Arcomage

Arcomage : become the most powerful magician

For my first contribution. I wanted a game that had a special meaning to me and Arcomage came to my mind. I spent hours on this Might and Magic VII Tavern game, a long time ago !

So here it is... see version notes below and instructions to install/play.

This version 1.20 is specified as final.

I’ll take feedbacks in account for bug fixing or improvements suggestions.

Installation

Game include an asset directory.
So you must be sure that assets are up to date (even if the game is in your collection).
Use the "Download Source" button and copy the "Assets" directory in your game directory.

Updates

Be careful to backup the “SAVE.SAV” file in your game folder because it stores all your preferences and high scores !

Playing with Emulator

You can manually rotate your monitor on your desk, but not the best solution :)
But better solution: Arcomage.bin file must be opened directly in URL
games.aoneill.com/meta-emulator/

Display must be rotated 90° left.
Example in Firefox :

- Press CTRL+SHIFT+C to open development tools

- in javascript console type the following command:
javascript: document.body.setAttribute( "style", "-moz-transform: rotate(-90deg);");

Basic Rules

Game is played with gamebuino rotated 90° left (best configuration to display cards).
Human player fight against AI.
Each player has the same deck, each based of 102 differents cards . Each player has 6 cards in hand, and must draw a new card for each card played (there can be less cards in hands if no more cards to draw).
When a card is played, the new card takes the place of played card (it's shown first during next turn). A player can play or discard a card.
There are different 3 ressources (red: Quarries producing Bricks, blue: Magic producing Gems, green: Dungeons producing Recruits). Ressource production can’t be knocked down to 0 by a card effect (1 is the minimum). Ressource production have a maximum value of 9.
Each card has a casting cost corresponding to one ressource type.
Each player has a Tower and a Wall of certain height (maximum height for wall is 50). Standard damages are first applied to Wall and when if it’s destroyed, applied to Tower. Some damages directly target Towers or Walls when specified on card.
Game is won if one player reach a victory condition :

• if a player has no more cards in hand, he loses.
• if a ressource production reach a certain amount (100 by default), player/AI wins.
• if player/AI tower reach a certain height (50 by default), player/AI wins.
• if player/AI tower height reach 0, player/AI loses.

Player is the first to play.
He can select a card and choose an action: play it, discard it, cancel his choice to select a new card. If player ressources corresponding to card color are not sufficient to play the card, the card cost is in a gray circle. If ressources are sufficient, the cost is in a circle of the corresponding color and a light effect of the corresponding color confirms it.

Effects of the card are shown on playfield.
When player’s turn is finished (play or discard), it's enemy's turn.
Enemy's selected card is shown and action printed at bottom of the card ("Play card" or "discard").
Effects of the card are shown on playfield.
The two phases alternate (press a key to skip each phase) until there's a winner.

Control Keys

Since the gamebuino is used in a non standard position, here's some tips on configured keys.
MENU : Validate a choice / Exit from a screen
UP/DOWN : select cards (when player turn)
RIGHT : show playfield (when player turn)
RIGHT/LEFT : select a choice in main menu or in playing card pop up action choice (play/discard/cancel).
When results/infos are shown (flashing texts), press any key to continue game.

Tavern selection

The Tavern screen allow you to select the tavern you want to play (choice is saved and restored on next startup).
You can navigate the taverns and make your choice with menu key.
Level of difficulty is displayer near tavern name (1 green: easy, 2 blue: medium, 3 red: hard).
For each tavern are displayed:

•  Initial tower height / Tower to reach for winning game
•  Initial wall height
•  Any resource value to reach for winning game
•  Number of Quarries/number of Bricks
•  Magic level/number of Gems
•  Number of Dungeons /number of Recruits
•  Type of Articial Intelligence (AI) :

        - Random: enemy will play at random
        - Defense: enemy will try to defend himself
        - Attack: when possible enemy will try to attack

Scores

The Scores screen show all scores informations for all taverns.
You can navigate the taverns and see informations:
  - Player’s number of victories
  - Player’s rounds played for fastest victory
  - Enemy’s number of victories
  - Enemy’s rounds played for fastest victory

Versions Notes

2019-04-24 Version 1.20 (first final release)

13 Taverns (different difficulty) added
Game save (preferences and high scores)
High scores screen
Credits screen
Artificial Intelligence with 3 gameplay (random/defense/attack)
Graphic and others minors improvements

2019-04-24 Version 1.10 (major update)

Next player turn is shown (blinking player/enemy)
Added sound effects
Added light effects
Fixed random crashes due to wrong pointers memory allocation
Little graphic improvements

2019-04-24 Version 1.01

All 102 cards are available (all 15 cards with special effects are implemented).

2019-04-22 Version 1.00

Game is limited to 85 cards from 102 (all cards with special effects are not yet implemented).
AI is basic (but yet nice to fight with), advanced level will be added.