A thread to discuss the public beta

[Adam Ryland]

Please use this thread to discuss the public beta that was released today. If you have errors or issues to report, please make sure to use the Technical Support forum that is further down the board.

As a reminder, the official retail version will be released in seven days, on the 29th

[Cold Cobra]

Initial impressions are good! I was worried at first about having the attacks and traits in the same menu looked weird but then when I actually had a battle it made a lot more sense. The same goes for how it seemed like there were a lot less options for moves but really we just lost unnecessary specifics (Stab, slice, throw, grapple, weapon attacks in general are now all just physical) though this does make some of the movesets imported a bit pointless (no need to have a Sword Slash and a Sword Stab that do exactly the same amount of damage and are now in the same category) so that's even more editing to do!

I do like being able to name your own powers and even version of powers specific to each person if you want. I'm sure that was probably covered in the journal but I evidently forgot about it! I've only taken a quick look at the editor otherwise but storylines and items look as much fun as I was hoping. I'll need to look at the default database's stats and attack levels because the imported database is all 1s, 2s and the odd 3s for attacks out of 25, which seems odd and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to the personality section again at a cursory glance, unless that's covered in traits.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but I am enjoying the actual game which will help with all the database editing I have ahead of me...

[LostInWeb]

Okay, I just played for about an hour and I will have a lot of fun with this one for sure. Good work, Adam and everyone else, who worked on it.

I looked in the editor, but it looks kind of complex for just trying it out. I have to take my time for that. Espescially creating storylines seems like it can take a lot of time, but can create a lot of great stuff in the game world.

The game itself looks fun overall. I have to admit, I hoped for some kind of Mini-Games for the puzzles, but maybe in Comic Book Megaverse then ...

One thing so far, I would like to see, would be a button during combat and puzzles to let the AI finish it. Kind of a Skip-Command. I think, this would be good, since a huge game world could make a very long round with a lot of fights and puzzles and if for example, the player has to leave the game for some reason, they could skip to the end of the issue to play on from that point, later without having to surrender all the fights and lose automatically.

An alternative would be a possibility to get back to the Home-Screen in the running game to save there and take on the next fights and puzzles later. Right now, when you started an issue you can only end the whole game and get back to the title screen. So you have to play through all the puzzles und fights, before you can save the game and that can take a lot of time, even at the beginning, with not so much going on.

One thing I don't get until now, but didn't lool much into it, to be honest, is the use of hero points. Aren't they used to level up the stats of the characters? Because I can't find an option for that, but maybe I have to look around some more.

Last thing for now: is there an overview for the storylines that are triggered/can be triggered/are ended etc. in game or is it hidden and can only be seen in the editor?

[Adam Ryland]

18 minutes ago, LostInWeb said:

Okay, I just played for about an hour and I will have a lot of fun with this one for sure. Good work, Adam and everyone else, who worked on it.

I looked in the editor, but it looks kind of complex for just trying it out. I have to take my time for that. Espescially creating storylines seems like it can take a lot of time, but can create a lot of great stuff in the game world.

The game itself looks fun overall. I have to admit, I hoped for some kind of Mini-Games for the puzzles, but maybe in Comic Book Megaverse then ...

One thing so far, I would like to see, would be a button during combat and puzzles to let the AI finish it. Kind of a Skip-Command. I think, this would be good, since a huge game world could make a very long round with a lot of fights and puzzles and if for example, the player has to leave the game for some reason, they could skip to the end of the issue to play on from that point, later without having to surrender all the fights and lose automatically.

An alternative would be a possibility to get back to the Home-Screen in the running game to save there and take on the next fights and puzzles later. Right now, when you started an issue you can only end the whole game and get back to the title screen. So you have to play through all the puzzles und fights, before you can save the game and that can take a lot of time, even at the beginning, with not so much going on.

One thing I don't get until now, but didn't lool much into it, to be honest, is the use of hero points. Aren't they used to level up the stats of the characters? Because I can't find an option for that, but maybe I have to look around some more.

Last thing for now: is there an overview for the storylines that are triggered/can be triggered/are ended etc. in game or is it hidden and can only be seen in the editor?

You can exit out of a fight or puzzle at any time (via the button at the bottom of the side bar); it automatically saves the game state and loading the game will take you back to where you left off. 

