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[JAnd]

@deadlyhabit has created an amazing 40 minute playthrough of the latest build of Dungeon Dashers. It gives a really decent in-depth look at how the game plays. Check it out!

[JAnd]

Day 303
* Fixed game-breaking bug where enemies could get stuck if surrounded by spikes and overlapping another enemy (happened on Level 3)
* Added keyboard controls for the equipment selection screen
* Collated feedback from recent build

Didn't do much code today. Spent a lot of time talking with people and replying to emails about the latest release. I wrote down lots of feedback and tried to work out what I need to do next. I fixed a game-breaking bug that a few people stumbled across where enemies could get stuck next to spikes if there weren't any free spaces (they wouldn't purposefully step onto spikes so they wouldn't end their turn). I added keyboard controls to the equipment screen, and I'll be adding them everywhere else as well.

This week's plan:
Not 100% sure what I should concentrate on at the moment. I think I'm going to aim to develop a few more levels for the next build and hopefully release another one within a week. I'd like to release builds more frequently, and the current state of the game should allow that, even if an update just has a couple of new levels and minor polish improvements.

Big things to do in the near future:
* Revive (I've always thought you should be able to revive players once they die, at the cost of not being able to get 5 stars at the end of a level, and for example having to stand next to the body for 1 turn).
* Boss battles. I still have this Dragon which I haven't coded any awesome AI for. I should get around to that.
* More skills.

[JAnd]

Day 306
* Added keyboard controls to level select screen
* Added mouse controls to End of Level screen
* Added keyboard controls to Main menu, Options, and Credits screens
* Changed the look of the Main menu (but still placeholder art)
* Added Cancel button to Equipment selection popup
* Started implementing "new" notifications to equipment screen when a new item is unlocked

I added keyboard and mouse controls to all the menus today. It wasn't much fun. It was quite tedious. But it works now. There are a few consistency things that are annoying but don't affect the functionality. If you go back and forth between screens, it won't remember you last option for example. And it also isn't remembering if you used mouse or keyboard last, so the mouse might appear at the start and disappear when you touch a key, or vice versa. So I'll add all of that polish at a later date. The functionality is there now.

I also changed the Main Menu and buttons to be consistent with the look of the rest of the game. But all of it is still placeholder. It's just slightly prettier placeholder.

[deadlyhabit]

But where are the hats? 

[JAnd]

But where are the hats? 

That last greyed out slot might be an indicator of stuff to come

[JAnd]

Day 307
* Finished "New" notification system for new equipment/skill unlocks
* Started implementing a new level with witches

The "New" notification system was something I wanted to put into the last build but didn't get enough time to do. It will flash a "New" icon on items/skills in the Character Customization screen to show you what you've unlocked in previous levels. I've finished it now and it works which is great. But it took a long while because the way that the equipment is saved is in a difficult format to how I needed it. There were a few options available but I decided on a solution which would reduce the code down to 3 lines instead of... many. The compromise was that it probably the most illegible line of code in the game so far, and I'm just hoping I won't have to come back to it again:




Here's a screenshot of the new level with some witches in it. Witches will be support/debuff enemies. I think I'll make them cast a spell on the player which reduces their AP for their next turn. Perhaps a basic fireball spell too, or someone which reduces a player's attack damage.

You can also see the witch's portrait in this shot which I don't think I've shown before. I really like what Chris has achieved there. She has a pretty face and hair, indicating that she may have been a normal human once, but her crazy eye tells a different story now!

[laserfire]

@deadlyhabit has created an amazing 40 minute playthrough of the latest build of Dungeon Dashers. It gives a really decent in-depth look at how the game plays. Check it out!

Oh my gooooooooooooooooood. Looks so good.

Subscribed.

[happymonster]

Hmmm.. you may have said somewhere already on the 26 pages of your devlog, but what language is that code for?

[Vaxx]

Multimedia Fusion 2 it is, as I use it myself.

[JAnd]

Hmmm.. you may have said somewhere already on the 26 pages of your devlog, but what language is that code for?

Multimedia Fusion 2. My next game will be in another language But I've been using MMF2 for over 10 years so I'm most familiar with it.

[JAnd]

Day 308
* Worked on a new level
* Added Fire Arrow skill icon
* Made all ranged attacks have a chance to miss based on inverse square distance (higher chance to miss further away)
* Made ranged enemies not shoot at you if you are too far away
* Added AP Debuff skill for the enemy witch
* Added gibs for the witch
* Made fire/ice not appear when those skills miss
* Added item description for fire arrow
* Fixed bug with Knight not smashing tables
* Made AI better. Significantly reduced "hopping back and forth between tiles".

Happy with what I did today. Came across some stuff I didn't intend to fix, but did in the end since it was simple, like some AI stuff.

The ranged stuff I did today is pretty cool I think. You've got a much higher chance to miss the further you are away, but I put a cap on it, so that even when you're extremely far away you always have a 2% chance of hitting your target. I did this so that it's still possible to get an epic-day-saving shot off every once in a while. Equally, shots that are within 3 tiles are guaranteed hits. Melee strikes still have 1% chance of missing (not including enemy dodge).

Rough numbers for ranged attacks are: Guaranteed hit at 3 spaces or less. 75% chance to hit at 10 spaces. 33% chance to hit at 15 spaces. 20+spaces < 10%.

