Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

 
Advanced search

1411273 Posts in 69323 Topics- by 58380 Members - Latest Member: bob1029

March 28, 2024, 01:07:53 AM

Need hosting? Check out Digital Ocean
(more details in this thread)
TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsTangledeep: 16-bit roguelike dungeon crawler, now RELEASED on Steam!
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 11
Print
Author Topic: Tangledeep: 16-bit roguelike dungeon crawler, now RELEASED on Steam!  (Read 52281 times)
zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #20 on: September 09, 2016, 10:12:16 AM »

Sounds great! I don't want to sidetrack the devlog with too much audio talk, so I can PM you if you'd like - but was just curious what VSTs you used for this; is it mostly SAC sounds? It's definitely reminiscent of SNES era sound.

Will you be releasing builds for testing as you go along?

All the amazing games posted here put my thing as it is now to shame. I want to wait until I get some more custom art in. But I'm basically working on this 20+ hours a week so maybe by end of September I'll feel confident enough to post a build (which should have ~15-30 mins of gameplay.)

Thanks for the kind words on the music! Happy to talk about it more. Yes, I'm using all Super Audio Cart for it so far. Actually it's proving to be interesting, because there are some sounds I find myself reaching for that aren't yet in the library (certain orchestral sounds like orch chimes.) So we'll have to add those in the next update. :-)

SFX are all ripped right now but I'll be making those with SAC also.
Logged
Pixel Noise
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #21 on: September 10, 2016, 05:37:42 PM »

I can understand the hesitance - but I've played some pretty rough test builds on here. I think overall people here are pretty forgiving of placeholder art, etc - and they'll be able to give feedback on bugs/gameplay, etc. I'm certainly eager to test it out  Hand Thumbs Up Left

I could tell the BGM was done with Super Audio Cart - but when the trumpet came in ~:40, it sounded almost too good to be a pure SNES/etc sound. I'd love to get that preset from you, it sounds amazing!
Logged

Pixel Noise - professional composition/sound design studio.
 https://soundcloud.com/pixel-noise
 https://twitter.com/PixelNoiseMusic
 https://pixelnoisemusic.bandcamp.com/

Recently completed the ReallyGoodBattle OST!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=vgf-4DjU5q
zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #22 on: September 12, 2016, 02:40:59 PM »

You got it - once I develop the music more I'll share some of the specific patches / settings etc I used!

Last few days have been great.

Monsters got a big overhaul. They now have an aggro system tracking who has done what to them. They can (potentially) lose interest in combatants as well, for example if you don't hit animals for a long time they may simply wander away. They will also evaluate aggro vs. range; if someone far away hits them, that will be less tempting than an angry target nearby.

There are also some new basic monster 'attributes', which are basically behavior types, that can be mixed and matched: starting with Greedy, Berserker, and Timid. Greedy monsters will pick up nearby treasure. Particularly greedy ones will actually fight other monsters for treasure, or even stop fighting something to pick up loot. Timid monsters will panic at low HP and run, though they will fight if cornered. Berserkers fly into a rage at low health and will hit anyone or anything nearby.

I also managed to implement a dialog box system which took surprising long. Variable length text that drives the size of the box, variable # of options, cursor and mouse-based navigation. This is currently being used for tutorial prompts but will obviously be expanded to other things later.

Buffs/debuffs now have info display if you hover over them, plus a nice radial cooldown graphic on top.

On the backend, all combatant actors now have a "FigherBattleData" class which is basically a big pack of data calculated when stats or equipment change. This can be referenced quickly for battle calculations like, what is X actor's raw physical damage output or physical resistance? The data is calculated using a variety of factors (stats, equipment, statuses...)
Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #23 on: September 12, 2016, 05:17:01 PM »

Monsters got a big overhaul. They now have an aggro system tracking who has done what to them. They can (potentially) lose interest in combatants as well, for example if you don't hit animals for a long time they may simply wander away. They will also evaluate aggro vs. range; if someone far away hits them, that will be less tempting than an angry target nearby.

There are also some new basic monster 'attributes', which are basically behavior types, that can be mixed and matched: starting with Greedy, Berserker, and Timid. Greedy monsters will pick up nearby treasure. Particularly greedy ones will actually fight other monsters for treasure, or even stop fighting something to pick up loot. Timid monsters will panic at low HP and run, though they will fight if cornered. Berserkers fly into a rage at low health and will hit anyone or anything nearby.

