TIGSource Forums

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Hello, kind gentlemen! First of all, please forgive me for my bad English.

In 11 of March I started a game project. The game is planned as something near to 2d Minecraft, and sometimes near to a roguelike.

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Lets play on youtube in English (new): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKAI1J7e60
Lets play on youtube in Russian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSO95czW-fA

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Realized game features:

1. A large and mysterious world that lives not around the main character, but by itself. And the hero must investigate, explore the world, to understand his life and to survive in it.

Each game step calculated entire whole world map, not just an area around the hero.

The whole world lives regardless of the protagonist. Trees grow and dies, floods, breeding and dying animals, in the depths of the earth erupt volcanoes, earthquakes shifting layers of earth, pressure and temperature are produced minerals, underground creatures built the treasury, and mined ores.

All of this is already in the game, but should be even greater.

2. The gameplay is basically "the search and survive". The player goes through the caves and searching, searching. And sometimes it runs on who found it.

Crafting and blocks set are present in game, but these features is not the main gameplay features.

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Link 11 November zip archive 11 Nov build (http://sb-games.com/go.php?http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/prjgnh20_eng.zip) (English version)


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Release screen:
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(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/gnh20_release.png)

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Not so old screens:
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(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/demon_lord.png)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/10Sep_scr02_.png)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/17Sep_scr.png)

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Old screens:
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(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/journey01.png)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/journey04.png)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/smallscr23jun.png)

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Very old screens:
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(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/may6_scr.png)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/21apr_scr01.gif)
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/scr20mar.gif)

That enviroment looks BEAUTIFUL!

Christ, this is amazing!

I had noticed that the game moves as the keys are pressed, as the alternative of the world moving and living without the player input, is this permanent? The rocks and trees grew and fell only when I moved the player.

This is extremely beautiful! I see many miner games made but this one seems to have the potential to surpass the popular 2 titles which don't need mentioning here.

It's extremely easy on the eyes as well.

looks good; will the game be *purely* sandbox or will you add some challenges eventually? i tend to not like pure sandbox games without any goals at all. i like having at least some goal, even if it's just something like "make a city as big as possible" as in sim city, or "evolve your species to reach space" like in sim earth / spore

@# -- that's standard for roguelikes. time only passes when the player does something. it's the same thing in dungeon crawl stone soup for instance.

Thanks, it is very motivate me to continue work. But, good graphics is not the point of this game. I am hope to hardcore, long and interesting gameplay and game mechanics.

Yes, this is default regime of this game. But, if you want to spend a game time, you may press a space button, and game regime will switch to continuous time.

Yes, yes! Some challenges is only planned, and some challenges is already present. Global challenge on game map is to build the between worlds teleport and go to the next map. For do this, player need to solve many intermediate challenges: a) find ores and create items, b) find artifacts, c) find materials to build between-world teleport, d) stay alive ;).

Global game challenges now I am not select, but they are will be preset, I think.

These lags mostly because of the large world map. Living world calculated each step. Yes, now this game wants a powerfull cpu, but I am hope to optimize it a little.

Most of the features on this first map has already been done. Next, I will focus on creating new worlds, where the player will get after the first world. In the new world, which is logical, plan new features and mechanisms of life.

But _this_ world is almost ready to start, so what to expect from the game, you can already see.

Looks beautiful! Is it all cellular automata? And do the elements of the world only interact with neighbouring elements? Wouldn't that allow for GPU-based physics?

No, the world blocks have very more complex mechanics. Creatures, for example. They are walking around, run to or from enemyes, sentient beings is build tunnels, houses and treasures. And they do not build on a fixed schedule. So, you can see, that is not possible on simple cellular automat.

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Today I make a more shadows from the light blocks. I think, that is better. This is small screenshot: new shadows on left part (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/tempscr14jun.png)

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This looks great! I don't know how you achieved the lighting but it's really distinctive. With a bit of work to make it perform better it should be amazing.

Hey this is cool, and the lighting is great. Can't wait to see how it develops..

It's looking really good. The background art style for some reason reminds me of the old Sierra and Lucasarts adventure games. The sort of digitalized painting look. Sadly it was too choppy on my machine to really give it a go.

Am I correct in assuming that every tile is an object? I get why you can't do agent-based behaviour on the GPU, but maybe you can still let it compute part of the physics of the simple objects in the world.

Another thing you can "optimise", since it's turn based, is to pre-compute the parts of the next turn that will happen regardless of player input. But maybe you already do that.

This is a turn-based game, so it was planned. To give control to the player - a step should not be quick. But the other side - yes, performance problem is present. Not sure of success, but try to slightly improve the situation.

Thanks, but developing not so fast, as I want. Work on the game only in spare time. Which is not so much.

I think, I am not so skilled for such GPU calculating. :) All game graphics is soft-rendered, by the way. In other words, all graphics calculating on a CPU now.

I tried to do so. In pauses world calculating ahead, and when player start moving after pause, the game run faster. But a couple of seconds, and game is slow again. These changes in velocity were not pleasant, as experience has shown.

Thanks to all visitors of this topic for kind comments!

Following this for sure. When I get home I want to try the build, that terrain does look amazing however :)

Well, truth be told, neither am I ;). But I do understand the general idea: instead of treating a texture as a picture, treat it as a 2 (or 1 or 3) dimensional array. Use fragment shaders to calculate stuff with that data. Especially with modern OpenGL you can do all kinds of stuff not directly related to graphics - treating a texture as a look-up table for example (see linked tutorial), or doing particle physics.

Jus in case, if you decide to switch from soft-rendered to hardware accelerated, this is a good modern OpenGL tutorial:
http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/index.html

Ah, good point. Hiccups can be more annoying than constant slowness.

As everyone else has mentioned great looking game and I really like your lighting aesthetic. Also like the way you're incorporating the roguelike time passing. Interesting to see the trees grow.

Doesn't run the best on my laptop but will definitely be following this :gentleman:

Thanks, then come in handy if I decide to go this way. But for now, I mostly work on playing mechanics, not on game engine.

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Today I create a between worlds teleport mechanics. For this I rewrited a saves system, and now all ready for start creating a new worlds with another game mechanics, than the first one.

Moving to the next world is one of the challenges of maps.

Picture of between world teleport: push me (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/teleport14jun.png). By the way, one-color squares are tiles, which I have not painted yet.

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Since I'm doing this game for several months, but had not talked about its creation here, I think it will be interesting to show the old screenshots of its development.

17 March (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/scr17mar.gif)
20 March (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/scr20mar.gif)
21 April (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/21apr_scr01.gif)
6 May (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/may6_scr.png)
18 May (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/18may_scr.png)
29 May (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/scr29may.png)
6 Jun (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/6jun_scr.png)

As you can see, start graphics is more roguelike. And game was planned with only text-based graphics. But later I decided to add tiles.

Fascinating to see how it develops over time.

Amazing, all I can say. Those development shots really show the labor you went through.

I'm hoping you have success.

Really awesome, I can totally see how this is your dream game.
Following this closely :)
It froze for about a minute when I started a new world, but then I was running it under wine, so it's probably fine.

Interesting to see how this started and how far the visuals have come along. Amazing job and looking forward to seeing the rest of the journey to the final product.

Thanks, gentlemen, for good words! :gentleman:

In past days I worked on generator for new, second world. In it now I create a lava rivers in stone. Not sure, how I use that lava in the future, but new world must be much more dangerous, that the first one. >:D

Also, I continued to work on the first world. I create items: scrolls. Player can take them from dead underground homunculus. When player use these scrolls, in the world apply unpredictable global changes. I think, this is a cool idea! :)

For example, one creatures turns to another, lava turns into water, and so on. I need you ideas, gentlemen: what are global changes in the world you can think of?

Edit: added gameplay screenshots in start post.

Altered transition between tiles. Final variant on left side.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/compr01.png)

very nice job.

I really hope to see this project completed. keep it up.

Fresh build in start post.
And gentlemen, where is you criticism? Do not hesitate to say all the misses of the build!

where is you criticism?:

it's looking great.

when i the hero dies, i have to restart the whole game, restarting it from the main menu leads to a crash (every time)

it's too laggy to enjoy.

i'll follow this project cause it is cool

I must try this. Wow. Is it available for Mac or Linux? I'm on my phone right now, so I can't really check the link.

Hey i tried the game and i gotta say damn! Youre really on to somthing here but it's still very choppy. I didnt think it would be that turn-based-like but it's interesting. =)

The pixel art really please me as i love artistic looking games so keep working on that but i think you need the gameplay sorted out first. I will follow your project so good luck! :)

This project is testing under Linux Wine. Should work correctly there.

Wow, this is a bad surprise. And what a message says windows?

Yes, yes! Finally started talking about the gameplay in this thread! ;)

So, gentlemen, I am waiting for your criticism of gameplay! :beg: And you are all this time writing to me about the graphics and the bad performance. ???  :'(

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In the meantime, I think about a new idea. Look: if the player is written too often, the game challenges is lost! Hence, we must limit the player to save game.

To do this, I plan to add a special items. One item - one possible to save a game. When the player starts, we give him, for example, ten such items. Further, one save - one item. For more saves, the player must find these items in the chests.

Total:
a) The player will appreciate life more.
b) Will no longer bypass game challenges through a frequent save.
c) Will more active search for treashures and chests.

What do you think about the mechanics of this?

that the program is not responding, and or if i want windows to look for a solution, then i press cancel and it quits (offcourse)

This is not a program bag, the game simply generates a map for a long time. Wait a couple of seconds, and game start responding again. :coffee:

You made me jittery. I was thinking that there is indeed a bug. Thanks!

seems an interesting idea and a good compromise between a "full roguelike" (no saves or only save on exit) and free saves, if you aim to an experience similar to roguelikes.

probably it needs testing to find the right balance with the number of starting saves available and the spawn rate of "save items" in chests.

maybe you could also make it so save items are found in chests tied to specific boss/challenges.

Lack of roguelike option is that if we do "permanent death", we need to reduce the game difficulty, so that player can go through the whole game without dying even once.

Look:
a) Difficulty reducing is bad: in the game will be no hard challenges.
b) Do not reduce difficulty - is bad too: the player will regularly die and start game again. And in the end, our player simply will backup saves.

So I do not like permanent death, version of the classic roguelike.

Why a rougelike?

This is my immediate response after playing. No other information biased.

I know this game has a lot going on for it right now, but it seems like the grid-based movement of blocky characters doesn't feel natural to actually control. When I'm playing a game like Dwarf Fortress it is okay because so much of the game is an abstraction. This is not the case here. Your graphics are so beautiful and painterly that it actually feels a bit jarring to move block by block. The look and feel of your gorgeous tileset does not in any way tell me what "16 pixels squared" measures to. That, combined with the fact that time only flows when I move, feels like I'm controlling a Game and Watch when my eyes are telling me I should be playing Cave Story. What my mind is telling me is not matching what my eyes are seeing.

Are you working towards having more fluid, pixel-based movement? Would it conflict at all with your ideal version of the game if the controls felt more like a platformer?

MW, in this game, I plan to introduce a lot of complex mechanics. Many creatures. If I start draw graphics with animations for they all, it will be hard for me.

Look, without graphics I can do 100 creatures, with static picture I can made 20, and with good animation for each creature, I can add only few creatures in the whole game.

Tell me, what choice is better, do you think?

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Meantime, I made ​​the first images of creatures.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/creats.png)

I would be delighted if visitors of this topic will help make them better. Accept and your advices, and pictures. :)

Looks nice. It's also awesome that you are making the game of your dreams. :)

isn't everyone though? i mean, aside from people who make casual games for sales, or games made just to learn, any indie is probably making the game of their dreams

Yes  :gomez:

Manuel Magalhães, thanks!

Not so simple. Usually, any author wants his work became popular. (And I am, too) Therefore, usually the author does not just his dreams, but trying to make a popular game.

But, I want to move away from the desire of popularity. This difference of this game from my past projects.

By the way, the creation of dreams does not prevent discussing of the game. I'm always glad to your thoughts and criticisms.

hmm -- i don't really see that many indies making games for popularity rather than because it's the game they want to make. could someone name some examples? the closest i can think of would be intentionally controversial games like muslim massacre and stuff like that. but those are pretty rare

i think the biggest reason an indie wouldn't be making the game of their dreams is more likely that they feel they can't handle it yet, and that it'd be overambitious to make a game that has all the features they'd want in their dream game. and usually that's true: dream games take a lot of time compared to more limited games

You're spot on on your second paragraph. The reason why there isn't more dream games being made is due to the developer's limitation, either of time, money, or skill.
For instance the game I'm making, Sea Air, is one of my dream games (I've some of them, but some require some of the problems I explained above).
It doesn't mean I've done my other games for getting solely for getting popularity/money (they are extras), I wanted to do something that other people would enjoy and that I would enjoy making too. But if I woke up in an universe where I had infinite amounts of money, skills or time I would have created my dream games over these other games I've done.

No, not rather. Indie games always consist both of these factors, I think.
And I think, that any game author like popularity. And this affects the game in any way. More or less.

Less in case of the game of this thread. 

The game seems to run fine for me.

First my Great Hero died falling out of a tree into a deep cave.  Then my Great Hero died fighting a small lizard. Then he died fighting a lizard as he was falling into a deep cave.

I kind of like the explosive growth of the trees when the world generates.

I had quite a few worlds generate with a layer of dirt over an empty cave. It was amusing at first but eventually making a mad dash across unstable ground only to wind up dead on the floor of a cave got old. Would it be possible to start playing after the Hero's surroundings are stable?

I like that the creatures consist of different components. I look forward to finding shadow/riddle creatures or light/mechanical creatures.

I'm not entirely clear on what some of your sprites are. On the other hand, the benefit of having the descriptive tooltip is that the player will see what the tooltip describes. For example, if the tooltip said the second sprite was a rabbit, I'd see it as a rabbit.
That shouldn't stop you from seeking constructive criticism, I just can't offer anything more valuable since I'm not much of an artist.


I'll happily play a game that sacrifices sprite animation in favor of simulating the world.  Dwarf Fortress and Sim Earth both make me very happy.

Good start! >:D :)

The Hero always can run away from falling dirt. And do not forget, the hero may dig and put wooden blocks. So, he always can survive.

Thanks for detailed gameplay comment! I will think about you game experience.

Yes, that is exactly, what I mean.

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Meantime, I did a throwing bombs, barrels of powder and explosives. This is all for second game world. I want to different gameplay in the second map, so, I go away from first world's mechanics.

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Gentlemen, here I have a question. This game will consist of many worlds. The question is this:
a) whether to do in each world its own set of features, or
b) make a full set of features in any world?

If a), we obtain a more unique worlds, but with little features done in each.
If b), we obtain many feature-saturated worlds, but with similar gameplay in each of them.

What do you think about this?

Or you could go down the Minecraft route of having multiple worlds that can each be easily travelled to and all interact with each other?

Wow this looks really good, keep it up! What tech is it based on ? I usually dont download games, is there a youtube for this ?

Minecraft way - is part b) of my previous post. Three worlds with similar mechanics in each.
Thanks you for your opinion!

By the way, Minecraft have some gameplay failures. Minecraft is too easy! Remember, what was more interesting: to search an iron ore, or diamonds? And was interesting to craft a wooden pick? Or again and again stone pick crafting? I am a 33 years dude, and I feel self like a baby, playing Minecraft. :-X

So, this project I want to make with a hardcore gameplay.

Thanks! No, I do not recorded a video yet. This game is based on my software engine, written on c++. I polish this engine several years, and now it mostly free from bugs. And, more importantly, I know my tech very well!

Well, what kind of worlds did you have in mind?

You probably want some basic consistency across different worlds, for two reasons: to not make the player feel like they switch games when they cross worlds (like a poor racing level in what's supposed to be a shooter), and to make what is different stand out more.

For example: if you would make one world the plain one, another world of caverns with no sky, and the last a sky worlds with floating platforms where you have to watch out not to fall to your death, that already would immediatly make all of them very different. Tweak the physics a little bit per world (less gravity in the sky world? Other lighting physics in the cave world). I just took these from minecraft by the way (the Nether and that abandoned sky realm).

So I think option (b) would be most intuitive.

Of course, you could also go the multiverse route, and maybe even try to auto-generate tweaks to the physics systems if you go hopping from universe to universe.

JobLeonard, the reason of basic consistency across worlds also are numerous features.

Look, for example, I have ten gameplay features.
If ten features in each of ten worlds (variant b) - the gameplay is reach, various, complex. But if in each of ten worlds only one gameplay feature (variant a), the gameplay will empty, primitive and dull.

And you arguments for variant b. Yes, I also hope, that another generation of the landscape and some enemies and physics tuning - is the better choice.

Thanks!

WHY HAVE YOU HIDDEN THIS FROM ME.
Also: It seems you need a name for this.
What about 'Wilderness'?

Ashkin, yes, this game have no name yet. But I think, the name is not so important. Player will playing in game, not in game name. :)

But, the name selection is not so easy. What will the Google shows, if we search "Wilderness"? Millions of sites, products and some already existed games.

You're right that it wouldn't really be very googleable. But I still think the word Wilderness might fit in well somewhere, because that seems to be what this is about- striking out into the wilderness and enjoying its beauty.
However, I think that you should take the time and think up your own name for the game. Inspiration will arrive eventually.

Game looks fantastic so far, I like your style and I like the way you think. Really interested to see how you approach the game's design - looks like it's going to be a unique experience.  ;) :handthumbsupR:



New favourite word.

Ashkin, yes, you're right. Later I will think about the game name. But now I prefer to add gameplay features: this is much more interesting, I want to say!
:coffee:

Claw, hi! That's cool to see you in my devlog! By the way, underground light calculation in my game I did, inspired by you old screenshot in the "screenshot saturday" thread.
:gentleman:

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This weekend I made an enemy, that throws bombs. Battle with him are usually brings down part of the near cave.

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Polished creatures pics. I'll be glad to hear your tips!

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/creats02.png)

I have to keep up with this - it's looking awesome! The sprites aren't bad, but I think they're too dark. Try upping the value on some of them.

Anyway, the game's looking stupendous from what I've seen!

B is almost always the better choice. Features tend to define spaces for probable game-play experiences. If your features combine well, then the number of play opportunities compound. If they combine perfectly (and are of equal depth), the play opportunities expand exponentially.

