Eleptoclypse (PC Tickle Game)

[Ilohnoh1]

Update: Dan Zhang has written a
[ame="http://www.tickletheater.com/showpost.php?p=514191&postcount=84"]Strategy guide and comprehensive card overview[/ame] for Eleptoclypse. Quite a read but is bound to help some people to conquer this beast!

-> -> [ame="http://www.tickletheater.com/showpost.php?p=513603&postcount=71"]PATCH ELEPTOCLYPSE 1.1 AVAILABLE[/ame] <- <-

GAME HAS BEEN RELEASED!
Please read below for instructions on how to download, install, start it.

- - ELEPTOCLYPSE - -

WARNING: Contains some nudity!
WARNING: The game is addictive!
WARNING: Contains mature content! (tickling of private areas and a tickle orgasm not excluded)

NOTE: The game is for PC only (but it might run on a Mac with PC emulator - this has not been tested).
NOTE: The game is designed as /F mainly, but a non-graphical mode for /M is available (see customization).
NOTE: All characters in the game are adults and so should you be if you want to play this game!
NOTE: The game is scanned with the latest version of Avast virus scanner, no virusses found.
NOTE: The game is created for your pleasure and does not contain any form of malware.
NOTE: I am not taking any responsibility in case damages, problems or other unwanted effects occur to you or your system.
NOTE: You can play this game for free and are allowed to copy or give away without consent in its unchanged installation form.
NOTE: This game is not suitable for playing at work or other non-private environments.
NOTE: The game is roughly 7 MB (installation size as well as installed size)
NOTE: Maybe you'll find the pub-matches boring, maybe not. The real fun begins in the cave!

INFO: The images on the cards are based on the tickle comic 'Jen', to which you can find a link in my signature if you're interested.


Installation instructions
=========================
1. Download both zip files (EC-inst1.zip and EC-inst2.zip)
2. Extract (unzip) both of these files into the same folder (using WinZip preferably, trial versions are avialable on the internet)
3. The result is six files: setup.exe, setup.lst, elepto1.cab, elepto2.cab, elepto3.cab and Readme.txt
4. Run the setup.exe file (double click it)
5. You should see the setup screen now. Press the button 'ok'
6. Change the folder in which you want the game installed if other than what is shown.
7. Click on the big square button with the picture of the computer on it.
8. Select a different 'program group' if you want to and press the button 'Continue'.
9. Wait till the setup finishes. Close the setup.

After the installation
======================
1. You can delete the zip files and installation files (which were extracted) if you want to.
2. If you want to customize the game, please see below under 'customization'.
3. Unless you changed the program group (see above) you can start the game by pressing the
Windows "Start" button (bottom left of your screen), from there it is under programs and games.

Customization
=============
1. You can do a little customization to the game to make it most comfortable for you, or play a little
and check out the different options later.
2. To customize the game, you have to first locate the folder in which it has been installed.
The default folder is c:\Program files\Eleptoclypse.
3. In this folder you should find a file called Eleptoclypse.ini. Double click to open it.
4. There are some instructions and explanations of each of the settings on top, the settings themselves
are found below it.
5. Change the settings you wish to change and then save the file. If you had already started the game,
you will have to close it and restart it before the settings take effect.

Running the game first time
===========================
1. The first time you start up the game, you should get a black screen with the text "Welcome to
Eleptoclypse". If you entered wide screen mode then you will see that background twice.
2. The game now queries for your REAL LIFE gender. Don't worry, this will not go anywhere outside the
game, it is just so that the program knows whether the NPCs (Opponents, trainers and bartender)
should address you as a man or a woman. The story parts and combat phrases will also be looking at
your gender and be modified accordingly.
3. Gender does NOT influence your strengths/cleverness/statistics or flow of the game, it is purely
there because you have a gender.
4. After choosing your gender you will get three messages to update you on "the story so far..."
5. After you have 'Okayed' these you find yourself in the local pub and the game starts.
6. Note: After this first start you should not get any error messages anymore upon startup, neither
will you have to choose your gender. You will always re-enter the game where you left off, with
the exception that if you quit during a tickle fight, the tickle fight will not be resumed next time.

What to do next?
================
1. Once you have arrived in the pub, it might be a good idea to check out the people in it. It might be useful to start with the bartender. Press the button "Bartender" to start talking with him.
2. Three different buttons take you through a conversation of your choice, one of them is a very brief explanation on how 'the tickle fighting' works. A more thorough description of how the game basics work can be found a bit further down this thread. If all of that is not enough, you might want to just try it out and experiment... or if you have questions, feel free to respond to this thread, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.
3. While you COuLD already dive into the cave right away... it might be smarter to first train a little in the pub... for one thing, you still have to get used to the way the game is played, the cards, their strengths and weaknesses, etc. In addition to that all the fights in the pub are in SAFE mode. Losing won't harm you here, while in the cave your opponent will run off with one of your hard earned cards. While there is no penalty for losing in the pub, you can gain new cards if you win!
4. Before you start to play, or after you have tried it a little, it might be a good idea to have a look at your card deck. You can do this by pressing the 'Deck' button in the top left. It will open a window showing your library on top (all the cards that you have) and the play-deck at the bottom. If you have not won any new cards yet, there's nothing you can customize because the minimum play-deck size is 20 cards and you start off with an unlimited amount of five different cards. With the limit of 4 cards of the same type in your play-deck, your starting deck can only be 4 cards of each 5 types you start with.
5. Once you have seen what cards you have and won one or more DIFFERENT cards from your trainer, then you can start adding and replacing... or mixing and matching to get a deck that you think is most powerful or that suits your playing strategy best. For you maybe a full fledged tickle war is the way to victory, but there are many ways to reach victory. Ultimately all of them will revolve around tickling anyway you look at it.
6. You do not need to save anything (anywhere in the game), this happens automatically. After you have customized your playing deck then you can simply close the window by pressing the red square on the right top. From that moment on you will be using the cards that you put in your play-deck.
7. When you feel ready for the real deal, you can press the button "to cave" and start the big adventure. While the first level trainers have exactly the same play-deck as the level 1 trainer, you will see that on the following levels trainers and cave-lurkers will have slightly different cards. So do a good job to collect the cards you like from each of them.
8. Note that the beginning of the game is basically more difficult than when you get a bit higher up. This is because you don't yet have such a wide range of different cards/strategies at your disposal and the opponent has pretty much the same as you do. In addition, cave inhabitants get to start first, which gives them a little extra advantage. This all adds up to making the start rather rough. I noticed this especially after having played through the end levels for a number of days and then again starting from scratch for the final play-testing. It's something you will have to just work yourself through. If you find it hard to win in the beginning, know that things will improve with good strategy when you have more choice of cards at your disposal.

