Yes it's worth it!

[g051051]

Ugh! I say "no way"! This is very remincent of Puzzle Quest...a great idea, fun gameplay, marred by cheating AI.

[IridiumStudios]

Originally Posted by g051051

Ugh! I say "no way"! This is very remincent of Puzzle Quest...a great idea, fun gameplay, marred by cheating AI.

There is no AI. It cannot possibly cheat, because, you know, it does not exist.

The arrows that stream down are completely random (though their general density is determined by a number programmed specifically for each enemy). I can copy and paste the relevant code, if you want.

[g051051]

Originally Posted by IridiumStudios

There is no AI. It cannot possibly cheat, because, you know, it does not exist.

The arrows that stream down are completely random (though their general density is determined by a number programmed specifically for each enemy). I can copy and paste the relevant code, if you want.

Then I have the worst luck in the world. Consistently, literally every single time I triggered an attack and switched over to the spells section, I'd be forced to switch back to defend without getting the spell off. After which I'd sit and watch an empty defense section with no attack coming down while the clock ticked away, until I finally triggered a spell...rinse and repeat. I lost 50% of the time to the clock, and the other 50% to trying to beat the "AI" by brute force (and failing).

P.S. Would love to see the code...what's it written in?

[setzway]

Originally Posted by g051051

Then I have the worst luck in the world. Consistently, literally every single time I triggered an attack and switched over to the spells section, I'd be forced to switch back to defend without getting the spell off. After which I'd sit and watch an empty defense section with no attack coming down while the clock ticked away, until I finally triggered a spell...rinse and repeat. I lost 50% of the time to the clock, and the other 50% to trying to beat the "AI" by brute force (and failing).

P.S. Would love to see the code...what's it written in?

Then you might want to try getting better at the timing. Each enemy has a "flow" of when it attacks. Some enemies rattle off 2-6 arrows at once for it's attack, pauses for 2-3 seconds then another 5 arrows, pauses then another 3 arrows and then stops for a good 5-10 seconds. Then you get other enemies that do one big arrow drop of like 10-20 and then pause for about 2-4 seconds and drop a 4 arrow and then go back into their 10-20 drop.

It's difficult at first but you usually get the "feel" of how the enemy attacks and when to defend and when to cast. Likewise sometimes you have to take the 3-7 arrow hit in order to get off one of your hard hitting spells/chains.

I never played any rythem game, but I didn't have to much trouble. I disagree with your assesment of the "AI" being like Puzzle Quest...trust me, Puzzle Quest is super cheating, but Sequence is pretty straight forward once you learn the enemies "flow".

[g051051]

I didn't see that behavior. I saw that every time, without fail, that I'd trigger a spell, the "AI" would dump gems at the same time. If I waited, it would take ages before dropping any gems, and would immediately drop more when I switched to spells.

The Puzzle Quest guys always claimed their AI was fair, too.

Originally Posted by setzway

Then you might want to try getting better at the timing. Each enemy has a "flow" of when it attacks. Some enemies rattle off 2-6 arrows at once for it's attack, pauses for 2-3 seconds then another 5 arrows, pauses then another 3 arrows and then stops for a good 5-10 seconds. Then you get other enemies that do one big arrow drop of like 10-20 and then pause for about 2-4 seconds and drop a 4 arrow and then go back into their 10-20 drop.

It's difficult at first but you usually get the "feel" of how the enemy attacks and when to defend and when to cast. Likewise sometimes you have to take the 3-7 arrow hit in order to get off one of your hard hitting spells/chains.

I never played any rythem game, but I didn't have to much trouble. I disagree with your assesment of the "AI" being like Puzzle Quest...trust me, Puzzle Quest is super cheating, but Sequence is pretty straight forward once you learn the enemies "flow".

[setzway]

Originally Posted by g051051

I didn't see that behavior. I saw that every time, without fail, that I'd trigger a spell, the "AI" would dump gems at the same time. If I waited, it would take ages before dropping any gems, and would immediately drop more when I switched to spells.

The Puzzle Quest guys always claimed their AI was fair, too.

Perhaps it's the difficulty you are on? I have only ever gotten to beat Hard. I will admit though, some of the higher end enemies are really tough since their attacks last sooo long. Perfect example is one of the "yeti" monsters, he almost never stops attacking...

I don't really have much more advice to give you. The bosses are tough though, they have a habit of pausing and "waiting" for you to trigger a spell then attack. Have you been synthing the limiters? I know some floors have the guardian's ability make things go faster/attack faster.

[IridiumStudios]

C# with XNA.

            int i, defSeq;
            Random rand = new Random();
            int[] x;

            if (rand.Next(1000) < gapPercentage)
            {
                x = subSeqs[subSeqs.Length - 5 + (int)MathHelper.Clamp(enemies[currentEnemy].gapLength[difficulty] / 20 + (float)(3.0 * rand.NextDouble()) - 1, 0, 4)];
                gapPercentage -= 10 * x.Length;
            }
            else
            {
                x = subSeqs[(int)MathHelper.Clamp(enemies[currentEnemy].stepDifficulty[difficulty] + rand.Next(40) - 20, 0, subSeqs.Length - 5)];
                gapPercentage += enemies[currentEnemy].gapFrequency[difficulty] * x.Length;
            }

Important information:

- This code is called on every "beat" of the music (according to a stored BPM value)

- gapPercentage is a number from 1 to 1000. The higher it is, the more likely that the first code block (which inserts "gaps" of no arrows) will execute. This value decreases steadily every beat that no actual arrows are inserted.

