Telepath Tactics - opinions

[TheWanderingShadow]

Do you do the sprite art yourself? It looks really nice.

[CraigStern]

Nope--I'm paying someone else to do it. :)

[Chocobo_Fan]

I'm still finding probability-based skills to be worrying, especially now that I've seen one in action. How do you plan on mitigating the inherent problems caused by introducing elements of randomness into a tactical-based game? I imagine that whether or not a status effect is triggered could mean the difference between victory or defeat in close matches.

[CraigStern]

Telepath Tactics remains almost entirely deterministic, moreso than pretty much any other tactics game in existence (except for its predecessors). The only real exceptions to this relentless determinism are random item drops, dodging, and status effects. I'll address each in turn.

Random item drops only occur in multiplayer games. These are important to discourage players from turtling, which otherwise leads to incredibly boring matches.

Dodging is there to add a little more tension to battles by making them a little bit more unpredictable; they don't add that much randomness, though. By default, dodging is something only two units can do, and there are specific tactics to counter it: using Mental attacks (which always hit) and using Shadow attacks (which impart Slowed status, reducing max movement range and preventing units from dodging attacks). Can dodging decide a really close match? Potentially, in rare instances; but there are tools for managing the risks involved, so I'm not concerned that it will cause random chance to trump player skill.

Status effect randomness is there because status effect attacks would be way too powerful if you could always count on them working. All you'd have to do is load up on cryokineticists and freeze the entire opposing army solid! Cryo Cross would basically be a guaranteed death sentence to the enemy. So you need a backup plan if you want to use a status effect attack; you just have to incorporate the risk of the attack not imparting the desired status effect into your planning.

[SmartyPants]

Will some units be able to move through water faster than others? (Like pirates from fire emblem.)

Will we be able to see units actually turn like in TSoG or will arrows define where the units are facing?

Will one be able to see through a teammate's fog of war?

[CraigStern]

Will some units be able to move through water faster than others? (Like pirates from fire emblem.)

No.

Will we be able to see units actually turn like in TSoG or will arrows define where the units are facing?

Yes.

Will one be able to see through a teammate's fog of war?

No.

[SmartyPants]

Will one be able to see through a teammate's fog of war?

No.

That would make the chance of betrayal more likely.  It is difficult to trust what an ally is doing when you can't verifying that they are attacking who they are suppose to.

Will we be able to see units actually turn like in TSoG or will arrows define where the units are facing?

Yes.

Does this also mean that characters will have attack animations like TSoG?

[CraigStern]

Character animations are in progress. ;)

[bugfartboy]

There's a million more things to say about this game, but I'll leave it at that for now. Finishing TSoG is top priority for the time being. That said, you You can look forward to playing TT sometime in the next year.

Is that the estimated time of full release? Or are you going to be looking for Beta-Testers before then? (Unless you've already filled that position)

[CraigStern]

The game's still in alpha; beta testing would be a tad premature right now. :)

[bugfartboy]

I had figured that much. When it does reach that level, however, will you be putting a demo out for bug/beta testing?

[CraigStern]

I'll probably be hand-selecting folks for a closed beta. It's also possible that I will be doing a Kickstarter to get enough money to add extra goodies for the game, in which case beta access would probably be a reward tier.

[SmartyPants]

Does that mean another pre-order discount?

[CraigStern]

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to sell Telepath Tactics at the $9.99 price point, which is plenty cheap for a game of its kind. I have no plans to discount it for pre-orders; the benefits of pre-ordering will be early access and input into the game as I complete it.

[SmartyPants]

From a marketing standpoint, I don't see major sales increases from lowering the price from $9.99.


What kind of names will lizardmen have? Can you give an example?