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[laxwolf]

Quick Link to Update!

I'm currently working on a randomly-generated "first-person" dungeon crawler for iOS. The main focus for this project is the control scheme since my last game "Catswingo" was built around a broken one. Everything from the fruit-ninja style combat to opening and closing the inventory feels natural and can be done with one hand. Random-generation is a huge theme in the game; weapons, items, armor, enemies, and dungeons are all procedurally generated. You can also pick up objects and throw them around, interact with the environment (pull torches off the wall), and much more. "Infinite" playability and innovative, fun touch gameplay are the main goals for this project.

[laxwolf]

This is a happy devlog post!

While refining the combat, I came to one critical conclusion. Pocket Dungeon NEEDED blocking. Leaving enemy attacks to hidden variables and chance left me confused and frustrated, especially when fighting higher level enemies. The idea seemed simple, "I'll just add an onscreen shield!" Not a great idea. Having a shield required multiple fingers and took away from the main mechanic, slicing-that-shit-up-with-your-finger-sword. Then it hit me like a pile of lead cinderblocks, make the shields into targets onscreen. The idea grew, the more shields you hit, the greater your chance of blocking the next attack (or chain of attacks) and if you hit all of them, you completely block your enemies attack. This mechanic felt completely natural and added to the combat in an almost puzzle-like way. Instead of feeling cheated out against a level 50 demon with no input on defense, you are greeted with the satisfaction of your skill being better than theirs. It also adds to the balancing act of your health, stamina, and attack charges as sacrificing your defense/health for a strong attack may cost you the battle and wasting stamina on slashing defense shields may cost you your biggest attack. The patterns become increasingly more complicated and faster, and boss fights will have unique defense patterns. This may add to the mastery of the game.

For the first time in Pocket Dungeons development, I have a real sense of, "this can be good." I really can't wait to share this with everyone, the gameplay is getting so much better and so much more fun.



On top of that, I added:
- Charge added to attacks, much more satisfying.
- Randomly-Generated armor and weapons with unique stats.
- Rare items with unique names (some predefined, some generated.)
- Rooms with multiple doors.
- Locked doors that can be opened with keys.
- Puzzle rooms added.
- Treasure rooms added.
- "Final" rooms added with special chests with better chances for rare weapons and armor.
- Update bar telling you information like "You are now level..." or "You collected 500 coins."
- Detail adder was updated for more flexibility.

[JLJac]

That actually seems pretty great. It forces the player to balance between attack and defense, and it sets up for interesting variation. It seems you just stumbled upon your core mechanic 

[laxwolf]

That actually seems pretty great. It forces the player to balance between attack and defense, and it sets up for interesting variation. It seems you just stumbled upon your core mechanic  

I think I did, which explains why it got me so excited. I really appreciate your reply as well, encouragement helps development.

Today's focus was on inventory management and interaction, which went very well. I also added in armor with all its randomly-generated goodness. I only have some test art but it gets the idea across. And if I haven't stated it, armor affects the amount of damage enemies do. Weapons should be in the game by the time I go to bed tonight (almost the same as armor, just different stats affected.)

Outdated Screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/up20kbZ.png
http://i.imgur.com/JrH1a67.png

[phi6]

This looks really good so far!
I love roguelikes and the interaction with touchscreen sounds different and innovative.
Looking forward to seeing what comes of this

[laxwolf]

This looks really good so far!
I love roguelikes and the interaction with touchscreen sounds different and innovative.
Looking forward to seeing what comes of this

Thanks a lot, Phi6! Tiny Keep is looking great by the way and I wish you luck with the Kickstarter!

I decided to delve into creating more art assets, specifically armor. While doing so, I realized that my code only worked when I had "sets" of armor (helm, gauntlets, greaves, cuirass, and boots) and not for individual pieces. To fix this, I created a special armor table that holds "set-less" armor in individual categories separated by type (helm, gauntlet, boots, cuirass, greaves.) This is different from the rare armor generator as the rare armor generator takes existing armor sets and gives them unique names. Here's some of the armor I created today.

