This slightly sounds like the progression in RuneScape. Every stat you can get to 99 (92 is halfway to 99  ) so you can be both fighter and mage but it doesn't feel like you are crafting your character outside of what you equip when you max out. Something to think about is maybe playing the tropy classes but switching them at will which can give buffs or debuffs from a menu or some guild system. You could also make it equipment based that would effectively change your class purely on loadout

That could definitely work - though I was thinking more of a cap in terms of the total skill points a character can have. I'm drawing from Ultima Online here - where you basically had ~700 skill points to work with, meaning you could max out 7 skills to 100, or you could max a few (or none) and spread those other points around to more various skills. This prevents an OP "can do everything" character. Though if you don't want to prevent that option, then soft-capping each skill is a good approach I think.

One potential approach could be that the player in and of themselves never really get better, aside from increasing their max health. Maybe they get better through better weapons and items. I'm thinking back to how Legend of Zelda played out. Rather than incremental progress, you get a better sword, or clothing, or arrows and then you notice a real jump in power. Not saying I would go with this approach, but I'm thinking through the different ideas.

@Pixel Noise I kind of like the idea of a floating limit. This reminds me of how you build Dungeons & Dragons characters with a fixed set of points. You can only ever earn so many, and you can allocate that limited amount in the areas of your choosing.

@subliminalman I would possibly approach the idea of changing your classes at decentralized hubs outside of dungeons. I'm thinking a hub where you can buy more supplies, upgrade weapons and items, and maybe change classes or adjust skill points.


I have so many ways to go about this and I need to get myself in gear for the 3/1 playable demo, lol. Decisions, decisions 

I'm a big fan of this sort of use-based progression system. It feels natural, and allows you to explore the options and find a mix of abilities that you like, without being locked in to one path. It also allows you to completely alter your playstyle at any time, which is nice.

It's then a question of whether you want to have a skill "cap" (total number of skill points), to prevent players from just maxing everything, or whether you want them to be able to max everything, if that's what they want.

I was thinking about a cap too. One way that I could approach it would be to use a Fibonacci sequence as the curve for leveling a skill. The increase alone would create an effective "soft cap" on progression by slowing it down exponentially after a certain point.

Would it be additive stats? Like if I started being a figher then wanted to be a mage I wouldn't lose any abilities in fighter class or would it be replacing but still able to go back after some leveling? If it's too early to ask sorry haha

Totally additive! If you switched to using magic, it would NOT take your other stats away. I really like these questions, feel free to keep them coming! You are helping me to think through my ideas.

Looks pretty cool so far, I'm digging the lighting. Is there going to be leveling up / player progression?

Thanks! I'm mulling that over, that's why I haven't gone too far yet. I'm thinking of approaching things in a way where you, the player, can use magic, swords, axes or whatever you want. The more you use each type, the more skilled you become for that discipline. I like the idea of letting the player become better the way they want versus a static grind process you see in a lot of games. I like the idea of a player being able to pivot and become a mage at any point in the game.

[Update - 2/12/2017 Lighting & Art Improvements]

Update - 2/12/2017 Lighting & Art Improvements

In this update, I've been focused on bringing the few key features that I need for the demo to a close. Though I'm not there yet, I'm getting closer with each pass. The most major addition is the implementation of a basic lighting engine. You'll notice that torches now emit light. For those who are really curious, here is the full changelog.

Version 0.2.9.021217
- Removed, + Added, ~ Changed

-Removed the left, right, and bottom wall art in favor of a different perspective.
+Lighting Engine
+Doors
+Locked Doors
+Lighting data now loads from each level.
+Additional detail art (solid blocks, cobwebs)
+Added animated "poof" effect whenever an enemy is killed.
~Changed the monster spawner art.

If you can code in having the new Gelly pick up debris, etc, as it moves, that would be very cool! But I do think the new model is a bit clearer for the player. The eyes really help - before, I wasn't sure what was an enemy and what was just debris, etc.

Thanks for the feedback! I've been thinking through the idea of debris pickup and I think I'd have to take things like the pile of bones and make them into first class entities instead of background art. Once I do that, I'm thinking it should work the way I want.

It's nice to hear your thoughts about the old Gelly, you vocalized exactly how I felt too. I also think the ooze they leave behind may need to be lightened up a bit. It's a neat effect but it just needs to be made more transparent I think.

[Update 2/5/2017 - Tweaks and Polish]

Update 2/5/2017 - Tweaks and Polish

This last week I’ve continued to march towards a playable alpha demo for King’s Crypt. Progress has been a little slow thanks to my personal health. I mostly focused on things like improving art and defining the overall flow of the game. Here are some of the changes I’ve made:

Old Torches


New Torches


Old Gelly


New Gelly


I was a bit torn on the Gelly rework because I like the idea of the Gelly carrying debris around with it (bones, skulls, etc), but it didn't quite feel right for the environment I've created. It's possible that the new Gelly may start to pickup debris as it travels over it, which could end up creating a neat effect later.

