A few good links here
http://armorgames.com/community/thread/12289263/gemcraft-cs-thoughts/page/1
http://armorgames.com/community/thread/11261731/gemcraft-chapter-2-chasing-shadows-not-support
Thought I would consolidate some tips and thoughts as I play (or find them).
- I (Ihr9 from Armor Games) noticed on field E5 that with just one point in 4 traits it is possible to make a profit of 26 cores. This is available from the Apparition that will appear if you expend 1 Shadow Core on a Trait. The apparition has appeared at least 2 consecutive plays so it doesnt appear to be random. Same with I5.
- You appear to get back the Shadow Cores you spend on pushing the Traits up. Say the norm is 3, you spend 2, the Battle will give you 5.
- If you expend Shadow Cores on a battle Trait, it appears more likely to get a Tailisman Fragment.
- Very interestingly there are Armor Games quest you can complete if you are logged in as one of their users. Interesting concept that someone else can gameify some elses game.
- Right click gems in towers to set their targetting priority.
- You can Gembomb or use Amplifiers to reduce your banishment costs.
- U to upgrade a gem. D to duplicate a gem. The options will hightlght in the gem decription when you have enough mana. Clicking on an empty structure will deploy a Gem
- SHIFT B to bomb from your gem inventory. B SHIFT to use the first Gem made in the inventory and bomb using Mana.
- I5 unlocks Hex M & H. Also has an apparition and Talisman Fragment.
- Vision Field V4 is in Hex . V4 is the first level from Gemcraft Labrynth :>
- BUG - if you Enhance a Gem just after placement it skips the placement cycle time ;)
- Preview Maps
- Blue = The Orb of Presence
- Brown = Beacons
- Dark Brown = Nests
- Black = Swamling Hive
- Purple = Other Structures
- Grey = Towers or Amplifiers
- Light Tan = Roads
- Medium Tan = Shrines
- Dark Tan = Traps
- Light Green = Trees
- Cyan = Wizards Tower
- Off Light Green = Tower Locks
- Green Gray = Tome Chamber
- Layout of Maps
- Maps Part 2 :)
Comments on the Game Design
The developer obviously copped a bit of flack over missed deadlines during the dvelopment cycle. To his defence I thought we would look at some of the innovations delivered.User Experience (UX)
I think a lot of effort has gone into developing the user interface (UI) that makes it a much more intuiative experience then the earlier versions of the series. Innovation in the area of UI the make them more intuiative require a lot of thought and effort.The guys who worked on X-COM put together some good videos (Firaxis Games and 2K Games plus a good independent comparison of the two games) on their development process. The challenges of making a tribute game with unusual genre with a more turn based strategy approach to third person shooters, dealing with multiple layes of UI (tactical and strategic views) and emotional engagement of the users. The Bureau was not well received as it was a major departure from the X-COM genre in both being a real time shooter and set in 1962 rather then a future setting.
