Behold - ArcMagi is Coming!

[TeeGee]

Tom "TeeGee" Grochowiak
Marius Utheim
"Lurk"
Kate "Dormouse" Kluge
Rob "Bod" Westwood


Yes, ArcMagi - the sequel to MAGI - is coming. Well, not really a sequel in the traditional meaning; more like a total rework. I could talk all day about the cool stuff we've implemented, changed, improved or re-designed, but I prefer the actual screenshots and music do the job. Especially as stuff is still changing rapidly at this point and I don't want to promise something that we'll have to change later. In general, we've took all the money and feedback we've got from MAGI and used it to make a game the concept of dueling mages deserves.
It's going to be dynamic, strategically deep, playable in short bursts as well as long sessions, well presented and hopefully fun as hell . I like to think of it as a true PC fighting game. Dynamic and up-to-the-point, but very strategic, controlled by mouse and with strong character development elements.

Currently the game is quite advanced in its development, with core mechanics, basic AI and all the spells pretty much working. However, with it being a content hog it is, I'm not brave (stupid) enough to debate its release date. It's going to be done when it's done.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We're also accepting feedback on the art and music, or any suggestions and ideas you might have. Just please not that most what you see here is not an entirely finished work and will probably look much better in the finished game.

Enjoy!


Some graphics, characters and concept arts:

Character sprites galore by Lurk:

From left: Witch is casting a spell, Golem is awaiting orders, Magus is pondering, Imp is having a bad day, Djinnie is bored


Character concept arts by Kate Kluge:
Witch
Magus Imp
Dryad
Djinnie


Some in-game shots:

Industrial Wasteland - one of the battlegrounds


Witch just got hit by a Doombolt


Witch showing off some protective magic


Particulz!


An actual battle


Music:

Few tracks (OGG format) composed for the game by Rob Westwood:
- Industrial Wasteland Theme
- Main Menu Theme (will come with singer later)
- Short Theme for the Witch


I also posted an article on the development of MAGIand how it literally lasted since my early childhood. Check it out, if you are interested and up for some reading .

[Cosmar]

The screens look amazing! Much better artistic quality.

My only concern is that the battlefield looks kinda smooshed, like the combatants are much too close to each other. That golem only needs to take a step or two to get a whack at the magus. I would prefer having a little more breathing room, and a little more time to see those awesome projectiles in flight. Can't wait!

[Torney]

Hay, I just got your email.

I agree, the game looks completely amazing! I'm happy to hear that you're still working on the idea and it looks like the new game is going to be of top-notch quality. I look forward to read more news on this. I will most likely buy it when it comes out, and I still play the original MAGI from time to time .

Good job and keep us updated.

[olesak]

It is very impressive ... Nice music and graphic is really an art... I like it !

[Wizard]

The word is: a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Totally can't wait to play it. I think I recognize the imp, the golem and the shield, but I have no clue on what are these protective spells used by the witch. They don't resemble anything from MAGI. Are these new spells or just new effects for the old ones?

[Koboje]

Just recieved the mail, registered just to say that ArcMagi looks quite nice and i hope it gets done within the next few months/years atleast . I have several questions though since i am apparantly allowed to ask:
1. How many classes/spells/monsters or whatever are there/is going to be in the game?
2. How much will the game cost? Or are you so extremely generous as to give it freely to those who already bought Magi?
3. From the screens i have gathered that this game will be awesome. Am i correct in this assumption?

[TeeGee]

Thanks guys for all the comments. Great to see you like it.

My only concern is that the battlefield looks kinda smooshed, like the combatants are much too close to each other. That golem only needs to take a step or two to get a whack at the magus.

I play it a lot recently and I think it's okay. The battle ground isn't actually smaller than in MAGI, but big characters make it look more intense (which I actually consider to be a good thing). Though, you're right - the Golem is too big and I'm probably going to scale it down in the end.

Good job and keep us updated.

Thanks, I will .

I think I recognize the imp, the golem and the shield, but I have no clue on what are these protective spells used by the witch. They don't resemble anything from MAGI. Are these new spells or just new effects for the old ones?

You've got a good eye . Spells visible on that screenshot are: Healing, Purification, Invulnerability and Overdive - all new stuff except the Healing. We've changed most protective and cursing spells to make them more exciting and usable.

ArcMagi looks quite nice and i hope it gets done within the next few months/years atleast .