Hero points are used during encounters to create temporary effects. See the in-game handbook. You activate it by viewing someone's profile during a fight or puzzle and selecting the Use HP button.

No, you can't view storylines to come outside of the editor. Otherwise you'd be spoiling potential surprises. You can view what has already happened via Past Issues.

[LostInWeb]

13 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

You can exit out of a fight or puzzle at any time (via the button at the bottom of the side bar); it automatically saves the game state and loading the game will take you back to where you left off. 

Okay, so there is kind of an autosave when I exit the game via the home-button? That would be the "workaround" I needed.

14 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

Hero points are used during encounters to create temporary effects. See the in-game handbook. You activate it by viewing someone's profile during a fight or puzzle and selecting the Use HP button.

So there is no leveling up characters? Not, that I need it, just to be sure. When I create a game world, the stats are set? I ask that, because in CBH I created characters especially with low stats to make the game more interesting for me, by trying to level them up as far as I could. I guess, I won't need that here, since I will go for storylines in my game world, so again, just to make sure.

16 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

No, you can't view storylines to come outside of the editor. Otherwise you'd be spoiling potential surprises. You can view what has already happened via Past Issues.

I thought more of just a list with the title, not a viewable item, that gives me every information. But nothing I really need, was just wondering.

Thanks for the answers. I enjoy the game alot so far and can't wait to dive into the editor sometime next week ...

[Adam Ryland]

1 minute ago, LostInWeb said:

Okay, so there is kind of an autosave when I exit the game via the home-button? That would be the "workaround" I needed.

So there is no leveling up characters? Not, that I need it, just to be sure. When I create a game world, the stats are set? I ask that, because in CBH I created characters especially with low stats to make the game more interesting for me, by trying to level them up as far as I could. I guess, I won't need that here, since I will go for storylines in my game world, so again, just to make sure.

I thought more of just a list with the title, not a viewable item, that gives me every information. But nothing I really need, was just wondering.

Thanks for the answers. I enjoy the game alot so far and can't wait to dive into the editor sometime next week ...

Yes it auto saves when you exit out of combat or puzzles.

There's no levelling up in the sense that you mean it. Characters get better or worse via storylines and natural character evolution, not by RPG style growth.

[Markw]

Finished four issues so far, seems like a great game - been pretty easy on experienced difficulty though, hopefully the other two will provide a bit more of a challenge, fun so far though.

[LostInWeb]

7 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

Yes it auto saves when you exit out of combat or puzzles.

There's no levelling up in the sense that you mean it. Characters get better or worse via storylines and natural character evolution, not by RPG style growth.

Since I am not the greatest fan ov leveling up thousands of stats as in many modern RPGs, that makes the game kind of even better for me. Everything looks a lot more clear, but seems to provide more depth than in CBH. I like it.

[Undertaker666]

50 minutes ago, Markw said:

Finished four issues so far, seems like a great game - been pretty easy on experienced difficulty though, hopefully the other two will provide a bit more of a challenge, fun so far though.

I've been spanked many a time on Experienced difficulty. It will be different for everyone as it all depends on which characters you have available to you vs the characters you're facing. (as they can move around to different Locations)

[A.Styles]

Maybe I'm just not seeing it which is possible, but unless there's some way to focus down on a specific area of group of chars its hard to feel like there's much reason to care about whatever fight is happening. TEW has your guys and your storyline and all that, and you can choose your lineup in a fight, but you can be dealing with completely separate regions. And it doesn't feel like outside of the fights that you can actually do much with these chars unless there's just more for me to discover. I know its not the Comic Book Hero game when there's SO MANY characters to focus on it feels easy to just glaze over any fight or group cause you haven't built up a like to them yet. And when you do start to like people you can't seem to focus on them in particular.

Some sort of "Focus on xyz" system either down to the area or down to some characters may be more fun? could also allow to see just low level people build into higher ones if their stories go well.

Again tho I may have missed something.

[Undertaker666]

10 minutes ago, A.Styles said:

Maybe I'm just not seeing it which is possible, but unless there's some way to focus down on a specific area of group of chars its hard to feel like there's much reason to care about whatever fight is happening. TEW has your guys and your storyline and all that, and you can choose your lineup in a fight, but you can be dealing with completely separate regions. And it doesn't feel like outside of the fights that you can actually do much with these chars unless there's just more for me to discover. I know its not the Comic Book Hero game when there's SO MANY characters to focus on it feels easy to just glaze over any fight or group cause you haven't built up a like to them yet. And when you do start to like people you can't seem to focus on them in particular.

