So much awesome in this devlog. Keep it up!

I just randomly checked out your kickstarter linked from something random you posted on here, and I immediately backed it before coming back here to read up on the development! I was a fan of some of the games you mentioned as inspirations, and this looked right up with them in quality, if not better!

Not going to lie, I like the title, contrived as it may be.

What's the game about?

Thanks  I'm thinking about changing the final name to 'That Distant Sol' or something similar that would not put me in hot water.

The game is going to be a fairly short side scrolling shooter that focuses on extreme difficulty and multiple playthroughs. The main mechanic will be similar to Gradius where you build up a meter to purchase powerups but they can be purchased after each level. This meter will also be your number of lives left, though, so it will be heavy on risk/reward. I'm planning on having branching paths as well that lead to different levels so each playthrough is unique.

I'm weird, more information to follow. And yes the title will change, I just couldn't pass up the prototype name.

So it moved here! Looks very lovely!!!

I'd say either start a new one, or go back and just re-edit this one (maybe keep old post information, but state that it changed).

Looks awesome! While the post is a bit old, it appears it will still work! Does the replay function allow the game to show player replays, or is it only fro debugging?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danganronpa:_Trigger_Happy_Havoc

LOL  I actually was looking at that game on steam yesterday. I subconsciously picked the same name. Luckily the name I had wasn't anything set in stone but just off the top of my head (or subconscious). Thanks for that lol.

(Saved for update)

UPDATE 1

Hello fellow developers! I'm finally starting up a new game since my last went kapoot. I ran into trouble with programming AI, so I wanted my next game to be something that needed little to no AI. I've also happened to want to create a local multiplayer game for some time now, but I didn't want it to be another competitive platformer like most of them (0space, Samurai Gunn, Towerfall, some awesome ones on this forum). I've finally landed on an idea that's different enough that should also be fast-paced and fun.

I'm going to be making a 2-8 player local multiplayer top down shooter that is akin to Hotline Miami. To make things more hectic and have an easier point of entry, the player only has to worry about moving, dashing, and firing. Aiming will all be done automatically with the player shooting at the closest player to them. This lets the player focus on simply evading enemies and collecting the weapons that spawn around the arena.

I programmed a prototype yesterday and got something interesting up and running in about 30 minutes. Once I have something a bit more I'll start putting builds up here so anyone can add in suggestions.

For the first build I will have:
-two players
-three weapon pickups
-perk pickup
-keyboard only controls
-only moving (firing will be automatic and dashing won't be implemented yet)
-no levels

Hopefully that will be up within the week.

Two bugs (or features). Gibs-bridge and naked-cave.

Did some cannibals get creative with their leftovers?

Thinking about turn based enemy AI is hurting my brain. I'm going to take a break on this game and experiment with a few others before returning.

Look great!! I'd definitely play when it's released! (so release it and don't procrastinate like me or you'll have nothing to show for your work, like me) Good luck!

Substantial Devlog Update 1 - Combat Goals and Ideas

Today I'd like to take a look at how the combat in AtWotMK will work. At the start of writing this, the combat has been a placeholder of repeatedly clicking an enemy till they die.  This quality of gameplay is obviously not up to what one would expect from a roguelike, so some changes will be needed.

The combat that I'm implementing is actually nontraditional for a roguelike and is a mix of multiple gameplay ideas. The dungeon map will always have enemies roaming around as usual, but the player won't be able to tell exactly what they are until closer inspection. At the start you will always encounter guards or slave drivers, but you won't know the specifics of their stats, condition, or mood until you intersect with them on the dungeon map taking you to the combat screen. This is one key feature that I believe sets AtWotMK apart from other roguelikes.

My goal with the combat is to blend the depth of combat found in Neo Scavenger with the passive possibilities of a game like Undertale. To start, I'll give a basic rundown of some work-in-progress options:

Fight

• Agressive
  • Surprise
  • Charge
  Defensive
  • Stalk
  • Evade

Talk

• Threaten
• • Passive
  • Insult
  • Force
  Bribe
  • Money
  • Item
  • Prestige
  Appease
  • Flatter
  • Thank
  • Relate
  • Joke

Flee

• Quick
• Sneaky

These are the choices a player can use when interacting with any other NPC in the entire game world. Some enemies may be won over with a good joke, a show of force or a bribe of money or goods. The enemies will have randomly generated personalities for each encounter, so no two fights with a town guard or goblin will be the same! This will be done with a lot of invisible numbers in the background dictating it all.

Fighting is most likely not a good idea at the start of the game (though you can go that route if you wish for something masochistic) but as the game unfolds creating classes that follow a stealthy route or more abrasive tactics can work by way of aggressive and defensive stances. The goal is to add just  a few more options besides "bash the enemy till they die" that I've seen a lot of roguelikes use. I'm not saying that there isn't a place for that, but my goal is to create something different with a more tactical approach to turn based combat.

