v0.2.0 - The Magic Update & Alpha Playtest

v0.2.0 "The Magic Update" is live!

And with it, I'm releasing the alpha playtest to the first batch of playtesters. If you signed up for the playtest on or before November 5, 2021, you should receive an invitation shortly after this post goes live.

Collapse of Magic is still in the early alpha phase, so here's what to expect for the playtest:

• A short questline consisting of 6 different battle scenarios, providing 1-2 hours of playtime.

• 5 classes to choose from for each of your four characters, each with their own unique set of 6-7 active and passive abilities.

• 3 different difficulty levels

• Battle rewards of equipment, weapons, and once-per-battle items which can be used to improve your characters

Your feedback is incredibly important, so that I can make Collapse of Magic the best game possible! There's an in-game link to a google forms survey, or feel free to leave a message on the official Discord (also linked in game), or on the Steam forums.

Any feedback is helpful, but I'm especially looking for your thoughts on the following:

• Which parts of the game are fun and exciting, which parts are tedious, and which are boring?

• How easy is it to understand the combat system? Does the tutorial do a good job of explaining it?

• How easy is it to navigate the menus and UI, both in battle and for managing your party?

• What would you change about Collapse of Magic, and what new features would you like to see in the future?

Thank you for participating in the playtest! I really appreciate it!

Full Changelog for v0.2.0:

• New Class: The Mage. The mage manipulates mana to cast powerful spells. Their signature ability is Mana Bolt. Initially quite weak, this ranged spell grants the user mana if it defeats an enemy. The mana can then be used to cast more powerful versions of spells

• Mana system. Some abilities now have variants which can be used by spending mana. Currently only used by the Mage.

• Two new battle scenarios. These new scenarios are inserted after the first scenario.

• New overworld map to incorporate the new scenarios

• Two new enemy types: Goblin Rogues and Goblin Soldiers. These goblins have higher Defense and Evasion stats, but still have low Speed and Strength stats. This allows for a more gradual difficulty increase.

• Renamed Goblin Warriors to Goblin Ninja and Goblin Brute, and decreased their Strength/Speed from 3 to 2.

• Redesigned scenarios for more gradual difficulty ramp up.

  • The first three scenarios are much more linear, so it is harder to accidentally provoke too many enemies at once

  • There is now a much more gradual difficulty ramp up, first introducing Goblin Rogues and Soldiers, before later introducing the more powerful Goblin Ninjas and Brutes.

  • Added short tutorials at the beginning of scenarios that introduce new concepts, instead of having absolutely everything explained in the interactive turtorial.

• Changed how equipment is rewarded at the end of battle: you are now less likely to receive copies of items you already have equipped.

• Focused Character Info Card - made abilities list look less button-like, to prevent confusing them with the player character's abilities.

• Added Confirmation Dialogue pop-up when ending a round when not all characters have taken a turn.

• Visual representation of the number of actions a character has remaining, shown as white circles in the upper left of the Character Card.

• Ability Tree: Clearer distinction between abilities which have already been learned, vs which are locked.

• Improved cutscenes - cutscenes now include animations and gestures, and NPCs which interact with the player characters.

• Replaced the actions menu with Action Tiles, centered at the bottom of the screen for easier visibility

• AddedTitle menuAdded links to the Google Forms feedback survey and Discord.

• Prevented the console from appearing when starting the game

• Various other UI/UX improvements and bug fixes