We are happy to announce a new public playtest has gone LIVE! We have heard your feedback and taken notes. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the things we’ve been working on.
Before we get into build notes, please take a look at our new survey. It should only take 5 min to complete with a new a series of questions. We appreciate it!
Lighting We have adjusted the world lighting systems for better control and art directed worlds.
Card Mods Adding a fire mod to your card was always a thrilling experience, however the way it was shown was not. Previous design had corner graphics for mods and now we've switched to a “foil” overlay. Getting a card with a foil effect feels special and is easier to read…oohh shiny!
Crew System We’ve played around with the crew system for various builds. Crew now shares 1 common health with the chance of going overboard per hit. This was to reduce info overload of having too many health bars and making crew effect cards more general.
Compass Compass with points of interest to help navigate the world in the world map view. During combat enemy icons appear to give situational awareness.
Cooldown Cooldown system has be revamped with timer beginning when in your hand and the introduction of low/free cooldown cards.
Path Speed Follow the path for a slight speed boost. Getting chased by raiders? Find a path system and quickly escape!
TLDR: Introducing economy cards that give gold and supplies. Removed discard to focus on cooldown. Added status icons above targets. Overall polish.
1. Economy Cards We’ve introduced a new card type that focuses on your economy. These yellow cards will not have any role in combat but will give you an alternative way to produce gold and supplies. Economy cards will be “limited use” so you can only use them once per combat.
2. Status Icons Communicating the status of your target will appear in a small circle with a radial timer to show the duration of the effects. This brings in clearer info that you know and expect from traditional deckbuilders.
3. Crew Damage Now you can watch your crew members take credit for their shots on enemies. Crew targets will also be identified through a circle on the aimer. The more crew members that are targeting, the more rings in the circle.
4. Removed Discard If your card is on cooldown you’re now stuck with it in your hand! Discard was initially added to keep the action in motion, but it became an abused system that took away some of the strategies and penalties of an action deckbuilder. We came back to reverting the discard pass so that it focuses more on building and playing a thoughtful deck. Having a cooldown jam your hand also makes crew members more useful as they can be used while you're locked out of your deck.
5. Visuals From particle effects to the environment we did another visual pass to bring up the artistic vision to life. This is an ongoing process and we are aware that the maps have glitchy lighting and will fix this in our next patch.
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We have a new demo with a new main game mode...and we think it is pretty good!
We’ve changed the main game mode to fix some issues we’ve had with pacing and scale of the gameplay. The main game mode changed in 3 main ways: 1) Smaller Path Systems 2) Zones 3) Portal keys.
1 . Smaller Path Systems This allows us to focus on smaller region zones with the ability to to be scalable in a way that was not possible before. Previous map size was a little overwhelming and reduction to size makes planning your voyage feel more strategic.
2. Zones In addition to smaller path systems we also have made each system contained within in its own zone. As the player goes from zone-to-zone, this will allow us to tweak the global rules to keep the format fresh and exciting with each play. Re-playability which has always been at the core of our game design and the core of roguelikes.
3. Portal Keys Find the key to open the portal to the next zone. We found that this classic game design mechanic worked really well with our systems and thematically was great for a pirate treasure hunt.
Other new developments: New Cards Building up the deck building itself! More on this next post.
As always, a big thank you to those who have cheered us on and given us feedback throughout our development.
TLDR: the quicker you use cards, the more inaccurate your projectile cards will be. If you want us to do more dev updates leaves us a like!
Spamming cards is fun and all, but something was missing.
Some refinement to the core combat loop was needed and a main focus for the last few weeks. Finding the balance between the thrill of quick barrages and ensuring it didn't feel like random spamming of cards is a tricky balancing act. Some of this was addressed with the 'overheat' meter, but something was STILL missing.
Over the iterations of AHOD, we've had different ways to represent accuracy. We've received suggestions from our players that they would like to have free aim of the cannons, akin to a shooter-focused game. However, this leans too heavily into the action genre, which is not what AHOD is about. The lock-on system is great because it allows the player to still take glances at their deck and steer the helm of the ship without having to worry about aiming the cannons.
But where is the challenge if you can lock on to any target? Combat can feel flat and boring if you hit 100% of the shots, so there NEEDS to be some way to miss that feels fair and fun.
