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Greetings all!
We've had Causeway in alpha testing for some time now. It really has been a blessing to gather so much feedback; our approaches and thinking sure get challenged a lot!
The game is so early in many ways. Still, we feel it's important to keep you in the loop about the kind of game this is shaping up to be, so today we'll share a feature about which we're particularly excited.
All Aboard!!
Many lane-pushing games give players a global mobility tool, such as the Teleport Scroll from DotA. This usually works by targeting a friendly building, and activates after a few seconds of channel time.
In Causeway, all player characters have the Teleport ability as baseline. We don't ask you to buy it or choose it among other options, it's just part of everyone's kit.
The interesting part is that our take on Teleport includes one extra rule: "you bring a friendly player along with you".
Teleport
Teleports you and 1 friendly player within 5 radius, to a friendly Monument after a 5 second channel time.
Maybe this does not seem the most glamorous or ground-breaking change! However, what's exciting for us is how our players respond.
Everyone starts each match with the same tools... yet players can accomplish so much more if they invite others to participate.
Picture this situation...
You and your laning partner are on lane, and are getting low on resources because you've been making big plays.
Your partner decides to Teleport back to base. You choose to stand next to them — tagging along. Now back in base, you use your own Teleport to return to lane. Your partner stands next to you, hitching a ride.
Both of you are now back on lane, at full resources, in the space of ~5 seconds.
That's powerful. If one team starts coordinating their Teleports and the other does not... you can see the impact on each team's winning chances.
In our alpha tests, we devs don't have to tell new players about Teleport. Our testers explain how it works to each-other because they want the efficiency.
We feel this take on Teleport is great for the game because it's consentful and reciprocal and gets people involved and feeling like they're in a team. It represents a very "Causeway" way of doing things.
Respecting our Roots
The inspiration for this tweak is an old lane-pushing game called Tides of Blood (2003).
In this game, players can buy a transport unit, hop inside it with teammates, and the transport itself had a Teleport ability.
This led to a lot of cooperative play as teams would delicately position their transport units out of harm's way, yet close enough to act as an escape vehicle, or to relocate the team across the map if necessary.
We didn't want to reintroduce extra units to control, but their spirit is hopefully alive and well.
Whispering of Advisors
Last time, we mentioned that the Advisor system (our twist on items) was in a tricky place. We're pleased to say that we've found some interesting directions to explore — and yes it did involve creating a new "equipment" — one I haven't seen in any previous lane-pushing game.
I'm happy with our new direction for this feature. More on that when it's ready :)
Until next time,
Softmints