Author Archives: jmcmorris

Looking Ahead

After a year of working on the engine, server, content pipeline and refining the game’s design, we are finally getting close to having something tangible; a playable demo. Although, I do use the word ‘playable’ lightly. This playable demo will enable two people to launch the client engine, login to the game through the server and be entered into a simple queue. Once two people are in the queue the server will create a match and the two players will be matched up against each other. They will be able to play through the entire match. This may sound insignificant, but believe me that this is tremendous progress and a major milestone.

Once this milestone is reached, a series of changes are planned to ramp up Crea’s development. I plan to share the playable demo with a select few and try to get some early feedback. Meanwhile, I will begin searching for an additional developer or two to join the project. I am hoping that by having something playable I can attract some more passion and talent to the team. Around the same time I will also be looking for an artist. Art is pivotal for the majority of games and I believe that is especially true for Crea. Consequently, I will be looking into hiring an artist to create the core art assets.

After the aforementioned art assets are incorporated into the game, we will begin seeking additional development funds. The likely sources will be crowdfunding (kickstarter.com) and indie game competitions. The less likely sources, that I will at least be considering, are seeking a publisher and VC investment.

As you can see, it is an exciting time for Crea now. I am looking forward to seeing things continue coming together. I hope you are too!

The Vision

Picking up where my previous post left off, I believe there is a absence of a modern DCCG (Digital Collectable Card Game) that follows traditional rules. When I first set out to start this project I knew I wanted to create a game that I would want to play and could not get elsewhere. Originally I came up with the basic concept of fusing the RPG and CCG genres together to create something unique. I have seen many RPGs that have some CCG elements mixed into them but never a traditional DCCG with RPG elements. This concept remained the focal point for some time but now that Crea has had time to mature I have come to realize Crea’s true potential.

My vision for Crea is that it fills this aforementioned void. I was at an IGDA meeting two weeks ago and the speaker, Darrell Gallagher, said that when designing a game you need to grab onto a core idea (can be feature/character/anything) and have it define your game. He went on to say that there should be accompanying ideas that help reinforce the core. He called these additional ideas “supporting pillars”. Together they make up a pyramid.

Modern DCCG

This is the identifying concept behind Crea. Boiled down to its core, this concept means creating a game that stays true to traditional CCGs while providing players with a full experience that games have to offer today. Through development we have taken this concept and made it our design philosophy.

Progression

This is referring to the original concept, the fusion between the RPG and CCG genres. CCGs consist of separate, individual matches that have no effect on each other. RPGs, on the other hand, consist of characters progressing through multiple battles, the outcome of each having a lasting effect on the character. It is this concept of character progression that I have taken and injected into the CCGs genre. The underlying design has seen many iterations to ensure the correct balance between the two.

Progression for Crea is not limited to characters; it is just one example. Another example of progression is seen with quests. Players are able to take on quests that will typically span multiple matches. In the end, progression will give players a much grander picture to look at rather than just individual matches.

Accessibility

This word, “Accessibility”, has two meanings for Crea – both boiling down to allowing more players to enjoy Crea more.

The first meaning is to make Crea accessible to players on mobile devices. I believe that as mobile gaming matures we will it begin to supplement console games more and more. For Crea this supplement would likely be in the shape of a small mobile app that enables players to perform the majority of the out of match features such as buying from the auction house, composing decks, or trading with a friend.

The other meaning is to keep Crea reasonably priced and accessible to any player that wants to play. One of the major problems with CCGs is that they can be very expensive and this has stayed true for most of the DCCGs with micro-transactions. It is true that Crea’s business model is based off micro-transactions but the methodology is quite different. Collecting lots of cards and creating your desired decks will not cost a leg or your first born child – it will be free if you really want!

Interactive World

With few exceptions, DCCGs focus on multiplayer competitions rather than single-player story mode. To stand out from the pack, Crea removes the separation of game modes and unites them in a seemless experience. This seamless gameplay will encourage players to tryout all aspects Crea has to offer. In addition to the RPG staples (towns, dungeons, and quests), Crea will have a large focus on bringing life to the mythos that will be heavily alluded to in the flavor text for each card.

Playing through the main story, exploring dungeons and taking on quests wont just be a single player experience though. Players will be able to team up with their friends to complete quests or go through dungeons. The goal is to provide players with an interactive world and keep the players always connected with each other.

Writing and reading over this fills me with excitement. Crea has a clear direction which is necessary given the relatively large scope of the project. I will admit that this is an extremely ambitious project; however, design decisions are made with this in mind. I wont go into details here as this is an entire post of its own.

The Quest

There is something missing. No, I’m not talking about my socks. A good traditional digital collectible card game (DCCG) is what I’m looking for and I am having a hard time finding one. By traditional, I mean a DCCG that stays true to the physical CCGs such as MTG, Pokemon TCG, and WoW TCG. From my search, I found that there are only a few games available in this genre and it is dominated by MTG games. Here are some points I found these games to be lacking in.

