On the road to version 1.2

By Frogboy on June 26, 2009 6:37:27 PM from

Greetings!

Version 1.1 is out! A few house keeping things:

We have put up: http://www.demigodthegame.com/opengames.asp for people who want to keep up with the number of people online which includes also the number of current games, open games, and lurkers.

Second, with v1.1 you can kind-of control the AI with the P (ping) key. Just mouse over where you want the AI to go and it will tend to go there unless it decides there’s a higher priority objective but it works decently (about as well as it does on humans <G>).

Now, with that discussed, let’s talk about version 1.2.

Gas Powered Games is on board to open Demigod up to pretty significant official modding support which I think would be totally awesome. I don’t know if anyone reading this has had a chance to check out the LUA code (scripts). A few mods have already been made but obviously modding right now is a problem because you can’t use them online. We would solve that by having officially sanctioned mods (players would submit them to DemigodTheGame.com and once accepted would be treated much like extra “Game options”). I’d be curious to find out if modders could add new units and such.

But what we are particularly interested in doing with v1.2 is nailing down “features” that users want changed or fixed. So please feel free to use this journal entry as a means to tell us what things you think we could do in v1.2 that would make the game even more fun. Whether that be things I’m already aware of like improved path finding or better queuing up of spell actions or anything else that you feel detracts from the experience.

+912 Karma | 138 Replies

Ok I'll take a stab at this and suggest:

1.Crits should NOT ignore armor. Same with life steal, but that has already been mentioned.

2.Reduce +Armor on all items that add more then 700. With proper stacking it is possable to achive OVER 75% armor with 25% damage reduction, which brings me to my next point.

3.Reduce Bulwarks damage reduction to 15% or less, because right now, UB is capable of having 65% damage reduction ontop of having 75% armor and high HP regen, making him practicaly, if not completely, invincible.

4.Reduce ALL HP regen items. With proper stacking, Sedna can achive 208 Hp regen (not to mention having close to 75% armor and 25% damage reduction.) making her practicaly,if not completely, invincible.

5.Enhanced Attributes skill for assassins is not really a viable skill as it is now, so a minor or moderate boost in the +stats it adds would be nice, even nicer if it could boost some (not all) skill effectivness by a small % each rank. This would give more insentive for people to actually get the skill. I would mention how bad the generals version of this skill is, but I don't feel like it...

6.Some damage items are just TO good right now, mainly because not only do they add high damage, but add 20% or more to attack speed. I think either attack speed should be seperate from damage add items OR reduced and added to other non-damage or low damage items. The 3 main items I'm really talking about are; Ashkandor, All Father's Ring, and Deathbringer.

Can't really think of anything else right now, so thats my 2 cents.

I'd like to know in the game UI how much effect nerfs such as bite and penitence are having on my Demigod. In the little pop up that tells you that penitence is making you take extra damage, put in how much extra damage as this depends how much the enemy DG has put into that skill. As in 10% extra damage or 50 damage per hit. That way I'll know if I'm going to die instantly from the extra damage so therefore avoid a full encounter or if the effect is more mild. Plus how long is left on that effect, as in 12s reamining. We need more information ingame like this that would help you understand why you die and learn to play better.

Also, if bite and penitence and similar make you take extra damge from your own skills such as healing wind and ooze then I'd like that taken out. I don't know but I suspect they do.

Toggle for A.I. cheating...

Randomized item arrays per game/match...

Fix TB Fire auto-attack!! for the love of god!!!!!!!

Quoting Felric,

reply 1

Ok I'll take a stab at this and suggest:

1.Crits should NOT ignore armor. Same with life steal, but that has already been mentioned.

2.Reduce +Armor on all items that add more then 700. With proper stacking it is possable to achive OVER 75% armor with 25% damage reduction, which brings me to my next point.

3.Reduce Bulwarks damage reduction to 15% or less, because right now, UB is capable of having 65% damage reduction ontop of having 75% armor and high HP regen, making him practicaly, if not completely, invincible.

4.Reduce ALL HP regen items. With proper stacking, Sedna can achive 208 Hp regen (not to mention having close to 75% armor and 25% damage reduction.) making her practicaly,if not completely, invincible.

