TIGSource Forums

opening up a log here for Kanji Dungeon.

Newest version is up at http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiTest.html (http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiTest.html) (V0.8 )

Old version still at http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanji.html (http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanji.html) (V0.7)

(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o295/HomeDrone/Random/screen.jpg)

GOALS
===============
Kanji: 298?/250-300
Levels: 42/100

Other things to do
====================
Several new monsters.
End reward.
Arrow key movement option for those that would prefer it.
spell check.

I want to make it so that each player profile can play each of the classes simultaneously. You can quit playing one, and play another without resetting the first classes progress. Each class could be reset separately.


Known bugs
====================
1) There is a problem with the Valkryie's jump when dealing with moving walls. Still working on a solution. For now, be aware that jumping near moving walls might cause some glitches that will make you have to restart the level.

I think I have fixed this.

2) I thought I improved the stacking of things on the z axis, but I really just traded some problems for others. Still trying to find the best solution. It's really just a problem with doors now. They get covered by wall pieces they shouldn't.

Tweaks and updates
===================
V0.8
Play any class anytime for each player profile. Makes old game saves unusable.

V0.7
The Valkryie jumping bug was sorted.

Some other small bugs were sorted.

V0.6
The main addition for V0.6 is the Wizard class :wizard: . Quick description:
He is very weak. Least HP of all classes. He is also slow, like the knight. He doesn't have a basic attack. Instead he makes mana. You can have up to 3 mana points. His first SPECIAL is fireballs. 1 mana point makes a slow fireball. 2 mana points makes a fast fireball and 3 mana points makes a fireball equal to one from a scroll. His second SPECIAL is a flash of light that scares monsters away. 1 mana has a range of 1 square and lasts a short time, 3 mana has a range of about 3 squares and lasts the longest time. The last SPECIAL is to teleport. It needs 3 mana points. A circle appears and a 3 second countdown begins. Use the arrow keys to position the circle on the square you want to move to and wait for the timer to run out. You can't teleport through walls, but you can go around corners. You can't teleport to spaces with monsters in them.

I think the wizard plays the most different from the other classes. Some levels become much easier, but others become much harder.  

There were some other small changes to the game, but I forget now what they were  :facepalm:


V0.5
Streamlined the monster AI code so that maps with many monsters run much better.

Changed the stacking order to try and improve some of the clipping.

Added the Valkyrie class. Quick description:
She is fast like the Rogue but also weak like the Rogue (just a few more HP). She has an excellent attack, most damage of the classes so far, but no multi attack ability. Her REFLEX special will auto face and attack a random enemy in close range. Good for fighting ghosts or when surrounded. Her push back special does very little damage, but moving into the new square has some advantages. The leap action can be used to easily avoid most traps, but the ones that need special timing may be more difficult.


V0.4
The Rogue's multi shot fire rate was a little too high, so thinking I was being clever I increased it's cool down time so it could still have the same reaction speed. But it had this annoying problem that I kept trying to activate it too soon after I had used it, messing me up. So I just switched the extra time to the charge up instead.

Skeletons will sometimes use their shield now if the hero is facing them.
 
Feedback desired
==================
I'd like to know if there are any levels people just hate.

The first time I tried playing this, it got stuck loading at around 30%.  Forcing the page to reload (Ctrl+F5 in Firefox) fixed the issue though.  This may have been caused by NoScript, but I don't know for certain.

When the game finished loading, I was unable to use the arrow keys at the main menu.  I tried clicking on the game, but that did not help.  The return key worked and I was able to read the next screen (level selection I think).  On this screen I am able to enter in a name, but nothing else works.

This looks like an interesting game, especially since I am teaching myself Japanese.  Any ideas on what might be wrong?

I have the loading issue as well. The 110mb hosting seems to have that problem, but I don't really know why.

As for the arrow keys, I have no idea :o. Once it's loaded, it should be fine. I'd have said it was because you had lost focus on the flash with the mouse, but if the enter key worked, that doesn't explain it. Was it possible you were using the numeric keypad arrows and the num lock was on? Just a desperate thought.

:-*
I am posting here because I want to make sure I see the updates and stuff.
Keep up the delicious delicious delicious work?

[I'll continue to use the game and provide what bug reports/feedback I can]

Nope, I wasn't using the numpad :concerned:  I'll try it again later today...  Maybe it will fix itself.

I like the idea, and I hope that you get higher levels of kanji up, so that I can actually use it. User generated lists maybe?

I found using shift to select "Pick Up" to be very tedious, since I use Double Tap Shift as a shortcut for Google Sidebar. You may also run into trouble with people that like StickyKeys. Five Shift Presses and you're done. That's just me, though. You could just line the specials up and have not so large characters next to each of them.

