Introductions:
Hey guys! I'm Vystirch, a long time Spacetime player and forum junkie. I am an Alpha Titan for Call of Champions and the writer of this Chronicle. In today's Chronicle we will be discussing the gameplay behind the "buffs and altar." We also have a series of 3 videos released by STS. They cover last week and this week's gameplay foundations, plus a surprise subject matter. Towards the end of todays issue we will have an interview with both an STS staff member and a Titan.
If you missed Call of Champions Chronicle: Issue 1 then you can read it here.
Gameplay Foundation: Power-Ups and the Altar
In the center of the battlefield is an area hidden in a shroud. Not keeping vision on it can be quite dangerous. In this neutral area you will find 2 power-up spawns and the altar. The two spawn points randomly generate 1 of 4 possible power-ups. The 4 power-ups and their buffs are:
Speed - Increases movement speed.
Defense - Increases armor statistics.
Attack - Increases damage statistics.
Haste - Gives cool down reduction on skills.
Picking up any of these power-ups gives you 30 seconds of time to take advantage of the associated buff. After the 30 seconds is up you lose the power-up and a new one is generated at the same spawn point. If you die while a power-up is still active on you then you will "poop it" out according to Cinco's choice wording ;) The buff will then remain at the location you died at until it times out or another player picks it up. If another player picks it up then they will also get 30 seconds with the power-up. Making it possible to keep a single buff active the whole game if no one ever is able to survive 30 whole seconds with it on them. http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/...pskgijzjps.jpg
The altar located in the exact center of the battlefield offers the ability to share any power-up that is active on you to your whole team.You can do this by simply standing on the altar for 5 seconds. It will then redistribute and refresh your power-up to you and your 2 allies if they are alive at the time the channel is finished. Sorry... dead people don't get benefits. The power-up now on your whole team is a stronger version of the one that was previously only on you earlier, and your team has 30 seconds with it! http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/...psy9xrkpcn.jpg
While channeling a power-up on the altar you are vulnerable to attack. Also while you are channeling the enemy team is made aware by an indicator on the minimap. Attacking or moving while channeling will interrupt it and you will have to start all over again. Also you can be interrupted by the enemy team. All they have to do is land a hard CC (stun, root, freeze) on you and the channel will be interrupted.
Controlling these power-ups and keeping a keen eye on the altar is a key factor to winning any game. Use them wisely and you will have amazing offensive pushes and gain extreme staying power defensively! For a short video explanation on power-ups look in the media section up next.
Chronicle Interview: Terrain
[Vystirch] Hi Terrain, it is wonderful to have you with us today for the Chronicle.
[Terrain] It’s great to be here. The weather is great today.
[Vystirch] Most of you will know Terrain as Roberto077 from these very forums. He has been with the forums since January 2012. He became an Alpha Titan as one of my personal invites. So Terrain how did you first get introduced to video games? What is your favorite video game?
[Terrain] I was first introduced to video games, or at least the first I owned was Donkey Kong Country on the Gameboy Advanced. I really got hooked into gaming when I first played Star Wars Battlefront and Halo 3. I loved to play Halo until around 2010 when I got my IPod and was able to play online for the first time, since I could not afford xbox live.
[Vystirch] Those are great games! How do they translate into your interest for Call of Champions?
[Terrain] There is a long story of how I came to enjoy MOBA games. Back when I was in middle school I used to talk to a friend all the time about Halo and Star Wars Battlefront. Eventually I started playing a mobile MMO called Graal and I really enjoyed the social aspect, but I wanted to go more in-depth in mmorpg games, so I started playing Pocket Legends. In 2011, the friend I spoke with about Halo found out about this hybrid PvP/MMO style game called League of Legends. Due to my interest in the competitive Halo scene and MMO games, he suggested I try playing it. I did not own a computer until about 6 months later but then I started playing League. Then the MOBA interest from League translated into Champs.
[Vystirch] What has been the most rewarding part of being a "Champs" Titan?
[Terrain] I think the most rewarding part is yet to come. I think when the game is ready to be released and shared with the world, we will see if what we did helped.
[Vystirch] Looking at CoC what do you think is its the most revolutionary or new concept in the game?
[Terrain] I think the system of the lane pushing mechanic is very creative towards shortening game length while keeping in depth action and fighting relevant. Although I love the satisfaction of last hitting in League and watching that mad cash flow in, I think the ball mechanic is a great replacement.
[Vystirch] Would you describe this concept to us more fully and explain how it makes an impact?
[Terrain] [Terrain] In League of Legends, for example, minions, or creeps, spawn in lanes on each side and walk straight down towards the middle of the lane. Players in the lane will kill the minions for gold and xp until the minion wave reaches the enemy turret. When allied minions are within the enemy turrets firing range, you will be safe to hit the turret without taking damage and deal more damage to the turret. The ball mechanic does pretty much the same thing (disregarding gold/xp of course), reduces turret damage to you when on the turret, but minion wave pushing can be manipulated based on how fast you wipe the enemy minions or how many you have, effectively causing the push to be more focused on gold and xp than going towards the turret. The ball mechanic makes pushing completely focused on the taking of turrets and, as a result, speeding up the games pace.