Ooh, these changes seem promising--I see the potential for some interesting gameplay and tactics arising from them, the "attributes" especially! (Even just offhand, I have the idea of attacking a "berserker" monster in a group of others, then backing off and letting it deal some damage against them before they finish it off. Wink)

(On which note, one idea might be to allow the player to drop any item--including gold and treasure. This might be useful around "greedy" monsters, it seems to me.)

I'm certainly eager to test it out

Likewise, I'm eager to try a build at some stage, I believe. ^_^
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2016, 09:15:31 PM »

More cool progress

* Loading bar during dungeon generation. Just a nice touch to indicate that nothing froze.
* Various tutorial popups. These appear when you touch an item for the first time, touch stairs, when a monster drops a powerup, etc. Ties in to the dialog box system.
* Monsters can now use abilities, although they're only damaging abilities for now.
* TONS of refinements to dungeon generation.
* Support for many kinds of new wall tiles / directions, plus ground tile directions/corners. This is a big step for making everything look good.
* SNIPER monster type - will try to stay at further range to use ranged attacks.
* LOVESBATTLE monster type listens for the sound of battle, and is attracted to it.
* PREDATOR will wait for player to get low before attacking.
* STALKER monsters will track the player and follow at a distance.

The monster attribute system is becoming really powerful. There are a few more types I want to implement but after that, I think all the core tools will exist to make for fun and unpredictable monster types.

The next big step in terms of making combat interesting and exciting is giving monsters more varied powers. Damage is fine. But I want monsters to be able to jump around, move the player, modify obstacles - maybe even destroy dungeon walls! Combat should be more than just sitting next to the monster and taking turns whacking each other.

On the art end, my artist has been working to produce the first set of custom ground + wall tiles. They're not 100% done but already it looks really nice, with a huge variety of directions, corners, etc. to make things look varied and nice.

Random design thoughts

Given how I want to do a class-based system, I'm thinking of an approach somewhat based on Final Fantasy Tactics. Here's how it would work. You start out with your desired class (job) which determines starting stats and skills. As you fight, you will level up, and your level up gains vary depending on your class.

Besides XP, you'll also gain JP from battles. JP can be spent to unlock new skills, both passive and active. Rather than a skill tree like many roguelikes, I think I like the idea of being able to purchase skills out of order - although the more powerful ones will of course cost more JP.

In between floors, or maybe every X floors (5?) you will be able to switch jobs. When you switch, your stat modifiers may change but your core stats you've built up will not. You will be able to bring SOME skills from the previous job, but not all. Otherwise you would start gaining JP in the new class. You will also be able to change your skill loadout in between floors, if not your entire job.

The design goals of this are:

1. Provide some structure to the player so you're not thrown in an ocean of choices.
2. At the same time, let players mix and match skills to create their own way of playing, influenced primarily by their current class/job.
3. Make balance a little easier by making it so that you can't necessarily use the ultimate abilities/skills of multiple classes at once.



Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #25 on: September 16, 2016, 04:03:56 PM »

Overall, this update seems rather promising! ^_^

You will be able to bring SOME skills from the previous job, but not all.
Hmm... I do worry that it might feel as though time and points spent on skills left behind might feel wasted, and that multi-classing might be discouraged. Does the player at least recover the JP spent on such skills, allowing them to purchase new ones?
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #26 on: September 18, 2016, 09:56:17 PM »

Overall, this update seems rather promising! ^_^

You will be able to bring SOME skills from the previous job, but not all.
Hmm... I do worry that it might feel as though time and points spent on skills left behind might feel wasted, and that multi-classing might be discouraged. Does the player at least recover the JP spent on such skills, allowing them to purchase new ones?

This is probably the kind of thing that will need to be (thoroughly) playtested to see if it works well and feels good. To be clear my design is that you would always be able to grab skills from the old job. However, you can't bring everything at the same time. Imagine a strict, 100% pure class based game. You're either Fighter, or Mage. That's it.

Then imagine a totally freeform game with no classes. You could be 10% Fighter, 30% Rogue, 60% Mage. This is a fine system but I think it makes the game somewhat harder to balance. Lots of not-useful skill combinations, and potentially OP ones.

What I want to see in this game is something like... 50% Primary class, and the rest is stuff you've picked up along the way. If you *want* to go all-in on a single class you can do that. Or if you want to go 50% Fighter, and 10% from 5 other classes, that's fine too.

