Alright, let's start with the most important note: There's an updated build in the PREVIEW branch on Steam. It features some minor bugfixes and improvements to the AI. If you want to give that a try simply right click on the game in your library, select properties, then Betas and then use the dropdown to select the Preview beta. Here's how this looks:
With that out of the way, let's talk a little bit about today and this preview build...

How the enemies think

The AI in Nowhere Prophet works by simulating all manner of moves from its current point of view and then picking the best one (MCTS for the more technically inclined among you). This has a few ramifications: Since this takes time and each player in Nowhere Prophet has a lot of moves (move unit to tile a, b, c..., attack with unit to target a, b c... play card on target a, b, c... you get the drift) this means that I can't simulate all the moves but need to do some clever prioritization to determine which move has potential, before simulating a fixed number. Theoretically, if I players were willing to wait a few minutes for each of the AI's moves, then it could always play near optimally, but there's a compromise to be made between the depth of the simulation and the wait time. Also the AI needs some way to evaluate the game's current state after each move to understand if its actions made the situation better or worse.

AI Brain Scan

Both these things can be terribly opaque so I spent a lot of time today making the AI's thoughts and state evaluation more transparent. I need to understand what's happening to judge where it's going wrong and how to improve things. Here's a look at some of that debug information:
And just by doing that I found a little bug in the decision system. What was happening was when the AI was looking for possible moves, the game state was changed by mistake! When checking for all possible moves with cards it inadvertently put a reference to all the enemy's leader cards in its convoy hand. So for the first move in a simulated chain of moves, it had the right amount of cards. For the second move, the convoy hand was suddenly 7 because the 3 cards from the leader card were added to the convoy hand. Then 10, 13 etc. etc. This lead to the value of the game state improving continuously (more cards = better game state), which meant the AI evaluated a branch of actions a lot higher than it should have. Even useless actions produced value, simply by virtue of being a step in the chain of actions, they created cards out of thin air. This bug snuck in 6 weeks ago when I optimized the AI to run faster so I could run more iterations in the simulation. Unfortunately I made it faster, but also dumber. But that one's now fixed in the PREVIEW build. Let me know if you can feel the change. I believe that the AI should be doing less "obviously stupid blunders" now. This may make the game a bit harder too so let me know how that feels as well! Here's the changelog: [quote=changelog]Changelog Balancing Unconquered Ascetic: Lost Shielded keyword Scion Bloodhand deck adjusted: Fewer charge followers in early maps Reduced rest at initial crash site to 3 uses (was 5) Finally added rest options to the Crypt Gate (3 uses). You can now take a breather before diving in. Interface Improved visual quality of intro logos Bugfixes AI evaluation bug fixed: Later moves in a sequence had inflated scores, making even bad moves look useful Soothing Shadows no longer triggers on moved obstacles or constructs Defy Death is depleted on trigger, not on turn start Hedgehog Drone is depleted on trigger, not on turn start Battery mutator no longer has second player start with 10 Energy Wounded followers on the enemy side now start with 1 damage Rest button no longer vanishes on 4K displays[/quote] But that's not all. Beyond that I'm planning to make some more tweaks to the AI, specifically when it comes to pre-selecting and prioritizing AI moves since that allows me to get the best out of the simulation iterations I have available in the time given. But this is something for tomorrow and later in the week. Best, Martin

[ 2019-07-24 17:11:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Nowhere Prophet is a roguelike deck-building game set in a post-apocalyptic future.



Take on the role of a powerful leader and mystic. Empowered with the gifts of technopathy, the ability to sense and affect eletrical currents.

You are the last hope to a band of outcastes and refugees. Lead them across the randomly generated wastelands. Pick fights with greedy slavers and crazy machines using the turn-based card combat. But always spend your resources carefully. Can you survive long enough to reach the mysterious Crypt?

These features make Nowhere Prophet stand out

• Card-based tactical combat system
  
• Randomly generated maps and events
  
• Two decks to build: Followers and Leader!
  
• Unlock new content across multiple playthroughs
  
• Stunning and confident art style
  
• A fresh non-western post-apocalyptic world
  
• Indian infused electronica soundtrack

A roguelike deck-building game

Nowhere Prophet is a single player card game with procedurally generated maps, a high difficulty and permadeath. At it's heart are two distinct parts of gameplay: Travel and combat.


TRAVEL
During travel you navigate across a procedurally generated map. Make sure your convoy has enough resources to travel as you pick your route. On your journey you will encounter strange places and even stranger people. You will be thrust into situations that put the fate of your followers in your hands.

If you're lucky enough to gain some rewards, maybe for helping someone - or robbing them, then you can invest those to improve your decks. Recruit more followers to have more and different units to put into battle. Equip your prophet or level up and learn new skills to have access to stronger action cards in combat.

COMBAT
You will have to overcome some enemies to keep your convoy and resources together. And sometimes you may even want to pick a fight for righteousness or just for loot. Once in battle the game changes to the turn-based card game mode.

Play convoy cards to put your followers onto the field and position them so you can overcome your enemy. Or play action cards to dramatically change the battlefield. But be careful: If you're wounded you will have to find a safe place to heal. And if one of your followers takes too many wounds, they are lost forever.

A science-fiction post-apocalypse

Nowhere Prophet is set on a far off planet called Soma. Your story begins many years after the Crash, a complete technological collapse. Civilization has broken down and the lack of resources made everyone turn either bandit or madman.


In this world inspired by Indian culture you lead a convoy of outcastes. These desperate men and woman following your vision of a better future. Under your guidance they travel with you through the wastelands. Your goal is the Crypt, a mystical place that promises untainted technology and safety.

If you can survive long enough to find it.