Some sort of "Focus on xyz" system either down to the area or down to some characters may be more fun? could also allow to see just low level people build into higher ones if their stories go well.

Again tho I may have missed something.

If you start a game and then go into Options, there's a setting called "Encounter Lock" where you can set a specific location/game world etc. So if you were running a mod with DC/Marvel/2000 AD etc. you could lock it to those that you wanted to focus on.

[A.Styles]

2 minutes ago, Undertaker666 said:

If you start a game and then go into Options, there's a setting called "Encounter Lock" where you can set a specific location/game world etc. So if you were running a mod with DC/Marvel/2000 AD etc. you could lock it to those that you wanted to focus on.

Thank you! i'll try it out and see if it makes me see it differently

[Markw]

Finished my first demo playthrough, lot of fun.

1.1 Skirmish in Principal City Clocktower (Part 1) 'Grand Knight Assay is up to something big. However, before you have a chance to investigate, first you must engage in a skirmish with a small crew he has assembled.' In a skirmish that took place in Principal City Clocktower (in Principal City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side by 9 points of damage to 3. Combat lasted for 3 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Darvin The Monster Hunter (ended unharmed), Xtinction (ended unharmed) and Lone Shark (ended with 1 point of damage). The villainous side consisted of Hisshi (knocked out), Scuttlebutt (ended unharmed) and Talos (ended with 1 point of damage).

1.1 Grand Knight Assay aims to takeover Principal City (Part 2) 'Following the initial skirmish, you deduce that Grand Knight Assay is attempting to take control of Principal City through technological means. You must now engage him and his allies in combat to stop his scheme!' In a fight that took place in Principal City Clocktower (in Principal City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 10 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Soaring Eagle (ended with 4 points of damage), Darvin The Monster Hunter (knocked out), Imprint (ended with 3 points of damage), Chimera (ended with 1 point of damage), The Flashing Blade (knocked out), Delphi (ended unharmed), Lone Shark (knocked out) and Snowstorm (ended with 4 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of Grand Knight Assay, Scuttlebutt, Talos, The Quantemmes, C.R.A.W.L. and Tauran. The Balance of Power began this issue at 0. Due to this result, it moved +13. The resulting Balance of Power was +13. The following significant consequences happened: Grand Knight Assay (critical injury), Scuttlebutt (jailed), Talos (committed), The Quantemmes (jailed)

1.2 Closing in on Crippling Fear (Part 1) 'Combat Wombat is attempting to capture Crippling Fear but he is proving slippery. You must engage him in a battle of wits in order to pinpoint where exactly Crippling Fear is.' In a 'battle of wits' encounter that took place in Ravenholme, the heroic side defeated the villainous side by solving the puzzle. The encounter lasted for 5 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Crimson Saint, Dupin and Risktaker. The villainous side consisted of Crippling Fear.

1.2 Combat Wombat tries to capture Crippling Fear (Part 2) 'Having gotten close, Combat Wombat now gets the opportunity to capture Crippling Fear.' In a fight that took place in Silverwood (in Ravenholme), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Combat Wombat (knocked out), Crimson Saint (ended with 2 points of damage), City Sweeper (knocked out), Dark Justice (knocked out), Delphi (knocked out) and Risktaker (ended with 1 point of damage). The villainous side consisted of The Volooen Armada, Tourbillion, Crippling Fear and The Southsiders. The Balance of Power began this issue at +13. Due to this result, it moved +9. The resulting Balance of Power was +22. The following significant consequences happened: Crippling Fear (jailed)

1.3 Crimson Saint patrols Little London 'Crimson Saint is patrolling in Little London when he encounters some villains up to no good.' In a fight that took place in Little London (in Ravenholme), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Crimson Saint (ended unharmed), Deathwatch Beetle (ended with 2 points of damage), Rachel Noir (ended with 2 points of damage), Cyco (ended with 3 points of damage) and Risktaker (ended unharmed). The villainous side consisted of Anathema, Kuro, Le Rapide, Narco and Vampire Bat. The Balance of Power began this issue at +22. Due to this result, it moved +4. The resulting Balance of Power was +26. The following significant consequences happened: Kuro (jailed), Vampire Bat (committed)

1.4 HaemoGoblin encounter (Part 1) 'Lady America is attempting to capture Mind Bender but is delayed by the need to deal with HaemoGoblin. You must engage him in a battle of wits in order to go after Mind Bender.' In a 'battle of wits' encounter that took place in Centenary City University (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side as the puzzle was closer to solved than stumped. The encounter lasted for 5 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Lady America, Mrs Wonderful and Blue Feather. The villainous side consisted of HaemoGoblin.

