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Frozen Endzone | Simultaneous Turn Based Robot Football | BETA DEC 5
TychoCelchuuu
PIGEONRegistered User regular
PIGEONRegistered User regular
Official Website | | Developer Blog | Steam Greenlight | twitter | Facebook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=ahb-a6tupSE
Frozen Endzone (or "Frendzone" as it is unfortunately likely to be known) is a simultaneous turn based sports tactics game. It's robot football with randomly generated arenas and carefully planned plays. Picture NFL Blitz + X-COM.
It will have full single player with skirmishes and season play, plus lots of mulitplayer modes. You'll be able to customize your team and potentially the stadiums you play in. It will have a kickass soundtrack by nervous_testpilot, the guy behind Frozen Synapse's amazing soundtrack.
It's being made by Mode 7 Games, the studio behind Frozen Synapse.
The game will come out in 2014 with a beta likely in 2013. It will be released for PC, Mac, and Linux. Frozen Synapse is in the process of coming to the iPad, the PS3, and the Vita, so for all we know, Frendzone will end up on some or all of those.
Lots of reasons - the developers want feedback, they want to start building a community, and they want the validation of succeeding on Greenlight.
I Have a Question that Isn't Answered Here
Check out the official Frendzone FAQ Google doc for more information.
TychoCelchuuu on
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I am still likely to buy this.
Although one thing I will say is that I hope that the singleplayer has a bit more of a meta-game to it than Frozen Synapse did. I basically got FS just for the multiplayer. Never finished the SP campaign. I mean it was OK, but AI is never going to be nearly as interesting to fight against as human opponents. And the nature of the gameplay design gives a surprising amount of leeway for individual tactics and creativity in each match, and wheels-within-wheels strategic planning on each map.
If the SP gameplay is going to be more interesting, it needs to feel like a bit more than just campaign driven skirmish matches. They tried to vary things up but there's only so much that can be done with the toolsets available (snipers-based map, avoid these areas map etc.). It doesn't matter in the MP because you're not playing the individual units or the map layout, you're playing the other guy.
I can understand where he's coming from, but what that typically boils down to in multiplayer games is introducing more "random" elements into a match in order to make decisions less critical. What made FS so sterling was the fact that anything your opponent did, it was something you could have anticipated them doing. So barring a completely stacked map (which is rarer than most people like to acknowledge), every victory or success was all on you.
The other possibility is that choices are less minutely efficiency driven than in FS (there's got to be a more succinct way of saying that, I hope you get the gist of what I mean), so your having a range of options is more likely. But then this makes your course of action to counter them more random simply because there's no real way to predict what an opponent might do, since all courses of action are viable. In games like that, if you counteract your opponents plan or don't, you often feel as if you were just playing a game of rock-paper-scissors where you happened to make the right or wrong choice.
Maybe I'm reading too much into those statements though In fact I almost certainly am given how early this is.
Will certainly be into the beta to find out regardless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=-RX77uHN1Js
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WwrTei6uqhI
I could very well see the same thing happening again.
WHOOO
I don't know what I'm going to do with this extra key so if someone doesn't mind waiting a bit I'll get it to them later tonight.
Remy, feelin' like sharing a key?
The opening turn is usually only a couple of seconds max, where the field is wide open and it is tempting to just stand still and see what your opponent does--but that hesitation can totally cost you the play.
The bonus zones that litter the field just beg the offensive team to take risks for that extra two points. I had plenty of interceptions because I wanted the receiver in that spot. While the midzones allow for at least a small chance of recovering from a poor plan, but only if you can stick the defense.
But man, when you see a pass line, defend it, and launch the ball all the way down field, picking up a bonus and the goal right after it, and see those 9 points go up on the board? It feels damn good. Because you goddamn earned it.
Edit: Picked it up. Ingame name is cpugeek13
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
Like others have said, it feels like a more tight, concentrated version of Frozen Synapse. It also solves a couple issues I had with FS, namely player elimination and bullet predictability. In my experience with FS, sometimes a couple unlucky casualties in the first round or so could cost you the match. Since players in FE only get momentarily stunned and not killed, this is not as big of an issue. I also was frustrated in FS when I would simulate guns firing, only to find out that my enemy moved a milometer away from where I thought they'd be and they somehow got off the first shot. In FE, positioning is very important, but its not as sporadic as in FS. Some people have complained that without the different guns, FE doesn't have as much depth as FS. I've only played a couple matches, but I have already seen some really unbelievable plays. The most amazing are the running plays where the offensive blocking is spot on and the ball carrier squirms through.
The game is not without its faults, however. The main game mode is called Endzone, and basically gives each team an opportunity to score a touchdown. There are also small zones that the players can fun through to pick up bonus points. Its quick and simple and pretty good for asych play. However, it is just too easy to end up in a tie game. Tie games will be fine when league play is implemented, but a tie is a pretty poor way to end a casual game. There is another mode called Handball which is a bit more like an actual match, though it is only in alpha now and has some bugs. What I really want to see is a long-form match, something that doesn't just end after one touchdown.
Really, this game is made for league play, and like Blood Bowl, that is what is going to push it to greatness. I hope that we can get more people interested in the game so that when that feature comes out, we can start a PA Frozen Endzone League.
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
and I hate facing random people and not knowing what the hell is happening :P although I may just do it anyway.
edit - I'm Vari in game. added any names posted so far. I like the game a lot but it feels weird right now. I think it's just it being beta, and also I didn't understand some things about how turns end (grabbing the ball ends a turn, for instance, which is said in the tutorial video but didn't quite sink in)
my biggest issue right now is I wish the clock for waiting was a little more clear but trial and error never killed anybody, as in just pressing play and making sure the player waits long enough to make a move.
gonna grind out games against the AI just to get a better handle cause I tried playing random folks but since you can walk away and come back later (which is awesome!) the games can take forever which isn't an awesome way to learn.
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
didn't consider that when I made my post haha.
I'll have this open as often as possible henceforth. @cpugeek13 I did my turn
and
does anyone want my extra copy? I'm hesitant to just toss it to someone I don't know but I'm even more hesitant to give it to someone I know but isn't particularly interested in the game. I'm open to whoever PMs me but please make sure you'll actually play at least a bit. not looking for compensation or anything, just another playing partner
In endzone, the play stops once the ball either enters the endzone(or large field goal squares), or is intercepted/tackled. In handball, the play doesn't stop until it enters either of the endzones.
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
There are some rule choices that seem odd as someone who has seen a lot of sports both real and video-fied. Like the total inability to run/pass backwards, even for part of a play. Or the rule that complained I had not advanced the ball *far enough* forward while trying to wait for a blocker instead of getting brutally tackled. Some of that will probably be tweaked before release, but it does make for a strange learning curve... finding out what isn't allowed while trying to set up a sound strategy.
But like Ink was saying above, this thing generates some satisfying high points. Like the time I was down 0-16, and a desperation play turned into a 17-point scoring run that secured the win on the last turn of the game... A few Hollywood-style comebacks can make up for a lot of quirkiness!
I heard Mode 7 say FE has brought in roughly twice as much as Frozen Synapse had at an equal point in development, so hopefully that's a sign that FE and its userbase are still picking up steam...