Castle Vox alpha testing
Castle Vox alpha testing
Castle Vox is the tentative title of the next Sillysoft game. It is a world-domination game similar but also very different from Lux.
Gameplay: Every player plans out their recruits and attacks and moves during the same time, independently of each other. When all the moves have been declared (or the time limit is up), the orders from every player will be revealed together on the map. Then any conflicts are resolved according to the attack/defence values of the units involved. This is similar to how the gameplay of the Diplomacy board game works.
The goal of the game is to capture all the Castles for your team.
There are bonus Continents, and each country can also have an individual bonus.
The map included with this prototype is Alpha Hex. The "Join Game" button will try to join a host I'm running with 24 hour turns.
Since everyone goes at once in Vox, a player is never waiting with nothing to do. Also, it means that a game with a large number of players doesn't have to take a lot longer then a smaller game. The reason I've resisted expanding Lux beyond 6 players is because it would increase the waiting time between turns. Having everyone go at once routes around this problem nicely.
The game also supports teams. You will be able to move your units into friendly countries, and defend/attack with your teammates.
The gameplay means that games could hopefully be played quickly. It's also expandable into longer once-move-a-day games. If the time limit for a turn is set to be 24 hours, then every user can login once a day and declare their moves, and check back the next day to see the results.
You should be able to play the game. The "Join Game" button will try to join a host I'm running with 24 hour turns.
Does it make sense? What do you think of the game mechanic? Join the multi-player game and let's see if it's any fun.
Gameplay: Every player plans out their recruits and attacks and moves during the same time, independently of each other. When all the moves have been declared (or the time limit is up), the orders from every player will be revealed together on the map. Then any conflicts are resolved according to the attack/defence values of the units involved. This is similar to how the gameplay of the Diplomacy board game works.
The goal of the game is to capture all the Castles for your team.
There are bonus Continents, and each country can also have an individual bonus.
The map included with this prototype is Alpha Hex. The "Join Game" button will try to join a host I'm running with 24 hour turns.
Since everyone goes at once in Vox, a player is never waiting with nothing to do. Also, it means that a game with a large number of players doesn't have to take a lot longer then a smaller game. The reason I've resisted expanding Lux beyond 6 players is because it would increase the waiting time between turns. Having everyone go at once routes around this problem nicely.
The game also supports teams. You will be able to move your units into friendly countries, and defend/attack with your teammates.
The gameplay means that games could hopefully be played quickly. It's also expandable into longer once-move-a-day games. If the time limit for a turn is set to be 24 hours, then every user can login once a day and declare their moves, and check back the next day to see the results.
You should be able to play the game. The "Join Game" button will try to join a host I'm running with 24 hour turns.
Does it make sense? What do you think of the game mechanic? Join the multi-player game and let's see if it's any fun.
Last edited by dustin on Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lantern
- Lux Superhero
- Posts: 4080
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:18 am
- Location: Floating down the river
well dustin i had a few minutes after i got home from work to give it a go.
the game seems real interesting. It took me a bit to not think "Lux" and before I knew it the bots were killing me.
a few observations...
i think that the recruit box should pop up each turn to remind you to select new troops.
also while selecting troops i had a difficult time differentiating which troops I was selecting.
i noticed that the type of troop or castle "greys" out when you don't have enough to purchase. Is it possible to have the selection you chose be highlighted or maybe flash. When you click and there is no action it gets a bit frustrating (not trying to sound harsh)
another observation...
i started with the center castle - is there only one entrance to each castle? I assumed there was but then red attacked me from the north where i thought was protected.
i will try again maybe tomorrow and give more feedback.
Overall I think it's a great concept. Is your thought to have this a game without chat? or with chat?
the game seems real interesting. It took me a bit to not think "Lux" and before I knew it the bots were killing me.
a few observations...
i think that the recruit box should pop up each turn to remind you to select new troops.
also while selecting troops i had a difficult time differentiating which troops I was selecting.
i noticed that the type of troop or castle "greys" out when you don't have enough to purchase. Is it possible to have the selection you chose be highlighted or maybe flash. When you click and there is no action it gets a bit frustrating (not trying to sound harsh)
another observation...
i started with the center castle - is there only one entrance to each castle? I assumed there was but then red attacked me from the north where i thought was protected.
i will try again maybe tomorrow and give more feedback.
Overall I think it's a great concept. Is your thought to have this a game without chat? or with chat?
Hey D,
interesting concept.
after playing a little i noticed a few things.
1) there is no option to resize the map.
2) the info box is not full size (it has a scroll bar) - this is on a win7 OS
3) when recruiting from the castle some times the recruits never showed up next round.
not sure if i was doing something wrong or not. (gold points were removed but as i said, not soldiers appeared)
also it would be nice to have a small help file (for the testers) explaining how to play it (what exactly each soldier/horse/castle does exactly)
i found myself attacking with 4 horses and 10 soldiers against a castle and just lost everything
4) needs an undo move or something to that extent.
interesting concept.
after playing a little i noticed a few things.
1) there is no option to resize the map.
2) the info box is not full size (it has a scroll bar) - this is on a win7 OS
3) when recruiting from the castle some times the recruits never showed up next round.
not sure if i was doing something wrong or not. (gold points were removed but as i said, not soldiers appeared)
also it would be nice to have a small help file (for the testers) explaining how to play it (what exactly each soldier/horse/castle does exactly)
i found myself attacking with 4 horses and 10 soldiers against a castle and just lost everything
4) needs an undo move or something to that extent.
Thanks for the feedback so far! I've added some things to my To-Do list from it.
The plan is to eventually add in some of the lux things that are currently missing from vox: map resizing, emotes, etc.
