Telepath Tactics - opinions

[JeenLeen]

In v 0.455.379, I really like how, if you put the cursor over the Move option, the movement squares appear.  It makes it a lot easier to choose/think about whether to move while saving the player extra clicks (don't have to click Move, then go back to click something else.)

Also, it looks like the enemy AI is getting item usage down a lot better!  They were intelligently using items, and even moving, grabbing an item, moving again, using the item, then attacking.  Nice!

I kinda didn't like how the map seems to re-center on a unit after you move it, but I think I'm just not use to it yet.
Being able to hit the directional buttons to navigate around the map is really nice, though, and helps to alleviate any annoyance.

Are 'local match' battles supposed to have randomly decided armies?  I activated the game (clicked my shortcut to start the game), did a Local Match at Donut Tower, then exited the game.  When I opened the game a second time, did another Local Match at Donut Tower, I got the same army and they got the same army (although it reversed which starting location we were in.)  Is that supposed to happen?  I though the armies would be random.

[CraigStern]

Thanks!

There are different rules for army composition that you can select. When setting up your local match, select "Random Armies" or "Random + Identical" from the Army Constraints drop-down to have the game randomize the armies.

[Ertxiem]

What is the difference between PlayMusic and PlayLoop?
They seem to be rather similar, although I understand that they were made for distinct ends.

[CraigStern]

PlayLoop plays looping sound effects, like wind or rain or crowd chatter or crickets; PlayMusic plays music.

Each draws from a different set of sound files, and uses a different channel.

[JeenLeen]

PlayLoop plays looping sound effects, like wind or rain or crowd chatter or crickets; PlayMusic plays music.

Each draws from a different set of sound files, and uses a different channel.

Does that enable you to have a Loop and a Music playing at the same time?
Do 'combat sounds', like a sword slash or from casting a spell, use a different channel as well?

[CraigStern]

Yes and yes.

[JeenLeen]

Is the female pyrokineticist sprite shown in the recent devlogs the same one as the one in the demo?
It looks slightly different to me, but maybe it's just that the animation in the dev log is moving, so it's an optical illusion.

If it is different, would you be able to provide the original sprite for modders to use?  Or would using the original lead to bugs due to improvements/changes in the new one that the old one would not have?

I think the pyro in the demo has a really cool 'arrogant, young jerk-wizard' look to it.  The female pyro animation seemed to lack this in some way, but maybe it's just the animation and/or that I was particularly picturing an arrogant guy in my mind when seeing the old pyro sprite, so seeing it denoted as a female changes my perception.

Edit: looking at the sprites at the Character Classes thread, I reckon it is just my perception.  Interesting how one can 'read' a sprite when it's representing both genders as opposed to being just one.

[CraigStern]

Yeah, it's the same sprite as in the demo. The male pyrokineticist is bald.

[JeenLeen]

--gave Douse and Melt to Cryokineticists and Pyrokineticists in multiplayer (skills which counteract the effects of Burning and Frozen statuses, respectively)

Will similar powers to negate what the Light and Shadow attacks can do be made, for Skia- and Photokineticist?

[CraigStern]

Nope; the Light and Shadow status effects are somewhat less deadly than those for Heat and Cold, so explicit counters don't seem as important. I'm considering giving Photokineticsts Blinding Cloak and Skiakineticists Fury instead.

[JeenLeen]

Nope; the Light and Shadow status effects are somewhat less deadly than those for Heat and Cold, so explicit counters don't seem as important. I'm considering giving Photokineticsts Blinding Cloak and Skiakineticists Fury instead.

That makes sense.  I've thought since early on that Frozen is one of the deadliest status ailments.
From looking at the screenshot in the Dev Log, it looks like the Melt spell does a small amount of healing.  Since this gives healing to them, have you considered giving a very weak damaging power to the healers?  (I like the idea of a weak Dagger attack or something like that, but I understand having the healer just be a peaceful healer for style/flavor purposes.)

Also, would there be something in the displays of the Melt spell that says how much Cold Resistance it grants (which it does, according to the text for it in that screenshot)?  Would that be a consistent buff that lasts for the rest of the battle (like using an item), or something that wears off after a while like a negative status ailment?

[CraigStern]

The "healing" is the amount of resistance imparted by Melt and Thaw; it's a buff that lasts the whole battle. It looks like the game wasn't displaying the info very intuitively, though--I'll fix that in a bit.

[Ertxiem]

Wouldn't it be easier to make a LastBranch function with one new parameter: how far back would you go: either a number or 'all'?

[CraigStern]

Yes; I'm probably going to implement that at some point as an alternative.

[Ertxiem]

Looking at NextBranch made me think about two things:
- The first is rather obvious: NextBranch having a parameter like LastBranch;
- The second is the possibility of labelling branches together with the numbering - provided you could use either one, calling the following branch using a label would certainly make things easier when inserting a new branch somewhere in the middle.

I must say that I'm having fun checking the Devlog. It has been good to see the improvements, in particular in the easiness to create new missions.