Update v1.3 list of changes

[Torney]

Hiya everybody!

I just got to download the new version! It's really a huge improvent, TeeGee. Great job! I'm sceptical when devs are telling me that the new version of their game is sooooo much better than the last one, but that was not the case. It's really much better. Not just gameplay, but all the new polish and graphics. This may not be as important for us, old gamers, bet new folks will surely appreciate the improved looks and better learning curves. Actually I enjoy them too.

And speaking of new looks, I'm suprised that nobody bringed the new tutorial yet. I know it's not that important for the game itself, but addition of arts is a wonderful idea. They are all very good too. Intro now has some real mood, not just text and music. It's only a touch, but it's a great one. Character faces are great too.

[bovi]

Bought it now. Got the old version, so appears I'll be waiting to the 20th to play it, no big deal .

[TeeGee]

That's because the mass email with the update was already sent. However, that doesn't prevent me from sending you another onne . Check your inbox.

Thanks for buying the game and have a good time .

[Nightshade]

What an upgrade! The game looks almost perfectly polished now, and the gameplay improvements are very well-done, from what I've seen so far.

- In-game menus were reworked completely!

The old menu never felt quite right to me. The new ones are perfect! It might not really matter to an old player like myself, but I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate this change.

- Three more tracks by Rob Westwood were added!

They're amazing, of course. Some of my favorites in the game, in fact.

- Intro now have some good lookin' artworks in there.

I kind of liked it with just text. But I like it this way, too.

- GUI/messages graphics and layout were improved.

They are more well-written now. However, I miss having all the information available to me. If I were a new player, I'd want to know just how effective the incantations were, for example. Maybe you could add a more in-depth explanation below the briefer one.

- Character cretion now features characters' faces.
- Many other graphical improvements to characters and spells.
- New Magical Shield sprite.

Looks good.

- Mages now have some casting animation.

The lack of casting animation has long been my only major graphical complaint. Now I have nothing to whine about.

- Things now hi-light on receiving damage.
- Tutorial and spell descriptions were shortened and improved.

The tutorial is much more straightforward now. Well done.

- You can now play MAGI in windowed mode!
- You can now use special skills by pressing respectively 1,2,3 keys.

I didn't really find this necessary, but it can't hurt, I suppose.

- Many, many bugs and other minor things were fixed or improved...

Were there that many bugs before? In any case I noticed one bug (which may have existed in the past). The enemy mage cast unsummon while my golem was attacking it, and the unsummon missed.

Gameplay changes:
- Two new game modes were added: Survival and Challenge. Those get unlocked after beating the Death.

I have yet to test these, but they sound amazing.

- Two new Grimoire insignias were added.
- Gameplay itself was rebalanced. Now it's much shorter, but you get more experience per battle. It's more intense overall.

YES! In the old version, it got a bit boring towards the end of a character's career. That shouldn't be an issue any more.

- Due to the above, Resistance ceased to give you additional years to play. It's powerful enough .

Probably true.

- Spell schools selection were removed. Now you just pick additional spells as you level-up. As a limit, you can't pick a spell from the same school on two consecutive levels. This limits the influence of Intellect which was too big.

I was a little dubious about this change at first, but it actually works really well.

- You can't pick the same attribute at consecutive levels too. This should make for more interesting choices and prevents overspecializing characters too quick.

I don't really like this. I can understand why you made this change, but I think a better solution would have been to limit max stats to 15+(level/2).

Also, does this make it impossible to completely max a character, if you only have one stat left to raise?

- The Experience penalty for losing was lowered.

Sounds good. Dying once or twice shouldn't be game over- at least not in the regular mode.

- Game itself is a bit faster now.

I didn't notice much of a difference, but it sounds like a good change.

- The Death was rebalanced. She has somewhat weaker stats now (not on Challenge however), but it learned three more skills of extreme power and cool factor . But I'll leave discovering them to you.

Haven't faced her yet but it sounds good.

- AI were improved a bit according to your suggestions. It also scales better to the player's skill.

The AI definitely seems more effective at using missile attacks now.

- You can't fight against your character's class anymore.

I don't think this was necessary.

- AI can't use spell it wouldn't have access to now.

