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[Pemanent]

Update 21

Not a very big update tonight but still some good progress.
I went through my code and took out a bunch of stuff that I didn't need anymore. This was not fun at all since sometimes it can be hard to decide if something is needed or not and if it is even being used at all! But in the end I was able to cut some fat as well as around 20+ unused textures.

I also started work on item generation. I want to make it super simple to add new items so all the random spawning of an item will be held in an item library which itself just holds a bunch of dummy items to refer to when I want to create one. Not only does this make it easy to add new items, like I said, but its just as easy to adjust the randomness of all the items attributes.

Not only that but I started applying all this randomness to the level generation so I can start doing some preliminary balancing! hooray!

No pictures tonight but good progress!

Edit. God my sentence structure is horrible. I do apologize for this.

[eyeliner]

*Following this with increased interest...*

[Pemanent]

Thanks! Its good to hear that! 

[Pemanent]

Update 22

It has been exactly two weeks since my last update. Don't worry though, I have been making some steady progress. Mostly progress invisible to the player but very very visible in my code.

For one I reworked all my mob and item generation code to support new items. Now to add a new item/mob I just add said new item/mob to the mobLibrary list (or itemLibrary) with some spawning rate and other information and it will automagically spawn in the level generation. In the past I had to write 10 or so lines of code just to add a new item/mob, now it is just one line of code.

It was also time to rework my collisions. I am quite a noob with efficient coding so until now I have been checking EVERY location on the grid to make sure the player doesn't move somewhere he can't. Obviously this is very very inefficient so I reworked everything so the player only checks the 4 grid locations around him (up, down, left and right... obviously). Also each mob needs to do this collision check. So basically I changed around 500 'if' statements for four, (keep in mind this is per each mob, so a more realistic number is about 5000 'if' statements with the old system and 40 with the new system (that sounds very insane now that I put it in numbers  ))

As of now the new collisions only support the walls, so next I will add doors, items, mobs, etc to the new collision system. Oh, and also take out the disgusting old system.

[Pemanent]

Update 23

Today and tonight I finished implementing my new collision system, well I think I've finished.
I had no idea how entrenched my old system was so it took quite a bit of work to fix everything but I think I'm done. My new system runs great. I even cleaned out the old code in the process. It took quite a bit of work but now the game runs amazing, even with 200 enemies on the screen.
This was one big hurdle I had to fix and now I feel a lot better that its behind me. Moving around lists and pointers is not exactly the most fun thing in the world.
The next big job will be creating the field of view. Though next I'm going to work on adding some content such as weapons, scrolls, and potion to take a bit of a break before I tackle fov.

Sorry for the lack of screenshots but honestly nothing has changed visually.

For now I am going to wait on adding spells and a skill tree because I want to get closer to a releasable product before I increase the project size unnecessarily. 

Also I contacted a local dude about music.

[Bood_war]

Man, those menus look super sexy. The rest looks pretty cool too, I guess.

Thoughts:

I think you'll want to work on level generation. Not right now, mind you. You have something that works, and is a decent mix of hallways and rooms. My biggest qualm with what you have, however, is that it feels squished. Remember, just because you're building this for a phone, doesn't mean that everything has to be small.

I might also suggest somewhere along the line, adding special preconstructed pieces of the dungeon that can be added if a room meets the size requirement. Stuff like graveyards or lakes, or any number of other things. Just stuff to spice things up a litte. You could even have special levels that are based around one of these pieces, like a church to orcus or something.

Anyway, good luck! I'll be watching you 

[Pemanent]

Hey thanks! I really tried to keep the same theme throughout and so far I am pretty happy with it!

I do agree on the level generation. Someday I will revisit it and tweak things around. Maybe create some smaller sectors using what I have now and connect these small sectors with a winding hall or preconstructed large room. That might be a simple solution to spread things out and reduce the claustrophobia.

I love that preconstructed pieces idea. Why didn't I think of that myself, it only seems obvious.  It would also be cool to have special mobs and items that only appear in these preconstructions. I will definitely add that to my to do list.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Pemanent]

Update 24

UGH! This new collision system seems to be a massive pit of work. When I fix one problem it seems I find two more. I guess that is the nature of changing something as integral as collisions. I am making progress though and it will definitely be worth the work.

In other news me and Sasha have been conversing about music! I'm super excited about it! We have just started sharing some preliminary information. Basically what I am thinking of and what he can do. I'm really excited to see what he comes up with! 
Here is his soundcloud. http://soundcloud.com/j-a-m-games/ Not much in terms of game music but I think it definitely proves he can make music.

