Srevensia - Match Making Marauders Design Document Part E

Srevensia - Match Making Marauders Style E Design Document

1. Concept

Srevensia - Match Making Marauders Style B is a puzzle battle game. Players make matches of three to form arming and disarming points to cause enemy’s mine to explode while preventing the same from happening to the player.

2. Goal

To reduce opponent’s HP from 25 to 0.

3. Disclaimer

Most of this document uses 2D rank 9 with standard rules as template. Additional rulesets and alterations for other modes are detailed in additional game modes section.

4. Layout

Force: 0

Player HP:  25

Enemy HP: 25

Force: 0

·         Leftmost and rightmost column: Force meter – Keeping track of force accumulated.

·         Columns next to the force meter: HP meter – Keeping track of players’ HP.

·         Purple boxes: Spell field – Contains spell blocks for matching. Field coordinates are in format of letters and numbers where letters showing the row and numbers showing the column, e.g. E6.

·         Green boxes: Player’s minefield – Keeping track of the element and strength of player’s mines.

·         Gray boxes: Player’s explosion timer – Keeping track of the player’s explosion countdown time.

·         Blue boxes: Enemy’s minefield – Keeping track of the element and strength of enemy’s mines.

·         Brown boxes: Enemy’s explosion timer – Keeping track of the enemy’s explosion countdown time.

·         Pink boxes: Block replacement counter – Keeping track of how matched blocks are changed.

·         Black boxes: Axis counter – Keeping track of which axis the attacks and defenses go.

·         Orange boxes: Turn counter – Keeping track of how much turns have passed.

5. Gameplay mechanics

a. Matching

Matching is done by swapping spell box so that three spell blocks of the same element/color form a horizontal/vertical line. Non-matching swaps are penalized with 3HP reduction and no force accumulation, which shall be explained in the force section.

When a match is done horizontally, arming points are formed and move towards the enemy to arm mines. Armed mines have countdown time of (6*number of dimensions). When a match is done vertically, disarming points are formed and move towards the player to disarm mines. When countdown time turns 0 at the start of a turn, the mines explodes and damages the player who has them. A mine is disarmed if the mine strength is reduced to 0 and the timer will be reset.

Spell blocks always disappear after matched and replaced with new ones. How does the spell blocks get replaced will be detailed in the random number generator behavior section. Chain matches alternate between arming and disarming. In case of simultaneous matches, the block selected for matching is used as the first matching block.

After 2 turns have passed, the active mine counters would switch sides, as indicated at the axis counter.

b. Elements

The spell blocks in the spell field can be any of the nineteen elements of nineteen colors:

Color	Element		Star
	Fire		Wood
	Water		Ice
	Wind		Poison
	Earth		Sun
	Light		Moon
	Dark		Sound
	Neutral		Steam
	Metal		Crystal
	Thunder		Cosmo
	Dimension		Oracle

c. Match effects

Every element has their own match blast when attacking. The mines also have their own effects:

