We have completely revamped the resource-gathering system. Let’s now take a closer look at what we have ended up with.
Usability Issues
In short, we had to learn how to play a brand-new game. Initially, it was difficult to remember where each resource was located, so we added their positions to the minimap.
We needed to come up with a reasonable penalty for a hero’s death to encourage more cautious play. The most logical punishment was the loss of resources, but taking away all resources upon death would set players back too far in their progression. So, we decided to give the builder two types of resource storage: a chest and a pocket slot. Everything the builder collects goes directly into their pocket. Upon death, the builder will lose everything from their pocket, however the resources in the chest will remain safe. There are also ways to transfer resources from the pocket slot to the chest, but I’ll discuss those later. When making purchases, resources will first be deducted from the pocket, and only when those run out would the game start using the resources from the chest. On the map, resources will only respawn when they are no longer in the hero’s pocket. Therefore, the resources in the two heroes' pockets, along with those on the map, always constitutes a fixed set – four units of each of the five resources (20 total). Resources in the chest are additional to these. In game replays, you can see the player’s resources displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen: first, the chest resources, then the pocket resources.
We also felt that copper and iron were too simplistic, so we replaced them with more interesting resources – pearl and amber. To represent these new resources, we added a pirate chest and a crystal-studded stone from Force of Nature 2.
Since we aimed to create as much transparency in the gameplay as possible, we decided to add a display of the opponent's resources (both in their chest and pocket) on the card table, as well as show all the buildings they had constructed.
Complete Lack of Balance
This was to be expected, as we were just starting to experiment with this mode. We had no reference points, so the initial values – such as stamina regeneration rate, card costs, gnome damage, potion healing power, and so on – were chosen randomly. After the first few games, it became clear where we had overdone it, where we needed to scale back, and which aspects required adjustments.
The gnomes were by far the most unbalanced element. Their damage was too high for the builder to deal with directly. Ignoring them wasn't an option either; if you tried to rush in, grab a resource, and flee while a gnome was around, they would deal almost lethal damage. Recovering lost health was difficult, as the healing potion cost the same as a gnome but restored too little health. We naturally buffed the healing potion, but something also had to be done about the gnomes. Weakening them wasn't an option, as they'd then become too easy a target for champions and minions. The solution we found was to keep the gnomes' strength intact – champions and minions could still take them down with three hits – but builders only needed one hit to destroy a gnome.
The next issue that needed balancing was the cost of cards. Six resources per card proved to be too high, so we reduced the maximum cost to five resources, with most cards typically costing between two and four.
The stamina of the pickaxe used to regenerate very quickly, which often led to situations where the stamina was full and regeneration stalled, effectively wasting the hero's potential to gather more resources and buy additional cards. This undermined our concept of equally distributing resources between both players. Fortunately, fixing this was easy – we significantly slowed down the builder's stamina regeneration.
Lastly, we made the brick card more expensive, as bricks were previously too accessible and allowed players to construct all minion dens far too quickly.
Long-Distance Travel
Previously, the builder didn’t need to traverse the entire forest, as they spent most of their time at the base or controlling minions, and primarily gathered resources close to home. Now, it often happened that a necessary resource would run out on their side of the forest, requiring them to run all the way to the opposite end of the map. While this is generally a positive change, as it expanded the playable area of the forest significantly, we needed to introduce a mechanism for faster travel. We decided not to increase the builders' movement speed further, as they were already faster than the champions. Instead, we added teleporters to each half of the forest. These teleporters are connected and allow quick travel to the opposite side. Only builders can use these teleporters, they are not available to champions.
More Cards Needed
Collecting resources was quite engaging, but there were often moments when none of the available cards felt worth buying. Some cards played a minor role at certain points in the game, leading to both teams avoiding them. As a result, these cards would gradually accumulate, and eventually, the entire card table would consist only of these less desirable options. To prevent this, we implemented a system where the first card in the queue is automatically destroyed every minute, ensuring a constant rotation of available cards.
To give players even more options, we decided to introduce two separate card queues.
Here, we’re once again taking inspiration from Splendor, which also features multiple independent card queues. In Splendor, these queues differentiate cards based on their cost and significance: the first queue contains the cheapest cards with minimal victory points, the second queue holds more expensive cards with moderate points, and the third queue offers the most expensive cards with the highest points. We wanted to apply a similar logic to our two queues. However, we faced the issue of having a rather limited variety of cards at that point. So, we needed to introduce several new cards as well.
In the first queue, we placed cards that offered resource management abilities. The second queue was reserved for cards that strengthened the hero.
First Queue Cards:
- Brick: This card has already been described in the previous post.
- Resource Conversion Cards: These allow you to trade 2 different resources for 3 resources of the same type. Additionally, the 3 new resources go directly into the hero’s chest, keeping them safe even if the hero dies. While this is a valuable deal, using these cards often requires spending resources that were being saved for something else, and the resulting resource may not always be immediately needed. Therefore, this card serves more as an investment for the future.
- Gold Coin: Another mechanic borrowed from Splendor. The gold coin can be bought for 2 regular resources and is stored in the player’s chest. It can substitute any other resource when needed for a card purchase.
- Stealing: This card grants the ability to use the “Stealing” spell once during the game. You can steal any resource from the map, no matter how far away it is or whether you have enough energy. This spell can help you acquire a needed resource or prevent the opponent from obtaining one.
Second Queue Cards:
- Healing Potion, Zombie, Soul, Gnome: These cards remain from the previous iteration.
- Sandals: An equipment card that can be bought only once, providing a slight boost to the hero’s movement speed.
- Armor: Increases the hero’s maximum health.
- Vitamin Drink: Increases the hero’s maximum stamina.
- Stamina Amulet: Grants a small stamina regeneration boost.
- Orc Archer: If you purchase this card, one additional orc archer will join your next wave of minions, marching at the back of the column.
- Troll: Similar to the orc archer card, this one adds a large, tanky troll to your next minion wave. The troll will lead the column, soaking up damage.
Mines
In addition to new cards, we decided to introduce new structures that can be purchased using bricks – mines. There are five different mines, one for each resource: a pearl mine, an amber mine, a jade mine, an obsidian mine, and an ice mine. Each mine can be built only once and generates one resource every 30 seconds. However, it only produces a resource if the player has none of that type in their chest or pocket.
As you can see, there are quite a few changes, so we’ll be moving on to testing.
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