pretty cool game! I like the uncertainty in movement,
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Ancestral Duel's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #1253 | 3.420 | 3.420 |
| Overall | #1301 | 3.313 | 3.313 |
| Enjoyment | #1396 | 3.120 | 3.120 |
| Presentation | #1458 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
Ranked from 50 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
The player and their AI opponent have to roll dice to take actions during a duel.
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam
Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?
No
We used pre-existing audio
Comments
Pretty cool game! I liked the characters' art especially. I didn't understand the combat at first but I don't blame you for lacking a tutorial since the time frame was so short.
Submitted
Caves of ChanceEasy and quick little battle game. Wasnt to hard to understand with the tutorial on page. But could have used more ingame explanations. Overall a decent entry. Good Job.
Submitted
Dice Loaded Audio GunI played through multiple battles and was happily impressed with how different each fight felt. This combat system is simple and easy to grasp while actually providing some compelling strategy. For the most part i would say the AI created compelling fights however on one occasion it kept trying to get in real close even though that negated most of its attacks, and it kinda messed with the balance a bit because if i used a dice to move back there was a good chance that move was a waste. That being said, that in itself provided interesting gameplay challenges as I was trying to create enough room for my attacks to be effective.
If you choose to expand on this game or use this system in another game, I would love to see other weapons introduced each with their won unique play styles. Now as for the overall presentation, the game looked very clean and clear, I did not encounter any bugs. Perhaps the game could have used some music, something old and primal, I feel like that would have really boosted the character of the game even more. Overall, very well done.
Submitted
Dicey DeedsThanks for your comment! To be honest you were lucky, the AI is very simple and mostly random at the moment, it doesn' t rely on it's current situation to take decisions, just weighted probabilities. It's definitely something I will have to look into in the near future. As for different weapons, that's in the works too, in fact I already have a knife implemented, but as I did it after the deadline it's not available at the moment.
You're definitely right with the music, I fell into the trap of leaving sound for the end and I didn't have enough time to find a good soundtrack. I'll make sure to correct that next time I update the game!
I tremendously appreciate and love the idea to simulate a fight via a boardgame just like this! Amazing! The fighting is quite nice and I think it really simulates a real fight. One thing got on my nerves a little bit is that my plans to move were easily shattered. I am wondering if maybe it would be good to give some form of incentive for the ones who move, or simply for moving to engage battle. I was reasoning like this: Let's assume I am 1 block away from my enemy, and that the enemy will not move. If I move one tile away(so being 2 blocks away -> optimal position), I will lose one attack because I used it to move. If I stay where I am, I lose one attack because I am just 1 block away, so there's no point in moving (well maybe to have a better chance in the next turn, but no advantage in the moment). Maybe it would be great to give on extra point in attack if positioned 2 blocks away. This could make things more interesting I believe, but I don't know it's just a suggestion. Regardless, what I feel is really nice, is when you are in close range it's almost like a dancing game of bluff ("Will I move, will I stay, who knows?"). Really I am so glad I stumbled on your game! Best of luck and I hope you continue this project after the jam!
Submitted
DaisuThanks for your heartfelt review , I really appreciate it! I thought a lot about moving in relation to other actions. At the moment moving is a gamble, and it is best done to try to keep the distance between you and your opponent: if you're in good range at the start of the turn, moving is useless most of the time. You're better off moving only when your opponent is way too close or way too far.
But my original plan was to add different weapons with different range. For example, the knife (that I implemented but too late, I will upload a build with it after the end of the jam) has 0 range, which means that the closer you are the better. Always moving forward against the spear makes sense in that case, as it improves both your chances to hit and to not get hit.
Finally, I was also planning on adding different skills, like a way to push back the opponent for example. With all those in place, I feel like moving will make more sense.
I will try to continue working on this a bit, so stay tuned (but don't hold your breath, I haven't been the best at finishing jam games post jam)!
Very polished and fun to play, and made me think about my next move. I liked it!
Submitted
Little DiceThis is a really interesting concept for the theme, good job on that!
