the earth bonus.
I like the "this is pokemon, but a lot meaner" theme and how the player gets mauled after losing.
The number of enemies you encounter per area goes up to 4 quite early in the game, so you end up having 4 to choose from. Reroll would be interesting, but there aren't enough mechanics to have a cost to it, nor was the game balanced around it, so it's probably too late to introduce it. I thought the area selection is enough of a substitute, giving you some control over what you'll encounter.
Area symbols are determined solely by the # of each type that can appear at all rarities, so I agree that it can be a bit misleading early game. Fire and Electric combined have only 3 mons at common level, so there have to be some wildcards to fill up the quota. Not sure if I can fix this. I guess I can only recommend looking at the full list of possible mons and use the type icons as a very general guess
Not sure what you mean by team-wide penalty for assembling a comp - there are actually party buffs for having multiples of the same type.
From my experience, the Steel bonus is more relevant late in the game, when battles take longer. It's really bad early when everything dies in 4-5 hits
> The number of enemies you encounter per area goes up to 4 quite early in the game, so you end up having 4 to choose from. Reroll would be interesting, but there aren't enough mechanics to have a cost to it, nor was the game balanced around it, so it's probably too late to introduce it. I thought the area selection is enough of a substitute, giving you some control over what you'll encounter. The area selection is before knowing what you are going to find, most re-rolls are taken after knowing what you will receive so they aren't used for the same thing.
>Area symbols are determined solely by the # of each type that can appear at all rarities, so I agree that it can be a bit misleading early game. Fire and Electric combined have only 3 mons at common level, so there have to be some wildcards to fill up the quota. Not sure if I can fix this. I guess I can only recommend looking at the full list of possible mons and use the type icons as a very general guess Maybe you can put bars or a graphic, something visual to aid the player.
>Not sure what you mean by team-wide penalty for assembling a comp - there are actually party buffs for having multiples of the same type. I misunderstood the multipliers on the help text of each party bonus as "all mons get this bonus" instead of "mons with this have these advantages". I was very dumb, sorry.
>From my experience, the Steel bonus is more relevant late in the game, when battles take longer. It's really bad early when everything dies in 4-5 hits Well I never reached lategame and assumed most combats would end up in less than 10 hits.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that this game is a lot more punishing with defeats compared to other auto-battlers. In most of them you don't die in the first loss, smoothing out unlucky rolls if the player is not able to assemble anything useful early on. Also they allow you to gamble your hp for a better late-game or gold leading to more choices, though there are people who don't like this.
Also I feel like jellyfish and frog are still pretty OP. I didn't pay attention and died on 38 or so in the league but I mostly just fast-forwarded the game with these two.
Not saying that the balance is perfect, but a triple evolved uncommon and another double evolved uncommon with a matching type by Area 28 will generally get you far regardless of which mons they are. You got some nice luck on that run!
I haven't done extensive balance testing of the game and won't be able to do much of that alone, I'll probably have to gather data post-release and react accordingly
But even considering that, I'll probably nerf the Jellyfish a bit before release. It snowballs too much if the first enemy is weak to it
I kinda like the doodle aesthetic. Really leans into the Pokemon-but-grungy feel.
I'm not completely sold on the auto-battler thing. Just having everything play out is fine when you win (even if you get chewed up in the process), but feeling helpless while you lose sucks. Maybe I just need to git gud.
Evolving is pretty weaksauce. Doesn't necessarily mean you need to change the mechanic, might just need to adjust expectations by calling it something else. Also, the evolution effect doesn't quite fit in the stat box.
Auto-battlers aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it is the core element of the game, as I wanted a snappy version of Pokemon. It doesn't feel as helpless once you git gud - I consistently get far into the game. If the game gets any attention at all, I'd love to do a bigger, more player-involved game in the same setting.
Evolution should probably be renamed, yeah. It's only named that because of the Pokemon standard. It's more like an upgrade. I'll think of a better name
Comments
Not a lot to say, it's just really fun. Very charming. My only real gripe would be that evolutions seem kind of boring.
Great job!
Thanks for playing! I'll rename the evolutions to something else, I think the word "Evolution" just causes some unfitting expectations in a Pokemon-like game
Just lost hours to this again. I remember you saying this was 90% done, so grats! I've had runs where I couldn't find a specific uncommon despite going for it every time, or oftentimes going into an area and only getting trash. Also, agreed with la_fafafa, the "penalty" thing next to the bonus multipliers is a little misleading. Otherwise, it's a lot of fun.
Hi there, thanks for playing!
That's just RNG for you, sometimes you'll have a nutty triple evolved thing that obliterates, sometimes you won't. Usually when I don't get what I want, I just take anything decent that I did get, it makes it easier to switch to another strategy if an opportunity shows up.
