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[KingDinosaurGames]

Videos - Mic was bad (fixed), audio too loud (fixed), too long (Fixed), doesn't get into gameplay fast enough (fixed?), and then 'we need a trailer to post something' (just about ready)

Actually got a lot of positive comments on the game itself, and a couple of the writers said they'd be supporting our KS which was great news.

Haven't touched the elements that were removed for the demo yet, and we won't be until after we have the demo ready to go.  Part of the reason we removed the Death God temporarily was so that we could have a well-balanced and working demo, and then we can get back to more traditional development.

Other Games - I don't quite remember their names, but their was that reason one "The Mandate?" that was russian themed that sounds amazing - their was the one where you played a meta-game taking on the role of someone on a near-future ship flying over Earth, and there's a few others that I saw on KS or in previews that are aiming generally for this idea.  Star Traders 2 on KS now is an example as well (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tresebrothers/star-traders-2-rpg).

[nenjin]

I think there are definitely two levels of information.

There's what real fans of the game want to know, which is the nitty gritty of it all....

And then there's what gets clicks on a media front page. So while I agree with the "too long/doesn't get into gameplay fast enough" from a game journo website angle, as a fan, I think it's total crap. They're used to 45 second cinematic trailers with no gameplay, so I'm not surprised that you talking about your game in detail isn't "sexy enough" to publish, even if the writers themselves are interested.

[Scoops Novel]

Thanks, those look very interesting.

[Jalak]

Been thinking a lot about the various nations recently. I love how many of them there are and how their actual number of controlled POI doesn't immediately translate to the most advantageous position. Got a slew of questions for ya, then.

If you're able to infiltrate certain parts of a POI that belongs to an "ally" can you just straight up take that point to run yourself, eventually?
Is it possible to create a nation out of territories you have control over and put one of your agents/corrupted heroes in charge to avoid suspicion?
Also, If an army you control meets up with an army belonging to one of your allies, is it possible for them to fight regardless, since ghouls, vampires and whatnot just showing up would probably spook any mere mortal army, regardless of affiliation?
Can your allies fight each-other as well, and would it be worth letting them, if they do (assuming there isn't any goody-two-shoes army nearby? Hell, can armies get involved in a three-way (or more) battle with each-other, or are the mechanics of combat not really designed for that?

The biggest question I have is what does it actually mean when a nation is considered "under the shadow"? Are any nations that have an infiltrated leadership considered this, since you have (nominal) control over what they do now, or is that title reserved for nations that have publicly declared their allegiance to your cause if you go the aggressive route, like Isengard to Mordor? How hard is it to maintain control over a country when you're that blatant with your intentions, and is it possible to convince nations (or even heroes) to thrown their lot in with you purely because they fear that going up against you would be even worse?

[KingDinosaurGames]

Dev Log Video 3 - Combat YouTube

You can steal a POI from an an infiltrated ally through normal duplicitous means, though they can't simply let you annex it.  If they are openly on your side, you have direct control and their is no option to cede control to another power (though they can seize it). 

You CAN create nations but they are all linked to SPECIFIC or GENERIC events, there isn't a challenge to "create a nation" though you can coup and take control of independent regions.  You and your allies can fight - but generally this won't be the case (unless you want to scare up some death to augment your power as the death god).  A more likely scenario is you control Army A (orcs and ogres) and Army B (Deluded Human King) and you want them both to fight Army C (Human Knights), getting them too close to eachother and working together will alert the world and shake your control of the Deluded Human King, and even if he remains corrupted his people will want to oust him. 

No 3 way battles in a single POI, but 3 way fronts are very common - it's fun to encourage that kind of situation where multiple parties are hostile to eachother in the same vicinity, and also very beneficial strategically.  However, a third party CAN attack into a POI with a battle ongoing with two parties - the result can be... a mess.

"Under the Shadow" has shifting means, which is why I use different terms (not very helpful, I know) - but essentially the level of "formalization" of that alliance makes it harder to get certain people on to your side but also gives greater beneefits.    It mechanically is the nations you directly can control.   As for intimidation, oh yes - fear is one of the major ways to reduce will, and some heroes and leaders are particularly craven.  It won't work on a leader if you are at the "Apocalyptic Revelations" stage of lore.

[Majestic7]

This seems interesting and if my heart hadn't been broken by Master of Orion 3, I'd be throwing money at you already. Looking forward to a demo fo some sort. Hopefully your game gets enough wind unders its wings you'll have the money to perfect it up to your vision with an expansion, should not all options make it into the main game. Personally, I'm a fan of the way Paradox has kept updating Crusader Kings II, for example.

[Puzzlemaker]

That looks awesome!  The background music was still too loud though.  And how much of the hero portraits were placeholders?  'Cause a pet peeve of mine is the whole "All heroes are white with blond hair" thing in fantasy worlds.

It looks good though!

[Denim]

I've just watched video 3 and I have a few questions about it.

1) Is the art for the agents the final art that you will have are or are they going to be replaced after a successful kickstarter? I ask because the art for the prophet, peddler, and the baron seem great as is. The heavy use of neutral colors gives them a really sinister look.

