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[Vulf]

Speeding along towards the alpha point, which will be reached once the game becomes completely playable [can be won and lost].

Bosses got added in, making two pieces of the nodefile format less useless. If a node has a boss, it will lock down [no exiting] instead of clearing, and the damage rate will increase by about 30% while xp and gold are stopped entirely. Bosses are killed like nodes are cleared, which is to say, over time. Killing a boss unlocks and clears the node, and gives 25 ticks' worth of xp and 15 ticks of gold, plus you get a really big particle.

The rates are now more levelly scalar and less unused.

You can die. Depending on the campaign type, this is either game-ending or a ten-second-and-40%-gold penalty.

Fixed a bug where particles would not get destroyed leading to infinite computer slowdown.

Campaign files now include a line for the timer-start-on-contact and game-clear-on-boss-kill nodes.
Games can ONLY be won on a node clear by killing a boss there. If that's not okay, you could always give a node 1 clear length and 0 boss hp.

I drew a bit on my sketch of the map which will help me in theming and naming all 118 of the nodes in the default campaign. Whether this takes forever will be the main deciding factor in how many campaigns will be available by the end of this competition. Probably just one, unless I decide to make a really simple one or two in random types for demonstration.

Campaigns now have icons denoting types I made up just now! They appear in the level select list AND the main HUD! Read about them in the main post!

Main post updated with picture and some info about stuff. Also that asset list I was talking about for about a week now.

I'd post a new version but only the first 25% of the map has been scaled and the rest are all set for LV99, so it'll be a bit before you can see it.

[Vulf]

I built a pause menu. Surprisingly easy due to the way the game works. From it you can restart the campaign or return to either the level select screen or the main menu.

Half the map has been colored, named, and scaled. None have been correctly populated with enemies yet.

Escape now backs out of menus instead of killing the game directly. Now that everything else works that's more useful than a kill-switch.

I can't honestly say there will be a class select menu by the deadline, other stuff seems more important right now (like being able to win/lose the game, which will be done later tonight). I will, however, promise:

• at least two campaign types that work. MAYBE four.
• at least one full campaign
• documentation on the file formats and some little level design tricks
• working options (speed will not be one of them)
• some form of sound, maybe a BG tune or something
• at least twenty whole minutes of gameplay
  
• at least one video game reference
• at least one movie reference
• magic that turns on and off (additional effect not guaranteed)
• if this turns out crappy I will turn my back on it forever make it better after the deadline.
  
  Oh, and there will be an alpha out tomorrow. FB on this1 plz? kthxbai.

[Vulf]

I ended up with a surprise shift at work this afternoon, so the alpha won't be ready until tomorrow morning around 10:30-ish PST.

I did manage to get some neat pre-game graphical stuff and the alternate stat display in, though, amidst frenzied bug-hunting. The alternate stats are all values used directly by the game labeled with three-letter acronyms, but I'm not telling what they mean. Mysteries and discovery are fun!

Still no sound in the alpha, I'm afraid. It looks and plays a lot nicer, though, and it almost feels like an actual game now with the pause menu and stuff working. I really wish I could record a video of it, but my computer's a bit too old for that. ( again)

If I could make one small request of whoever is reading this thread to actually try the alpha tomorrow and give feedback, or just ruthlessly try to glitch through something, that would be very, VERY appreciated. I really don't have a very good idea of what other people think about this game, so it's a bit hard to tell what needs work the worst. Please?

...

How about one random (I WILL roll dice) person who gives feedback gets to name a town, okay? Do it for that, if nothing else.

Also I guess the formats for campaigns will be stable from the alpha until a bit after Assemblee, so that's a green light on anyone who wanted to make a custom game. In the further future, however, there may be some small additions as new features get added.

[Vulf]

Look at that, Alpha delayed on time.

Get it here.

Please please please provide feedback on this. I've asked in 5 places now so you should have seen it at least once.

That thing about the debug commands being taken out is sort of a lie, though.

[jotapeh]

I would give ya feedback but I run OS X, and it would appear your .zip is intended for Windows 

[yokomeshi]

Looking very good.  The flying corpses are pretty hilarious.

I've got a couple of cosmetic suggestions:

Your resolution / scaling seems not to be a strict multiple of the sprite's size.  This makes stuff look a little wonky -- some pixels are bigger than others.

Perhaps mark which nodes contain bosses, e.g. with a red border? Or maybe not -- perhaps make it optional so some bosses can be marked and some a surprise.

Towns don't need the three bars; they could have a "town" graphic instead, or just nothing.

It'd be nice if there were graphical cues when certain important things are happening:
- When I'm heavily damaged, my character could blink red.
- When I'm dead and waiting to revive, the screen could go greyscale and show a message.  In particular, it should emphasize that it's not a game over, you're merely delayed.
- When in a boss fight, the other nodes could turn red to indicate I'm locked in.

Might it be possible to allow us to use outside graphics sheets?

[saluk]

21 minutes, level 25, 75 zones, 21502 gold, 14816 xp

I died a few times on the first boss which made me scared of areas where I thought there might be bosses. But then it turns out the first boss is the only boss I was making money hand over fist in the first half of the game, for the second half I spent more money than I could make.

Overall, it captures the addictive essence of rpgs very well, I would like to see a bit more choices while playing. Other than the "should I fight the boss now, or level up some more" choice at the beginning of the game, there where precious few times I felt like a choice I made was important. With the time limit it might help with that too.

Some possible ideas for adding gameplay:

* more choices of where to farm - most of the branch off points were between places with roughly equivalent leveling capabilities. It would be better if I constantly had to make a decision between potentially dangerous but lucrative, and more safe but slower
* letting you farm in places you have already cleared (maybe not every zone)
* equipment (this is an important aspect that's missing) - could be a simple "buy sword of zanzonia?" when entering a town that has it.
* potion management
* more bosses.
* Maybe random encounters when you walk around so you can never feel too safe! (could be a "boss" that randomly pops up in certain areas, but called "ambush" instead of boss).

All of that is probably a bit much for competition deadline, but some of it would be great, especially if you continue post deadline. I could see this going far, it's a much better meta-rpg than any others I've seen. I could even see actual stories working well in this format.

[Mikademus]

I played this game for some 60 areas. Good work! I like the commentary on RPG games and the pure implementation of RPG grinding without it being actually boring! I wish I could offer you suggestions for improvement, but everything added would just detract from the intentional ultra-minimalism of the game! Well, sound effects and mood music depending on areas perhaps?

In all, a very well done entry! Three mutant thumbs up!

[J. R. Hill]

My favorite part is the sky zone names, it really got my imagination going. 

[Vulf]

Ask and ye shall receive, eh?

I would give ya feedback but I run OS X, and it would appear your .zip is intended for Windows 

I realize now that I made absolutely no indication of this anywhere ever. Oops.

Your resolution / scaling seems not to be a strict multiple of the sprite's size.  This makes stuff look a little wonky -- some pixels are bigger than others.

It's true, there is no set pixel "width" in the game (although all of them are square), mostly because matching the text pixels to the window and gauge pixels would mean I couldn't fit as much in. It does look a little bit weird, but I think it's probably fine as is.

Perhaps mark which nodes contain bosses, e.g. with a red border? Or maybe not -- perhaps make it optional so some bosses can be marked and some a surprise.

That's on my to-do list, I was thinking maybe marking the boss-inhabited nodes with a little skull after the name or something. Surprise bosses would always be possible, though.

Towns don't need the three bars; they could have a "town" graphic instead, or just nothing.

This is true, and only takes one 'if' statement. Noted.

It'd be nice if there were graphical cues when certain important things are happening:
- When I'm heavily damaged, my character could blink red.
- When I'm dead and waiting to revive, the screen could go greyscale and show a message.  In particular, it should emphasize that it's not a game over, you're merely delayed.

More feedback to the player is always a good thing. Death will later be optionally fatal, so I haven't put in stuff related to that yet.

- When in a boss fight, the other nodes could turn red to indicate I'm locked in.

Probably should have warned people about that. Surprise.

Might it be possible to allow us to use outside graphics sheets?

Maybe. No promises though. If this happens, expect another couple lines in the campaign file or another file altogether.

I died a few times on the first boss which made me scared of areas where I thought there might be bosses. But then it turns out the first boss is the only boss I was making money hand over fist in the first half of the game, for the second half I spent more money than I could make.

Yeah, I haven't quite smoothed out the scaling curves yet. Also, the volcano area has a decreased gold payout and an increased damage rate, so that might be a contributing factor. Bosses are pretty lucrative, so more of them might actually shift the balance as well.

Overall, it captures the addictive essence of rpgs very well, I would like to see a bit more choices while playing. Other than the "should I fight the boss now, or level up some more" choice at the beginning of the game, there where precious few times I felt like a choice I made was important. With the time limit it might help with that too.

The default game is very linear mostly because it was planned as the "introductory" stage, being the first. It also seems like it's going to be the only stage in the final competition version, so maybe more branches would have been a better thing, seeing as how that's kind of how it was planned.

Some possible ideas for adding gameplay:

* more choices of where to farm - most of the branch off points were between places with roughly equivalent leveling capabilities. It would be better if I constantly had to make a decision between potentially dangerous but lucrative, and more safe but slower
* letting you farm in places you have already cleared (maybe not every zone)
* equipment (this is an important aspect that's missing) - could be a simple "buy sword of zanzonia?" when entering a town that has it.
* potion management
* more bosses.
* Maybe random encounters when you walk around so you can never feel too safe! (could be a "boss" that randomly pops up in certain areas, but called "ambush" instead of boss).

1. Covered just above
2. Possibly, maybe only in designated areas at a half rate. I kind of like being able to control how much power is available to the player at a given time.
3. Intentionally left out for gameplay simplicity.
4. Intentionally left out as well, although the money vs. time problem would be interesting.
5. Yes.
6. The potential for cruelty with this is intriguing. "It's not rape, it's a boss fight you didn't know you wanted!"

All of that is probably a bit much for competition deadline, but some of it would be great, especially if you continue post deadline. I could see this going far, it's a much better meta-rpg than any others I've seen. I could even see actual stories working well in this format.

I cannot imagine why you would go to the trouble of adding story to a game with no environment, NPCs, or discernable geography. But noted all the same.

I wish I could offer you suggestions for improvement, but everything added would just detract from the intentional ultra-minimalism of the game! Well, sound effects and mood music depending on areas perhaps?

Music is prepared but not added because it would take 5 times longer to load the game on every. single. test run. Which I do as frequently as 2.5/min sometimes. Sound effects would be great, though. I'll probably spend an hour or two digging through the Pt.1 threads later looking for some.

In all, a very well done entry! Three mutant thumbs up!

I am honored that you would irradiate yourself for the sake of giving me a higher recommendation. Also, pics or it didn't happen.

[oryx]

"I cannot imagine why you would go to the trouble of adding story to a game with no environment, NPCs, or discernable geography. But noted all the same."

I think just as subtle reinforcement or motivation, in the same way the names of the areas evoke a feeling and make you want to keep going.

As for the comments on choices or things to do, I agree. I had fun, but I didn't feel like I was making any actual relevant choices, or didn't understand them - so I just randomly went from one square to another - Perhaps if the ratings of the areas were more exaggerated and those resources could be used somehow, like this area has more gold, which, when I reach the town is converted to something? Not sure exactly.

[Vulf]

Yeah, I guess tone doesn't transfer well through text. I really don't like the way it reads, in retrospect.

As for the comments on choices or things to do, I agree. I had fun, but I didn't feel like I was making any actual relevant choices, or didn't understand them - so I just randomly went from one square to another - Perhaps if the ratings of the areas were more exaggerated and those resources could be used somehow, like this area has more gold, which, when I reach the town is converted to something? Not sure exactly.

Well, at the moment, there really aren't any relevant choices to make. That's kind of the failing of this short development time, that I spend all the time on mechanics and engine and none on feel. Maybe in a few weeks I'll have a more interesting setup with some different paths to it, make it so every SINGLE node isn't one away from the direct route, and they aren't so even with each other.