1.4 Lady America tries to capture Mind Bender (Part 2) 'Having gotten past HaemoGoblin, Lady America manages to corner Mind Bender. Not willing to give up easily, Mind Bender fights to retain his freedom.' In a fight that took place in Centenary City University (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Lady America (ended with 1 point of damage), Mrs Wonderful (ended with 6 points of damage), Bolt Lightning (ended unharmed), American Defender (ended unharmed), Moonbird (knocked out), Legal Eagle (ended unharmed) and Boy Inferno (ended unharmed). The villainous side consisted of HaemoGoblin, King Midas, Vortex, Medusa, Mind Bender and Fear Fairy. The Balance of Power began this issue at +26. Due to this result, it moved +13. The resulting Balance of Power was +39. The following significant consequences happened: King Midas (committed), Mind Bender (jailed)

1.5 Golden Eagle patrols The Smile Mile 'Golden Eagle is patrolling in The Smile Mile when he encounters some villains up to no good.' In a fight that took place in The Smile Mile (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 7 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Golden Eagle (ended unharmed), Legal Eagle (ended with 4 points of damage), Solar Girl (knocked out) and Boy Inferno (ended with 2 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of The Blades Of Tourbillion, Sharpshooter, Debaser, Kraken and Towerblock. The Balance of Power began this issue at +39. Due to this result, it moved +3. The resulting Balance of Power was +42.

1.6 Bolt Lightning tries to protect Freddie Davies 'Bolt Lightning is attempting to protect Freddie Davies from a group of villains who are menacing him. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he must hold the villains back long enough for Freddie Davies to reach safety.' In a skirmish that took place in Little Venice (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side by surviving the siege. Combat lasted for 4 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Bolt Lightning (knocked out), American Defender (ended with 1 point of damage) and Blue Feather (ended with 2 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of Easter (ended unharmed), Armourdillo (ended unharmed), El Patron (ended unharmed), H2O (knocked out), Primal Rage (knocked out), Callous (knocked out) and Leviathan (knocked out). The Balance of Power began this issue at +42. Due to this result, it moved +9. The resulting Balance of Power was +51. The following significant consequences happened: H2O (jailed), Leviathan (jailed)

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Markw

[Riho]

I am neutral so far.

• A lot to read to understand what's going on and to mod.
• Cool that we can test battles.
• Basically plays like CBH team battles without micromanaging an individual hero, and stuff actually happens every issue.
• Database and gameplay flow are tighter.
• Battles are insanely long with lots of villain pop up windows. Might as well surrender early.
• Core of the game is combat, so feels like a tabletop RPG without any role-playing.
• I lost much more than I have won. Even though the star levels are balanced, it seems like it's real hard to hit and do much damage. Sometimes a character will have mostly passives and only one real offensive option which could result in 0 damage.
• I am glad all the stat effects are transparent.
• Tons of crunch.
• Puzzles have eaten me alive.
• I feel the barrier of entry will be tough for prospective buyers.
• Like the design of the characters and universe.

[Undertaker666]

1 hour ago, Riho said:

• Battles are insanely long with lots of villain pop up windows. Might as well surrender early.
• I lost much more than I have won. Even though the star levels are balanced, it seems like it's real hard to hit and do much damage. Sometimes a character will have mostly passives and only one real offensive option which could result in 0 damage.
• Puzzles have eaten me alive.

- Have you tried going in Options and enabling the "Streamline Encounters"?
- Wins/losses will be variable due to a number of reasons.
  - The heroes and the villains.
  - The dice rolls, such is the nature of randomness.
  - Are the heroes/villains in the open, in cover, flying etc.?
  - The powers that the heroes and villains have. If you've got a hero who can inflict "Physical Damage", and they hit, if the villain has an ability where they're "Immune To All Physical Damage" then the villain receives no damage. But if you had a hero with a Sonic attack and the villain had a weakness to that then they'd receive extra damage.
  - It's unlikely you'll always win. If that was the case, what would be the point in playing?
  - You can change your hero setup based upon who you are facing, and you can click on the villains to help you choose the right heroes before the battles.
- You can switch off the puzzles in the Options if you so wish.

