Column: thoughts on Chapter-5 (for those who have already played)
Note: I'm going to conclude this article first because I feel like I'm going to end with this sentence when I read it back. ‘Now that we think about it, there is not enough content in Chapter-5, so we want to increase it soon (this year)’
*The thumbnail screenshots are from Chapter-7. Just in case......
[On the repercussions of going free]. Hello.
It's been a day and a half since we went free, and the number of players per day has now increased by about eight times. (from just under 40 to just under 300). What surprises me is that, population-wise, the percentage of day 1 players still playing on day 2 is quite high. (Apparently, 70-80% of them play two days in a row. We thought that less than 25% would continue for more than two days. ......)
Now that we've had a chance to think about this, I thought I'd write a little column mainly for existing players.
In this article I'm going to talk about DLC for a while. If you're a recent newcomer to the game, DLC is content you won't be exposed to until you've played at least 100 hours of the main package. Play the main package before you consider buying it.
All stages in the main package are designed so that you can reach full completion (Clear 3) without buying the DLC. The DLC will not increase or decrease in price until at least 2027. (Also, all stages of the DLC, with the exception of ‘Mystic Gate’ / ‘Last Inflator’ (see below), can be completed without purchasing new DLC. The last stage in the main package, Chapter 2-6 Pop Tactical Road, is a very popular stage that was voted #2 by Discord players. but if you are considering purchasing the DLC, bear in mind that Clear 3 of this stage is just a tutorial, so you will need to be prepared for the DLC to be released in the future. It is recommended that you have at least 10 Silver to Gold Nexus Medals before purchasing the very first Chapter-3 DLC)
[regarding DLC for this game]
Now, have you ever seen the ‘ChapterList’ on the store page?
In this text, you will notice that from Chapter-6 onwards there is a section called ‘xx Gates’ and from Chapter-8 onwards ‘xx Inflator’.
Gates’ refers to the number of items called “Mystic Gates” introduced in Chapter-6. In the stages from Chapter-6 onwards, there are items called ‘Mystic Gates’ somewhere on the map. By obtaining these, you can play the hard mode of certain stages. (xx Gates is the number of Mystic Gates you can get with the DLC.)
▲ Using a Mystic Gate will make the enemies much stronger, but will also allow you to use special features called ‘Magic’ and ‘Legacy’.
▲ Using the Mystic Gate, you can use orbs in stages where orbs don't exist, gain equipment in stages where equipment doesn't exist, and do all sorts of crazy things!
This would be more convincing if we asked the victims who have had thousands of hours wiped out by this game on Discord than if we spoke, but the Mystic Gate system has been very well received by players. (But you'll have to play for around 500-1000 hours to fully appreciate the Mystic Gate content, so new players should think twice about purchasing the DLC after Chapter-6 this year.)
Then, after Chapter-8, an item called the Last Inflator will appear. This is another item that, like the Mystic Gate, and far more difficult than the Mystic Gate, will allow you to play the Very Hard mode. (xx Inflator is the number of Last Inflators you can get with that DLC.)
The Last Inflator is not yet implemented (it will be soon), but the current plan is to allow you to equip two weapons and two ornaments (armour) each, to be able to teleport to any position up to three times, and many more things. The programmer were asked to do about six times as much work by the game designer idiot who were told ‘you don't have to do so much programming this year’, but at the moment the staff's opinion of the Last Inflator is very high.
We often (98% of the time) tend to delay deadlines in the pursuit of perfection, but at any rate, we're confident we'll be able to produce satisfactory future DLC.
[regarding the relative lack of Chapter-5 content]. Now, with these details in mind, let's lump the Game/Gates/Inflator sections of each DLC together and rewrite them as ‘true stage counts’.
