Forums » Games » VEmpire - The Kings of Darkness

Hello "Impact'ers" ;-)

Since over a year now we've been working on VEmpire, a Digital Deck building card game - done with impact of course.

Although the game is far from a first playable demo we want to share the current state of the project and most important want to know what you think of it.

Please share your thoughts with us and check out the concept at:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=370648753&searchtext

announcement trailer:
http://youtu.be/SliEJrslTco

any feedback is welcome!

Best Regards, Wolfgang

The most important thing in a card-based game are the game mechanics. Magic: The Gathering is deep and offers endless possibilities. Hearthstone made this concept a bit more tangible for everyone, plays and feels very nice. It’s is extremely well balanced.

So far, your concept states story and art as the "best of all", but story and art are secondary. Also, the concept says "It is the goal of the game to build a powerful deck during play.". Deck-building is the means to an end, a secondary game mechanic but never the primary goal of the game.

It looks nice, but looks don't matter (see Yu-Gi-Oh!). Gameplay is everything. Get this right and you're good. Get this wrong and the best art doesn't help you anything.

It seems like you focused entirely on visuals and not on an exciting game. At least that's what the trailer and the entire concept suggest.

Please check out this presentation: http://tinysubversions.com/fuckvideogames/#slide1

Think about whether a card game is the right medium to transport your idea of art and story. FWIW, nobody cares about the Hearthstone story and Magic books came after the game was successful.

Also, read this about game prototyping:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130848/how_to_prototype_a_game_in_under_7_.php?print=1

It should be clear that you started the wrong way by focussing on art first.

Maybe, I've got it all wrong and the game is super cool and playable with unique mechanisms, but then you should try to express this in your concept.

Good luck with the game, the art does look fantastic tho :)

Thx @Apiheld for your valuable feedback!

I can ensure you that our development is highly focused on the game-mechanics, more than you ever might imagine...

So we've updated it, would be great if you would have another look!
I'm very thankful for any further suggestion & advice....

thx Wolfgang

It's better now, but could be even more juicy. Copywriting is tough, but it's learnable and a good skill to have. What is your goal with this post and the concept on Steam? Get feedback? Get some people interested in the game?

Obviously, right now, we're not talking about the game itself, but how you explain the concept to others and this depends a lot on the goal you want to achieve.

Since "feedback" is kind of pointless if the game isn't finished and far from playable, the goal is probably to get people interested in the game. For that, I'd start with something that allows people to follow the development of the game. This could be via Twitter or via email newsletters on the website.

Now, this is all about game marketing. Maybe this helps: http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-marketing-guide-for-game-developers/

Some more suggestions:
- Put the ingame screenshots to the front (after the trailer). These are more important than fancy game-art
- Remove all "we" and "our opinion" from the text. Obviously, it's your opinion. Whose else? "We" -> it's never about you, but about the player.
- Explain the juicy details in more detail. This is the only way how people get a feeling how it's different from other card games. Just saying so doesn't help. You need to prove it.

Example text:

VEmpire is a digital card game. You create a deck of powerful vampires while you play. Both players have equal access to all cards in the game. No rares, no pack-openings, no pay-to-win. Just pure unadulterated strategic decision making (what about luck btw.?).

The goal is to smash your opponent to pieces, but you have to decide: Do you use your cards to attack your opponent, or do you sacrifice cards to enhance your deck for future, more powerful attacks? (Core mechanic)

VEmpire has the depth of a traditional TCG and is fast-paced like a deck-building game (Dominion?).

* Draft cards from a central deck while you play (core mechanic again)
* Cards grow stronger if you keep them in your hand. Hold them and wait for just the right moment to unleash their true power and crush your opponent.
* Build new, more powerful units from groups of vampires
* Play as attacker or defender for exciting asymmetric gameplay

thx again, I've send you an EMail, hope you got it....

Didn't work apparently. Here's my github: https://github.com/cmaas

Although I liked the story and the art, the video itself shows almost nothing about the game. I played MTG for a couple of years and I'm still actively playing Hearthstone. I would say, what MTG did for the table-top fantasy card games, Hearthstone did it for online card games. You really have some tough competitors, may the force be with you.

@dungeonmaster: thx very much for your feedback!
i've done a blog-post … http://vempiregame.com/allgemein/why-vempire/

regards, W.

Hey Impacters...

we are close to a first playable demo...

check out first gameplay videos in iPad-Size:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKpHncjDMKk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmx3oYWsrXc

Best Regards, Wolfgang

This is some solid improvement although what's going on is not immediately clear to me. Are you planning to make some kind of beta test? Although this is always tricky with Javascript code especially if you want to release your game commercially.

By the way, the flavor text is taking too much real estate on the card. Maybe you can also put it as a remark (pop-up when card is clicked) as the Blizzard did in the Hearthstone.

@dungeonmaster => thx for your valuable feedback!
it is not intended that you know what's going on while watching this;-)
it is just to get a feeling...
of course a rulebook and tutorial (more videos) are on the way…
although we have no beta-status yet - yes we want beta testers, tell me if you're interested?
yes we've thought the same about the cards text - but have no ideal solution right now- let's see….
thx a lot!

Hello!


We appreciate to share more details about the project with you:

VEmpire is build in HTML5/JS. It is indented to bring it to iOS with Ejecta http://impactjs.com/ejecta.

Due to the fact that impactjs is designed for arcade and action games we've build our own card-game "engine" called "chassa" based on impactjs. We're primarily using the rendering, resource-managing and most important: John Resigs JavaScript Inheritance.
Because "Ejecta" does not "understand" HTML outside the boundaries of pure canvas stuff, the project does not contain any HTML tags for textboxes or labels.

If there is interest - we'd love to share more about our engine.

Don't hesitate to ask if any question.

you can checkout more about the project at: http://vempiregame.com

any feedback is welcome!



Best Regards, Wolfgang

please check out indiedb also:
http://www.indiedb.com/games/vempire-epic-deck-building-game

check out about the basic rules if interested:

http://vempiregame.com/game-design/vempire-gameboard-and-basic-rules/

thx...

Hi Impacters!

As we are really proud about that this is a HTML5 project with ImpactJS in its
heart, please check out the state of the project at:

https://twitter.com/WLueger

thx a lot, Wolfgang

Hi!

meet us and play the VEmpire Alpha, the very first time at:

http://www.cegconf.com/

news about the game here:
https://twitter.com/WLueger
http://vempiregame.com/

Regards, Wolfgang

Hello!

Since nearly 3 years we are working on VEmpire - The Kings of Darkness, a unique & innovative history based Deckbuilding Game! please check it out here, and vote for us!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=637160601

thx & Best Regards, Wolfgang

wow we are mentioned on:

http://toucharcade.com/2016/03/15/vempire-the-kings-of-darkness/

how cool is this!

How are you releasing an HTML5 game on steam?

@Diericx: http://impactjs.com/forums/code/best-way-do-get-a-game-on-steam

Hi Impacters!

Please support us on:
http://collective.square-enix.com/projects/253/vempire-the-kings-of-darkness

thanks, Wolfgang!