[Adam Ryland]

9 hours ago, Markw said:

Finished my first demo playthrough, lot of fun.

1.1 Skirmish in Principal City Clocktower (Part 1) 'Grand Knight Assay is up to something big. However, before you have a chance to investigate, first you must engage in a skirmish with a small crew he has assembled.' In a skirmish that took place in Principal City Clocktower (in Principal City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side by 9 points of damage to 3. Combat lasted for 3 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Darvin The Monster Hunter (ended unharmed), Xtinction (ended unharmed) and Lone Shark (ended with 1 point of damage). The villainous side consisted of Hisshi (knocked out), Scuttlebutt (ended unharmed) and Talos (ended with 1 point of damage).

1.1 Grand Knight Assay aims to takeover Principal City (Part 2) 'Following the initial skirmish, you deduce that Grand Knight Assay is attempting to take control of Principal City through technological means. You must now engage him and his allies in combat to stop his scheme!' In a fight that took place in Principal City Clocktower (in Principal City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 10 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Soaring Eagle (ended with 4 points of damage), Darvin The Monster Hunter (knocked out), Imprint (ended with 3 points of damage), Chimera (ended with 1 point of damage), The Flashing Blade (knocked out), Delphi (ended unharmed), Lone Shark (knocked out) and Snowstorm (ended with 4 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of Grand Knight Assay, Scuttlebutt, Talos, The Quantemmes, C.R.A.W.L. and Tauran. The Balance of Power began this issue at 0. Due to this result, it moved +13. The resulting Balance of Power was +13. The following significant consequences happened: Grand Knight Assay (critical injury), Scuttlebutt (jailed), Talos (committed), The Quantemmes (jailed)

1.2 Closing in on Crippling Fear (Part 1) 'Combat Wombat is attempting to capture Crippling Fear but he is proving slippery. You must engage him in a battle of wits in order to pinpoint where exactly Crippling Fear is.' In a 'battle of wits' encounter that took place in Ravenholme, the heroic side defeated the villainous side by solving the puzzle. The encounter lasted for 5 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Crimson Saint, Dupin and Risktaker. The villainous side consisted of Crippling Fear.

1.2 Combat Wombat tries to capture Crippling Fear (Part 2) 'Having gotten close, Combat Wombat now gets the opportunity to capture Crippling Fear.' In a fight that took place in Silverwood (in Ravenholme), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Combat Wombat (knocked out), Crimson Saint (ended with 2 points of damage), City Sweeper (knocked out), Dark Justice (knocked out), Delphi (knocked out) and Risktaker (ended with 1 point of damage). The villainous side consisted of The Volooen Armada, Tourbillion, Crippling Fear and The Southsiders. The Balance of Power began this issue at +13. Due to this result, it moved +9. The resulting Balance of Power was +22. The following significant consequences happened: Crippling Fear (jailed)

1.3 Crimson Saint patrols Little London 'Crimson Saint is patrolling in Little London when he encounters some villains up to no good.' In a fight that took place in Little London (in Ravenholme), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Crimson Saint (ended unharmed), Deathwatch Beetle (ended with 2 points of damage), Rachel Noir (ended with 2 points of damage), Cyco (ended with 3 points of damage) and Risktaker (ended unharmed). The villainous side consisted of Anathema, Kuro, Le Rapide, Narco and Vampire Bat. The Balance of Power began this issue at +22. Due to this result, it moved +4. The resulting Balance of Power was +26. The following significant consequences happened: Kuro (jailed), Vampire Bat (committed)

1.4 HaemoGoblin encounter (Part 1) 'Lady America is attempting to capture Mind Bender but is delayed by the need to deal with HaemoGoblin. You must engage him in a battle of wits in order to go after Mind Bender.' In a 'battle of wits' encounter that took place in Centenary City University (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side as the puzzle was closer to solved than stumped. The encounter lasted for 5 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Lady America, Mrs Wonderful and Blue Feather. The villainous side consisted of HaemoGoblin.