The DLC after Chapter-7 will be quite expensive, probably 1.5~2.0 times more expensive than the previous DLC. As you may have guessed, the DLC after Chapter-7 plice will be a lot more expensive than the DLC before Chapter-6, with some people asking ‘What the hell, a rip-off?’ and ‘Heh heh, I'll finish this game in no time’, the DLC after Chapter-6 is aimed at destroying the lives of those who have been fooled by the game by sending them a huge amount of content, just like Dragon Ball's Yakon, and then blowing them up.
In addition, from Chapter-6 onwards, players who have played through Chapter-5 and think they ‘understand TacticalNexus!’ and to crush players who think they understand TacticalNexus, a huge number of special systems have been introduced in some stages.
▲Chapter 6-3, which was rated #3 in Discord player polls, introduces the system, where players can change their level-up bonuses and gain exclusive passive and active skills by meeting certain conditions.
▲In Chapter 7-4, an enormous amount of stage-specific passive and stage-specific active skills are introduced, as well as special conditions for status increases. This stage is one of the most highly rated stages.
▲Each DLC from Chapter-6 onwards contains at least one ‘Unique Enemy’ per DLC. Unique Enemies are overwhelmingly strong and understanding the stage gimmick is important to defeat them. (As a staff member, we have tried to keep the balance of the game so that it can be cleared without obtaining strategy information. It's quite fun to play these games solo without getting any information......)
▲The system exists in Chapter 8-1, which is temporarily included in the main package at present. Note that near the release of Chapter8-1, programmers worked 250 hours in two weeks at peak times. The game designer will pay with their blood.
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And so on. We have no complaints about the quality and game volume after Chapter-6. (At the time of Chapter-6, the staff clearly created a system that significantly increased the technical skills of programming and game design.) However, this gives the impression that the number of contents in Chapter-5 is too small.
In fact, it was Chapter-5 that we struggled with the most, and Chapter-5-4, which we created as ‘the highest stage in the first half’, took us a whole year to develop. However, from Chapter-6 onwards, the staff rethought the development structure, and at the cost of the health of some of the staff, we were able to create a development structure that was seven times faster and had enormous technical capabilities.
Around Chapter-3 and 4, the effect per Nexus Medal was greater, and clearing one stage increased replayability. From Chapter-6 onwards, the introduction of content increases the amount of replayability to other stages created by one stage by a huge amount.
Chapter-5, some of the stages can earn quite a lot of , but that's about it. Now that I look at it, I feel that it's quite lacking in volume. To be clear, you don't feel like you have to buy the Chapter-5 DLC to make that big of a difference.
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Basically, our priorities are as follows. Staff egos > Heavy users who play for a long time > New players.
We are completely focused on ‘long-time TacticalNexus players’, so we don't think too much about new players, although it might suck for a developer to say this. (The free-to-play is just a measure to make sure we don't increase our revenue for no good reason.)
What we're looking for is a wrestling match between heavy users who've played the game for thousands to 10,000-odd thousand hours and have become muscular, and staff who've also consumed vast amounts of time and technical skills and have become muscular. Of course, we don't intend to create stages that can only be cleared by a bunch of players, but rather ‘fun’ content that solo players can enjoy clearing by themselves without looking at strategy information. However, this ‘fun’ does not mean ‘elements that anyone can easily understand’, but rather ‘elements that players who have already gained a great deal of experience can identify as good or bad, and can conquer’. This wrestling exists to bring a ‘Victory’ resolution to the player. But we don't intend to play against new players who are skinny and have not yet developed their TacticalNexus muscles. Please go on a protein kick.
On the other hand, I've been getting comments from heavy users that they want new stages that are easy to play, like the old stages. (Due to the need to place and , the stages after Chapter-6 are inevitably all quite large stages.)
So we are thinking of introducing some additional content in Chapter-5, either after Chapter-8-2, where the Last Inflator is implemented, or after Chapter-8-3, which is the next stage after that. I don't have a concrete plan yet, but I'm hoping to create 2~3 simple stages ‘in some way’.