	Element	Match effect	Mine effect
	Fire	Enemy’s mine is locked with minimum strength of 1. Player’s mine is unlocked.	Damage -1
	Water	Cover 1 block permanently	Restore 1 block to normal
	Wind	Prevent exploding mines to gain elemental effect. If the prevention has been triggered, the prevention is cancelled.	Enemy’s mine aligned with that of player’s have elemental effects nullified.
	Earth	Increase the enemy’s explosion timer aligned with the enemy’s blast by (number of dimensions*2). The reverse applies to player’s explosion timer. If there is no mine, the effect applies once a mine is armed. This can happen once per explosion.	The strongest mine of player has explosion timer increased by (number of dimensions*2). If there is no mine, the effect applies once a mine is collected. This can happen once per explosion.
	Light	HP +1 if HP less than enemy	Get 1 force point per mine exploded
	Dark	Bind 1 block permanently	Bind 1 player’s mine for 1 turn.
	Neutral	Increase the enemy’s mine strength by 25% or 1 point, whichever is higher. Reduce the player’s mine strength by 25% or 1 point, whichever is lower.	Damages enemy by half of mine strength after damage calculation.
	Metal	Arming/disarming point of the matching block is sent to the other axis.	Explosion affects the strongest mine at the adjacent minefield with the affected mine is used as defense.
	Thunder	Arming/disarming point of the matching block is duplicated to the other axis.	A random player’s mine has the strength reduced by half the amount of the exploding mine’s strength.
	Star	Excess disarming points are used to arm enemy’s mine.	The strongest non-exploding mine gains disarming points equal to half of the exploding mine’s strength.
	Wood	Gain force points when matched if there are no force points. Force points are consumed to fully disarm player’s mine or to double arming points to the enemy’s mine.	Gain force points when matched if there are no force points. Force points are used to guard against exploding mine’s damage.
	Ice	Detonate an enemy’s mine or fully disarms a player’s mine with the highest explosion timer.	Halves enemy’s disarming points accumulated for the aligned mine. If there are no mines, the effect applies on the next armed mine.
	Poison	Enemy’s HP is reduced by 1 (non-stacking) for 3 turns. Player’s mine gains 1 disarming point (non-stacking) each turn until it explodes, disarms or for 3 turns, whichever is earlier.	A random enemy’s mine gains arming points by 1 (non-stacking) for 3 turns or until it explodes, whichever is earlier. If there are no mines, the enemy’s HP is reduced by 1 (non-stacking) for 3 turns.
	Sun	Randomly changes element of a random block. Resulting match count as player’s.	Randomly changes element of a random block. Resulting match count as player’s.
	Moon	Shift the blocks aligned with matching block in the direction of attack. Out of bounds blocks warp. Effect is cancelled if hitting moon mines.	Shift the blocks aligned with mine in the opposite direction of attack. Out of bounds blocks warp. Effect is cancelled when defending moon attacks.
	Sound	Creates a filter permanently. Filter turns arming points into disarming points. Player 1’s filters are dotted while player 2’s filters are dashed.	Change one of enemy’s filters to that of player. If no filter exists, a filter is placed at a block aligned with the enemy’s attack with the shortest time randomly.
	Steam	Rise a block. Rose blocks block any points from getting through once.	Raise a random minefield until it explodes. Rose minefields cannot be armed or disarmed and do not cause damage when exploding.
	Crystal	Forms a mirror. Mirrors reflect attacks when hitting the surface. Reflected points back to the player have the points and effect applied to the player. Matches hitting mirror edge on pass through them.	Spins one mirror (90/number of dimension) degrees across blocks but cannot spin out of bounds.
	Cosmo	Creates a shifter. Shifters shift points to an adjacent row/column without changing their direction.	Spin a shifter 90 degrees counterclockwise within the same block.
	Dimension	Forms a warp. Block swapping bypasses warps. Warped blocks cannot be swapped. Matches involving warped blocks gains double effect.	Warped block is swapped randomly, favoring match forming swaps. Match formed this way is always arming points with blocks’ values doubled and resets the chain match order.
	Oracle	Enemy’s mines have strength halved and corrupted. Player’s mines have strength halved and reversed.	Steals the strongest mine to withstand explosion. If player’s mine is stolen, the stolen mine is returned intact. If enemy’s mine is stolen, enemy’s mine is disarmed. If there are no mines, mine strength is reduced by 25% (reduction rounded down) before it detonates.

All decimals are rounded down unless stated otherwise.

When a match is formed, the block which forms the match has the match effect active while the rest are left intact.

Covered blocks are marked with blue diagonal line and do not form mine pieces. Water blocks cannot be covered.

Bound blocks are marked with black diagonal line and unmatchable. Dark blocks cannot be bound.

Bound mines prevent disarmed points collection. Dark mines cannot be bound.

Rose blocks are marked with sky blue diagonal line. Rose mines are marked with sky blue border shared with status bar. Steam mines cannot be rose.

Mirrors are marked with dark gray diagonal line. Crystal blocks cannot have mirrors.

Filters are marked with light purple borders. Sound blocks cannot have filters.

Corrupted mines have the texts strikethrough and deals double damage when exploding. Reversed mines are turned 90 degrees and heal the player when exploding. Oracle mines cannot be corrupted or reversed.

Sound blocks cannot have filters.

Shifters are marked with dark tan diagonal line. Cosmo blocks cannot have shifters.

Mines have their elements replaced when joined.

Match effect that involves blocks affect blocks in the matched blocks path. If the effect cannot be triggered normally, they will trigger randomly at other areas of the spell field. If it cannot be triggered at all, they will be stored for the next use as indicated in the effect charge counter and will override normal match effects.

Only one block effect can be applied to one block at any time. If any effect causes multiple block effects appear on the same block, the effects are reapplied until multiple block effects do not appear on the same block.