Ehm... If you'd like "different worlds," maybe just because that's unique - Minecraft was partially dull because it lacked this - then I'd recommend building a single solid feature set, then tweaking them for each world. You could have a "main" world, or group of worlds, that implement the standard feature set, then "side" worlds that emphasize certain aspects of play. This way, even if a player is in a "side" world, and engaging in what is probably a slightly smaller space of possible experiences, they are still mastering and learning (about) the core mechanics. That way your main world won't feel artificially weak, and all your worlds will synergize.

All of your worlds would be deep, indepedent, and complementary. I think that's kind of a holy grail there.

I'd love some more Minecraft stuff that was a little more demanding, maybe requiring more intense planning.

Just as an aside... when I played Minecraft, my biggest criticism was the lack of variety in environment. Once I had dug to the bottom of the earth, built the major objects, then gone to the Nether, I had done everything. What you can build is entirely up to you. You have to set your own goals. At the beginning of the game, when you still have very few resources and are weak and uneducated, I felt like I had to build certain things out of necessity. That was exciting. But soon after, the only urge to build was one that came from within me. I would have preferred to have travelled to different locations and be put into situations where I was required to build interesting things. The cool part is, making that change to the game would've produced far more gameplay opportunities for the amount of effort it would've taken to implement, relative to the input/output ratio of most of the other features. Variety in a generated environment is almost free.

That's kind of related to your question.

I look forward to your game.

Yes, you're right. But the game will increase their brightness, and they will look on a par with the brightness of the environment.

This variant looking good. Not all features are easily possible to tweak, but I think, this is optimal variant.

And yes, some of players still may say on this: each world is similar to previous. But this problem is simply in the number of gameplay features, I think.

Thanks!

Yes, when I played in Minecraft, I feel same things. And so, my project has different challenges. And the basis of the gameplay - is the search and survive. Not build or craft.

And no, mine challenges is not similar to Minecraft ones. I hope, that in my game they are more complex and more difficult!
>:D

I hope, at least. ;D

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Today added to the game:
1. Craft and the use of the "resonator". When you install it, it brings down a nearby cave.
2. Craft and the use of the "hare wand". When use, all evil enemies will surround by hares, giving you time to escape.

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Similarity between worlds is dependent on the number of features, but also the pacing between them. If on a hot day you give me a glass of ice water, I'll be very grateful. The second one I'll appreciate less. If on a cold day you offer me the same thing, I may reject it.

Even with a limited number of features, if the experience each world provides contrasts well with the others, and the player is shifted between worlds - maybe back-and-forth, back-and-forth - you can get a lot more mileage than you would've if you didn't think about pacing.

It's like if you have peanut butter, jam is excellent. If you have milk, cookies are excellent. If you've just eaten 3 servings of milk and cookies, maybe you don't want to eat anything more. When you do, you may want a proper meal.

Minecraft sort of had these natural transitions between areas. There was the night-time, the daytime, the mining, and the building/crafting. Each felt a little different, and they contrasted well with each other. Particularly, the danger and uncertainty of the night balanced the safety and freedom of the day, and the searching and acquiring of the mining balanced the imagining and execution of the building and crafting.

The player had some control over when they switched from one activity to the next, largely following their intuition. But there were also natural limitations in the world. If you ran out of resources you had to mine. If you ran out of mining resources or filled up on gear you had to return home. If you had a surplus of things you were compelled to build.

At the beginning of the game these barriers were popping up all over the place. How long I mined and where I mined shifted around a lot as I gained familiarity with the game and acquired things. I'd say about 10 hours in, that started to slow down considerably. There were often best decisions about what to do next and everything became very routine.

For the first 10 hours the game re-used its environments to create a cycle of mutating experiences. My gear/base/experience dictated the meaning of each gameplay type, and controlled how I alternated between them. The game become routine not because it ran out of features, but because it stopped delivering those features to me in an interesting way. It could gone a lot further with the content it already had if it continued to guide how I had to interact with it.

Any feature can be tweaked by controlling when it can be used and how much it can be used relative to everything else that is going on. If you think about the player's experience as a series of transitions between contexts - i.e. moments in time when he/she is in a particular place and has a particular set of options available - then create rules that control what features are active, and in which way they are active, based on those contexts, then you've effectively "tweaked" those features. Then the problem just becomes a giant balancing one. But at least that has a solution. You just have to work your way over to it.

I'm so hungry for a better Minecraft. It's really a whole new genre.

toast_trip, interesting thoughts. What can I say, I think about it. Perhaps this will influence the further development of the game.

Thanks!

Each person has only their own, individual "better Minecraft". ;) But I'am not sure, that my is the same, as yours. :beer:

And yes, just in case, it is not my goal to surpass Minecraft. I just create a game.  :)

Thinking is all we have.

:) We all have our own Uncharteds and Marios too.

I don't think my Minecraft would be like anybody's.

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Yeah, surpassing Minecraft is a whole other thing. I just want to see others run around with the concept.

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Today added a walking trees creatures. They could be better, but how it happened, it happened. :)

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/wlktree.png)

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I'm keeping an eye on this. You've got some interesting ideas (particularly "search and survival") coupled with great visuals.

Cool. What are the interactions with the tree? Or is aesthetic only?

The walking tree is the tree with the white box over it correct?

sublinimal, yes, exactly "search and survive". Not "craft", and not "build". Though craft and blocks set are present in the game.
:gentleman:

toast_trip, yes, this "walking tree" is just living world part. It has no gameplay functionality. Walking tree - the whole structure is in the screenshot. There's even seen the tree face.

I like how it stands out without standing out.

I'm reminded of some fantasy stories. I think Lord of the Rings is an example. The "living" trees in these stories would blend into their environment, so that other characters often were unaware of their presence until they were made known. Sometimes the trees were in motion, sometimes they weren't. Not knowing if there were any living trees, and not knowing which were which, was very nerve intensifying, for the characters and the reader. This fact had two cool consequences: that the world was a thing that you didn't understand, and that the world had a life of its own that didn't revolve around you. The idea that there is more to the world than meets the eye, in a very real and relatable way, is awesome, and well represented by living trees.

Your screenshot reminded me of that idea. Very cool.

What about seeding new trees? A "gardener of forests" kind of role?

JobLeonard, but the trees are already so many. And they already give rise to seed and die of old age. But basically, I think, thanks.

toast_trip, you captured the very essence of this project. A large and mysterious world that lives not around the main character, but by itself. And the hero must investigate, explore the world, to understand his life and to survive in it.

Each game step calculated entire whole world map, not just an area around the hero.

The whole world lives regardless of the protagonist. Trees grow, floods, breeding and dying animals, in the depths of the earth erupt volcanoes, earthquakes shifting layers of earth, pressure and temperature are produced minerals, underground creatures built the treasury, and mined ore.

All of this is already in the game, but should be even greater.

I think, I put this text to start post. Why did not I done this before? :o

:). Well, your vision shows. What can I say?

I've been working on my game for 3 years nearly now. Most of the time has been spent doing the necessary research, so it's not something to share yet. But I can tell you that the idea of nature, man's role within nature, and the persistence of interdependent systems (i.e. ecosystems) interests me. Maybe that's why I noticed the similarities in what you have. Some of my inspiration is very similar, but my execution will be wildly different.

One idea I've put a lot of hours into is how a person might interact with animals, say regular animals, or animals that are much more sophisticated than traditional animals. Pokemon for adults instead of children, would be a good analogy maybe.

Anyway. We know our games, but we don't know them. Sometimes you need to step away and return to know what you have. That's why you didn't make the post.

Just saw this over on screenshot saturday. Really beautiful use of colors, I haven't read all the posts with respect to the premise of this game but it sounds fabulous. Following eagerly!

I just thought of something interesting. What if, during each step, you generated a seed for that step. Later you could give someone else the world seed and the step seed perhaps encoded together and the player could see your world exactly as it was to you.

Beautiful art! Very cool!

Gorgeously lush my friend!  Great style and texture.  Didnt even know you could get texture out of pixels...   :toastR:

Gentlemen, thank you for your kind words! It motivates!
:coffee:

obsidian_golem, cool idea, but technically it impossible to me. :concerned:

toast_trip, in my project interaction with wildlife and wildlife itself is derived from the basic structure of a) all divided into blocks, and b) there is no animation. This is to some degree simplified my implementation, but also set the tone for this realization of the living world, and all interactions.

So, if you will choose for your project another basis, everything else will be different.

-------------

So, dear readers of these words to you an important question: Which of the characters and what living creatures will be fun to meet in endless caves?

What is already:
1. Peaceful rabbits, biting lizards and spiders. It's all boring.
2. Emerging from the portal the devils and demons. Sometimes the demon lord. OK, but boring.
3. The sect of scientists who like to throw bombs. That bombs and the explosions that's interesting.
4. Underground dwarfs are building mines, tunnels, and a variety of construction and leave the treasure. Now that's cool.
5. Living "multicellular": creeping clumps of lava and walking trees.

And what else? How cool and challenging living creatures you can think of?

-------------

Living minerals.

sb3dgraph, mm, interesting. I think everything will be different regardless. The world is a big place.

--

I like what you have in this order: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

"Dwarfs" or whatever are interesting. I like the idea of having to understand the nature of what's beyond your comprehension.

Example. Imagine the dwarfs live in a society in the world. They make decisions, do things, whatever. They are a race that is different and complex and interesting.

Maybe you see the dwarves a lot, maybe very little.

You interact with the trail of their constructions. Search/survival in their territory is confusing. It is dangerous. There are many things to learn. Without knowing, the risks are higher and the rewards are lower.

You get glimpses into how they think based on what they have done. To capitalize on whatever they have to offer you, you have to understand them very well.

Maybe some areas are owned/previously-owned by groups of dwarves with different behaviours.

.

Trees are interesting as well.

Other choices:
  1. A competitor, or series of competitors. The player has a series of abilities available to him. He can explore and affect the world. There could be someone else, computer controlled, who is very similar to player. This other person may be less capable, significantly less wise, or slower moving. The idea is that they may pose a threat, or they may be helpful. Maybe you compete over resources. Maybe your interaction is purely aesthetic - you can only watch each other. May you can steal resources, or share, or something else.

  2. The same thing, but with any animal, which has a severely reduced move set, less flexible goals, and a simpler personality. Of course they'd interact with the world using natural abilities, while the player more likely uses tools.

The most interesting creatures are ones that can affect the player's experience in a variety of ways. Maybe for example water is important in your game - I don't know, I'm just pretending. Say water is something you must always be searching for. Maybe at night the trees sneak to the water. They leave very subtle trails and clues as to their behaviour. By studying the trees, understanding the patterns of their behaviour, you can learn from their wisdom, such as the location of water, tactics for searching, when it is safe to travel in a particular area etc.

If combat is deep, then demons are interesting. Even more interesting are a variety of "creatures" that must live and survive in the same world, who must use many tactics that are similar to the player's, but different because they are suited to the owners' particular nature.

Maybe the lava "loves" rare minerals and hunts them out.

etc.

The good part is that it suited to the mechanics of the game. The bad part is that this is not a very interesting for the player. But, still think it over.
Thanks.

Yes, now there are two varieties of dwarves, relatively good and evil. Now they live in a mixed, but you're right, can create a various habitats to them.

But this is not the primary problem: creation of radically new beings is much more interesting to the player and to me, than tuning of old ones.
;)

Oh, it's too hard! Just think, in fact to create such character I would need:
a) make him a very good intelligence
b) Every action that I add to the protagonist, I'll introduce in a competitor intelligence.

This is a very slows down implementation of new entities in the game.

Thanks for the ideas, I will think about each of them!

Yeah, yeah. What I mean is, finding ways to bend your existing mechanics into something that adds variety to play is another good starting point for coming up with "original" ideas.

I just like the idea of there being other beings that do lots of things, that have to search and survive and exist under similar constraints.

Have you ever played Geometry Wars? Very well selling game. It is a twin-stick shooter, top-down, in a small ring, with spawning enemies. Each enemy is a single color, has one attack pattern, and "breathes" in a particular way. The results are enemies built from the same principle of motion on a 2-d plane, but with incredible personality.

I'll come up with an example. Let's say you like the idea of light. I know light is a big deal in Minecraft. I don't know what you have planned, so I'll just assume light is a big deal too. In Minecraft you need light to see, so torches are important. You have to place torches and craft torches... and that's about it. For argument sake let's say your game depends on torches in the same way.

Ok. So, if torches are a big deal, light is a big deal. The two most obvious ways to vary light are to create beings that add light or remove it.

Let's say you are _deep_ underground. Maybe you are so deep, so very deep, that the atmosphere and "magical" darkness of the area over powers the standard torches. If you put up a torch in one of these areas it will burn out fairly quickly. You want to be in these areas because there are precious things there. But maybe stocking up on a ton of torches isn't the best strategy.

Ok. Maybe there's a "glow worm" that lives underground that has to be lured around. Maybe you have to farm them, or feed them, or trap and herd them, into areas where you need permanent light. Maybe the best places to find the spawning grounds for glow worms are in a dangerous place - queue monsters, evil dwarves etc.

Maybe the glow worms are dangerous themselves if you're not careful. If you don't treat them well they turn on you. Maybe some are dangerous and others aren't, and you have to be very studious of their behaviours over a long time to tell them apart. Give some hidden teeth, and large appetites. Maybe the idea of an innocent creature that you force into labor is interesting. So you get inspiration from baby bears or something to make your worms.

Maybe only the baby glow worms are useful. The adult mothers will kill you, but only if they know you've stolen what they treasure. Maybe the mothers can fly at high speeds underground, can turn off their glow affects to hide, can stalk, and tear your flesh to pieces, but can only find you using sound. Being stalked by one is a very intense experience.

You could take some other inspiration you like and combine it with the mother worm. I'm thinking about some of the over-sized bugs in Starship Troopers. It doesn't matter where you pull it from. The result is something integrated with the mechanics of the game.

The alternative to producing light is removing it. Maybe a wolf creature loves to prance around and eat your torches, because that's how it feeds, giving the ability to move a little faster and hunt it's prey. You have to be careful in areas where these guys roam because they might eat your torch trail out of a cave, making it much more difficult to navigate your way out.

Maybe the feeling of being lost without torches is an experience that the player should never ever want to have. It should make them paranoid. So you give the wolves a buoyant attitude for the contrast, and an element of mischievousness so that when they do eat your torches you are really needled by it. You can give them whatever personality that complements their mechanical function.

Maybe the wolves interact with the trees in some way.

I mean you can do this stuff over and over with all of your mechanics. Those examples just came out of 1 or 2 mechanics that I imagined. But you know your game, not me.

----



You're taking me too literally. A competitor doesn't have to have all the same abilities as the player. Let's say the player can do 30 different things, and is as intelligent as a player would be. The "competitor" could do 3 things, and have 1/20 the level of intelligence. Maybe all the competitor does is mine around in some simple pattern. He's like a mining "gopher." Occasionally he breaks some of the player's tunnel systems, or ups up a hole from a tunnel into a lake, flooding it. Maybe he's just hungry and eats the player's un-guarded supplies.

What I mean is, think of what the player wants, then create something that wants some similar or totally different, but has to impact the player's resources and options in-order to get it. Something simple like a cow that eats plants that the player wants to grow, or something like that, would be enough. Then there is this conflict between cows and the player. The player can kill the cows, or herd them, or change locations etc. The "competitor" doesn't have to be very intelligent or complicated. It can be whatever suits your game.

----

Sometimes it's nice just to write about someone else's game. Doing this is how I break from my work to regain perspective. So thank you for being inspiring.

Just because of the cost-benefit analysis of having one-sprite-per-object in the game does not necessarily preclude you from having more fluid movement within the game's conception of time.

I was not worried about an issue of graphics or animation. What I was most worried about was the experience of flow within the game world. The build I played felt like it was caught in World 4 from Braid and that falling into a pit was the only way to actually feel time flow around you.

... it felt too uncanny, 'tis all.

toast_trip, yes. 8)

That's all, what I want to answer to such a huge post! :) :beer:
And yes, I am glad that this conversation might help you in your project. Always glad to see you here.

MW, still, there are other reasons for stepping mode.

The idea of this game - the whole world lives. Therefore, every step calculated the entire map of the world. If I want to count it 20 times per second to ensure smooth movement - I get the lack of performance for any CPU. Absolutely no way.

So this game is turn-based, and most likely this choice is the final version.

But thanks anyway. You're right, step mode in this game is not like many testers. Your feelings are correct.

Yeah, me too.

In last days I made three points in the project:

1. Creatures leveling! This is a great thing: some creatures grow up in they power when the player steps in some key points in the game. Now game will not turn too easy in the final part of the playing.

2. A stone ooze with many tentacles! Peaceful, inconspicuous, slow moving. He hide in the caves, and sometimes born an iron ore.

3. A special underground tree. With crystals on they foliage. Glow in the darkness.

Pictures:
-
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/stone_ooze.png)
-
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/crystall_tree.png)

God that is so pretty. This excites me thoroughly  :-*

This is one of the best looking indie games i have seen! keep it up  :beer:

Your game is blowing my mind! This is just... so good.

One think to think about with the smooth scrolling though, is whether or not you can just scroll smoothly; think about how dragon warrior 1 works, everything still moves step-by-step; you could just show the player moving smoothly, animate the camera, and then update everything else instantly.

Really though I have no idea what I'm talking about, you should just do what you want to do because it's... so... good!

Magnesium Ninja, Windybeard, thank you! Although I do not think my graphics is _so_ good. :) Here around so much wonderful projects!

PsySal, Yes, this option seems reasonable. The smoothness of walking I do not consider as a priority task. I think this is clear: in the first place the gameplay. But when there will be free time in the far future, I will try to implement this option. Thank you!

-------------

Meantime I created an water ooze. Inside it is possible to hide from the demons who are afraid of water, or under his protection of winning a living lava.

And yes, lava ooze is retextured!

In this picture two fighting oozes:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/two_oozes.png)

Those graphics are rad as hell.

Sorry, I'm due to poor language skills could not understand what you mean.

He meant that those graphics are amazing. I agree completely.

obsidian_golem, Sharkoss, oh, thanks!  :gentleman:

-------------

Today I am added to the dwarves the ability to use "unpredictable scrolls", that they have.

Now, before the fight they can unpredictably change the world. High volatility of the world - it's what the project need, I think!