We aim for "months". The game is pretty playable even now.

1. How many classes/spells/monsters or whatever are there/is going to be in the game?
2. How much will the game cost? Or are you so extremely generous as to give it freely to those who already bought Magi?
3. From the screens i have gathered that this game will be awesome. Am i correct in this assumption?

1) As for the characters - the old 10 will be there for sure and most likely we will add 5 new characters taken from the character suggestions thread. The amount of basic spells will be the same (with many spells changed, replaced or improved), but now each character has 7 abilities (like an own school of magic), making the total spell count hover around 100. Our target is to have lots of diversity between characters, while keeping the firm balance between the basic schools of magic.

2) I don't know how much will it cost, but I definitely plan to give a huge discount (around 50%) to everyone who bought the original MAGI. If not you, guys, ArcMagi wouldn't be even possible and I would like to reward you for your support somehow.

3) I don't know if I can disclose that information, I need to consult my lawyer .

* Makes a call *

Okay, the answer is: HELL YEAH!!!

[Nightshade]

This is probably the best thing to ever happen to me.

Anyways, I can't wait. Lurk is an artistic genius. The imp looks amazing, and I love the details in the battlefield (especially the 'skull' in the background).

And am I correct that the Golem now takes the place of a shield? It looks like it does.

So, I'll be stopping by every day now to see how this is progressing.

[TeeGee]

Thanks.

And am I correct that the Golem now takes the place of a shield? It looks like it does.

Nah, he just started moving towards me.

[Koboje]

Thanks for the answers! Im sure ArcMagi will be awesome in one way or another. Now i just need to pass the time for a few more months.

[Cosmar]

Could we maybe see a video snip of a battle, to see how it flows? That would be awesome.

[Nightshade]

I realize it's probably too early to ask about gameplay details, but I will anyways, because that's just the kind of person I am...

Judging by the battle screen shot, I'm guessing that there will be an additional section of the HUD for selecting spells and abilities. Will this be above or below the arena? And will spell selection and casting be controlled more or less like it is in Magi? Will you keep the queue?

Will there be any new or majorly overhauled spells (you don't have to say which ones)? Or do you plan to keep the classic 28? Will curses still have a chance of failure?

Will you be using any ideas from the character suggestions thread?

Will any spells take advantage of the side view and, for example, fly over or under an enemy's shield or summon? Will flying summons behave differently from grounded ones? Will gravity have an effect on any spells?

Is the objective still defeating Death?

Is this still being developed in GM?

Will there be online play?

Is Lurk really an extra-terrestrial?

That is all.

[Lekon]

I am... impressed. I love the new sprites. Any chance we could get a short video clip of it in action so we can see how the new stuff plays? It looks like the sideways view of the game will help out in seeing what spells are up for me.

I loved Magi's effects, but the sprites could be a bit tiny at times. Are you still going to be using the same mechanic for spell casting? (power up, power up, *boom*) or has it been tweaked any?


The music is still as awesome as ever.

[Roman-the-evil]

Got your e-mail. Looks quite impressive. Here are some questions:

1. Are there going to be a lot of animations to make characters look "alive"? In original Magi all characters were quite static asides of spell casting.
Edit: like for example: breathing animation, emotions as response for being hit or landing a hit, and so on. All this great looking artwork will not be as good if it will be static.

2. Are you going to make a campaign of sorts? i.e. with a storyline

3. Are you still going to work on updating Magi 1?

4. Would it be possible to rework the system of "edge" stat of characters? Problem is, for perfectionists like me edge stat has to start at 1 to maximize the effectiveness of it being "edge". That makes some characters somewhat unplayable, if one follows the 1 at edge stat plan.

[Marius]

Judging by the battle screen shot, I'm guessing that there will be an additional section of the HUD for selecting spells and abilities. Will this be above or below the arena? And will spell selection and casting be controlled more or less like it is in Magi? Will you keep the queue?

It's below. The spell selection will be basically the same, with a small twist.

Will there be any new or majorly overhauled spells (you don't have to say which ones)? Or do you plan to keep the classic 28? Will curses still have a chance of failure?

Yes, there are overhauled spells. See the screenshot of the witch
Also, fail chance on curses is a bit random, which means it's randomness, which means it is based on more luck and less strategy. Therefore, all (or at least nearly all) curses will be 100%

Will you be using any ideas from the character suggestions thread?