Submitted
Die ApothekeThe idea is very intresting . Loved that your attack decreased if you are too close or too far from enemy.
Submitted
Neon Dice RollThis game is essentially rock paper scissors because if you could know your opponent's actions in advance you'd be able to counter them perfectly and win (assuming you have equal dice rolls, and here you definitely don't, so it's even less fair than rock paper scissors). So I can see why you decided to hide them, but this unfortunately makes the game feel like it's mostly being driven by "output randomness" (a la Mark's video on the subject).
I can see this game being more fun in its intended setting of a tabletop, played against another real person, because you could start playing mind games (e.g. "what would my opponent do in this situation") just like you could do with rock paper scissors. I wouldn't play rock paper scissors against a computer though.
There's something nice and simple about this format of fighting on a 1-dimensional axis, and I'll bet you were planning to introduce different weapon types that have different spatial advantages, but I feel like you can explore introducing more "input randomness" so that there can be more player agency and expression. Or maybe randomness is just altogether not right for what you're trying to achieve. Subset Games struggled with the same problem when they were designing Into the Breach, maybe you could look there for inspiration, but of course there are many ways to go about this.
Submitted
Dice Attack!First thing first thanks for taking the time to leave a detailed comment. It made me think a lot about what my game is and what I want it to be, so that's very precious.
That being said, I feel like you want this game to be something that it is not intended to be. The fun of it for me is to assess your chances and spread your resources accordingly in order to minimise risk and create windows of opportunity for a hit. Not knowing what your opponent would do, but trying to anticipate the worst case scenario and choose when it's worth it to take risks is core to the experience I was trying to deliver. There is output randomness for sure , but I don't think all output randomness is bad.
I do agree that stuff is missing though. Your bet was right, I was planning on adding different weapons, but also different skills, another resource to manage, and other actions. And an AI that is a bit more than weighted randomness (or at least a finer weighted randomness, as the opponent should never be 100% predictable.)
Thanks again for your comment, it took me way too much time to answer, as you made me think a lot! x)
Interesting concept for a game! I didn't really understand fully how to use the combat system at first, but once I did it was a neat game. The randomness plays in surprisingly well!
Submitted
Dice in SpaceWhat an interesting little game! I will admit that it is a little confusing at the beginning due to the confusing combat but overall very interesting! if I were to say add anything I would say more enemy types with diffrent attack types (lol sorry for not finishing the comment!)
Submitted
LAST DICE LEFTInteresting idea. It would be better to have simple text to explain but we all were pretty limited with the time, so it's understandable.
Submitted
Live or DiceCool combat system, but would it be better if the opponent has a different weapon? :) Looking forward to your final game!
Submitted
Dice MatchInteresting combat system. If it has a flaw, I think its that it strongly favors the player as they go first. Being able to go all in on attack, knowing you'll strike first and don't need to worry about getting hit back as they'll die first. It seems optimal to just be on the attack, unless you roll really bad.
If that's fine with you then that's fine :) I dont know if you'd want to add an initiative 'action' that you could invest dice into as well.
I do appreciate how range effects your ability to hit, especially how being up right next to each other is a -2 penalty.
Submitted
Prepare to DieFirst thing first, thanks for your comment!
I know about the advantage of playing first, and I'm happy you talked about an initiative action because I had the same idea (but no time to implement it). It makes me think it's a good idea that I'm not the only one who thought about it.
I didn't prioritize its implementation though, because for me a jam game should be relatively easy. People testing usually don't have time to grasp every aspect of your game, they rarely spend more than 10 minutes with it. So I thought leaving the advantage to the player would be fine, and I focused on something else.
I'm also happy you appreciate the range, it was something I really wanted to have and to do well. Again, I didn't have time for that but my plan was to implement several weapons with different range. I have the knife (range 0) implemented on my computer, but I did it after the end of the jam so I couldn't upload a build with it. I'll try to push a new build after the jam, if you care to try it!
Thanks again for your comment!
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