Monthly Archives: May 2005

Bologna FC in Serie B?

Well it seems that maybe next year my favourite team, Bologna FC, will be playing in Serie B… πŸ™
Today match was lame… and they’ll have to play the play-off match against Parma. Even if in the 1st match they’ll play without a lot of titolars (like Gilardino, Morfeo, etc) I have do doubt that Bologna will manage not to score!!
Anyway… the USM2 database engine is coming out very nicely. I plan to include also more accurate financial informations in this sequel. I hope to finish Magic Stones soon too… argh I’m doing too many things together!!!

Magic Stones delayed

Well… as expected I couldn’t really finish my next game Magic Stones by the end of May πŸ™
There are various reasons for this, including the fact that I prefer to delay the game release by some weeks but have it free of bugs. Another good reason is that I am working at the same time on my soccer game USM2 πŸ™‚

Useful reviews :)

I recently was reviewed by the website www.bytten.com and was fun because they reported a bug that no one else did (I should fire all my betatesters now… eheh).
Basically it happened that the game displayed a wrong texture when you clicked on “CANCEL CONTRACT” button. This was really a particular case since I never tried it myself πŸ™‚
Anyway I already fixed it and uploaded the correct version. This review was very helpful!

Extract from it:

Overall I found Universal Boxing Manager to be entertaining and
involving, two things I was not expecting from a game about boxing! If the
glitches can be sorted out, this has the potential to be a great game, with a
new twist on an old idea. Football management is dead – bring on the boxers!

Game balancing

Today I finished all the “regular” avatars special attacks!! woowooo
There are a total of 20 different avatars each one with his special attack, so wasn’t easy. I had also to balance them, and probably isn’t done yet: will take several test matches before I’ll be able to say “ok, the Air avatars have the Unicorn which is very powerful but the other ones are weaker than…” and so on.
I also hired someone to work on my other game USM2, which I hope to finish by end of summer (just in time for next soccer season)!

Special attacks!

I’m having fun adding all the avatar special attack moves to Magic Stones. Since there are about 45 different avatars (including the neutral ones) and almost everyone has a unique special attack, this will take some time πŸ™‚
So far I’ve added Draconian defence, Succubus life steal, and some more Fire Avatar special attacks. Read below a complete description of fire avatars and their special powers:

Draconian– This race is often used in Aravorn’s affairs, since they are tireless, extremely resilient creatures (gifted with a thick natural armor). They are skillful in both offense and defense, have good technique in their use of weapons, and are fairly fast.
Reach: can do only melee attacks
Special move(Defend): increases avatar’s defence value by 2 points for 3 turns.

Succubus – These creatures are half-woman, half-demon, of great beauty but also singular wickedness, which makes them an adversary not to be underestimated. They are very fragile and weak in defense, but their ferocity and speed makes their attacks frightening and effective. An old legend says “never turn your back on a Succubus”.
Reach: can do only melee attacks
Special move(Vampiric Bite): transfers 2-5 hit points from target to the succubus. The amount of hp the succubus gains that way can’t exceed her maximum HP (15).

Firemaster – Firemasters are magicians who have renounced traditional fire magic, since it has diminished so much compared to its original ferocity. They have studied in the most remote libraries in the kingdom, and are always in search of new runes and magical artifacts to increase fire’s destructive power. Gifted with excellent offensive abilities, they use their magic to empower their allies.
Reach: can do both melee and ranged attacks
Special move(Fire Attack): selected friendly avatar gains a fire damage bonus of 1-3 points

Hell Hounds – Hell hounds are ferocious creatures that inhabit the hottest and most wicked lands of Aravorn, the so-called Fiery Plains. About the size of a horse, they are trained from early on to keep going at the victim until they are destroyed. They are gifted with powerful muscles and the sharpest of teeth, capable of breaking up armors and shields forged with the most resistant metals.
Reach: can do only melee attacks
Special move(Fire Breath): Hits a single melee target with fire attack for 3-5 damage. Target can’t counter-attack.

Fire Drake– These fire dragons are enormous beasts, gifted not only with extraordinary strength, but also an uncommon intelligence. Able to charge at entire armies, these marvelous creatures have always been feared by all inhabitants of Aravorn. Fortunately, they have reduced greatly in numbers because they have been ruthlessly hunted, especially for their eggs, which are in greatly sought after by nobles everywhere.
Reach: can do both melee and ranged attacks
Special move(Fireball): Hits all enemy targets with fire-based attack for 5-10 damage which can be resisted (doing no damage)