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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsDungeon Dashers - Fast Paced Turn Based Dungeon Crawling [GREENLIT]
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Author Topic: Dungeon Dashers - Fast Paced Turn Based Dungeon Crawling [GREENLIT]  (Read 146131 times)
JigxorAndy
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« on: March 03, 2012, 12:46:09 AM »



Dungeon Dashers is GREENLIT!!! Steam Greenlight




Cover illustration by Gabriel Verdon.




DungeonDashers.com
Fast Paced Multiplayer Dungeon Crawler



What makes Dungeon Dashers fun?
Dungeon Dashers is all about getting together with a few of your friends online, exploring dungeons together, going on an adventure, and taking home whatever loot you find in the process. Players take turns to move and attack monsters in the dungeons, and monsters get their turn to fight back. The completed game will feature:

  • Up to four-players playing together as a team over the internet, or control all of the heroes yourself in singleplayer.
  • Hand-made dungeons (not procedurally generated) - allowing unique adventures with traps and interesting monster configurations
  • Many different types of monsters, weapons, and loot
  • 4-8 player classes, allowing for a wide variety of playing styles and strategies
  • Intricately detailed pixel art realised by Dusty, AlexHW, and Chris Pariano
  • Original chiptune soundtrack by Nathan "Derris-Kharlan" Antony

Twitter: @JigxorAndy
Tumblr: Jigxor.org (has more rambling and design discussions)





ORIGINAL POST:


Hey everyone!

I'm working on an online co-operative multiplayer turn-based game called Dungeon Dashers (WIP name). The idea is that you play with some friends online and take it in turns to move and attack. Once all the players have moved, the monsters do the same and attack you back. Hopefully the most fun aspects of the game will come from the dungeon layouts that I create and the variety of weapons and powers.

Here are some of the tiles that have been commissioned for this project, created by an artist known as Dusty:





Here's a gameplay screenshot, however everything is placeholder besides the tiles. I did not create the player sprite, though I am in contact with the artist to see if he wants to contribute to the game. If he's busy I might need another artist to do the player and monster sprites with animations, so if you're interested, please contact me or post here. Hopefully this screenshot gives you an overall idea of how the game plays:



I'm going to try to post here as often as I can so that I can have a record of the work I've done, and motivate myself to work on the game each day.

Currently I have most of the core engine in. You can host games, connect to them, choose your character, move around, kill monsters, and be hurt by monsters that walk around and fight back.

Next I need to implement some more balanced stats (monsters pretty much die in one hit at the moment) and put in the inventory system.

Thanks for reading!
« Last Edit: August 28, 2013, 08:27:00 AM by JigxorAndy » Logged

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happymonster
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« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2012, 01:20:39 AM »

Sounds great, and I like the character sprites a lot. Good luck! Smiley
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2012, 08:49:38 PM »

Sounds great, and I like the character sprites a lot. Good luck! Smiley

Thanks! Unfortunately, those character sprites are just placeholders, the original artist gave me permission to display them but he's too busy to do any work on the game.

So far today I have:
  • contacted pixel artists for interest in character sprites
  • implemented mouse controls (player voting by clicking on the player)
  • implemented mouse camera movement (smoothly scroll across the map)
  • added more indicators for player voting (grey-out who has already had a turn, etc.)

I'm still going to do some more today. Next I'm doing more mouse controls, allowing the player to move by clicking the square that they want to move to. After that I'll take a look at the weapon stats again.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2012, 08:55:27 PM by JigxorAndy » Logged

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« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2012, 06:53:33 AM »

First impression: Art Kiss


I love the idea of the turn-based co-op RPG multiplayer game, it's something I would play right away. Any public tests in the near future?

Oh, and please make an option for the enemies to move faster because turn based games can become quite time consuming.

Following this, keep up the good work!
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2012, 06:26:12 PM »

First impression: Art Kiss

I love the idea of the turn-based co-op RPG multiplayer game, it's something I would play right away.
Thanks! That was motivating to read Smiley

I just found an artist to do the character art today as well!

Any public tests in the near future?
I don't have plans for public tests just yet, but I'll be sure to message you if I need some private testing. It's possible to walk around and attack stuff at the moment, but I haven't balanced weapons or anything yet, so it's not as fun as it could be yet.

Oh, and please make an option for the enemies to move faster because turn based games can become quite time consuming.
This is a really interesting point! I've got a couple of variables in the engine at the moment which allow you to change the delay (and movement speed) of the players/monsters in the game. I was actually quite surprised at the speed of the game in the most recent version. It's a little slower than I had first imagined. This game is actually a spiritual successor to another game I made last year called "Dungeon Dash" (no 'ers').

which is much much faster. So I'm hoping to speed up the play a bit. It can just get quite dense when you have to wait for 3 other players to move.