Currently "unpredictable scrolls" can:
a) turn the creatures into some other
b) to tear down and throw the soil in random locations
c) the protagonist is teleported to the surface
d) form a lava, or lava turn into water and vice versa
e) to kill all the creatures near
f) dramatically increase the birth rate among all the creatures on the map

And I plan to add to these scrolls more options.

-------------

And then the question to all: What other changes in the global world it would be interesting to add to the effect of "unpredictable scrolls"?

::)

Added light clouds in the sky background. Only the tone is higher or lower than the color of the sky.
-------------
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/sky_clouds.png)

I know it has been said several times already, but I think it needs to be done at least once more. Beautiful graphics.

Thee clouds are a nice addition; however, I think they look a little odd with the sky's sharp gradient (I think that is what it is called). One possible solution is to make the clouds semi-transparent. If you do that then they will blend into the sky more.

Keep up the good work. One thing I really like are the tree roots going through the dirt. So often the trees just stop at the surface - including my game. It is a nice visual.

jmcmorris, all graphics handles my post-effect, which sets to her limited palette. So, unfortunately, clouds and sky gradient can not be more lenient.

And yes, I think the clouds need to make less. Now they are sitting too close.

How about changing the spawning patterns for parts of the world? There's some set of algorithms that determine the structure of caves, how monsters behave, how many trees there are - and where they are - stuff like that.

So maybe a scroll changes the structure of certain caves in an area, to follow one pattern more so than another, or make the lava more dangerous in one area, or make all monsters "erratic" so they're more violent or move twice as fast or run away 30% of the time when they encounter the player. The more fundamental the game logic that a scroll alters, the more interesting the result. Though that may be obvious.... A scroll could make it night-time, or make all artificial light sources burn half as bright. I don't know. I haven't actually tried to play your game yet.... woah. I just look at the pictures.

Probably one of the few retro pixelart games I'd like to play.
This is how Terraria should have looked like.


Good job sir.

This is so god damn gorgeous.
Wow I have my eyes on this now.

Isn't dithering an option?

toast_trip, good ideas! Not all can be implemented, but the direction to think about you prompted to me.

The idea of ​​these scrolls including the fact that the player did not immediately notice the changes. But then he comes back, and there ohh!

waxx, thank you! :gentleman:

But I want to draw attention to that I want to focus not on the graphics, but on what is happening in the game. On the mechanics of the game, the gameplay.

So with great interest, I would have heard the advice and opinions on the gameplay.

Conker, thanks!  :coffee:

JobLeonard, unfortunately, my method of creating a palette and lighting does not support dithering.

At the same time dithering does not quite fit to the sky. He's too rough for the soft clouds.  :)

This looks beautiful. I actually read a devlog for once and it seems like you have some nice design to back it up. I'll definitely be following this intently :)

Ohh!

None of my ideas are practical, ever. I just prompt directions. Ideas are bland. Directions can grow.

Pemanent
:gentleman:  :coffee:

-------------

Today has significantly improved shadows and lighting.

The picture became clearer. If you do not see the difference, look at the roots. There is a difference more noticeable.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/lighting.png)

Really like the shadow and lighting on the ladder.

You planning on updating the test build again?

Thank you.

Of course, planning.
But not soon, I want to accumulate a lot of changes.

-------------

To all.

I am sad that there is no feedback on the gameplay. Although the topic here has been a significant time.

Perhaps, seeing the screenshots, the visitors think: yeah, this is another sandbox. What is there may be interesting? Craft and construction?

No, gentlemen, craft and construction are present in the game. But they are not the basis of the gameplay.

In general, I am down that no one has tried the gameplay.

The graphics are great, and I like the block physics so far. I think I like the feel of the entire game world only moving when you do, but It's a bit tough to play because of the stilted movement. It's pretty easy to die from a fall, which forces you to restart, which makes it a bit harder to explore and look around. I think you should keep falling damage, but maybe only fairly large distances should kill you?

Anyway, it's pretty good so far!

SolarLune, I was just about it and said: no one was playing. Run, drive half a minute, shut down.

Your experience - it's not a playing.

I'm very interested to hear even one who has played for several hours.

But anyway, thank you for your feedback.  :beer:

Where can I find the best build? I would totally play this.

Here is a fresh build: http://rghost.net/39033162

Here is a brief list of the features of this build:

Living things:
1. Dwarfs are building underground mines under the earth, the treasury, portals and the houses.
2. They extracted the ores, powder, marble and malachite, create artifacts. All of this store.
3. The sect of underground scientists, fire bombs, not friendly.
4. Other living beings, and peace, and warlike. Lizards, spiders, bunnies.
5. Living clots of lava and water oozy. There may be a useful and dangerous.
6. Rare stone live octopus. They have tentacles, composed of stone.
7. Walking trees on the surface.
8. Different demons, devils, called by dwarfs. Including the Named Lords of demons.
9. Lords of the demons in his free time engaged in underground gardening. The trees are planted.

Natural phenomena:
10. Volcanoes. Deep under the earth, they give rise to the stones and bursting with lava flows.
11. Floods. Often fatal to those who fear the water creatures.
12. Earthquakes, which create fissures in the rock, changing terrain.
13. Trees of different species. Grow, multiply the seeds, and die.
14. The build-up and collapse of unstable objects, the aging of different materials.
15. The formation pressure and temperature of ore. Different, depending on conditions.

The protagonist features and magic:
16. The player can build a furnace, forge, grinding machine.
17. Build houses, stairs and doors. Use wood, brick, marble and malachite.
18. Create a teleporter in the map.
19. Create a teleporter out to the next map.
20. Player can plant and cut trees, dig up the ground and can be sandstone.
21. There is a craft. Picks, swords and so on.
22. Mined with picks rare solid materials, chest cracking.
23. Equipped with the sword hero fighting with the enemies.
24. Shoes allow the player to jumping.
25. The player can create a large drill that can drill deep.
26. The player can create a resonator, which would bring down the soil and rock.
27. There is a recipe for creating a staff, which surrounds the enemies of rabbits, giving the player time to escape.
28. If the player has the Unpredictable Scrolls, he will be able to read them. The effect is slightly predictable. This transformation of beings, and the transformation of materials, and teleportation, and the movement of volcanoes, and other ominous changes in the world.
29. Underground dwarfs, if they have these scrolls can read them before the fight.
30. Almost all of the creatures can multiply and die of old age, and events.
31. Being under certain conditions, increase the level and become stronger. Infants thus always zero.
32. Writing, saving the game requires a special items, these items run out, so save game less often. Those items can be found in the dwarfs chests.

Okay, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
I tried playing the build from few days ago (first page), however constant FPS lag even on my high-end PC and the fact that my character was bugged [?] and displayed as an orange box AND that the envirovment kept loading in during my movement made me exit the game quite quickly. Hopefully new build will actually let me play and rate the gameplay :/

waxx, if you interested in graphics, you can do not even download the new build. Because interest is not will be more or less from the fact that the protagonist is no longer the orange square.

Similarly, it makes no sense to expect smooth graphics or cancellation stepping mode.

Again, the interest in this project will NOT in graphics and not in the animation. So do not wait for them and do not download game for it.

Okay, I tried the latest build, and like everyone else has said, the graphics and lighting are really great, but the inventory doesn't look that good.  I know that it is probably temporary, like the hero's death sprite.  It could also be more organized.  For example, all the create options could be together, and all the use options could be in another place, maybe different tabs and stuff, because now they are just in one big list.

I also think getting wood was a too easy, because I only cut down a few trees and had a couple thousand.

What this game needs is a good tutorial or a wiki, it would help a lot.  I tried to get started, but got stuck because I don't know how to get stone blocks, and I couldn't mine the limestone.  This game looks very promising, so I want to give it another try, but can't until I figure out how to get stone.  Limited saves is a very cool idea too.

Pixelulsar, thank you for your feedback.

List of action really is not ideal. But agree that you are not so often used it.

Limestone is really not possible to dig by hand. But why do you dig it? This game is not about digging. But about investigation of caves. But the limestone is possible to dig with a pick.

Tutorial course would help. But if I am adding a new feature to the game will make its description in the tutorial - I'll be adding this feature twice as long. This means that in the game will half less the features.
Is this a good solution?

I do not want to offend you, but you probably picked up the queen, pawn, looked the other figures. But you do not play chess.
In other words, you do not feel the gameplay of this project.

But anyway thank you for your feedback.  :gentleman:

No, you are right a tutorial will take too much time.  Still, I want to play the game, so how do you get stone?  Do you find it in caves?

By the way, my laptop is not that good, and the game preformed fine on it other then when saving and loading.

Edit:
Found out how to get stone, and I like the idea that you are forced to go into caves, and you can't just mine straight down.  It makes the game more fun.

Pixelulsar, for a normal game you're right: a tutorial - it is always good. But in this project I really want to do a lot of the mechanics of the world and features. So here is the solution: the player perceives the world from their own experience. And not through the tutorial.

And yes, I am happy, that finally can achieve good performance. :tearsofjoy: If you ran the previous version, you could see, how slowly the game working.

Added:
If you play long enough in the project, I am very interested to hear a description of your adventures.

What have you met in the caves? What are the difficulties encountered?

To all.
Gentlemen, I think about to create dialogue in the game.
Do you have any thoughts on this?

1. Trying to do a generation of quests?
2. Or make a set of hand-made, high-quality quests?
3. Or not to do quests? May be you think they not needed in the genre of "Explore and survive"?

Ok, this looks interesting. I will try it on the weekend and report back.

I really love the danger bombs underground.  I blocked one off so it wouldn't hurt me, and when it exploded into lava, I didn't get hit.  It caused a cave in, so I was stuck in a tiny cave, and didn't have a pickaxe, so I had to load my save.

The only things I've seen in caves so far are; lava, water, lizards, and danger bombs.  Trying to find enough copper to make a pickaxe.

Edit:
Wow, you only get a few uses out of a pickaxe.  That is a good idea because it stops people from mining and forces them to explore caves, like you wanted.

I think it needs some goals/quests (generated?) to keep it interesting in the long run. How about artifacts in the caves you have to find? How about other lone explorers in the caves, some of them friendly or hostile? So many possibilities. :)

Thank you. I will wait with interest your experience.

That is, in the final game you would like to see the quests? Ok!

I'll be glad to hear your opinion once again, if you try the game.
Because when you're better understanding of what and how in the game, you can better see, what is need in the project.

:beer:

Pixelulsar, now that's a real gaming experience! Thank you!

So, you yourself understand what and how to obtain, understand the craft and construction. Cool!

If you would desire to play again, and descend into the cave, then write a description of what happened with you.

Thank you!

I really do not have enough eye on the part! Therefore, and this is the word to all, a description of your gaming experience I need!

Of course, the important long and serious gaming experience. Describe the experience like "walk, do not understand, fell and died," not worth it. :)

I know you won't really like my experience, but I did just walk, die some times from falling and explored some caves.

I played for a little bit, maybe 20-30 minutes. and I will play again.

but my first impression was:

-the first resources (wood, some coal, clay) are very easy to get, but other resources either I couldn't find them or couldn't collect (stone and such). so I think the game needs some explanation to begin with or a wiki to show what your first steps should be. a quest system might help with the first quests being a sort of tutorial ("build a pick", "find resource x", and so on). if you plan on adding dialogue/friendly npcs, maybe you can start in a friendly village that gives tutorial quests (optional) and when you are done you move on to explore the worlds on you own.

-some of the dirt and rocks fell and some didn't. some also fell even if I had connected them by building wooden planks. is there a way to understand what is going to fall or is it ompletely random? my last death was because the bridge I built fell while I was on it.

-is there a way to check health? do you have to eat? there should be a way to check the status of the hero if it is relevant, otherwise it is fine as it is (if there is no hunger and no hitpoints, only one-hit deaths).

-since you ask why players dig even if it's not what you intended, it's because other games trained us to dig to get resources and explore. if that isn't what we are supposed to do, there should be a way to point us in the right direction.

-the interface for the inventory and actions needs some work, but I think you already know this. maybe you can hide the actions we don't have the requisites for (missing materials and so on) and reorganize the menu.

that's about it for now, I only saw bunnies as other lifeforms, the caves seem pretty empty for now, I don't know how deep I should go, after a few minutes of "more of the same" I climbed back up to the surface. a ladder would be a nice alternative to the wood planks making cave exploration less clunky. maybe a rope ladder that requires some other resource and not wood so that you would need to explore the surface first and then go in the caves. the graphics are really nice and only need some polish from a few glitches, I liked that the game is turn based, not a problem except for the falling stones (it is easy for now to step on things that are about to fall and not have a turn to run away).

I played the game for roughly an hour. The start was slow, not much to do on the surface.

Ok, after cutting enough wood (i could'nt cut the tree creatures :) i digged a short horizontal tunnel into a hill and from there i digged a vertical shaft and placed ladders on the way down. I hit a small cave, which i explored,  but found nothing. Time for another horizontal tunnel. :)
On my way to the left (it is a looong tunnel now) i found coal, three good stones (they are rare?) and gold. Found another cave with lizards and one of them (a big lizerd) killed me. To my luck i saved before i started exploring the cave. Reloaded. I built a bridge above the lizards and continued my tunnel.
Then i noticed that the option to create a smelter was available. So i carved a room out and placed a smelter, only to got it destroyed by dampness, lol. I forgot to use wood to protect the smelter from the dampness. At this point i saved again (can i build my own save blocks?). Will play further later.

Some suggestions:
. mousewheel support for scrolling trough the actions list
. definable shortcuts keys for selecting actions?
. maybe another font (for me it's a bit hard to read)
. the caves are too unstable, can you make them a bit more stable?
. maybe messages like "you can build a smelter now" or something like that, it's easy to miss the updates in the actions list

Edit: In general i'm against tutorials, though if they optional it's no problem.

Recs, thank you! That criticism useful to me.

About the wiki and tutorial in the game I already explained why, unfortunately, I can not do it.

The player, yes, have no health. Only states - alive or dead.

Blocks fall from the fact that they have no sufficient contact with the stable blocks. Do the bridges are shorter and attach them to rocks.

Falling rocks from which you can not get away - my mistake, I correct the course. But the falling rocks will be: the cave must be dangerous. Although the greatest danger lies much deeper.

Thank you for your constructive feedback!

sk2k, oh, that's interesting. Although you did not get to the main adventures, is very useful to hear about your experience.

For your suggestions.
Unfortunately the mouse wheel does not work on my mouse, so I'm unlikely to implement it. :)

Many shortcut keys - this is why I have not been able to learn Dwarf Fortress. I think they only confuse the player. But yes, how to make a list of actions is more convenient - it's an urgent question, I agree.

Unstable caves - feature of this game. So I think that I will develop this way.

The font I know I need to redraw. So far, so I can not make time for this. You're right, the individual letters are bad.

Thanks for the feedback!

Some question. :)
Does your engine use multi threaded cpu's or just one core?
Lizards can go trough blocks? I hope that's a bug and not intended.
Can i build support structures to prevent falling unstable blocks?
Why should i use ladders, when i can use wooden planks as ladders?

I played some more and found only ONE copper ore. Will i ever be able to build a wepaon? :D

sk2k

No, the calculation single-threaded.

Lizards can go through the same blocks as the protagonist. Besides doors and water.

Ladders are made for aesthetics. They function the same as that of the boards.

To the building did not fall, you need to attach it to a stable stone, sandstone, and so. Moreover, the long poles and bulky design is easier to fall. Build a compact. A more reliable material than the boards - it's bricks. The most stable structure made of marble and malachite.

-------------

To all:

Please note, in the zero post a fresh build. There is fixed a critical bug.
1. Fixed a critical bug
2. Changed the behavior of the camera
3. Dwarfs shout replicas, when running after the hero
4. Stones do not fall so that it is not possible to evade
5. Slightly corrected shadow and back parts in the caves.

Still playing and still "searching" for the main adventure. :) Resources like copper are extremly rare or i'm just unlucky. It's a bit boring now, due to the need to gather(mine)  rare resources.
I encountered water and lava. Water acts weird, not like water.

Btw. i think your engine would be ideal for a sci-fi game. Stranded on an alien planet with strange lifeforms and vegetation. You need to repair your ship and so you begin to explore the world to find out where you are and how you can repair your ship.

sk2k, I'm serious - this same thought came to me in the head.
Only more romance: a brave cosmonaut traveling alone among the stars, exploring distant civilizations.

The obstacle is this: currently playing in the world of fantasy. Gnomes, edged weapons. Redo it all - well, I do not know, very difficult.

But the idea of cosmonaut - I really like.   :handmetalL: :handmetalR: I'll have to think about.

And what little resources - so it is a genre. This is idea was.

To me, when I was playing Minecraft - it was interesting to look for rare diamonds. And to collect the iron, which a lot - it was boring. So I thought: what if we make the basic resources such rare, as diamonds? Or even more rare?  :addicted:

After playing roughly three hours i found only THREE cooper ore. The game got tedious and i was bored to death.

Nice looking surroundings are not all in a game. Give the player something to do. Place more ore so he can experiment and finally go out adventuring.
I can't do anything fun, just running around and placing planks and ladders. This got really boring after a while.

Out of pure boredom i activated the developer mode. The most copper ore is placed in the limestone layer and this layer is unaccessible for me, because of the inability to build the tools. I picked up TWO more ore coppers. They were reachable trough the limestone because of the high pickup radius.

Gold is largely available. Maybe you can give the gold a value, so the player can trade it for tools?

Just my observations for this play session.

I will give this a proper play-through later, but after 15 mins of playing I can already tell how much I like it. I didn't think I'd get on with the way the world updates each time you press something, but it's actually very relaxing and still feels like a dynamic world.

I can imagine music like Solar Fields' fitting perfectly over the top of it.   

This gorgeous art style with a sci-fi setting would be incredible. Perhaps make it so you can build a ladder into space? :addicted:

I was thinking the same. Some ambient music would fit this game well.

retrohelix, thanks! Yes, about the space and sci-fi, I think about it.

sk2k, listen, and what did not you go down lower? Surely there was no cave down? Digging tunnels in sandstone three hours - very boring. :facepalm:

First, do not dig so much. Second - look deeper into the cave and go down!
All the adventures in the game are below. Much lower. :beg:

And yes: activation of the developer mode you killed yourself whole interest in the game, congratulations.
:facepalm:

Thank you for your description.

-------------

To all:
So what does that mean? No one is coming down to the caves, no one played for a long time?

Pfff...  :tired:

You are making a game with digging and not expecting the player goes digging?
Telling the player just to go down to find the "real" adventure is a bit strange. :) Why bother with digging in the game then?