Like in an FPS games, the longer you shoot your weapon, the wider the spread of your bullets. In our case, the quicker you use cards in succession, the wider your accuracy angle will spread.
This will make other card types like defense more useful because if your accuracy spread is wide after a barrage, you may want to use your overheat towards shields instead of a risky shot. Ultimately, this nerfs offensive card types because of the risk of missing during a barrage. This is the core of this design change, and we are excited to share it in the next public test.
We have FINALLY completed a second pass on card tooltips and map icons.
Side note: We will try to do community posts more frequent, but realistically sometimes the things we are working on are not that exciting. If you want us to do more dev updates leaves us a like!
Card Tool Tip The basic tooltip on cards was never in a great state and lacked clear information and how the cards function. YIKES. This seems like an obvious feature that we should not overlook (being a deckbuilder and all). The reason for this is because the card gameplay wasn't completely locked in yet and now that the card gameplay is more refined we can go with a design that works. Another change we added was a min/max damage range that makes the offensive cards feel a little more dynamic. More on that next post!
Map Icons Map icons are something we have wanted to implement for a while now, so it feels great to see it in action. You can quickly read the surrounding nodes and plan your path with more clarity and strategy. It feels great to spend a bunch of your plundered gold at the market after fighting off a fleet of raiders. With this small addition, we have made the game feel much more seamless and feels much closer to the roguelike experience you know and love.
We have some more great updates to announce and push to public builds soon.
AHOD isn’t your typical deckbuilding game. It is not even your typical pirate game.
It has been a while since our last public demo and we pulled the demo because we wanted an overhaul of many of the systems. We wanted to create something new and exciting that would be a truly unique experience that you cannot get anywhere else.
Perhaps we let our imaginations run a little wild, but this was a needed part of the creative process. Unfortunately for game development, the creative process is a painful one. It has cost us time, money, and energy. That being said, it has given us an enormous amount of knowledge and skill set that will ultimately be essential for the road (and waters) ahead.
We have chiseled out a much more succinct game loop that feels closer to the vision that we faintly saw when we began this project. We had our initial game design doc and only until we had a build in our hands could we truly feel what the game was missing. We are committed to the vision and will take these creative risks to get the game in a state that it deserves.
Here is a brief overview of some of the main changes we have made since the last public play test.
TLDR
1. Cards no longer are limited to the side of the ship and card slot 2. Navigation in all of its forms: world map nodes, world map free roam, and captain’s view 3. Fog of War to create a better sense of exploration 4. Win Conditions have returned to a more linear approach 5. Resources limited to gold for markets and supplies for gas 6. Overheat system keeping the flow of gameplay 7. Adjustments to the crew systems and having overboard mechanics 8. Hazard Zones add dangerous elements to the landscape that will require careful navigation
1. Card Gameplay
All cards now get funneled into the cannon side closest to target. Our older model had cards aligned to the cannon based on the slide of the ship. While more realistic, this ultimately caused too much friction and too much circling around. You will notice this in many other naval combat games that there is a lot of this type of motion, which we felt was a little nauseating and ultimately not that much fun. Realism is not the goal of this game - fun is! This also opened up other mechanics like quick card combos which give a satisfying punch and rhythm to combat.
2. Navigation
There are 3 main ways to explore in the game. 1. Fast travel using the node system 2. Zoom into the captains view and take the helm directly 3. And breaking free from the node system with “free roam”.
The free roam system adds a layer of freedom and choice that unlocks other exciting mechanics like finding shortcuts, fleeing from enemies, ambushing enemies, discovering hidden treasures, and allowing the player to navigate on their terms.
3. Fog of War
One of the unexpected “scope creep” systems we had to wrestle with was the fog system and how it tied into the exploration part of the game loop. It was difficult to balance the amount of known and unknown information of the map. Cutting through a cloud environment lends itself to a heightened exploration experience, and we feel this was one of the elements necessary for the treasure hunting pirate genre.
4. Win Conditions
Initially we wanted multiple ways to lose the game, so we had a boss moving towards the “conduit tower". This is still an interesting idea to us, and something we may explore in the future but for now we have returned to a boss zone location with no wind state tied to the "conduit tower" health.
