Patch Changes and the Chain

by Dan Clark

Welcome Hexamanics to this week’s patch notes. We are implementing a new feature this week to our engine that will make games play smoother and cut many of the unnecessary actions you are forced to take in a turn. With patch 815, triggered abilities will not go on the the chain and instead will simply resolve.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the rules and engine of the game, a triggered ability is an ability that automatically does something when a condition is met. For example, “At the start of your turn” or “When a troop enters play.”

What does this mean?

The way players have been playing HEX: Alpha had these triggered abilities using the chain. At the start of your turn, your Fang of the Mountain God would trigger and both players would have to click “pass priority” before your champion took the 1 damage. With this patch, any trigger will happen and resolve without players receiving priority. Most of the time, this won’t affect gameplay. But, there are times where the experience could be different from what you’re used to in trading card games.

If you have Turreted Wall and the opponent is at 1 health, your opponent will need to gain health during his or her turn. Once your opponent ends the turn, he or she won’t have priority to gain health before the damage is dealt.

In this next example, you have two Adamanthian Scriveners in play and you attempt to play a Righteous Paladin. Your opponent will have a chance to respond to you playing the card because cards go on the chain. Once both players pass however, both Scriveners will trigger and resolve followed by the Righteous Paladin gaining +2/+2 without either player gaining priority.

Why are we doing this?

We feel as though the number of times you must click and pass through your turn is getting in the way of gameplay. Our goal here is to make playing through the game an easier, smoother experience. We want to provide the best gameplay possible and allow you to get deep into the game while allowing the game to flow well and keeping players engaged.

We are releasing this because we want to hear your feedback. Give it a try and let us know, we believe you will immediately notice a difference in the pacing of the game and the overall enjoyment.

Conceding Due to a Frozen Game

In patch 815, you will see a new option when you concede a match. If you are experiencing a bugged game where you specifically cannot move forward due to a missing Pass Priority button or because the AI is locked up in a single-player game, please hit the Report Bugged Game button and you will be placed back in the lobby.

If you are experiencing bugged cards or other problems and you can still continue in the game, please do not hit the Report Bugged Game button. Our engineers can see that users are conceding games, but conceding is common in trading card games. We need our engineers to be able to see games that are specifically ending because players cannot progress in the game.

Thanks for your help in alpha testing HEX and we hope you enjoy the improvements we’ve made.

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