The problem is, i (maybe also other playes) want to be prepared for adventuring and that's why looking/digging for resources is natural beahviour.

After i started several new games it get's boring to just go trough the caves so i just digg down to the limestone layer and then to the left or right to find a way into the lower sections.
Why should i go trough the caves then?  All between the start and the limestone layer is for nothing then? Maybe i'm just a dumbnut and not getting the idea of your game. :D

I hope i do not annoy too much you with my critics. :) I'm still playing.

I'll try to explain. Digging in the game is present. But in order to remove a couple of blocks. Not for digging as much as large caves or tunnels. It's such idea. As the player explores the existing caves.

About what adventures below. The fact that in the generation of the world: the lower - the more objects are generated. This is done to ensure that the player had a goal: to go down. Should work a simple curiosity.

Why did you start new games, rather than continuing the old one? You have not figured out how to work saves?

Everything is ok, I am interested in any feedback.
:coffee:

Still can not decide what to do with the medieval setting of: chests, knives, picks, building a forge ...
In general, the more likely the idea of ​​a planetary explorer, a cosmonaut - not be developed.

I understand what you are saying, but still, there should be a tiny bit more to do in the upper part of the map.
I think, in the game you need to communicate to the player, that he must go down (Where no man has gone before :) ) to find what he is seeking.

I know how saving a game works. :) As the magic books are limited, how about creating my own magic books, maybe from gold?

How about building wooden staffs? Using them against the green lizards would reduce the need to avoid them and so it would make the early exploration more fluid.

Btw. i finally found some more copper ore and built a sword from it.

Yeah, if it's your intention to make the player to go deep you should tell them in some way. What are you thinking of in terms of sound effects and music for this game?

Also nothing major but some sort of progress bar when starting a new game would be nice. I wasn't sure if the game froze or not for the 15 seconds I waited for the world to generate.

sk2k, seagaia

About music and sounds, I was already defined. Here is a quote from the starting post: "Music in this game is not planned, because I love to listen a radio, and in-game misic I do not normally need."

About the fact that the game should indicate the final and intermediate goals - completely agree.

I hope that I will make at least a text description that the player needs to go down and what to do. But while the game is not ready to, something that can be read in the opening post of this topic.

These are the words to all: please, read the opening post before playing. Otherwise, you may do not understand the game.
:coffee:

Screens of the map generation and loading will be at least a message that you need to wait. Please understand that while the game is at an early stage, many are not ready.
:shrug2:

Thank you!

-------------

In the meantime, I made the election to underground dwarfs.
They can choose a king, if they have no, or died. For the king, they slowly built the throne hall, and the king himself is able to talk to the player.

True, for now the king says random phrases. But in the future it will be possible to give quests. Probably. On the creation of quests I have not decided yet.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/king.png)

I'm on a Mac right now so I tried running this game in Wine, and guess what? It works like a charm. Just thought that might interest you.


Anyway, the graphics are absolutely stunning (the lighting effects in particular blew me away) but I think they could use a little more readability. It's often hard to see your character, especially underground.

Insanely good artwork. :o

Can someone tell me how to get rid of the water ooze? It follows me wherever i go. I tried to lure it into lava, but it just extincted the lava.

sk2k, that's it, a professional amicobuddy! :-*
To get away from him, find a passage in one block, and place in this passage door.

You walk through the door, and he could not.

impulse9, thank you! :) This is always great to hear!

But I do not think that art so cool. And the gameplay is more important, what do you think?

C.A. Sinclair, cool!

The fact that under the earth, it is difficult to see enemies and protagonist - it is so intended.
Because I want the atmosphere of depth, mystery, riddle! This does not mean good character readability. What do you say?
;)

Thank you for your comment!
:coffee:

Hehe, i tried that already, but that thing found another way to reach me again. The cave system is too open. Hmm, maybe i should digg an extra room for it and confine it there.

Meanwhile, I took the time and played the game six hours continuously. Well, ladies and gentlemen. This uniform tin! What was going on in the game - words hard to describe. Everything collapses and grows, somewhere lava explosions, new tunnels and dozens of dwarfs a mob chasing me, lords demons everywhere, all mixed, oozy, tentacles, and scientists, hell and sodomy. Needless to say, that I myself could not get past the first world?

Nevertheless, I decided to balance the game a little bit. All the same, even in the tin should be perfect proportions.
Today corrected:
1. Underground dwarfs is 2.2 times less likely to read magic scrolls.
2. The window for text characters are now strictly on the size of the text, and not blocking too much.
3. Balanced deaths dwarfs from overpopulation.
4. Named Lords of demons no longer bifurcate magic dwarfs.
5. Start born of the living water is reduced by 2 times.
6. Many of the recipes a little cheaper: teleporter in the world, the big guns, something else.
7. Stone-ooz tentacles no longer die from touching the lava.

sk2k, yes, as you see, I'm trying to reduce their number by half. They really are too intrusive.
:)

Great to hear. Can't wait to try a new build of your game. :)

I still have not found anything from the "main" adventure, no dwarves, no demons, etc. Navigating trough the caves takes a lot of time....and dying.

I was thinking about ropes and how they could work in your game. They should be one-use itemsm, crafted out of wood and maybe foliage. If you use a rope it unfolds from the startpoint down to the first rock/stone/whatever it hits. You climb down and as soon as you step away from the rope it disappears.

Vv-video? :beg:

sk2k, I can not imagine how you could play for a long time and did not met adventures.
Ok, do not torture yourself anymore. :)

For you post the game after 6 hours of play. Well, there is already a lot of things you have to meet. The hot spot: http://rghost.net/39124329

Just run and walk, everything is there. But bear in mind, play youself more interesting.

rek, Sorry, there is no time for it. Maybe someone from visitors write video of their walkthrough?

This game is awesome. You are awesome. Keep it up lad. :handthumbsupR:

I'm the only ony who plays the game? :) I want to hear other opinions. I think the game get's a bit too unpredictable and chaotic. In my running game i have already THREE water oozes peskering me and i died a lot of exploding lava? (bombs?).

sb3dgraph, i loaded your game and DAMN, you have a nice sword there. :)

Will you post an actual development build soon with all fixes/changes you made? I will start a new game then or can i use my old savegame?

caiys, Thank you! After these words I want to work on!
:coffee:

sk2k, this game is played and visitors on this topic: http://www.gamedev.ru/flame/forum/?id=159858
This is a Russian forum. Unfortunately, on Tigsourse really almost no one has shown perseverance and not able to master the game.
:shrug2:

What can I do, I'll just continue to describe here the course of development.
Maybe someone will want one time to play seriously?  8)

A newer version of the game I perhaps will put soon.
:)

-------------

Today did an extended description of the blocks. That is, when you hover the mouse on the block, you see not just a "clay" but the larger text. Like "clay, from it the hero can make bricks, takes part in some of the recipes, extracted by hands"

For those who have already played a long time - there is almost no value. But for beginners it will be useful, I think.

I still think it would help to have a tutorial thing of some sort - most people are probably initially turned off from the initial complexity of the game and might not have the time to devote to figuring it out, as there are many other games to be looked at.

You're absolutely right.
:gentleman:

But, I am already commented that:

And a few words of personal opinion: trying to please the player - not a solution for an indie project.
Let it be in a casual and social games.

how about including a text document that explains everything?

I'm one of those people.

between work and rl I only have so much time left and can't figure out this game all by myself when I could be playing other stuff as well.

even a text tutorial or something like the terraria guide (npc/signs/ingame wiki/whatever that gives initial pointers to what to do) would be appreciated.

I can see the game's potential, but for example today I had the chance to play another half hour. I died by falling a couple times (my fault, never because of falling rocks under my feet) in the july 7 build, then I had a decent run and reached the limestone.

then I had a little good stone, some copper, some gold, a lot of wood and no idea of how to go on. I knew I needed a pick, but I couldn't fina the stuff to do it, then exploring I found a hole in the limestone and ventured down only to learn I couldn't build a ladder or planks to get out (the hole was 1 wide and 4-5 deep, I could place them on top of the hero but not reach them, this should be fixed).

some polish on the ui might help with directions, reading some of the actions gave me some ideas on what could be done but was also confusing because I didn't know the requisites for most of the actions or where to find the necessary items.

hope it was helpful, I'm going to try the next build as well, but some more explanations would be nice to have more productive game sessions (and probably better feedback for you).

remember that you built the game and know it inside out, but what is obvious to you isn't for me, a "simple gamer".

???

Indie ≠ obscure, difficult, or demanding
Tutorial ≠ casual mode

If you don't care if people play it, that's fine, but don't pretend you're adhering to some indie game code.

That's your opinion, and I talked about my view on indie games.

Let me explain. The desire to please the player - always affects the game. I think this is the main difference between indie games and commercial games.

This is just my experience and my opinion. If you think differently - this is normal.

Like any author, I want that in my games played long and hard. But I do not want to reduce the difficulty.

Let me explain: it is interesting only to reach those goals, which are difficult to achieve. So I think an interesting game can only be a difficult game.

So I'm not going to simplify the gameplay.

If the game will be interesting for the players, they will create such a document or wiki.

Neither the author of Dwarf Fortress, Minecraft, ADOM - all of these authors do not bother writing detailed explanations and tutorials.

Therefore, if the game is not interesting, then I have no reason to make a tutorial: still no one will play. Conversely, if the game interesting, the players, you personally, that is, write a descriptions, wikis and tutorials.
:gentleman:

Recs, thanks for the detailed review.
When I first ten times tried to play Dwarf Fortress, I had similar feelings.

So I'm on the right track?
;)

I agree with you on this: if you want to make a hard game, that's fine.

where I disagree is that difficulty should be achieved not by hiding information or game mechanics from the player but by balancing well the gameplay.

doing that is just a way to create false difficulty, frustration and once the information is found you are back to the start and diffcivulty just depends on how well you designed/balanced the gameplay.

cutting out the frustration from the process is not making the game too easy, but making it more interesting while still difficult.

an example from this comes from other roguelikes. you can have a game that is mostly challenging because of trial and error and obscure mechanics or a game that is very clear and apparently simple like brogue that is fun and challenging but not obscure.

Recs, again, you're absolutely right! Yes, in the hiding information is bad, incorrect difficulty.

But I have already written many times, why I can not do tutorials. Read the top post on this page.

If you have the option of how to explain the game to the player without the huge costs - tell, I listen with interest!

just some in game text would be a good start, together with some ui fixing to make it less confusing (the action list is not very comfortable to use as it is and more info on the crafting requirements and maybe some icons to navigate it more easily would be nice to know what to look for).

as the game start you could just write or notify what your main goal is (building a teleporter) through any means you find ok with the game's style (a sign post, a friendly npc, hovering text) and maybe hint to what should be your first step (build a forge and pick to explore caves).

that should give at least some direction without going too much in detail.

I certainly didn't ask you to.

rek, ok, I understand you incorrectly.

Recs, text, text, text...
A player does not like to read.
A player will not read.
If a player is too lazy to read the starting post of this topic, why does he want to read inside the game?

...Ok, I'll think about it. But this is not the solution. For all those reasons that I wrote on this talk page.

Thank you for your thoughts!
:coffee:

The problem is that people today want casual. They do not want to think and explore.

A simple example: if I had invented the chess game today, I would have received from you are absolutely similar comments.

"I held the figures in my hands, very good figures, will follow the theme!"

"Yes, the board is made very carefully, you're great!"

"I'm moving figures on the board, tell me when will start an interesting gameplay?"

"I think on each figure you should write, as it can go"

Phhh...  :facepalm:

-------------

Today did the spider queen. Dangerous, weaving webs and killing those who got stuck.

(http://i.imgur.com/a1Zhj.png)

-------------

Argh, i think not that the people want the game to be casual. TIGSource is not known for the pinnacle of casual gaming. :) A challenging game is ok, a frustrating game (bad or unfair game mechanics, not enough information about the player's surrounding, etc.) not.
Doing balancing or improvements to make it more fun IS NOT dumbing down.

For example, sound effects would be an improvement for your game. If the player hears what happens or what will happen, it gives him more knowledge about his surrorunding. Hearing a earthquake coming, or some stones falling, errupting lava, he can react to them better. For me this is not dumbing the game down.

You are say constantly that we are playing the game wrong and we should play it seriously. This should tell you something, namely that there IS something wrong somewhere with the game. Remember, YOU asked for critics and opinions. :)

I skimmed trough the thread on the russian forum and there are also not many players playing the game. There is more talk about what makes a roguelike and features of your game.

Btw. i posted about your game on the Dwarf Fortress forum. Do not say DF players are casual players. :D

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=113055.0

You're being a little rude :/ . You can't get upset at someone for "not getting it" if they can't figure out what you intended the rules to be. Chess isn't chess without the rules, it's just a bunch of plastic pieces. Likewise, if you give no direction on the general premise of your game (say in a README.txt), then you can't be justifiably upset at how people play your game.

well if you invented chess but gave us no instructions on how to move the pieces but only told us to kill the enemy king then we can move the figures randomly, like the board, but we still will have no idea of what the rules are at the end of the day.

then I didn't only suggest text, I also suggested reorganizing the ui so it is easier to see what your options are and choosing the rmou and lmou shortcuts (and maybe other shortcuts in future).

also I suggested text because that is all I thought you were willing to do as a tutorial and it is better than nothing.

a real tutorial could be a mini world to explore with all the main elements of the game easily findable/reachable so that the player can really understand the main mechanics and then some hints to the other possibilities  the game gives.

or you could have the npc village with the quests I suggested earlier, with optional quests that give you your first objectives (maybe up to building a forge and pick, then you can freely explore beneath limestone). they wouldn't need to give you actual help and dumb down the game, just knowing what should be the first stuff to look for would be helpful (fixing the crafting ui to make it clearer what are the requirements would fix this as well) and finding these would still be as tough as it is now.

both these are completely optional and a player that already knows how to play the game could skip them.

Recs, seagaia, sk2k
As for the rules.
I'm in the starting post gave the rules, not less, probably more than the gave the authors of ADOM, Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft.

So do not complain about unknown rules.

As for the tutorial and hints in the game the same thing.
So I do not understand your claim.
:shrug2:


In roguelike rarely make sounds.

I do not agree. In my experience, everyone wants to relax and not tense. Unfortunately, not all games allow it.

Ok, this is more interesting. But how to improve ui? Description of what is needed is already there. What more better, how?

-------------

Forgive me if I did not answer all items.
I have to translate the text through a translator, and then correct it. Therefore, writing the answer is very slow.

:monoclepop:
It's cool, thank you very much!

And a small request. Tell them there, what's what, and give them a new version of the game: http://rghost.net/39151368

This version of the July 11, where I improved the description of the blocks. So there will be a little easier to understand the game.
:coffee:

I give up (not on the game). :) It makes no sense to argue with you. You already know what's better for the gameplay and the player does not know better. Period.

As for a better UI, you could split the actions list into two, a list with create/smelt actions and a list with place/set actions.
I already mentioned it, the ability to set keyboard shortcuts would be nice. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT DWARF FORTRESS KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS MADNESS! Having a key to use jump would be helpful.

EDIT:
Done.

And for the rest of dozens of action? And when I add dozens more? That we and get the DF madness.  :eyebrows:

Probably have to split into five blocks ... But yeah, it looks reasonable. Thank you, think about how this can be done.

Thank you!

No, no, no. Make them user defineable, so the users can set them, if they want. YOU do not need to pre-define the keys.

Yes, it sounds reasonable. :)

edit:
And about Dwarf Fortress Forum.
Honestly, my game is too weak to interest many people. So in any case, a noticeable popularity will not be there.

But anyway, thank you for having shown them the project.
:gentleman:

Oh, i think you have no idea.  :giggle:

I lasted 3 hours playing terraria and newer runed it again. I've played your game 4 hours nonstop and not a sign of getting bored.

(My first post btw, hello everyone.)

Your game is not weak (in the sense of bad). It's just not easy accessible for the people. That's why you got suggestions about adding more informations to your game.

your game is good.

adding more in-game clarity will only make it more appealing.

see brogue, everything important is described, but the game is as challenging as any roguelike and has some very advanced mechanics that make it challenging without being hard to understand what is going on.

I really think you have created something special, wasting it would be a bad idea.

Ok, you convinced me partly.
Today I made ​​a replica engine of the protagonist. It sometimes (rarely!) will comment on the situation, giving the player a line of thought.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/texts_dfg.png)

Tell me what to explain to the player in the first place? What was not clear to yourself?
Remembering that replicas will be a small amount of. Five or ten. Near that.

kulik, thank you! Welcome to this wonderful forum!
:coffee:

yes, I think that and reorganizing the actions in categories so that it's easier to understand what to do would be enough to point the player in the right direction without holding his hand too much.

user bindable shortcuts other than lmou and rmou would be very welcome also.

as for what to point out, I'd say the main goal (especially if the player is stuck on the surface, so he understands where to go ---> down) and the basic crafting. I'm not expert enough on the advanced mechanics to know what else could be hard to figure out.

also remember to check out the problem I had with building a ladder to get out of a 1 block wide hole. even if I had enough wood I just couldn't clim out. maybe you could do it so that the hero can climb on ladder blocks placed directly on top of him, so we can build ladders upwards?

I had a 20 minutes playthrough with the last build, the extra info on the blocks is very useful and I had almost built the smelter when I was killed by a small lizard.

next time I think I can get past the limestone and see what the real game is all about. still very interesting even after a few times I've played it.

Replica engine?
The use situational thought bubbles is interesting.

This things were unclear for me:

.Why i could'nt kill anything?
^No bare hands fights possible.

.Why should i go down?

.Why should i build a teleporter into another world?
^What's the motivation of the character?

.That i need to go down to find important materials (like copper ore)
^It took me some time to figure out that there is no copper ore in the sandstone layer.

.Why i could'ne mine some materials and others not (like limestone or shale).
^This is more or less solved with the new block descriptions. (build 11. july)

Maybe he means it in the sense of a simulacrum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacrum)?

I love how things sometimes get lost in translation from Russian to English, btw. Makes for an interesting language puzzle, like deciphering poetry or a dream :D.

So it's a copy or clone of the character?

That's a really great start! I played your game and thought the art was absolutely amazing. It was super interesting, but felt very clunky. When I say clunky I mean it seems difficult to get started; I don't know what to do or how to do it.

