EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

July 11, 2012

F13

Hey there EpicDuelists- we’re coming up to another Friday the 13th (along with the return of the F13 cheevo) and the continuation of the Infernal Infiltration War!

Legion may have felled the first Vault door, but there’s still time for the Exiles to catch up, with the 2nd Vault battle already underway!

Master of Unlocking

The Second Vault Door is already feeling the pain (metaphorically speaking- the Vault Door is a Door, and cannot feel pain) of thousands of both Legion and Exile soldiers. And players will have something valuable to fight for- upon the collapse of the Second Vault Door, Level 35 will be available for your grinding pleasure!

Along with unlocking Level 35, behind the door is a shop featuring Level 35 Sidearms (in both credit and varium flavors) that include the new special Infernal Spirit! This allows you to inflict +2 damage against the Vault and +2 Defense against its attacks. For a player wearing the Mechachillid armor, and wielding the Infernal Interdictor, this means that that Vault door doesn’t stand a chance!

When life gives you gren, make grenades!

We’ll be introducing four NEW grenades to make the battle against the Vault even more epic: The Stagrenade, Crystal Grenade, Hammer Grenade, and the Short Circuit Grenade. While all four will be available for purchase, anyone can get one of these grenades via a drop.

• Stalagrenade: As you may have noticed, as the battle progresses, the Vault’s defenses and attacks increase. To counteract this, the Stagrenade sticks to the Vault door and detonates, resetting its defenses and damage to the start.
• Crystal Grenade: Locks the Vault’s defenses in place, effectively giving you a free attack!
• Hammer Grenade: Has a chance to do minimal or massive damage to the Vault- all beholden to the RNG gods.
• Short Circuit Grenade: Causes the Vault’s defenses to backfire, making it attack itself!

For more information, on how these Grenades work, check out this video on EpicDuel's Official Youtube Channel!

As stated above, all of these grenades are available as War Battle Drops (or as rewards for upcoming War missions), as well as for purchase.

Lucky You!

If you manage to get a chance between bashing down the Vault door, AQW’s Friday the 13th event featuring Voltaire, the Beast Maker, and the Sleezter Bunny will be going LIVE on Friday. And if you’re as much of an audiophile as I am, you’ll love hearing Voltaire’s dulcet tones accompanying you through a voyage of mirth, mayhem, and weird hellbeasts.

HeroSmash’s Cirque du Freak will also be making its regular F13 appearance. So, lots of fun to be had even if you aren’t fighting the Vault. But, really, you should be fighting the Vault. ;)

What? No Insect Facts?

Don’t want to keep you away from the War for TOO long ;) Also, I’ll be doing some field work later this summer, so maybe Night will let me talk a little tiny bit about what I do beyond writing for ED. Also, some of the academic reading I’ve been doing is going into the quests. >::3

Tags: War Infernal Infiltration Vault Grenades Exiles Legion Cinderella

June 20, 2012

Hey there EpicDuelists.  After a brief hiatus where I was working on HeroSmash, we are back with our regular helping of Design Notes.  These are gonna be extra meaty today, so make sure you have a good appetite for news!

Infernal Infiltration War

Originally, we planned to release the War this Friday, but after some massive discussions involving the proposed features for the Infernal Infiltration War, including new battle types, new NPC AI, and new consumables, we determined that it will be better to release a fully tested and polished version of the War next week rather than a buggy, less spectacular version this week. 

However, we do plan to have a working prototype for Friday so our testers can create some awesome preview videos and demonstrate some of the War's exciting new features!  This is disappointing short term news, but we are confident it will be worth the wait!

During the Conflict, players should report to their alignment’s 4 officers.  Each side has a General, Lieutenant, 3rd Officer, and Auxiliary Officer.  The War Officers are (in order) Exile: John St. Alban (The Lawman), Ulysses, Galatea, and Selina; Legion: Silas Auer (Administrator 7), Valestra, Nightwraith, and Ella St. Alban (Cinderella).  There will be NPC adjustments and improvements soon- the Lawman’s revamp is going live with the start of the war, with revamps to Ella and Valestra soon to follow.

Attack the Vault

Ok, here’s the real meat and potatoes.  This war will function differently than Frysteland- we’ve learned from our mistakes and we’re ready to take on this next challenge.  Basically, this is set up as a race to the finish.  Instead of strictly Legion vs. Exile, both Legion and Exile players will be punching through the Vault gates. Baelius spared no expense when securing the Delta Vault so the Vault doors are protected by multiple layers of shielding to protect the them from human activity.  When breached, each level of protection releases a special “something” that will be discovered when that level of defense is breached.  What is the reward?  That’s for you to discover!

So, how are you getting through the Vault's defenses?  You’ll be using grenades, available from drops or by purchase, to inflict massive damage on the Vault doors.  ALL grenades will be available as drops (no exceptions), so anyone can use any bomb on the doors.  There will also be mission chains that award even more war bombs!  The catch is the Vault doors fight back!  How long can you last against its devastating security systems?  We will be featuring the most devastating players in Infernal War leaderboards!

The Mechachillids are, understandably, not happy about surface dwellers ransacking their home, so they’re sending Mechachillid soldiers out into the world to bring you down in a new battle mode. Random 1v1 or 2v2 battles have a chance to match you with a Mechachillid AI opponent or ally!

Loyalty is the Key

Just a reminder that the special Alignment Shops will remain open for the duration of the conflict, and will be periodically updated with more items (though not this week).  Don’t like what’s available?  After the Infernal Infiltration War is won, the Legion or Exile Key will be converted into an achievement!

But remember- choose your alignment wisely.  Once you’ve chosen a side during wartime, there’s no turning back.  You may still leave an Exile faction and rejoin another Exile faction, but there will be absolutely no turncoating during the Infernal Infiltration War.

New War Cheevos

Along with a new War comes new War Ranks- the stats for each rank are the same as they were for the Frysteland War and the player with the most points for his or her alignment (in this case, the one who inflicts the most damage upon the vault) at reset will win the Infernal War Hero achievement! Yay!

U Jelly?

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are well known for their production of honey, which is formed by purifying and concentrating the nectar harvested by workers.  The worker regurgitates the honey into cells in the hive several times to treat the nectar with the enzyme invertase (which breaks sucrose into its monosaccharide components glucose and fructose) and lower the water content, making it into a sticky syrup.  The honey is then consumed by the colony members, including the larvae.

However, this is not the only food consumed by bees.  All larvae are fed initially with Royal Jelly, which is secreted from the mouthparts of workers.  Royal Jelly is a high-quality nutritious food high in B vitamins and fatty acids, and female larvae that are destined to become Queens are fed Royal Jelly spiked with Royalactin.  This peptide causes stimulation and maturation of the ovaries, which differentiates her from her sterile worker sisters.

Tags: Cinderella Infernal Infiltration War Silas The Lawman NPCs Vault Delta exile Legion Factions Loyalty