Telepath Tactics

[Mr. Sinister]

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know about Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG that's being developed right now. (Full disclosure: I'm the developer, but I don't run around spamming threads about this everywhere: I'm just posting this one on Serenes Forest specifically because this seems like the kind of place where people would be interested in hearing about it.)

Okay, about the game!

Setting

Telepath Tactics takes place in a fantasy-steampunk universe that averts most of the tropes you're used to from these sorts of games. Magic doesn't exist: instead, there is psionics and steam-powered technology reliant on a volatile, crystalline substance called vibra. Horsemen don't ride horses: they ride giant, armored praying mantises. There are no elves, no dwarves, no goblins, no dragons: it's just humans and a few other, entirely original sentient races (such as the shadowlings, unusual-looking beings that quite literally feed on human suffering).

Gameplay

Telepath Tactics features 2-to-6 player multiplayer and a Fire Emblem-style single player campaign. The engine features elevation effects, environmental hazards, a bevy of status effects, bridge-building, barricade-building, character inventories, the ability to move or destroy objects in the environment, and the ability to push, pull and throw other characters off of cliffs and into water or lava.

Moddability

Telepath Tactics is designed for easy modding. All assets are contained in external .png files, and all of the game's essential data defining character classes, attacks, destructible objects, maps, items, etc. is contained in easy-to-edit .xml files. The game features explicit support for custom multiplayer maps and custom single player campaigns, and comes with a full-featured map editor (itself with support for custom tilesets) to make creating new battles extremely simple.

Platforms

Telepath Tactics will be released on PC, Mac and Linux. (There is a strong possibility that I will port it to mobile devices afterwards.)

For more about the development of Telepath Tactics as it continues, you can find my Twitter feed here. For videos showing the game's progress, you can also subscribe to my Youtube feed. Want more details about how Telepath Tactics works, mechanics-wise? I've been writing up the game's manual bit-by-bit as I develop the game; it currently contains an introduction, a thorough explanation of how the game is controlled, and an uber-detailed examination of the complete Telepath Tactics ruleset. If you're curious, you can find the manual online right here.

Or better yet--play the free alpha demo!

• WINDOWS DEMO

• MAC / LINUX DEMO (you'll need AIR to install the Mac / Linux one)

That's about it. Any questions? I'll be more than happy to answer them!

Edited December 5, 2012 by Mr. Sinister

[Integrity]

Yes, but when will it happen?

[buttmuncher.ops]

sounds interesting. i'd beta test the multiplayer fur sure.

i took a week long break from dota 2 to try out some magic the gathering: tactics on steam actually but the lack of team play support limits the game to only 1v1 multiplayer, so i'm interested to see how a multiplayer turn based strategy tactics game could involve more than 2 players. what's the release date looking like?

[Mr. Sinister]

Yes, but when will it happen?

Depends on what you mean by "happen." The game is already playable; but it will be fully released sometime next year. (I'm currently aiming for mid-year.)

In all likelihood I'll be recruiting testers sometime in the next few months, so it may pay to keep an eye on this thread.

[Integrity]

Well, keep up the idea of on-battlefield construction and you'll have my eye at least, and possibly my money depending on how much time I could sink into the singleplayer. Can't be fucked to care too much about multiplayer.

[Agro]

Unlike Fire Emblem or Disgaea, the enemy AI in Telepath Tactics is aggressive and reactive.

You have clearly not played FE12 :/ (also FE does this for a reason).

At any rate, it's looking pretty cool, though some of the art appears to be in the early stages (?).

[Myke]

Well I like your concept so I guess we'll just see how well you execute it! Considered yourself watched.

[Bluedoom]

I used to play the Telepath online games a few years ago. man they were fun, so you've got my interest for this game. :D

[Mr. Sinister]

At any rate, it's looking pretty cool, though some of the art appears to be in the early stages (?).

Thanks! The art is very much in progress, yes. Characters are going to fully animate in four directions, title screen art is in progress, and the UI art is due to be completely overhauled. The cost of proceeding with making a game playable before your artists are finished is that you'll have to use placeholder art for a while. *shrug*

Well I like your concept so I guess we'll just see how well you execute it! Considered yourself watched.

I used to play the Telepath online games a few years ago. man they were fun, so you've got my interest for this game. :D

Thanks, guys!

[Mr. Sinister]

I've posted a new monthly update about progress on Telepath Tactics!

The high points:

1. Character walk animations are now completed.
2. Title screen art and a title theme are in progress.
3. The game's interface has been improved.
4. The manual has been updated.
5. In-game tutorials have been improved.
6. The game now supports variable attack accuracy (i.e. attacks that are more or less accurate than other attacks.)
7. "Create" attacks can now spawn multiple instances of an object or character at once.
8. Alliances (i.e. different armies allied either with you or your opponent) are now in the process of being added to the game.

