Tactical Breach Wizards dev log: Acts, and how we make them

Just a bit about how we build out each act of the game, now that we've nearly done 3 of the 4.

[@reggieisnotadog4841]

"When it comes to upgrades, I don't believe in +5% to this or that" - thank you! If I get to a level up tree and see something like this my heart dissolves into old gravy.

[@Taolan8472]

Way too many games are much too comfortable with incremental upgrades like that, 5% here, 10% there, maxing out at 20 or 30 or 50% of the original value.

[@JamesClutterbuck]

Listening to this while playing Heat Signature, which according to Steam I have played for 2,541.4 hours ;-) Got to #12 in the Glory chart last week. Big Fan, Can't wait for your next game :-)

[@Notemug]

I am always amazed how you can afford to make each game for such a long time, until it is completely to your standard of perfection.

[@Taolan8472]

I recently rediscovered a short story I wrote inspired by the initial teaser trailer released for this, and have been devouring every scrap of information you've put out so far. Very much on the edge of my seat waiting for this to release.

[@BomTailey]

I like the sound of the side conversations - Kind of makes me think of the tapes you'd find in MGSV - I wouldn't feel that I had to stop and listen to them upon picking them up, but instead I'd just occasionally listen to a bunch of them at the end of a play session.

[@_mickmccarthy]

Always very much enjoy your dev logs. Very excited to finally get my hands on the game! Tangentially related, but Shadows of Doubt now has a demo available, seems like it's right up your street!

[@chrisgreen6259]

I can't wait for this game. The demo I played a while back was amazing!

[@JarrettJ]

I've been following your game for a while. SO good!

[@StephenKatt]

While you were talking, I was getting Banner Saga vibes, from the narrative/character driven story plus gameplay that makes you think. Really looking forward to playing this.

[@brettabraham]

Really appreciate the sentiment of creating enemies that make the player play differently. I think that's a really interesting way to look at it that explains a lot of my frustrations with enemy types in games

[@latte4159]

19:47 I absolutely LOVE the concept here, looking forward to reading it in-game eventually :D

[@driver3899]

This sounds really cool After hearing this I'm actually more interested in playing for the conversation system / interplay between characters and a good character driven story than I am for the combat (my reasoning being I hardly remember any individual fights in mass effect series but I sure remember a lot of interesting character moments)

[@Theoremancer]

I'm intrigued by the idea of abilities that don't use your action but rather use mana or are limited use per level. In D&D 5e, characters have one "bonus action" each turn that is usually for setup/synergy, and then your "action" is your main attack. The nice thing about only getting one bonus action per turn is that it does limit the power curve. Gaining more features that require a bonus action just gives you more options.

[@StickNik]

Indie games like this are my most anticipated games these days, keep up the good work, thanks for dev logs :)

[@ShaunCheah]

I played and super enjoyed the testing (the branch with [act2] in the title) so I'm very hyped to see the full thing when it's ready. I really enjoyed the map, seeing the all the notes and the post-its and such gave great flavour to the world and fleshed out the characters and I really like that sort of stuff.

[@susan_beaver]

This is a great update and I always love listening to your thoughts on game dev, thank you! One thing that I've been thinking about more as I've been getting into the community is speedrunning - an example of a community who love your game so much they want to replay it from the start over and over again. Even as a non-speedrunner, I have noticed when I replay games I am familiar with whether or not they allow me to skip over tutorial text or story stuff that I already know. I've come to really appreciate both games which are more like artistic/movie experiences in which if you miss something at a point, it is gone forever and you are locked out of paths, and games which are very easygoing at allowing you to skip and return to text. Also, your conversation system sounds like some of the side conversations you get in Fire Emblem games, which I guess is perfect for a tactical game! I'm really looking forward to learning more about Jen and her friends and compatriots!

[@RobVespa]

Nice video and it's good to hear an update on this project. Hearing your thoughts on a topic is always informative and entertaining. Look forward to playing Tactical Breach Wizards!

[@olninyo]

Really cool to hear about the structure, hope you're all having a good time working on such a great sounding project.

[@christiangudmundsson8390]

Sounds like it's coming along nicely, I'm really looking forward to this one.

[@ChrisSutcliffe21]

Thank you, as always, for these fantastic thoughts about game design. I always come away with loads of ideas. On a different note, would love to see you discuss (and play?) Midnight Suns and its combat. It's a very nice mix of X-Com, Slay the Spire and your own game.

[@Garryl367]

I hope those deferred branching side conversations are replayable. One of my pet peeves about RPG video games is that branching conversations are basically a maze that you navigate, but unlike the actual mazes in the game you can't actually go back and explore a different branch without reloading a save from before the conversation. If you're at a fork in the verbal road, you can go one way or the other, but you can't go to the end of one path, grab all of the informational loot, and then come back and take the other path. The ability to just go through a conversation without any critical effects over again and see the paths not taken the first time without any fuss would be great!

[@NevTheDeranged]

if only you could do this with conversations irl...

[@Revacholiere]

The conversation system sounds a little similar to how Symphony of War (a tactical RPG) does it, with optional conversations between characters in a separate menu between missions

[@Ipsenscastle]

Tom, I’m very hyped for TBW, but a more pressing matter has leapt to my attention: where did you get that shirt? I need ittttt

[@diestormlie]

Can't wait for TBW to release, myself!

[@scotchbox]

If you need a fancy RP VO, I'd love to be involved with this wonderful project.

[@loop4x454]

When could i try this game, in a beta or early access version perhaps?

[@user-zc5hu9ik9l]

Is early access guaranteed?

[@MaxRenke]

playtest when?

[@error17_]

Youre breaching finger nail length tolerance