Starting over
=============
As mentioned above, your game progress is automatically saved. This results in the fact that while you can keep playing (even when you have beaten the final boss opponent) you can not actually go back to the beginning and start off from level 1 and build up your card deck again. There is a way to do this, however. In the folder where you have installed the game "Eleptoclypse" you will find a file called "ResetGame.bat". Doubleclicking this file will reset the entire game, remove all your cards and gained levels, rewards, etc. So make absolutely sure you want to do this before running the file. After doing this you will find out that an error message pops up when you try to start the game. Don't worry, this happens because all data is suddenly gone, but it will also only happen this once. The default data will be loaded and you will have to manually set up your starter deck this time (4 of each card that you find enabled in your library). When you have done that everything continues as it did when you started the game the very first time.

General tips
============
1. To reach a level, you have to win at least 5 games against a trainer of your own level and win at least 5 games against a cave inhabitant of your own level or higher. If you see that your exp number isn't raising anymore even though you keep on winning fights, it would be a good idea to go back to the pub (or to the cave if you are in the pub) and score a few more wins there.
2. Make sure that you collect a healthy amount of cards of the type that you like to use. Whenever you lose a fight in the cave you will lose a card that the opponent selected from your play deck and these will be automatically replenished from your library... if possible! So, if you have four cards of a certain type and you lose all of them in a fight, you will find that you don't have that card anymore.
3. Trainers will only train you while they still have some skill they can teach you. Once you become more experienced than they are they will stop giving you training. Therefore it is a good idea to get the cards they have to offer while you can, but in most cases you will see those cards reappear also on higher level opponents in the cave, so no need to get worried if you do happen to run out of a certain card.
4. Once you reach the second level two important things happen: The Rewards button becomes available and the bartender will offer the option to switch the tickle fight dialogue off. The Rewards button will take you to your own personalized certificate which shows your rank, accomplishments and your own name (you are queried for this the first time you press that button, be sure to match your name to your real life gender or it might look funny). It also takes you to a picture showing the level 1 opponents as encounter and being tickled. Every additional level you gain, another reward picture will be unlocked and once you finish the entire game (meaning you defeat the end boss) the last one is unlocked.
5. There are a couple of chests in the cave, containing new cards for you to use. In the first chests you will find cards that you might see reappear on higher level opponents as well, but nearing the lowest floors of the cave there are a couple of really limited or rare cards. If you like them, better try not to lose them!
6. The game can always be closed but you will get a warning if you try to do this during a tickle fight in the cave. This is because if you abandon a tickle fight you will lose a card. Even pressing your computer's power button will not save your stake card if you are in a fight, so the only way to keep it is to really play out the fight and win it (or escape, but this is an exceptional alternative that you might only learn at the very end). Nevertheless, if you are in a hurry, you can quit the game and close it down, just know that it comes at the cost of your stake card.
7. All of the opponents can be beaten through normal play provided that you have a play deck that is appropriate for your level and that you yourself are of an appropriate level to fight them. Going down to floor 4 is technically possible while you are still a level 1 tickle fighter, but expect the opponents to sweep the floor with you! Also, using the beginner deck against an opponent of level 4 or 5 will most likely get you crushed because even if they have similar endurance and starting advance as you, it doesn't help if they
have better cards.
8. Some of the low level cards remain useful (you will discover yourself which ones they are) while others become pretty useless once you find stronger cards. Sticking only the highest of the highest cards into your play deck is generally NOT a smart move because if the opponent drains your advance a little you will soon find out that you can't play a single card! A few cards with low play cost can save your day if they do what you need most.
9. Don't throw in the towel too early. Through my play testing (and I did a LOT of tickle fights!) I have seen plenty a fight go quite bad and then suddenly I got a chance to climb back up, destroy the opponent's chances and in fact win the match. You just need to make sure your play deck is well balanced so that a good chance remains for the cards that you might need most to turn up. Sticking 25 tickle cards into your deck and then 3 cards to recover a bit or gain some advantage back probably won't cut it. The key to getting a deck you like and that works well for you is simply experimenting. And playing several matches vs your trainer in the pub can help you a lot here as it doesn't matter if something doesn't work and if it does you can stack up on some extra cards. It's a win-win.
10. The amount of cards of each type is limited. While the starting cards list '99' (they are unlimited), other cards you gather have a limit of 20 each. This should be more than enough, even if you are losing cards regularly. Exceptions to this is that some cards simply can not be found that many to even approach that number. Chests generally contain anywhere from 1 through 3 cards (the amount is NOT random, so don't feel sad if you get only 1 card... then this is coded that way). For example the Eleptoclypse card is only one in existence, but that's also a special one: you can't lose it. And it's the strongest tickle card in the game, although you probably want to keep it for later when you get your advance up a little faster and easier.
11. Beware also that a playing deck that works NOW might not work your entire career! First of all, the higher level opponents you fight, the better cards they have. To keep your deck effective, it is recommended to customize whenever you feel you can make it better. Be especially wary of floor 8. It's common opponent is extremely cute but also extremely dangerous. She will likely make you wonder if she is overpowered but all you need to do is rethink your strategy and build your deck accordingly. Doing it right means you will not have such difficulties beating her anymore.
12. Floors generally have a common encounter (opponent of the same level as the floor number) and a smaller chance of a uncommon encounter (opponent from the floor below). You might see the higher level encounters maybe one out of ten roughly. If that happens, you'll have a tougher fight but also a chance on winning a card you haven't seen yet.
13. Once you gain your level, you will not run into opponents of that level (and lower) as frequently anymore as you did before. This makes it easier and quicker to navigate the caves, for example when you need to go back to the pub for training.
14. After level 5 there is no more training. Once you have slain the first boss opponent (you can reach level 6 before you do this) the game will take a dramatic turn and after you have talked about your accomplishments with the bartender you can descend to floor 6. From that moment on you won't have to run back and forth between the pub and floor you were fighting on anymore. Just wanted to note that to those who get frustrated about the trip getting longer and longer... the game changes a bit after level 5.
15. "Sometimes taking a step back is better than taking two steps forward". A card like "Burn the Bridges" may not seem very appealing for you to actually use, but I can tell you that in a number of tickle fights it has been the difference between losing and coming out victorious. When you can't tickle very much and your opponent seems to beat you within a few turns this card can give you the breathing space you need, gather some new advance and hopefully get the time to get a few better cards into your hands. "Burn the Bridges" is just an example of these 'utility cards', for most such cards you will certainly find excellent uses in times of need.
16. If you're totally stuck on how to put your deck together, why not take an example from your opponent? Before each fight starts you can browse through their deck to see what cards they have in their play-deck. During play you can see what their strategy is and that can possibly teach you something about how you could change your strat. Experience does not only come in numbers of won fights, it also comes through learning how to master the card game, to experiment and look at how opponents play it.
17. A final tip still about your deck. Be sure to keep a little bit track of which cards you are losing (if possible) and that your play-deck and library are still in good shape. When losing too many cards of a certain type from your library, it will not be able to replenish your play-deck anymore and you might simply run out of that card completely, which might badly impact your strategy and chances on winning. So beware of holes falling into your play deck. You WILL be warned when your play-deck gets smaller than the minimum of 20 cards (and you NEED to put new cards into the play deck before you can continue when that happens) but if you just lose a couple of cards from it (when it's bigger than 20 cards) you might not notice.