[Vystirch] That is awesome. We have seen that CoC is meant to be a competitive game for the eSport scene. How do you see this being accomplished?
[Terrain] I think it will definitely start with the forming of a meta: what team comps/champions work when and why. I think the strategic and competitive scene will flourish once people figure out counter-picks and teamwork/strategy.
[Vystirch] I understand you have a smaller device you are play testing the alpha on. What device do you have? How well do you feel Call of Champions runs on smaller devices?
[Terrain] I am running Call of Champions on an IPod 5th Generation with a good 20 or so fps (similar to that of Arcane Legends). It feels really smooth to play despite minor disadvantages through the smaller UI.
[Vystirch] What has been your favorite champion to play? Can you explain why?
[Terrain] I have really enjoyed both Khalid and Cinder. Khalid feels like a very solid support and tanky fighter due to his variety of CC, defensive boosts, a heal, and offensive boosts for teammates. Cinder just kills stuff to fast and has a really ping-pong style CC chain with a stun, knockback, and pull. She will probably be subject to a nerf (sorry Thade).
[Vystirch] Nice, I like that champion also. Last question, what has been the best moment you have had from participating in this alpha thus far?
[Terrain] On my second game (Cinder), both teams had the wall down with the same kills and towers taken and our Nexus (or base) was at around 2 hits from dying when my teammate back doored and saved us the game last second.
[Vystirch] Thank you for being with us today Terrain. It has been a honor talking with you.
Chronicle Interview: Thade
[Vystirch] Hi Neal(Thade), glad to have you with us for the Chronicle.
[Vystirch] Neal(Thade) is a producer at Spacetime studios, and has been with the company for over 4 years. Neal has worked in a production capacity on all new development beginning with Star Legends. He has also at times worked as a live producer on most of the Spacetime titles. Neal is currently the Development “Game” Producer for Call of Champions.
[Vystirch] I understand your an avid MOBA player, what was the first MOBA you played?
[Thade] I began playing MOBAs with the DotA mod early on in Warcraft 3. I quickly became hooked, and stopped playing the actual RTS to focus on the DotA mod.
[Vystirch] What MOBAs do you currently play? Why are you so enthralled/captured by the genre?
[Thade] I currently play League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm regularly. I also play Vainglory with coworkers in the office from time to time.
[Vystirch] Why are you so enthralled/captured by the genre?
[Thade] I am a very competitive person, and began playing competitive games with my friends as early Warcraft and Command & Conquer back when you had to use your 28.8k modem to connect directly to one another. I think my love of PvP MMOs like Dark Age of Camelot and Shadowbane lead me to immediately latch on to MOBAs. What is a MOBA, but a match-based quickie PvP MMO? You gain experience, loot gold, kill bosses, purchase and craft items, and murder the heck out of enemy players while burning down their castle.
[Vystirch] Understanding now your great love for MOBAs how would you like to see Call of Champions' potential unfold?
[Thade] I hope to see Call of Champions become every MOBA players go to mobile MOBA, as well as generating a competitive Esports scene with a lower barrier to entry than traditional PC titles.
[Vystirch] Working on Call of Champions has been your dream project come true. What does the experience of playing CoC in its current alpha stage do to encourage you?
[Thade] I have a hell of a lot of fun pwning my coworkers and those of you in the early stages of the Alpha. I love how the quick games cause such intensity, and excitement. With 5 minute matches, every game is a bloodbath. Tons of games are decided in the final seconds, and even the games which are more one sided are exciting and can turn on a single bad fight.
[Vystirch] Do you feel "Champs" is missing any core mechanics that exist in the leading MOBAs that would be off putting to seasoned players of those games?
[Thade] I think Call of Champions Ranked features will be very telling for the game. We have to get Ranked features right to be compelling to players like myself who want to climb to the top by way of my enemies corpses!
[Thade]I expect many MOBA players will look at Call of Champions and think it is a dumbed down MOBA. I felt the same was the first time I tried League of Legends beta. As an early Heroes of Newerth evangelist I thought losing creep denial, granting all players free recalls, and other changes made League an inferior care bear MOBA. It took me a while to realize that many of these changes made League of Legends more fun. In Call of Champions, it is the same. We refined the mechanics and created the most intense and rewarding MOBA experience on any platform.
[Vystirch] How easy will CoC be to pick up for players not even familiar with the MOBA genre?
[Thade] Very, we’ve reduced the MOBA to those elements which matter most. We’ve also made Call of Champions more accessible than any MOBA before it.
[Vystirch] What is your favorite champions in CoC and why?