PROGRESS

Monsters
* Monster infighting no longer rewards the player XP, as actors now track who killed them.
* Monsters can now use movement-boosting abilities. Think jumps, charges, pounces, etc., to get closer to their target.
* Monsters can now pull the player to them with 'hook' or grab type abilities.
* Monsters can now use abilities that buff themselves, just like the player.
* New GANGSUP monster attribute. Monsters with this attribute will wait to attack until their target is already engaged. Supports swarms/mob type behaviors.

Combat
* Settled on a 5-stat system to start with, may be refined later. Strength, Discipline, Swiftness, Guile, Spirit. More on this later but they all do something already.
* Critical hits and parries implemented.
* Better implementation of 'Charge Time', i.e. the system by which actor turn order works. Players can now get multiple turns in a row if they're really fast (however, this is not likely). Monsters can also get multiple turns...
* All combat actors now keep a list of every other actor in combat with them.

Miscellaneous (But Important)
* Fixed some bugs with map object rendering, related to line of sight. I'm no longer using Unity's Physics2D Linecast for LOS (for the most part) and instead using a Bresenham's line implementation. This is necessary as some LOS checks are outside render bounds.

Items / Loot
* Loot now generates at the time a monster is spawned.
* Items can be magical, so there is now a magic mod system. Right now, this supports changing any stat, weapon power, weapon durability, adding any kind of status effect as long as the item is equipped, and proccing bonus damage on hit.
* Magic loot has a sparkly effect on the ground. Yay!
Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #27 on: September 19, 2016, 07:48:49 AM »

This is probably the kind of thing that will need to be (thoroughly) playtested to see if it works well and feels good.

Hmm... Fair enough.

Then imagine a totally freeform game with no classes. You could be 10% Fighter, 30% Rogue, 60% Mage. This is a fine system but I think it makes the game somewhat harder to balance. Lots of not-useful skill combinations, and potentially OP ones.

But doesn't your current approach produce much the same thing? If I change jobs twice, I might well end up with a spread just as you've given above. The only advantage that I see is that you might be able to specify which abilities are disallowed for each combination of classes--the wizard might lose "Magic Missile" when switching to fighter, and "Fireball" when switching to rogue, for example.

However, as you say, this is all likely a matter for play-testing!
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #28 on: September 25, 2016, 09:53:17 AM »

Super mega progress!!! We're doing some big work on the art side (unfortunately, not much to actually *show* there yet because it's not all finished) and TONS of ingame work. Since the previous update:

Engine
* More optimizations to line of sight calculations
* Actors no longer automatically block vision - this is now a tag, so a big object or monster can block LOS but a small one won't necessarily
* Massive bug fix / speed improvement to map generation
* Sprite effect systems can override individual sprite effect audio
* Fixed big tile rendering issue
* Proper 1:1 pixel zoom scale
* Scanlines shader

Monsters
* Monsters can use healing spells on themselves (based on HEALER attribute)
* Combinable monsters - i.e. slimes that can merge with other slimes

Items
* Items can spawn with magic mods (increasing rarity per extra mod spawned), plus the color of the item name changes. Things like bonus damage, stats, etc...
* Resistance system, support for Armor item type. Armors can resist elemental damage (% or flat), physical damage, specific types of physical like pierce, slash etc

General
* Rough first pass on character sheet UI (stats, resists, etc)
* Weapons can now have individual impact FX / particles
* New ATTACKREACTION effect type which can modify an in-progress attack (i.e. reacting to a hit, miss, parry, or altering miss/parry chance)
* Ability targeting offsets, including random offsets
* Equipment and character sheet UI
* Armor + accessories
* Ability targeting non-centered single point line etc
* Swap and sort items UI
* Item descriptions including mods
* Press 1-4 in equipment sheet to hotkey weapons
* Press R to consume a common weapon to repair a selected weapon of the same type
* Help popup

Can't wait to get back to it!
Logged
zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #29 on: September 28, 2016, 11:04:30 PM »

OK guys. Super nervous about this but I think I have a solid ~15-20 minutes of gameplay here... Build #1 is ready to go.

http://zirconstudios.com/game/Build9-29-16.rar (Windows)
http://zirconstudios.com/game/Build9-29-16.app.zip (Mac-  does it work?)

Before you actually play the game I recommend checking the Input bindings. You can also hit "H" for help once you get started.

Keep in mind this is SUPER SUPER alpha but I think it shows off some of what I'm trying to achieve with dynamic combat and some cool job abilities. SO MUCH more to do but please let me know what you think.

Short list of changes...