That's all. I hope you're having as much fun playing and collecting the cards as I did. Personally, especially in the beginning, it felt wonderful to gain a new level and see my cards becoming easier to play... or see them become less useful and better cards become available in their place. Personally I very easily kept forgetting to go to my deck and adjust it a little when I meant to... then I thought of it once I ran into a new opponent at which point you can't change your deck until the match is over again... at which point I had again forgotten. The fights are fun, captivating, can be challenging and hmmm... enjoy!


IloHnoH.

 

[TickleWiazard]

You should go into game making as a career

 

[Bashiku]

Help here if you need...

 

[Ilohnoh1]

You should go into game making as a career

You never know what the future will bring... but then again, I prefer to keep this as a little hobby that I can do now and then... if I make my work out of it I'm sure I don't want to do any game making in my spare-time anymore. And that means I won't be making any TK games anymore either. Having that said,... Ilo's Elo is going to be the last one for quite a while I think... but it's worth still making it.

I'll say this about the game: I'm busy developing it... but I'm also busy playing it. It is a lot more dynamic and unpredictable than any other game by me you have seen thus far, and I can say it's fun, it can be a little addictive even. This might be a game which I probably will be playing myself after the development is done. I could not do that with DTBH and Nagas really, because I already knew how it worked inside-out. This one is different. This one is not static and each of you will play it differently... or at least with a different strategy I think... because it revolves around gathering new (more powerful) things and then customizing the setup that you will be using during your play. Above all, of course it involves tickling. A LOT of tickling. And while the amount of tickle images are limited, it is abundantly supplemented by tickle descriptions. All the actions you're taking in the game step by step have a suitable but also randomized text which sort of builds a story... and this story mode takes you through a multitude of flashing tickle-fights. These stories are constructed out of a situation-dependently modified structure of around 120 different sentences. If you take the situation-dependency into account we are talking about a good 840 variations of text...

... you can switch the 'story mode' off... and just play the game quietly but I think leaving it on gives the game a LOAD more depth, because it helps putting images into your mind. And they are often more powerful than any of the pictures that we as artists have to offer.

This one is a little jewel and I know because I'm already a little addicted to it... o.o

Help here if you need...

Thanks, Bashiku. I'll send you a PM, so that if you have time you can help me with nice fresh ideas.


Edit: I attached a part of a screen shot I took. This doesn't give you an impression of what the game is about AT ALL, but it does give you a sample of tickle descriptions that are built for you during game play. The newest part of the tickle fight progress always appears on top (the rest scrolling downwards off the screen) so you should start reading at the bottom part and work your way up in this picture if you want to see everything in chronological order. Very soon I will tell you what sort of game this is, and I think that many will be quite excited about it. No, it is not a tickle action arcade... in case you are keeping your hopes up for that... it is turn based... and how it works... you'll find out soon enough if you look up this thread later.

 

[Cosmo_ac1]

this looks very promising.

 

[Aintboverd1]

Your a damn genius dude!

 

[Ilohnoh1]

So far you have seen a picture of the pub and a sample of a tickle fight description.

Today I'm treating you (or teasing?) with a scene of one of the beautiful opponents that you'll be facing during the tickle fights. She is an Assassin. (Feel free to call her a ninja as well... they're assassins too after all).

So what does this picture show you? Quite a lot more than you might think. First of all, a glimpse of the surroundings. Basically the game exists of only two places... there's the pub... and then there's the cave. Now don't underestimate the cave... the cave is BIG! The top level contains about 36 locations and below it are another four levels of similar size. Don't worry much about the size of the cave, however... you are not on an adventure a la DTBH or Nagas and you also don't have to worry about trying to spot things in the fairly dark surroundings, nor do you have to find/cover every room. Everything that matters is easy enough to see. The one thing you do have to worry about, I guess, is getting lost... and I also recommend you to have a pen and paper at hand for keeping track of the lay-out of the cave. It helps! Another thing you have to worry about is the occupants, such as this assassin. You do not need to worry about her slitting your throat... and in fact, you can't do the same to her either...

