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[Forstride]

EMPYREAN

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Empyrean is (Or rather, will be) an infinite, roguelite/dungeon crawling platformer, where you ascend an infinitely-high tower with randomly generated rooms, while fighting enemies, finding loot, weapons, gear, and so on.

I didn't really want to do something like other roguelite games, where each playthrough can actually be finished by reaching the end, and instead opted for an infinite style.  Of course, you'll be able to save your progress at certain points, as the goal will be to get as high in the tower as you can, and playthroughs would technically be able to last forever, but there will still be permadeath, where if you die (And don't have any revival items), it's game over.

[Forstride]

Using the first comment so I can keep this initial update separate from the opening post.

So, I decided to make a devlog for this so I have somewhere to put stuff, even though it's really early in development.  Here's a screenshot of what the game currently looks like:



I'm just using placeholder art that I made for now.  I don't plan to have a bright, cartoon-y style for the final game, and I'll be updating the art soon.

Of course, the rooms in the game aren't going to look like that either (Although maybe I could have some floating island sections, where part of the tower is closed off or something, and you have to go around).  I'm just creating a sandbox for myself to use while the core components of the game are being worked on.

Right now, the game features:

- Tile mapping, as well as the ability to save/load maps
- Platforming (Using the Box2D physics engine in Game Maker: Studio)
- Grappling Hook
- Flintlock Pistol
- Sword

[happymonster]

Sounds good! Looking forward to hearing more..

[Forstride]

Sounds good! Looking forward to hearing more..

Thanks!  Just got done adding an item wheel actually:



I refactored the item system in the game as well, to make it more modular and allow me to add items without adding a lot of hardcoded stuff.  I plan on having a lot of different weapons and other items in the game, so I would've needed to do it at some point, and early on is definitely the best time. 

[Forstride]

Added bridges:



You kind of have to jump along them when they're sloped, but regardless, they turned out better than expected.  And yes, you can cut the ends off.  :D

[Forstride]

Walljumping:



This will be an ability that boots can have, rather than being a normal movement option.  I plan on making most movement options abilities for gear, aside from jumping and walking (Obviously).  Dashing, which is another movement option that's currently in the game, will also be an ability that boots can have.

[Forstride]

Improved the item wheel:



Would appreciate any feedback on it.  I'm pretty happy with it, but I still feel like something is missing.

[Forstride]

Added some neat gem swords today:



Most weapons will have variants for the different types of gems, as well as most (If not all) poor materials (Wood, stone, etc.), metals, and exotic materials (Dinosaur bone, meteorite, uranium, etc.)

[Forstride]

Introducing the first of 10 characters in the game, Bjorn the Warrior:



He's proficient with melee weapons, including swords, flails, warhammers, and more, and is also decent with shields.  However, he is very unskilled with bows, magic, and summoning.

Every character in the game will be proficient with a certain weapon type, and have varying stats for the rest.  So for example, Bjorn has 5 melee points, but other characters can have between 1 and 4 by default.  Every characters' weapon stats add up to 25 points total at the start, but you'll be able to increase your stats by using a certain weapon type more and more.

[RujiK]

I don't usually like platformers but this looks awesome!

Are you still planning on changing the art style? I think it looks really cool. I would love to see some water.

Is the lighting primitive based or shader based? Looks simple but good.

[Forstride]

I don't usually like platformers but this looks awesome!

Are you still planning on changing the art style? I think it looks really cool. I would love to see some water.

Is the lighting primitive based or shader based? Looks simple but good.

I've sort of decided to keep the art style for the most part.  I thought about it more, and doing a darker/grittier style like I originally wanted too, most likely wouldn't work well with the game.  I do plan on changing the dirt/grass textures to something less "stylized" though, and will probably change up the color palette a bit too.

As for the shadows, they use primitives.  I'm basically clueless when it comes to shaders, otherwise I'd look into that.  I imagine they'd be more efficient, and I could probably do more interesting things with them, but, oh well.

[siskavard]

NICE!

[RujiK]

I hope you can get the controls to work well. Box2d platformers are notorious for feeling floaty with poor handling.

I'm pretty clueless with shaders too. I'll be watching for updates.

[Pixel Noise]

Cool! Looking forward to seeing it progress.

[Forstride]

Thanks!  Progress has been a bit slowly lately, and since this is sort of a side project (With Rangers being my main project), it'll most likely continue to be slow.

I hope you can get the controls to work well. Box2d platformers are notorious for feeling floaty with poor handling.

I'm pretty clueless with shaders too. I'll be watching for updates.

Yeah, I've tweaked the controls a lot so far.  I'm mostly using physics for "ease of use" when it comes to movement, and fun stuff like vines and rope bridges.  The movement doesn't really feel floaty currently, but there's probably a lot of room for improvement still.

[lobstersteve]

Looks fun
Gives me a little terraria vibe. Not in the sense of, that the gameplay will be the same, but that the gameplay is not super stressful and on the edge all the time. Which i would like, i guess