Depends on how much time we have.

Will any spells take advantage of the side view and, for example, fly over or under an enemy's shield or summon? Will flying summons behave differently from grounded ones? Will gravity have an effect on any spells?

I'm a bit uncertain. My short answer would be yes, a small effect, but not a very large one.

Is the objective still defeating Death?

Basically yes, but ArcMAGI is more awesome than MAGI, and therefore the story will probably be improved.

Is this still being developed in GM?

Yup. I'm not good enough with anything else yet, but I'm learning

Will there be online play?

You had to ask... I would love to have it, but it would be difficult to pull off. If we get a good server (like most modern games), it's a miracle... But I really hope for at least a simple TCP/IP connection. No promises, though.

Is Lurk really an extra-terrestrial?

No, I don't think so.

Are there going to be a lot of animations to make characters look "alive"? In original Magi all characters were quite static asides of spell casting.
Edit: like for example: breathing animation, emotions as response for being hit or landing a hit, and so on. All this great looking artwork will not be as good if it will be static.

ArcMAGI will be more awesome than MAGI. Of course the characters will look more alive!
You could check out this

Are you going to make a campaign of sorts? i.e. with a storyline

Depends on how much we do about it. The storyline will be more thorough, but I'm not going to say anything precise right now. TeeGee could probably say more.

Are you still going to work on updating Magi 1?

I can't guarantee anything, I'm just quite sure the idea is that there won't be any more real updates, only maintenance.

Would it be possible to rework the system of "edge" stat of characters? Problem is, for perfectionists like me edge stat has to start at 1 to maximize the effectiveness of it being "edge". That makes some characters somewhat unplayable, if one follows the 1 at edge stat plan.

Edge will be a bit reworked, yes. I don't know exactly how main mode will work, but I hope the characters could be saved after you complete it. So you sort of have a character roster or something.



Hope all that helps

[TeeGee]

Could we maybe see a video snip of a battle, to see how it flows? That would be awesome.

Any chance we could get a short video clip of it in action so we can see how the new stuff plays? It looks like the sideways view of the game will help out in seeing what spells are up for me.

Sorry, no video for now. Too much stuff still works on placeholders or isn't finished (interface for example). It would suck if the whole experience would be spoiled by walking stickmans in place of some monsters. I can make a video when the game will be more or less content-complete.

Judging by the battle screen shot, I'm guessing that there will be an additional section of the HUD for selecting spells and abilities. Will this be above or below the arena? And will spell selection and casting be controlled more or less like it is in Magi? Will you keep the queue?

We're keeping the queue and it's going to be placed below the battle screen. It has been reworked and improved in many aspects. I'll post more info about the new system later. Also, all the unnecessary stuff (like attributes) is gone from the battle GUI and was replaced by the tooltip display.

Will there be any new or majorly overhauled spells (you don't have to say which ones)? Or do you plan to keep the classic 28? Will curses still have a chance of failure?

There are still 28 basic spells, but many were reworked or replaced by new ones. I removed all the spells that wasn't that fun to use or that could be replaced by something more useful. In general, protective and cursing magic experienced a major overhaul to make the spells more dynamic, "active" and exciting.

For example - Breach curse was replaced by Devil's Mark - a hex spell that makes the enemy burst in flames when you land a hit. Similiar premise (damage boost), but so much more satisfying.

It still changes on daily basis when me and Marius play and then message each other that "You know, the spell X could use Y, or maybe we should even make it work completely different". I think I'll post the list of the new spells eventually.

Curses aren't based on chance anymore, now the target's Resistance just affects their duration.

Will you be using any ideas from the character suggestions thread?

Most likely yes. I plan to add 5 characters from that thread.

Will any spells take advantage of the side view and, for example, fly over or under an enemy's shield or summon? Will flying summons behave differently from grounded ones? Will gravity have an effect on any spells?

Initially that was the plan, but after some testing we've came to a conclussion that missing fireballs and such stuff are more frustrating than fun. Now it's mostly a visual effect, but it's still there.

Is the objective still defeating Death?

Yes. I think that the metaphor of overcoming the death is very important for this game. I actually plan to push that concept further and make it deeper.

Is this still being developed in GM?

Yes. GM is awesome! It has its shortcomings, but it still rocks hard!