* Status effects can have a directional component
* "Consume on Run" bool for status effects (i.e. run a debuff then destroy it)
* Directional attack reactions
* Better handling of directional abilities / effects in general
* Basic UI for learning job abilities including passive abilities
* Ronin monster attribute - rather than wandering randomly 1 tile at a time, picks a destination somewhere and wanders to it with purpose.
* "Rest until healed" button
* Status effects can now have a "consume" trigger (or multiple triggers)
* Status effects can influence turns: stun, paralyze, sleep etc.
* Status effects have an "on move" trigger (i.e. bleed on move)
* Optimizations to pathfind
* PUSH type effects
* Abilities can be tagged to proc on-hit bonuses ("empower attack" effects)
* First pass on making map tiles look good
* RemoveStatus effects

« Last Edit: September 28, 2016, 11:18:08 PM by zircon » Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #30 on: September 29, 2016, 05:28:46 AM »

Ooh! ^_^

I've downloaded it, and confirmed that it seems to largely work under WINE. (I did notice that the pause-menu seems to lack labels--but that might be related to my running it under something other than an actual Windows installation.)

I'll likely play it properly either later or tomorrow--I'm rather tired right now, and want to have a slightly clearer mind when playing, such that I'm less likely to miss things and more likely to provide accurate critique. ^^;
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #31 on: September 29, 2016, 10:58:03 AM »

CRITTER GALLERY



@Fervir has been doing an awesome job with creatures for the game. Here are just a few of them! (All are animated ingame).

The design style is influenced by games like Breath of Fire and Phantasy Star. Looking forward to sharing more!
Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #32 on: September 29, 2016, 11:36:28 AM »

All right, I've played it briefly, and have some feedback!

First of all, note that I played it under Ubuntu Linux via WINE; some of the issues below may stem from that.

Speaking of which, the game ran a little slowly for me, resulting in it feeling somewhat unresponsive. In all fairness, in addition to running it through WINE, I did have some other programs running--but the slowness was nevertheless a little surprising for a 2D game of this sort. I also had one crash, and one apparent freeze (with no errors that I noticed--unless there's a log somewhere that I should look at). I did note that the second level appeared to run more quickly at first, then slowed as I went on, so perhaps it's related to tiles being revealed?

On to the game itself!

The slow speed perhaps resulted in my noticing something: am I correct in guessing that the keyboard input is polled, not event-driven? I found that the game didn't seem to consistently respond to key-presses unless I held the key, which may be the result of the key's state changing to "pressed" and back between frames. Given that this is a turn-based game, I'm inclined to suggest switching to event-based key-handling, if feasible--it should be more reliable (I would imagine), even at low frame-rates.

(That unresponsiveness was perhaps--along with tiredness--the reason that it took me some time to figure out how to attack. I'm reasonably confident that I did try "bumping into" enemies, but attempted to do so by tapping the keys, which may have resulted in my inputs being lost and the impression that it didn't work.)

Speaking of the keys, I found the combination of arrows (or numpad) and mouse a little awkward--it results in my left hand sitting on the right side of the keyboard, my right hand being occupied by the mouse. This was perhaps exacerbated by the various hotkeys being scattered around the keyboard, calling for me to move my left hand to the opposite end of the keyboard every so often. It might be worth supporting "WASD"--or perhaps rather the left-hand "square" of keys, centred around "s"--for movement, and reassigning any hotkeys that clash with this.

However, I think that my primary suggestion regarding the controls is simply to make more use of the mouse. You already support mouse-controls for the hotbar--why not let me click on enemies to attack, empty tiles to move, and on a GUI overlay to open the various menus available? (Not to mention making those menus mouse-navigable.)

On the art-side, the graphics thus far look like a decent start! I might suggest "shaving" the convex corner tiles to connote that one can pass diagonally by them--right now they suggest to my eye that they block the diagonals that they "touch".

As to gameplay, it feels a little simple to me thus far--although I only delved to the second level, and was tired, so I may have missed some tactical depth. The abilities are cool, and add some appreciated spice to the "bump into things" mechanic.

The heavy use of directionality in "Find Weakness" and "Precision Jab"--the latter especially--did seem to me to limit their usefulness. I seldom seemed to be in a position to make good use of the former without moving and being hit, and the latter calls for remembering the last direction that it faced.

As to the "sand" ability, that I found very useful--but why does it only seem to aim "up"?

Finally, I'd like to see item information displayed when an object is collected--as it stands, it seems that I have to open the equipment menu and inspect each new item to learn about it. (Unless it ends up in the hotbar, in which case I do at least get its durability.)