Other things I did:
- Improved combat math to balance strength and weapons.
- Dungeon is now generated with start and end.
- More defense patterns.

[happymonster]

Looks very good!

[laxwolf]

Looks very good!

Thanks you happymonster, means a lot!

I don't know if I'll be on later tonight so I'll update you all now.
I worked on some new enemies and added a zombie (the great thing about the enemy system is it takes five minutes to add in a new enemy once the art is sorted out.) It can attack with its arms as well as bite you (for poison damage.) I also finished up all the current armor sets, some better than others but it works for now! P.S. If anyone knows a faster way to cut sprites with GIMP, let me know!

[laxwolf]

Just added a brand-spankin' new tab system to the inventory that groups items together based on their item type. I was worried I'd have to rewrite my inventory code and add a bunch of tables but alas, it only took one variable that selects item type and a few line rewrites. Doing this also helped me find a bug in my hotkey code so that's back to working order. I also added in all the armor and created a function which decides what items can be spawned based on your level and luck (pacing out the game's content.) You can put on armor and it affects your block. I also added in weapons but I don't want to show it yet since I have a few art challenges to work out. I also added in around a dozen more defense patterns.

Outdated Screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/R4Hpezn.png
http://i.imgur.com/PIVNkyl.png
http://i.imgur.com/htI5YWb.png
http://i.imgur.com/q8EFfHI.png

Your Opinion? In RPGs, I've always loved the equip screen where you take armor & accessories and drop them into a square (where your helmet, boots, etc. are.) I really want this in Pocket Dungeon but it's not really necessary. Are you more in favor of an equip screen or just selecting armor and having it highlighted in your inventory?

[illugion]

I think an equip screen would be nice, i really like that in games 

Maybe you could do something like: you select to change your boots from that screen then it shows only the boots you have on the inventory so you don't have to go through all items to find the right one. I don't know if that would be complicated to do and don't know if there will be that much equipment but it would help not to get lost i guess.

Your game is really interesting, i wish you'd release it for android too 

[Belimoth]

Nice job with that defense mechanic!

[laxwolf]

Nice job with that defense mechanic!

Thank you Belimoth!

I think an equip screen would be nice, i really like that in games  

Maybe you could do something like: you select to change your boots from that screen then it shows only the boots you have on the inventory so you don't have to go through all items to find the right one. I don't know if that would be complicated to do and don't know if there will be that much equipment but it would help not to get lost i guess.

Your game is really interesting, i wish you'd release it for android too  

That was probably the best idea anyone could of come up with, so I added it! You are now presented with an equip screen with the ability to tap each individual armor part. It then brings up all of that certain item making it easier to select armor. If you don't want to do that, you can simply scroll down and find every piece of armor you have (which is less convenient.) This system is a lot better in my opinion and having the armor presented together is nice. Thank you so much Illugion! I also think I can release on Android now for free, so I will consider it (The software I use originally asked for an additional $199 for Android release but I received an e-mail saying I can publish for free.)



I'm still deciding on what the tabs should be but I think it will end up being Potions & Items (Combat-Related), Armor, Weapons & Spells, and Miscellaneous. Weapons & Spells will contain all your learned spells (not scrolls or books) and the weapon-augmenter (Fable-esque). I'm not sure how this will look yet but it should be pretty classy. Miscellaneous holds quest items and other items such as keys.

Devlog Question of the Day: Would it be a good idea to make gauntlets and boots representative of ONE item meaning you have to get two boots and two gauntlets to complete your armor set? And would any of you be interested in seeing extra armor pieces such as pauldrons (shoulder armor.) I like the idea because it's more content to collect but is it necessary? Thank you!

Happy Mother's Day!

[Bandreus]

Hey lax, game's looking sweet, some great work there 

I think doubling on gloves/boots/etc as 2x piece of armor is quite overkill. I think it would make the whole interface much more cluttered and equipping 2 different gloves might lead to some tedious invetory action.