In the depths of the cave resides a queen... They call her the Tickle Queen. She has cast a spell on the cave and it also affects the whole town outside it. The spell blocks anyone from receiving physical harm by weapons, fist, etc. Of course the law enforcers can't use force to keep people from stealing or other crimes... and the cave in which she lives is filled with her minions (the assassin is one of them). You can't get by them without fighting them... but with all means of doing harm banned... there's no way to get to her and have the spell undone.

But there is one loophole. The Tickle Queen loves tickling... and tickling is the only way to have victory over someone opposing you. Only by exhausting the opponent enough so that they can't resist you any longer you gain passage past them. This has lead to a new trend: Tickle Training. The town desperately needs a hero who is skilled at tickling and can take a bit of tickling him/herself as well. Of this hero is requested to travel down to the depths of the cave and tickle-fight their way through. On the way they might learn new tricks and moves which can help them fight even more effective. You, of course, are that hero. And luckily you're not all on your own. A number of citizens have already gained a bit of skill in tickling and are more than happy to provide you some training to help you on your way.

So, that's the story behind the game.

Going back to the picture: I have spent more effort than in any game before to make the artwork as beautiful as possible. Instead of the simple colouring I usually do, I'm using more shades to give everything a bit more volume and to add more atmosphere to the scenes.

There's one other noteworthy thing you can see on the UI... and that is a button named "Deck". I won't yet say anything about this, but it will probably give some of you a very clear idea of what this game might be like... I will probably talk more about that (or confirm things) during the weekend. For now... this is all you get. Enjoy the picture.

PS: The character in the picture is a level 3 Tickle Fighter. Yes! There are levels...

 

[a1532b]

Dude, you seriously rock! Do you just spew awesomeness or what?

 

[Lummie]

Everytime I browse TT and see a new game thread by you it really makes my day.

Also, I don't know if you remember, but in the Naga's Thread I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I like the text or pictures better.
Now we get even more beautiful pictures and text, can't really ask for more.

I'm kinda wondering, since it's not an adventure game/anything of the like, it should be relatively short but it definetly sounds huuuuge O.O

Edit: I wish I could play it now... T_T;

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Everytime I browse TT and see a new game thread by you it really makes my day.

That means the time I'm investing in these is worth it. Thanks

Also, I don't know if you remember, but in the Naga's Thread I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I like the text or pictures better.
Now we get even more beautiful pictures and text, can't really ask for more.

Yes, I remember that. And I have been thinking of that while creating this game. I wonder if there are people who do not want to see the opponents at all, but rather 'picture them in their own minds'. It's fairly easy for me to build in a way to show a silhouette of an opponent and exclude the actual tickle picture (when you win a tickle fight) for those people who don't want the artwork to limit their experience. (mind you, for a good number it only enhances their experience... but I don't want to play favourites and this is in the artwork section so tickling art is definitely staying in!). Anyone interested in this option, feel free to let me know. This will exclude the trainers in the pub I'm afraid, but the majority of fights are happening in the cave anyway.

I'm kinda wondering, since it's not an adventure game/anything of the like, it should be relatively short but it definetly sounds huuuuge O.O

Short? No, I don't think you'll find this one short. On the contrary, I hope. As I mentioned in the last sentence of my previous post, there are levels (and by that I mean player & opponent levels, not cave levels). You can't beat the 'boss' of the game without levelling up and collecting more strategies/moves. You need to do training (go through tickle fights with the trainers in the pub) as well as get real experience (from tickle fights in the cave itself) in order to gain levels. Furthermore you will want to collect these strategies/moves - which you can do by winning tickle fights... of some strategies/moves you will want to have a couple duplicates because if they are good, if you have more, you can use them more frequently too (It'll all become clearer in the weekend when I talk about the game system). In the cave you can also lose some skill (not experience though) by losing fights... the trainers are kind, they have your best interest in mind... but when you're tickle fighting for REAL, there's also the catch that if you lose, you lose some skill you used (also: to be better explained in the weekend). You will be fighting a lot of tickle fights (not just a handful) and wanting to collect those nice strategies that fit your own playing strategy best. Then you want to level up and get ready for fighting the tougher tickle fighters. The assassin you saw in the picture, she's a level 3 tickle fighter. There's going to be tickle fighters up to level 7. So you'll have to run a bit back and forth between tavern and cave now and then, explore the cave (mainly finding the next floor when you're ready for tougher challenges) but here and there in the cave you might also find a chest, containing some knowledge on tickle strategies... To get there... well, you will have to fight your way through, because the cave is filled with tickle-happy baddies. And then, when you do learn new (or more) strategies, you can customize your setup in the way you think you'll be most powerful. After all, you want to come out on top. Plenty of stuff to do, in that regard. And it'll keep you busy for a good while. Depending on how much you want to 'collect more/new stuff', the game can keep you going for longer.

Enough said, for now.

Edit: I'll be including a 'quit and continue later' system, so that if you don't have time to play the whole game in one go from beginning to end, you don't need to. Basically, all the things you gained/collected, they will stay when you quit and you'll have them again next time you start the game. Makes it also easier for those that don't have big chunks of time to play, or for times when you just want to play it a bit further in a coffee break or something. (not at work, hopefully, because you know it's mature content!)

 

[Darth Vegeta]

Being an rpg game fanatic... i'm actually quite curious.
Crossreading one thing picked up my interest... LEVELING!

 

[Ilohnoh1]

I promised that I would tell something more about what kind of game this is during the weekend. There we go!

Those who paid close attention to the previous teaser pictures I posted have already seen the word "Deck" mentioned. Now this could be the deck of a ship, but it isn't. Indeed, it refers to a 'card deck'.

The game Eleptoclypse is indeed a card-game. And not just any card game, it's what they call a "customizable card game" (or CCG). Those of you who are familiar with games such as Magic the Gathering, or the Pokemon card game, this is a game quite like that! (Except that it is not a copy of those games, it works a little different and has some different rules).


First of all, for those who are unfamiliar with the concept of CCGs: Basically these are collectable cards which in Real Life you generally buy at a store. Which cards you are exactly buying you never know beforehand, there's generally a randomized set of cards in the bags/box, unless you buy a presorted starter box. You can start playing with these cards with friends, and you can always keep adding new cards to your collection by buying more 'booster packages', commonly containing some common cards, uncommon cards and a rare card. From these cards you create your play deck. For most of these CCGs they also keep national or even international contests.