Also, if it's a dungeon crawl, can it play more like a dungeon crawl and less like a FPS? RPG elements may make the game more immersive for some.

Very cool idea, very neat execution.
A friend of mine will send it to classmates of this Japanese class. He says thanks! :)

Not to be a weaboo here but why are some of the things in that screenshot not Kanji?

Such as Ji, Be, Ka, and Po

I'm not deft enough at programming to have user generated lists yet, at least not from outside files or something. But it's a great idea. For now, I hope being able to set your starting level is good enough.


There is an option of different settings for your pickups. It can be automatic, or it can be set to automatically put the pick up icon as your next special action when you stand on an item. You can set it in the ESC menu when you are playing. Later I will add it to the main menu when you are starting a new game to make it more obvious.


You mean having stats and such that you increase? I chose not to have stats or even upgradeable equipment to keep the scope within a limit I could manage. I'd defiantly consider it in a sequel, but for now I was hoping people could feel some kind of satisfaction knowing they finished the dungeon the same as they went in.

I'm assuming you meant an action game when you said FPS, or did I misunderstand?



Heh, I hope it's useful for them. It is still full of quirks that need to be ironed out, but you're welcome.


Calling it "Kanji and Hirigana plus a little English Dungeon" didn't have the same kick.  ;)

I was deleting old files to clean up my working folder when I found the first mockup I made after getting the idea for Kanji Dungeon. I thought I'd post it here for your amusement:

(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o295/HomeDrone/Random/draft1.png)

I still think that contextual commands like pick up, eat, unlock, open, etc. deserve their own slot. Might get really complicated in some dicey situations.

Also, the timed treasure room is pretty evil.

Hmm.. I toyed with that in some earlier mockups, but the screen was getting overcrowded. And I worried about adding an extra key needed to cycle the context driven commands.

As it is now, the only real hectic moment I have with switching actions is when I want to close a door in combat. But I'll keep thinking about alternate options. If you have a good idea for it, let me know.


Damn those evil wizards :wizard:.

I wanted a break from level making, so I drew the other 2 classes.

(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o295/HomeDrone/Random/heros.png)

I'm almost finished putting the Valkryie in. Should be playable in the next version.

We long to hear from you.

Oh. heh, Thanks.

I'm on the case. I just had a busy week of other things to do. I have the Valkyrie working and almost 300 kanji in now. Once I get some temp sounds in for the Valkyrie, I'll update.

Updated to V0.5

Oh my :D

I've been a bit busy, but so far the Valkyrie seems fun. I'll let you know when I play more.

V0.6 is up. I added the wizard class. You can see a description of it in my first post.

I have a problem in my game design I could use some help with. It's about my moving walls and the Valkyrie jump. Movement that happens instantaneously is no problem, like teleporting and the ghosts attack. Movement that goes from one square to another is also not a problem. If a unit is standing still when a wall pushes them, they just move in the direction of the wall. If they can't move, they die. If they are moving either into or away from a moving wall space, they get pushed to either their start or end location depending on which one the wall is moving into.

The Valkyrie can only jump if it has a clear space to go to, it's landing space is reserved, so no monsters can go there. But moving walls always have the right of way. So if the Valkyrie jumps when the space is clear, a wall can move into that space before the Valkyrie lands. If there is a monster in the space the Valkyrie is jumping over, there is nowhere for her to go.  I guess the simple solution is to kill her, but that seems a little harsh. I can't decide what should happen here.

I suggest:
Have the moving wall "push" the Valkyrie's landing location so that her direction is changed mid-air.

What does it normally do if it runs into you?

(Push into a wall = instadeath, though)

Trying now (I've been a bit occupied, not had much chance to play as much!)

I was also thinking of having the Valkyrie "bounce" off the wall and go in the other direction. Basically go back to the square she started. I was worried what would happen if a monster had already started to move into her original square, but I guess I can reserve it as well.

It normally pushes you out of it's way. Or it kills you if there is nowhere to go.

And don't worry about not having time to test it for me. I'll just take the slacking out of your wages.  :handmoneyL: ??? :handmoneyR: Whenever you can is great.

I think my record on Probability 0 is only 500m so far. It's hard for me, but I like that. It takes me back to playing games on my AppleIIe but with more stylish graphics.

Hooray! Hard games!

Speaking of which, this game is quite hard! I think the furthest I got was in 0.4 (or maybe the in-between test?) and I got to the floor with the big winding and thin path along the huuge pit with skeletons and so many damned ghosts xD

I never got past there. I think I was a rogue.


