As mentioned elsewhere, I’ve been working on Small Battles for the past couple of weeks. And after this latest round of improvements, I feel that it may be ready to go into more intensive testing.
So what is Small Battles again? It’s changed a bit in the details since I first announced it, but essentially it is a large scale tactical combat system that covers ancient, medieval, and renaissance warfare. The game is intended to allow the player to refight any of the great battles of history of the era in a compact turn-based format and features low unit density (10-15 units per side), hex grid battlefields, and fast battle resolution (typically 6-10 turns).
I’m looking for people to help with private Beta testing of the game, before I release the first version on Google Play. Essentially, this means that you get early access to the game (through Google Play) while it is still in a somewhat rough state (though hopefully not too rough). I’m looking for feedback on a number of things, such as the UI and feedback mechanisms, as well as the ever-present need to test the game on other hardware/OS combinations than my own. I particularly need players who are willing to go multiple rounds with the AI and describe how they took apart the AI to me, so that I can try to improve it.
The beta version focuses on the Ancient world and features three “tutorial” battles, as well as the two historical battles of Dertosa (215 BCE – Rome vs Carthage) and Bibracte (58 BCE – Rome vs Helveti).
If you’re wondering whether this relates in any way to Pirates and Traders 2, then yes – it does. Assuming that this turns out to be not awful, I intend to implement port battles in P&T2 using the same system. Just instead of Legions, Catapults, and Archers, you’ll be fighting with pirates, sharp-shooting buccaneers, and cannons.
If you’re interested in helping, contact me with your name and e-mail address (need the one you use as your Google ID on the device(s) you intend to test on), either on twitter (@MicaByteGames), PM on Facebook, or by e-mail (support at micabyte com).