At this point I need to finish up the overall main game mechanic loop and I believe I can finish building a prototype dungeon for a public playable demo.

 

[Update 1/28/2017 - Monster Spawners]

Update 1/28/2017 - Monster Spawners

Things have gotten a bit out of hand 

I haven't made as much progress this week, so I took some time out today to add an important feature for the play style. Rooms will have monster spawners based on the type of monster. I originally considered creating a single spawner objects, but I decided it might be more fun to make them change from monster to monster. The Gelly, pictured above, will spawn from a pool of ooze. In order to get the spawner to stop, you'll need to attack it.

I'm hoping that I'm a few weeks out from bring able to share something playable!

[Update 1/22/2017 - Basic Combat Implemented]

Update 1/22/2017 - Basic Combat Implemented

This weekend, I focused on implementing basic combat. I still need to redo the attack animations, but this works for the purpose of prototyping.

I the new character - her sprite looks good in game!

Thanks a ton! I'm hoping to finally have some combat to show with her this weekend!

Hey All,

I'm working through spriting attacks for my project King's Crypt (In the dev log section too). The one thing I'm struggling with is finding a style of attack animation that doesn't just look cheap and flimsy. Thus far, my attempts look a little something like Link's Awakening, but I'm not happy with it. I'm hoping to find examples of games with smaller sprites (16x16 or less) that have better than average attack animations.

Surprisingly enough, googling for this hasn't really gotten me that far. Obviously I'm not looking to directly rip off anything, but instead learn and understand a few techniques that I can keep with me.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Hey Grog,

Just browsing through the devlogs from today and I wanted to tell you that this looks really cool so far. Keep it up!

[Update 1/17/2017]

Update 1/17/2017

Today, I put together a simple title screen, which I think will be a placeholder for now until I have the time to properly do the logo as pixel art. I also put in a temp sword animation just so I can begin working on combat this week. I have a much more elaborate attack animation in mind, but for now I'm using this simple placeholder so that I can finish framing out the combat system. Today's GIF shows off the title screen and a few seconds of the attack animation.

A quick update for today. I decided to focus my post-work exhaustion into spriting, and I ended up with my next playable character sprite. Today I introduce Greer, a badass warrior heroine!

Though this is just the beginning of my spriting efforts with her, she will be of the sword wielding variety much like our red haired ginger friend Ian.

I've been working on one of the first environmental features for the game along with an enemy. Without further ado, the first simple enemy, the gelly.

Maybe LICECap? http://www.cockos.com/licecap/

(The game is looking pretty great, btw )

Thank you on both accounts

This has been an evolving concept over years, I've just never shown it in the light of day.

[A little bit of collision-y goodness. Chocolate on the outside with a rigid body center!]

Quick Update.

I've been working on implementing collision detection & resolution this morning and I've just broken through that obstacle (no pun intended). One step closer to starting to work on the actual game I have in mind.

EDIT: Does anyone know of a gif recorder that isn't shite? I bounce between a MacBook Pro and a Window desktop for development, so any cross-plat suggestions are welcomed.

A little bit of collision-y goodness. Chocolate on the outside with a rigid body center!

Love the concept - especially the idea of "Super Dungeons". I was a huge fan of Realm of the Mad God before it went to shit, and my favorite part about it was the zerging of the dungeons/end game with a bunch of other people. If you can recapture that sort of thing, I think you'd find a nice little community waiting to gobble this up.

Thank you!

Yeah,

I'm my main goal is to find something that feels fast and fun, though it is tempting for me to accidentally create yet another love letter to Legend of Zelda. This is motivating to hear, because I feel like there's a real void for this type of game too. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, lol.

A small update.

I've had to replace all of my code for Tiled due to poor support for in-built animations in the Tiled map format. I've also reworked the main character sprites and I feel much happier with the current version of it. Just a quick screenshot of the level using the new Tiled code. Nothing special, but progress nonetheless.

I hope to finally begin getting into the game itself so that I can finish prototype the game as I see it.

[I would love to hear your feedback! The demo is just a proof of concept of the general idea and has a long way to go.]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful feedback during our initial demo. A new demo will be coming soon. Right now it's time to get back to making this game!

Click here to listen to the Dungeon Theme by Pixel Noise

I would love to hear your feedback! The demo is just a proof of concept of the general idea and has a long way to go.

King's Crypt is an arcade style dungeon crawler in the vein of the classic game Gauntlet.

Music by Pixel Noise!

Art & Gameplay by Omega

Latest Update 5/30/2017 - Combat Re-Implemented

Gameplay

• Anything can be a weapon, anything
• Levels are different crypts for the player to rob of their treasure.
• Fast paced combat, lots of action going on simultaneously.
• Play with a friend in co-op or head to head for highest score

Potential Features

• Multiplayer: Allow players to function as the "Dungeon Master" to create obstacles for other players
• Allow players to create their own dungeons for others to play through.
• Allow modding of every aspect of the game so that players can change the graphics, enemies, and gameplay to suite their own ideas.
• Super dungeons? Dungeons large enough for 10-25 people to essentially zerg rush for fun.