Labyrinth - Official Thread
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The "Expert-Gladiator" I bought in "Outer NW Path 8" only had me having to keep skipping the phase during which I couldn't place it, over and over again for 22 times! I had 4 damage and no healing potion when I bought it and only managed to heal 1 damage by camping in "Inner East Path North 1".
Moreover, once I got back being at 35 XP or more, I had the double annoyance of having to skip both the phase only letting me buying an upgrade for a squire I don't have, then skipping the phase letting me upgrade a gladiator I cannot upgrade (since I'm still damaged). Anyway, once I got to 50 XP or more, I was also offered to buy another "Expert-Gladiator", while already having one of those.
Eventually, my hero has just died (with 49 gold, 64 XP, 109 Resolve and 1 unplaceable "Expert-Gladiator" in inventory) in "Inner SE Path 6" (failing to complete the 2nd of the total 6 rings of the labyrinth).
Right after dying, I still got the "Hero production" phase, offering me to buy an "Expert-Gladiator" or a "Knight-r", while having an "Expert-Gladiator" unplaced from previous rounds and no squire to upgrade, either. Then, I also still got the "Hero place" phase, with no hero any longer on the map. Only after skipping both these useless phases, I got finally informed that "YOU DIED" (Dark Souls anyone?). I clicked on "Yes" for "Do you want to continue?", but that did nothing but giving me those two useless phases to skip (I know that's how TripleA always works, but I assume users will assume that your hero will respawn or something, if you choose to continue... (you can make a feature request for disabling the option to continue)).
So ends my journey in the @Michael-Hoover labyrinth... Not a noob friendly game, but that's fine, with some more information in notes (especially informing that you need to be non-wounded to level up). In the note's defence, they did say "You may, and most likely should, hire help to get you through the Labyrinth", but I decided to do without a squire...
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Here it is the auto-save-game:
autosaveAfterHeroNonCombatMove.tsvg -
@Cernel Thank you for your inputs. I am sure @Michael-Hoover will put some thought into some of them. Although sadly as you pointed out, some of the concepts are not able to be fully realized due to the limitation of the TripleA engine. One example of this is the healing prompt anytime you are hurt. Another is the only being able to level up wounded units. I am sure that @Michael-Hoover could explain the nuances more if you wish. But it has something to do with how triggers work. I agree that there should be more documentation if there is not much. I have not had a chance to help with things like that on this project. I have had too much going on with work and college.
Also, I thought the same thing about the labyrinth at first. But a labyrinth and a maze are different and easily confused. I thought they were the same thing myself at first. The Labyrinth is a Greek myth and is structured so that all paths lead to the center.
Here is an excerpt explaining the Greek usage of the word labyrinth from Wikipedia, "In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur... In English, the term labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze. As a result of the long history of the unicursal representation of the mythological Labyrinth, however, many contemporary scholars and enthusiasts observe a distinction between the two. In this specialized usage, maze refers to a complex branching multicursal puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a unicursal labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and presents no navigational challenge.
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@Cernel said in Labyrinth - Official Thread:
Only after skipping both these useless phases, I got finally informed that "YOU DIED" (Dark Souls anyone?).
You might not have realized, or maybe you did, but a lot of the music and some sounds are from the Souls series. And there are some nice references to other things as well.
It's a shame about all the menu annoyances. Hopefully, there will be a way to mitigate that.
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@Cernel @NetHackFan1006 Thanks for the feedback as always!
I agree with many of your points, and if there is a way to modify the map to take those into account that already exists that I am overlooking please let me know, otherwise I have made a few feature requests and will likely make a few more as you suggested!
I'll update the docs and fix a few bugs as soon as I can. Work is crazy right now unfortunately!
(Sometimes nothing happens in the caves, or other areas that prompt you for exploration. Its all how the triggers fall out...)
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@Michael-Hoover The healing thing may have the simple solution of saying that you need to chill to heal yourself, because the potion takes some time (which would be consistent with the fact that you cannot use that potion during combat), so having the prompt only if you are in a territory you didn't just capture (there is a condition to test for battle). That way you'll have to skip when you want to heal and you won't be bothered by being offered the action as long as you keep moving on. Would make also sense an upkeep in resolve every turn, so that skipping turns without moving isn't completely free.
The level up while hurt you could change the stats of the units themselves, instead of upgrading to anothe one (you'll have to do it with user actions). That can easily also solve the issue of getting the option to upgrade the squire while you have none.
I wonder how you handle losing the game for reaching 0 resolve (I understand you would be unable to move, thus to win, but how to lose?).
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The Labyrinth! I dig it! Clearly hehe
Labrys! I like the path. Keep your hand on one side of the wall while you move and you can always get to the center and out again. That's a Labyrinth! hehe
This is a cool concept to have a solo style game with randomized elements and I like the setting.
I was thinking something similar recently, how it would be cool to re-categorize the downloads section with a section for Single Player maps, or for maps that work well Solo vs HardAI. Cool to see here how this was approached.
I'd also be down to see something like this paired also with a WW2 era game geared for solo. Like something that's built for what the ai can do, doesn't really use rules that the AI wouldn't understand or set it up with AI bonuses or whatever is needed to make it fun for the more standard TripleA fair. Maybe cannibalizing v5 ruleset but on large map like G40 with but just building it out so that the AI does well and victory conditions are challenging whichever side is chosen.
I think what's cool about tripleA and A&A generally is that the rules are transparent and up front instead of all hidden away in invisible rolls like it typically is in grand strat or 4x or action rpg type games. But I like the free form punching bag of solo play in x map games. I think its kind of an underrated style of play since A&A is always primarily about pvp matches and pvp map design. But I think the solo is probably pretty popular or would be, and it helps people to understand how the rules and features work for the engine or a given map.
Anyhow, this one was a cool map. Different take on it. Nice work!!
old drawing I did way back when hahaAlso, thunderbolt jam~! Pelekys lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUVyVNS6JBUcatch ya around!
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@Black_Elk cool sketch.