1.4 Lady America tries to capture Mind Bender (Part 2) 'Having gotten past HaemoGoblin, Lady America manages to corner Mind Bender. Not willing to give up easily, Mind Bender fights to retain his freedom.' In a fight that took place in Centenary City University (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 6 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Lady America (ended with 1 point of damage), Mrs Wonderful (ended with 6 points of damage), Bolt Lightning (ended unharmed), American Defender (ended unharmed), Moonbird (knocked out), Legal Eagle (ended unharmed) and Boy Inferno (ended unharmed). The villainous side consisted of HaemoGoblin, King Midas, Vortex, Medusa, Mind Bender and Fear Fairy. The Balance of Power began this issue at +26. Due to this result, it moved +13. The resulting Balance of Power was +39. The following significant consequences happened: King Midas (committed), Mind Bender (jailed)

1.5 Golden Eagle patrols The Smile Mile 'Golden Eagle is patrolling in The Smile Mile when he encounters some villains up to no good.' In a fight that took place in The Smile Mile (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side via total knock out. Combat lasted for 7 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Golden Eagle (ended unharmed), Legal Eagle (ended with 4 points of damage), Solar Girl (knocked out) and Boy Inferno (ended with 2 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of The Blades Of Tourbillion, Sharpshooter, Debaser, Kraken and Towerblock. The Balance of Power began this issue at +39. Due to this result, it moved +3. The resulting Balance of Power was +42. 1.6 Bolt Lightning tries to protect Freddie Davies 'Bolt Lightning is attempting to protect Freddie Davies from a group of villains who are menacing him. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he must hold the villains back long enough for Freddie Davies to reach safety.' In a skirmish that took place in Little Venice (in Centenary City), the heroic side defeated the villainous side by surviving the siege. Combat lasted for 4 rounds. The heroic side consisted of Bolt Lightning (knocked out), American Defender (ended with 1 point of damage) and Blue Feather (ended with 2 points of damage). The villainous side consisted of Easter (ended unharmed), Armourdillo (ended unharmed), El Patron (ended unharmed), H2O (knocked out), Primal Rage (knocked out), Callous (knocked out) and Leviathan (knocked out). The Balance of Power began this issue at +42. Due to this result, it moved +9. The resulting Balance of Power was +51. The following significant consequences happened: H2O (jailed), Leviathan (jailed)

 

That final siege looked like an exciting finish! I really like how dramatic that combat type can get.

[Cold Cobra]

I'm having a proper look around the editor now (and my God is this going to be fun!) but I'm unsure of the Token stuff in the powers and abilities menu and when I type "Token" into help nothing is coming up. It takes up a big chunk of the powers menu and seems interesting but also seems somewhat complicated...

Otherwise I'm having a blast just renaming powers and health levels to be series-specific, it makes it so much more varied visually even if a lot of characters will technically have the same power.

[Adam Ryland]

If you filter the list to just show token-related powers then it should be clear how they work together; one group of them allow a character to gain tokens of a specific type through certain actions or events, then the second group allow a character to spend them to activate powers.

If you view a character like Backlash in the default data then his powers illustrate one way in which they could be utilised as he can build up energy using the token system and then spend it to improve his range attacks.

[LostInWeb]

After playing a few issues I still don't fully get, how storylines work. As far as I understand it, I would get some kind of notice, when a storyline is started, but the starting point of them is completely random. Until now, I haven't seen anything from them in game or I somehow missed it.

So my question is, how random is it, that a storyline starts? I know from the editor that they are frequencies and specific requirements, that have to be fullfilled to start the storyline. But that doesn't mean, that it automatically starts, when those requirements are fullfilled, I guess. Otherwise I should have seen some of them pop up in the game, I think.

And how is it with continuations in form of Part 1, 2, 3 etc. Is there an option to trigger the next Part directly when the previous part is done? Because, otherwise it could be a bit far ranged when Part 1 is happening in Issue 1 and Part 2 follows not in Issue 2 but Issue 58.

[Adam Ryland]

10 minutes ago, LostInWeb said:

After playing a few issues I still don't fully get, how storylines work. As far as I understand it, I would get some kind of notice, when a storyline is started, but the starting point of them is completely random. Until now, I haven't seen anything from them in game or I somehow missed it.

So my question is, how random is it, that a storyline starts? I know from the editor that they are frequencies and specific requirements, that have to be fullfilled to start the storyline. But that doesn't mean, that it automatically starts, when those requirements are fullfilled, I guess. Otherwise I should have seen some of them pop up in the game, I think.

