I couldn't lump your accomp in w/instructions, you deserve a plaque:-)
You are a God among men. Well done! You found your niche a committed to it and completed it. The first and only I know of. I think most of the old timers started w/your goal and got side tracked with highscores and the proverbial and elusive 228 GoE. I know I did.
Why thank you munch. I do wish I had the patience and a little more skill to gun for a 100B or bigger score, but I will rest with my best score of about 18 Billion.
I've never gotten a supergem to create more than 5k damage, I think it just takes too long and I get wrist pains too much.
I see no news on GIAB website about an upcoming release and Peter wasn't very keen on it last time we communicated (back in the Summer). It will be a pity.
I come to my comp and there is nothing here to do. How sad. Time for a new obsession.
I felt similar when I finished a PS game long ago. I'm not really a big gamer this just got me hooked. I still play casually/therapeutically. (212 waves now on bc50).
I'm disappointed to hear that there may be no sequel. It seems odd to me that the 3rd (probably 2nd) biggest draw on AG is not worthy of a sequel so I'll keep checking. There are some good ideas for the new game right in this thread - not just improvements but some really creative thinkingv as well. Half the work us half done :-)
Youll find a new conquest soon enough. I'll keep checking in to help and post if I have anything spectacular. I think that the formula for id50 is going to be similar to 228 but the huge hps are just going to be 35-55 waves later. Time will tell. G/L
The big thing I think with the lack/delay of a sequel game is our mode of play. Peter was very disappointed with it. When he designed the game, it was, in his mind, possible to play through the game at Wizard level (around) 60. With our play we took the skill out of it and made it something different. Something it is not suited to be and that Flash/ActionScript is not good to write in.
As I understand the AG/Kongregate model, it is for small games that take not immense amounts of time to play. Many different stages is OK, but each stage should not take too long. Multi-day play in a stage is not the objective.
And face it, it is frankly boring, since it is simply a repetition of many, many steps. Great gems, supergem them, place them in traps, then towers then supergem some more. There is no additional skill or strategy. So from a game designer's point of view, the game is a fail, because there is a single strategy that can conquer the game in all stages.
All that is left is the endurance mode (or BC for you hard-core guys) where his only defense is to increase monster HP insanely to the point where you can't beat it. I think I've seen monsters with HP of x*10^21. What can you build to beat that? And there is no alternate strategy.
The only solution to making a sure end to the game is having HPs increase exponentially and fire power increase arithmetically. In the end the desparity in rate of increase can only be won by HP. The fun was devising better/newer newer strategies to stave off the inevitable and to maximize score in that time frame. I see this as a victory in Peters end game. There is no formula for the eternal game... it's not possible. (there was the goE glitch but no game theory error). Wouldn't you want people to keep coming back again and again and seeing the advertising running in your game? The other option of playing a game a dozen times and discarding the withered husk seems like a waste of time for programmer and gamer alike.
On the boring view, that can be fixed with existing ideas and extending skills, gem specials, streamlining gameplay, having long term objectives w/greater risk/reward factors, keeping the high score board up w divisions so people of like skills are competing and not being discouraged by freaks (ahem present company excluded). Also amulets could include hidden 'not available in wizardy skills' skills, or one time use skills ala mobile shrine, monsters that shoot back or steal gem power or even freeze towers, existing supergems for rent w/escalating rents (so finite use), hidden super achievements (complete all of a skillset, all skill sets (you), last level, or all amulets). There are already an intimidating number of permutations for beginners but given a similar board length (or double ;-) they can be introduced slowly. My favorite idea is a wizadry skill that reduces special effects/reduces refresh ratesreduces graphics/synchronizing timed elements and other speed enhancers. My second favorite would be the ability (again wizadry skill) to activate/deactivate an increasing number (1-8) elements in primatics. These could almost exclusuvely be added w/existing subroutines/ with existing graphics/ to existing framework. So the code may be tedious but so far this is like turning in the same term paper two years in a row.
Unnecessary bells and whistles that would entail more code but NOT necessary: More story reveal during game. Vespers 'white' gem. Boss arcanes #s/Hps linked to previous angers in that screen with reward linked to risk. Bigger fields that scroll. New terrains. Multi story towers. (helps mitigate exponential hp increase). Two new monsters: 'Bullet' same speed as bullets, can only be hit head-on, slowed or shocked (weighted BC), and 'PAC-MAN' eats other monsters but gains their hp + 10%, starts slow and speeds up w/time (low initial BC, better gem bomb early). Other stuff but this is too long. Again not necessary but fun.
The only must: ESSENTIAL: Either in-play checkpoints (by score,number of monsters, mana gain AAANYTHING) or manual save.
I think there should be a limit to mana stealing in the next update of GC series to make it challenging again. Currently you hit - you steal mana, the monster might as well remain intact, but the amount of mana you steal is altered by your current multiplier. Perhaps it should be better to have those '12.0' and other digits on orange as separate multiplier which apply to "HP kicked out/Monster HP" value which will determine the amount of mana stolen. This will greatly reduce the value of mana traps, though they will still be profitable, making some 2x-10x more mana per monster available at the point of it getting finally killed.
Hey munch or anyone else still alive here. I'm looking for good levels to play. That is levels with giants in the other modes that usually don't have giants.
I think I recall the following levels:
23? 46? 50 (much's fave) 72 73 74
Thanks!
I'm taking on gemcraft on Kongregate. At least every time I play I can check the leaderboard there. I'm wondering how some of those ppl get those scores.
Gemcraft Chapter 0 was a very fun game, I got past the second Arcane Guardian and gave up. It was difficult. If you play through to do each mode for each level, you will be playing for a very long time. I like that in a game, it takes a long time to beat it and finish everything 100%. 10/10
the thing i have harder about chapter 0 compared to the original is that the monster move a lot faster in this making it harder to kill all of them.Also gathering mana is a decent bit tougher too