5. Resources
One of our ideas we wanted to explore were different resource types. Those ideas were economic supplies, ship supplies, crew supplies, and weapon supplies. Ultimately we felt it was a little overboard and reducing the resource types simplifies player choices which feels better for a fast paced game. Resource types is something that we may bring back into a future build, but for now we will stick with gold for buying/selling and supplies as a form of fuel for the ship and crew members.
6. Ammo to Overheat
Like most deckbuilders, we were using whole numbers for our energy system. What makes AHOD different is that it is a realtime deckbuilder, so transferring turn-based mechanics into realtime requires us to break some conventions. The overheat meter now acts as the energy system, with each card played contributing to the heat. Wait a few seconds after playing a card and the heat will reside. Another thing this fixes was the constant reloading. The reload sequence was triggering too often (pun intended) and made the gameplay feel jerky and broke the game flow. By having an overheat meter, it limits card spam while allowing card gameplay to continue to flow.
7. Crew
The crew going overboard was a nice addition to the gameplay loop. Taking down an aggressive galleon and then scooping up their crew members adds that little bit of world building that only a pirate could only understand. Another big change to the crew system is that we went from a relatively low limit of 3-5 to a much larger limit of 15+. We are still tweaking the formula and the UI for crew, but we like the direction it is going.
8. Hazard Zones
When you view the world map you will see red hazard zones. These zones alter the landscape and will slow down your movement if you are unfortunate enough to get stuck inside the radius. Like the node system, they are procedurally placed and will add variation per play through. Some hazard zone types are sharks that launch out of the water, deadly homing mines, and rocks that give cover from incoming cannon fire.
We hope this brief summary excites you as much as it does for us. Enough talking, go and see the changes yourself with the demo!
In addition to taking some personal time to “touch grass” and remember what it is like to be a person, we have also been revising many different systems and how those systems interact with one another and fit our vision of AHOD. The vision of the game has evolved over time and aspects of our old design needed to be reassessed and updated to fit the new and evolving vision.
One of the recent system changes we made was to the energy system. Like typical deckbuilders, we initially followed the small cap “ammo” type of energy. The issue with this model was a constant reloading sequence interrupting the pacing of the card play. Something needed to be fixed!
New explorations lead us down the path of an “overheating” system that keeps gameplay flowing and fits better with the vision of what a realtime deck builder should be. If you use too many cards in a consecutive short time-frame, you will overheat. This will trigger a reloading sequence and pause the activation of cards. Take a break from activating cards for a few seconds abd you will cool down - resetting to 0. This tweak to the ruleset also unlocked more utility in discarding and the way cooldown works once activated.
This is just one example of one of the recent changes. We are moving towards another public demo early 2024, so join our Discord community, follow the Kickstarter and see what we are up to on Twitter(X) so you don’t miss an update.
As we exit the summer season, we prepare to take a well-earned break to rest and prepare for the next phase of AHOD. After months of intense coding, experimentation, and creativity, it's time to step away from the screens and touch grass.
It's a chance to recharge, reflect on progress, and gather new inspiration. With the changing seasons, this pause serves as a necessary respite before diving back into game development with renewed energy and fresh ideas. It's the calm before the storm, and a new public demo (date TBA). We look forward to sharing more info about this in the near future.
Replayability serves as a foundational pillar of the thrilling roguelike experience, achieved through the use of procedurally generated content. We've made significant updates to the path and port generation, introducing a wide range of diverse rules and edge cases that create unpredictable outcomes.
One of AHOD's most captivating features is the creation of a familiar yet ever-changing environment. Procedurally generated set paths and port events are placed in a consistent landscape. In one session, stealth might be your best ally, while in another, navigating through free roam becomes crucial to reach the next quick travel system. It is an exciting way to play around iconic landmarks and adds that spice that pirates know and love.
The dynamic nature of AHOD's shifting waters will constantly keep you thinking of optimal strategies and challenge your skills as a captain.
The primary motivation that drives pirates to venture into treacherous waters can be summed up in one word: treasure. However, before the treasure must come exploration, navigation, and discovery. Survey the land and take note of what is around you.
Introducing the "Free Roam" system, which liberates the captain from the confines of a limited quick travel route system. The key advantage of this system is the ability to deviate from the prescribed path while still maintaining a seamless experience within the "world map" view.
In addition to the free roam, visible attention circles adding another layer of strategic complexity to navigation. Put your stealth skills to test as you may attract the unwanted attention of your enemies!