So that was just the basic information... let's have a look at Eleptoclypse now. Because here you don't have to buy your cards in the shop. It works different.

When the game starts you will already have a pre-made deck to play with. You find yourself in the pub (see initial teaser picture) and there's a number of people there. You can talk to them and challenge them to a "Tickle Fight Duel". While the duel itself is considered "an actual tickle fight", the fight itself plays out by playing the cards. Each of the cards represents actions which will translate to what you are doing in the actual fight.

The bartender is a special NPC (Non-player character). You can't duel with him, but he is useful for the storyline and giving you some explanations, instructions, etc. Through him you can also switch the story-mode off (once you have reached level 2 or higher... you'll be playing in story mode for the first level, to get a hang of it and decide whether you really want to continue that or not).

Please have a look at the first screen shot attached to this post, but beware... it looks rather complex from first sight. Don't worry, you'll get used to this lay-out fast and once you know 'what is what', it'll be quite easy to handle. This game isn't as difficult to pick up as you might think from first sight.

Let me start at the left. On the top left you see some red boxes with symbols and statistics. Those are your opponent's. Generally, everything that's marked in red affects the opponent. Everything marked in green belongs to you. So indeed at the bottom left you see the same boxes in green.

The first box contains the word "Endurance". Endurance is possibly the MOST important thing in the tickle fights! Logical, of course, because if you can't endure a lot then your opponent doesn't have to tickle you for long to win. The higher your endurance, the more tickling you can endure. You see that this box contains a symbol (arrow pointing up). This is the symbol for endurance. It is in the box to help you remember that. You will see this symbol later on the playing cards as well, so you know that when you see a red arrow pointing up, it is about the opponent's endurance. When you see a green arrow on a card, it tells something about YOUR endurance.

The second box has the word "Advance" and the letter A. You probably already understand that the letter A is the symbol for 'Advance'. Once again, there's a red A and a green A. The former is your opponent's and the latter is yours. Advance is basically your aggressiveness, or your strength. You can understand that while you are being tickled heavily, it will be hard to retaliate... but e.g. when your opponent loses balance, you actually have an advantage. You might indeed see this as your 'advantage' in the fight. The height of your advantage defines what techniques (basically cards) you can use. And that brings me to the dollar sign you see on the right of the Advance number. This has nothing to do with valuta as such, but the dollar symbol is used in the meaning of "card cost". Each card has a so called "card cost". Basically, the card cost is the amount of Advance you have to have in order to be able to play that card. That's why Advance is linked to $.

Finally, there is the box with the word Level. I guess level speaks for itself. The higher your level, the tougher you are and the more difficult you are to beat. If you tickle-fight with an opponent who is lower level than you are you'll have an easy go, if you fight with someone who's tougher than you you'll have a rather hard time... but depending on strategy, your cards and a bit of luck you might still win. Your level defines your maximum Endurance (also marked in the Endurance box) and your starting Advance for each fight. On top of that, a higher level tickle fighter commonly has also a few 'better' cards in his or her hand. In the green 'Level' box you also see the word 'Exp.' This number increases through tickle fight training (with trainers in the pub) and through real field experience (in the cave outside the pub). You to have enough of both in order to gain a level.


Okay, so now we know that in the tickle fights Endurance and Advance play a big role, as well as the cards you have and play. Let's take a closer look at your card deck now. In the second screenshot you can see all the cards that you have (well, 5 at the time, there's more, you can scroll through them on the top part, called the 'library'). The bottom of the screen is your 'play deck'. Those are the cards you're shuffling and using in your next fight(s). Up to 30 cards can go into your play deck and you can drag cards from the library (on top) to your deck (on the bottom). You can see some big numbers on top of the cards. This is the amount of cards of that type that are still in the library. When you drag a card into the play deck, you'll see the number decrease by one. You see that there's a card with the amount of '99'. That means you have unlimited of those cards. All the starting cards are unlimited. This is done so that you can never run out of cards to build your deck to the minimum of 20 cards. You see one card with a question mark on it in the library (actually, at the beginning most of the cards in the library have a question mark). This means you do not have any card of that type yet at all. You will have to find it, or earn it.

By the way, if you think the texts on the cards is rather small, don't worry, hovering over the card always enlarges it, so you don't have to squint.


Let's go back to the first screen shot again, so I can start to explain how you earn more cards to put into your library, and into your play deck. On the left of the screen you see a box with the word "Stake". There is a card at the bottom (in the green-ish area) and a card on the top (in the red-ish area). You probably already guess it: The card in the red area is one of the opponent's cards. More precisely: This is one of the cards of the opponent's PLAY DECK. Before the tickle fight starts, you get to browse through the opponent's play deck and select a card from it that they have to put up as stake. If you win the tickle fight, you get to KEEP that card. Add it to your library and be happy! But... you already guess it... the opponent will do the same thing. They will choose a card from your play deck and it will show at the bottom. If you LOSE the fight, you will also lose that card. One note with this: When you play with a trainer (i.e. in the pub) losing does not have this penalty for you. The trainer who is teaching you how to tickle fight and build up your skill is not going to take one of your cards. That's also why in the screen shot you see that the card on your side is 'face down'. But if you win from the trainer, you do get to keep their card and that is your first way of collecting a few cards that you did not have yet. Once you go into the cave (where the real danger awaits you) things will be more challenging. If you lose you will also lose a card.


Before I'm telling more about the first screen shot, let's have a look at the THIRD picture attached to this post. I enlarged one of the cards to show it to you. It is the "Exposed Advantage" card. This is one of the many 'tickle cards'. On top of it you see the title of the card, below it a picture. These have little other meaning than to just give a bit an impression of 'what the card does' and to easily recognize it. In the beginning you probably have to read every card but soon enough you'll see that you remember what a card does and can play it quick and easily because you know what the card stands for. You see a series of green and red boxes on the card again. Let's start with the green one on the left top corner of the picture. It says '$2'. As I explained earlier, $ is the card cost. So this card "costs" 2 to play. And that is 2 Advance. (remember: the $ is in the box with the "A" and word "Advance"). The card cost won't reduce your Advance, but you have to have enough in order to play it!