Does anybody have any tips / tricks / words of advice for us? I've never had any music in my games so honestly I'm not completely sure what I want.
I am excited and confident that we will come up with something good though!

[Pemanent]

Update 25

Good work tonight! Finished (once again, I think) with the new collisions. Also level generation is back working which somehow broke in the new collisions system. I also added chest generation to the level generation code. Naturally not only is the frequency of the chests randomized but also the loot inside.

Things are really starting to take shape!! I'm no where near 'finished' but it almost feels like a game now instead of a work in progress!!
Also my music dude got set up with bootcamp and the wp7 emulator and dropbox and such. I feel sorry for him because he must go through all this work just to play the game but he did it anyways.  

Next I think I'm going to work on field of vision, because I enjoy pain.

[Pemanent]

Update 26

I just wanted to post a quick update tonight.
I have indeed been working on field of vision. Pretty close to getting something that will work.

My updates will probably get more sparse as there is less to talk about. Now I will pretty much be balancing, adding new items, and bug hunting (as well as tweaking level generation and other such features). I also don't want to spoil things very much so I will stop reporting on everything I do. For the few who actually read this AND play the game, they will still find new things.

[Pemanent]

Update 27

Well I guess I should do another update. Again not much to report.

I finished field of vision, might need to change to shadow casting because right now it just looks like crap. It works but it doesn't look good.

Also added a bunch of items along with the functionality for each. Added two whole sets of armor. Added two amulets and two rings. Added four shield items. Added damage return. So the player know how much damage he is doing. Filled the home screen with information so at the bottom left you see your hp, mana, and exp. Also fixed some miscellaneous bugs, such as mobs not spawning on doors or outside of rooms.

Yeah pretty much it!

Oh also my sound guy got back to me with some samples. They are great! They are going in the right direction. I really like working with him so far.  I think it will be cool to have an original soundtrack for this game. Saying that sounds really professional and cool.

Anyways! Thats about it! I'm still working on this, even if things are going a bit slow. I will try to ramp things up. Its really starting to feel like a game now, instead of a bunch of incoherent features.

Today I hope to get one prefab room done. The graveyard. Thanks Blood_War for the suggestion!

Last thing, I hope to have a dev video by the end of Christmas break (like... 3 weeks)!

[Pemanent]

Update 28

Been working pretty hard on this lately. Got a lot of things done.
- Added inventory scrolling. So you can scroll through your items when you have more than what can fit on the screen.
- Added movement holding. So if you have a long distance to travel you just hold the button instead of pressing it over and over. (also included variables to adjust the time to initiate holding and the time between updates while holding. Probably going to include settings for this when the time comes.)
- Added item modifications. So items can now have attributes such as binding, holy, or cursed.
- Worked on the item class as well as the Equip method. So now items can affect more than one attribute.
- Balanced things like crazy. The levels are no longer flooded with items and mobs are more of a challenge.
- Finished Graveyard prefab.
- Added some more sounds.
- Worked on level generation. Added what I call pillars. Basically just rooms which contain nothing and the player can't get too. They just spread out the level more and create open spaces without any level. Before the whole screen was pretty much always full of level.
- Added directional sprites for all mobs. So mobs now face the direction they are traveling.
- Also worked on the UI a bit. Opened things up. It was really cluttered before.

I apologize for the lack of images! By the end of next week I will have a video for you all. Hopefully that will make up for my lack of images now.

[Pemanent]

Not really an update. Just wanted to post some pictures. 

New movement arrows.

Unnamed Shield

Tombstone

Amulet

Ring

Leather Helmet

Application Icon

Loading Screen (First attempt. Will probably spice it up later.)


mmmmmm Thats all. Still working hard on it. Trying to squeeze in that last bit before I make a video and before school starts up again. Still got another week. go go go. 

[Pemanent]

Update 29

Check out the video! Feedback it great!





Some changes.
- Added spell, spell casting, spell learning.
- Worked on the starting area.
- Added 'popup' screen to tell the player stuff. (aka. "need more mana" stuff like that(

[eigenbom]

Wow 20 minutes, long vid! But it looks great dude, good luck!

[Pemanent]

Yeah It is a bit long, but eh. Apparently I had a lot to say and show. Thanks!

[Pemanent]

Update 30

I want to get back to my previous updating habits with more updates and a picture in each update. So here we go!

Tonight I worked on
- a rune circle prefab which does random stuff like teleport you to a random room or heal your wounds or summon an enemy to fight for you.



- my inventory / item stats system to support multiple stats for one item. So now not only can one item modify more than one of the players stats but it will also show it in the inventory and update correctly when you equip it. This makes for some cool random generation. For example if you get luck enough you can find a sword that gives an increase to sight distance as well as wisdom.