Good! Now it doesn't seem like the game's cheating.

- You can now recast enchantments like Incantations and Healing.

Okay. This seems like it's probably a good idea.

Balance changes:
- All the shooting monsters were slowed down a bit.

I still don't think this was a necessary change, since shooting monsters have to worry about shields.

- Golem: Health 80->65, Strength 25->30. He's more of a fighter, than a wall now. Also made him move a bit slower.

Was his magic resistance increased to compensate? He still seems able to take an unsummon. In any case, I have no problems with this change.

- Slumber: sleeping is now interrupted when the character is taking damage.

This certainly changes the nature of the spell, but it needed balanced, so I'm okay with this. However, I don't think this should apply to damage over time from poison or curses.

- All curses now have +5% bigger chance of success. Should make them more attractive, even for low Communion mages.
- Enfeeble: Power increased by 5. Casting time 8->6.
- Dull: Casting time 5->4.
- Breach: Casting time 6->5.

Sounds good. I'm playing a cursing caligrapher to test this out.

- Dispell is now affected by the opponent's Resistance.

Hmm. I'll need to test this before I know how I feel about it.

Like a said before, amazing update. You've polished the game to near-perfection.

[Marius]

Were there that many bugs before? In any case I noticed one bug (which may have existed in the past). The enemy mage cast unsummon while my golem was attacking it, and the unsummon missed.

Ah, that one has been around since before the first public release. Maybe it's time to do something about it

- Gameplay itself was rebalanced. Now it's much shorter, but you get more experience per battle. It's more intense overall

That feels like forever ago! Are you sure it wasn't released in the previous version?
I guess the update simply took alot longer than anticipated. Beta-testing is fun, but I guess it would also be fun to get all the updates at once... I haven't really noticed any incredible changes, since I got them one by one.

- You can't pick the same attribute at consecutive levels too. This should make for more interesting choices and prevents overspecializing characters too quick.

Also, does this make it impossible to completely max a character, if you only have one stat left to raise?

I think it does. In that case, I believe it should be changed.



Oh, and I have some problems about low FPS on the menus when on my laptop. Am I one unlucky soul, or has anyone else noticed this?

"Oh, and" again, I'm glad you liked this update. I'm pretty anxious about the release on the 20th
Cheers!

[TeeGee]

Glad you liked the changes, Nightshade. Thanks for your analysis too.

I don't really like this. I can understand why you made this change, but I think a better solution would have been to limit max stats to 15+(level/2).

Also, does this make it impossible to completely max a character, if you only have one stat left to raise?

I think it does. In that case, I believe it should be changed.

No it doesn't . You just get an advance in attribute every two levels then. Same goes for spells. Also "15+(level/2)." is a bit more complicated and less intuitive than "can't get the same thing twice" . And most importantly - it's different - it still allows for pumping one stat almost all the way (if you start from 10 for example), which is exactly what I wanted prevent.

Was his [golem] magic resistance increased to compensate? He still seems able to take an unsummon. In any case, I have no problems with this change.

Nope, increase in Stength was enough. And he should be able to take one Unsummon, but not much more than this. He's still a tanker, but more offensive and less stale mate generating.

This certainly changes the nature of the spell, but it needed balanced, so I'm okay with this. However, I don't think this should apply to damage over time from poison or curses.

Yup, poison and other timed effects won't wake a character. The enfeeble curse may do so, but it's not certain. In general the character loses one "sleep" point for every 10 points of damage received during the sleep.

Were there that many bugs before?

Quite few. Some of them pretty annoying (you were unable to get all insignias), other pretty major (Technolich's bomb wasn't working correctly). There were some AI-related bugs too. They are all fixed now.

[Roman-the-evil]

Before the update I played for a while then got bored and stopped =/ game was too slow progressing. Now the update got me playing again. And I really like the improved looks of the game and the fact that game became a lot more dynamic. Good job. Time to wait for next update I guess. Oh and btw I have one small request. If you can please make a manual with a list of spells with their descriptions and, if possible, numbers (i.e. formulas of their power). If you don't want to share formulas, then make one with descriptions at least. The reason why I'm asking is when in level up screen you're offered the new spells, in windowed mode (not sure about full screen) it does not show up the spell descriptions, and for some of them I forget what it does. Like I don't remember what does the sad mask curse does, and I forgot that healing spell does not remove poison condition.