All of that said, I found the game to overall be fun! If it were running more quickly--whether natively in Windows or otherwise--I could see myself returning to play further, I think.

I do like the idea that the character wanders around with pocketfuls of sand, by the way. ;P
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #33 on: September 29, 2016, 12:04:22 PM »

Thanks for the feedback! Believe me there are a million and one things I want to do and so much stuff to put in the game, and also balance is really not there, which means it's more of a shell of a game than anything (but that shell is what has taken 99% of development time!)

Slowness: I'm not getting that at all on Windows, so I wonder if it's something with Linux? I will make a Linux build to test as a comparison. I do know that there are lots of optimizations that can be done, but the common wisdom is that optimizing too early is not a great idea. For example do I put in potions and consumables or make monster pathfinding a little more efficient? Probably both but I think I should do the former first.

Unresponsiveness: Yep the input management is not great. On the list to improve for sure.

Arrows / Mouse: You shouldn't need the mouse to play at all. You can play with the numpad (or arrow keys) in your right hand for directionals, and then activate everything else with your left hand. What were you using the mouse for? That being said I definitely want to make click to attack, click to move, etc.

Directionality: This is supposed to be a theme of the Brigand. Because I'm not doing true directional 'facing' sprites for characters (too expensive), I wanted to give the feeling of striking an opponent's weak spots. It should feel good, and worth it to use. So if it doesn't I need to make that better of course. Wall Jump is supposed to be an ability you can really lean on to reposition yourself - i.e. lure a monster out into the open, then Wall Jump into position to get a big hit on them. With Find Weakness you can practically oneshot a lot of enemies if you have a decent weapon.

Sand Sweep: You can rotate this with "T" or by pressing the arrow keys in the direction you want the cone to go. Waay more flexible :D
Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #34 on: September 30, 2016, 07:37:15 AM »

Thanks for the feedback! Believe me there are a million and one things I want to do and so much stuff to put in the game, and also balance is really not there, which means it's more of a shell of a game than anything (but that shell is what has taken 99% of development time!)

My pleasure, and fair enough! ^_^

Slowness: I'm not getting that at all on Windows, so I wonder if it's something with Linux? I will make a Linux build to test as a comparison. I do know that there are lots of optimizations that can be done, but the common wisdom is that optimizing too early is not a great idea. For example do I put in potions and consumables or make monster pathfinding a little more efficient? Probably both but I think I should do the former first.

I do agree, I believe--and if this is related to the environment under which I was running it, then it's perhaps even less a concern. That said, the game was running sufficiently slowly that it impacted gameplay, I feel.

Hmm... I've played other games under WINE with little trouble, as I recall (although I forget whether I've done so with the other programs in question active while doing so). Perhaps your game is relying on some feature that my WINE installation doesn't provide? Does the game produce a log that I might look at, perhaps? While it is a low-priority matter, I'd like to at least check for this possibility, I think.

Unresponsiveness: Yep the input management is not great. On the list to improve for sure.

Good good! ^_^

Arrows / Mouse: You shouldn't need the mouse to play at all. You can play with the numpad (or arrow keys) in your right hand for directionals, and then activate everything else with your left hand. What were you using the mouse for? That being said I definitely want to make click to attack, click to move, etc.

Interesting! I think that, given the option to use the mouse, I tend to do so--I suppose that for many actions it just feels a little more intuitive or comfortable to me than do the keys.

As to what I was using it for, I believe that I was using it to select weapons and abilities from the hotbar, as suggested by the tutorial. I realise that there are hotkeys for these actions, but again, the mouse just seemed like the more comfortable option. (If there was time-pressure I might prefer the speed of hotkeys, but being turned-based, there is little pressure.)

For one thing, a GUI-based approach has the advantage of relying on recognition rather than recollection: one can simply look for the desired option, rather than remembering a hotkey.

Directionality: This is supposed to be a theme of the Brigand. Because I'm not doing true directional 'facing' sprites for characters (too expensive), I wanted to give the feeling of striking an opponent's weak spots. It should feel good, and worth it to use. So if it doesn't I need to make that better of course. Wall Jump is supposed to be an ability you can really lean on to reposition yourself - i.e. lure a monster out into the open, then Wall Jump into position to get a big hit on them. With Find Weakness you can practically oneshot a lot of enemies if you have a decent weapon.

Ah, I'll confess that I didn't think of using the wall-jump for this purpose! (Perhaps tiredness was to blame for that. ^^; )

I might retry the game with that in mind...