Below the picture are four more boxes. Two green ones: one with A (Advance) and one with the arrow (Endurance). The same counts for the red boxes. Well, in the green box with the arrow is a number: "-1". This means, that if you play this card, your Endurance (that's what the arrow stands for) will be reduced by 1. It is 15 right now, so it'll go to 14. In the box with the RED arrow is a number "-4" however. The red arrow stands for the opponent's endurance. So basically your opponent's endurance will be reduced by 4 if you play this card (right now it's 15, so it will go from 15 to 11). You see that this card does a little bit of harm to yourself, but quite a bit more to your opponent.

The text below the four boxes is just a flavor text. It says something about what the card is about or stands for... like a little bit of extra explanation.


Okay, time to go back to the first screen shot one more time. On the top you see five cards (the back of the cards facing you). That is the opponent's hand. Not his/her deck! From the deck you always draw five cards and put those into your hand. Whenever you play a card then you replenish from the play deck (not shown on the picture) and if you happen to want to discard a card (put away without playing) then you also get a new card from the play deck. Once the play deck runs out of cards, then the deck will be reshuffled and reused. So you can't run out of cards to draw.

Now the bottom of the screen is much more interesting. That's where your hand shows. And those cards are of course visible to you. In the picture you see that you have one "Attack Armpits" card, a "Focus" card, two "Exposed Advantage" cards and a "Tickle Frenzy" card. It's up to you what you want to play next (it happens to be your turn).

Okay, as you can see, you can't play the "Tickle Frenzy" card. There's a big red label "Blocked" on top of the card. Also at the bottom (if you can read it) is a text reflecting that you do not have sufficient 'Advance' to play the card. If you have been following and understanding the story I have been writing so far you can see why: Your Advance currenlty is 2 and the "Tickle Frenzy" card cost is $3. You will need to have at least 3 Advance before you can play that strategy. Note, however... if you examine the "Focus" card... you see that you can easily get there. (I know you can't magnify it now, so you'll have to make do with the small numbers right now). The focus card has no number at all as card cost (which means it's free... you can even play it if your Advance is reduced to 0) and this card builds Advance. There's a "+1" in the green arrow box. So in this situation, if you now play that card, it'll not tickle your opponent, but it will bring your Advance from 2 to 3. Now if your opponent doesn't lower it again in her turn, you can play the Tickle Frenzy card in the next turn after.

The last thing I have to explain is 'discarding' and then I'm done for today. If you can't play a card (such as the Tickle Frenzy card right now) you do not HAVE to keep it until you can play it. You can also choose to remove it from your hand and take a new card in its place from the play deck. This is called "discarding". In case of the blocked card, you can click the entire card to discard it, but if you want to discard a playable card then there's a little red square with the letter 'd' in it that you can click instead. Discarding can only be done during your own turn and beware that if you choose to discard a card, that's also the only thing you can do that turn! You can not play a card and discard a card in the same turn and neither can you choose to discard multiple cards within the same turn.

Last, but not least, with every card played a descriptive 'tickle fight' text reflecting the strategy just played will appear onto the screen (in the screen shot you don't see much of this but I have posted a better example of that earlier). Both your 'actions' as well as what the opponent does are translated into story form. It will form a complete overview of how exactly the particular tickle fight is playing out. In this respect, each fight will take slightly different paths in one way or another and the higher level you get (due to more strategies being known) and the higher opponent you challenge, the more variations will open up.

Phew. I think that's a pretty good play guide for now. Easier for me to explain this all now than later when the game is released because people are then more impatient to play and don't want to read the whole lap of text.

I forgot a thing though. Just for the record: There are a couple of 'chests' in the caves. If you find these and open them you'll find a couple new cards. Beware that these are generally cards that can ONLY be found in these chests. They can't be won from opponents and they are limited in number. Use them wisely and don't lose them! There's an exception to this rule again and that is the 'golden card'. In the entire game there is an ultra rare card which, once you get it, can't be lost. It's the very strongest tickle card in the entire game and once you get it it is 'bound' to you.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the card named "Eleptoclypse".

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Small update and advertisement showing off some of the contestants
Edit: I actually decided to attach the picture to the [ame="http://www.tickletheater.com/showpost.php?p=508301&postcount=1"]first post[/ame] in this thread, more people get to see it that way. Not everyone scrolls down the whole thread. So please see it from there.

Contradictory to what I earlier said... the game now contains a total of NINE dungeon floors (instead of the five earlier announced) and the player will be able to climb up to level 10 instead of 5. I basically added more content, more tickle fight opponents, more tickle cards and strategies and I expanded upon the story a bit. Level five is pretty much unchanged but things take a bit a turn there story-wise. Initially I was CONSIDERING of doing an expansion at some point after releasing the game, adding more levels and cards and content... but then I figured it was easier to include the stuff right away. It was considerably easy to do this right away. I have to complete a bit more additional artwork so you'll have to wait slightly longer now... but you get MORE. And there's no need for an expansion then.

So... what will you be fighting? Pirates, Assassins, Warriors and MORE. There are a total of 10 unique characters in the game (and I am not counting the trainers in the pub in this!) of which 9 of them have a colour palette variant. So e.g. the girl on the right on the picture also comes in blonde version. This gives everything a bit more variation. By the way, ALL of these 10 (or should I say 21) characters have a 'neutral' mode (encounter mode) as well as a 'being tickled' mode. Whenever you win a fight you will get to see the tickle picture.

Note, that at the moment I don't yet know whether there will be tickle pictures for the trainers as well. I have to think about that a bit more.

 

[melanie2]

you are indeed a genius..and awesome to boot..coming up with all these neat games..if only i could figure them out..sighs..lol

 

[Ilohnoh1]

you are indeed a genius..and awesome to boot..coming up with all these neat games..if only i could figure them out..sighs..lol

Hey Izzy! I know that my games have been challenging for you. (I still hope you got the Hang Man one working however). I think this one will be quite a challenge to you as well but you can always give it a shot... If "playing cards" seems easier to you than trying to figure out one of those "adventure games"... you can always try of course.

