goblins

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Goblin Stone Devblog #6: Goblin Classes II

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In our previous devblog, we tackled the first four goblin classes in Goblin Stone. Before we move on with the next goblin classes, let’s talk about how ‘changing classes’ from a simple Peon to a more specialized class is done in this short walkthrough.

 

CHANGING GOBLIN CLASS

Class assignment is done when the goblin initially grows up. So long as the goblin has not embarked on an adventure, players may freely change the goblin’s class at any time. Class changes are instant but require at least 50 foodstuffs which the player can acquire through adventuring. When a Goblin takes on a class his attire also changes to match the class.

Class changing is done directly in the details view UI of the goblin. Clicking the ‘change class’ button will show the list of classes the goblin is qualified for. Bear in mind that each class has a minimum requirement of at least 5 attribute points in order for a goblin to change into a specific class. If the attribute requirements are not met for the class, the goblin is not allowed to change its class. This is where the breeding feature comes into play but that is another story for another blog.

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Now that we know how to turn Peons into a more powerful goblin warrior, let’s have a look at the new goblin classes that we added in our last demo update. Each one putting their own spin on a classic adventuring archetype; The Hunter, the Mystic, and the Bandit.

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BANDIT

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“A commanding scoundrel. This one knows what motivates a Goblin”

The Bandit acts as a melee support class that commands other goblins. These guys are real bossy. They are experienced, cunning, and able to take and deal a decent amount of damage by themselves. They prefer to use swords and blunt weapons. The Bandit’s true strength is in their leadership. Their abilities revolve around barking commands at the rest of the squad, giving them buffs. They can also rearrange their order so that defenders can take the blows and attackers can score clean hits.

ABILITIES

MYSTIC

“A master of the arcane arts and all sorts of tricks and treats.”

The Mystic, armed with a wand, is a surprisingly well-read and studious magic-user. While physically fragile (even by Goblin standards), they’re able to punch well above their weight with powerful offensive spells that can reach targets behind the enemy line. They can also use frost magic to freeze enemies in place, offering ways to delay damage and mess with enemy positions. But most surprisingly, they can perform tank duties and absorb damage in certain situations, especially versus other magic users. So long as you keep attacks from landing, Mystics can be one of your heaviest hitters.

ABILITIES

HUNTER

“A carefully placed trap will always outdo wreckless heroism.”

The Hunter is a wary combatant, armed with either a spear (another new weapon class) or an axe, but unlikely to use them until a kill is all but assured. The Hunter’s abilities mostly revolve around delayed and pre-planned damage using their powerful traps, with each trap having a unique trigger condition. They are also a very strong-ranged class making use of arrows to pick off enemies or inflict debilitating status effects on their prey.

ABILITIES

Which one is your favorite goblin class so far? We hope this post gave you a better understanding and insight into the goblin classes. Look forward to the next 4 goblin class that is in the making, we will share more about them in our future posts.

Next up: Breeding!

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Goblin Stone Devblog #5: Goblin Classes I

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Goblin Stone can’t be a Role-playing game without its own set of classes. In this devblog, we will be introducing the goblin classes. What makes goblins interesting is that they do not improve by leveling up. One way to improve them for battle is by carefully choosing their abilities and selectively improving them.

Presently, there are seven goblin classes to choose from when building your adventure party and four more goblin classes in the works. Let’s take a look at the first four classes available in the Goblin Stone demo.

PEON

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At the start of the game, players will need to recruit goblins to increase their forces. These come from squatters that visit the lair’s campground or stray goblins encountered during adventures. These unremarkable goblins with little combat skills all start out as the Peon class. Peons may not seem to be the strongest goblin out there, but they can be an essential part of the party that can help increase your inventory space. Their passive ability to carry 50% more loot than any other class is advantageous when players need to forage for more materials or gold.

Peons, however, cannot be equipped with any weapon. They have two default combat abilities which have comparatively low damage compared to the combat abilities of other classes.

ABILITIES

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GUARD

“A Goblin of most unwavering bravery, it rescues those in trouble and stuns the foe with its skillful use of Shield”

The Guard’s job is to prevent and soak up damage and protect weaker allies. They have more armor than any other class. Their ability to delay the opponent with powerful stuns can help prevent devastating enemy attacks.

ABILITIES

RAIDER

“Opportunistic and exploitative, the raider bides his time waiting for the right moment to strike.”

The Raider is a very offensive opportunist that capitalizes on units afflicted by status effects. This class works best with other classes that inflict Stun and Bleed. Unlike other classes with a mix of utility and support skills, all of the Raider’s abilities are offensive.

ABILITIES

SHAMAN

“Strength and power borrowed from the spirits of goblins past.”

The Shaman is a supportive character that derives healing powers from communing with ancestors. They also have an impressive range of utility that can delay enemies and bide time for allies to recover. Their strong ties with the spirits also allow them to deal damage when needed.