  • Magic: the Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalker - Official Site
    • One of the biggest complaints about this game is that deck editing is VERY limited. You must play with preconstructed decks and can choose to add/remove additional cards that are won through campaign mode.
    • Because of no deck construction there is also an absence of trading cards. Everyone already has them!
    • While the game does have a campaign mode, it does not tell a story and is only a series of AI matches.
    • I have not played online but having looked at it I can tell it is fairly limited.
    • Challenge mode was really great.
  • Magic: the Gathering Online - Official Site
    • I never played this, just read about it and watched some videos.
    • Since this game went live nearly a decade ago it is reasonable that it looks outdated. The UI and graphics appear to be from the late 90′s.
    • The release predated the concept of ranked matches which are now nearly a standard in any PvP game.
    • From what I can tell it only has PvP and no PvE. If it does have any PvE then it is very limited and does not contain any type of story or quests.
I recognize that there are many other games that can be considered a CCG. Why I did not bring them up is because I do not consider them to follow traditional rules as they are more of a fusion of genres. While I was looking at these games, I did find that they are generally more feature complete. Here are some of the games I looked at.
  • Magic: the Gathering Tactics - Official Site
    • After following this some before its release and then playing it some I can say that I was reasonably disappointed.
    • Largest disappointment is the claim to free-to-play but without spending money you only get a starter deck and the first 5 missions. It should have just been called a trial version.
    • Besides this inhibitor, the game is fairly complete with features. It has a story mode, trading, auction house, PvP, tournaments, and a few other shinies.
    • Gameplay itself did not seem too intriguing and was somewhat boring, albeit I only played the first 5 missions with a starter deck. This is when they are suppose to convince me to spend my money on the game though.
It is sad to see that such a great genre has been neglected aside from MTG. There are many other games that pull from CCG concepts but few that keep the focus on them. Overall I feel that there is a need for a traditional digital CCG that has a modern feel, feature complete with an intriguing and fun gameplay. This is where Crea comes in…
Now where are my socks?

Gameplay Introduction

I am eager to share with everyone some of the current plans for Crea’s gameplay. What you will be reading has seen dozens of revisions, both minor and major, and will likely see a few more eventually. I may at a later date go into some detail on the design decisions that have been made, but without further ado here is the Match gameplay for Crea.

Match

In Crea, the core gameplay is a match between two opposing players or teams. Each player has a party of four character cards and a deck composed of a minimum of 60 cards with no more than four instance of a card. Each character has a given amount of hit points (HP). A team has won once they have depleted the opposing team’s characters of all HP.
Each player begins the match with eight cards in hand, drawn from their library, and all four characters laid out in front of them face up. Every character starts the match channeling a powerful being known as an Aer. There are many Aers that a character can channel, and each has unique cards that only characters channeling that Aer can use.

A round is split into three phases: Draw, Channel, and Action.

  • During the Draw phase, each player draws two cards from their library.
  • During the Channel phase, a player has the choice to shift which Aer each character is channeling. The Aer a character is channeling is known as the active Aer. A character is limited to the two Aers chosen prior to the match, and shifting has a cooldown time of two rounds.
  • During the Action phase, players take turns being the active player alternating teams and players. The active player can play as many cards from their hand as long as they meet the card’s requirements. This is either blessing a character with an Ability, equipping a character with Equipment, or having a having a character use a Relic. The active player can have a single character perform an action from either one of the abilities it has been blessed with or a Relic in play. The active player also has the choice to pass on taking the action. In either case afterwards the next player becomes the active player. When a character performs an action the opposing team is given the chance to react to this action. Once each player is given the chance to be the active player four times the action phase ends.

Round Example

Here is an example of a round where Player A and Player B are matched up against each other. The first active player is randomly decided at the start of the match and then alternates each round.

  • Draw phase. Player A and Player B both draw two cards.
  • Channel phase. Players choose to change the active Aer for each of their characters, unless the character is on cooldown from recently changing their Aer.
  • Player A is the active player.
  • Player A looks over their hand and blesses, equips, or uses any cards that their characters meet the requirements.
  • After getting their party set up Player A is able to use any one ability.
  • Player B is able to use any of their reactive abilities to counter Player A’s action.
  • Player A’s turn is over, and now Player B is the active player.
  • Player B goes through all the same steps as Player A did before.
  • Once both players go through these steps four times the round is over.

Closing

Please share your thoughts and feedback as I am very interested. Also I am curious if the “Round Example” provided useful insight or if it is redundant and unnecessary.

New Beginnings

Welcome to the Siege.

Siege Games public debut has been held back for a little over a year now. The wait is finally over now that we have something to share with the world. To start with, let me explain who we are, what we do and why we are doing it.

We are a small team of indie game developers. To be more specific though, we are attempting to forge a new gaming experiences for the world to enjoy. Our motive is simple: we love games. For the time being, Siege Games equates to a single game – Crea.

Crea is a unique digital collectible card game based on strategy and RPG-style progression. Players create decks and a party of character cards which are used in matches against AI enemies or other players. Players can team up with friends to fight matches or take on quests in an immersive, fantasy-based world with a unique and imaginative background story.

This is a blog for all the latest development news and details on Crea. Undoubtably, my geeky (but also sexy) nature will attempt to fill this blog with the mundane technical jargon of programming, but I promise to keep that at a minimum. Stay tuned as this blog records the story of a game coming to life.