You can Undo moves by right-clicking on them. This might not be the final interface for it, and there will definitely be a c-Z keyboard shortcut to Undo.
The plan is to eventually add in some of the lux things that are currently missing from vox: map resizing, emotes, etc.
Can figure out a way to reproduce this? i.e. does it happen only in certain circumstances? Vox has a log file like lux, send it to me with this happening if possible (and hopefully near the start of a game, so not a ton of other noise in there)Enokrad wrote:3) when recruiting from the castle some times the recruits never showed up next round.
You can Undo moves by right-clicking on them. This might not be the final interface for it, and there will definitely be a c-Z keyboard shortcut to Undo.
I think at the moment that right-clicking will undo IF you right-click on top of an existing move (but the click detection isn't the best yet), otherwise it will place all units.
There's no way to set the timer right now.
I found some bugs in the server, so I restarted the multi-player room with an updated version. Me and Ode played a few rounds there, and it was working well, until it hit an error in one of the bots, which crashed the game. I restarted it again, and if we fill it with humans we should avoid that bug. But I guess it's possible for some bots (Nemo and Capitalist i think) to crash single player games also. fyi.
There's no way to set the timer right now.
I found some bugs in the server, so I restarted the multi-player room with an updated version. Me and Ode played a few rounds there, and it was working well, until it hit an error in one of the bots, which crashed the game. I restarted it again, and if we fill it with humans we should avoid that bug. But I guess it's possible for some bots (Nemo and Capitalist i think) to crash single player games also. fyi.
Good idea - or perhaps colored to the players color.mbauer wrote:When my team mate and I are on the same space it is very hard to distinguish which one is which. I think it would help if all units I cannot control are either grayed out or 75-50% smaller than mine (similar to how they appear when you move or first place units).
Ok - im referrring to 'Babylon' here with specific Game play - but I have 2 questions/comments -
1. Would it be too difficult to allow one player to control - Egypt, Saudi and Pakistan, but moving them differently, and not combining the income?
I like having 3 different armies, each dependent on their own income, rather than re-vampin the map to have one player in 3 areas. This would allow more challenging gameplay -
Say for example in a different map setting. Each player can control 2 or 3 castles - or countries if youlike - with each 'Castle' producing it's own income - and not benefitting from ownership of another.
2. If this scenario is possible - Could then one could use forces to take over a new castle - but then the forces from that castle are responsible for gaining their own income -
The rule might be - Any new castles are tied to the forces that occupied that land to build it - and therefore, one could extend the range of one's income by building new castles... but Castles that are conquered - took over - would be like taking control of that castle, or act more like controlling that country - similar to how Egypt, Saudi and Pakistan all work together on Babylon, but they are different countries?
1. Would it be too difficult to allow one player to control - Egypt, Saudi and Pakistan, but moving them differently, and not combining the income?
I like having 3 different armies, each dependent on their own income, rather than re-vampin the map to have one player in 3 areas. This would allow more challenging gameplay -
Say for example in a different map setting. Each player can control 2 or 3 castles - or countries if youlike - with each 'Castle' producing it's own income - and not benefitting from ownership of another.
2. If this scenario is possible - Could then one could use forces to take over a new castle - but then the forces from that castle are responsible for gaining their own income -
The rule might be - Any new castles are tied to the forces that occupied that land to build it - and therefore, one could extend the range of one's income by building new castles... but Castles that are conquered - took over - would be like taking control of that castle, or act more like controlling that country - similar to how Egypt, Saudi and Pakistan all work together on Babylon, but they are different countries?
- Lupus ferox
- Creator of Maps
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:51 pm
This is a great game. Especially the recruiting from castles only and the opportunity to install new castles make it a very strategic game. I'm not good at it (yet).
To me all the units make it look complicating, especially in team mode. Castles and knights only i would say, with more clearly distinguishable units in team play. Something with colors or so......
The attack arrows seem to be on the foreground, i mean they aren't as clear as i like. I would propose simple one-line arrows with the amount of armies half way the arrow, clearly floating on top of the map.
The game isnt as dynamic as Lux to me. Especially in bot mode. I guess it would improve when playing with people. Probably because you can move only 1 or 2 steps in one turn. ..
Overall: wow....
To me all the units make it look complicating, especially in team mode. Castles and knights only i would say, with more clearly distinguishable units in team play. Something with colors or so......
The attack arrows seem to be on the foreground, i mean they aren't as clear as i like. I would propose simple one-line arrows with the amount of armies half way the arrow, clearly floating on top of the map.
The game isnt as dynamic as Lux to me. Especially in bot mode. I guess it would improve when playing with people. Probably because you can move only 1 or 2 steps in one turn. ..
Overall: wow....
Same here. I can't recruit or move anything and the only button is "bonus"dustin wrote:it looks like the multi-player server may have crashed, I can connect to it, but it doesn't show chat anymore.
Seriously? Did you think: "Man, this is just like that awesome map that Drifter and MB made!"dustin wrote:PS: yes, I went to a live curling match today. It was awesome.
Curling is awesome, there is no other event in the olympics that I can think of where a slightly overweight bald man nearly cries because he misses an important shot.
And I am saying that in a good way actually, it may not be the most athletic event, but I dare say it is the most strategic event in the winter olympics, and you can cut the drama with a knife.
My favorite event this Olympics, although the speed skating has been pretty good as well.
P.S. I just stumbled across this forum, I have downloaded Vox and look forward to checking it out
And I am saying that in a good way actually, it may not be the most athletic event, but I dare say it is the most strategic event in the winter olympics, and you can cut the drama with a knife.
My favorite event this Olympics, although the speed skating has been pretty good as well.
P.S. I just stumbled across this forum, I have downloaded Vox and look forward to checking it out
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