That being said, it's not the worst idea ever, especially if you had some cool/meaningful mechanic behind a design like that. Double ring slot is pretty common though.

If you simply feel the "need" to have more item slots in the game, I would go with additional slot types instead: belt, cape, pauldron, leggins, cape are typical. Maybe have a socks or pants slot lol

I'm not the hugest fan of having lots and lots of equipment slots, as it usually leads to too much focus on mix-maxing and can be both uninteresting and a hell to balance for. That's just my own take tough.

[fylth]

...If you simply feel the "need" to have more item slots in the game, I would go with additional slot types instead: belt, cape, pauldron, leggins, cape are typical...

I sense you are subtly hinting that you would like the inclusion of capes 

[Bandreus]

lol that was totally my subconscious 

[laxwolf]

I really like the cape idea! It would go well with the mage class items I'm planning on adding soon. Maybe I could even change up the potential equipment selections depending on the class chosen. Warrior's get a shield slot, rogues get two weapon slots, mages get more accessory slots, and so on. This could help interms of variety but may damper on the freedom of forming your own character.

It's been a long time since an update so I thought I'd share some of the progress I've made. There are now "randomly-generated" weapons in the game but I only have some minimal art assets. I also added enchantments so armor & clothing have self-affecting bonuses and weapons have combat-affecting bonuses. This is very exciting since it has the potential to add a lot of variety to the combat.

Outdated Screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/TjBB6qZ.png
http://i.imgur.com/mY7bsZI.png

Next on my list of to-dos is varied attack types. Dual blades will have two lines of attack, bows will require you to aim and pull back to a random spot, and so on. I'm also considering the angle of attack affecting damage making certain weapons better at one type of attack than another. Longswords may be better for downward strikes while shortswords are better for horizontal swipes. Although having a small affect on damage, the best way to use your weapon may be critical in a high-level boss fight.

[laxwolf]

Finally, Quests! I've been wanting to add the quest system in for a long time so I finally added it today. There are only fetch quests at the moment but they are working examples. There are legendary item quests and "quest-only" item quests. Quest-only items are usually part of a story and are stored in the Miscellaneous tab, for example:

"My only son, Burtlyk, has come down with a dreadful fever. He told me of a vampire that visited him last night. Could you please raid The Cavern of Trelekurniphis to get a Cure Vampirism Potion?"

Quests can be picked up from locals at the tavern or infront of locations. On the map (which is randomly updated with new places every 24 hours) location icons will be titled and identified as a quest/non-quest location. New locations pop-up if you talk to locals and get quests. Once you retrieve the item, you can bring it back for gold and experience or keep it for yourself for minimal experience. Other quest types include saving prisoners (or retrieving their death note), murdering a specific person, and story quests (which will be released periodically after the initial release, I want to get the game out first.) Legendary items have stat bonuses so they are usually better than the typical armor and weapons you can get from normal drops.



P.S. ALMOST FORGOT! I also added a rarity function which decides the rarity of an item based on your level and the stats of the item. The scale is white (common), green (uncommon), blue (rare), orange (legendary). Colored text gives a little satisfaction boost. As you can see, some text clips the box so I'll have to address that at some point.

[laxwolf]

Hey everyone, I went on a much needed bug-fixing marathon and I got a lot of things fixed. The inventory system had a lot of bugs I couldn't explain so I investigated and found solutions. I also added a ton of new stuff to the quest system making it more diverse and expansive. Currently, there are "Get the QUEST-ONLY item", "Get the rare item", "Save the person", "Kill the person", and "Fetch X of item" quests. To add diversity in quests, I've added alternative solutions, for example: You go to save Ternyk from the Dungeon of Deroux and you end up walking into an ambush. Instead of saving Ternyk, you have to kill him. I've done a lot of behind-the-scenes work for the last couple days, getting things ready for bigger additions. The biggest addition this week is the map (very basic.) It shows you locations and their names. If there is a quest there, it will tell you which one. The map gets cleared every 24 hours and is replaced with new daily content. You can always find more quests by exploring, going to the tavern, and so on, but the idea is that more unique content will trickle in slowly (special weapons and such.) I am going to add secret locations and fishing spots soon (one "room" places that can be found on the map.) Secret locations will have things like puzzles & rewards, demon doors (like in Fable), and traders (with bargain prices.) Fishing spots are places where you can fish for treasure. It's a fun way of getting experience points, money, and items. I also want to add "Bounties" which show up on the map. You can travel to the bounties location, kill him, and collect the reward.