Only one mine effect can be applied to one mine at any time. Further effects are nullified until it wears off.

d. Calculations

Points collected=number of spell blocks aligned with the mine

Explosion damage=mine strength

Actual Damage=Explosion Damage+Damage effect Modifiers

Force Accumulated=Actual Damage

e. Spells

Before spells can be cast, players must pay 10 force, which shall be signified by the force gauge turning dark blue. Then, a match must be done or no spells will be cast. The matched blocks will not form mines. The element of the match done determines what spell is cast:

	Element	Spell	Effect
	Fire	Inferno	Deal 7 damage to enemy
	Water	Rain	Cover blocks equal to maximum number of elements available for the remainder of the battle unless they are matched.
	Wind	Breeze	Enemy's effects including spell effects disabled for the enemy’s next [(number of elements available+1)/2] times
	Earth	Earthquake	All player’s blast timers get reduced by 4 (except mines with blast time 4 or less) while enemy’s blast timer increased by 4 (except mines with 8 or more)
	Light	Luminate	Heal 7 points if HP less than enemy
	Dark	Shockwave	Destroy [(number of elements available-1)/2] mines, prioritizing quicker mines
	Neutral	Spike	Halves mine strength to [(number of elements available+3)/2] mines, prioritizing stronger mines. Mines with 1 strength are instantly destroyed.
	Metal	Rotator	Grant metal effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times.
	Thunder	Thunderstorm	The next [(number of elements available+1)/2] attacks have thunder effects stack upon them.
	Star	Shine	Grant star effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times.
	Wood	Supply	Grant wood effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times. Force consumption applies after effects ended up to total of 20 points. If force point consumption exceeds 20, remaining force points are not reduced.
	Ice	Freezing	Grant ice effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times.
	Poison	Poisoning	Grant poison effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times.
	Sun	Shine	Board reset without force penalties.
	Moon	Blanket	All blocks move right 1 unit and up 1 unit. Matched blocks are unaffected. Blocks warp through matched blocks and matched blocks.
	Sound	Pulse	Convert 2 enemy filters to that of player’s. If there are fewer filters, new filters are made.
	Steam	Emission	Raise 2 random blocks and 1 random player’s defense areas.
	Crystal	Bling	Add 2 mirrors randomly
	Cosmo	Phase	Add 2 shifters randomly
	Dimension	Wormhole	Forms 2 warped blocks randomly
	Oracle	Yin Yang	Grant oracle effects stack on the player for [(number of elements available+1)/2] times.

Once the cost was paid, the player cannot do the same again for the remainder of the battle. In case of simultaneous matches, the match made from the selected block is used as the spell.

f. Random number generator behavior

Random numbers are generated without regards of the board condition. The numbers fill from left to right, followed with top to bottom. In case of multiple matches, the match done by the matching block gets priority. Subsequent matches fill normally.

g. Board resets

When there are no match is possible, all of the blocks in the spell field will be replaced with new ones and both player’s force gauges are reset to 0.

h. Bonuses to making matches of more than 3 blocks

Matching more than three blocks of the same element grant additional value to the block used to form the match by the number of extra blocks matched. However, covered blocks do not count when determining the value.

If a simultaneous match occurs, the blocks are used to form matches gain value equal to (number of simultaneous matches – 1).

6. Options

The game mechanics are partly customizable through the below options:

-          Arming only: All matches turn into arming points without regard of any way the match was done

-          Adjacent match: Any three or more blocks which are adjacent to any of themselves counted as a match

-          Diagonal recognition: Diagonal matches are allowed

-          90 degree: matches done horizontally form mines and matches done vertically form attacks

-          Parallel siege: matches done parallel with axis form arming points, matches done perpendicular with axis form disarming points

-          Perpendicular siege: matches done perpendicular with axis form arming points, matches done parallel with axis form disarming points

-          Non-matching spells: Spells can be activated without needing to match. With this option, players select a spell before match starts and it become the only spell usable for the players for the remainder of the battle.

-          Chain behavior V2: Matches after the first retain the same arming/disarming property of the first match

-          Disarming only: Mines are pre-armed with strength of 6 with no element and all matches turn into disarming points. Mines rearm without elements right after it disarms or explodes.

-          Board pre-match: Allows the spell field at reset having matches already

-          Force matchable blocks: The random number generator will attempt to form potential matches

-          Block chain matches: The random number generator will prevent additional matches after existing ones

-          Inward gravity: Instead of the blocks being replaced, the blocks are pulled towards the mine field and blocks filling the blanks.

