Which level is your favorite?

[En1gma]

I can tell you which one isn't my favorite, that's for sure-- Prime: Drop Zone just got to the top of my black list...

[Vae Victus]

1-
I enjoyed the cultist ambush mission (Mission 10?)--I liked the concept. I played the level on normal, though, and the only missile launcher was the first one, which seemed a bit odd. There was little reason to prioritize cultists over each other--perhaps due to the very small encounter area-- it might have been even better if we were stuck between close buildings and were more likely to become separated--or were at the risk of grenades being thrown to damage groups of us.

Also, I camped the spawn point on the bridge... it would have been nice if the cultists came from somewhere farther away or if there was a signal one turn before they emerge that a cultist may be hiding in X location. (Perhaps a Templar could have a sensing beacon that leaves an X over locations where an enemy may emerge from on the subsequent turn--that way the pop-up whack-a-mole situation would be less jarring. [The enemy would probably need to be shunted to spawn in an adjacent square if a templar stands directly over the X]. As a larger possibility--this could even allow for a new dimension of gameplay (perhaps if one of your 500/month Patreon goals is reached)-- by predicting where enemies are going to emerge from, you could drop ordnance on the square and 'pre-kill' them.

Apologies if a mission further down the line does this, but I would suggest an escort mission--protect civilians from cultists. E.g. start with 5 civilians and a mayor- the mayor and 3 of 5 civilians must live and they only have very minimal firepower- you need to escort their convoy to another city while cultists and xenos are attacking. I would also suggest that the player can control the movement of some of the convoy- e.g. the player can move the civilian vehicles but NOT the mayor's vehicle, so they have to adjust to one unpredictable force. OR you could make it a roleplaying chance- depending on how you navigate the conversation tree in the briefing, you may be able to command the vehicles-- if you mess up diplomacy, the civilians will be acting on their own.

2-
I also enjoyed the "gate shutting" mission. Missions with dynamic interactions with the scenery are exciting. E.g. destructible scenery, scenery that can be triggered by your actions, etc.

3-
I liked the feeling of 'taking back' the ship. This also attracted me to the game Halfway--the feeling of making progress really helps.

If you could add maps that have a "checklist" style to the currently-existing levels, that would feel immensely satisfying. That is,  a display like we had with the ship where there are different floors to conquer (or as in Halfway where the ship is displayed), we could see that oh, I have secured THIS part of the planet-- that would feel like a progression "cookie" of success. . To state in another way- when adventuring on the planets, I'd like to see markers where I've already defeated Xenos or Cultists... or I'd like to see a group of planets with little flags marking what I have accomplished-- it could just be a simple as adding these markers to your static images and when there is a mouseover, a little box pops up stating (Scenario 10-1, Defeated the Cultists) on this part of the planet.

4-
I enjoy the 'debriefing' missions and wish there was more to them that could be lead to changes elsewhere in the game--that is, by cultivating certain friendships on the ship, it would give certain bonuses but it would make other bonuses unattainable--e.g. make friends with lorekeeper A, but by doing so you alienate paladin B. This could allow for some more internecine drama.

5-
The orientation levels (the first 2) were real turn-offs. I almost quit the game and gave up. I played this in January and I think you have modified the orientation levels since then, but they were a bit tedious and dull and it was a bit unclear how to use grenades and the overwatch ability--I had to search online to figure out how to use those abilities. I also found the leader who was orienting me as the player to be annoying and problematic... The game improved immensely once I was beyond those levels.

Best wishes, and keep up the good work!

[fallen]

Vae Victus - welcome to the forum and thanks for the feedback!

1. I will take a look at adding more % chance that rocket troops will appear. There are both enemies with Plasma Rifles and Flamethrowers spawning in that level, and both are significantly more dangerous than a rifle-cultist.

2. Glad you liked this one! The Siege of Tundeer and others like it are a favorite of mine.

3. We had looked at doing "checkpoint" like maps for some of the campaigns. In some cases, it made sense and in other cases it did not. We had envisioned something akin to the Doom-style maps showing levels beat and levels ahead. The budget didn't cover it, but we are working on including the idea in a future game probably.

4. Hopefully we can keep improving and expanding the game, and those would be some fun areas to work on expanding. Based on what we could do, for the game's launch we wanted to focus on getting the core of the game (tactical combat scenarios) as right as we could, and knew that there were some limitations to the Secure Zones.

5. Sorry that you disliked the first two levels! We've continued to improve them in many different ways since then, and will continue to do so.

We hope that you can take a minute and help us out by leaving a review on your platform. It is the #1 way to help us get the word out and to be able to make and continue to improve our games!

I hope you'll stick around on the forum

[Vae Victus]

Thank you for the welcome.

6- I like it on maps when there are secret caches...and a direction, e.g. hints as to where the caches may be is alluded to. I like this because there is a sense of working hard to discover with a purpose. E.g. I do not feel bad about detouring when I am told that there may be something hidden... but from a roleplay perspective, I do not want to detour unless I have that type of hint. Just bumbling around and using a scout to SCAN willy-nilly is not quite as satisfying since I feel like I found those items by luck rather than by skill. Of course, it is good to have some completely hidden caches to reward people who do scan everything, but the former rather than the latter is more satisfying to me in general.

The red klaxon effect on the ship in Righteous Fury: Red Alert was also a very nice touch.

The "Burn, Xeno, burn" line from the Hydra in Prime: Drop Zone was appropriate, and hilarious.