Success at last (copying aura-dev's strat)
I'm not looking forward to play against that team
This games is really interesting to me! Two of the genres I love, pokemon and autobattlers, mixed into one! I have played for a bit and always got crushed in the second gym. Since I feel I don't know how to play, I have no idea if this game is difficult or not or how the balance is. Some thoughts:
- For an autobattler, there are not many options to do apart from drafting to customize your team. You get 3 path options and then 2 or 3 mons to choose from. This is very little compared to other auto-battlers, where you always get 3 or more units options, there are options to re-roll or you get extra things (spells in hearthstone battleground, items in teamfight tactics/underlords).
- Both times I fought against an earth gym, my team got crushed.
- Going into an area that has the fire and electricity symbol on top and not getting any of those in fights is a bit odd.
- Getting a team-wide penalty for assembling a comp feels punishing.
- I havent assembled it, but the metal bonus +1 defense per hit looks like a much weaker version of the earth bonus.
I like the "this is pokemon, but a lot meaner" theme and how the player gets mauled after losing.
Hi, thanks for the feedback!
The number of enemies you encounter per area goes up to 4 quite early in the game, so you end up having 4 to choose from. Reroll would be interesting, but there aren't enough mechanics to have a cost to it, nor was the game balanced around it, so it's probably too late to introduce it. I thought the area selection is enough of a substitute, giving you some control over what you'll encounter.
Area symbols are determined solely by the # of each type that can appear at all rarities, so I agree that it can be a bit misleading early game. Fire and Electric combined have only 3 mons at common level, so there have to be some wildcards to fill up the quota. Not sure if I can fix this. I guess I can only recommend looking at the full list of possible mons and use the type icons as a very general guess
Not sure what you mean by team-wide penalty for assembling a comp - there are actually party buffs for having multiples of the same type.
From my experience, the Steel bonus is more relevant late in the game, when battles take longer. It's really bad early when everything dies in 4-5 hits
Thanks for playing!
> The number of enemies you encounter per area goes up to 4 quite early in the game, so you end up having 4 to choose from. Reroll would be interesting, but there aren't enough mechanics to have a cost to it, nor was the game balanced around it, so it's probably too late to introduce it. I thought the area selection is enough of a substitute, giving you some control over what you'll encounter.
The area selection is before knowing what you are going to find, most re-rolls are taken after knowing what you will receive so they aren't used for the same thing.
>Area symbols are determined solely by the # of each type that can appear at all rarities, so I agree that it can be a bit misleading early game. Fire and Electric combined have only 3 mons at common level, so there have to be some wildcards to fill up the quota. Not sure if I can fix this. I guess I can only recommend looking at the full list of possible mons and use the type icons as a very general guess
Maybe you can put bars or a graphic, something visual to aid the player.
>Not sure what you mean by team-wide penalty for assembling a comp - there are actually party buffs for having multiples of the same type.
I misunderstood the multipliers on the help text of each party bonus as "all mons get this bonus" instead of "mons with this have these advantages". I was very dumb, sorry.
>From my experience, the Steel bonus is more relevant late in the game, when battles take longer. It's really bad early when everything dies in 4-5 hits
Well I never reached lategame and assumed most combats would end up in less than 10 hits.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that this game is a lot more punishing with defeats compared to other auto-battlers. In most of them you don't die in the first loss, smoothing out unlucky rolls if the player is not able to assemble anything useful early on. Also they allow you to gamble your hp for a better late-game or gold leading to more choices, though there are people who don't like this.
It's a stupid kind of fun. The theming is also nice with the trashbag and the "release" trashcan. It has potential imo.
Little bug.
Also I feel like jellyfish and frog are still pretty OP. I didn't pay attention and died on 38 or so in the league but I mostly just fast-forwarded the game with these two.
Hi Auradev, thanks for playing!
Not saying that the balance is perfect, but a triple evolved uncommon and another double evolved uncommon with a matching type by Area 28 will generally get you far regardless of which mons they are. You got some nice luck on that run!
I haven't done extensive balance testing of the game and won't be able to do much of that alone, I'll probably have to gather data post-release and react accordingly
But even considering that, I'll probably nerf the Jellyfish a bit before release. It snowballs too much if the first enemy is weak to it
Hi!
Auto-battlers aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it is the core element of the game, as I wanted a snappy version of Pokemon. It doesn't feel as helpless once you git gud - I consistently get far into the game. If the game gets any attention at all, I'd love to do a bigger, more player-involved game in the same setting.
Evolution should probably be renamed, yeah. It's only named that because of the Pokemon standard. It's more like an upgrade. I'll think of a better name
Thanks for playing!