- If the second code block executes, arrows are inserted (depending on arrow step pattern difficulty, saved as the array stepDifficulty and indexed by the player's saved difficulty level), and gapPercentage is reset according to a programmed value gapFrequency. The higher this number is, the higher gapPercentage will be, thus creating more time between arrow insertions.

Let me know if you have any questions. This is DIRECTLY copied and pasted from the source code. As you can see, it does not in any way reference player input or values from the offensive/mana fields.

[g051051]

You guys certainly get full props from me for customer service...unheard of for devs to respond on a forum with real source code.

I retract my accusations about cheating AI.

I don't have an explanation based on this snippet. All I can tell you is what I observed, and that's consistent behavior that looked like "cheating". I understand that it's not "cheating", but it seemed so deliberate that I simply couldn't imagine it as being bad luck/accidental.

Originally Posted by IridiumStudios

C# with XNA.

            int i, defSeq;
            Random rand = new Random();
            int[] x;

            if (rand.Next(1000) < gapPercentage)
            {
                x = subSeqs[subSeqs.Length - 5 + (int)MathHelper.Clamp(enemies[currentEnemy].gapLength[difficulty] / 20 + (float)(3.0 * rand.NextDouble()) - 1, 0, 4)];
                gapPercentage -= 10 * x.Length;
            }
            else
            {
                x = subSeqs[(int)MathHelper.Clamp(enemies[currentEnemy].stepDifficulty[difficulty] + rand.Next(40) - 20, 0, subSeqs.Length - 5)];
                gapPercentage += enemies[currentEnemy].gapFrequency[difficulty] * x.Length;
            }

Important information:

- This code is called on every "beat" of the music (according to a stored BPM value)

- gapPercentage is a number from 1 to 1000. The higher it is, the more likely that the first code block (which inserts "gaps" of no arrows) will execute. This value decreases steadily every beat that no actual arrows are inserted.

- If the second code block executes, arrows are inserted (depending on arrow step pattern difficulty, saved as the array stepDifficulty and indexed by the player's saved difficulty level), and gapPercentage is reset according to a programmed value gapFrequency. The higher this number is, the higher gapPercentage will be, thus creating more time between arrow insertions.

Let me know if you have any questions. This is DIRECTLY copied and pasted from the source code. As you can see, it does not in any way reference player input or values from the offensive/mana fields.

[g051051]

Well, just tried it again, and got my behind handed to me again, in the exact same way. Long stretches of no attacks, followed by a rain of gems as soon as I trigger a spell and switch. I just don't see how it could be luck...and this is still in the first area after the tutorial!

[IridiumStudios]

I think what's happening is that you're waiting for a natural break in the arrows to cast your spell, which is logical. But remember, all arrows are "inserted" above the visible fields, so by the time you see the gap, the gapPercentage is already pretty low.

So, by the time your spell comes down, the gap is already over and you feel like your spells are always overlapping with the enemy's. In this way the game rewards multitasking: try to cast your spell during an enemy sequence, or if you see a gap coming up. Hopefully, your spell will land right in the negative space.

[g051051]

I think I get what you're saying, and it seems counterintuitive. I'll try that strategy and see what happens.

Originally Posted by IridiumStudios

I think what's happening is that you're waiting for a natural break in the arrows to cast your spell, which is logical. But remember, all arrows are "inserted" above the visible fields, so by the time you see the gap, the gapPercentage is already pretty low.

So, by the time your spell comes down, the gap is already over and you feel like your spells are always overlapping with the enemy's. In this way the game rewards multitasking: try to cast your spell during an enemy sequence, or if you see a gap coming up. Hopefully, your spell will land right in the negative space.

[Rokanon]

Seriously, providing the actual code is an unusually powerful gesture, and ultimately more than these complaints deserve.

I am always really interested in this behind-the-scenes stuff, though. The guy from Coldbeam talked a lot about the "pressure levels" that inform the procedural content in Beat Hazard. The guy from Puppygames talked rather precisely about the systems that underlie creep movement calculations in Revenge of the Titans. Now we've got some understanding of the processes governing beats in Sequence.

I understand that from a competitive aspect you don't want to reveal too much about how the sausage is made. But opening up dialogues about design like this is really helpful for games on the whole, I think. As a consumer it's easy to overlook some aspect of the design that I imagine, as developers, you are very proud of. Exchanges like this give it a chance to shine.

[FreshHalibut]

Late to the party, but I figure I'll post this for any future prospective players.

Just beat the game and loved every second of it.

-Great Soundtrack (Which I must now go find)
-Great Gameplay (Depends on the person, I like rhythm games.)
-Great Humor (Seriously, I love getting new items just to read the descriptions.)
-Great Characters (Bosses were Genius)
-Great Visuals (Love the artstyle, love the art.)

Not to mention it's a steal at five bucks.
Store page isn't lying, I got 10ish hours out of the campaign which is fantastic for a game this inexpensive.

[Schmole]

Originally Posted by FreshHalibut

Late to the party, but I figure I'll post this for any future prospective players.

Just beat the game and loved every second of it.

-Great Soundtrack (Which I must now go find)
-Great Gameplay (Depends on the person, I like rhythm games.)
-Great Humor (Seriously, I love getting new items just to read the descriptions.)
-Great Characters (Bosses were Genius)
-Great Visuals (Love the artstyle, love the art.)

Not to mention it's a steal at five bucks.
Store page isn't lying, I got 10ish hours out of the campaign which is fantastic for a game this inexpensive.

I was going to come in here to post my thanks for the awesome game as well, but it appears someone's concisely summed up all my thoughts into one post already!

...I'll just quote it an be on my way :P

(absolutely awesome game Iridium! loved it to bits )