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[kevglass]

I've just started working on a rogue-like that I'm calling "Legends of Yore". The intention is to build a dungeon adventure thats as casual as it gets. It's targeted at mobiles (iphone and android) though there's also a web version. I'd like to make it possible to progress as a hero even on a short bus ride or coffee break. I'm making use of the wonderful tile sets created by Oryx. So far I have a basic game up and running and I'm trying to get some feedback to shape the game play into something fun - I'm traditionally pretty poor at assessing the "funness" of my games



The dungeon and quests are procedurally generated and hopefully this is going to give it some re-play value. Each level is generated from a set of parameters and can additionally have scripted elements woven in. I'm trying to give the fast paced feeling of Diablo but in a rogue like format. Letting you stop whenever you want but during play getting you to move very quickly through the turns.

One of the comments I've had so far is that the game doesn't have enough content, even at this early stage. This is probably because all the content is defined in a XML files and adding new items, monsters etc is labour intensive. To remedy this my latest addition (today) is a GUI to create content.. now wondering whether it was worth the time



Off for recovery soon, so hopefully lots of time to work on it

Kev

[kevglass]

There's some more info at:

http://www.legendsofyore.com

and some more about the rules I'm expecting to use:

http://www.legendsofyore.com/rules.html

Kev

[JasonPickering]

this looks interesting. how are you creating content from an XML? I have never had much experience with XML work.

[kevglass]

The content isn't really created from XML, it's just defined there, for instance here's the definition of the items in the game:

Code:

<types>
<itemType name="Apple" tile="81" desc="A healthy red apple" use="true" destroy="true" equip="false" level="0" ranged="false" cost="4" stacks="true" >
<action attribute="hp" delta="5" />
</itemType>
<itemType name="Red Potion" tile="80" desc="A vial of red liquid" use="true" destroy="true" equip="false" level="0" ranged="false" cost="10" stacks="true" >
<action attribute="hp" delta="10" />
</itemType>
<itemType name="Key" tile="84" desc="To use, walk through a locked door" use="false" destroy="false" equip="false" level="0" ranged="false" />
<itemType name="Sword" tile="86" desc="A light-weight short sword" use="false" destroy="true" equip="true" level="0" slot="hands" ranged="false" classes="warrior" attackMod="1" defenceMod="0" />
<itemType name="Bow" tile="90" desc="A strong willow bow" use="false" destroy="true" equip="true" level="0" slot="hands" ranged="true" classes="archer" projectile="96" failChance="5" />
<itemType name="Staff" tile="94" desc="A magical staff" use="false" destroy="true" equip="true" level="0" slot="hands" ranged="false" classes="wizard" />
<itemType name="Fireball" tile="95" desc="Fireball Spell - ranged attack" use="false" destroy="true" equip="true" level="0" slot="spell" ranged="true" classes="wizard" charge="10" attackMod="2" defenceMod="0" projectile="97" failChance="5" />
<itemType name="Town Portal" tile="100" desc="Town Port - summon a portal back to town" use="true" destroy="true" equip="false" level="0" ranged="false" cost="50" stacks="true" />
</types>

So, the game just reads in the XML and uses it to define the items that will appear in the game. Pretty standard stuff I guess. The generation of levels is procedural but the configuration for each level is defined in XML too..

Code:

<level id="1" key="true" tileset="0" chests="3" width="50" height="35" rooms="25" minMonsters="1" maxMonsters="2" >
<monsterChance type="Skeleton" chance="5" />
<monsterChance type="Snake" chance="5" />
<monsterChance type="none" chance="5" />
<chest minItems="0" maxItems="5" >
<itemChance name="null" chance="4" />
<itemChance name="Apple" chance="1" />
<itemChance name="Red Potion" chance="1" />
</chest>
</level>

So there's a level with a fixed size and number of rooms. The sub elements describe what type of monsters to generate and the contents of the chests created. The tool shown above is completely generic but allows your to specify a schema of XML - which is then interpreted into a useful GUI. The only game specific bits are the types you can specify, for instance you can indicate an integer field is actually an index into a tileset - so the item is then displayed with a selector across the tileset.

Kev

[kevglass]

Had a knee operation yesterday, so layed up on the sofa at the moment - i.e. no day job. Today's job is to get through the feedback I've received so far and fix the bugs that have been reported on the iPhone version.

Next is shops in town working and the update of the rules to document to include archer zen and warrior rage.

Still thoroughly enjoying this project but I keep getting distracted with new ideas - how do I stop that?

Kev

[saint11]

Just did a quick play and I think it's great. I aaways wanted a roguelike for my android! :D I'll keep a close watch on this one!

[JasonPickering]

This does look great. One odd thing. The snakes in the first level are huge. I actually ran away because I thought they would be much stronger. Maybe switch to the one square sprite. Make giant snakes a later enemy.

[kevglass]

Been a bit out of action for a few days but I'm managed to update the RPG rules document:

http://www.legendsofyore.com/rules.html

And handled death correctly:



Kev

[iamagiantnerd]

Looks great kev!

I'm curious about your dev environment for ios. I know you had worked on porting slick to android a while back, what are you using for ios?

[kevglass]

For this stuff I'm not actually using Slick at all. I have a tiny Java API which is implemented in Java2D for applets, Android SDK and in IOS using XMLVM.

Kev

[kevglass]

Due to the feedback I've changed the character selection screen:



and shops are now working too:



New build soon, honest

Kev

[kevglass]

I've put the current version up on android market to make updating easier:

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.newdawn.touchquest

Theres also a new build up on the site:

http://www.legendsofyore.com

Kev

[kevglass]

The change log for the latest release:


9/4/2011

- Rage and Zen for warriors and achers
- Rage goes up as more hits are made
- Zen goes up as you stand still
- Shops working

8/4/2011

- Handle death correctly
- Update Rules document
- Can you put a marker on your map when you discover where the stairs down is?
- Disable skip turn in mini-map etc. Only needed on main screen
- Experience bar should til next level rather than % of total
- Better more interactive title screen
- Make buttons for character type selection more obvious
- Details on character type when selecting them
- Items only present for certain characters
- Fix rotation of snakes bug on iOS/Android
- Scroll or view around mode (by holding character and dragging)


Kev

[kevglass]

On screen cursors for phone versions.

Kev

[LilMonsta]

This is pretty good so far! I rather enjoy it, and think it'd make a great addition to my list of ios games when it's out. Keep it up!