Check out the full post here for more details: http://sinisterdesign.net/?p=1778

Edited October 17, 2012 by Mr. Sinister

[Mr. Sinister]

So! I woke up early this morning and recorded a new pre-alpha teaser video showing off some of the latest progress in Telepath Tactics. Probably the coolest new feature is the fact that the game now renders character movement animations!

Click below to watch. (I strongly suggest watching this one at 1080p so you can see all the cool little details.)

[Mr. Sinister]

Hey guys! I just posted a new update on Telepath Tactics. I've added in team battles, global lighting, weather effects, animated health bars, and other goodies. Check it out!

Here is a video showing some of the new lighting and weather effects in action:

[Mr. Sinister]

Those of you who have been waiting for an opportunity to try Telepath Tactics out, this will be of interest to you: the Telepath Tactics Kickstarter campaign just launched this morning! Backers can pre-order the game, get early access, and even get early access to the game's map editor to start creating their own campaigns.

Click here to visit the Kickstarter page.

[Mr. Sinister]

Big news: Telepath Tactics now has a free alpha demo! Click the appropriate link below to check it out for yourself:

• WINDOWS DEMO

• MAC / LINUX DEMO (you'll need AIR to install the Mac / Linux one)

Also, for those of you into modding, I've created a video introduction showing exactly how you create your own, brand new single player campaign in Telepath Tactics. (Spoiler: it's way the hell easier than creating one for Fire Emblem.) Check out the video here!

[Arch]

I downloaded it and gave it a try.

My first impressions are somewhat mixed, but I understand that this is only an alpha build. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how much the project grows with a (hopefully) successful Kickstarter campaign. Clearly a lot of effort has been put into this, this is a work of passion, a labor of love, and I'm excited to see it move forward.

You've got my attention, definitely.

[Mr. Sinister]

I downloaded it and gave it a try.

My first impressions are somewhat mixed, but I understand that this is only an alpha build. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how much the project grows with a (hopefully) successful Kickstarter campaign. Clearly a lot of effort has been put into this, this is a work of passion, a labor of love, and I'm excited to see it move forward.

You've got my attention, definitely.

Thanks, Arch! I'm aiming to make this game the best it can be, so if you have any suggestions for improvement, I'd love to hear them! (That said, if the feedback involves the crummy interface graphics, lack of attack animations, and lack of character portraits, don't worry: I'm working on that stuff.)

[Arch]

I'll try my best to throw some constructive feedback your way. I'm currently playing the bridge-building map. Obviously Fire Emblem development is my area of expertise, so most of my commentary will be coming from that angle.

• Just a personal pet-peeve of mine, but seeing the black space where there is no map destroys my immersion into the battle. It serves as a constant reminder that this is a map I'm playing. In games like Fire Emblem, it's easy for one to get lost in the gameplay, which is a major strength of tactical RPGs, if you ask me. It's not simply the black space, one has to have compelling strategic challenges, but immersion plays a major part. Simply having the camera move only within the confines of the tiles would solve this black space issue quite easily.
  
• For this map, the gameplay definitely feels sluggish. I know that the first part is devoted to teaching bridge building, but there's no reason I should be spending time watching the enemies stand in place. Moving your entire army when there's clearly one unit in focus also feels like a chore. Fighting sluggish gameplay is another key component in that "getting lost in the map" factor. A few ideas:
  
  • Rallying Points: I know you've played Path of Radiance. Do you remember the "Order" function? One of the orders allowed you to set a point and the computer would move units there for you. Being able to set a "rallying point" would be a boon, especially if maps are going to have downtime like this in the main game.
    
  • Turbo: For enemies turns, it can often be an arduous process to sit through and watch every unit move. With Fire Emblem ROMs, we have the turbo function that speeds through everything with VBA. It's sort of become an unofficial feature, and it really helps ease this issue.
    
  • Skipping Turns: Another option is outright skipping enemy turns, which was introduced in Shadow Dragon. Simply pressing start will skip to the end of the phase with all of the enemies moved and battles processed (it would only stop for battles in which characters died). What would be useful would be an additional option, setting whether or not to skip through everything or skip to the next battle.

  [*]I know that you've mentioned that the graphics are going to be much improved, so I won't spend too much time critiquing that area. However, getting more complex tilesets would definitely be a major plus. Being able to do more than just dirt paths and grass for the ground, getting water flow to be animated, etc. Rather than this jagged square-based riverbed, it'd be lovely to see a more natural rendition. More complex maps will really go a long way in making the game feel like a professional work. As it stands, the maps feel a bit like something out of an RPG Maker game. Looking at the Fire Emblem tilesets, they're a great deal more complex, with many tiles working together to create maps with a true capacity for quality. I know that part of what you're looking at is allowing people to create their own scenarios, so leaving in simplified tilesets would also be a for people who find such things useful. However, the official single-player campaign shouldn't be holding back just for that.