It's very important for your game to be presented in a way that's streamlined and easy for people to learn and get started with. Information can be readily accessible and simple to understand, which lets more people enjoy what you've made.

Thoughts/suggestions:

• The list of actions is very unorganized. Need some way of categorizing what actions to take. Perhaps hide various actions behind category buttons, or hide actions the player cannot currently complete.
• Would love to use middle mouse wheel to scroll through action list.
• Keep pressing i for inventory, but I don't see a way to set hotkeys anywhere.
• Inventory seems way too large and hard to use. Perhaps consider having a smaller number of inventory slots with bigger boxes -- This would be easier to click on the different boxes, and you can also have some room to display more information about each item than just a single letter.
• When in the inventory I don't see any button to exit the inventory. I have to hit ESC and then left click on the game world. Very clunky.
• I keep trying to "drag and drop" ladders and other materials. Currently I can only place down one square at a time, but it would feel very natural to be able to draw lines or squares of things to place. For example drawing a straight line for a ladder.

Hope this helps.

Edit:

That sounds okay; you mean that your goal isn't to please players, but to make the game of your dreams, right? But if you can improve something in the game, that pleases players, without taking away from your goal of making the game you love, I don't see a downside.

Pardon, I do not answer to all of you on specific items.

Something I realize, and some not. In any case, your tips are very helpful to me.

Thank you!  :coffee:

:coffee:

I didn't notice this game until sk2k posted this on the Bay12 forums but man I love games that don't tell you anything and lets you explore. So far the goal for me is to make every single item that's on the drop down list, and to see if what's out there.
Warning - while you were typing 9 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.
Maybe you could add a toggle that turns off hints and have that as default.

Then this game will try to give you exactly that.
Large map, which you can explore for hours.
A large number of possibilities.
And a large number that grows, crawls, and progresses in the deep corners of the map.

And a very high difficulty. Within a few hours to understand the game and pass it you can not. >:D

-------------

Today do this:

1. Corrected English font. Now, he is still a curve, but much less than before.
2. Corrected generation of creatures, some moved closer to the surface.
3. Web of Spider-womb is now afraid to standing next to the torch. With a torch you can get rid from it or release other creatures.
4. Made a living growing roots. They are like regular roots only grow.

Growing special roots:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/live_roots.png)

Build from 12 July! http://rghost.net/39168799

New in it:
1. Corrected English font. Now, he is still a curve, but much less than before.
2. Corrected generation of creatures, some moved closer to the surface.
3. Web of Spider-womb is now afraid to standing next to the torch. With a torch you can get rid from it or release other creatures.
4. Made a living growing roots. They are like regular roots only grow.
5. Sometimes the protagonist explains what you can do.

Oh my I had a good run I started the round riding a living tree east until it turn back around built a homebase on a hill, dug several miles into the ground to find copper. Which is all said and good until I see dwarves come barging to the east of me. some how I made base next to their embark. I had to barricade myself in my smelter room due to building my house out of wood. all I had was 1 copper bar and some clay left so I built myself some boots. next thing I did was amazing.

I jump out of my house over some dwarves into their base stole some barrels of powder made a time bomb and jump out of there before it exploded... and fell to my death onto a tree.
So far I got a nice view of the explosion taking out their base on the way down.

so far this game has losing is FUN down to the F. time to crosspost this to the other bay12 members

I just had a quick look (@work]. The text is now better readable.

Wow! Thank you, it's a cool experience!
Such a description of the game inspire further work!

sk2k
:beer:

This looks really interesting. Got lead here from the Bay12 thread.

The only issue I have is that rghost downloads never work for me. Disabling my security software doesn't help. Would you mind providing a mirror on another service please?

It looks real good and what i chould read, This game i whould like to play! but..... I cant down load it :'(. Do you have any other place to download it? if so i will be so aprecative! Once i can find a way ill give feed back. Signing out                            -Ace

aceaces, Vattic, of course! For you, I am filled version of the game to my site. Try it, maybe from there you can download it.

Link: http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/12Jul_Build.zip

-------------

Meanwhile, a good man gave an overview of the project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7_Vuxsielk

All the talk in this video is in Russian. But if you're just curious to see the process of playing, you can see it.
:gentleman:

Thnks it workd! ill try it out now!

Ah thank you!

dwarves surprise me with this new renovation to my home.
(http://www.truimagz.com/host/fortcrush2/folder3/SoA3.png)
So they installed another floor with a balcony... they even... wait is that a hell gate?! Awwman looks like I need to clean up.

Impressive. :)
Damn! I still have a lot of work to do. No playing time today. :(

good news I build my self a big drill and dug my self all the way to the bottom of the map.
bad news is that the dwarves added another floor onto my house and I'm down 1 save.
currently I have no weapons except for bombs and I don't want to nuke my house, also I'm out of coal.

That's why i suggested the ability to craft magic save books, maybe from gold bars.

So, comrades, I leave you for a week.
Perhaps I can go here and write, but for a week the development of the game is suspended, so I'll not near to my computer.
:gentleman:

Rumrusher, save-books can be found in dwarfs chests. But maybe you have to start the game again.

Cool you have turned the house!

sk2k, thank you again, you showed the game on the Dwarf Fortress forum!

all that means is I need to find out how to crack those million of chest scatter around my place. hopefully it's a copper pickaxe would do it.

fake edit: so I spent some time looking for coal end up having to trek all the way up my tunnel due to a shift in a teleporter making it impossible to go back. I'm loaded with marble from normal to red from the forged bronze pickaxe and decided it's best to just go out there and see if I can open a chest with this.

juking and dive past trees and jumping over hurdles I got to my first chest and what I found was unique.
an "ANCIENT RARE ITEM" I don't know maybe the dwarf that was on a fey mood wrote that as it's name before they stash it into a chest Idunno. so I decided this is the best time to save my game and see how long I can go to find a chest with a save so I had no saves ran through a hill side(found another chest with an "ANCIENT RARE ITEM" so I thought eh I'm going to duel wield both) until I get to this place pack with demons and a chest several feet in the air. I kill about 2 demons trying to build this ladder and once I did seal the gate that they was pouring out with brick while fending them off.
the third chest ended up being 5 world saving books currently I just use one.
my current plans are to clean up the demon infestation in my house, fix it up a little then move east to expand my house.

pretty good game you got here.

edit: here's what my current house looks like the combine effort of Dwarves and me making so I can travel through it, so far kinda looks like a boot or a man with a tip hat.
(http://www.truimagz.com/host/fortcrush2/folder3/soa3-myhouse.png)

Rumrusher, such reports are very inspiring!
Thank you for writing your adventure. If you going to play further, I am always glad to see such an inspiring description of what is happening!

And yes, a great house. :)

Well I built another teleport to the bottom of the world, found out dwarves been giving me Steel bars but the iron, bronze pickaxes aren't cutting into the green marble.
The dwarves have completely move out of my house. might need to clean up the yard.
fake edit: well figured out copper works best on green marble and got myself a steel pickaxe and sword, ended up makeing a resonater which is horribly bad and should not place in your house. Also I haven't said this but I already killed some demon king and recently blew up a spider queen, which is how I got so much copper also built another teleporter to craft more items. Below her cave I found a Water ooze that so many talk about. Best companion ever. Here's me and Watooze notice some trap scienist. There got to be away to bring friendly npcs over to the new world.
So far on my journey I rode a walking tree, befriend dwarves, rode a huge drill to the bottom, found 2 rare swords killed so many demons including their king, got a mansion for no effort on my behalf, closed the demon gates for good, killed a spider queen, and now riding on a watery friend up to the surface. yup awesome game oh and I'm playing on the older july 11 build of the game.


ps. got the ooze into the home. kinda hope it's house trained.

I've been playing this for a couple of hours a day since I downloaded it. I found the initial search for ore to be a bit tedious. Once I got the iron needed to make a pick and start breaking chests I found a nice artifact sword. Since then the game has really opened up and I'm having a blast.

(http://i.imgur.com/zKYvp.jpg)

The ground opened up behind me and flooded the passage with magma. Luckily the water ooze I brought with me saved my life.

I absolutely love the way the eruptions warp the stone. Makes for some interesting almost puzzle like platforming.

Now I'm heading for the core.

(http://i.imgur.com/82rZT.jpg)

One thing I'm not enjoying is the lack of saves. Often I'll only get to play for an hour or two at a time a few times a day. I end up losing saves just quitting the game. Maybe a save and quit option would be a good idea? As things stand I might even consider leaving the computer running to avoid wasting saves.

Thank you for a great game!

hmm I didn't notice you lose saves by quitting and loading up. though this might be in the new version of the game and not in the old one. though you shouldn't have an issue with lack of saves if you let the dwarves build around your main camp, their chest holds tons of them.

I meant that every time I had to stop playing I'd save before quitting. Having only a few hours a day spaced out to play meant I was eating up saves quickly.

one thing i hate is accidentally hitting start new game instead of load game... kind of wipes out all my work :\

While I have not come to a working computer, I want to hear your thoughts: what must be removed from the game?

What interfere you most?
What is the most boring?

Of course, this is a question for those who already have gaming experience.

Rumrusher, Vattic, since in this topic is seriously played only you, then your opinion would be particularly interesting.
:coffee:

What interfere you most?
For me it was the limited saves. I find very few chests. I like the idea overall and might have just been unlucky I suppose. Some way to make new books might be an idea.

What is the most boring?
The very start of the game. It took me a long time to find anything of value. Once I started finding stuff and had some items crafted the game got a lot more fun.

There are a load of little improvements I'd like to see but most have already been mentioned (scroll wheel for the list of actions for example).

One that hasn't been mentioned: I'd like a clearer divide between the surface and the underground. Too often underground creatures like dwarves and oozes end up on the surface. Perhaps there should be another creature that makes buildings on the surface and the dwarves stay underground?

This. I mentioned it early, the first phase of the game is boring, because you can't find needed materials. Some copper in the sandstone layer should fix the boring part.

sk2k, Vattic, Unfortunately, boredom on the surface will not be able to fix.

And the addition of copper ore will not help: because already present mining of clays at the top did not improve the situation. So, do not fix the situation and copper ore.

-------------

I want to make a small announcement.

On the Russian forum player posted his complete walkthrough. I watch it, and see that the movement of the protagonist
a) slow
b) monotonous and routine
c) is too predictable

And now, the announcement: when I get back to a working computer, I have completely redesigned the system move the hero.

In the meantime, your views on this subject would be very helpful.
:coffee:

I agree with this, what I'd like most is a tile-based item selection system, as in rather than "set ladder" you'll get a list tiles and can click on those, moving the mouse over them will make a text box appear and allow you to see what's happening.

The game is visually amazing, you should see if you can find someone to volunteer their time and make sound effects and/or music!

This game look amazing. I spent the first 2 hours in it just walking around looking at the world and how it lived.
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/howidie.png)
But after dying countless times from falling, I figured I would actually go "play" the game instead of just looking at it :P so I started building a house, but then I met two peaceful dwarfs.
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/standingOnADwarf.png)
(I am standing on him as a sign of friendliness)

Well after a little mining I came back to this O.o
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/TheDwarfsApreciate.png)
I think the dwarfs appreciate my friendliness.

Though mining with dwarfs can get a little... let's say cluttered..
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/MingWDwarfs.png)

I like how from the second I decide playing interesting things happen :D
Like this:
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/WaterO.png)
I just found a water Ooze :D I feel lucky.
What other wonders might be waiting for me down in the deep?
Well I quickly found out that luck has a flipside :/
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/sadface.png)

What is this? A geyser? Or a water source? it is coming out of the rock around this cave.
This is getting more and more interesting I must say :D
(http://yanderecraft.com/images/Waterdafuq.png)

TheBreadCat, Excellent story! :monoclepop:
Very nice that you noticed the living world of the game, not just graphics.
Thank you for the story! If you continue to explore the world more deeply - always write!
:coffee:

Shadowscales, Thank you. And about the music I wrote in the opening post.

-------------

So, seven hours ago I returned to my computer and worked very tight. Did anything planned for these days. In fact, here's a list of changes, they in fact are many and they are very important:

1. (Important) Removed the possibility to put wood stairs, doors and bricks.
2. The protagonist does not die from a fall from a height.
3. (Important) The protagonist can immediately jump high!
4. (Important) The protagonist can walk on walls and ceilings. Yes, he had a prosthetic leg in place. See how nimble are the pirates?
5. Instead of two artifacts in the version dated July 12, added the rest. Now they are in game 7 of artifacts.
6. With one of the new artifacts made the quest. He cursed, and only the king can removes the curse. Quest - to find the king.
7. Strengthened the opponents with an increase in their level, a lot of fine balance with opponents.
8. Added character - a blacksmith. He sometimes builds a forge, a smelter and grinder.
9. Smelter, forge, and grinding machine is no longer afraid of dampness and water.
10. (Important) Power foes sometimes drop bags in which either of the things owned by him or artifact.
11. Below the world map are now all in the lava.
12. Map of the world is slightly different in size and enlarged. Instead of 600*350 it is now 500*500.
13. The density of ores and creatures increase. This can cause poor performance.
14. Underground dwarfs all other skills and are able to build a teleporter in the world.
15. Elevated levels of scientists are not throwing bombs, but put the resonators.
16. Of the game cut the clay and torches.
17. Added the ability to build a sprcial drill to drill a horizontal corridors. Plus to already present the vertical drill.
18. A lot, a tons of minor changes! The entire balance is recalibrated!

:addicted:

Whaaat? Walking on walls? What is he, Spiderman? :)

To understand you right, you removed the following things: doors, wooden planks, bricks, clay and torches ?

I played this some more tonight and had boatloads of fun! First character died but the second one I made it quite far down (to limestone) and then went back up to the surface. So far I haven't done anything interesting, I think the next thing I will do is build a smelter since I assume I can make a pickaxe with that.

One quick question: is it possible to turn the tooltips off?

Earlier I had said I didn't like the block-by-block motion. I still think it might be a good idea to smooth this out, just cosmetically I mean (not altering the gameplay at all) but this time it really didn't bother me.

So much fun! This game amazes me...

sk2k, he is a pirate-man! After all, pirates are much cooler than the boy in tights. :)

Planks, doors, bricks, and stairs left in the game, only the protagonist can not install them.

Torches and clay completely removed from the game.

PsySal, so, if you get used to the step by step movements, it will not be annoying with time.

Why do you want to disable the tips? They have too much overlap the screen? And about what tips do you say? By world blocks, or about actions of the protagonist?

-------------

Yes, today has drawn some blocks that were previously displayed just squares.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/home_19jul.png)

I can't say I exactly like the new changes but am willing to see how it plays before I get too critical.

I'm liking the new graphics. What are the green and orange things?

Vattic, the green and orange - is malachite and red marble. They were in the game long ago.

New in the picture - sprites of the furnace, forge, grinding machine and teleporter.

Ok, without the ability to place planks, how do i protect the smelter from dampness now?

You don't have to:

It does look really good, lovely colours and graphics.

Would you be able to say a bit more about how you do the lighting or how the graphics work? :)

Oh, how could i miss that?  :-[

Hello.
If you interested, there is a video record of 8jul build gameplay, with speed x6 (with Russian interface):
http://narod.ru/disk/56732061001.7e97991dbaf8ff162526a50da4b171ff/capture-fastx6-01.avi.html
http://narod.ru/disk/56732444001.437fea43e72f0eb1ae1e0b3b6c50e3f9/capture-fastx6-02.avi.html
http://narod.ru/disk/56732820001.7e52a392c2664114ffbfd56b16c6347a/capture-fastx6-03.avi.html
http://narod.ru/disk/56733134001.df9fe3f99cbcc56af85b357598574363/capture-fastx6-04.avi.html
http://narod.ru/disk/56731705001.229bb35469ee8b795afdf3fd92ac0bd9/capture-fastx6-05.avi.html
http://narod.ru/disk/56733472001.b022f6ffa26addad0f3e49abc1bf6603/capture-fastx6-06.avi.html
6 files 10 minutes each, total size is about 1 Gb.
I have no Youtube account to upload them.

And also there is a bugtracking system: http://www.hostedredmine.com/projects/rougelike_inspired_sb3d_game/issues . I suggest to put bugs and known issues in it. Author does not like idea of bug tracking, but I think that it is good idea to keep all logged bugs and known features together with ability to track them.

So, a fresh build of June 20!
Many new features!

Link: http://rghost.net/39307127

List:

today:

1. Rare Blades have a special impact in-action:
a) brings down a stone around
b) drown the enemy in the lava
c) turns enemy into malachite
d) turns an enemy into a red marble
e) shedding tears, mourning the death of
f) makes the ground around to crack
g) resurrects the dead enemy and turns it into a bunny

yesterday:

1. (Important) Removed the possibility to put wood stairs, doors and bricks.
2. The protagonist does not die from a fall from a height.
3. (Important) The protagonist can immediately jump high!
4. (Important) The protagonist can walk on walls and ceilings. Yes, he had a prosthetic leg in place. See how nimble are the pirates?
5. Instead of two artifacts in the version dated July 12, added the rest. Now they are in game 7 of artifacts.
6. With one of the new artifacts made the quest. He cursed, and only the king can removes the curse. Quest - to find the king.
7. Strengthened the opponents with an increase in their level, a lot of fine balance with opponents.
8. Added character - a blacksmith. He sometimes builds a forge, a smelter and grinder.
9. Smelter, forge, and grinding machine is no longer afraid of dampness and water.
10. (Important) Power foes sometimes drop bags in which either of the things owned by him or artifact.
11. Below the world map are now all in the lava.
12. Map of the world is slightly different in size and enlarged. Instead of 600*350 it is now 500*500.
13. The density of ores and creatures increase. This can cause poor performance.
14. Underground dwarfs all other skills and are able to build a teleporter in the world.
15. Elevated levels of scientists are not throwing bombs, but put the resonators.
16. Of the game cut the clay and torches.
17. Added the ability to build a sprcial drill to drill a horizontal corridors. Plus to already present the vertical drill.
18. A lot, a tons of minor changes! The entire balance is recalibrated!

-------------

happymonster, lighting is calculated by software. In C++.

Since the program is written on my soft engine, any graphics is controlled by the processor, not video accelerator. The algorithm calculate the lighting is fairly complex to be explained in words. Sorry, but it is very difficult to describe.  :concerned:

A very beautiful game!I'm really impressed by the world :gomez:

You need some sounds and a simple melody on the background would be even more atmospheric.

