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[Game on] Spectromancer

NorgothNorgoth cardiffRegistered User regular
edited February 2009 in Games and Technology
As linked on the front page, Spectromancer is an online card game, currently in open beta.
Site FAQ wrote:
Q: WHAT IS SPECTROMANCER?

Spectromancer is an online fantasy card game in which players participate in magical duels against other mages by strategically summoning creatures and casting spells. Each mage uses five magical elements during a duel - Fire, Water, Air and Earth, plus a fifth related to the specific mage type. There are six mage types in the game: Clerics use Holy power; Mechanicians use Mechanics; Necromancers use Death; Chaosmasters use Chaos; Dominators uses Control and Illusionists use Illusions. Players are able to duel against the computer or against other online players live

Q: WHO DESIGNED/DEVELOPED IT?

The team behind Spectromancer are Alexey Stankevich, creator of Astral Tournament and Astral Masters, along with game design luminaries Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Star Wars Trading Card Game, RoboRally) and Skaff Elias (Magic: The Gathering Ice Age, Harry Potter Trading Card Game).

Q: WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE TRIAL CLIENT?

In the trial version of Spectromancer you will be able to play 1/3 of the campaign, have access to single player mode where you will be able to play against the computer, and you will be able to play online against other opponents. In Trial version you have access to only one of the wizards – The Cleric.

Im a huge sucker of Card games, but this one has Awsome written all over it, with all the cards given too you (no buying packs), awesome people involved and Online multiplayer, its like all my dreams at once. Hopefully we can get a decent set of games going

Spectromancer Website

Norgoth on

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    Hotlead JunkieHotlead Junkie Registered User regular
    edited February 2008
    Norgoth wrote: »
    As linked on the front page, Spectromancer is an online card game, currently in open beta.
    Site FAQ wrote:
    Q: WHAT IS SPECTROMANCER?

    Spectromancer is an online fantasy card game in which players participate in magical duels against other mages by strategically summoning creatures and casting spells. Each mage uses five magical elements during a duel - Fire, Water, Air and Earth, plus a fifth related to the specific mage type. There are six mage types in the game: Clerics use Holy power; Mechanicians use Mechanics; Necromancers use Death; Chaosmasters use Chaos; Dominators uses Control and Illusionists use Illusions. Players are able to duel against the computer or against other online players live

    Q: WHO DESIGNED/DEVELOPED IT?

    The team behind Spectromancer are Alexey Stankevich, creator of Astral Tournament and Astral Masters, along with game design luminaries Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Star Wars Trading Card Game, RoboRally) and Skaff Elias (Magic: The Gathering Ice Age, Harry Potter Trading Card Game).

    Q: WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE TRIAL CLIENT?

    In the trial version of Spectromancer you will be able to play 1/3 of the campaign, have access to single player mode where you will be able to play against the computer, and you will be able to play online against other opponents. In Trial version you have access to only one of the wizards – The Cleric.

    Im a huge sucker of Card games, but this one has Awsome written all over it, with all the cards given too you (no buying packs), awesome people involved and Online multiplayer, its like all my dreams at once. Hopefully we can get a decent set of games going

    Spectromancer Website

    I'v been looking for a good cardcame, downloading now

    Hotlead Junkie on
    tf2_sig.png
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    GrisloGrislo Registered User regular
    edited February 2008
    That does sounds really nice. Especially if they stick with a 'no paying for booster packs' mentality.

    EDIT: That was probably too optimistic.

    "As new maps or wizards are released, new cards will be released with them and once you purchase those maps or wizards you’ll receive all the cards."

    Grislo on
    This post was sponsored by Tom Cruise.
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    xiearsxiears It isn't sexual Strictly confectionalRegistered User regular
    edited February 2008
    I've been playing it and I'm not keen. I find it very frustrating, battles can go on for seemingly forever with both your and your opponent healing huge amounts, attacking for a bit, then going back to healing. I'll maybe give it another go after the beta, they might iron out some of the niggles I have with it by then.

    I'm wondering if theres a way to select which cards you take into battle in the campaign, that might make things a tad better, but if there is I'm not seeing it.

    xiears on
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    Hotlead JunkieHotlead Junkie Registered User regular
    edited February 2008
    It's okay, nothing too exciting though. Maybe beccause there is too much of a focus on keep track of all those different stats for your and your opponent's element levels

    Hotlead Junkie on
    tf2_sig.png
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    NorgothNorgoth cardiffRegistered User regular
    edited February 2008
    Grislo wrote: »
    That does sounds really nice. Especially if they stick with a 'no paying for booster packs' mentality.

    EDIT: That was probably too optimistic.

    "As new maps or wizards are released, new cards will be released with them and once you purchase those maps or wizards you’ll receive all the cards."

    Still a hell of alot better than buy a pack, didnt get what you need, buy another e.t.c

    Norgoth on
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    FightTestFightTest Registered User regular
    edited February 2008
    I go back and forth between really liking it and really hating it.

    The random factor is cool when it works, but sometimes you just get utter shite for spells and your opponent drops bomb after bomb.

    I don't think it helps that there's like 1 good holy card and shit like chaos, death, and mechanical get rapeface cards that cost like 2 points. It will probably be better once the player can access all schools in a real version.