This really looks like the last game from me for the foreseeable future... want to go spend some more time PLAYING games rather than making them again after this, and doing single artwork pieces. (You haven't seen any Jen for some weeks now too...)

 

[Lummie]

This really looks like the last game from me for the foreseeable future... want to go spend some more time PLAYING games rather than making them again after this, and doing single artwork pieces. (You haven't seen any Jen for some weeks now too...)

Shame..but anyway, maybe it's just me, but from the explanation a few posts above it sounds like the best one too Considering how good the others are allready, that's quite a feat!

I'm definetly looking forward to it!

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Shame..but anyway, maybe it's just me, but from the explanation a few posts above it sounds like the best one too Considering how good the others are allready, that's quite a feat!

I'm definetly looking forward to it!

Personally I think this is indeed my best Tk Game yet. It's definitely huge, dynamic, customizable and I think just a lot of fun. Also, while the game does have an 'end'... it doesn't stop there. You can keep playing tickle fight matches after you have basically won. You can strengthen your deck and try new strategies or approaches even though you have already reached the 'win' situation.

That's not where the coolness ends, however. To make things easier/nicer for you all, there is a so called 'art collage' of each of the tickle opponents (trainers again excluded) which you unlock with each level you reach. These are to give you a quick and easy access to the tickle art so you won't have to fight and win from an opponent again in order to see the tickle picture. Starting the game and clicking on "Rewards" will take you there.

What's more... (because indeed it does NOT end there!) there will be a PERSONALIZED certificate for you that reflects your accomplishments and status. You can see a sample of that attached to this post. If you take a screen capture of it you can print it out or put it on your website's awards page, whatever you like! It fully reflects the ten levels plus extra accomplishments such as defeating the Tickle Queen! For every level you gain you will also get a little 'ribbon' attached to your medal. Now how cool is that?

There you go. Excited already?

 

[TickleWiazard]

Curse you and your teaser pics! I can't wait for this game it's gonna be bril

 

[Lummie]

Curse you and your teaser pics! I can't wait for this game it's gonna be bril

/signed

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Congrats on your 100th post, cay!

Sorry, that was a bit off topic, but wanted to say it.

On topic then:
I just fought the Tickle Queen at level 1 and she wiped the floor with me (as she should because she's not to be fought at level 1...) Basically she played one card and I was poof.
(Note, I was just doing this to test the encounter... not to try to win or to see if I could win. When you're ready for her you'll have a much better chance than I just had. )

Okay, anyway, I think I'll try not to post any more teaser pictures... better publish the game next thing... although it's still going to take a couple of days.

 

[Lummie]

Congrats on your 100th post, cay!

Sorry, that was a bit off topic, but wanted to say it.

On topic then:
I just fought the Tickle Queen at level 1 and she wiped the floor with me (as she should because she's not to be fought at level 1...) Basically she played one card and I was poof.
(Note, I was just doing this to test the encounter... not to try to win or to see if I could win. When you're ready for her you'll have a much better chance than I just had. )

Okay, anyway, I think I'll try not to post any more teaser pictures... better publish the game next thing... although it's still going to take a couple of days.

Thank you kind sir! :O I usually don't post often as you can see from the join date..but eh, there are some things that are definetly worth to make an exception!

A couple days..that's not bad at all! I was considering asking for ETA before, but I was scared it'd be weeks or (dare I say it) months! I can't imagine the amount of work needed for this game, to have it done so soon(Naga's has just been released not even a month ago!) is really impressive! No wonder you need some time to relax after this one!

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Thank you kind sir! :O I usually don't post often as you can see from the join date..but eh, there are some things that are definetly worth to make an exception!

A couple days..that's not bad at all! I was considering asking for ETA before, but I was scared it'd be weeks or (dare I say it) months! I can't imagine the amount of work needed for this game, to have it done so soon(Naga's has just been released not even a month ago!) is really impressive! No wonder you need some time to relax after this one!

Thanks, it is nice to know that my little (?) project is worth your attention.

It sure has been a lot of work to get this baby running. Not necessarily challenging, but rather just a lot of work. Lot of free time goes into it, but I do take breaks and do some other stuff in between as well. It's really exciting to see the things you're creating beginning to get more and more shape and to actually start working, so in that respect I have had a very good drive to work a lot on it in the past weeks.

Today I reached the point where the game is functional from beginning to end. That's a big milestone, so today's a happy day. This doesn't mean it is finished, however. In fact, several artwork pieces still have to be finished and included (so the game actually crashes when it tries to load them... because it can't find them) and there's still lots of texts that are empty. Unfortunately someone who offered help with those has had to decline due to upcoming exams and such, so it'll cause extra delay as I'll be doing those myself now too.

I'm playing the game myself (to play-test it for one, and to see if it's doable). I don't yet know if at certain phases in the game it might be "too easy" or "too hard"... because until now I haven't yet played anything but the first level. If things seem out of contrast then I can always adjust the opponents' card decks... but basically what the computer plays is what the player can also obtain and if you add strategy and smart play to that... it should work out. The computer's AI is not terrible, but it may not always play as well as a player would, so you have a bit of an advantage in that respect too. There are also several cards that you can get which the NPCs won't get (especially at the level on which you can get them) so there's a LOT of variables in the whole system. Almost too much for one person to find out if it's well balanced or not.

Talking of level 1 then... now that the code is thus far complete that the game is finishable (save from the crashes because of missing artwork) I must say that duelling the trainers in the pub is a lot easier than fighting the same level mobs (with the same deck) in the cave. I hardly ever lose in the pub, but in the cave I really have to fight more for my victories. I think that's good, but I hope that there's more winning than losing... That's what I'm trying to aim for. They are cut throats though! Oh, and one of the important reasons for the cave fights being more difficult: In the pub you get to start, in the cave the opponent gets to go first. It makes difference. Either way, it's a very very good tip to play a couple of rounds with your trainer first (each level) so you have a couple of copies of the cards that you want to have... then go to the cave and rock and roll.