Will there be online play?

Maybe.

Is Lurk really an extra-terrestrial?

So they say. During the day he's just a normal person, like you and me. But at nights he turns into an ivincible superhero sent to Earth with a mission of pumping awesome art!

Are you still going to be using the same mechanic for spell casting? (power up, power up, *boom*) or has it been tweaked any?

For the most parts it's very similar.

Are there going to be a lot of animations to make characters look "alive"? In original Magi all characters were quite static asides of spell casting.
Edit: like for example: breathing animation, emotions as response for being hit or landing a hit, and so on. All this great looking artwork will not be as good if it will be static.

I agree. Characters and background in ArcMagi are all fully animated on Mortal Kombat/Street Figher level, maybe a bit smoother. This is the Witch's casting animation for example:

Are you going to make a campaign of sorts? i.e. with a storyline

Yes.

Are you still going to work on updating Magi 1?

Not actively. But if a need for a fix or an update would arise, I would make it.

Would it be possible to rework the system of "edge" stat of characters? Problem is, for perfectionists like me edge stat has to start at 1 to maximize the effectiveness of it being "edge". That makes some characters somewhat unplayable, if one follows the 1 at edge stat plan.

I know. Yes, it's reworked. Now edge makes the respective attribute have a bigger effect.

[jureidinim]

Hi - just dropped in to say this looks great. Looking forward to it.

[Nightshade]

There are still 28 basic spells, but many were reworked or replaced by new ones. I removed all the spells that wasn't that fun to use or that could be replaced by something more useful. In general, protective and cursing magic experienced a major overhaul to make the spells more dynamic, "active" and exciting.

Protective and cursing could definitely be made more exciting. Summoning and blasting builds like the Archpriest, Sorceress and Necromancer are so much fun, but slower defensive curse-focused characters are... still fun, but just to a lesser extent.

For example - Breach curse was replaced by Devil's Mark - a hex spell that makes the enemy burst in flames when you land a hit. Similiar premise (damage boost), but so much more satisfying.

That sounds great. The more situational buffs and debuffs are, the more interesting they are in combat. It shifts the focus from "I'd better keep these half dozen buffs permanently active" to "The enemy's shield is nearly destroyed. How can I capitalize on this weakness?"

Curses aren't based on chance anymore, now the target's Resistance just affects their duration.

This makes me very happy.

GM is awesome! It has its shortcomings, but it still rocks hard!

Agreed. I love to see games like this coming out because they prove that GM is a legitimate development tool. For games like Magi, it's ideal.

Yes, it's reworked. Now edge makes the respective attribute have a bigger effect.

That's a much better implementation. No longer will level 1 sorceresses be slow as molasses.


On that subject, are you keeping the limitation that you can't increase an attribute twice in a row?

[TeeGee]

Protective and cursing could definitely be made more exciting. Summoning and blasting builds like the Archpriest, Sorceress and Necromancer are so much fun, but slower defensive curse-focused characters are... still fun, but just to a lesser extent.

Yes, that's what we were thinking. Buffs gave a huge strategic advantage over time, but it wasn't immediatelly visible and didn't gave that feel of power firing a Fireball gives. Many players didn't feel like using those spells for these reasons.

That sounds great. The more situational buffs and debuffs are, the more interesting they are in combat. It shifts the focus from "I'd better keep these half dozen buffs permanently active" to "The enemy's shield is nearly destroyed. How can I capitalize on this weakness?"

Exactly. That also means that you cast buffs more often and not once for a long while, which makes them more fun. There's also another reason why casting more spells is important because of the new queue/spellcasting system... but hush, hush for now .

That's a much better implementation. No longer will level 1 sorceresses be slow as molasses.

Yeah. I actually had a huge list of all the MAGI's most criticized issues and I've made sure to address every single one in the initial design. This one was one of the first.

On that subject, are you keeping the limitation that you can't increase an attribute twice in a row?

Character creation and development is completely different now, but yeah, a similar rule will apply.

[Nightshade]

On that subject, are you keeping the limitation that you can't increase an attribute twice in a row?

Character creation and development is completely different now, but yeah, a similar rule will apply.

I'm still not sold on that system. I think a system of diminishing returns would be more intuitive while still accomplishing the same general goal (meaning, the first point you spend on Force increases your damage by 10%, but the 25th point only increases it by 1%).