However, the number of stages from Chapter1 to ChapterEX-2 is 70, which is already planned, so I'm a bit hesitant to implement new stages like Chapter5-5 or 5-6.
It seems that ChapterEX2-4 is almost ready to be implemented, but we don't know when we will be able to release Chapter8-2 (maybe as an interim update). (We think there will probably be an interim update to the Last Inflator experience.)
In the meantime, I'm trying to think of ‘ideas to expand the Chapter 5 content in some way that feels good’.
The main package is now free to play
The main package is now free and the trial version (Demo) has been removed.
If you have played the demo version and want to copy the save, please copy the contents of the 'while the game is running' Tactical Adventure Demo\tmp1\wwdata\save to the Tactical Nexus\tmp1\wwdata\save. (Due to the cloud synchronisation process, if you copy the save data before starting the game, it may not synchronise properly. Therefore, start TacticalNexus, copy the data afterwards and restart TacticalNexus afterwards).
If you have already purchased the main package, you can get the upcoming Chapter-8 DLC for free. (In the previous announcement, we mentioned that we were "giving away SteamKey", but Steam staff have suggested that only those who buy the paid-for main package will automatically receive the Chapter-8 DLC for free. Therefore, in contradiction to the previous announcement, it seems that those who have purchased the main package will probably be able to receive the Chapter-8 DLC without any further processing. More details will be announced again when the DLC is on sale).
The need to buy the DLC is only necessary after you have played the game for at least 100 hours or so. (In fact, you can play 500~1000 hours of the main game alone.)
Please play the game thoroughly before buying the DLC. (We made the main package free because the majority of players buy the main package without even playing it and we didn't want to get meaningless sales. https://steamcommunity.com/games/1141290/ announcements/detail/4256546298577921302. More information can be found here).
Demo version with all main package data.
I have just realised at this point in time that we are about to go free, but as long as we are declaring it free, we should have included all the data from the main package in the Demo version. I'm sorry that our staff are a bunch of idiots. Maybe now the Demo version has the Mainpackage data in it. Please contact me if you find any problems.
(Also, the update of ChapterEX2-4 will probably take at least a few more days. Sorry for the delay)
Announcement of price change for the main package around 7/15
Announcement that the price of the main package will be changed around the end of July.
The other day, we received a suggestion from English-speaking players that we should write the store page like this, and we actually received the text, so we made changes to the store page based on that text. Then, sales of the main package increased significantly in English-speaking countries (about 2.5 percent). I felt this was very dishonest to those who have not been following our recent exchanges on Twitter (now self-proclaimed X) and Discord, so I'm going to announce it now, although the schedule is a bit vague.
◆This contradicts previous declarations and announcements. but we REALLY wanted to make it free, so I will make the main package free from 7/15. (Due to the procedure and the speed of work, this schedule may be earlier or later. Sorry for the vague declaration)
◆People who have the paid main package will receive the Chapter-8 DLC(steam key), which will be available on 7/28, for free as a compensatory payment. (The deadline for receiving the package is scheduled until next summer. Also, the price of Chapter-8 is about 20% more expensive than the main package, although it may vary by currency, so there is no loss for those who purchase the DLC.)
◆The main package may be returned within 2 weeks of purchase. If you have already bought the main package recently but would not have bought it if it was going to be free, or if you have no intention of buying the DLC in the first place even if the DLC that will be free is cheaper than the current main package, please submit a return request.
◆The button to receive SteamKeys will be activated in-game right before the DLC goes on sale.
◆We are conducting a survey on Twitter (now self-proclaimed X) and Discord in advance to make it free. (but I think people who bought recently didn't know anything about the whole process. Sorry.)
[More details about the free and Chapter-8 DLC] ◆When Chapter 8-2 is completed, the Chapter-8 DLC will be sold and the main package will be made free. (We had originally planned to sell the DLC after 8-3 was completed, but we wanted to make it free as soon as possible. ......)