I also added an AP Debuff skill for the witches. They shoot at you and reduce your AP for the next turn. If you get hit enough you'll miss your next turn entirely! This makes the witches a good support class for the enemies and makes them interesting in combat. I need to represent when a player has lost AP due to a Debuff, as currently it just gives you a little green icon on you. The player might forget what happens by the time it comes around to their turn. Perhaps flashing the AP bar some other colour might work.

I also tweaked the AI a bit. I just thought I'd have a quick look at it, and I managed to fix a few problems very simply. The hopping around was due to the character using a "fleeing" tactic, but already being as far away as it could get and randomly choosing a tile to try and get further. I simply made it stop when it's as far away as it can get (without an A* path).

In this screenshot you can see the new Flame Arrow skill icon.


AP Reduction from the witch's spell

[JAnd]

Day 309
* Added player revive

You can now revive players once they have died by simply walking into their tile. I might give a Yes/No confirmation for it later. When you revive a player they only get 5 health back, and it ends your turn (costs all your AP), so doing so is not advantageous in battle as you will instantly get killed again. You also can't achieve a 5-star rating on a level if one of your characters dies (/"becomes unconscious").

Screenshot of the elf who has died about to be revived:

[JAnd]

Day 310
* Bug fixes to revive
* Added explanation text when one of your characters first dies (and how to revive)
* Added MAGIC doors (doors locked by "magic")
* Changed end portal colour to green to avoid confusion with floor teleports
* Worked on Level 5

I wanted to release a new build today but the level I'm working on is too incomplete. When the game has a certain element that doesn't work then it easily confuses a lot of people, so I hesitate to release when stuff isn't working right. I'll aim for tomorrow.

I added Magic doors today which I was pretty happy about and which work quite well. They're a type of locked door that must be unlocked before passing through. Philip did a great job of drawing up some lightning that indicates these doors:

[happymonster]

Can I suggest with the tiles in your screenshot that you try making the walls a different hue (even if only slightly) to the floor? Although everything stands out enough, everything looks the same colour. I think it would look more visually interesting if you varied things a bit.

[JAnd]

Can I suggest with the tiles in your screenshot that you try making the walls a different hue (even if only slightly) to the floor? Although everything stands out enough, everything looks the same colour. I think it would look more visually interesting if you varied things a bit.

I'm not a trained artist so I don't have the best technical art knowledge. Is there any chance you could do a mockup to show how that would look? I'll pass your comments onto Philip who is doing the tiles.

[JAnd]

Build 274 Is Out!



If you'd like to purchase the game and try it for yourself, you can do so on DungeonDashers.com.

Here's a few new things:
* Bugfixes and polish tweaks (things made "prettier" and some colours changed)
* New level ("Threshold")
* New skill unlock (after beating "Threshold")
* Added ability to revive other players if they die
* Changed ranged attacks for players and enemies to have a greater chance of missing at far distance
* Quicker intro cutscene (and another image)
* Magic-locked doors
* Increased damage of Fireball spell, amongst others.
* Added Witches which can cast an AP reduction spell on the player
* Improved AI. Reduced "hopping" between tiles
* Added new equipment notification system
* Added keyboard controls on all menus

Known Issues:
* Ranged attacks can be fired through unopened doors (can happen when a room has multiple door entrances)
* If you die on spikes and on another player then you will be able to control your dead body until you move off them!


Day 312
* Sped up intro cutscene by combining multiple lines of text into one and increasing the display/fade speeds
* Fixed bug with bat AI
* Fixed typo with "40 Chests" to "20"
* Fixed bug with blinking onto grey rocks (the obstacle destroyable by the Knight)
* added extra door/gate to level 4 to make it harder to get past
* Finished Level 5
* Added animation to text popups such as "Critical Hit"
* Fixed bug where monsters spawned mid-level wouldn't display health bars or shadows
* Released Build 274

[amidos2006]

Just curious about the launch date although I don't like multiplayer games but this game looks interesting and I like the way it works and looks

Will you produce a Demo version on the launch day?

[JAnd]

Just curious about the launch date although I don't like multiplayer games but this game looks interesting and I like the way it works and looks

Will you produce a Demo version on the launch day?

I'm intending to finish the game before the end of the year.

I haven't thought about doing a demo at this stage, since I'm still concentrating on developing the game. I may possibly have one on release.

[amidos2006]

...I may possibly have one on release.

That's fantastic I am waiting on fire

[JAnd]

Day 315
I haven't done much code work on the game the past few days. I've been busy answering emails, organising assets, and also trying my hand at some "marketing". I tried spending a modest $15 on some paid advertisements to see how that would help since I haven't done any form of paid advertising for this game before. It was a bit hard to tell the exact effect it had overall. Visits to the site went up, but other metrics (like impact on sales) were harder to measure since I don't have the most advanced Google Analytics setup.

My friend had this idea of a YouTube bounty to increase interest in the game:
If anyone is able to get someone on YouTube who has videos that typically have more than 10,000 views to do a Let's Play of Dungeon Dashers, I'll send them both a free copy of the game. Get the Let's Player to email me saying that you referred them to DD.

Short-term plan
I noticed the latest level ran a bit slower on a couple of people's computers, since it's about twice as complex. I haven't done any optimizations yet, but I think it's about time I look at it all. Ideally the game should run on most computers (even if they have to turn some things like proper shadows off).

Philip's pretty much finished his Forest tileset. So I'll be showing that off soon and making some levels. I plan for the Forest tileset to be used in the next levels straight after the ones that are currently in the game.