New Game: Wizardry

I've made a new game. It's a fairly simple dueling game that uses spells and works a lot like my Rock Paper Scissors game. I'm ready to beta test with volunteers. I'll be holding events at HUDDLES Headquarters over the next couple of days to test it. If you would like to help test it, check in events for keyword "Wizardry".

First test will be tonight at 8pm (SL time) at HUDDLES Headquarters:

http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=152613&date=1139212800

From tonight's test run:



I'll be having another test tomorrow afternoon.

I hope you submit it to the wiki!

Pirate

I will. As soon as I'm done with it, which I'm hoping will be in a few days, a week at most.



Here is a little more information on how the game works:

The game is a magical duelling system with mana and hitpoints. To play, you and your opponent simply wear the HUD and one of you uses the challenge button to scan for the other and begin the match. The game is turn based. Each turn, the players must choose a "spell" or action. Once both players have chosen the spells are cast at the same time.

There six spells to choose from:

Fire - A direct damage spell
Ignite - A damage over time spell which is spread over 3 turns
Heal - Heals the player
Block - Blocks offensive spells from your opponent
Counter - Counterspells offensive spells from your opponent and sends them back at them.
Meditate - Regenerates mana.

My goal here is:

1. A game which can be learned quickly, but have just enough complexity that different strategies are possible to employ.
2. A game which feels relatively fast paced, but there are no two or three move combos that are guaranteed to win. I'm hoping that most duels take about 15-20 turns.
3. A game which is addictive and fun of course


Next test is today at 1pm SL time.

http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=153060&date=1139299200

I made some adjustments to rebalance the game to make it play out a little faster. Meditate/Heal were very slightly nerfed and Ignite was buffed a little. Also, you begin the fight with 80% mana instead of 100%, to make Meditate a possible opening spell. So if you have given this game a try and want to see the changes, stop by our next event tonight at 9:30 SL time.

Also, I'll be organizing a tournament for over the weekend with a cash prize to the winner. More details to come.

<cough>Spellcast<cough>

You appear to be reinventing the wheel. ^.^;
But if you insist you aren't, I may take a crack at making an SL version of spellcast. It'll be a welcoming to those who play with Linux and other Unix systems.

And I thought I was inspired by Ultima Online, WoW, DAOC, D&D and a hundred other games which have spell based combat. I never heard of spellcast before.... In any case.

I made a fun change to the game replacing Block with a spell called Confusion which counters the Heal spell. Makes the game a lot more fast paced.

Wizardy Tournament
Tonight at 5pm SL time
First Prize 250L

Ok, so I think it's about ready to go. Just going to polish it up a bit and get it ready for sale by early next week. I think I'm going to release it in two varieties: a limited-play trial version and a full, play as much as you like version.

Look for Wizardry under events, I'll be holding tournaments to promote the game in the coming weeks.

wtg keiki! i think its fun

I think this is one of the best games SL has to offer...I predict it will be a big hit.

Cheers.

- Calix

The irony of the title is that the original Wizardry for Apple II was the first 3D RPG. What a legacy to "borrow" from!

The original paper-and-pencil version of this game, entitled Spellbinder, was created by Richard Bartle; it was printed in his zine Sauce of the Nile.

That is from the spellcast page.

Yes, I'm aware of spellcast's origins. But I doubt many people would have the patience on SL to sit down a type out their gestures for others. Spellcast however, as the computer game, is much faster than the pencil and paper equivilant. I remember playing it quite often with various friends online (both the unix version and the windows port I linked). There's also a Java version in the works somewhere on the net. I think it'd be a cool game for SL.

The reason I bring up spellcast is that it's a very strategic game. As always, the point is to obliterate your opponent(s), but there's a series of counter spells, heal spells, and protection spells in addition to the attack spells. It's definanly worth investigating for your game, I'm sure you'll come up with a few ideas after playing a few rounds.

Well, my game is complete. Thinks for suggestion, but I like the balance I've found of "easy to pick up" and strategic. I don't think it needs anything more. I just need to polish the code a little bit before I put it up for sale. Anyone interersted should stop by my shop tomorrow afternoon/evening. At the least, I will have an inexpensive trial-version of the game on sale by then. Perhaps the full version as well.

Oooooo, shiny code!

Really nice work, Keiki.

The trial version is up for sale at HUDDLES Headquarters and Akasha Tower (6th Floor)! 50L for 6 duels. Full, unlimited-play version will be for sale within the next few days.

Full Version is now up at HUDDLES (also available at Akasha Tower and Nocturnal Threads). The cost is 349L and with the full version, you get a 6 duel trial version to give to a friend.

I will be having a tournament today at 4:30 (SL time) to celebrate the release over at HUDDLES Headquarters. 500L to the winner and everyone who plays will get a free trial version for the tournament.

Tournament tonight at 8:30pm SL time! 600L in prize money.

http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=161911&date=1140595200

Another chance to try this game for free today. I'm holding a tournament at 4:30pm today.

http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=167867&date=1141459200

Tournament on Saturday, this one is going to be a little earlier this week at 10:30am SL time. 600L in prize money:

http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=172050&date=1142064000

I was wondering if any of the other players would be interested in forming a group so that we can locate each other and play pickup games.

Keiki: I just found out about this thread and your game. I have a few questions...

1- Is there an improvement/reward system similar to experience points in your game? The more you win, the more hit points you get or the more powerful spells you can conjure.

2- Could it be possible to earn/buy/find new spells? This would open new possibilities for tournament rewards or even quest based adventures in SL.

3- Could the basic mechanics of your spell combat system be adapted to other forms of combat? Sword fighting for example, substituting sword attack moves for the spells.

I have not seen or tried your system yet, but from what I read here, it could generate huge interest if developped further.

There is no improvement system or levels or anything like that. In it's current form, every duel starts on completely even footing.

Probably not in this version. The spells are pretty hard wired into it. But I do have ideas to create a more complex full featured version eventually.

Yep. That's definitely possible. I know of a melee combat system that someone else made. I kinda of like the elegant nature of a spell based system because of the particle system in SL plus various problems with melee combat to do with distance, rotation and line of sight... But most importantly it seemed like coordinating melee animations would be hard


Anyway, great ideas that I may incorporate into a follow up game, but I think I will probably leave Wizardry as is.

I'll make one today and invite everyone who has bought a full version.