18 minutes ago, ellhaynes said:

And then there's the trouble of working out when the app should spent threat - as soon as it's available, or save it for something bigger and nastier. Again, the Descent app doesn't have to worry about this quite so much.

Yep, the more I think about it, the more complicated it seems to get the app right. And I really, really want it to be right!

You also wonder if they're going to keep the same "legendary" and "heroic" rules when you play with fewer than four heroes, which I've found to be one of the weak points of the current IA design. The app could conceivably be smart enough to tailor your opposition to the size of your party, but that makes things that much more complicated still.

6 minutes ago, ManateeX said:

You also wonder if they're going to keep the same "legendary" and "heroic" rules when you play with fewer than four heroes, which I've found to be one of the weak points of the current IA design. The app could conceivably be smart enough to tailor your opposition to the size of your party, but that makes things that much more complicated still.

It might actually be easier for the app to drop those things entirely and instead directly tailor missions to suit hero counts.

Though, I'm not a developer, so what do I know?

One cool aspect is that, like video games, they can apply updates in a dynamic (and often blind) way that will allow them to fix things that feel broken and improve game balance without needing Errata etc. So even if they don't "get it right" straight away, they'll have the tools to fix things very easily.

1 hour ago, ManateeX said:

You also wonder if they're going to keep the same "legendary" and "heroic" rules when you play with fewer than four heroes, which I've found to be one of the weak points of the current IA design.

I believe it is matter of preference. For me, rules and balance for 2 and 3 heroes are much better for IA then they are for Descent.

I would guess that the app will allow for fewer than 4 heroes and will probably account for it, at a minimum, with the reward cards system or similar. I would guess that the app will try to adhere to as much of the Rule book/LTP guide as possible with the big differences involving the IP, which has always been somewhat blind to the rebels anyways. Otherwise, it would get to be too much of a "black box" and would muddle the gameplay.

I will say, that my group has played a few times with 3 heroes and just recently played RTH with 4 heroes (three rebel players) with an NPC hero. I think we all agreed that it was much more fun that way.

9 hours ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

I would guess that the app will allow for fewer than 4 heroes and will probably account for it, at a minimum, with the reward cards system or similar. I would guess that the app will try to adhere to as much of the Rule book/LTP guide as possible with the big differences involving the IP, which has always been somewhat blind to the rebels anyways. Otherwise, it would get to be too much of a "black box" and would muddle the gameplay.

I will say, that my group has played a few times with 3 heroes and just recently played RTH with 4 heroes (three rebel players) with an NPC hero. I think we all agreed that it was much more fun that way.

Yep, I ran a couple of campaigns where I had three other people who could regularly commit to playing, so we decided to have a fourth hero cooperatively managed. This had the added benefit that we would regularly get others of our boardgaming circle wanting to have a go, so they could just pick up our spare hero and get to it! Definitely more fun for us than using the token system for extra activations.

as i am reading all of this i am thinking "what if i sucks?" you guys are setting it up for failure. if it doesn't meat your expectations, you won't be happy with it wait for it to come out before getting existed.

15 minutes ago, ATM2100 said:

as i am reading all of this i am thinking "what if i sucks?" you guys are setting it up for failure. if it doesn't meat your expectations, you won't be happy with it wait for it to come out before getting existed.

Well you heard him, guys. Looks like we have to stop existing until this app comes out.

sorry to burst your bubble but i don't see an ai good enough to hold up on actual players and where would they put it? ipad? iphone? Or computer? those last two would probably be terrible.

3 minutes ago, ATM2100 said:

sorry to burst your bubble but i don't see an ai good enough to hold up on actual players and where would they put it? ipad? iphone? Or computer? those last two would probably be terrible.

No, AI would not be as good as actual player. And we know that from Descent app. Still it's better to play it that way then not play at all. And for many of us, it would be app or no go.

And (I like to start a new sentence with "and" ) from Descent app we know that it would be good on both ipad and computer (putting those big TVs to some quality use at last).

still don't make it seem like a mile then have it turn out to be a marathon.

sorry but i don't have the decsent app but i have the game

Just now, ATM2100 said:

sorry but i don't have the decsent app but i have the game

yet

wif or wif out iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttt,

i caan liiiiiivvvvvve,

wif or wth out iiiiiiitttttttt.

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but if you hit the "edit" button on your posts you can add to your most current post if you're the last person to have contributed. That way, someone doesn't have to have 4+ posts in a row.

thx for the input! ill try to use that.

Well it sounds like they're still planning on releasing the IA App sometime this year.

I REALLY hope this app comes out at some point. I love Descent with the App. I love Mansions of Madness with the App. I love Imperial Assault Skirmish. I HATE Imperial Assault Campaign. I'm certain my gaming group would jump on the chance for an App driven coop game.

I stand by the speculation I made in the other thread, I think this shift to the big box in Q3 will see our next box expansion late Q1 because they are planning to get that App out for Christmas to really ramp up sales for the holiday season.

I have descent, mansions, and Zombicide. All games I can play solo either because of the apps or the way the game is built. I am super pumped for the app for IA. IA is my favorite and it's the one game I play the least due to lack of players.

Please excuse my ignorance, folks, but were you to be using an app to play IA, would you need to have the game out and set up? Presumably yes?

In other words, this app-thingy is not simply a computer game in which the players 'hotseat' when it's their 'turn'? It's instead a nice-looking program that handles all the stuff the overlord would normally handle, including activating all enemy forces, plus perhaps activating any non-player-controlled heroes along for the ride, and also calculating all hero attacks?

If so, that sounds bl**dy marvellous. Bring it on.

Many thanks in advance for any tips, folks!

i would hope it would be as close to the game as possible.

1 hour ago, hismhs said:

Please excuse my ignorance, folks, but were you to be using an app to play IA, would you need to have the game out and set up? Presumably yes?

Yes.

The app is (assuming its like descent) more like an AI Deck/Event Deck etc. It allows stuff to be more scripted for specific scenarios/story.

Oh please, any news???

On 5/8/2017 at 1:20 PM, hismhs said:

Please excuse my ignorance, folks, but were you to be using an app to play IA, would you need to have the game out and set up? Presumably yes?

In other words, this app-thingy is not simply a computer game in which the players 'hotseat' when it's their 'turn'? It's instead a nice-looking program that handles all the stuff the overlord would normally handle, including activating all enemy forces, plus perhaps activating any non-player-controlled heroes along for the ride, and also calculating all hero attacks?

If so, that sounds bl**dy marvellous. Bring it on.

Many thanks in advance for any tips, folks!

Nobody actually knows what the app does. FFG has been completely silent since announcing the app's possible future existance. It could be an Imperial AI, or it could be a bean counter with an Imperial Assault background for all we know.

Most people are basing their speculation on the app that was released for Descent, which does in fact remove the need for a human player to fill the role of an Imperial player, however that app also fundamentally changes how the overlord works altogether and completely does away with all previously released maps for the game and only uses app-only scenarios. Some people are hoping it will be more like the recently released Mansions of Madness 2nd edition app that does completely replace the responsibilities of the overlord player while still using mostly the same rules and scenarios that came with the box. However MoM:2e is a game that was designed with the app in mind so I think that's unlikely unless they are planning to introduce an Imperial Assault 2nd edition that is designed with the app in mind...

Oh crap, do you think they have taken so **** long with giving us any information because they're planning to released IA 2nd edition core set with app support?