In our game, we have created a complex spell system designed to provide players with strategic choices, customization, and an immersive gameplay experience. At the same time, we want players to be able to experiment and discover what works on their own, without having to rely on online guides. This is why we give players more control over the difficulty of the game, so that those who want a more relaxed experience can get it without feeling like they are missing out on important parts of the game. Once you are familiar with how the spells work and in which situations they are most effective, you can challenge yourself and try to complete the campaign as quickly as possible with only a limited number of upgrades to your arsenal.
Below, you will find an overview of the core features of the spell system:
Elemental gods and starting spells
Four primary gods represent different elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Each god has a different playstyle and core power which you can base your build on (or go a different route entirely).
Players choose one god at the beginning, receiving a basic spell aligned with that element and a second spell from the same element to start the game.
Core powers can also be upgraded - if your build relies on them, be sure to get these upgrades whenever you can, as they are immensely powerful.
Spell progression
Players get additional spells as rewards throughout the game after conquering particular number of regions (1, 4, 7...)
Initially, spells from the chosen element have a higher chance of being offered.
Later stages allow players to access spells from any element with equal chance.
Spell upgrades can also be found among rewards. Furthermore, these upgrades can increase the power of a spell property by more than one level and work regardless of the current level. Keep an eye out for such upgrades, as they can save you a large amount of power shards and dramatically increase the power of a spell!
Choose a spell that best complements your build!
3. Spell customization
Each spell has core properties like mana cost and cooldown, and spell-specific attributes like damage, effect radius, frequency of attacks, number of summoned minions and their strength etc.
To upgrade properties of spells, players use power shards. These are obtained mainly by conquering regions and hunting down enemy evacuation drones.
Spells can be augmented with additional effects, such as piercing shields, granting temporary blessings or even summoning additional minions or casting other spells. These upgrades can only be obtained as rewards after conquering a region.
All these properties can usually be upgraded multiple times, with each consecutive level costing more power shards. Upgrading the right properties of a spell can dramatically increase their power or even change the way they are used in the game.
Void beam with the "Mirror" upgrade, casting itself repeatedly on a random nearby target.
Expanding spell limit and earning power shards
Players initially can have up to five spells but can find ways to increase this limit.
For every conquered region players get a predetermined amount of power shards.
The amount of power shards granted depends on the level difference between the previously conquered region and the current one. For example, if the player conquered a region 2 levels above his previously conquered region, he will get 4 power shards. If the level difference is 4 the reward is increased to 11 power shards.
This mechanic makes it so that players who want a challenge can try to skip as many regions as possible, thus always fighting an uphill battle, but receiving a lot more rewards for their trouble.
Upgrade the right properties to optimize your build. If you are running low on mana often, perhaps it is a good idea to reduce mana cost of expensive spells?
Blessings System
"Blessings" are passive perks found as rewards for conquering regions.
They provide classic benefits like increased damage or unique abilities like casting spells for free
Similarly to spell properties, most blessings can be upgraded multiple times. This increases their level and thus also the benefit they give.
Since the player has limited control over which blessings will be upgraded the upgrades are much more powerful than in case of spell properties.
Each region has a temporary blessing that is active only in that region. This "blessing" can also be a curse - for example water spells don't work very well in a desert so they have reduced damage!
Blessings are always benefitial, but you might also be affected by curses that will make your life a bit harder!
Conclusion
The spell system in Gods Against Machines reflects our commitment to providing a strategic and engaging gameplay experience. The combination of elements, spell progression, customization, and the integration of Blessings offers a variety of tactical possibilities.
We believe that both seasoned strategists and newcomers to the RTS genre will find this system rich and rewarding. We invite you to explore the magical universe of Gods Against Machines, where strategic planning and mastery of magical elements will lead you to victory.
We hope you found this short article interesting. Keep an eye out for more articles like this one - there is a lot to cover:
Hi All, Gamescom is about to close soon, you can still find us in booth 10.1, AMD. Where indie games shine! If you can't be there, here is some pre-recorded gameplay of what you are missing.
We have an important announcement to make regarding our game demo. In the near future, the demo will be temporarily unavailable as we work on a big update that brings some amazing changes.
The highlight of this update is the introduction of a singleplayer mode! We've been listening to your feedback and are thrilled to bring you a new way to enjoy the game. Alongside this, we have some surprises in store that will enhance your gaming experience.
We understand this might be disappointing news, but we're confident that the new features will be worth the wait. Your support means the world to us, and we can't wait to share these exciting changes with you.
Stay tuned for more updates and thank you for your understanding.
Grimstar: Crystals are the New Oil! - Jesse Kellor
Greetings space lovers!
The Steam Strategy Fest is around the corner! And it is our pleasure to announce that the GRIMSTAR: CRYSTALS ARE THE NEW OIL! demo will once again be available during the event.
Feel free to add the game to your wishlist after playing the demo, especially if you enjoyed it so you won't miss any updates.
This demo is essentially Grimstar: Welcome to the savage planet (which in turn is the prologue for the full version of the game - Grimstar: Crystals are the New Oil!) that you are most probably already are familiar with. It's available on Steam for free and you can add it to your library in order to permanently keep it, or leave a feedback review.
On August 28th at 10:00 AM PDT (UTC-7) until September 4th, you can dive deep into the story about the savage world of alien planets and the brutal life of a corporate representative.
Removed Daily Time Trial from the demo. We will put it back in the full game, but its not a good format for a demo.
Added "Boundless Descent" mode to the demo: Basically a random dungeon with endless floors. Enemies get stronger per floor. Includes a permanent leaderboard.
Improved help message for users with switchable GPUs
Guys, we're in the BOSS FIGHTERS team put all our hearts and souls into Alpha Collection. And we're super proud that every Skin in it has its unique set of traits and doesn't have a single dupe. So we thought... why don't we have a SKIN REVEAL PARTY?π₯π
Share your Skins in our special Discord chat π https://discord.com/channels/905168197592952832/981981288598753330 During the next three weeks, we'll be searching for the one with the rarest set of traits in the whole Collection (Yes, we don't know which ones you all have, and it will be a surprise even for us!)