Игра супер! продолжай! Sry for my russian falks  :whome:

Both the world blocks and actions of the protagonist. The tips are awesome, because without them I wouldn't have been able to learn the game. But once I know what each action will do, it's distracting to see them all the time and I really want them to turn off. I just think the game would have a better rhythm without them, once you learn what you are doing. =)

As I'm playing on 1024x600 screen it does cover up a lot, I often have to move the mouse to see what I'm doing.

This game is really awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can get tonight...

Hmm, the game now lost it's charme to me. I think building stuff was part of the fun i had. Just running and jumping (which is too unprecise for my likings) around and hoping to find some useful stuff (big acorns for the smelter?) does not feel right for this game...uhm..somehow.

Why not just cut out the whole mining/building stuff? Turn your game into a cave-exploring-roguelike. A pirate (you must name him Pete or Patchy :D) with his rusty dagger (start weapon?), stranded on an island, finds a cave system after an earthquake. He ventures into the cave for adventures and of course, treasures. :)

I wonder if it is the game of his dreams

what the hell.. seems too awkward to play. can't seem to move around the map. I try walking on walls and I end up falling repeatedly and never getting out of a cave.
also doesn't seem to allow me to collect wood anymore..? cant make planks of wood.
I'm lost..

Sadly, I am having the same problems :/

I'm sure it is the game of his dream and he should not take my words so much to heart. :)

To all:
I returned method of moving the hero to the former version.

You're right, jumps are not very good.

Thank you for helping to understand my error!

-------------

PsySal, In your proposal did retracting tips.

-------------

Also now the hero has health, and he does not die instantly.
And yes, he drinks rum to cure. He's a pirate!


Thanks to all of you!  :coffee:

I am in favour of making the English title for this simply be "The Game Of My Dream"

how about "Pirate Dream"?

Pothole Pirate
 :lol:

The new version of 21 July (English): http://rghost.net/39339218

Added by July 21
1. (Important) The Pirate has a health. So, he did not die immediately from a fall from the battle, from the stone on his head. From the lava, however, are still dying at once.
2. Barrels of rum. They help Pirate improve their health.
3. Alembic. The hero can to ferment and distill rum. For personal use.
4. (Important) Well, of course, moving the Pirate has become more or less the same.
5. Increased stability of the Pirate home. Now the house is less susceptible to natural phenomena, and dwarfs.
6. Something for the petty balance.

-------------

JobLeonard, _Madk, happymonster
Thanks! These names make me happy!
:coffee:

But wait. The game is still too early, I think it is too early to think of her name.

looks amazing

agumaster, Thank you. Is interesting what you think of the gameplay.

The game is in fact not just a picture. The gameplay is more important. This word-wish for all the visitors of this thread.

-------------

Today corrected the bugs on the version of July 21.
Fixed:
1. Through the door of my mistake could pass creatures.
2. When reading the scrolls dwarfs sometimes the game slows down to the deranged state. Only partially corrected.
3. Yes, clearing bombs now gives the tin.
4. By mistake, the sand did not appear on the surface of the world. Now there is.

Sand picture:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/sand02.png)

Today, playing the first level of the game.
After this test, I made enough balance and bugs corrections.

And just a picture of my final home. On the right you can see the teleporter to the next world.

And yes, now the official name of the game is "The game of my dream". I never understood why in the name every word written with a capital letter. :)

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/23Jul_home.png)

Sounds good. Hopefully i fill find some time to play the actual build then.


Hey, this game is not about building. ;)

I do not plan to soon publish a new build. I want to have accumulated significant changes.

:coffee:

Today, corrected some minor bugs in the game:

1. The hero can set a ladder and a door on the block where he stands.
2. In windowed mode the game is now released the mouse outside the window.
3. All four types of teleporter can now to fall by gravity.
4. Some recipes are better balanced. Removed acorns as material for crafting recipes.

So, and now the important question: how to make a convenient list of actions? Now it is not easy. How to change it?

Maybe the actions could be categorized somehow? Then they could be spread out across multiple tabs...

Just and idea! BTW I'm glad to hear that the jumping mechanic was replaced again with the building ladders/floors mechanic, I really liked that better! But you should definitely explore your ideas however you want-- that's what makes this so fun..

sb3dgraph, I agree with PhySal, I think it should be organized into tabs of different categories.  Maybe tools, create, and place?  Just an idea, it could be organized any way you want.

Maybe you could use a system similar to Red Rogue (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=8467.0)'s menu.

PsySal
Pixelulsar
Yes, I did so, divide actions on the category.
Not sure is it exactly you are advised, but so far so.

oyog, this variant is too complicated to implement.
For it should be done unfolding lists. But it takes too much time.
And control in my version - mouse; and there the keyboard.

Screen of new action lists:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/24jul_scr.png)

if you could make the action groups so that no scrolling is needed (by splitting up the actions in smaller groups) it would be better, if you want to have them all on screen all the time.

grouping them in tabs that expand when needed would be nice as well.

I haven't played the latest builds, have you thought about implementing user-bindable keyboard shortcuts, or is it all going to be done with the mouse other than wasd + spacebar?

Yes, that's what I want. It is best when the player does not waste time flipping through.

This option is bad because the player must perform extra two clicks in many actions.
a) selecting a new tab, and b) return to the old tab.
Do we really need this extra clicks?

Sorry, this is not yet planned. Only proven wasd + mouse.

yes, you will have extra clicks, but can organize the actions better and combining that with bindable shortcuts a user can actually have less clutter on the screen and a faster access to his most common actions (without having to bind every action to a shortcut, which would be messy).

this solution also has the advantage of adapting better for example to non fullscreen modes or  lower resolutions, where having all the text all the time could be hard to read.

Those are good points and I'd forgotten how much the mouse is used for the UI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#Titles

It's just English convention. :P

What interfere you most?
well pick axe memorization and the idea that picks will break over time, you can dig out sandstone with your hands with your hearts content, but don't waist pickaxes on non mine able wall unless you need to make a path way.
What is the most boring?


Well right when I transfer into the new world I notice it was empty. Felt like I travel into a bomb out universe and felt all kinds of doom and gloom. Though by then I already crafted everything once and work hard digging up the rare marble let alone couldn't bring over water ooze or the dwarves to the new world.

I might try my hand on the new build.

Recs, oyog,
In any case, your options are very good for low-resolution.

Therefore, in future I will keep these options in mind. It is possible that the list of actions will not soon acquire the final version.

Thank you!
:coffee:

_Madk
Oh, yeah, you're right. So, I'll write with big letters.
Thanks, that explains this issue!
:gentleman:


Rumrusher
The fact that the picks are designed for a limited number of uses - it is for the player to go on existing caves. But not digging the tunnels.

The idea of this game in the research of caves rather than digging their own.

About the empty world. I guess you're talking about the second world, where you get after passing the first. Am I right? In this case it is: this world is not ready yet. So on the teleportation of the first world in the second we may say that the game ends.

:beer:

-------------

In the meantime, did:
1. The quest to find a blacksmith who teaches a great recipe steel sword. That exceeds even many of the artifacts on the properties.
2. Lots of small fixes and update the balance. For example chests and hell symbols do not appear too close to each other.
3. Drew pictures to the inventory. At the same time enlarge it because it was difficult to point mouse in the little squares.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/items_25Jul_e.png)

nice, the inventory really needed to be more usable.

In the meantime, made ​​a pair of new enemies: the lava dragon, and a mummy.

The dragon is very dangerous and almost not killable, but carries with him a bunch of things. Mummy is killed easily even without a weapon, but curses all the ore in the dust. :)

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/25Jul_creats.png)

Since that time,

1. Returned to the hero "put the bricks" action. Many people asked me about it.

2. Made at the start of the game character's choices. While four of them: a pirate, a poet, a magician and a builder. The choice depends mainly skills of heroes, and some start-up items.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/heroes27Jul.png)

A poet? Nice, also fits thematically with the title :D

Thank you. But at the moment all the poetry of the Poet that he has a lot of books (save books!) and he does not work well with his hands. So his recipes of construction are very difficult.

The newly implemented:
1. Pressing the new game does not mashing save.
2. Characteristics of artifact weapons are chosen randomly at the beginning of the game. This, I think, in the spirit of roguelike!

dat graphic direction..this looks like a SNES classic

At first i thought "Damn, now we have to collect hats, like in TF2", but after reading your words i was relieved that it is not the case. :)

Unless he is a jerk and forces you to collect a hat to unlock a character  :durr:

Did in the game thirst. Now, if a character for a long time do not drink rum, he loses his health.

This should adjust the player. Now he can not sit and wait for a long time, or be in no hurry. Rum are not so many, so you should move your butt.

JobLeonard, sk2k, change the cap - the easiest way to make from one character - four. :) And they came out united by one theme. They have one face and figure. They are one person, actually.

Multiple personality syndrome?

So it's going the typical "find something to eat/drink or die" formula. :(
I'm not sure what to think of that. I was never a fan of quests with time limits or thirst/hunger mechanics. In roguelikes it is ok, because you have more then one resource to stop thirst or hunger.
In this game your only resource to keep your health is rum, and i think that's not enough.

First, similar mechanism was already in the game. It is ending saves. And the player, for not to lose the game, had to get them regularly.

I'll tell you straight: I did not yet test this update. And so I can not say it for the better or worse playing.

What I'll do in the coming days: testing in such matters always shows better than reasoning. I think so.

JobLeonard
;)

Made ​​three of wandervaffel:

1. Pointer to the King. Type of compass, but it indicates where the King. Need a very limited extent, in the same quest.

2. Shield generator. If you are too lazy to put the doors in all the aisles to the house - just build a generator in the house. And the enemy will not pass.

3. The nuclear bomb! Quite a useless thing, undermines good piece of land, run away from it after the installation can only be through the teleporter.

Also made in the game special properties of monsters. While a modest collection of:
1. fast
2. refractory
3. friendly
4. aggressive
5. funky
6. mined

Properties can be combined, the creature can be up to two random properties. In addition to the existing main. What I hope will give some variety. And seeing the usual monster player will no longer know exactly what is expected of him, until put mouse over and looks of these extra features.

So, here's a new version of 31 July: http://rghost.net/39495345
What has changed in comparison with the previous version:

1. List of Action is divided into three windows.
2. The quest to find a blacksmith who teaches a great recipe steel sword. That exceeds even many of the artifacts on the properties.
3. Lots of small fixes and update the balance. For example chests and hell the characters do not appear too close to each other. (I mean they do not build dwarfs close)
4. Drew pictures to the inventory. At the same time Enlarge it and it was difficult for the mouse in the little squares to stick.
5. made a couple of new enemies: the lava dragon, and a mummy
6. Through the door of my message could pass creatures.
7. When reading the scrolls dwarfs sometimes the game slows down to the deranged state. Partially corrected.
8. Clearance bombs now gives tin.
9. By mistake, the sand did not appear on the surface of the world. Now there is.
10. (Important) hero can raise a ladder and a door on the block where he stands.
11. In windowed mode the game is now released the mouse outside the window.
12. All four types of teleporter can now drop by gravity.
13. Some recipes are better balanced. Removed acorns as material for crafting recipes.
14. Returned to the opportunity to put the bricks.
15. Made the choice of the character at the start of the game. While four of them: a pirate, a poet, a magician and a builder.
16. Did the action - a random teleportation. For the Wizard character.
17. Pressing a new game no longer overwrites the save. If you then press the escape. Very often complained about it.
18. Artifact blades, all seven of them now have damage randomly determined at the beginning of the game.
19. did need some characters drink rum, to die of thirst. Namely, Pirate and Wizard.
20. He made the game special properties of monsters. While the set is as follows: a. fast, b. Refractory in. friendly, was aggressive, cowardly etc., is mined
21. pointer to the king. Type of compass, but it indicates where the king. Need a very limited extent, in the same quest.
22. shield generator. If you are too lazy to put the doors in all the aisles to the house - just build a generator in the house. And the enemy will not pass.
23. The bomb! Quite a useless thing, undermining a piece of land away from it after the installation is only possible through the teleporter.
24. Implemented the scroll wheel to scroll through the list of actions.

I saw that new build does not cause interest.
I guess I will to come less often here.

It is sad. But this is a harsh reality.

I will visit the Russian forum then. :)

You should continue posting new builds and changelogs here. This section of the TIGForums is called devlogs for a reason. :)

Nice changes you made to your game. As usual the week is full of work for me, so i can't try the new build until weekend. :(

Aye, don't go down that path man. Your game is one of the more unique ones here, and just because it was a slow day its not worth writing off the devlogs forum. I loved what I played last week, and will check the latest build when I get home tonight :)

Keep your chin up buddy - it's looking great!

Yeah, don't worry. Just have some patience :)

Well the saves just lead to the last game point you had, so losing all of them mean your stuck on that state until you get more. it wasn't "you need to eat/drink to survive" more so if you want to save your progress you need to hunt down save books.

Okay so I played the new update and notice there no option to place down ladders or wood planks. So far making houses now boils down to spamming clicks to get planks out and removing the ladders that form which is tedious. Also the hero talking to you blocks up good part of the screen, which makes traversing a huge issue maybe there a way to turn that off like the descriptive menu(I found this out by accident but no worries that was human error on my part for missing a text, though it could be that the hero only does that when you turn off that menu). Also I see that boots got taken out. I love them for the crazy stunts even if they more often killed me.
So far my first experience(in the new game update) feel like there some changes that shouldn't happen. Oh well hope boot gets added to the game.

sk2k
grayfox88
JobLeonard
Yes, patience - something I've always lacked. Thank you for kind words!
:coffee:

Thanks, but I think the praise in a loan does not need.
Now the game is far from outstanding. But, of course, I hope for the future of its development.
:)

Rumrusher
Yes, your comments are relevant.

Setting ladders and planks with one button done for convenience: it was inconvenient to switch.

Dialogues in fact, obstruct the screen in case of low resolution. But how to deal with it - I do not know. Think of them off the second pressing space bar.

Boots really removed, but the jumps were. Now for a jump need not boots, but rum and gunpowder.

Thanks for the feedback!

Noo! I am still very interested in this, honestly your game is almost the only thing I have played in 2 weeks, even if I haven't played it that much! I haven't played the latest build but was making progress in the second-to-latest one.

DONT LEAVE USSSSSSS

1. how is it an inconvenience between switching between planks and ladders? You use ladders to explore the world, and planks to pretty up houses or main living areas. which means someone played through the game by switching constantly between the two types of wood during exploring and got enough ire from it to bring it up. I kinda hope you add in the options for planks and ladders back in on top of the slap wooden planks seems like a better solution than to take away.

I saw the switch where I needed to stand on a explosive item to 'jump' but I wonder if I need to constantly have supply of rum and gunpowder to do this or just one.
hmm how about making boots an upgradable item, where normal boots gives you jumping(standing on a keg will send you flying higher than jumping so not to remove that as a feature for folks to use for fun), lvl 2 has boots prevent fall damage, and level 3+ grants you another chance to jump midair(lvl3 = double, lvl 4 = triple and so on and so on).

PsySal
But where do I go from such a great forum? So do not worry.
:coffee:
I'm just a little bit sad that very few players writes about his game experiences.

Rumrusher
About the boards and ladders, I'll have to think about. But when they were at different options, players while traveling frequently switch between them, and it was uncomfortable.

About jumps. Jumping now - it's a means to escape from the terrible danger. But a player should not jump all the time. But only if death is near.

So I refused to boots for jumping. And powder and rum over time will be enough for a single escape from death.

-------------

Since I'm in the countryside, away from desktop PC, then just write that the planned for execution. At the same time, this text will help me not to forget scheduled.

1. Make the corpses of fallen enemies.
2. Swapping between the hero and creature, if the hero goes to the creature. This is correct plugging in narrow corridors.
3. Remove fire and resonators from friendly scientists.
4. To remove replicas of the hero and the creatures on the second pressing space bar. As you asked.
5. Let to equip at the same time several blades and combined the best of their properties. Now the properties are taken only from one blade, it is very inconvenient.
6. For Spider-dams and Dragons make the size 2 * 2 cells.
7. Make need to drink for a Poet. To him this is more suitable than for a Magician.  :beer:

Wow, saw those environment screenshots, this looks beautiful  :epileptic: , downloading your latest build now

The game sure uncomfortable well jarring to see it switch between planks and ladders randomly. Oh well, kinda notice there no wood plank number so you can't tell how much wood you had until you ran out. If I remember wooden planks aren't great for exploring but better for planting as they will rot into dirt. Also maybe it's the random generation for crafting but to make rum you need powder and coal, powder is only found through dwarves and they tend to be more or less dangerous with all those demons they summon.

Going to still playthough to see if it gets better.

Houndninja
Thanks!

Rumrusher
Yes, about the creation of rum, I think it is better to cook it from acorns. And gunpowder. Not from coal. So do the real pirates!
;)

-------------

Part of the map after some playing time. We see that the dwarfs have a lot built.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/map_04_Aug.PNG)

This looks crazy. :D

So any use for crytsaline trees or are they just decorations?
Also wooden planks are a pain when cave exploring due to their tendency to rot. though I notice you gutted the whole building system for a heroic spider-man then remove that for the original movement but with slight changes.

sk2k
By the way, I want to say again thank you for upload new builds to the forum Dwarf Fortress.
:coffee:

And as you can see in the picture - in the new versions dwarfs will learn to build vertical tunnels.

Rumrusher
Yes, crystal trees - it's just an element of the living world. They are also sources of light in the caves! And they sometimes grow big acorns. Of which will be able to brew rum in the future.

About the wooden planks. This is a consumable item to move through the caves. Wiser to build a house of bricks and, later, of marble.

You waited less than 24 hours before being impatient with people.
Often my devlog goes for weeks without anyone saying a thing about it, you just gotta keep doing what you love, even if you don't get any feedback from it.

I really like this game, I love the concept that the world is alive and constantly changing.
It's a beatiful take on chaos theory, you've given the world some rules to follow but ultimately you don't know exactly what will come from it.
The attention to detail and your tile work is also very lovely.

So yes please don't abandon this thread, I love seeing updates on this project.
I haven't played the most recent build because I've been busy working a new job, give me some time and I'll give you some feedback.

Bones
Gabriel Verdon
Thank you, friends!
It was my momentary weakness. A fresh mind - of course I will not leave this great forum!
:beer:

So, as I recently did, that the creatures leave the corpses after death.

Also now in the game there is armor. With her outfit its properties are added. But all the added armor wears out quickly.

Picture with armour and corpses:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/Scr_06_Aug.png)

Can i loot the corpses for random stuff... with a (low) chance to catch a disease :D ?

Why would you use it to move through caves if it can't hold up a house? This is why having ladders group with this material is a bad idea for both items are to different though share the same passive climbing ability. All I want is to have the 2 old options  added back in so every one could be happy. Those who can't deal with switching between ladders and floors, and those who can.


So I finally notice first hand the battle system and while it makes taking on enemies with uncertain ease sometimes creatures just one shot you this isn't a bad this just weird.

No problem. :)

By themselves, the corpses are very interesting for gameplay. That is, in the future anyway, I'll do with them the gameplay.

For example the need to eat they, if you play a character - a Zombie.  >:D

Let's not argue. I myself have played a long time, and see that the frequent switching is inconvenient.
In any case, now it is easy to build the house of the boards. So I do not see a problem.

Let's not hang on of this one subject. Ok?
:coffee:

As will become clear rules of combat, the player can play without losing.

That is, win or lose does not depend on randomization, but the experience of the player and his care and understanding.

-------------

Today made ​​reproduction of the Dragons through the eggs.
Also, the size of the Dragon is now a 2x2 cell, as well as Queens-Spider.

Dragon eggs picture:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/dr_eggs_07_Aug.png)

there is an interesting aesthetic to these screenshots, the artifacts make it look like a VHS recording or sthg

moi, yeah, I loving this graphics effect too.
:)

Meantime, I make a second map, the second game world.
In the screenshot you can see the realization of ideas: a) flying islands and b) lava world.

Below is the picture of inventory, you can see the new items: anti-lava suit, wing for flight, anti-gravity boots, armor, mithril and adamantium, some wands.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/11_Aug_scr.png)

Someone is watching you from the darkness! And you see him?
:ninja:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/11_Aug_scr02.png)

Wow, I saw this before, but after looking again, I see the whole thing. That's pretty cool! How did you get it to blend in so well? Anyway, the graphics are really well done on your project. :)

bewdiful!

Now I playing the first version of the second map.
Gentlemen, this is a damn tattered hell! I thought that after several hours in the first map turns into hell? Ha, I was wrong. Hell begins when you climb on the flying islands. This is hell, indescribably!

That there is both a cemetery and boiling sea of life on a lava! The corpses, dozens of them, the demons, dwarfs, web! All this fills the lava, the survivors built on lava houses, the trees that grow on dead bodies, and the huge boulders of the island above!

This is probably due to a single palette.
Thanks!

eigenbom
:gentleman:

Мне очень нравится твой пиксель-арт. Ламповый такой :3

А ведь до этой игры я в пиксель-арте ни разу ничего не делал. Я думаю, что это в основном заслуга палитры, которая накладывается пост-эффектом.

 :o Т.е. в оригинале черно-белое все?

Да нет, ты что.
В оригинале цветное, но пост-эффект приводит произвольные цвета к одной палитре.

Собственно, ты можешь скачать и увидеть как исходные бмп-картинки, так и цвета палитры, которые просто в ещё одном бмп файле.

15 Aug build: zip-archive (http://rghost.net/39799137) (English version)

What's new:

1. (Very important) Finally the first version of the second level, the second card. Where the hero gets after passing the first.
2. (Important) The bodies of dead creatures.
3. (Important) Did the gods of the game. Ability to anger and appease them, and their reaction to it.
4. (Important) Several types of armor. Does not act exactly like blades, but also helps in the battle.
5. (Important) underground dwarfs can build vertical tunnels as well.
6. (Important) Saves a little bit now protected from cheating.
7. Swapping between the hero and creature. Now the narrow passages are not blocked.
8. Scientists and friendly dwarfs do not harm. Do not read scrolls, do not shoot and do not put resonators.
9. On the second click of a space hero, and removed the replica creatures.
10. Changed equipment. Now it makes sense to equip a lot of blades.
11. Rebalanced the appearance properties of the creatures. Removed the emergence of incompatible.
12. Dragons are now breeding eggs. Put them in secluded corners.
13. Opportunity to make a suit antilavovy
14. Ability to make a mental slowing enemies helmet
15. Opportunity to make a wing for powered flight.
16. Ability to make shoes to prevent damage from falling.
17. Ability to make a new pair of magic wands.
18. Now you can improve the artifacts.
19. The new enemy - the evil magician dwarf. Can summon creatures and do other nasty things to the hero.
20. The new enemy - the black dragon. Very strong, with the masked areas. Almost can not see from afar.
21. New ore - Misri and adamantium. And new recipes with them.
22. Many minor changes and the balance of things.

Годно. Получается метод тот же, что и у любого добросовестного пиксель-артиста, но реализован программно. Еще в игре свет красивый, так рельефно ложится, первый раз такое вижу.

Так это тоже из-за пост-эффекта палитры. Пост-эффект палитры я кладу после пост-эффекта освещения. Поэтому освещение автоматически получается немного в стиле пиксельарт. :)

Prehistory.
Often there are complaints: all too slowly, routinely. What, then thought smart I, maybe I am can try to fix it?

Thus, the pre-installed:
a) The game should be faster. Faster events, achievements and failures.
b) It shall bruise the player, causing no sleep. Simply put, hardcore.

So what I try to take measures to speed up and revitalize the game.

A. Thirst is urged! Search, or die.
1.a. Speed ​​of onset of thirst will add 4 times.
1.b. But one of the acorn can produce five barrels of rum instead of one.

2. There are no dull empty caves. Life is everywhere.
2.a. The initial number of monsters will add a factor of 1.5.
2.b. Monsters begin to pursue the player with twice the distance.
2.c. And die of overpopulation is 1.5 times less.

3. Rare artifacts and do not roll underfoot. Rare item - let it be a really big success.
3.a. The number of rare and artifact blades in bags and chests, reduce 3 times.

4. Saves do not give a recorded frequently. Play and survive with no saves!
4.a. Reduce the number of Save-books at the start of the heroes of 1.5 times.
4.b. Number of the Save-books in bags and chests reduced in 2 times.

5. The gods finally woke up.
5.a. Accelerate change in the attitude of the gods three times. As in the positive and the negative side.

6. Say no tedious search of ore.
6.a. Smelting recipes now require a 2 times less ore.

7. Objective - to diversify the impact player on the enemy.
7.a. To give all the characters at the start of the powder, so that they have in stock a bomb. This option - to blow up the enemies.
7.b. Transform the jump, so that in a stock, each character was jumping five to ten at the start. For option - an emergency escape from the battlefield.
7.c. Allow the heroes to put the bricks right from the start. A limited quantity. This option - to bar the enemy. Or herself from the enemy.
7.d. Writing to the heroes at the start of a bit of armor. Just three to five fights. Armor used by the player chooses, and he will be able to facilitate the selection of a few melee fights. Few melee fights easier.
7.e. Create a recipe for crafting and issuing a few rods when you start to teleport. We provide an option to escape from the enemy.
7.f. Create a recipe and when you start to give a few rods to collapse around the cave. Give yourself the option to suffer, but to kill enemies, after covering them with stones on top.
7.g. Create a recipe for installing a particularly powerful bomb. We provide an option to kill the high cost of powder refractory and powerful enemies.

-------------

Today, made interface more easy.
1. Over those enemies that can fight on the blades - over two crossed swords mark.
2. The recipes show the number of current items.
3. The recipes show a lack of items.
4. The recipes will now have a block pictures, not just items. That is, forge, for example, painted icon.

Picture (sorry, in Russian):
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/19Aug_scr.png)

Can I turn off the mouse-hover pop-up that says things like, "limestone," "rabbit," and so on? That seems like a feature I'd only want on some of the time. Maybe I'm a newb....

p.s. I don't know how "9 saves only" is a good decision. Interesting mechanic, strong repercussions.

Yes, you can. Press a space bar two times for disable some bothering windows.

And yes, if someone of you have suggestions for the interface, I listened with interest.

-------------

Right now, I am creating the game statistics.
Picture:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/20Aug_scr.png)

Aw man, for a second I though it said 'gods punished' and I imagined a game where you hunted down gods and killed them. :(

ps. I don't think restricted saves are "bad," I just don't understand them.

Can you earn more saves? How is that done? It might be a very good idea....

ps ps. Yes I'm a newb with controls.

pro-tip: put in whatever to make gameplay obvious, even at this stage. teaching a player to play is just as important as the quality of play. so it's good to get started on it early.

example: I didn't know how to mine ore when I first played. Confusing, disrupts experience etc.

 :handthumbsupL:  Good work.

OTOH, Minecraft came without a manual.

Yeah, I was thinking about that.

Here's the thing with Minecraft.
  1. It spreads virally.
  2. The act of discovery is interesting (for the player).

I liked Minecraft the first time I played it because I'd seen others play it, and they taught me the basics. Minecraft spreads easily that way, for a lot of reasons. The player is naturally pushed into being creative i.e. expressing their identify through its mechanics.

I would not have enjoyed it otherwise. Players share vids on youtube. They want to talk about it because it's so personal. A community formed.

I can't tell if the act of discovering the mechanics would be as interesting for this game as it is for Minecraft. That's the creator's call. The best I can say is this:
  1. If you feel you can spawn a large community, then a manual isn't necessary.
  2. A manual can never hurt.
  3. Dwarf Fortress is probably the closer example. It's community works because the game updates forever. It never stops. If you want a niche audience, and a community, then you need to do the same.
  4. Minecraft on the 360 came with recipe lists in-game.
  5. It's your call. I was only describing one experience, which was mine.

ps. By manual I mean any structure that helps the player, such as a tutorial, a clearer interface, mechanics that train them in things when they need them etc.

Here for a long time did not write. The project is actively developed, many introduce fundamentally new. I think it will show a new short list for the last few days.

1. Raising the protagonist. Along with this a) change the world, and b) there are new enemies, and c) a lot of bonuses for protagonist.

2. Ability to to draw on the back of the cave.

3. Select starting bonus at the beginning of the game.

4. Game mode until the first death. As in the classic roguelike.

5. Item: Star save lives. Save the hero if he is close to death.

6. Item: tablet experience. Mined in battle with powerful monsters.

7. Poet now can affect creatures by poetry readings.

8. Altars of the gods of nature and war. They are built by dwarfs.

9. Portable teleport to home. Very valuable innovation!

10. New wands and magic: a) random polymorph, b) a cloud of fear,) magic of friendship, d) wall up, d) a doubling of the ore, e) teleport forward e) Rod of collapse.

-------------

Picture of my wall-paintings. Under the house, in caves painted the dragon, killed by spears.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/wall_paint_01Sep.png)

:monoclepop:

 :gentleman:

It is close to the concept of the bard in D&D.

Well, I thought so. :)

tl;dr but those pictures make me want the game. great art.

This game looks beautiful, really love the colour choices too!

HyperDuckChris
louisdeb
Thanks! Great to hear that!
Over colors I worked very long, in fact.

-------------

Some of the changes in recent days.

1. Added unique properties for some items. Positive and negative, now 18 properties. Can randomly form something like a "brick, preventing hunger and reduces the maximum health of the hero when equipped." Just think about it: equip a brick!  >:D

2. Corpses and some other units do not hang in the air and fall down.

3. Improved the speed of the game on some systems.

4. Corrupted sand. Gradually, with the progress of the game, he captures all level. Made this sand for prevent "farming" on the map for too long and there was a need to go to the next world. Many of the materials to protect against the spread of this corrupted sand, so that your player will be able to secure the house. The sand is deadly but can be founded a resist to it.

5. Did the curse of the Black Dragon. Appears if you kill the Black Dragon without resist for curses. The player will not be able to healing with rum, and have to eat the corpses for healing. Curse of the constant, but there is a plus: it heals thirsty. Do not kill the Black Dragons to resist without curses. ;D

6. All game windows placed on the new positions. Tip by block does not block the main screen, a message box is much larger, there was a window of inventory on a regular basis.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/10Sep_scr02_.png)

nice, I like the random effects and the UI work.

do you have any plans on allowing a windowed game and/or resolution changes, or is it too early for stuff like that?

Still following your game. :)

Windowed mode already possible to activate in the configuration file. (INI)
And the resolution in full screen depends on the resolution of your monitor.

You think, better let the user choose the resolution?


sk2k
:coffee:

well if you're going to allow windowed mode, choosing the resolution would be nice.

if the game is thought to be played only in fullscreen then just use the monitor's resolution.

Question to all visitors: what is missing in the game? What made you personally to download and play till you drop?

-------------

In recent days, such things did:

1. Make the window of active effects that affect the hero. Effects can already be about 20, so the window was necessary.

2. Underground dwarfs can now build the treasury. Is rare, and is difficult to entrance into it. But inside can be a very rich loot.

3. Many of the creatures drop a special loot.
Mummies, mages, and Pharaoh - rods.
Dwarfs - picks, scrolls, whatever.
Scientists - resonator, suit, boots, wing, helmet.
Smith - different swords.
King - a steel sword, gold bars.

4. Remade system of fights.
Previously, it was - the whole fight in one move. Now the fight is for a lot of moves. It gives you that during the battle you can do something.

5. Now the creature has health and its indicator. Previously, it was only the state is alive \ dead.

-------------
Please write, does someone you interested in a new build of the game?
-------------
Compared with the previous version of 15 August a lot of changes.  >:D

Seriously. :noir:

Oh, great! If there is a player, then I upload a fresh build!

Zip Archive:Link to 22 Sep English build (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/22Sep_Build_Eng.zip)

:coffee:

Sorry, in a month or so when my new laptop arrives I'll finally be able to give this a try, but for now my old, old netbook here won't be able to run it.

Have you tried the new build on this old netbook? Tell me, please, the configuration of this computer and what happened?

For me it is important. Thank you!

It's a 1015HA running Linux. AFAIK, you only have Windows builds, right?

Well waddaya know... it actually opens in Wine! Stil waiting for it to finalise the first terrain generation though :P

(http://i.imgur.com/mgDsY.png)

Anyway, my plan for the laptop (which is going to be a Asus UX31A, so that should be powerful enough) is to dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu, so I can test both Windows and Wine then ;).

JobLeonard
Most likely, your wine configured to run in a small window. So he cuts off part of the picture, and you can not see the button to start a new game.

In general, the game is fully tested and is operational under wine.

What you can do:
1. Reconfigure wine, for it runs in full screen. (Best variant.)
2. Reconfigure my game to make it work in a small window. True, this is a bad option: your resolution now is 1024x600, and already very small.

Done, it actually runs fairly smooth. Considering it's running in Wine on a really old netbook that's not bad at all :).

Walking around, digging, setting ladders/planks and trying to figure out how to use that smelter...

Sounds great! Thanks!
:coffee:

-------------

And I'm thinking about how to increase by 4 times the number of pixels in the gaming graphics.

picture: (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/cmpr_dfggd.png)

What do you think about this? Is it worth it? Players like this?

-------------

Yes. Please.

The new tiles are more readable and look great, I think the game would definitely look better if all the tiles had the same resolution (althought it already looks good and changing every tile is a lot of work).
Please do it  :beg:

I'm not sure, will it still run on my netbook in the high res version? :durr:

Yes, the scaled tiles look a lot better.

okay coming back to this game I notice some weird changes, mostly so many menus now so many that I have to sift through them to find an option I can do. I kinda forgot what button to shut up the hero, wasn't it the spacebar?

Amazing.

ThePortalGuru, Belimoth, kurtss, tchassin, thank you!
So, I'll try to redraw all tiles. There, however, they are already very much. So a lot of work.

Now his remarks take up much less space, so I removed replicas hiding.
Do they still have irritating?

Must work! True, the speed will drop slightly.

-------------

Continue to redraw tiles.
If interested, how much work is left - look in the folder textures in the game.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/24sep_scr.png)

-------------

And continue to redraw the tiles...

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/26Sep_c.png)

Nice, although they look at bit flat without the lighting effects of the engine. I wonder what they will look like then :).

Slowly make a new texture pack.
I will be glad to hear some feedback: picture is better? Whether to continue to do it?
Criticism?

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/30Sep_cmpr.png)


JobLeonard
Perhaps you're right. Just added contrast to these stones.
:)

It looks a lot better! I like the lower quality version a lot.

I do not quite understand: of these two options you like a lower version?

Then I should not draw a new graphics.  :)

I'm in dubio about this - they both look gorgeous, but I'm not sure if the high quality version is more expressive than the low quality version, so it might not be worth spending time on.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Also, there a bit more tiling problems with the high quality version (specifically: the dirt under the grass).

By the lower quality, I meant the one with less pixels.

I like the one with less pixels A LOT more.

To all.

In the picture a new version of the tiles - the top.

So, the problems:
1. New tiles degrade performance.
2. In the new tiles invested a lot of energy and therefore do not want to roll back to the old version.
3. New tiles do not look perfectly like the old.
4. New tileset will cut a couple of weeks and even months. All this time will not the other news about the game.
5. I do not know what to do with all this ... What do you suggest?

just seen this  :o

following...

1. How does this degrade performance?
4. From now on, you should use the new tileset. After you're done with the main part of the game, go back and convert to the new tileset.

OR you could have a new or old tileset option, so the user can decide which to use.

Personally I like how vibrant the old tiles are and it seems unnecessary to spend your time working on replacing something that's already functional.

But to refuse new tiles, who invested so much in the work - I do not want.
Therefore, I do not know what to do.

Maybe leave a mix of new and old tiles?
But this is not improve speed.

4 times as many pixels - 4 times longer drawn.
4 times worse than fall into the processor cache.

The point is especially in my soft-render engine. It will not work fast.

:gentleman:

I think the new tilesets are a vast improvement, because your game's mechanics suit the high level of detail.

Your game is about order and focus and detail. It's turn-based. There's lots of planning and menus. High-detailed visuals suit that, I believe.

Have you tried of having the graphics at a 1x1 scale in .BMP format, and then scaled to 2x resolution when drawn?

Thank you.
But the fact that the new tileset slows - kills any advantages from it.

This is how works the faster version. With old tileset.

But if increase in the 2x2 image with a new tileset - on the screen will too few units, very little information about the game world.

It seems unreal that you're getting tanked with run-times.

Just another compare screen.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/1Oct_cmpr.png)

I think you could go either way, the game looks good with either set in my opinion so it really is up to you.

I think upper set, on both occasions. Spiffy concept, btw.