Talking can be used with enemies to get out of a fight and it is also used when talking to neutral NPCs like shopkeepers or villagers. Threatening can be used to obviously threaten, which would work well to get out of fights quickly. Bribing could make an enemy avoid you in future fights, or it could be used to make a shopkeeper sell you an illegal item or a civilian give up a secret. Appeasing is the most general way of communicating with NPCs in the game, though, and can be used to learn about the world and different opportunities.

Fleeing is another obvious one, and it can be beneficial to escape in a specific way depending on the characteristics of the enemy.

And that wraps up today's post! Questions, comments and suggestions are appreciated!

BONUS THING
On a side note, I added in a discovered/undiscovered marker to the dungeon map, since it was something obvious to do and simple to make:

It's a pretty good style, are you going to do anything to differentiate between the four slaves? I understand you want as minimal graphics as you can but I think if you are going to add a story, having distinguishable characters (even if they are all you) increases tension (you could try and protect your favourite for example). Also how are you going to handle death? Are you going to allow individual characters to die (and then maybe find new ones later?) or will the goal be to keep them all alive?

Thanks for the questions!

The graphics are all still placeholder, but I was wanting each character to look the same (at least to start with). I may end up changing this though depending on feedback. To make them each a bit more unique, I'm planning to have a fairly simple character generator create their name and a few personality traits. Maybe a slight overview of their background, too.

As your progress through the game I'm planning on having the player upgrade the slaves to different classes, so I could create variety there as well with different sprites.

As for what happens when they die; if one character dies, you don't get them back and you don't get a replacement. I want this to be a game that simulates a long struggle for survival where team members can die off and not return. Similar to what the movie The Grey did, actually. You can have some strength in numbers, but eventually you may have to make sacrifices for the good of the group.

Looks like I'll update a bit sooner than expected  Here's a first pass at level generation!

Look really really good! Wish I had some friends to play something like this with, but the physics have a real punch to them! Sorry  What program did you use for the yearly report image? That looks like it could be useful.

[RAMBLINGS:]

RAMBLINGS:
Over the past two days I've started and restarted a game that has infected my mind and wont leave. After redoing the base engine multiple times, I present my first successful attempt at making a turn based game (with party based movement!) that I'm extremely excited to develop.

   

The way turns work are different from regular roguelikes. The player starts with four main characters at the beginning of the game, and each one adds one to the turn pool. So as the player, you can make any four actions using any four characters. If you want to move one unit for places, go ahead! And after your turn is over, each enemy moves one space as usual.

I'm also excited to have made a simple rudimentary lighting system where all I do is change the image's alpha amount depending on distance and line of sight.

GOAL:
The plan with AtWotMK is to create a deep story-based RPG focusing on worldbuilding over anything else. This may seem like a bad idea, but I would argue having a solid world to build off of in a roguelike is better than having deep characters or a interconnected plot. By building the world first, events that happen from oddities of the world and from exploring should drive the story forward for the player creating a different one each playthrough.

STORY:
I don't want delve too deep into the story, but the game begins with the player taking control of four slaves who are planning to escape from the mines of the Mad King. From there, players do what they wish! (Along hidden guided paths, of course  )

GRAPHICS:
To keep things simple, I'm doing something I'm calling HalfSCII. This stands for the obvious Half ASCII (which said a few times quick could sound like something else...) where I'll do a mix of ASCII and simple graphics since just letters is sometimes boring. I want to see how this could mix things up, graphically.
I'll post more in a few days when there is more progress to show!!

If those mummy respawns aren't final, it would make it more special and give it that extra charm if you had them 'wind' themselves back up in the bandages.

Osteel: For the love of the platform, really. Like I've mentioned before, I'm not closing the door to any platforms at this point in development, but I'm targeting mobile first because it's a game I always wish I could have been playing on my iPod ^_^.. Especially after getting a controller!

I'm not trying to sway your opinion or say what you should do, so don't take this that way.

It's really good to see a 3D platformer of this quality being released on mobile (there's never enough of those) but I have an android phone, and while it's great to game on, it has limited memory. I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to get this game since anything over 40mbs would be too much. Lol.

Since you're already playing on a pc to test it, it would be super easy to release on computers as well since it's made to use as little processing power as possible (as you said to put it on moblie). Pretty much any computer could run it, so playtesting wouldn't be that difficult. You could just use itch.io to release it at the same time as mobile for the same price and all would be good. You can even sell android versions straight from the site (I believe). It'd a extremely simple setup, and it gets decent traffic as well hosting hundreds of game jams.

TL;DR
You could release on computer through itch.io so that us peoples who don't have a lot of memory on our smartphones can play as well.