That's all I've got for now. Hope it's helpful to you!

Edited December 4, 2012 by Arch

[Mr. Sinister]

Much appreciated--and definitely helpful!

I'm definitely planning on a "fast turn" option for the enemy, so don't worry about that.

I like the idea of using rally points; I bet I know how I could implement it, too. Good call on that one.

Improved tilesets are dependent on the Kickstarter succeeding, but yeah, I'd like those too.

The only bit bit of feedback I'm not sure what to do about is the black space at the top of the map--there is inevitably going to be an inaccessible top row on any given map because of the perspective at which the player sees the battlefield, and because of the necessity of rendering characters' upper bodies jutting somewhat above the space they're standing on. I suppose I could fill that row with dummy tiles of some kind, but then I'd need some other (presumably also immersion-breaking) indicator that the row is not accessible. Would a darkened row of otherwise normal-looking tiles work better for you? Otherwise, I'm not sure if there are any good options short of redoing the entire perspective or having characters stand at the very bottom of each space (which I suspect would look just slightly terrible). Any ideas?

[Arch]

A darkened row of tiles would certainly work better. With the current perspective the black space to the sides and at the bottom is unnecessary (if I'm not mistaken). Eliminate those, then perhaps a row of tiles at the top which gradient darker. Or, perhaps a half-row of extra tiles as a border to the map? They would be obviously marked inaccessible, since they're just half a row. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 did the same thing without any real issues. This way indicates that there's definitely more to the world (it doesn't just stop after the map and become black nothingness), merely that our current focus is on this area.

Also, just a small qualm with unit movement. After moving a unit, it'd be nice if clicking elsewhere (a blank tile on the map, perhaps) would make their command options disappear. As it is, you have to move another unit to basically to select the "nothing" option, which is a bit wonky for controlling units.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Arch

[Integrity]

I'll give big feedbacks and try it out after my exams this week. Look forward to it.

[Mr. Sinister]

Interesting idea with the half-row; that seems like a good solution. I'll keep that in mind!

just a small qualm with unit movement. After moving a unit, it'd be nice if clicking elsewhere (a blank tile on the map, perhaps) would make their command options disappear. As it is, you have to move another unit to basically to select the "nothing" option, which is a bit wonky for controlling units.

The Escape key deselects units, actually. (It also navigates upward through menus.)

The problem with making a left-click on the ground deselect is that you left-click on the ground to drag the battle camera around; I don't want people to accidentally deselect a character every time they adjust the camera. I might be able to find a happy medium, though, like making a double-click on the ground deselect the current unit! I'll experiment a bit.

I'll give big feedbacks and try it out after my exams this week. Look forward to it.

Sweet, I look forward to hearing it!

[Mr. Sinister]

Okay! I took a few hours to update the public alpha demo with requested features.

On the usability front, he computer now skips its turn entirely when it's going to hold position; there are now customizable character move speed settings (Normal, Double or Instant); and clicking middle mouse on the ground will auto-deselect the current character and close all menus.

There were also some requests that I make the second battle more challenging, so I did that. Oh, and I added items to the destructible barrels, in case you want to try those out. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

• WINDOWS DEMO

• MAC / LINUX DEMO (you'll need AIR to install the Mac / Linux one)

[Tamanoir]

Hey, I just heared about this today !

Well, first, Tactics RPG are pretty rare, so that's enough to makesme interrested.

Being able to interact with the environnemet is a good thing. Except in Disgaea, I only saw it in Bahamut Lagoon.

Will we also have burning ground ?

Will characters die definitively or be usable later ?

My main complaint for now is being unable to past through your characters, but I'm sure it wil be fixed in the Final Version.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for doing this !

[I don't play for turns]

This looks really awesome, and I'd pledge if I could, but I can't.

[Mr. Sinister]

Thanks, guys!

My main complaint for now is being unable to past through your characters, but I'm sure it wil be fixed in the Final Version.

That's actually a deliberate mechanic which forces you to pay closer attention to positioning. You can get around it with careful planning, though, since you can move characters multiple times per turn. For instance: say you have a swordsman blocking a bottleneck, but you want to let an ally through. You can move the swordsman a space, move the second character, then click the swordsman again and move him back. Each move will take a space from his total movement, but you have the flexibility to maneuver like that.

With all that said, if you really hate having to think about keeping units out of each others' way, the game allows you to enable ally pass-through as an option. (Just not in the demo.)

Will we also have burning ground ?

Will characters die definitively or be usable later ?

Death is permanent; and yes, the game absolutely supports burning ground.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Mr. Sinister