Castle Paradox

[Moogle1]

What's Moogle working on lately? The name of the game is Phantom Tactics (for now, at least), and it's a hybrid of Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, and Final Fantasy Tactics, with a battle system that's completely distinct from any of those games.





To engage an enemy in combat, all you need to do is move to an adjacent tile. Battle tiles are shown in red, while allied units within the blue movement range are marked in green.

However, be careful when and where you pick a fight! All allies adjacent to both units will also participate in the battle as support units.



That's my Pirate, tearing Phillip the Bandit a new one. Phillip initiated a battle with Prince Janus, but he didn't count on Janus's allies.

Most units deal half damage when they're just supporting, but some classes can still deal full damage. Bowmen like the ones standing behind Janus and Phillip in that battle shot are one such class. They're really nice to have around, but don't leave them exposed to enemy attacks: they also drop like flies.


There are three basic classes: Bowman, Bandit, and Fencer. When your units become proficient in these classes, they'll be able to advance to other classes. The Pirate is an advanced class. You'll get a single Pirate on your team in the demo.

Every class has a special ability. For example, the Bowman never misses in combat. What does our man the Pirate do, you ask?



He walks on water. Aww yeah.

Remember, though, that a lone unit is easily defeated by a well-supported enemy. So while cutting across the water can provide good opportunities for ambushes, it's more often useful in situations where you want to squeeze in an extra support unit.



Here, Janus gets support from the Pirate. Pirates have good defense, but if your Pirate is low on HP, it may be wise to stick him in the water, where he'll be safe (usually).



Ah, and here's where the pirate really shines. Chokepoints like bridges severely reduce the number of support units you can squeeze in. Having a Pirate on your team means having one more support unit than your enemy.

To wrap up the teaser, here's a video showing you the first minutes of the demo:



Phantom Tactics: Playable demo available in the June edition of Hamsterspeak!
_________________

Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[Moogle1]

http://superwalrusland.com/ohr/issue27/pt/pt.html

Download the demo now!
_________________

Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[Moogle1]

Big important notice: If you have had problems getting Phantom Tactics to run correctly, you should download the latest nightly. I carelessly forgot to include an executable and I suspect that the game is not compatible with the Xocolatl+2 release.

Then again, no one has commented on the demo either way.
_________________

Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[ShakeyAir]

Bah. I wrote a longer thing that got eaten by CP somehow. Anyway...

Its pretty flippin sweet. I wanted a way to check character abilities during battle, something quick and unintrusive. I think 'move' should say 'attack' when you are on an attack tile.

I was amazed by the smoothness. And the tactical possibilities in the battle system seem like they will lend themselves well even to a very long game.

[Moogle1]

Thanks for your feedback!

[Spoon Weaver]

I like the mechanics. Gives a really good feeling for strategy .

why can the blue guy walk on water?

[Moogle1]

[Spoon Weaver]

[TwinHamster]

They're "Swimming".

I guess I could also give them a swim animation to have it make a little more sense (Looking back, their walk animation is also pretty clunky).

[Newbie_Power]

[Moogle1]