Anyway, In the order of 5 or 6 characters still need to be drawn, about half of the artwork still needs to be coloured. Then the texting... lots and lots of lines of text.... I'd like to have it all done and ready to go by next weekend, but don't be surprised if it still takes two weeks from now. Not much more though, I don't think so.

 

[Lummie]

Thanks, it is nice to know that my little (?) project is worth your attention.

It sure has been a lot of work to get this baby running. Not necessarily challenging, but rather just a lot of work. Lot of free time goes into it, but I do take breaks and do some other stuff in between as well. It's really exciting to see the things you're creating beginning to get more and more shape and to actually start working, so in that respect I have had a very good drive to work a lot on it in the past weeks.

Today I reached the point where the game is functional from beginning to end. That's a big milestone, so today's a happy day. This doesn't mean it is finished, however. In fact, several artwork pieces still have to be finished and included (so the game actually crashes when it tries to load them... because it can't find them) and there's still lots of texts that are empty. Unfortunately someone who offered help with those has had to decline due to upcoming exams and such, so it'll cause extra delay as I'll be doing those myself now too.

I'm playing the game myself (to play-test it for one, and to see if it's doable). I don't yet know if at certain phases in the game it might be "too easy" or "too hard"... because until now I haven't yet played anything but the first level. If things seem out of contrast then I can always adjust the opponents' card decks... but basically what the computer plays is what the player can also obtain and if you add strategy and smart play to that... it should work out. The computer's AI is not terrible, but it may not always play as well as a player would, so you have a bit of an advantage in that respect too. There are also several cards that you can get which the NPCs won't get (especially at the level on which you can get them) so there's a LOT of variables in the whole system. Almost too much for one person to find out if it's well balanced or not.

Talking of level 1 then... now that the code is thus far complete that the game is finishable (save from the crashes because of missing artwork) I must say that duelling the trainers in the pub is a lot easier than fighting the same level mobs (with the same deck) in the cave. I hardly ever lose in the pub, but in the cave I really have to fight more for my victories. I think that's good, but I hope that there's more winning than losing... That's what I'm trying to aim for. They are cut throats though! Oh, and one of the important reasons for the cave fights being more difficult: In the pub you get to start, in the cave the opponent gets to go first. It makes difference. Either way, it's a very very good tip to play a couple of rounds with your trainer first (each level) so you have a couple of copies of the cards that you want to have... then go to the cave and rock and roll.

Anyway, In the order of 5 or 6 characters still need to be drawn, about half of the artwork still needs to be coloured. Then the texting... lots and lots of lines of text.... I'd like to have it all done and ready to go by next weekend, but don't be surprised if it still takes two weeks from now. Not much more though, I don't think so.

lol, I doubt "little" really does it justice. sounds good!

I can't draw at all, but I do pride myself in being a very fast typer. I'd love to help if you let me. Just drop me a pm!

 

[Mandrake]

Thanks, it is nice to know that my little (?) project is worth your attention.

It sure has been a lot of work to get this baby running. Not necessarily challenging, but rather just a lot of work. Lot of free time goes into it, but I do take breaks and do some other stuff in between as well. It's really exciting to see the things you're creating beginning to get more and more shape and to actually start working, so in that respect I have had a very good drive to work a lot on it in the past weeks.

Today I reached the point where the game is functional from beginning to end. That's a big milestone, so today's a happy day. This doesn't mean it is finished, however. In fact, several artwork pieces still have to be finished and included (so the game actually crashes when it tries to load them... because it can't find them) and there's still lots of texts that are empty. Unfortunately someone who offered help with those has had to decline due to upcoming exams and such, so it'll cause extra delay as I'll be doing those myself now too.

I'm playing the game myself (to play-test it for one, and to see if it's doable). I don't yet know if at certain phases in the game it might be "too easy" or "too hard"... because until now I haven't yet played anything but the first level. If things seem out of contrast then I can always adjust the opponents' card decks... but basically what the computer plays is what the player can also obtain and if you add strategy and smart play to that... it should work out. The computer's AI is not terrible, but it may not always play as well as a player would, so you have a bit of an advantage in that respect too. There are also several cards that you can get which the NPCs won't get (especially at the level on which you can get them) so there's a LOT of variables in the whole system. Almost too much for one person to find out if it's well balanced or not.

Talking of level 1 then... now that the code is thus far complete that the game is finishable (save from the crashes because of missing artwork) I must say that duelling the trainers in the pub is a lot easier than fighting the same level mobs (with the same deck) in the cave. I hardly ever lose in the pub, but in the cave I really have to fight more for my victories. I think that's good, but I hope that there's more winning than losing... That's what I'm trying to aim for. They are cut throats though! Oh, and one of the important reasons for the cave fights being more difficult: In the pub you get to start, in the cave the opponent gets to go first. It makes difference. Either way, it's a very very good tip to play a couple of rounds with your trainer first (each level) so you have a couple of copies of the cards that you want to have... then go to the cave and rock and roll.

Anyway, In the order of 5 or 6 characters still need to be drawn, about half of the artwork still needs to be coloured. Then the texting... lots and lots of lines of text.... I'd like to have it all done and ready to go by next weekend, but don't be surprised if it still takes two weeks from now. Not much more though, I don't think so.

I just want to thank you for all your hard work for us these past months. It has been excellent and seems to improve with each project. You are unstoppable. I'd like to offer my help again if you need it since the other person dropped out. PM me if you want.

 

[Ilohnoh1]

Ah, thank you all for your kind offers to help.

And for your other comments.

The texts I need are rather complex and even if written by someone else still need a decent amount of work from my side to make it usable by the program. There's a lot of rules and variables that need to be applied and taken into account in the texts itself... making it both complex for the person trying to help as well as demanding from my side. Right now I'm at the point that I am starting to have more time to work on those myself as the rest of the project is nearing completion, so I think I'll just go ahead with those myself. Easier for me to do myself than having to explain this all anyway at this point.

Many thanks to all those who have commented in one way or another by the way (even if it was short). If I never see any feedback I don't know if people are actually looking forward to the game and if it's even worth making it. At least SOME have shown me that they do so.