And how is it with continuations in form of Part 1, 2, 3 etc. Is there an option to trigger the next Part directly when the previous part is done? Because, otherwise it could be a bit far ranged when Part 1 is happening in Issue 1 and Part 2 follows not in Issue 2 but Issue 58.

I would recommend that you read the handbook on Storylines and Reactive Events as they give a fairly comprehensive guide to how they work and what the difference between them is - it's very hard to answer your question other than literally copying and pasting the text otherwise. The (very) short version is that Storylines happen ONLY when you roll that type of content for the issue whilst Reactive Events (which are very similar to Storylines) can trigger off specific conditions.

[LostInWeb]

14 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

I would recommend that you read the handbook on Storylines and Reactive Events as they give a fairly comprehensive guide to how they work and what the difference between them is - it's very hard to answer your question other than literally copying and pasting the text otherwise. The (very) short version is that Storylines happen ONLY when you roll that type of content for the issue whilst Reactive Events (which are very similar to Storylines) can trigger off specific conditions.

Thanks. I will do that. Was just wondering, if I'm doing something wrong or if there's a bug or something, but seems like everythings right then.

[Cold Cobra]

2 hours ago, Adam Ryland said:

If you filter the list to just show token-related powers then it should be clear how they work together; one group of them allow a character to gain tokens of a specific type through certain actions or events, then the second group allow a character to spend them to activate powers.

If you view a character like Backlash in the default data then his powers illustrate one way in which they could be utilised as he can build up energy using the token system and then spend it to improve his range attacks.

Oh of course! It's like in JPRGs when someone has to spend turns charging before doing a powerful attack. That's great! More ways to make characters more unique and like whatever franchise they come from. This editor really is so flexible, it makes me laugh that my first glance I thought the list "seemed smaller". Cheers.

[Self]

20 hours ago, Markw said:

Finished four issues so far, seems like a great game - been pretty easy on experienced difficulty though, hopefully the other two will provide a bit more of a challenge, fun so far though.

I have not been finding it easy. I definitely don't 'get' something about this game. Seems like a struggle to do anything, in combat or puzzles. I might need to knock it down to the lowest difficulty to get through some issues. 

[Markw]

57 minutes ago, Self said:

I have not been finding it easy. I definitely don't 'get' something about this game. Seems like a struggle to do anything, in combat or puzzles. I might need to knock it down to the lowest difficulty to get through some issues. 

I’m guessing I just got very lucky with my first play through.

[Thane of Fife]

I like a lot of what I've seen thus far. The game seems vaguely reminiscent of HeroClix, which isn't a bad thing. I think the structure does a pretty good job of making the different characters feel distinct. The combat tactics don't seem to devolve to always focus-firing on one person until they go down. I like what I've seen of the universe material. I've gone through the first six issues twice now and it seems like fun.

On the more critical side, I think that the presentation of information could be better. As some examples:

1. When you go to a character profile, at the top you get something like "Aikio (wildcard, currently active, rated at 7 stars, well known popularity, currently in Principal City)". I think this would be easier to read if it was spaced out rather than presented as one statement. For example:       "Aikio            Wildcard            Active         7 stars          Well known        Principal City"
2. When selecting characters for a fight, the handbook advises you of the importance of having primary or secondary attackers, but it's difficult to figure out what characters qualify. You either have to use the filter or, to check a specific character, you have to highlight them, click on their portrait to get to their main profile, then click on Settings, where it's two thirds of the way down the text block in a sentence. It might be helpful if there was some sort of combat summary space or tab, which could summarize things like "This character is a primary attacker," "This character only has melee attacks," or "This character can deal Physical and Heat damage."
3. When selecting powers in a fight or puzzle, you can have it filter between passive and active powers, but it would be nice to be able to more easily view powers that require an action vs those that don't (either by having another filter option or by having multiple lists).

Apart from that, there is a design decision that I'm a little curious about. I don't think I have enough experience to say whether it's good or bad, but it seems a little odd to me. Specifically, why is it easier to create distance (i.e. to move to range) than to close distance (i.e. to attack someone who is at range in melee)? If you fail to create distance, you've only lost your move, whereas if you fail to close distance, you lose your action, and losing your action is typically a lot worse.