◆We are not sure if we can do SteamKey without delay, so we will include Chapter8-2 and Chapter8-1 in the main package for a few days.
◆You can refuse to receive the SteamKey, but there is no need to do so.
[reason explanation].
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This is due to the fact that the majority of players who bought the main package have only played the game for less than the demo, despite having a demo that allows them to play for dozens of hours. As you can see from the reviewers, this game can usually be played for thousands of hours or more at this point.
We have also learned in recent months that there is a huge difference in cultural backgrounds between Japan and the rest of the world (especially the US), which is why this price point was provoking emotions, especially among foreign players.
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TacticalNexus is an extremely expensive game, but we're not going to extort tens of thousands of dollars from people who don't play the game. We have been declaring for several years now that we "will not be selling the game at a discount for some time," but we never intended to make a profit on it in the first place. For reference, here are the sales figures for the first few months of TacticalNexus sales.
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We were already working quite diligently on the Chapter-3 and Chapter-4 DLCs at this time, when there were no sales. (TacticalNexus became known rapidly in April 2020.) We will of course do our best to incorporate any feedback we receive and make the game as enjoyable as possible for the players who purchase it, but essentially, we are trying to make the game as enjoyable as possible for the players who purchase it. However, in essence, we do not need players and revenue for our development.
In Japan, games for "enthusiasts/niche" players are sometimes sold at high prices, but I have learned that such high pricing is perceived as "exploitative" in other countries. (I recently learned that there are probably very few countries like Japan where the management class and the working class are not in conflict.)
We were marketing this game to a niche audience in the first place, and it doesn't matter if we make money or not. Of course, we are willing to look at player feedback and find a path that seems compatible with our mutual goals. But it is a fact of life for us that we lose months, sometimes years, in game development, and we develop the game the way we want to.
But now the game is well known and the majority of players have never heard of Tower of the Sorcerer. We can develop the game ourselves, and if only a niche audience enjoys it, that's fine with us, but we hate the idea of making uninterested players pay for it.
However, we have said for years that we will not reduce the price, and we cannot make the main package free and receive direct refund requests from those who bought the game long ago. (Due to the procedures and the amount of work involved......) I've been wanting to do something about this for a long time, and I feel like I can solve this to some extent in the form of a SteamKey for the new DLC, so I've decided to do it that way.
Considering the psychological hurdle, if the main package is free and the DLC is paid for, I think it would eliminate the "I don't play the game, but I pay for the game." Or rather, it should be so. As I said, there should be no players who buy DLC before they have played the main package, which has hundreds of hours of gameplay. Or rather, I hope they don't exist.
So that's why, contradicting previous statements, the main package will be free around 7/15. (But we often delay updates so much that the DLC sales themselves could be even later. We wanted to make the announcement after we had a bit more time to finalize it, but we felt that the main package was selling a bit too well and that this was a bad idea, so we made the announcement.)
Bug fixes
★Fixed a bug that allowed users to re-purchase items that were sold out under certain conditions.
★The text of the overdrive has been changed to what was suggested in the Discord feedback. Thank you for your suggestions.
★Fixed a bug in "Summon the spring".
★Bug report: Fixed a placement error in OLD.
★Changed the specification so that the player cannot enter the battle unless the damage inflicted is more than 1.
★Fixed a bug regarding the Raging blade of the Rainbow.
★Fixed a problem with the M key warping when HP is negative.
★Added Sunstone consumption history to the experience Sunwisher.
★Fixed a bug that caused the Orb of Resurrection to trigger when HP was below -1,000,000.
×The bug that items in xDigBlock are not affected by The Harvest will probably be delayed. Sorry.
×We think there will be more abstract and opaque notations in the future, but I probably won't be able to fix that.
◆We will be working on integrating Last Inflator into the main script for a while, so we probably won't be able to update for a week or two.
Fixed an issue that was causing scores to register incorrectly.
Fixed an issue that was causing scores to register incorrectly.
