SEMC announce Catalyst Black (previously Project Spellfire)

Doubtful. The dropping in and out of lobbies is commonplace in online shooters, these games don’t have endless lobbies. Not sure why SEMC would take a different parochial from these games, and there is nothing to indicate they will do so in this regard.

fking finally something. Artstyle is not doing it for me but I am excited. Hopefully they turn the tides around with this game since VG future somewhat depends on this too.

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Sorry to be rude but VG has no future now.

You’re basing that statement on … what? The announcement of this new game? How does that change things?

If they don’t nod off to VG by making a SAW top tier there I don’t want it :pensive:

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Ok serious time:

I haven’t played many games like this but I can see the market potential so hey good on SEMC

First impressions include:

  • that guy kinda looks like the default fortnite dude
  • ooh transformation mechanics
  • the logo gives off a very high tech/sci fi aesthetic compared to the in game models so its kinda throwing me for a loop (although that’s probably just my brain)
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I am just trying to stay optimistic about this. There’s so much going on right now with VG and Mobile MOBA’s in general that I can’t come into a general agreement of THIS IS IT right now.
at one side we have stuff like regular updates from SEMC, years of hard work creating something unique in mobile market showed how passionate they devs were and somewhat still are, IP that they would not want to go to waste while on the other hand Riot is coming out with their own MOBA, all the ■■■■■■■ that SEMC has done in the past, how bad the connection going to be in CE, no updates in foreseeable future.

all this COVID-19 situation has made me more focused on this as well. at least I had work to do before the lockdown to distance myself away. Its sad really just thinking about it I mean this is not the first time I’ve seen a game die. Back in the old days I used to play a game called FLYFF (MMORPG) played it for 8 years. I have every single ■■■■■■■ place memorized to this day. saw the game rise, fall, rise again and fall again.
also some other thing is that I don’t get bored playing VG like other games. I played RDR2 for no more than 30 mins and I got bored, tried Division 2 since they got a trial going on right now played till the white house and was done.

The only thing I am living with now is 100+Ping on Battlefield 1 since we don’t got no local servers here and VG so yea I either want this COVID to end so I can get back to work ( which is not happening soon since we just got a extended 2 weeks lockdown) or VG to show some positive signs.

this became a personal rant and something I certainly did not wanted atleast on this thread. I do hope they find success in this game and actually move forward nicely and not ■■■■ this one up.

the art style is interesting, but instead of it looking like fortnite I’d say dauntless.

That said I dunno if I’ve missed it or it just hasn’t been said, with being able drop in and drop out of matches with no penalty, what’s the objective of the match? Just kill the other team or secure that other monster they were all crowding around(the not masked player mon)?
It’s an interesting game for sure tho

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SO uhhh, opinions and assumptions here:

Honestly not a big fan of “these types” of games, but pairing up different combinations of abilities, weapons, and passives is enough of a twist to draw me in. The washed-out, colorful aesthetic is very eye-gasmic as well, which is another plus.

What turns me off the most is being able to just join and exit the match- and without penalty, because they designed it to be that way. What the heck would be the point then? Maybe they failed to elaborate on this mechanic, because based on how this sounds on paper, I cannot imagine taking this game seriously. My best hope for CB is if it manages to strike a balance between its casual and competitive side.

Also I’m confused as to how they intend to monetize the game aside from character customization. So now I’m assuming you can pay for guns, gun skins, gun upgrades? A huge portion of the community probably wants CB to be the game that’s up to par with VG’s depth and competitiveness, but I seriously doubt that’s the case. I am 100% sure that a diehard VG fan looking for CB to replace VG will be VERY disappointed.

I don’t want to discredit the game by calling it a “cashgrab,” but I am inclined to believe this game is going to be marketed towards a more casual audience with somewhat of a P2W aspect (and no, not in a “talents” way). However, I do wish SEMC all the success. They are one of the few mobile devs that actually give two s##ts about their games. With the experience they have now, I believe they have what it takes to make this become a massive hit- even if it means letting down a big % of VG fans.

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Yes excoundrel made a video about the game so it makes more sense now, definitely had a wrong first impression.

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Trying hard not to roll my eyes … :roll_eyes:

Useful video for getting a better idea of how CB will work, though.

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Yeah it’s a really strange and new genre blend. It makes a lot of sense since MOBA are derived from RPGs and RTS to kind of go back to that on a more core level. This kind of game sort of hits the niche of Battle Royale where you can drop in and have fun with friends without the stress of a very confined competitive environment.

Thanks for linking that vid, had not seen that yet. He has some good takes, and I agree I hope they monetize the game properly this time around.

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Semc has a new unlisted video answering questions on their discord for CB.

Got a link to it to share here?

Also

The fact that they posted it to Discord and nowhere else (that I can find) indicates that they haven’t learned much about marketing/communication, despite what they said recently: posting to Discord dramatically limits the number of people who’ll see that information. Smh.

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They’ll post it more widely in a day or two, I think. For now, they’re just trying to get a critical mass of excitement in their discord server, which isn’t a terrible idea?

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This is a really excellent video … :thumbs3:

Useful CB Links:

(:arrow_up: signup is not working, it seems :roll_eyes:)

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Yeah, I think they’re doing to a pretty decent job of managing expectations at the moment. Which isn’t easy, considering how much of the CB playerbase is ported from VG! I see a good amount of “CB should have touch controls like VG” or “CB should have elo systems like VG” or “VG did X poorly, CB probably will too” or “CB should have Goldtoad!!! :goldtoad:” (ok maybe that last one’s just me) … There’s a healthy amount of enthusiasm right now, but it’s probably better in the long run if SEMC can figure out how to keep VG at a safe distance early on, and slowly re-embrace that legacy after the CB launch and things get a bit more stable.

The game looks kind of neat though, so that’s a start! Excoundrel’s video got me interested in how CB might have really robust options for guild play, if not as in-game features, then at least accessible through third-party social hubs like discord or forums.

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Should be ingame or this will be a massive lesson not learned. :slight_smile: it’s 2020 not 1996.

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What? You mean I’m the only one looking forward to playing Catalyst Black on my Packard Bell Legend 406CD? :sunny_happy_2:

Looking forward to playing CB on my mobile!

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