[Marius]

Sad mas curse - that sounds like Enfeeble. It temporarily reduces health, and makes healing effects weaker. Wait, I think it got tweaked, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I've been thinking about a manual myself, I guess we're going to make one a little while after the release to avoid spoilers

[TeeGee]

There are the "Spell of the Week" articles in the strategy section. They cover only few spells now, but I'll be adding more after the public release of 1.3. They give very exact information on how a spell works along with some hints on how to use it effectively.

Writing a sort of manual is not a bad idea. I guess I can think of it, if I'll have enough time.

Also, glad to hear that you liked the update .

[Roman-the-evil]

I already noticed that section, but:
1) it has only 4 spells
2) does not seem to be updated.

that's why I asked for a manual

[TeeGee]

Yeah, I know it wasn't updated for a while and I'm sorry for that. I'm going to get back to writing it after the launch of the update. Maybe even few articles a week to catch up.

[Roman-the-evil]

/offtopic TeeGee, are you familiar by any chance with the Logic Factory? That's an old game producing company. Your avatar reminds me of them xD

[Nightshade]

Was his [golem] magic resistance increased to compensate? He still seems able to take an unsummon. In any case, I have no problems with this change.

Nope, increase in Stength was enough. And he should be able to take one Unsummon, but not much more than this. He's still a tanker, but more offensive and less stale mate generating.

In any case, I really like the new golem. He's still functional as a shield, but not as ridiculous as he was before. Also, the slower speed actually makes him more effective as a shield, since he's more likely to block fireballs.

This certainly changes the nature of the spell, but it needed balanced, so I'm okay with this. However, I don't think this should apply to damage over time from poison or curses.

Yup, poison and other timed effects won't wake a character. The enfeeble curse may do so, but it's not certain. In general the character loses one "sleep" point for every 10 points of damage received during the sleep.

It didn't seem like summoned creatures woke them up either. At least not very quickly.

[TeeGee]

/offtopic TeeGee, are you familiar by any chance with the Logic Factory? That's an old game producing company. Your avatar reminds me of them xD

Nah, heard of 'em for the first time . I checked their website, but their logo seems to be quite different than mine.

In any case, I really like the new golem. He's still functional as a shield, but not as ridiculous as he was before. Also, the slower speed actually makes him more effective as a shield, since he's more likely to block fireballs.

Yes, I wanted to make him more "dynamic" and less like a duel extender. I think he's fine now. Also now he has more Strength than Imp, which makes him a viable offensive option for weaker summoners.

It didn't seem like summoned creatures woke them up either. At least not very quickly.

Possible. The exact way it works is like this: when you cast Slumber, the enemy is given few "Sleep points". The enemy has a "ticker" (Alarm) event which happens aproximately every 0.66 seconds. During the event poison and sleep points are processed and removed one by one. Additionally, each 10 points of damage character received from the last "tick", reduces the sleep by another point. So it's not like every attack will wake up the enemy and still you have to wait at least one "tick".

[TeeGee]

Version 1.3 is now available to the general public! At last!

If you are an existing MAGI player and you haven't received a download link for the new version, just let me know. Same thing if you got the new version, but would like to receive the minor update I've made recently after the feedback I got (one bug fix and buff to curses).

You might also noticed that price went up to $22.95. I've spent lots of time and money on the new version, to make sure it's really better (and worth more) than the original game. As you probably noticed, the US dollar is sinking and if I'm to stay in this crazy business and be able to make more games games, I have to fund it somehow. I hope you understand that and these additional 3 bucks won't be a big deal. Of course, the existing customers still got the update for free.

[Conoko]

Heh, just game back to the game and posted a request for the new version in an older announcement, my bad. The E-Mail address I signed up with is NightyElven@Gmail.com.

[TeeGee]

Hi Conoko! No problem about the other thread.

The email probably landed in your spam folder or something like that. I'm sending you another one. If you missed two versions of the game, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by the difference in the most recent build.