5.Enhanced Attributes skill for assassins is not really a viable skill as it is now, so a minor or moderate boost in the +stats it adds would be nice, even nicer if it could boost some (not all) skill effectivness by a small % each rank. This would give more insentive for people to actually get the skill. I would mention how bad the generals version of this skill is, but I don't feel like it...

6.Some damage items are just TO good right now, mainly because not only do they add high damage, but add 20% or more to attack speed. I think either attack speed should be seperate from damage add items OR reduced and added to other non-damage or low damage items. The 3 main items I'm really talking about are; Ashkandor, All Father's Ring, and Deathbringer.

Can't really think of anything else right now, so thats my 2 cents.

Short version of points 3, 4, and 6: characters with enough gold to buy a pile of artifacts are too strong.

...shocking.

"Improve tidle" = more than just display the health bar would be awsome to show the mana bar as well. That would lead to much more intense strategies. If its possible to show itens as well would rock.

Chat box: add 3 opacity lvls for the chat box. Ditinguish "allies" and "all" text with font colors.

Improve the "chat with friends": someway, somehow in order to facilitate comunication with ur friends.

"In the lobby": more space to the description of the game, less space for the number of players. So more info can be displayed when hosting/announcing ur game.

Fix "all random"

For last, some1 needs to state, again unfortunently, that pings under 350 wont lag any1 game if there is enought upload connection to handle the game and the SIM speed is acceptable. I'm tired of people saying "OMG 260 ping is gigantic ping", or games that says "Only <100 ping".

Premade Team Ranked Games of some sort . I like the way Dawn of war 2 did it. 4v4 Might work better for demigod than 3v3 though.

Think thats what a clan match is.

Fixes I'd like to see -- pretty sure these have all been said, but, for emphasis--

-Fix autoattack bugs mentioned in some thread around here -- e.g. fake attack bug when you target, swing, and do no damage; delay bug -- to reproduce as Rook at least, you can target specific creeps and he'll very often not deal damage, or target towers and he'll do a quick 360° spin before smacking away. Fire TB especially needs autoattack fix. IMO this should be priority #1 because autoattacking is probably one of the most-engaged-in activities in this game.

-Fix pathing issues -- for me, they mainly seem show up after targeting another Demigod and then encountering the edge of the lane/map/etc. Pathing for DGs at least seems mostly fine when just issuing move orders but there are some occassional hiccups.

-Fix favor item purchases not being saved -- this kills singleplayer favor because each re-purchase deducts points. Merely annoying in multiplayer because of the confirmation dialogue each time, but it doesn't actually spend points there so it's more helpful than harmful. Would make a great pre-1.2 hotfix since it seems like a simple mistake and the working code already exists in pre-1.1 versions.

-Fix random demigod option.

-Stats in lobbies since people seem to want it. Though ingame web browser on Xfire works for me, maybe Impulse could just have something similar (or maybe it does? I only use the friends thing so I don't know).

Non-fix features I'd like to see--

-Ability to switch the consumables item slots to show some of the stuff on the personal page popup (opposite button to skill tree), like what armor I have and such. Would be a lot quicker and easier than pulling up the popup that blocks view of the action. Maybe also show some critical stats like health/mana regen on there.

-Target self through portrait like others have said.

-Color coding on chat messages.

-Color coding on kill and flag cap messages.

-Buffs/debuffs clearer or bigger, or anything to make them easier to recognize. Some of those icons, especially the ones Ice TB causes, are a bit too similar, and they're all really tiny.

And finally, my thoughts on the Enhanced Attributes (I got nothing about Morale because I've yet to touch the Generals)--

Felric

I was thinking a small enhancement to movement speed would definitely make this skill more viable, but could possibly be too much. So that brought me to the idea of having different stat increases for different demigods.

I mainly play Rook so I'll use him as an example. Rook's major weakness is that he's damn slow. He also suffers from low armor. Among his strengths are strong melee attacks and loads of health. He can also usually cure any mana worries not caused from a prolonged all-ability battle with just a couple items, i.e. Plenor + Vlemish.

