Magarena successor : Dreamwalkers

[ubeefx]

In case anyone is wondering, I have no plans for Magarena 2.0.
I work as a software engineer, so game programming is just a hobby.
But there is nothing wrong with trying to earn some money with your hobby too.

So I am working on a PC game based on Magarena.
UI would be a further improved version of Limited Edition. AI will be the same MiniMax.
It would not use the cards from Magic. Also the rules will be even more different.
As with Magarena, replayability should be high, but this time there is a goal in the game.
There would be a campaign instead of duels with collecting and leveling aspects.
Release date would be ideally September 2011, but there are no guarantees.
I will contact some people on the forum for beta testing when the time is there.
It might become open source eventually too.

I have some questions. Feel free to answer them.

What is the best way to distribute this kind of game you think? Website + PayPal?
Do you think such game could reach a 10000+ customer base?

Any 2D artist interested in helping with creating some unique avatars, icons or other art assets?
Send me a pm please.

ubeefx

[Huggybaby]

The "humble indie bundle" relied on donations and was extremely successful.
http://www.humblebundle.com/#contribute

The price is right at 5 euros. Unfortunately if you try to make a strategy card game that isn't MTG related then you'll be swimming uphill I'm afraid, and you will definitely need those other game elements you mentioned to make the game enticing.

10,000+ sales? Who knows, anything is possible!

[ubeefx]

Variable pricing seems like a nice idea.
You pay whatever you want, with for instance a 4 euro minimum.

Main idea is to have a card game with RPG elements, something I want to try out.
I cannot use MTG cards unfortunately, because I have no license, which is probably very costly.
But I thought of a simple way to let this game have thousands of cards.
I can still base this game on some concepts of MTG, which I intend to do.
It will have lower complexity than Magic however.

I think if it will be fun to play, it will have a chance.
That is why I will gratefully accept beta testers on the forum when it is ready to check it out.

[ubeefx]

Giving me some good input on this topic is also your ticket for a Limited Edition password.

[pedro1973]

Hi.

i think you should go ahead and try to bring something original. But as said before, a card game out of MTG could be hard to sell. But, i think, it all depends on the quality of the product.

Magarena uses a nice AI and there are few games you can play against a decent AI, especially against a random generated deck. The AI is measure how well the CPU plays against a random generated deck and not against pre-made decks.

Now, its a little vague to valuate the potential of the game you're creating, but i think you should stick the game as near as possible to MTG so people can identify themselves with the game.

If you really wanna make money with your game i think you shoud think about porting it to Iphone/Ipod/Ipad, there's where you can really get the money. There are no real decent card games in the Apple store,so you can be almost a pioneer.

Will have to wait and see:)

So what we want in a game like this?
- A great AI
- Decent graphics
- Lot of cards
_ Interesting and diverse game modes
- Re-playability
- Statistical tracking of victories and losses
- Random deck generation and the ability to create your own decks

Well i'm sure you will create something great:)

My clock is count-downing...

[ubeefx]

Don't expect any miracles, I aim for a small success here.
When that happens on PC, then indeed, on iPad it could be a lot better.

Actually most items from your list are covered I think.
Decent graphics are the hardest for me.
But the user interface is already looking better than Magarena.
I am still unsure how the cards will look like, but I have some ideas.
I will also focus on only a quest game mode for starting.

[ubeefx]

I revealed the name of my new game in title. I like it, what do you think.
It is also a nice variation on Planeswalkers.
I might share further progress on the game in this topic.

[Huggybaby]

I like it, hopefully the game is worthy of the title.

[telengard]

I revealed the name of my new game in title. I like it, what do you think.
It is also a nice variation on Planeswalkers.
I might share further progress on the game in this topic.

Will this new game tie in with Dreamblade at all?

Congrats on the new venture and title!

~telengard

[ubeefx]

No links to Dreamblade, well, except for the similar name.

The word dreamwalker also has a meaning which is very appropriate for the game.

person able to actively determine the path of their own dreams

[pedro1973]

Well, I'm anxious to see what kind of game you're creating.

When you can share some screenshots or other info, that will be great...

Setember is my birthdate, so is a good relese date...

I know what i want for my birthday gift:)

[jeffwadsworth]

Let me stress the importance of the mobile device aspect brought up earlier in this thread. Playing games on my computer has taken a huge backseat to my mobile devices (ipad,iphone). A card game with your insanely great AI would be a godsend. Also, you could sell that thing pretty easily on the APP stores of either Apple or Droid. Please look at the sales of something like Shadow Era...that thing is off the chain. I actually use logmein to access my computer to play Magarena via the pad.

[ubeefx]

Because I also have an iPad I can certainly understand what you want to say.
My intention is to develop the PC version as a sellable prototype for a possible later port to tablets like iPad and Android.
I realize that those could give a much higher revenue and I also would prefer to play my new game on an iPad.
I will make it touchscreen friendly so it can be easily played with a remote desktop.
Also resolution is fixed and optimized for the XGA screen size of iPad.
I think this will work better than coding it for a tablet straightaway.

[Incantus]

My initial idea with Incantus was to make it the UI touch screen based, although i never ported it to iOS since they didn't have python support (you can see some of my interactions here - just pretend the mouse cursor isn't there and imagine you are using your finger): )

I think the iPad is a perfect vehicle for a CCG with RPG aspects. I've only seen 1 or 2 other games that are in that genre, and they received pretty good reviews. Good luck! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[ubeefx]

Thanks, I like the Incantus video clip.