[Thade] Cinder, Cinder, Cinder. I took to Cinder right off. Cinder was the first skillshot/ground target intensive champion we created, and she has changed the least from her initial design. I love the threat Cinder presents, and her high skill threshold. There is nothing more pleasing to me than showing another Cinder player, who’s boss.
[Vystirch] To date, what has been the best moment you have experienced by developing Call of Champions?
[Thade] The Call of Champions booth at SXSW, hands down. I can’t hope to properly explain how validating SXSW was for me. To the average gamer walking into SXSW, Call of Champions was an unknown game made by an small obscure developer. Within the first day of SXSW players were lining up for over an hour to play a 5 minutes match of Call of Champions. I think one group of players made it through the line more than 10 times. SXSW really validated for me, that we have a great game!
[Vystirch] Thank you so much for joining me today for this interview. It has been a pleasure to talk with you.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading the second issue of the Call of Champions Chronicles.
Currently the Call of Champions Video Contest is going on right now. The 6 winners of the contest will become T2 Alpha Legends for CoC. There are many good entries to view and lend your support to. You can view a list of the entries here. If you would like to submit your own entry and get in on the fun you can find out how here.
To get a closer look at CoC come watch and support these Twitch and YouTube channels.
Click the follow button for all these channels to get notified when they start streaming or add new content.
Check back next Friday for issue 3, where you will learn about the gameplay foundation of the structures.
-Vys
05-08-2015, 02:03 AM
IamRegi
Nice chronicle and say you pick up a power up "speed" and you kill someone with the power up "Damage increase" will your have two power ups or only the first one all in all can you have multiple power ups?
05-08-2015, 03:43 PM
Vystirch
Quote:
Originally Posted by IamRegi
Nice chronicle and say you pick up a power up "speed" and you kill someone with the power up "Damage increase" will your have two power ups or only the first one all in all can you have multiple power ups?
Great question. Currently it appears that picking up a power-up replaces the one currently on you.
-Vys
05-09-2015, 12:25 AM
DivineMoustache
Interesting to see that Thade also plays Vainglory occasionally. If he sees this -- Thade, what are your dissatisfactions with VG and what are your positive feelings about VG? How do you think they will compare?
I actually think the two games will have a good synergy. When VG has a queue cooldown, you can get in a 5 min. CoC match. The time limit is very convenient!
05-09-2015, 12:19 PM
XghostzX
Looking good!
05-09-2015, 08:43 PM
Glorbuk
Keep at it Vys! Love em'
05-14-2015, 10:16 PM
Vystirch
This past week has been the busiest ever! Next issue postponed to this Saturday instead of Friday.
-Vys
05-14-2015, 10:32 PM
Hahahahabirdy
Quote:
Originally Posted by DivineMoustache
Interesting to see that Thade also plays Vainglory occasionally. If he sees this -- Thade, what are your dissatisfactions with VG and what are your positive feelings about VG? How do you think they will compare?
I actually think the two games will have a good synergy. When VG has a queue cooldown, you can get in a 5 min. CoC match. The time limit is very convenient!
This! I am very curious about the comparisons between the two!
@Divine Could you tell us your thoughts when you get a chance?
05-14-2015, 10:36 PM
DivineMoustache
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hahahahabirdy
This! I am very curious about the comparisons between the two!
@Divine Could you tell us your thoughts when you get a chance?
Definitely. That's a great idea! Now I just need JustG to respond to my PM, lol! I'm so hyper and ecstatic atm!
05-14-2015, 10:37 PM
Glorbuk
Quote:
Originally Posted by DivineMoustache
Definitely. That's a great idea! Now I just need JustG to respond to my PM, lol! I'm so hyper and ecstatic atm!
Right! He won't respond to mine either, haha. Waiting to get my gameplay on.
05-14-2015, 11:04 PM
Hahahahabirdy
Quote:
Originally Posted by DivineMoustache
Definitely. That's a great idea! Now I just need JustG to respond to my PM, lol! I'm so hyper and ecstatic atm!
Awesome, looking forward to it! Vainglory is the cream of the crop of mobile MOBAs so it'd be great to see how CoC stacks up! VG is eating up too much of my time, I gotta find something new!
05-17-2015, 08:23 PM
DivineMoustache
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hahahahabirdy
Awesome, looking forward to it! Vainglory is the cream of the crop of mobile MOBAs so it'd be great to see how CoC stacks up! VG is eating up too much of my time, I gotta find something new!
Writing something huge up. May take around a week as I'm busy with other projects as well, but expect it sometime soon!
05-17-2015, 09:41 PM
Vystirch
Writing up the next 4 weeks of issues. As I will be on vacation and traveling to referee the next 4 weeks. Issue 3 should be posted some time tonight or tomorrow and issues 4, 5, and 6 will be back on fridays again.
@DivineMoustache I can't wait to read that write-up!
