EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

October 17, 2012

The EbilCorp war is nearly over, and you have fought valorously against Chairman Platinum and his corporate ninjas in all of AE's games. Yay! EbilCorp was no match for our dedicated players. Congratulations! When the war bar reaches 100%, you can just click the “Claim Prize” button to claim your prize! What is your prize? IT IS A MYSTERY!

By popular request, Kimberly will by offering her One-Eyed Axes in energy and physical flavors as limited quantity item!

Aftermath

The Chairman may be down, but he's certainly not out. Alydriah has personally seen to it that his personal transportation off of Delta V is, shall we say, unavailable, and it would amuse her greatly if you and Kimberly would keep bashing him! You will be able to continue challenging Chairman Platinum for cheevos and lulz.

Being the opportunist that he is, the Chairman will be looking to enlist the help of Delta V's citizens to regain his strength and rebuild his forces. There will be credits and tokens in it for you, but is it worth making a deal with the devil?

Suggestion Shop

Nightwraith and Disturbed are still working on the Player Suggestion Shop, so keep submitting! As Char said during the Livestream, if you're looking to get art in the shop, think 2 holidays ahead!

Speaking of holidays and suggestions, the Head/Hairstyle design contest is still going on, so head on over to the AEF to check out the rules and competition! You have until 11:59PM EST on October 26 so hop to it!

On the Horizon

We mentioned on the Livestream that we're going to be doing some pretty exciting back-end stuff over the next couple months (which means that sometimes content will be lacking, but code will be abundant!) while we prepare to enter into a new development phase!

We're planning on reevaluating and retooling the early-game experience, with tutorials and such to initiate new players into an informative and engaging early game that is up to par with the latest content. EpicDuel has become a very complex game and new players can be easily discourage by the steep learning curve. We've already started outlining/writing the tutorial system.

Rabble and Titan are going to be tearing down the battle engine and retooling it. The ultimate goal is for even those of us on the creative team could create a new skill in the database! Weapons stats, skills, and enhancements will be completely retooled for greater flexibility, like we'd intended originally.

We'll also be "tightening up the graphics," as they say, in our ever present quest to battle framerate slowdowns and bring the older visuals up to par with the latest content.

And certainly not last or least, we'll be able to build at least one major feature (like, say, Tournaments) that are frequently requested by players!

Stay tuned for more developments as we finalize me details!

Said the Spider to the Butterfly...

I'm sure you all missed the insect facts! What, you didn't? Well, I want to talk about butterflies and will not be silenced! There are several examples of insects that mimic their predators in an attempt to avoid being omnomnomed. In the case of tephrid flies in the genus Zonosemata and metalmark moths in the genus Brenthia, markings on their wings and wing-flapping behavior looks very similar to the behaviors of jumping spiders. In laboratory tests, both of these creatures were eaten quickly by nonspider predators, but avoided by jumping spiders. In the case of the butterflies, jumping spiders even returned the displays, indicating that this sort of mimicry is effective against spider predators. Whether they win Halloween costume contests among the arthropods is still a matter of debate.

Tags: Titan Chairman Platinum EbilCorp harvest Ninjas suggestions Kimberly One-eyed Doll Artix

October 03, 2012

The Chairman has been on Delta V for nearly a week and already he grows impatient with his hosts.  His diabolical offerings have kept the citizens from expelling him thus far, but Baelius is still a no-show.  Shuttles are now approaching with a hoards of EbilCorp goons, and the Chairman's promises of wealth and power have swayed some locals to his cause.

Events are escalating quickly as local authorities seem unable to make a move against the EbilCorp incursion.  Will Delta V be under new management permanently?  What are the Chairman's true intentions?  Who taught the Bio Hazard how to tie a tie?  All will be revealed soon!  

Epic Stylin'

'Tis the season to unveil new styles -- 18 to be precise (3 for each base class and gender).  These styles will have an EbilCorp flavor to them.  Visit any style change bot around Delta V to check out these sinister new styles.

Rabblefroth has been hard at work expanding the functionality of our style purchasing system.  After this release, unlocking a single style will unlock all similar styles across all classes (i.e. wolf style, bio hazard, dragon slayer).  We will apply this retroactively to those who have already purchased styles, so you should notice way more styles unlocked when you change classes! 

To further satisfy your hunger for style, we will be offering a new bonus package that includes a jumbo pack of styles!  This promotion will includes new EbilCorp styles.  This does not mean that we will be removing any current promotions, just that we will be adding a new one.

If you play as a Male Mage or Hunter, you may have noticed that you have fewer basic styles than Mercenaries.  Maybe you haven't.  In any case, we're correcting that oversight by adding 1 new default style to Mages and 2 new default styles for Hunters.  Huzzah!

Contest Reminder!

Existing styles not your...uh...style?  Remember, we're hosting a hairstyle design contest in the forums RIGHT NOW!  Submit your creations for a chance to win ALL THE STYLES available in game at the time of contest's end as well as seeing your own design used in game!  You have until the 26 of October, so sharpen those pencils and do your best!

Secure Decor

In case you missed it last week, the seasonal Harvest Festival home items are now available for purchase.  You will also have the opportunity to acquire the beautiful winning posters created for our account safety awareness art contest!  Hang them proudly in your homes to show that you know how to keep your account secure, and encourage others to do the same!

Suggestion Shop

The weapons are not ready for this week, but we are currently culling the forums for the best item suggestions for vectorization.  I would like to remind all of those participating that plagarism will not be tolerated.  Furthermore, a comment from a mod or dev like "nice sword" should not be taken as a guarantee that the suggestion will be used.   Art posted on Twitter and FB will not be considered unless it is posted in the forums as well.

Also, be sure to follow our assistant artist, Disturbed's, Twitter for his progress as he vectorizes the best suggestions!  

Suggestion shops are always a breath of fresh air into the game's expansive inventory and I wish we could do them more frequently.  That said, I have a feeling this shop will be the best one yet!  Thank you and good luck!

Tags: Nightwraith hairstyles contest suggestions promotions Chairman EbilCorp War