Heralds of The Order - Turn based tactics focusing to the genres core principals

[Archean Games]

Heralds of the Order is a turn-based strategy game boiled down to the genre's core principles. Utilize positioning and abilities with elaborate patterns to achieve victory! Featuring hand drawn art and over 20 story chapters.

Free demo available on our website: http://heraldsoftheorder.com

If you have the time, consider filling out this survey to let us know what you thought about our demo: https://goo.gl/forms/ppfnKDGCdfyBpgbI2

Story
Maala, the realm without gods, finds itself on the verge of catastrophe. Objects of ancient power resurface, triggering a race to claim them, one that promises to engulf the world in war. It is your duty as a Patronus of the Order to go forth and restore balance. Along the way you will find new allies and face countless foes, as the line between myth and reality shatters.



Key Features
-Turnbased tactical combat boiled down to it's core priciples.
-A sprawling story that will take you on a gripping journey across Maala.
-8 party members each with their unique motivations and abilities.
-Hand drawn and traditional rotoscoped animations.
-Over 20 handcrafted missions taking place in 6 unique environments.
-Adapt your strategy! Customize your parties stats and chose from the numerous God Powers to overcome the chalanges ahead of you.
-Unique boss fights with devastating attacks.



Combat Features
-Abilities with elaborate patterns.
-Positioning, flanking and countering the enemy's defences are the key to victory.
-Various boons and hazzards are scatered around the terrain.
-Unique energy management system that determines the ebb and flow of combat.
-Devastating God Powers which can alter the course of combat.

[Jubal]

Just got my response submitted I enjoyed the demo, completed the mission after three tries - I do like this sort of tactical combat game. I wasn't sure what the yellow power bars were really doing or what used them up which didn't help I suspect.

Also, welcome to Exilian! If you need anything or if we can be any help just give me a shout, I'm the current chair/head admin and executive officer of the site

[Archean Games]

Just got my response submitted I enjoyed the demo, completed the mission after three tries - I do like this sort of tactical combat game. I wasn't sure what the yellow power bars were really doing or what used them up which didn't help I suspect.

Also, welcome to Exilian! If you need anything or if we can be any help just give me a shout, I'm the current chair/head admin and executive officer of the site

Hi! Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback. The yellow bar is the units energy and determines the turn order. The unit whoes bar fills up first is the that get the turn. It's used up when a unit ends their turn and actions taken taken during the turn, like how far did the unit move or did the unit attack, determine how much of it get's used up.

And thank you for the warm welcome! I'll be sure to contact you if there's something we need.

[Jubal]

OK, I've had a couple more games and I can now get the win reasonably easily now I've worked out how to manage energy better and use the god power properly.

There seem to be some occasions where I get to make multiple attacks (as in, I make the attack, and then the red marker for the attack is still showing and I can do it a second time), though usually I can only make one, and I can't work out when multiple attacks is triggered - is this a bug or a feature?

Also I just checked the windowed mode - it has part of the UI cut off at the bottom for me.

[Archean Games]

OK, I've had a couple more games and I can now get the win reasonably easily now I've worked out how to manage energy better and use the god power properly.

There seem to be some occasions where I get to make multiple attacks (as in, I make the attack, and then the red marker for the attack is still showing and I can do it a second time), though usually I can only make one, and I can't work out when multiple attacks is triggered - is this a bug or a feature?

Also I just checked the windowed mode - it has part of the UI cut off at the bottom for me.

The double attack thing is a bug. We'll look into it thanks!

[Jubal]

Ah, OK

Ooh, a further question - what are the symbols that appear over unit's heads (the yellow symbolic circles/triangles/squares)? I've not worked out those yet either.

[Archean Games]

Ah, OK

Ooh, a further question - what are the symbols that appear over unit's heads (the yellow symbolic circles/triangles/squares)? I've not worked out those yet either.

They display a units resistance levels: Grey means the unit has a high resistance against the damage type, bronze means that the unit has a medium level of defence and yellow means the unit is weak to that element.

[Jubal]

Aha, OK, got it is there any underlying logic to which attacks and vulnerabilities are alpha/beta/gamma in type, or is it just varied according to gameplay need?

[Clockwork]

I played this and filled out the survey. The resistance levels are unintuitive it has to be said, usually gold would be best, silver middle and bronze weak. There are great reasons to break conventions but not all the time


Overall I like the game, there is a lot of thematic power to it. By that I mean that there is a clear real-world analogous identity to the fiction but still distinct.

[Archean Games]

Aha, OK, got it is there any underlying logic to which attacks and vulnerabilities are alpha/beta/gamma in type, or is it just varied according to gameplay need?

They pretty much vary according to gameplay need. Most units have too attack types and there resistance levels match the attack types they have (e.g. if a unit has an alpha ability and a gamma ability, it will have a strong defence against alpha, a mediun defence against gamma and no defence against beta). The names alpha,beta, gamma are still just placeholders.

[Archean Games]

I played this and filled out the survey. The resistance levels are unintuitive it has to be said, usually gold would be best, silver middle and bronze weak. There are great reasons to break conventions but not all the time

We've been wondering about those icons for a while now. The problem is that the player will usually see them when he's considering who to attack and in that case gold means the best option, which is the target with the weakest defence. In the end, we decided that both options would be confusing to some people so we left it as is in the hope that it would be easy to get used to.

[Clockwork]

Yeah it's not insurmountable at all, it's no more awkward than learning banner saga's health/damage/armour system or Hard West's luck system.

[Jubal]

I've still been having quick runs on this on occasion - it's the sort of game where a random map/quick battle option could be really neat in addition to the main campaign, as a "short break from work" game experience. Hope to see more soon!

[Archean Games]

I've still been having quick runs on this on occasion - it's the sort of game where a random map/quick battle option could be really neat in addition to the main campaign, as a "short break from work" game experience. Hope to see more soon!

Hm, that might be fun. We'll see if we can add something of the sort. Now we're focusing on getting the first 6 story missions of the game out.

[Jubal]

Yeah, that's a sensible start point - do post more of your devlog stuff if you get a chance, too, I enjoyed the last one.