ABILITIES

There are currently 4 abilities available for the Raider and Shaman class in the Goblin Stone Demo. Similar to the Guard class, each class will have a total of 8 abilities. 4 of which are currently in development and will be available in the Early Access release.

A class is a primary definition of what a Goblin can do during an adventure. Each class is different, and each has its strengths and play style. Some classes may be well suited to adventuring together with other specific classes due to synergies.

Our next post will cover how to change the goblin class and the three new goblin classes we added in our recent demo update. Until then, please share with us your thoughts and feedback!

Goblin Stone Devblog #4: Combat System

For this devblog, we will be talking about the Combat System! It was quite important for us to get this right as we anticipated the player spending a majority of their time in combat. Combat for us is the “Meat and Potatoes” of the game and became the starting point for development. It’s something we’ve been consistently improving and iterating on. We have had some challenges in terms of the design and we wanted to ensure combat interesting both in presentation and in mechanics. It was a bit of a challenge but we like our current iteration!

 

Battles

We decided to have our battles remain in side view to be consistent with how adventures are presented. From the get-go, we also wanted a turn-based command style where the player had time to pause, think, and play with strategies.

We first tried a Rounds Base System, where within a round all characters get a turn. We felt this system didn’t cater well to the uniqueness of the game where goblins usually outnumber the enemies. We were looking for a more fluid system that allowed quicker enemies (like goblins) multiple chances to attack against a larger much slower enemy. So we shifted to an Active Battle Style game play using a single “time bar” that shows when each character would act, a bit like Final Fantasy or Grandia. This seemed to work much better for our case and resulted in a more engaging experience.

When it came to presentation we ran into many challenges with how to present the UI. It had to be easy to understand and it had to show only the information that was needed for the player at a specific phase in combat. There was also the central time bar we had to figure out. We had to design something that was compatible with the way characters were laid out in combat.

To give you a more detailed look into our current combat flow we listed the different phases of battle below.

 

A very early mock-up of the Battle UI. Quite different to our current version.

A mock-up with the “time bar” for the new combat system. This is quite near to what we have now.

Phases of Battle

Waiting Phase:

This is the phase where all units start moving towards the Center of the Timeline at a fixed rate. No commands can be issued here. The phase ends when a unit reaches the center of the Timeline.

Command Phase:

This is where the game pauses and players are able to select a skill and use it accordingly. Command Phase starts once a character reaches the center of the Timeline.

Action Phase:

Once a target is selected, we move on to the Action Phase. This is where the skill/attack is used and damage is calculated. After attacking, the unit will then move back along the timeline according to the Cost of the skill used.

Waiting Phase

Command Phase

Action Phase

 

Timeline System

Since our design was turn based, we had to think of a way to determine the order of the turns. We wanted it to be simple enough to allow players to understand the design quickly. Here is a quick overview of how it works:

Each turn will be determined by a character’s position on the Timeline. The combat abilities of your Goblins cost Time Units(TU) instead of Mana or SP. The bigger the cost of an ability, the farther away that unit will move back in the Timeline after it attacks. In essence you pay for the cost of the the ability after it’s used. We really liked this system for determining the turn order. It also feels more sensible. A character that uses a powerful ability would feel exhausted after using it and would need time to recover before having another go. The timeline also displays all Units’ order in battle.

 
 

Death

Character death is something that every player dreads in a game. But being a game about breeding with goblins, we wanted to explore the concept of making death in a game feel positive. It’s design was something we wanted to wrap our heads around and has proven very very challenging. We understand that character death may be the hardest thing for players to embrace. “How to make death good?” well, we had a couple of ideas for it!

First off is that goblins produce a resource when they die. This resource is essential to building your Lair and for the progression of the game. Death is not the only way to get this resource, because that would be terrible! However, death gives out a lot of it.

Another interesting thing we did is grant a combat advantage when a goblin dies. The enemy that killed the goblin, gains a special debuff called “Leveled Up” which causes them to prematurely celebrate. During the duration of the debuff, the enemy becomes stuck in their celebration pose and is vulnerable to attacks. You might imagine the Final Fantasy’s victory celebrate animation, except foolishly done in the middle of a fight.

There a couple more such as special genes from breeding that give auto triggered combat advantages on death. but we’ll go into that in another post.

Hope that you enjoyed this post! For our next post, we will be talking about Classes and Abilities.

Goblin Stone Devblog #1: Introducing the Goblins

The Goblins

Say hello to our little Goblins! They are one of the smaller monsters and the main protagonists of the game. Because of their size, they are the perfect prey for eager Adventurers and wild creatures. Goblins may be weak but they make up for it in numbers.

In Goblin Stone, Goblins and Monsterkin in general, don’t level up and gain experience points from battle. However, the same is NOT true for the the dangerous adventurer groups out there in the world who thirst for EXP. Instead, goblins grow better with each generation. Careful breeding is the only way to becoming stronger!

The final design of the Goblins!

The final design of the Goblins!

 
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Explore the vast amount of possibilities through breeding. You can discover new combat traits and appearances. Improve your colony and adventuring party. Make their parents proud!