[capthawk]

Hmm somehow there is another thread out there asking this same question.
Faves: Deck 7, ODB, landing on Mok, the mission to capture TPs to Beach the Narv mind, the Narv mind, the entire Stratos run is bad ass, but I'll single out the tri-level elevator!
Actually, there really isn't a level I don't enjoy, because while it seems I favor the long deployments above, I also love the six man commando runs. The Titan bomb is so fun, and a great preview of how to protect the mortals you'll encounter later on. That crazy open three gates to the left one, the bridge (I love the elevator/hidden transport levels. More, please), breaking into the narvs mind with six knights(!), okay maybe I should switch gears...
Levels I don't like: none.
Oops , forgot to mention that level where you slay 36 Xeno to beat it. There are a few turn goal levels, Fallen bridge etc., but this one stands out as kill count based. More like that would be fun, since there's only the one.
In general, what's so appealing is the multiple tactics and squads that can be used, you can beat the same level with an entirely different approach.
Also want to mention I love the branches in the missions the original campaign.
Ferrari and Kaldun I think are it. So fun if you replay, as I do, to switch which branch. I'd actually forgotten about the Kaldun branching, and repeated it yesterday barely remembering anything. It was like a mini-expansion lol.
Some general love:
The fact guarding angles of approach varies by terrain. Desert world tactics will not serve you on a derelict hulk or tight palace corridor! (As Xeno pour in through mis-OWed doorway...)
Spawn towers aren't always on the exact same spot.
Randomness of which Xeno spawns... Third string engineer on a solo TP takedown... Will it be a scittering, or a plated Goli?
I enjoy mid mission dialog, too, e.g. Tundeer, breaching star port gates, March on Galantia. For some reason I love seeing my knights faces pop up with some sage advice.
*Wondering if you can make it so more of the knights deployed have something to say. It's usually the Capt. and the engineer, sometimes the Lt., unless you use a knight to uncover a secondary or the like. I'm talking mid level, not the scouts/Kathos' rundown. There are exceptions, but those make me want more. It really helps me immerse in my role play, especially with a new squad where I'm "learning all the new faces".
I can't think of anything else ATM. Hopefully it's obvious to TB that they are on point with BF so far.
All these hints of what comes after Stratos... code, brother, code!

[Vae Victus]

An update on Rychart Prime: Parade Route.

In addition to the earlier Normal playthru, I played through now twice on Hard in v. 2.2.2 and I only saw 2 missile launchers other the scripted one (both generated on my 3rd playthru of the level in the north (one on Turn 4, the other instants before it 'exploded due to my victory', so I think it generated on Turn 6). Also, no enemies opened the doors of the "secondary objective" buildings. The only reason I knew those were objectives was because I saw a "Guide" on the level. Although I may have missed it, I did not recall any in-character text suggesting to "search the buildings!", so the first 2 of the 3 times I played through the level I did not actually think to search-instead I turtled-very successfully.

Still, I do enjoy the level's concept.

[Cory Trese]

Thanks for the feedback, that might be something we're able to improve by tweaking the dialog!

[Vae Victus]

Jun 5, 2016 20:12:48 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Thanks for the feedback, that might be something we're able to improve by tweaking the dialog!

That would be a way to make a good level "great".

The first two times, I took the 'obvious' route of turtling since it's safer to bunch up and stay in one place rather than to spread out, but letting players know to search the buildings to disable "bombs" or do other tactical things could open up other options for people playing it who don't know about the hidden mission objectives--I found seeking out the objectives to be more interesting as a tactical problem than merely sitting and taking the punishment dealt out by the randomly spawning enemies.

[Cory Trese]

Many of the levels have optional, player-discovered, alternate objectives that add more complex tactical problems.

[mal]

My favorite mission for feeling awesome and encompassing what Templar Battleforce is all about is the mission where you get to burn the terrox spores that fell to the planet. It was a simple objective, but the aesthetic of burning an entire small craft with a hydra just really appealed to me. Hydras change the battlefield so much...and this just confirmed it with some minor mission mechanic. Was big fun for me.

My favorite mission for game design and showcasing how you need to be knowledgeable to beat the game is the "Power Relay Grid" with routing the power with the engineer. I love missions where the map is a very "interact-able" part of the game to succeeding. This is most obvious in "Power Relay Grid" and "Airlock Chambers".

[fallen]

mal - great two picks! Definitely on the list of best levels from my point of view, also notably on the list of "took the most hours to make"

[mal]

Jun 11, 2016 17:58:14 GMT -5 fallen said:

mal - great two picks! Definitely on the list of best levels from my point of view, also notably on the list of "took the most hours to make"

Awesome! Good to know I have a little bit of good taste for levels here

What was your favorite level to design? ( I know it might be a little bit like picking a favorite child).

[fallen]

mal - probably the big boss levels near the end of the game. I think my favorite part of Templar Battleforce is how much time we spent making levels with unique objectives. There are so many different levels that stick out to me as the most fun / challenging to play. Airlock Chambers -- what a grinder.

Is your Let's Play the extend of how far you have played into the game? I wouldn't want to spoil anything!

[mal]

Jun 12, 2016 21:36:02 GMT -5 fallen said:

mal - probably the big boss levels near the end of the game. I think my favorite part of Templar Battleforce is how much time we spent making levels with unique objectives. There are so many different levels that stick out to me as the most fun / challenging to play. Airlock Chambers -- what a grinder.

Is your Let's Play the extend of how far you have played into the game? I wouldn't want to spoil anything!

I have finished the game on normal difficulty but I have not done the Stratos Orbital Station. So you wont spoil anything for me. I really liked the Lich boss ( that took me some time to get through right) and Narvidian wurm battle at the end was epic with everyone coming together to fight a common threat/ how to make the wurm vulnerable were neat touches.

[fallen]

mal - yeah, the Litch fight is probably my favorite level in the game to build. It has a great ramping up of difficulty as you destroy the towers, and also a wonderful unknown threat early on when you don't know which direction the Litch will come from.