Correction of translation errors
There was a translation error. The correct meaning of Shining Sunstone is as follows Sorry.
[Shining Sunstone] You can activate the Solar Gate only once, at no cost. If you have already activated the Solar Gate, you can activate it again.
Bug fix
★The problem that items that can only be purchased once can be purchased again after staying at a hotel. ★Added Glory Block to Room where the wind blows and Closed room. ★Changed the recovery limit of Ende's Potion to 5M. ★Fixed a bug that caused two Legacies to be dropped when defeating a Celebrant. ★Fixed a bug that some Legacies could be acquired when the HP was negative. (Probably, but I haven't been able to verify it properly)
Postscript: Clear tile was removed from Violet clown.
Chapter8-1 Phantom Tactical Town is implemented!
This is probably the best stage we have ever done, but the stamina of the programmer writing this text has been extinguished by the development of this stage, so this is a simplified report. I am sorry.
This is a very special stage where you can buy various items by “money in your possession”. It is a very special stage where you can buy various items by “money in your possession”. The programmability of this stage is outstanding and it is different from the previous stages.
The game design ideas are also very well thought out, and you will be able to enjoy this stage for a relatively long time compared to the previous stages.
However, the game is a little too difficult and there are many elements that are not explained well enough even though the internal process is well designed. (Anyway, it was very hard to examine the system, so please refer to ......)
◆This stage has a special boss status, , which is a whopping 2+1. Every enemy has a gimmick never seen before. Please try to solve the riddle.
I had hoped to release a large scale version of the “store” in Chapter 8-1, but to be honest, I got the impression that it was overqualified. I think it's a good thing that the developers are familiar with the new system, but the players are not yet. We thought that because it was a new system, we had to provide a high quality product, but I have the impression that it became a little too complicated. As expected, stages of this level will not be released frequently, but at most once every three to five stages.
The “store” system is quite popular among the staff this time around, but I think it is a bit too complicated, and there are pros and cons to it. Because there are too many options available in a single phase of “going out to the dungeon and returning to town,” this stage tends to be “too rich in flavor,” and I have the impression that it is not seasoned to suit those who prefer a lighter, slower pace of play. Team-Nexus has a very eclectic taste, and we cannot predict how this stage will be received by the players, as some of their sensibilities are quite understandable, while others are not at all.
For now, we will use the comments on the Discord and Twitter to consider which parts players enjoy and which parts they find boring, and create something that matches what we want to implement with what they want to enjoy. But, that being said, I would like to put this “flavorful” stage on the menu from time to time.
[About the future plan Until yesterday, the “Golden Week” holiday in Japan had been going on, and since other staff members had been taking a break and programmers had been working all the time, our schedules had been a bit conflicting among staff members. In another week or so, things will be back to normal, but right now, the stage production is progressing very quickly, and the programmers have to hurry to keep up with the work.
The next stage we plan to implement is ChapterEX2-6, but this stage has a lot of special processing in terms of programming, and because we have to prioritize the completion of this stage (or rather, the elimination of bugs), there is a high possibility that bug fixes and feedback will be delayed (even more than usual). This is the reason why bug fixes and feedback are likely to be delayed (more than usual). Sorry.
The most recent schedule is as follows (Actually, it will be delayed more than that...)
Late May: Implementation of ChatperEX2-6 (↓) Early June: Chapter8-2 + full implementation of LastInflator's engine (The latter is a bit more difficult programmatically, and there are still some areas that the game designers are concerned about, so it may possibly be delayed tremendously: ......) ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ End of June: Implementation of Chapter 8-3 ↓ ↓ Concentrated QoL and bug fixing period (2-3 weeks) ↓ ↓ Chapter8-4 development.
Medium QoLupdate
★Added "Item Batch Confirmation" by pressing Shift+Z. (This is temporary and the shortcut command may change in the future. Sorry) ★Added 2 types of Autosave. ★Other minor corrections.
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