The stats boosts for Rook mostly never seem worth it. Sure, the armor and attack speed boosts are nice, but aside from that it's a boost of health/mana and their regeneration rates, and weapon damage. So out of the seven boosts this skill gives, only two are really useful, so I almost never pick it. But I would definitely think about if Rook's focused more on armor, speed, attack speed, etc. So I think this skill should vary for different DGs and aim mainly at supplementing what they are normally weaker in, to enhance its usefulness.

I would love to see a "defense" type game mode, with all the human players on the same team against a much better equipped AI, maybe with special troops and towers.

I'd like more variety in towers and flags as well. I think a one-way teleport flag would be cool and could increase game speed and intensity; in the middle it becomes a hotly contested means of instant retreat, giving one to each base means players can quickly jump to the action.

Quoting Fetus4188,

reply 11

I would love to see a "defense" type game mode, with all the human players on the same team against a much better equipped AI, maybe with special troops and towers.

I'd like more variety in towers and flags as well. I think a one-way teleport flag would be cool and could increase game speed and intensity; in the middle it becomes a hotly contested means of instant retreat, giving one to each base means players can quickly jump to the action.

Oh that would be a lot of fun!

I'd like to be able to see what items my allies as well as enemies are using/carrying. Clues to knowing how you were beaten leads to hope for self improvement instead of giving up and not playing any more.

Also, I'd like to know how I died, as in 'Ciber was eviscerated by Melchiz Bite. +1000 gold', 'Melchiz was bludgeoned by a Giant', 'Fetus4188 was electrified by Ciber's Tower of Light' etc. More info and more flavour.

Quoting Kalil Chernov,

reply 6

Short version of points 3, 4, and 6: characters with enough gold to buy a pile of artifacts are too strong.
...shocking.

Hey all I'm saying is that those items add far too greatly to the slippery slope effect, making matches lasting longer then 45+ minutes a rarity at best (not counting noob on noob matches ofcoarse). Generally by then stratagey and teamwork in a game designed for just that, are no longer neseccery for the team that is winning because they no longer need skills or potions due to the fact they regen faster then damage is done to them and do more auto attack dps then any skill combo they have.

I believe strategey and teamwork should always be needed, not only from the start of a match but till the very end aswell.

I don't mind so much the ability to become a one man army, but having the ability to become an INVINCIBLE one man army is BAD.

I think you should increase towers range. Right now towers has just 15 range and let's say it - they are weak like hell. For some characters it's just too easy to kill the towers with no harm at all !! Regulus lvl 2 can solo tower, same with mage (but at least mage uses mana on that). I think the range should increase to 18 (so +3). Beside, towers (all on map except rock's towers of course) should receive 2 times LESS dmg from SKILLS (so single mage will not kill tower in 25 seconds). Only skills which shouldn't make less dmg are Uproot (QoT skill, which is especially made to kill towers and just towers) and Rock's tower drain (same reason, especially made to drain towers).

Increasing tower's range will help too with Cataract bug. On this map, you can take opponent's gold flag without even single hit from 2 towers staying there !!

Another thig is, I think archers (minions made to kill towers) shouldn't have bigger range than towers itself. It's just stupid, considering you can call that minions FOR FREE. So if there are 2 generals vs 2 assassins, assassins can't do much (especially on bigger maps) about destroying their own base by opponent's archers. I think archers should receive 4 times less dmg from towers, but their range should be same as towers (so increasing tower's range to 18 would do the job here also).

Why I want this changes ? Because right now towers aren't challenge at all. They should be last defence of your base, but right now towers are just addon which gives you free gold. High towers strenght won't help you much, because you still can easly kill towers out of their range by some chars (beast's split it's just 1 tower's hit, low lvl regulus ouf of tower's range, low lvl tb out of tower's range).

BTW: Oh and you should nerf a bit QoT's shield. It's too strong at lvl 1, it absorbs 700 dmg, and at game start its HUGE amount, considering all other chars has like 200-300 dmg skills, and doing like 100 dmg with basic attack, so it's even hard to break the shield, not mentioning shield has 7 sec cooldown, so can be easly recast.
IMO shield should absorb something like 500/800/1100/1500 (right now it's 700/950/1200/1450).

I'm gonna be Mr Obvious, but... REPLAYS

"on the road to vers..." oh really? i just recognize a road, tarred with broken asphalt

the game is completly unplayable for me, because the "unexpected error" appears everytime, in multiplayer and singleplayer.

another thing is that the homepage is as slow as a caterpillar. i mean, it isnt really difficult to set up a single homepage, which provides the community with new information and stuff. but no, even this becomes a huge problem, which needs a whole team of astro-physicists to solve it. (it seems so)

really annoying that i invest 50 € in a game, which is full of bugs and lags. im really pissed of right now. i mean, there are no additional servercosts because of p2p, but they arent able to fix it. instead of fixing the problems, they released a patch with new content, and wow, with new problems!

looking forward...

before you add ANY new content you should FIX the game first!

i wonder how retarded anyone could be to just think of suchs things like random demigods while the game still has so damn many bugs!

not even balancing is a major problem for now. its the BUGS, like unhandled exceptions or ALT TAB... or gameplay bugs like order cancelling or pathfinding.

you should really think about the order of the content of your patches. i would suggest a logical one:

1. fix major game bugs, which make the game unplayable or at least annoying, like unhandled exception or alt ab, random demigod not working etc pp (forum is full of bug reports if you watch them)

2. fix gameplay bugs like pathfinding, order cancelling...

3. balancing

4. add new content for free!, cause you´ve created not that much of a content if i watch at the quantity of demigods and maps

well, i really like this game and its really sad that it is still this bugged an getting worse with the patches. wouldn´t be a problem if i wont like the game

Not adding AI players in pantheon games since this almost mean a loss for the one who gets teamed up with AI. Instead let the game search for a new human player.
When players get disconected this also mean quite sure defeat for the one in that team. Maybe the player left alone should get buffed or something?
Buff Rooks tower in the end, they are rather bad in endgame.

first of all i was quite happy that demigod released and its a game with huge potencial,but at the moment its just frustrating.

you should fix the recent game instead of thinking for the future. i mean unhandled exeptions like shit all the time, even in singleplayer. unhandled exeptions after the reinstall....wtf? that a new patch brings new bugs is okay,but that a new patch makes the game unplayable is just embarrassing.

then the nerf of heart of life. you could easily remove this from the game because you ruined this trinket. you almost doubled the cooldown, thats a fine nerf, but you also tripled the price. why should anybody buy this thing? you could upgrade the citadell from priests to catapults at once with that money. so what kind of nerf is that?

Invisible_XXI, you demand too much from GPG. You need to PAY for bug fixes, QA and stable software. Your 40$ are only good enough for alpha version software.

/sarcasm

On a more serious note, I wrote that the developers need to stop putting emphasis on content until the game has ascended out of ALPHA stage but that thread was DELETED BY THE MODERATORS. I will never buy another SD/GPG game again. Frickin' joke. They should sell the Demigod franchise to a serious company.

/serious whine

1.2 should fix our economy, reform healthcare and grant world peace!

Maxxy it's not that bad. Demigod has a lot of problems, but it's playable right now. The biggest problem is, they don't listen to us. There are so many great ideas and so many bugs/problems reports on this forum, and none of them got any answer.

The thig is, they are working on new game right now, called Elemental. Demigod isn't their priority, beside game is becoming older and older. That's the ordinary course of events.

Quoting Poul,

reply 23

The thig is, they are working on new game right now, called Elemental. Demigod isn't their priority, beside game is becoming older and older. That's the ordinary course of events.

We get less journals because SD is working on elemental, but content is provided by GPG who is working on Supreme Commander 2.

Plus we get more contact than I have ever seen with any other game.

@Poul: sorry, but you are wrong. there are at least 3 players (including me) at this thread who cant play wether multiplayer nor singleplayer since patch 1.1! so the game is unplayable atm. its really sad to see such a nice game with great potential going down... if noone fixes this game soon, there will be no more people who need the game to be fixed... furthermore i think its a very bad behaviour to release an unfinished game, get money for it and with that start new projects, before fixing the first game at least to a point where it is playable and enjoyable!

The Forums Are Now Closed!

The content will remain as a historical reference, thank you.

On the road to version 1.2

you should fix the recent game instead of thinking for the future. i mean unhandled exeptions like shit all the time, even in singleplayer. unhandled exeptions after the reinstall....wtf? that a new patch brings new bugs is okay,but that a new patch makes the game unplayable is just embarrassing.