If the main concern is performance then why not have both? Lo-res for weaker systems, or those that like lo-res, and hi-res for those with beefy systems.

Unfortunately, I can not do so. There are some technical difficulties. Architecture of the program is not very easy and quite complicated. Yes, this is my fault.
:shrug2:

Well, if you're looking for how to spend your time, you might want to set aside a month or so just on restructuring and rewriting ;). Future you will be grateful for your efforts.

Also, the creative downtime might give you some breathing space to be inspired about what else to do content-wise.

You should probably focus on the game itself before changing the graphics. Once the game is done, you could could implement something like texture pack or something.

Now the game's code was too much. So much I will not undertake to refactor.

But yes, you're saying is true.

Yes, but as you see, I had already begun to redraw the graphics.

Now start doing something else - probably not the best option.

-------------
I think that the project will not name. All names are ugly...
-------------

>:D

And I continue to do a new texturpack.
Also added to the game to shoot a barrel of rum. And two unique enemies: Doctor Ouch-Pain and Vij.

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2Oct_cmpr.png)

I really really think you need to sit down and think about where you want this game to go. You keep changing your mind on very very basic things and if you keep this up the game is likely to never see the light of day which I very much want it to do.

This project always has a different name every time I see it. (Then again its only had one name :D)

(I can understand. Just name it Project <Anything>)

It doesn't have to be the title -yet- ;P

I prefer the lower-res graphics very strongly.

mmmm

Project: All Names Are Ugly

I'm so tired of inventing the game name, that the "Project: gnh20" - is likely to be the final version.

Yes, and many would agree with you. But the game must go on. Go forward.
Therefore, the graphics will be a new, one that in high resolution.

To all: If there is concrete advices on it - I will be glad to hear!

All the time I try to understand it.
But I can not. Yet.

Therefore, the project develops randomly and chaotically.
:shrug2:

To all: If you have thought about final \ ideal version of the project - will be very happy to discuss it here!

I think the new graphics look good. They have all of the charm of the old ones but in a higher resolution.

i found a crystal tree in a deep cave and almost went crazy when I found out that instead of mining the entire tree, i just destroyed it.

spamming the teleport wand seems like something I'll have to do alot to win :D

Thank you! But it's better now, while changes in graphics is actual - to say, what the bad in graphics.

Oh, cool! The first words of the game itself for a long time!

Yes, boards previously mined from the trees. But it was pretty boring, so now the board is endless, and the trees - just an element of the living and evolving world.

Believe me, such game playing is more interesting: when the game does not force you to do repetitive and boring action.

I had noticed that planks were endless (Thank you by the way). While trying to avoid a scientist with a big gun I had to build a bridge of planks to avoid being blown up. Is there any way to collect crystals instead of destroying them?

I have so many questions to ask you.

Sometimes lizards seem to ignore me and sometimes they attack me? Why is this?

How do I equip a sword and armor? I lose every fight unless I'm fighting a hostile rabbit.

Can I interact with gnomes? They seem to just crawl all over me.

I need a pick to get through limestone. How do I craft this?

Is rum craftable? I usually use the pirate so rum is plentiful.

No, they are not necessary for the hero.

This can be found as follows: hold the mouse over the creature, and in the lower right corner you will see creature description. Check the properties! Also, aggressiveness can be understood on the icon above the creature.

Place the item into the bottom slot of inventory, orange. So you equip them.
Remember, items consumed when using.

With players talk not all dwarfs. For example, a blacksmith or a king.

And rum and picks can be found. Picks can be found from the killed dwarf, and the rum is often in the basements of their homes.

But you can craft it youself.

Here it is important to: view all available actions in all categories. It says what are the conditions for crafting, and what you need for craft. In general, the study of the action list - will give the most complete information about the game starting.

By the way, does not need to break the limestone with a pick. Look for existing caves and come down on them.

This game is amazing, I've killed like 20 mummies, dwarfs, a dormant lich, gotten ores, picks, and found a demon teleporter


Really, this game has impressive gameplay.

Yeah, I feel like there's really great gameplay here- it's like DF though, very difficult to get into. Any tips on getting past the first 'barrier'? I think once the interface is cleaned up a bit, this will be a brilliant game.

Honestly this is mostly whats been keeping me from playing. I'm hoping the game development continues to the point where there's a devoted community like DF's. I'm desperate for a wiki.

Hey, so can you make unlimited savebooks?

(Or can you at least create an option where I can choose unlimited savebooks?)

I'm on 3 savebooks and I'm nearly dead. :)

another thing I wondered, why does the God of War hate it (and get angered) when I smelt ores? I've been punished twice for creating gold and iron bars xD

(Then again if I just kill 3 enemies after smelting 3 times, the problem is solved)

I love the God system, but I'm afraid to make a brick house or even smelt a gold bar.. xD

Quite frankly, there is the Russian-speaking community. There also started to make a wiki: link (http://ru.the-game-of-my-dream.wikia.com/wiki/The_Game_of_My_Dream_%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8)

How soon will the English language wiki - is up to you, the players.
:shrug2:

Thanks!
Yes, I do focus on the gameplay.
Partly because of this in the game rather austere interface and descriptions.

Yes, it is possible to start with infinite save-book - choose the lowest startup option. This is a permanent death option. This is a classic version of roguelike games.

If you want to continue your game, here's a tip: the save books you can found in the chests or bags. Chests put underground dwarfs in their homes, and the bags dropping powerful enemies after death. Usually in the chest two books, and one in bag.

For breaking dwarfs chests need a random pick, do not forget.

There are many ways to appease the gods. God of nature like killings scientists and dwarfs, and the god of war like any killings.

Also, under the earth you can find altars of these gods. Praying there - and you can return the favor of the gods.

-------------

Thanks for the comments on the gameplay! In fact, for a long time they were not. I really thought that no one played.

:gentleman:

I'm also interested in how you save the game.

To be honest, I've tried hacking the text files to give myself items, with no luck. XD

(Only to try and give myself more savebooks.)

Text files are protected from modification. There over them calculated checksum.

No, this is a hardcore game. No cheating and simple solutions.

I only hope that the world has enough players who like to understand the game. Here for these people, and I'm trying.

-------------

Today I made ​​another build of the game. Of 19 October.
If anyone of you reading this, are interested in the English version - tell me. I would be happy to lay English build out here. :)

-------------

Just pic: (http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/demon_lord.png)

geez you know how to do a color palette

Looks very nice!

so many comments only about the graphics...

...

yes, please release an english build.

lay on the English  :gentleman:

Then here's latest version: http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/20_Oct_build_Eng.zip

-------------

Changes from September 22. (Sorry for translation.)

1. (Important) Basic tiles in the game redrawn. Now the main graphics in the game at a higher resolution. And, hopefully, the best quality. The bad news is that the performance is strongly decreased.
2. (Very important) items now so damned impossible razekipirovat. To do this, find the altar or holy water. Inability to remove cursed items - classic bagels.
3. (Very important) now features found unique items not immediately known. Again, this is a classic bagels. Not known and additional features, specifications and the attacking blades. Subject to determine needs altar god of war and the resources to offering him.
4. (Important) Made possible to bind actions to keys 0-9. (Hotkeys)
5. Did zoom. Now with one click you can zoom in the picture. Especially convenient for drawing on the walls. And the owners of high resolutions like 1920 is too small to save the content in the game.
6. Several revisions of balance and bugs. For example, you can now use a block that is blocking, painting and installation of stairs magic does not throw counters, and other moves, teleportation using the wand comes with some randomization, the common enemies now have no money with me, but scientists do not throw a bomb so often.
7. The ability to shoot a barrel of rum. Help put out the lava, and take zaminirovannost have doused opponents.
8. New unique characters: Dr. Feelgood, Lord Black, Wii.
9. The new creature - Acid ooz. Sometimes rises when there is an enemy. And made immune to acid as a property of objects. Made a spontaneous and lava, and other little things.
10. Corrections balance. Now less likely that the player will nagibatorov, who will have nothing to do. To balance introduces some features, skukozhivayutsya players - nagibatorov. So only a clever player will be able to survive and spread all around. In general, it can be read as a slight increase in complexity.
11. Added one new building underground dwarfs.
12. Now touch the lava does not kill instantly, and takes half of health. What gives the ability to teleport or otherwise escape from the lava in unexpected situations. Now it will be less accidental deaths from lava.
13. Explosion injures blast now exists on some short distance away. Now there will be a situation where a scientist with a gun shot to the wall - and remains invulnerable as refractory. Earlier, was just instant death from lava that pits explosion.
14. Edit a few minor bugs. Here and there. Also changed the behavior of the wing to fly. Now the flight step by step.
15. New Item: Holy Water and the call sign of subjects. Sign calls for the player all he hutch.
16. Now, in the caves can be found occasionally automated building dwarfs. Pistons, gears, and other moving parts.
17. New item: ring "my precious." When equipped makes you invisible, but it sucks the soul slowly irreversibly.
18. There is an opportunity at the altar of life to raise the maximum health.
19. The palette of the game a little bit changed. Mainly through program effects. Also added to the effect of light from the lava.
20. An opportunity to the enemies to fight each other. And the main character can now call a friend to fight by his side.
21. Boss did in the second world without murder is not held in the third world.

-------------

Thanks!
Ideas about the palette I took from the wonderful graphics project that near here: Journey To Hammerdale.

Thank them!
:coffee:

The new higher resolution graphics look very nice to me, it's just a shame it affects performance.

Do you have room in your palette for more shading for the white-blue-grey bricks/rocks? I think they might look better with a few more shades in there in your shading routines.

When too smooth shadows - lost brutality. ;)

Yes, in fact I used to try to make smooth transitions of brightness. But it looked, in my opinion, less expressive.

I'll try out the new build as soon as possible.

haven't had much time lately, but I hope you keep posting updates on here too.

What's the plan for music?

Sorry, not planned yet. May be without music.

Good deal. Music gives games a pace. Rougelikes should allow the player to determine the pace.

Minecraft does a lot with a little sound here and there. Say something infrequently and the spaces will echo.

Ambient noises might also work - especially if they're relevant (the faint echo of a stream if there's water nearby in a cave).

Yeah, crunching of leaves under foot, echos in caves (should you not go for music)

Gentlemen, thank you for your thoughts, but at this stage the game without music. And probably will remain so.

The reasons are actually several. The fact that the roguelike genre usually has no music or sound. And the fact that I personally think that it is always easier to put your favorite music on the background. And that silence - is also very good music, actually.

So now the game without music and sound.

-------------

Meanwhile, I think over the to allow dwarves to construct buildings in front of the player. So the player will see the process of construction.

The fact is that long ago, in the early development of the game, I forbade dwarfs build when the player looks at them.

Do you think it will be interesting to watch the process of building block by block?

it's too pretty!

1. Thank you and I couldn't agree more.

2. Yes, it seems interesting. I assumed that dwarf structures were automatically generated. I didn't know that your AI automatically built them.

I say you should go for it.

Based on the movies I've seen, this is something that both Russians and Japanese cultures get, and very few others.

I think it will surely be, it's always fascinating looking an AI performing complex tasks.

(i'm waiting to buy a new pc so I can properly play your game, unfortunatly on my old mac I can't really do it)

Yes. That would humanize them. You could indicate personality through the way they construct. That could serve as color, or as instruction on ways to think about building, or insight into the dwarves themselves, if that is at all relevant.

 :addicted: errm, i tried somehing like his once, the game is still on my computer but never got very far..... its beutiful

Thank you for your comments!
This is very important for me to be motivated to continue working.

Picture of the new fonts. New up.
Inspired by fonts in "The Settlers 2". But this font I drew myself up to the last pixel.

What do you think?

(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/fonts_sfg.png)

That upper one is completely wicked. Keeper. The lower? Seems very thin and strainy in comparison. The brighter yellow (quest line) does make it far easier to read than your (20%?) gray, however. Maybe brighten it to 10% gray?

Upper

The lower

The original seems Sharper and easier to read.

The upper feels too frilly and pompous.

but since you took the time to make it

Just use the upper one..

As someone with eye problems i say the upper font is the better one. For me it's better readable. The lower one is thin and strains my eyes.

Thank you all. So, at the end in case there is a new font.

Briefly summarize:
1. The new font was less formal, more gaming.
2. The new font is less hurts your eyes.
3. The new font is slightly less readable.

I think, I endure the last point. :)

-------------

And I worked on the look of game windows.

a) Now they have the background.
b) And is stylish frames!
c) And the most important thing. In the list of actions icons will appear, explaining the action. Now easier to pick out the desired action.

Picture, old variant upper.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/30Oct_comp.png)

-------------

Added couple of days later:

Rewritten system of definition and display of properties of beings. Many new properties were added. Here the picture with Russian font:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/1Nov_pic.png)

cool looking good

I noticed that thirst seems to be more common and the hero gets thirstier easily now

By the way, am I supposed to kill the dwarf king?

I got to him

He said Hi

I waited for a while

I didnt know what to do so I just equipped magical bricks that made all enemies hostile

And I killed him..

louisdeb
:gentleman:

#Sharp
All these unique characters - are created generally for quests. Such characters now around ten. And for the new version I already made quests of the king. And for four other unique characters.

So yes, in your version with the king there is nothing to do. But from the new version it will give quests.

-------------

At the same time I want to announce communication with not unique characters.

Now usual reasonable beings can prompt to the hero. Interest that beings can give to the hero good and useful advice.

For example here about what:
a) What unique beings live nearby.
b) What stocks of ore exist nearby
c) What useful constructions nearby. For example, altars or shops.

Meanwhile I do new feature: parallel plan of the world. In game there will be a parallel world. In each world it will copy the original. But it is invisible by default. Second plan visible only with the special glasses. And if the door in it is found - it is possible to move there.

Planned feature: time there will go more slowly, if the player not in it. Therefore, when the main plan of the world will strongly change, the second remains closer to protogenic option.

At the same time pluses: it is easier to find unique characters. In one plan it can die, or to become inacessible. But if the character is necessary on a quest - you way to the parallel world!

The picture where the hero equipped glasses and sees the parallel world:
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/3Nov_scr.png)

Awesome!

_{PS: plane}

Great idea! But i think parallel world must have more contrast with main world. In style, in colors and in brightness level.

Why not keep it subtle?

In caves the parallel plane is visible, as an illusive shadow on a wall. Here picture. How to you?

Sorry, didn't understand, about what you speak.
And yes, plane. Thanks.

Pic.
In the top part the ladder from the parallel plane is visible.
(http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/5Nov_planes.png)

News in recent days:

1. When the item appears in the inventory, game begins writing his story. As used, whom they killed, what blocks interact. This gives a clear assessment of the statistics and past actions. Well, this is a classic feature of the genre roguelike.

2. Added three new types of enemies in the game. They are available from the second map, and have some new features.

3. Did the preservation of the old player house. Now, in the new game, the player will be able to meet their house from the previous game. For the balance this house will be deep underground, and chests will be looted. But in general, I think this feature will improve replayability.

4. Now it is possible to remelt some items to make up their resources. This will rectify the situation, if a player is found unneeded items. This also adds a choice: we need an item or its component materials.

What do you think about these innovations?

And what else would you suggest? Some of the features of classic roguelike?

i killed some guy named ivan and got a magical mummy hand that lets me use corrupted sand to kill my enemies

then i found a ring that turns me invisible like LotR and I used it to steal a large amount of awesome treasures

this game rules

thanks the the remelting items, its a good idea, some ores are hard to find and tin seems to only be found by deactivating bombs (one of which denotated in my face)

Woooow this looks very nice I like the art style a lot good luck with it :)

So, I decided to complete the development of this game. Release!

Gentlemen, thank you all who have been there and supported me in this thread. Without you it would have been much more boring!


Link to the English version (http://sb-games.com/go.php?http://sb-games.com/wp-content/uploads/prjgnh20_eng.zip)

well done :)

I'm trying to get some old friends of mine to do a letsplay of this. :D

eigenbom
:beer:

#Sharp
It will be great!

 :beer:

Congrats!

Holy crap. Grats dude!  :monoclepop::toastR:

That's amazing congratulations  :beer:
I am now downloading the game and I know it gonna rock :D

 :beer:

I'm happy for the release but a little bit sad too, because this is one of my favourite devlogs. :)

That was a good speed you finished in.

sb3dgraph, I've been following your devlog for quite a while now, but have never written anything. Congratulations for finishing, you produced an awesome game!

congrats!

I am bit sad though because I liked to look at this devlog (I only follow a few).
I am also a bit sad because I'd like to play the game now and have moved to linux.

but in total I am happy because you finished and thats very great!

Well done! :)

Nikki, have you tried running the game in wine? I tried it with one of the previous builds and it worked fine...

yeah I did with a build, and alot of textures etc where invisibile, I believe I could see how the lighting worked behind the scenes too.

but i could try that again now

Congrats comrade! :toastR:

Thank you all for your kind words and for taking part in the discussions throughout the development!

If ever I'm going to do the next project, I'll start again devlog here on tigsourсe.

Special thanks I want to tell you for what you did not abuse my bad English in the game. I know it's bad, and so grateful to you, that you almost do not criticize him.
:toastL: ;D :toastR:

-------------

nikki
The game was tested under wine. And it should work flawlessly.

Tell me, did you start a new game after starting the program? If so, show a screenshot with the problem, I will be grateful.

It's part of charm :)

Congrats on your release!  :beer:

I haven't played in awhile but it's always in the back of my mind. Can't wait to dig into it again!

Congratulations!

Congrats !

Needs better UI otherwise really cool  :P

elaborate on that, yo

Finally raise the topic by excellent letsplay.

Unfortunately, all in Russian. But if you are too lazy to play, and just fun to look at the process of the game, why not?

Link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSO95czW-fA

:gentleman:

i was unable to create an english letsplay, and was hoping to do it with someone else's computer, or have someone i knew do it with me via skype conference.

but I'm glad that you have one!

Lets play on youtube in English (02 Dec 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKAI1J7e60

3 hours!

thanks, I hope more of these are made.

Looks great. I wish I had more time right now to read through all the posts.  :)

Hey there! I just want to say, this game is awesome.

Out of curiosity, I was wondering how the checksum is computed. Obviously, you may not want to answer that to prevent cheating, but I don't think many people will cheat for no reason. And modifying the 8000 or so lines of code in the save file to get what you want seems daunting.

I'm just curious how you're doing it.

Again, great job so far on the game.