All good idle games share one important element: a sinister, gothic theme with post-apocalyptic elements.
Wait, that’s not it.
The real common point between good idle games: meaty upgrades.
There needs to be engaging choices, with obvious results, as well as meaningful longterm planning. In a genre that is all about numbers, it’s important to make the numbers feel good.
ONCHAIN GAMING AND COMPLEXITY
Eggforce will run on the POA Network in full. As the player, onchain gaming gives you the guarantee game rules will execute as coded. No cheating, no downtime, no arbitrary changes.
On the flipside, there’s only so much computation you can run on decentralized infrastructure.
Even on POA which makes for lighter burdens thanks to validator consensus, we can’t just jam three dozen modifiers, each with their own unique effect affecting the game state, on every function call.
So, we need to shoot for an upgrade system that is both generalized and interesting. Simple in code, but leading to complex choices.
THE BEAUTY OF SIMPLICITY
Beyond the tech aspect, there’s several advantages in a generalized upgrade system.
For starters, Eggforce is a game that could be played for money.
Keeping the rules of the game straightforward lets the competition be more about strategy, rather than obscure knowledge of the ins-and-outs of game mechanics.
Example: if I tell you you can boost your Spidey production by 20% or your Snailly production by 20%, that’s an easy choice to understand.
Whereas if you have to pick between “Spidey gets a +5 bonus to production at night during even days” and “Snailly gets a random chance to double their production for 10 minutes”, that’s a much harder choice to make.
UPGRADES IN DETAIL
By now, you’re convinced we should go simple. Hopefully.
But what is “simple” going to look like, exactly ?
As always, it’s still early, numbers and details are subject to change for balance purposes. Here’s the current plan, in two parts.
INDIVIDUAL
Each Eggoa gets stat specific upgrades. These upgrades are paid in Eggforce. They add a flat 20% to the selected stat. The cost of an upgrade is the base cost of the Eggoa multiplied by 10 to the power of the tier.
To demonstrate, let’s bring back Spidey from EWW #2. Spidey has 20 WELLY, 20 KNACK, 10 ACUMEN, 10 MYSTIQUE, and a base cost of 200 EGGFORCE.
The third upgrade for WELLY would cost 200 (base cost) * 10 ^ 3 = 200 000 EGGFORCE.
Having 3 WELLY upgrades would bring your Spidey Eggoas to 20 + (20% * 3) = 32 WELLY.
Your next upgrade would cost 2 000 000 EGGFORCE, and bring you to 36 WELLY.
In short:
- the cost of each upgrade rises with tier
- the absolute gain for each upgrade is the same
- the relative gain for each upgrade lowers with tier
Giving a natural balancing effect, as your efficiency increases.
Also note each stat has its own upgrade tiers. If you’re on the 4th upgrade for WELLY, your 1st upgrade for KNACK still costs only 2 000 EGGFORCE.
GLOBAL
Your Eggoas also share a global upgrade tree. Well, it’s more of a plant. Call it a Plantamid.
Feed your Plantamid with POA, and unlock tiers.
Each tier provides you with a corresponding number of upgrades. Tier 1 = +1 upgrade (total 1), tier 4 = +4 upgrades (total 1+2+3+4 = 10).
Similar to individual upgrades, each upgrade gives +20% to the base stat you select. These upgrades can be allocated to any unit you want, for any stat you want.
For example, you could put upgrade the ACUMEN of your Spidey Eggoa 3 times, the WELLY of your Snailly twice, and use the remainder to go all in MYSTIQUE for your Froggy.
Any combination is possible. Your choices are semi-permanent, in the sense that you can reset your upgrades for a small POA cost.
As for the cost of feeding the Plantamid itself: each tier will cost the square of this tier (multiplied by a base cost yet to be determined).
Let’s say the base cost is 10 POA. Unlocking tier 1 will cost 10 POA and give 1 upgrade, unlocking tier 2 will cost 40 POA and give 2 upgrades, unlocking tier 3 will cost 90 POA and give 3 upgrades.
In essence, each tier increases the cost of upgrades by the base cost.
Tier 1 = 1 upgrade for 10 POA
Tier 2 = 2 upgrades for 40 POA = 1 upgrade for 20 POA
Tier 3 = 3 upgrades for 90 POA = 1 upgrade for 30 POA
And so forth, up until infinity.
ASCENSIONS
Ascending is also an upgrade of sorts. Through a sacrifice of your first tier of Eggoas (let’s say Snaillys) once you reach a certain amount, you get a permanent production boost.
The requirement to ascend follows this formula: 100k * (tier * (tier + 1)) / 2
So, your first Ascension will require 100k * 1 * 2 / 2 = 100k Snaillys.
Your second Ascension will require 100k * 2 * 3 / 2 = 300k Snaillys.
Your third Ascension will require 100k * 3 * 4 / 2 = 600k Snaillys.
Each Ascension resets your units and individual upgrades to 0.
However, your Plantamid remains intact.
Ascensions also raise your base production by +100%.
This is additive between Ascensions. For example, on your third Ascension you will have +300% production (4x your base).
This is multiplicative with normal upgrades. Our previously upgraded Spidey with 36 WELLY would have 144 WELLY after your third Ascension.
The more you ascend, the faster you climb back.
Upgrade your Eggoas, feed POA to your Plantamid, ascend to compound.
Easy enough?
Next week, let’s take a look at gangs. Or hats. Maybe hat-wearing gangs.
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