[Mikademus]

I cannot imagine why you would go to the trouble of adding story to a game with no environment, NPCs, or discernable geography. But noted all the same.

Well, then make the "story" random, or just generic, so f.i.

* when you've cleared the Tower of Ascension the message "You rescued the princess!" flashes and a princess jumps out in the same way as defeated monsters (and perhaps gives you a cash bonus or something),
* sometimes when entering a region (always when entering a new town?) you're given the message "you've been given the side quest to clear out the [random region]"
* Sometimes encouraging messages like "You're now closer to achieving your goal!" and "You've progressed the story!" flashes

etc.

[saluk]

Actually when I said that, I meant in a sort of "passage" or "pathways" sense, where the design of the campaign itself suggests a story. Since the text for nodes can be anything, there is a lot of potential without actually modifying the engine much. I think the engine as is is pretty great already. I don't think dialog or specialized animations should be added.

[Vulf]

Well, then make the "story" random, or just generic, so f.i.

* when you've cleared the Tower of Ascension the message "You rescued the princess!" flashes and a princess jumps out in the same way as defeated monsters (and perhaps gives you a cash bonus or something),
* sometimes when entering a region (always when entering a new town?) you're given the message "you've been given the side quest to clear out the [random region]"
* Sometimes encouraging messages like "You're now closer to achieving your goal!" and "You've progressed the story!" flashes etc.

Actually when I said that, I meant in a sort of "passage" or "pathways" sense, where the design of the campaign itself suggests a story. Since the text for nodes can be anything, there is a lot of potential without actually modifying the engine much. I think the engine as is is pretty great already. I don't think dialog or specialized animations should be added.

Ah, I think I see what you guys mean now, not a definite narrative so much as the appearance or suggestion of one to keep the player motivated. That does make a lot more sense. I can see a story told through the node titles as well, although you'd have to keep your words below 9 letters each or be forced to hyphenate.

Once upon
a time

there was
a knight

who had
chosen

to seek
the Demon

[Vulf]

Well, I'm as done as I can be tonight. Just need to get the screenshot cropped and I'll have a spot in the Finished Entries thread.

Made a ton of improvements (some brought to my attention through feedback) over the entire game.
Looks a lot better, warnings at 1/2 and 1/4 HP, magic that makes you faster by a lot.
I noticed the gold rate was actually slower than I meant, maybe that'll help a bit now that it's back to normal.

I'm going to take a break from this project for anywhere from a week to a month in order to get situated in school, make the move to a new computer, collect ideas, etc., but this game is far from over.

[Linus]

Minor sadface as I got a division by zero error which killed the game for me.
Message was in a draw_sprite call or something similar on a division with "clear_count", I think.

Other than that, I lurve this game. :3


Linus

[Vulf]

Got my computer up and running, but it'll be a couple days before I can get GM onto it.

Not sure if I should start a devlog thread for this or something now that Assemblee's over with.

Minor sadface as I got a division by zero error which killed the game for me.
Message was in a draw_sprite call or something similar on a division with "clear_count", I think.

Other than that, I lurve this game. :3


Linus

I can't seem to reproduce that bug, but I'll put in a guard against it (I think it has to do with my leaving most of the town data as 0s, too. Bad idea.).

[Perrin]

I really enjoyed this a lot, got very hooked in. But I will echo two things already said here, first being that after about 20 minutes of play I got stuck on the divide by zero bug and secondly a bit of story in the world would make this awesome game even better for me.

[FungusTrooper]

Turbo Quest!!!!

I too played for about 20 minutes, go to.. uh.. one of the stages past Stone Bridge (sorry if the names are randomly generated, derp). It was stage 56.

Got this error:


___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object node:

Error in code at line 22:
       draw_sprite(h_bar_large, floor((ticks / clear_count) * 25), x - 90, y + 58);

at position 46: Division by 0.



Ignoring it just made it pop up again. I ignored like 100 times because I wanted to carry on .

But man I love the idea of this. Please fix!