Hey Mages! Here we are with another weekly update!

What’s up since last week?

This week was focused on 3 specific points. Continuing the graphic part of the videogame version, updating the rule book to make it easier to understand and finally, creating a demo version of the game on Tabletop Simulator.

Continuing the videogame version

Now that the development of the video game has started there are lots of things to do. Last week we told you that we were still working on how to present Mana. This is still our main current goal as it is a complex question that is central to the game. Since Mana has to be in several different places (like the infinite ether or the respective mana reserve of each player for instance) it has to be presented properly several times and always in a slightly different way.

We’re pretty confident with the ideas we’ve got until now and the choices we’re currently making regarding this topic. We hope you’ll find them as exciting as we do.

We still have lots to do before completing the visual part of the game but it is definitely a very interesting part.

Making a tabletop simulator version

When writing the weekly update last week, we said that having a place to test new cards without having to be in the same place was very convenient. And we meant it. This is why we decided to get something that was halfway through the videogame version, ready to play from a distance, but that we could use rightaway.

This is why we spent some time recreating the demo version of the game on tabletop simulator. This allows us to kill several birds with one stone (Note: no birds were harmed during this weekly update).

  • first we get a virtual place where we can playtest from afar as a team.
  • second we can make it quickly without having to invest the huge amount of time that a full video game implies.
  • third we can make this version easily available for those of you who have tabletop simulator or that plan on getting it.

While tabletop simulator isn’t free, the demo version of Mage Noir on the game is. This way you can try the game from afar with your friends and it doesn’t need you to print or cut anything.

You can get to the steam workshop page of Mage Noir on tabletop simulator right there: Mage Noir - Demo version

Water drop by Camille Fourcade

We’re still working on this version and we would like to improve it as much as possible. If you have any remarks or improvements that you would like to see, please contact us at contact@magenoir.com

While it might be obvious, we want to make clear that the tabletop simulator version of the game is not a replacement for the video game version that we will still continue to develop.

Clarifying the rules

This part is tightly linked with the tabletop simulator version as it contains a PDF of the game rules. When trying to test the new simulation with new players, we noticed that some parts (mostly the new Mana system) were slightly harder to grasp for them. This is why we’re currently reworking the way the rules are explained in the PDF booklet to make them more intuitive and easy to understand.

This still requires a lot of work as explaining the rules to new players clearly and quickly is a precise work that asks for clever information management and a perfect use of the right words.

That’s all for today Mages!

We’ll keep improving the tabletop simulator version and the rules booklet thanks to your feedback so please contact us if you have any recommendation!

Until next week, have fun!