So far:

Valkyrie seems cool. I'll have to see if her abilities really come in handy, but her jump makes most traps easy pickings. Ooh! I just realized you can jump over pits with that.

Wizard is craaazy. Definitely messes with the difficulty. Teleporting is a blast, and it lets me avoid a lot of conflict completely. It's good that there is a fixed delay (the 3-2-1 countdown). Can you hurt yourself with a 3-mana fireball? Flash is incredibly incredibly useful, perhaps too much so? You can get out of almost anything using it, but so far it's still been rather stressful even flashing enemies away so it can't be too bad.

edit :: is there any chance of getting an executable or something? I'd love to play this on my laptop at school. at least I'd be learning something there!

When I was play testing the Rogue, I got to that level you're talking about (20 I think) and found it exceedingly hard myself..so I made it easier. Cut the number of ghosts way down. It was very doable with the knight, but the rogue just couldn't cut it. It's manageable now.

I was concerned that too much was bypassable with the wizard but you still have to work to get the loot. You can pick and choose more, but there is still a reason to fight. Your comments on the flash (Fear & Awe) are well noted. I will think about toning it down. Maybe making it just a 3 mana power ability and maybe cutting the time down a bit. I'll leave it for a while though.

You can easily kill yourself with LVL3 fireballs.

I made an .exe file of V0.6 you can download here:
http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiDungeon.txt (http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiDungeon.txt)

I renamed it to a .txt file so that I could upload it. You will need to name it back to .exe

I updated to V0.7

Just a few bug fixes and levels up to 40. I hope to get to level 50 before the 8th when I start school.

I was noticing I hardly use the SPEED potions. So I was thinking to replace them with a potion that stops time. FREEZE potions if you will. What level of freeze should I make it. Should you be able to kill the monsters when they are frozen? Should you be able to move into locations with fireballs and arrows in them and take damage? Should electric traps be frozen in an on state if they were when the potion was used? Should doors be open and closeable? What would your expectations be?

I love the visual and opening lines. But I couldn't get out of the room because I was too lazy to read the instruction. But you might want to swap "spacebar" with "enter". I find it more natural to press the spacebar every time I try to input.

Just a little note, because I've been kind of busier recently (sorryy >: I feel like I have let you down, homedrone! also my japanese-learnins), I think it might be nice to do something that lets you start later down in the dungeons when you restart.

You'd start without any of the items you might have collected, though, so you could be at a bit of a disadvantage? (Makes me think of Spelunky's Tunnel Man now, who I ended up never using much xD)

--- on potions ---

I should probably use potions more often.

FREEZE sounds pretty awesome o_o
I think that the freeze should be uniformly "fixed" or "unfreezeable by touch".

Fixed
Enemies cannot be affected, and they block your path.
Fireballs, arrows... block your path? Or are walked through, but never hurt you.
Doors are totally stuck. Your fired projectiles are exempt
Electric traps don't do anything.

Unfreezable by touch
When struck, the enemy in question is knocked out of frozen-ness (can this be done?) and takes damage.
Projectiles hurt if walked into, because they 'come alive' again. You can also attack the tile the projectile is in, to 'knock it free'?
Electric traps are unfrozen when you step on them.
Arrow traps make a noise, but the firing mechanism is totally frozen until time unfreezes.

How does that sound? o_o; It sounds a bit complicated to me.

You probably just needed to know that SHIFT changes your special action, and standing in front of a door will add an "OPEN DOOR" action to that list.

I know customizable keys would be good, but I don't really know how I will do it yet, so it's a task I will try out when all else is done. Sorry for the inconvenience  :(


I relieve you of your guilt. It's cool to get feedback, but I have no expectation of it. You've given me tonnes of feedback already anyway. Like this:


I hear what you're saying. I will say now though, that there is a reason to collect loot. There will be different endings depending on how much loot you collect. Starting at a certain point without any of the stuff would condemn yourself to the "bad" ending because you missed too much of the loot. Also, after I make the change of being able to play each class simultaneously for each user profile might soften the blow of having to restart one character from the beginning again, if you had to. Only once did I get to a level where I couldn't get past it, and my solution was to edit the level  ;)




There are several places invisibility potions can save you a lot of trouble, especially with Skeletons.




This was my initial thought. Though, I was planning to have even the players projectiles freeze when fired. If the monsters are immune to damage when frozen, why were you thinking the players projectiles should move?


It can be done, and actually, for the monsters, it's almost easier to do that than to have them immune to harm. I might make a trail version like this.

Yay!

