After a few blog posts filled with walls text, I have decided it is time for a break. Here are some VERY early screenshots of Crea in action. Although it may not look like much at the moment, these sexy screenshots represent the backbones of a playable demo. Enjoy the programmer art!
Login Screen
Match Screen
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.