There will be more data and proper atribution here (original author, steam link, original post date, etc) real soon, I promise. This is just like a technical test to see if they're coming in ok at all.
Dopemine Arena » Patch 0.06 Overtime Merged
-Overtime has been removed and merged with the base game.
-Game no longer has a set time limit, contestants can ‘Retire’ from the pause menu at any time but otherwise fight until they die.
-The negative choices present in the overtime mode are now part of the base game, most of the buffs/debuff selections have been significantly nerfed.
-The new mode needs testing there is a good chance there are bugs and balance issues from the adjustment.
I was looking for a way to balance the initial game mode to still be engaging after getting most/all of the upgrades, at that point it’s pretty typical to max out in levels at around 10 minutes and then have 5 minutes of not much happening until the timer expires.
My first attempt was to change the match to time 10 minutes after the first win, which partially worked but I was worried it was too difficult at low ‘levels’, and I wasn’t a fan in general of changing the match timer I know it would be confusing and a bit inconsistent. It occurred to me that “the Overtime setup could handle this” and at that point it clicked for me to make this change.
There are other reasons I think this should be a good change, it should be a more fun game mode with more choices to make, that is no longer gated behind an hour or so of gameplay (typically). Most of the videos about the game so far have not even unlocked Overtime, and even when you do it’s another 15 minutes before those choices start kicking in again.
I’d be very interested in any feedback on the change, it seems clear to me that it should be a better setup but I’m curious if anyone feels the old way was better.