Ah! I use invisibility potions the most, probably. They're the easiest to get use out of, I think.

On Skeletons: It's way better to lock them up. >:D You can peek out, run back in, beat them up, run past, and shut them in without taking any damage and without having to ever deal with them again. I love doing it.
(Did you realize this, or is it just coincidence that Skeletons are frequently near doors?)

Hmm. I was thinking that mostly because the player's also moving around freely, but I get what you're saying.

Alright! Cool :]

I just realized that maybe this new idea doesn't make sense within a potion and is starting to make more sense as a scroll (as it affects external things more than internal things).

Hey ... thanks for making a game that can help with my studies ^^
I've just started playing this so I haven't seen that much of it yet
but I thought I'd give some feedback:

-first of all I wonder why you've put several readings for some of the kanji (口=guchi/kuchi) but not for others?
I think for example that one should be able to write "九" as both　"ku" and "kyuu" ...
The same goes for being able to write "十" as both "jyuu" and "juu"
I dunno why you've chosen the readings you have as I can't see an obvious pattern ...
but it would probably be better to have either all the readings or to use just the
on'yomi or the kun'yomi readings so that people can start playing with all the kanji
unlocked without having to guess what they should write ...

-Some of the kanji might be wrong ... I've for example never seen "生" read as "i" ...
this is most likely just a spelling-mistake ... but if isn't it would be nice if you
could tell me a word in which it is read as "i"

-An option to discard certain kanji/kana would be nice (at least all the kana)

-I'm not very fond of the kanji-movement-interface-thingie so I would like to see
that changed as well ...
I think for example putting the attack button in the middle and the special powers as
separate buttons below would work better ...

I think that's enough for now ...
I'm really enjoying the game so keep up the good work etc.

-Xorax

I love the concept, but movement is just really, really slow-paced.

The Kanji list needs some editing for sure. I will need to go and add all the variations as you say. As for the source, I have used one of my text books for all the information. "生" as "i" is from the verb "ikiru". Which is kind of a mistake, because I've been trying to put the verbs with their hirigana as well. In general, I wanted the reading that was used when the kanji stood alone. The other readings are taught in context with other kanji.


Good idea. It poses some technical problems for me, so I will have to think how I can add that.


I'll add your name to the against pile. I am planning to put in an arrow key movement system for you folk, but it's not how I want to play the game, so it's low priority.


Thank you for the feedback   b(^^)


I planned to design the levels to be smallish to keep the long distance movement down. I've found that I can cruise around pretty good now that I have practiced the Hirigana and the typing a whole lot. A critical part of the concept for me is the movment. But the speed might improve for you when I get the arrow key movement in.

-Thank you ^^

-Sorry bout being unclear ... I have no interest in playing this with the arrow keys ...
by buttons I actually meant "the boxes on screen showing the kanji that you write to
perform the desired action" ... I still would like to write the kanji (that's pretty
much the reason I'm playing this) ... I would just like to see the boxes arranged
in a different way (preferably with the specials as separate boxes)

-Xorax

Oh, you're just annoyed with hitting the shift button.. Hmmm.. The reason I settled on the system I have is that the number of special actions changes from time to time. It's usually just 3, but can be up to 6 (3 special attacks, door, item, scroll). Also, it allows me to add even more actions later if I think of something new. Also, when I was doing mock-ups at the beginning, it was like rearranging the furniture in my room. It doesn't seem ideal, but once I start moving stuff, I always end up with the same layout  :shrug2: .


I like shutting them right under a door and watching them struggle  ;).


You're probably right thematically, but making it a scroll would throw off my fine 4/4 scroll/potion balance  :-X   

Actually, I would have less of a quibble with the movement being keyed in if the abilities didn't require cycling, because it adds 3 keystrokes every time there is something to interact with.
That, and I think there should be a pause menu that lists your abilities, because I keep forgetting what they are.

It's possible you don't know about the "PICK UP" settings. You can change it so the pick up command automatically becomes the active ability when you move onto items. It's in the pause menu at the moment. Set it to "PRIORITY". I plan to set it as the default. With that, it's only really opening and unlocking doors that you have to shift a lot for.


Yes there should. Added to the list.

I finally got the game running with each HERO account being able to play any of the classes anytime. But I had to rework the saving system a lot, so the old saves wont work anymore :(

So I'm putting the new version (V0.8 ) up as a test at: http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiTest.html (http://homedrone.110mb.com/kanjiTest.html)

where hast thou gone

where are you, my dungeon of kanji

i am now taking a real japanese course

i will love this once more

On hiatus for school. Will be back to work in February.