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Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

wesnoth.org

61–70 of 178 posts

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#61
post #14

Highly suggest connecting with one of the lead developers, Charles Dang/Vultraz, if you have any C++ jobs in the USA. He's been a developer on Wesnoth since 2012 but only graduated university in 2024. Unfortunately, it's been an absolutely brutal market for new graduates. Even if you're a maintainer on one of the most popular OSS C++ projects on GitHub. I can't recommend him enough. edit: LinkedIn https://www.linkedi…

That is sad. Maintaining something like this really takes almost all the skills also needed for enterprise, or a dozen places.

That it doesn't get him instant hired is the sad part, what are we coming to.

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#62
post #57
post #11

My only gripe with the game is that healing doesn't give XP to the healing units. This means you need to place them in combat to level up instead of placing them behind the fighters like they are intended to be, and with them initially having low health they are very squishy. I know you can kinda cheese it by reducing a monster to 1-2 HP and then getting them to attack, but it feels like going against their role.

> Frequently Proposed Ideas (FPIs) > 7. Healing/leadership should give experience > It is felt that allowing units to gain experience without risk would make leveling-up of such units inevitable. Further, one of the motivating examples of this is so that units such as shaman can have a hope to level up in multiplayer. It is pointed out that if the experience gains were high enough to allow shaman to level up in a sin…

There's various ways around this (like capping amount of experience per level by source), but ain't game design fun?

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#63
post #9
post #5

A+! They even had an iOS version a while back: ` https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-battle-for-wesnoth/id14507... ` (this may be the "Mac" version, see: ` https://www.reddit.com/r/wesnoth/comments/1pjkwbw/i_had_wesn... `). If that's your jam then there's also a (non-open-source) "Hero's Hour" which tickles the old Heroes of Might and Magic stylings, works reasonably well on Xbox, where I've been doing most of my gamin…

Also on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/599390/Battle_for_Wesnoth...

Don't suppose you've played in the steamdeck? Curious how well it works there

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#64
post #44
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've enjoyed this, honestly. There's a whole short-term pain/long-term gain tradeoff to risking healers that adds more strategy to the campaign. > I know you can kinda cheese it by reducing a monster to 1-2 HP In practice, I've found it difficult to get monsters to 1-2 HP since it often means not using your most powerful attacks. On harder difficulties I usually can't afford the opportunity cost.

Yeah I personally found this to be a big part of the tactical and strategic challenge. It reminded me a lot of Pokemon where you have a similar challenge, of slotting "exposure to fighting" into a limited action and HP budget. Edit: Now that I think about it, most turn-based games have this mechanic. It's almost an idiomatic balance/design decision in gaming. Compare to Dota where support heroes have acquired more an…

Dota/League does this because each hero is controlled by a human, and humans don't like playing low-impact, low-wealth, low-exp supports.

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#66

Sweet! Does anyone have a list of high-quality open source games like this? (Subjective interpretation, but something like, "I couldn't believe it's free, I would have paid for it anyway.")

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: Like Dwarf Fortress but post-apocalyptic survival horror. Endless Sky: top-down space shooter inspired by Escape Velocity SuperTux: inspired by Super Mario SuperTuxKart: inspired by Mario Kart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_game... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_video_games...

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#67

Sweet! Does anyone have a list of high-quality open source games like this? (Subjective interpretation, but something like, "I couldn't believe it's free, I would have paid for it anyway.")

Luanti aka minetest

Widelands as a settler clone

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#69
post #14

Highly suggest connecting with one of the lead developers, Charles Dang/Vultraz, if you have any C++ jobs in the USA. He's been a developer on Wesnoth since 2012 but only graduated university in 2024. Unfortunately, it's been an absolutely brutal market for new graduates. Even if you're a maintainer on one of the most popular OSS C++ projects on GitHub. I can't recommend him enough. edit: LinkedIn https://www.linkedi…

I am very surprised if he can't find a job, as an American, in DC, with 12 years of C++ experience. Sure companies aren't great at assessing open source experience, but there is one area its easy to find a job as a dev: work that requires a clearance.

St. John’s college is a great place that draws a special type of young person, but its graduates are not very STEM-legible. As far as I know they still offer no choice of major & no hands-on classes — just the great books.

Of course that makes this person’s skill all the more impressive.

Re: Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game

#70
post #66

Sweet! Does anyone have a list of high-quality open source games like this? (Subjective interpretation, but something like, "I couldn't believe it's free, I would have paid for it anyway.")

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: Like Dwarf Fortress but post-apocalyptic survival horror. Endless Sky: top-down space shooter inspired by Escape Velocity SuperTux: inspired by Super Mario SuperTuxKart: inspired by Mario Kart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_game... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_video_games...

Well:

- Supertux2, it got recently revamped, the quality skyrocketed. Much better controls and artwork.

- Supetux Advance, this is really great too.

- Retux (More Wariolike than Mario)

- Nethack/Slashem. A Roguelike more bound to interaction/exploration/mechanics than combat, but Slashem makes combat crazy with the Doppleganger Monk, which is basically a Shonen Manga, the role. (Dragon Ball/Naruto depending on your age).

- DCSS. Basically, not Nethack/Slashem, much more combat oriented than the Slashem combinatorics playing with the Monk a la Jackie Chan, this is more like an ARPG made a Rogue.

- Frotz/Lectrote/Winfrotz/whatver Z Machine interpreter and "All Things Devour". Spiritwrak, too. Great libre text adventures and still enganing because of weird mechanics.

- Frozen Bubble

- OpenArena.

- FreeDoom, better compiled with Deutex on daily builds.

- FreeCiv.

- OpenTTD today can be standalone enough.

- Frozen Bubble

- Minetest+tons of subgames such as Glitch, Nodecore...

- OOlite

- Speed Dreams. If the controls are hard, try the arcade mode. If the controls are still hard, get SupertuxKart, pick some real life car from the addons and get all the SD tracks from the inline downloader, they are several.

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