Copper Dreams - Overview of Ticks and Tiles

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Spaceman
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The latest on Copper Dreams explains how actions will play out in combat. Head to the link to see the system in action.

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Overview of Ticks and Tiles

As we mentioned in the last update, the gameplay wasn't feeling as impactful towards the goal of being able to react to enemy turns on the fly. There also wasn't a way to clearly visualize these elements. It was competent on paper and execution - turns for players/NPCs just take a variable amount of time on the combat bar to execute, however, wait times, lack of clarity of predicting enemy turns and not wanting to get stuck in a long turn during combat was hampering player actions, encouraging you to play too carefully. There was the promise of reactivity in turns, but gameplay and use of time just wasn't allowing it. Ticks, tiles and shorter phases allow the player to have the intel to make more calculated and reactive decisions.

The ruleset we had described in our original Kickstarter pitch has been a difficult one to find just the right gameplay for. The original idea had the essential premise of the turn-based model with just staggering turn order. Players and NPCs took turns when they were able to, and these took various amounts of time to perform and recover from, and could be temporarily interrupted. These actions were all displayed on a single timeline.

What we've implemented instead is a solution that replaces the general idea of ‘time' with chunks of time for actions we call ticks. We also brought back tiles to quantify distance, in the pursuit of clarity.

Ticks are represented by a quarter second of gameplay, but are abstract in that longer animations can play-out during these, or multiple hits shown off individually. So behind the scene, these play out like regular turns where gameplay they appear as more linear time.

Importantly, on a bar with other combatants these are super easy to compare. If an enemy is targeting you with a pistol and takes 3 ticks to aim, and 4 to recover from, you have the insight to know to start running and to attack after their bullet is airborne, as it obviously won't follow you. So with ticks, you can quantify how long your action will take compared to your enemy's actions, allowing you to plan your moves and have the payoff of dodging and taking cover.

In Turn Mode, which can be toggled whenever you want and is automatically turned on in combat, after any action you take recovers, the world pauses for you to take another turn. We've somewhat reformatted the UI to make this snappier, and there's no longer a confirm button for using an action. Once selected, your actions cannot be interrupted or changed, so gameplay is quite a bit quicker.
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More information.
 
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I love how different their games are. I'm excited to give this a try in the future. Still have to play more of Serpent in the Staglands!
 
I particularly like how the weather effects have an effect on the battlefield. Add in the addition of swimming and this game is showing up some of the big boys.

The ruleset and gameplay system sounds pretty intuitive so far. So glad I backed this.
 
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Interesting read. Sorry to see Joe in a hospital bed.
 
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Deserve more of what? Mainstream recognition? Please no.

I for one hope they NEVER partner with a publisher and continue doing their own indie thing. They have everything they need to produce cult classics - creative integrity, passion and limited budget.
 
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Can't help but wish these two success in whatever form they would like to find it. Looking forward to playing this game, too.
 
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Deserve more of what? Mainstream recognition? Please no.

I for one hope they NEVER partner with a publisher and continue doing their own indie thing. They have everything they need to produce cult classics - creative integrity, passion and limited budget.

Totally! Who needs an income anyway? Maybe they can work at a gas station in the evenings to pay the rent.
 
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I wish them much success with this game and will do what I can to help them promote it when it is released. But I'd prefer to back a Whalenought game on KS every few years rather than see them have to rely on publishers. I can't imagine many publishers lining up to fund a game like this anyway. "Oh you want to make a turn-based cyberpunk RPG for PCs only? No, no, that won't sell, how about an action RPG with modern graphics and a dialogue wheel and a simultaneous release on consoles?"

Somehow they seem to doing more with a shoestring budget than many developers do w/ much, much more.
 
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It's a great shame that the crowdfunding scene has also been bedeviled by hacks, incompetents, and frauds. It's made it much harder for quality indies to secure decent funding. Which is a pity, because it would be great if these small, genuine studios could earn a more comfortable living from that model.
 
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Somehow they seem to be doing more with a shoestring budget than many developers do w/ much, much more.

Nothing new nor surprising there. That anomaly has been observable for decades.

A smaller, driven team of passionate individuals working in modest conditions is what produces cult classics. Meanwhile the actual industry is churning out titles which are forgettable mediocrities at best, hot garbage at worst.
 
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