    (Note that I've only played the single matches vs expert/archmage difficulties. I should probably tone it down because I won every game at lower diffs and lose almost every game at higher, so the game's version of AI is probably GIVE AWESOME CARDS YO.)

    Wish you could play multiplayer.

    FightTest on
    MOBA DOTA.
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    DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Picked this one up based on Tycho's post, and I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed.

    Twice now I've gotten locked into infinite no one accomplishes anything creature combos. Also, I see almost no replay value in this, once you've spent a day or two on it. It's a really cool concept, there's just not a lot of meat there.

    Also, as someone pointed out, gameplay is VERY similar to the other game, "Astral Masters." Not "the similarities are sort of there" more, "I see you made it so there are more types of mana and that's it."

    I guess twenty bucks isn't a huge deal, but if I'd realized how quickly the game would get stale I would've saved myself the cash. Going to be a bit wary next time Tycho says he's really excited about a game being sold through his distribution company.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
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    SentrySteveSentrySteve Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I guess twenty bucks isn't a huge deal, but if I'd realized how quickly the game would get stale I would've saved myself the cash. Going to be a bit wary next time Tycho says he's really excited about a game being sold through his distribution company.

    I thought the same thing when I played the demo. I signed up on the forums to see if there was more depth to the game after you buy it, and to see how active the mutliplayer was. Seems I got an answer to those questions.

    SentrySteve on
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    DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I guess twenty bucks isn't a huge deal, but if I'd realized how quickly the game would get stale I would've saved myself the cash. Going to be a bit wary next time Tycho says he's really excited about a game being sold through his distribution company.

    I thought the same thing when I played the demo. I signed up on the forums to see if there was more depth to the game after you buy it, and to see how active the mutliplayer was. Seems I got an answer to those questions.

    The game does not get any more in-depth at all. There's really no worthwhile difference between the "types" of magic. You can never customize your deck. And the primary system they put in to make you want to keep playing was about 50 achievements, such as "beat the game on hardest difficulty five times in a row."

    Yeah... pass, thanks.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
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    FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I guess twenty bucks isn't a huge deal, but if I'd realized how quickly the game would get stale I would've saved myself the cash. Going to be a bit wary next time Tycho says he's really excited about a game being sold through his distribution company.

    I thought the same thing when I played the demo. I signed up on the forums to see if there was more depth to the game after you buy it, and to see how active the mutliplayer was. Seems I got an answer to those questions.

    The game does not get any more in-depth at all. There's really no worthwhile difference between the "types" of magic. You can never customize your deck. And the primary system they put in to make you want to keep playing was about 50 achievements, such as "beat the game on hardest difficulty five times in a row."

    Yeah... pass, thanks.

    I was thinking of buying it, but won't now that I know you can't customize your deck.

    thats nearly the whole point of ccg sorta games, taking a few cards from a large pool to design your own deck and stratagy.

    If I can't do that, than whats the point

    Foomy on
    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
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    GrisloGrislo Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    The whole point of this game is exactly that you can't customize decks, you're meant to do your best with what you are dealt.

    I think it has a fair bit of replay value, but the balance issues present in the demo makes me not want to buy it. It was pretty fun to play multiplayer during the beta, though, and I'd be more tempted to spend money on it if I knew it had a large playerbase.

    Grislo on
    This post was sponsored by Tom Cruise.
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    DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    This isn't exactly on topic, but I couldn't find a more appropriate thread, so hopefully it will do.

    Tycho again waxes poetic today about a game that came out on Greenhouse. "World of Goo" looks like a better buy than Spectromancer actually was, but based around this game I'm not sure I'll ever make an impulse buy based on Tycho's "This game that I'm selling is totally freaking awesome" enthusiasm. (Not to mention the fact that I blew my spare spending cash on Spectromancer. That was one third of Fable II, darnitt.)

    Did anyone else enjoy Spectromancer more than I did? Does anyone disagree with that assessment of Tycho's Greenhouse advertisements?

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
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    PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    I thought it was ok, but I certainly wasn't blown away. I'm not sure how the multiplayer works, anyone want to give it a shot?

    PolloDiablo on
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    SnarfmasterSnarfmaster Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    So i've been playing the multiplayer here and there when i get a chance. The randomness of your deck can really screw you over sometimes as not every card is actually useful. But that balances out over time with sheer number of games played.

    The variety in the cards in the full version schools makes me want to buy it. The free school comes with good enough cards that it's certaily playable online aganst any of the other schools.

    However the apparent lack of serious support apparent when you try and check for forums for this game is worrysome.

    Snarfmaster on
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    EriicEriic Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    So, this game just got released on Steam and is on sale for $7.99 (regularly $9.99) until Wednesday (the 18th). So far I've been enjoying it a lot. The balance isn't perfect, but it's not terrible either. The interface is very clean and easy to use, and it's easy to get into matches online and chat with other players in the lobby. There's a demo available on Greenhouse, which lets you play a nice chunk of the single player campaign, and lets you play online, though you can only use the "Holy" deck.

    It's inexpensive, and a lot of fun, so check it out! :o

    Eriic on
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