Fixed the bug that prevented new players from playing :s (and upgraded graphics again). I hope people can give it a second try.
OK lots of people did not like the overall look so we have made an effort to improve the look alot. Enjoy the screenshots. I try to give an overview of all the cool features because I don’t think people are managing to find them yet.
Technology
We developed it on a shoe string, its hosted on google app engine (free at first, $9 for SSL per month), plus $20 for the domain. That’s pretty much all our costs. We built the javascript client using angularJS which is AMAZING btw.
Battles
We liked card games, but found the online ones too simple. So we made the cards like robots which carry out predefined tasks including spatially moving around the board. The aim is to kill the enemy commander but you only get to choose where the cards start on the table and then they do the rest themselves.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSBattle.jpg
The icons of the cards glow as they carry out the action, which is supposed to be how the players can learn the rules. I think we are still far away from making the game’s learning curve shallow enough though, feedback on what confused you and how you learnt (or failed to learn) the rules is very welcome.
Drawing
Art is a major part of card games like magic the gathering. Well known artists have their own highly sought cards. We thought it be nice if artists could emerge and become powerful like players. So we let users draw and sell their arts to other players. We are tracking view and “likes” of arts, so that at a later point we can give the best arts a stat boost. We are deliberately restricting the ability for players to find novel art, because we want them to “like” an art before being able to purchase them (so we can determine the popularity of certain arts). I think this is our best feature and what makes our game interesting.
It turns out the drawing app is a pig to develop and its hard to get right. Feedback welcome on the drawing side of things.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/blindsnakes.jpg
When cards receive damage they glow. So one of the cool things is that we let the user custom define the glow overlay. Obviously no-one can be bothered to draw animations for a card, so we think this gives a little edge to an otherwise static drawing. (see in the pic above I make Blindsnakes eyes glow)
Deckbuilding
You make a deck by buying blank cards from the shop, and then slapping art on them (if you have the right art). So the basic card and the art are independent items.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSDeckmaker.jpg
We did that so the art economy is independent to the basic playing blocks. TCGs are hard to keep the economy working well, so this is how we have full on trading without the huge issues that normally arise.
Landing Page
On the first page, art drawn by users is randomly presented (although its not from the full range, will try to expand this soon). So you can see what people have drawn without logging in. We are sensitive to people not wanting to give away their email address so just username and password is required (no email authentication). Or if you are gung ho with privacy (like me) you can just use the easier facebook login. The advantage of the facebook login is that you can “share” you drawings with your friends, which puts the drawing in your facebook photo album (it doesn’t do that unless you want it to, no spam systems here).
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSLanding.jpg
Hope you enjoy the new look, www.runesketch.com
LordTom
OK lots of people did not like the overall look so we have made an effort to improve the look alot. Enjoy the screenshots. I try to give an overview of all the cool features because I don’t think people are managing to find them yet.
Technology
We developed it on a shoe string, its hosted on google app engine (free at first, $9 for SSL per month), plus $20 for the domain. That’s pretty much all our costs. We built the javascript client using angularJS which is AMAZING btw.
Battles
We liked card games, but found the online ones too simple. So we made the cards like robots which carry out predefined tasks including spatially moving around the board. The aim is to kill the enemy commander but you only get to choose where the cards start on the table and then they do the rest themselves.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSBattle.jpg
The icons of the cards glow as they carry out the action, which is supposed to be how the players can learn the rules. I think we are still far away from making the game’s learning curve shallow enough though, feedback on what confused you and how you learnt (or failed to learn) the rules is very welcome.
Drawing
Art is a major part of card games like magic the gathering. Well known artists have their own highly sought cards. We thought it be nice if artists could emerge and become powerful like players. So we let users draw and sell their arts to other players. We are tracking view and “likes” of arts, so that at a later point we can give the best arts a stat boost. We are deliberately restricting the ability for players to find novel art, because we want them to “like” an art before being able to purchase them (so we can determine the popularity of certain arts). I think this is our best feature and what makes our game interesting.
It turns out the drawing app is a pig to develop and its hard to get right. Feedback welcome on the drawing side of things.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/blindsnakes.jpg
When cards receive damage they glow. So one of the cool things is that we let the user custom define the glow overlay. Obviously no-one can be bothered to draw animations for a card, so we think this gives a little edge to an otherwise static drawing. (see in the pic above I make Blindsnakes eyes glow)
Deckbuilding
You make a deck by buying blank cards from the shop, and then slapping art on them (if you have the right art). So the basic card and the art are independent items.
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSDeckmaker.jpg
We did that so the art economy is independent to the basic playing blocks. TCGs are hard to keep the economy working well, so this is how we have full on trading without the huge issues that normally arise.
Landing Page
On the first page, art drawn by users is randomly presented (although its not from the full range, will try to expand this soon). So you can see what people have drawn without logging in. We are sensitive to people not wanting to give away their email address so just username and password is required (no email authentication). Or if you are gung ho with privacy (like me) you can just use the easier facebook login. The advantage of the facebook login is that you can “share” you drawings with your friends, which puts the drawing in your facebook photo album (it doesn’t do that unless you want it to, no spam systems here).
https://www.runesketch.com/static/images/promo/RSLanding.jpg
Hope you enjoy the new look, www.runesketch.com
LordTom