-          Outward gravity: Instead of the blocks being replaced, the blocks are pulled away from the mine field and blocks filling the blanks.

-          Fixed gravity: Instead of the blocks being replaced, the blocks are moving in a fixed random direction determined at the start of the battle and blocks filling the blanks.

-          Extended game: Both players start with 50HP. Spells are available once between 50 to 26 HP and another between 1 to 25 HP. If player does not activate force when HP is between 26 to 50 HP, the spell is considered wasted even when HP is restored back into range.

-          Long game: Both players start with 100HP. Spells can be cast up to 4 times, but a cooldown period of 6 turns is imposed after a spell was cast before the next one can be cast.

Chain behavior V2 and attack only options are mutually exclusive. Only one of 90 degree, Parallel siege and Perpendicular siege option can be active.

7. Alterations for other game modes

a1. 1D modes

The mine fields at the left and right sides are enabled while the ones at top and bottom are disabled. As such, there is no mine field switch per 2 turns. Expert mode cannot be used with this game mode. Blast timer is reduced to 6.

a2. 2D quad play modes

The field is exactly the same, but the attack direction changes every turn. After determining who gets to play first, the second player is the player opposite to the first player, the third player to the left and the last to the right. When attacking, the player’s first turn attack is towards the enemy opposite to the player, the second turn towards the enemy left to the player and the third turn towards the enemy right to the player. The cycle then repeats for the subsequent turns.

a3/1. Tag team assault mode

Gameplay is similar to 2d quad play modes, but players play in a team with combined HP. Team players are aligned 90 degrees with each other and turn order becomes Team 1 player 1, Team 2 player 1, Team 1 player 2 and Team 2 player 2. Team mates do not attack each other and player’s attack alternates between the two enemies.

a3/2. Tag team defense mode

Gameplay is similar to 2d quad play modes, but players play in a team with combined HP. Team players are aligned opposite with each other and turn order becomes Team 1 player 1, Team 2 player 1, Team 1 player 2 and Team 2 player 2.

a3/3. Tag team break mode

Gameplay is similar to tag team defense mode, but the goal is to reduce own team’s HP to 0 before opponent does.

b1. Rank modes

Elements are fixed and the board length is equal to that of number of elements in play. The rank modes are as follows:

Element	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3	Rank 4	Rank 5	Rank 6	Rank 7	Rank 8	Rank 9
	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
		Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
		Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
			Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
			Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
				Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
				Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
					Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
					Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
						Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
						Exist	Exist	Exist	Exist
							Exist	Exist	Exist
							Exist	Exist	Exist
								Exist	Exist
								Exist	Exist
									Exist
									Exist

b2. Standard modes

Elements are chosen randomly before battle starts and board length is equal to number of elements in play. The possible number of elements is as follows:

Name	Number of elements
Easy	5
Medium	6
Intermediate	7
Advanced	8
Expert	9
Ultimate	10

b3. Casual modes

Elements are chosen randomly, but the board length is 1 more than number of elements in play. The possible number of elements is as follows:

Name	Number of elements
First	4
Learner	5
Novice	6
Amateur	7
Semi-Pro	8
Professional	9

9. Thunder element behavior in 2D quad play mode

In 2D quad play mode, thunder element behaves differently than in 2D advanced mode. When the attacking direction is to the enemy opposite of the player, the duplicate attack will be directed to either left or right side randomly. The similar applies with other attack directions.

10. Spells exclusive to Non-matching spell option

Name	Effect
Free Swap	Allows a block to switch places with another one. Resulting matches have the matching block values tripled.
Power Up	Increase all enemy’s mine strength by 1.
Power Down	Decrease all player’s mine strength by 1.
Aligner	Align player’s mine to enemy’s mine based on enemy’s mine strength.
Disperser	Align enemy’s mine away from player’s mine field as much as possible, but the resulting damage is halved.
Burglary	Steals (number of elements/4) enemy mines right during conversion of matches to mines, prioritizing empty spaces. Any merged mines have the elements replaced.
Merger	Merge 2 yet to attack mines to 2 weakest attacking mines during the start of next turn.

11. Legal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. With that, as long as attribution is given by linking back to the blog and crediting this document to Murazrai, there shall be no restrictions of using or adapting this document, including for commercial purposes.