2) The fight with Greywind ended with him corrupting or killing all his enemies but his fame still went up by a lot. Is this because the survivors ran off and told people what happened? If he had killed all his enemies would that had made a difference? It would just seem to make sense if all the witnesses to a fight die then the agent should not gain any fame.

[Jalak]

Nice, I was getting nervous when you dropped off the forum for half the week.

Honestly, though, I think you should just turn off music altogether for your next videos. The main screen music was fine but the combat one made me have to concentrate on the icons you were pointing to just to get an idea of what you were trying to say.

Got a question about the imbued power thing: When you said that you were going to lose those two power orbs that you used on Grey, do you mean that that power is now gone and you need to get that power back (and, hence, wait longer to awaken) or do those two power orbs "regenerate" back to four when your next turn comes around?

[nenjin]

Some thoughts.

-Music was indeed too loud again.

-Did not really expect the anime-esqe style for character portraits. Not a problem per se, although I feel it juxtaposes a little weirdly with the rest of the art style.

-Dat battle screen. So much information! Kinda crazy how many details and modifiers there are to pay attention to. I think maybe you could spend some time making sure everything is organized rationally. Because there's a lot of places to look for info.

-Consider that instead of rows of shields and swords, you could just do Icon: Current Value/Max Value. That'd be easier to read and free up more space on the combat windows.

[KingDinosaurGames]

I seem to have absolutely no control over volume on my development machine.   

The Hero Portraits are all placeholder, 20 dollar art pack - whereas the Agent Portraits are the style we are going for. 

There IS a lot of information on the Combat Screen, and it will doubtless go through a few incarnations during playtesting - we have the swords/shields laid out so you can see at a glance what types of attack/defense the agent/hero has.

The orbs are consumed, and turn dark - like what the fourth orb looked like - and slowly regenerate over time back up to 4.  This process goes faster the more orbs you have (the closer you are to awake) and is independent from the the time it takes you to awake.

Fame will almost always go up even if you kill all the combatants, because the assumption is either that a) They informed others of their plan or b) Their were civilians around.  However, if you had ambushed the enemy in a remote barren land then fame would increase only slightly. 

haha, yeah the blond hair thing - that art was from a 20 dollar package we bought just to have some placeholders and it's heavily weighted towards that look.   We plan to replace it.

I too remember the pain of Master of Orion 3.... Never forget

[Jalak]

What happens when you wake up anyway (besides casting the more powerful spells shown on the "tech-tree" and arcane heroes becoming more aware of your presence)? Is it simply supposed to represent that your magic is as powerful as it's going to get, or does it open up a bunch of new actions your agents can take and new random (or not) mega-events you can influence and such, such as meteor strikes and doom portals and whatnot? Can you get more orbs after awakening, or is that the limit?

Also, is there an option in the editor that lets us only see things in it that we can see "normally" in-game when using it? What I mean is that I'd like to be able to edit the world in-game so I can change up the flags for either myself or my allies if I go "public" to represent a new rising power or whatnot (like how Isengard using the White Hand and Mordor using the Lidless Eye when they went full-conquest mode) and not accidentally see anything I'm not actually supposed to, since I'm only going in it for cosmetic reasons. Is it possible to create your own flags in-game, or at least import one from an image?

Also, I love how the orcs are weilding the swords the Uruk-hai use (by the way, the White Hand and Lidless Eye should totally be an option to use as a flag).

[KingDinosaurGames]

Nanjin, popular consensus seems to be on your side to get rid of the icons in a grid.  We had a different combat damage type mechanic in the past, where your attack only had a single element (instead of each point having an element) - perhaps returning to that may streamline both the look and some of complexity of having to look at your opponent to analyze their defenses?

Each Old One has a different "on awake" event, and each one also has repurcussions to their slumber coming to an end.  For instance, Karth calls a massive horde when he arises, but is himself an excellent commander who is brutally tough in combat.  As he wanders the world more and more Orc tribes spring up around him, eventually swallowing the world in a horde of demihumans unless he is stopped.  These are customizable by the ability trees, so if the Old One has "Will Over Fate" when he awakens he has the ultimate ability to spawn random events, and then manipulate them, pretty routinely - this can be devastating.  In addition, that Old One has massive Arcana and can perform powerful rituals fairly quickly.

You know, there isn't a "fog of war" type option in the editor right now.  That's a pretty good idea, I'm guessing it would be easy to add a switch for that.

EVERYTHING is moddable, including images - if you want to import the Lord of the Rings flags it is absolutely easy to do.

[nenjin]

perhaps returning to that may streamline both the look and some of complexity of having to look at your opponent to analyze their defenses?

I'm a big fan of not having to count #'s of pips. It becomes more burdensome a) the more there are and b) the higher resolution you play at. I'm always a fan of just seeing the straight number because it facilitates the fastest comparisons.

[Puzzlemaker]

You could go the Civ 5 route and display them individually until they get to a certain point, then display them with a number if they get higher then, lets say, 3 or so.