Sand Sweep: You can rotate this with "T" or by pressing the arrow keys in the direction you want the cone to go. Waay more flexible :D

Ah, I didn't know that! Did I miss that in the tutorial or help screen somewhere? ^^;
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #35 on: October 01, 2016, 03:02:18 PM »

OK!!! New build!

WINDOWS: http://zirconstudios.com/game/Build10-01-16.rar
MAC: http://zirconstudios.com/game/Build10-01-16.app.zip

* First pass on randomized dungeon decor and tile variation
* Enormous performance optimizations
* Fixed weirdness with hotbar weapons? Hopefully?
* You can now turn off tutorial tips
* Reworked line of sight calculations, render distance & player vision range (hopefully not wonky?)
* Abilities can have charge time (CT) offsets
* Charge time gain per turn and current CT amount displays properly on character sheet (C)
* Positive status effects now last longer based on your SPIRIT stat
* JP gain increased
* Hotkeying fists shows up as placeholder art (drumstick), sorry
* If the player observes interesting monster behavior, it will occasionally show up in the combat log
* Monsters can spawn with multiple items in their inventory
* Added increased variety in map rooms and variance per floor

* MAP EDGES: Still a problem sorry

Control Changes
* You can now left click on a tile to move to it, loot it if you're already on it, left click on monsters to attack (if in melee range), or click + hold to move in a straight line to tile. Left-click movement does not currently pathfind so you do have to be smart with where you hold the mouse
* You can now right-click in ability targeting to try rotating targeting shape (applies to Sand Sweep). "T" and arrow keys can be used for this too
* You can now unequip an item by pressing "U" while highlighting an equipped item
* You can now drop items by pressing "D" while highlighting an item in your item list.

Balance / Content Changes
* Consumables now exist and can be used from the inventory/equipment sheet (E)
* Consumables can be hotkeyed from 1-0 (on ability hotbar- doesn't affect weapon bar) - be careful not to overwrite one of your abilities though (sorry, next build will have a proper skill/spell book)
* BRIGAND: Find Weakness refunds 50 CT when used (puts you at least 50% closer to an extra turn)
* BRIGAND: Precision Jab now hits 2 squares (front and back)
* Salamanders now go nuts sometimes
* Grotto Flyers nerfed a bit
* New monster: Young Water Elemental, found on the 4th floor and below
* TOTALLY NOT RELATED TO DROPPING ITEMS there are now Altars. I wonder what those do.

Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #36 on: October 01, 2016, 06:25:27 PM »

Ah, that's quite an update, with some changes that I'm eager to try! I've downloaded it, with the intention of trying it out on Monday. ^_^
Logged

Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #37 on: October 04, 2016, 10:49:33 AM »

All right, I've played it briefly, and have a few thoughts on this version. I may return to the game and come back with more critique, but this makes a start, at least:

First, the mouse-controls were a big improvement, to my mind! Pathfinding might be appreciated, but even without it I think that I found the mouse-controls to be intuitive, responsive, and fun. Indeed, I'm inclined to encourage you to extend mouse-control further: add some UI buttons for things like the equipment screen, and make such screens mouse-navigable.

I did encounter one bug: At some point the UI-buttons that control the character's abilities seemed to become disjointed from their visual positions. That is, clicking on the button wouldn't necessarily work--instead, some seemingly-arbitrary region, generally nearby, possibly overlapping, would operate the button. (I think that this may have resulted in a few cases in abilities ended up being attempted on a tile near the hotbar, and thus being wasted.)

(I don't know offhand whether this affected the weapon-bar--I think that I had only one weapon at the time.)

The positional elements are indeed rather more fun now that I know to use wall-jumping! However, I found a number of cases in which I ended up fighting enemies in single-tile hallways, leaving little room for directional attacks. I could perhaps have drawn my foes out into rooms--but when there was more than one that incurred the risk of being surrounded, leaving me inclined to keep my opponents bottled.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to experiment with levels that are a little more open, either having broader corridors or simply using an approach different to the current "rooms-and-corridors" layout. This might reduce the temptation to bottle enemies, and might provide more space in which to play with those cool directional elements.

The game still runs a little slowly on my end, but it's tolerable with the mouse-controls (which I imagine are event-driven), and again, it may be in part an artefact of the manner in which I'm running the game.
Logged

zircon
Level 1
*


View Profile WWW
« Reply #38 on: October 05, 2016, 08:24:02 AM »

All right, I've played it briefly, and have a few thoughts on this version. I may return to the game and come back with more critique, but this makes a start, at least:

First, the mouse-controls were a big improvement, to my mind! