Update #21 - New Preview System

As always, this update is live now and can be played for free in browser at https://isochronalgames.itch.io/timelinegame. Updates like this will be coming out every week, so please follow if you're interested in seeing future updates!

We are back! A longer break than anticipated, as I got into building a smaller word game while I had the extra free time. You can play that right now at https://isochronalgames.itch.io/syllabuild!

But we are coming back with a bang with the long promised new preview system! Hopefully it should make the game a lot easier to anticipate. The core idea is that the game should show you exactly what will happen if all your played cards and all visible enemy cards execute. No surprises, no unexpected deaths because of a status you didn't see, or a summon you didn't expect!

Of course, that is easier said than done.

-Preview HP values should be easier to parse now - the tooltip will show you your expected HP after execution, and the difference between your current and expected HP will flash on the bar itself. 

-However, if you're actually gaining HP, it will flash green instead of red. I recognize this isn't great for colorblind accessibility, but the info is still available through the tool bar. If you have any other suggestions though, please let me know in the comments below?

-If a tick will be cancelled by a stun or other effect, it now shows as an outline of the tick to indicate it won't actually take effect.

-If a creature is predicted to die, all their future ticks will be cancelled and overlaid with skulls to indicate that they will die at that point and none of their attacks will take effect.

-Summons and moves are included in the prediction calculation, so your damage numbers will still be accurate.

I think this kind of prediction system is a great step forward for a game like this that can be somewhat confusing and difficult to predict, but it has consequences for game design as well!

In order for the prediction system to be accurate, all cards need to be deterministic. No random damage, no random targets, no random statuses. That does close off the design space quite a bit- if you look at giants of the genre like Slay the Spire, cards that pick their targets randomly are pretty common.

That does close off that possibility, unless I want to adjust the preview system to somehow display a range of possible damage numbers or something similar, but that seems like it would be difficult, error prone, and probably confusing to the user. For the moment I am going to be sticking to deterministic cards, as that is my preference anyway. I have a fondness for games where the results of your actions are completely predictable (besides the drawing of cards, of course).

What do you think? Is the preview system worth losing the possibility of random cards?

In development - I picked up some skills in UI design while working on my word game, and I'm hoping to apply that in the next few weeks to give the game a more unified theme!

Gifs in this were created using ScreenToGif - thank you ScreenToGif!