Here is what happened this week:
1, The Tombstone Card Game
It's a rainy and cold day in Shanghai. The sun is dim. Online games will soon be full of noobs as the Winter Holidays will quickly begin here. And, Blizzard will soon end all their operations in China as they break up with Netease.
A pity indeed as I have played many of their games for more than 10 years. I never imagined my game can outlive them even just in China. But, it seems it will soon be a new reality. There will be no more Chinese servers for World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, and Hearthstone. Fun fact, I once told my ex-coworker who later joined Blizzard that I can make Hearthstone in one afternoon.
So, here is what I made on a vacation afternoon 8 years ago:
For people living in China who cannot access Youtube, here is a Bilibili link to the same video:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Y84y1476B
It was a joke. But, on this day it feels sad when looking back.
Well then, maybe we will no longer have Hearthstone in China. This is the week I revive my old code to bring a new Hearthstone-like card game to [NEOLITHIC]To the End.
It's not Hearthstone anymore. It also lacks many Hearthstone functions. Such as, you can only play against AI. We only have a few cards right now. Deck management is not yet implemented. So, each time, you just draw random cards from the database. You will also not find any art assets owned by Blizzard because of copyright issues.
But, nevertheless, it's a way to let a dying online game live on. Just as I did to StoneAge Online. Just as I did to the Secret World. Now I am just doing that again to make a Hearthstone of my own. It's called Tombstone to mark the end of Hearthstone while also fitting [Neolithic]To the End's supernatural game theme.
Here are some gameplay footages:
Once again, here is a Bilibili link for players in China:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1C14y1u7TV/
Although we only have a few cards right now, every one of them is coming from the story of our game, and some of those cards have some interesting effects:
You can find those fire imps near the Unlucky 13 Motel of Queensmouth.
In Tombstone, they cost only 1 magic gem to summon with a state of ATK3/HP2
However, when summoned, they will damage your player's HP for 3 points.
If you played warlock in Hearthstone before, you know which card it echoes. :)
This is the Aten Cultist you can find in Egypt.
In Tombstone, whenever they are damaged they allow their owner to draw another card.
What a masochist. It also reminds me of a certain card in Hearthstone. :)
But, in Tombstone, this card has a state of Cost: 4 ATK:2 HP:5
We have a lot of cats in our game.
In Tombstone, they have a state of ATK:1/HP:1 while the cost is 6.
Why?
Because, when summoned, they can also reduce the attack of all enemy minions by 1. :D
Don't forget those brave police officers.
They fight zombies in Queensmouth while also needing to risk their lives to use their pathetic conventional weapons to fight you if you decide to be a supernatural menace and go amok in normal cities.
In Tombstone, when summoned, they can immediately shoot an enemy and reduce that enemy's HP by 2. That can be useful in some situations.
All cards can be found on our wiki:
https://neolithia.fandom.com/wiki/Tombstone_Card_Game_Cards
The list keeps growing with game updates. :)
2, A New Secret Organization Known as the GPA
What? Grade Point Average?
No, that's actually Gaming Promotion Association. You can now gain GPA Coins whenever you win some of the mini-games of our game. Such as the newly added Tombstone, previously existing Minesweeper, and Blackjack. It's a new currency you can use to exchange various different items with GPA members.
The goal is to provide more connections between our mini-games with the main game. After all, you still have a main game to play while those mini-games are just a part of our super huge open world.
GPA organization itself also has some story content. You will find their members quite unique. They claim to be superheroes to avenge all the unfairness gamers face in this world. But, they do not really have many superpowers at all. Some may even call them Chunibyo. But, I think it's good. It makes people young and stays forward in their journey. Just like Ichiban Kasuga in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, don't give up on your dream, your passion, and your desire to be someone special. Because you are special. No matter what other people say about you. You are the main character of this story. At least, in this game. :)
You can find information about GPA and their coins on the game's wiki as well:
https://neolithia.fandom.com/wiki/GPA_Coin
3, New Aten Cultist:
A bit higher ranked this time. They have not appeared in the story yet. But, you can use their appearance as your main character or the mercenaries you hired.
4, Today is Friday the 13th.
Put this mask up, your character will lose control. But, become a horror to your enemies.
Do you enjoy such dark power on a day like this?
You can get one from the GPA if you have enough coins.
That's for this week. Our story goes on so that those no longer with us will live on.
Today's changelog:
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[Tombstone]Minion effects can now trigger when damaged.
[Tombstone]New Card: Aten Cultist (Cost: 4/ATK:2/HP:5 Draw a card when damaged.)
[Tombstone]New Card: Combat Robot (Cost: 4/ATK:4/HP:5)
[GPA]You can now exchange GPA coins for Combat Robots.
[Friday the 13th]Today is January 13th, 2023. It's also a Friday. Thus, a new item has been added: Mask of Friday the 13th. (Today is also Friday in California. But, we have too many memes right now. :D)
[GPA]You can now exchange GPA coins for Mask of Friday the 13th.
Changed files in this update