Outdated Screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/55486ry.png
http://i.imgur.com/t36AZin.png

I probably should start on some more art. I will begin on new location entrance art as well as new interiors. I'm also thinking about finishing up the random detail object function to add more diversity to the levels. I'm also going to try and rewrite my threaded quest system. The idea is that you can have multiple quests work up to one, for example: Collect the three crystals of destiny, find the wizard slayer sword, and slay the evil wizard. I think it has the potential to make quests more engaging but I'm not sure if I have the time.

[laxwolf]

Hey everyone, I have a lot to throw at your face! Thought I'd make an entry before I forget it all.

I created a random name generator for NPCs and locations. With a couple dozen random tidbits of name, my code can generate thousands and thousands of unique names. I also created a badass difficulty system that follows the format of a lot of other RPGs. Everyone location has a suggested level and generally range +/- 5 from the players level. A player that enters a location 5 levels higher will have a really low chance of surviving, 10% or so. If you don't have very good armor or weapons, its best to enter the location at the suggested level, though if you are lucky and get good drops, you can get through a location 3-5 levels higher if you are skilled enough. I also made a system which allows me to add custom locations and quests and assisted me in added Milestone Dungeons. Milestone Dungeons are unlocked every 10 levels and are a "test of skill." The first milestone dungeon has 20 rooms and it goes up from there. Every Milestone dungeon rewards you with a piece of Master Armor starting with gauntlets and ending with a Master Cuirass. Master Armor is the best armor in the game so finishing all the Milestone dungeons before moving on to level 50-100 dungeons is a necessity. I added special locations such as lakes, ponds, and fishing holes (all for fishing), demon doors, secret caves, hide aways, and more. These locations usually have one puzzle, minigame, or enemy to deal with and then some treasure. This system will also support my bounty system which I plan to add in a couple days (targets show up on the map and you can kill them for money.) I also added the dialogue system which takes phrases along with NPC names, quest names, item names, etc. and makes new dialogue. Players can be offered multiple choices but it's generally kept a "yes/no" interaction. I also added a BOW & ARROW! This is by far my favorite weapon, it's so much fun to play with. Bows are able to shoot a certain amount of arrows with one draw. You target your arrows by tapping on the screen where you want them to go and drawing a line (like you are pulling back the string.) It shoots the arrows at the desired location and ultimate carnage is achieved. The bow is good because you can land multiple strikes at one body part or among many in one attack and it depletes very little stamina, but it's very hard to defend (though satisfying if you do) and the charge of your arrows decreases from max as you place them so you have to be quick. This adds to the skill and mastery of the game which I thoroughly enjoy seeing, your weapons are only as good as you are, how fast you can move your fingers and so on. Broader things I worked on is the speed of combat, the speed of traversing a dungeon, and the actual strategy of combat. If you are fighting harder enemies, you need health and stamina potions. Your attack damage falls extremely fast as you deplete your stamina so you have to find a balance. If you are sloppy with defense and swing at every individual shield, you are going to have a hard time having enough stamina to even make a dent in a big enemy. This creates incredibly chaotic battles for as simple as it is and I'm having as much fun playing the game as I am making it. I've added so many little things to the game as well as fixed a lot of bugs and glitches. The game is going incredible well and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

[ashtonmorris]

How goes this game? Looks great!