Some delays are necessary though I think. The smooth camera movement that moves between monsters needs a delay so that it's not jumping all over the place, and there's a pause between two different entities that move.

All in all, with the option to change the delay speeds I think it will allow quite fast gameplay.
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« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2012, 09:43:51 PM »

Like the look of your old game.

Is the new artist that you got going to keep a similar style to the images you've posted so far? or are you changing the style?
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2012, 09:51:18 PM »

Like the look of your old game.

Is the new artist that you got going to keep a similar style to the images you've posted so far? or are you changing the style?

Thank you! I literally just found an amazing pixel artist who is going to be doing the character art. So we'll be talking about how we can match his art style with the existing tiles. The tiles will stay the same, and Dusty is still working on the project, but the tiles' palette will most likely have to change in some way, currently they're a little bit 'muted'.

At some point someone is going to have to unify the colours between the tiles and the characters. It would be good for that to happen sooner rather than later!

Here are some examples of Alex's work (the new artist):





I'll post an update of what I've done (code-wise) later today, and I might grab some of Dusty's newer tiles as well.
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« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2012, 09:58:53 PM »

That's really nice, like Alex the new artist's work. Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with for the final look of this game  Smiley
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2012, 12:56:46 AM »

A new mockup with most of the cave tiles done so far by Dusty (sorry for the huge scrolling image!):

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« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2012, 01:49:08 AM »

No no no, I simpy can't stand the beauty of this art, it's too much for me  Addicted

Please do let us know about the testing, I would gladly help :D
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2012, 02:09:44 AM »

Day 66 (I've been working on this before starting devlog)



Above is a screenshot from what I've been looking at most of they day. It's a "Combat Simulation" for the stats in my game which allows me to tweak numbers and see how long it will take for a player to die or for an enemy to die. (DPT = Damage per turn, HTK = Hits To Kill). It looks up stats from other spreadsheets.

There's a lot of numbers and variables, and it's not something I really thought about when I started this game. Having played with this for a fair bit of time today, I think it's time to just jump in and start testing stuff. I did end up changing some mechanics such as how the damage is dealt and what buffs there are:
  • Strength affects melee weapon damage.
  • Agility affects ranged weapon damage.
  • Int/Magic/Wizardry (Not sure on name) now affects magic damage.
  • Strength doesn't affect damage resistance.

Alex is working on character designs and testing out some perspectives.
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2012, 04:31:12 PM »





Alex whipped up this assassin this morning.

On the left the assassin is 3/4 perspective, and on the right is side on.

I have to choose a view for the game and I can't decide which one! The one on the left matches the background view and is kind of 'mysterious', where as the one on the right arguably shows more of the character.

Help me out! Which one should I go with?

I'm really excited to see what Alex comes up with next! And just in case you were wondering, in the later stages of the game all of the colours in the artwork will be gone over to adjust the brightness and contrast to match.
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« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2012, 06:37:13 PM »

Nice sprite!, looking at the tiles, i gotta say left man.
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« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2012, 06:45:58 PM »

Left 100%, very nice addition.
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2012, 06:52:11 PM »

Thanks guys! From the feedback I've gotten from other people, the 3/4 perspective on the left seems to be the way to go. I'm glad it's pretty much unanimous - it makes my decision easier.
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« Reply #15 on: March 06, 2012, 06:56:08 PM »

Nice assassin and from also looking at your old mockups with the other characters which are more like the right one and seem to work, I'm going to be the annoying guy and say the right one. Get a clearer picture of the character. Also with lots of characters facing sideways it might look a bit funny and unclear I'm thinking. Like how in your early images you can clearly distinguish all the characters and not sure if it would be as obvious if they were all facing the side. Also would hide the great art Alex is doing and nicer to show it off.
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #16 on: March 06, 2012, 07:11:25 PM »

Here's two mockups where they're centered on the tile, and a bit of (fake) shadow.





Does that help at all?
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« Reply #17 on: March 06, 2012, 07:24:55 PM »

Tough one, glad I don't have to be the one to decide  Smiley The side on view does work also with more on screen so not sure what I prefer...
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« Reply #18 on: March 06, 2012, 07:38:53 PM »

Graphics definitely looking good, I hope it will be fun tactically too :D

I think the 3/4 perspective is definitely the best, it's the most immersive/appealing option as the characters fit into the world better.

Which platforms will you be putting this game on?
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JigxorAndy
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« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2012, 07:44:01 PM »

I've just been reminded of something important. The bottom view (side on) is facing right now, but if I want 4 directions then facing up and down might look weird. In contrast, 3/4 perspective can be done correctly with up/down directions. I think I'll settle on that!

Such a tough decision!
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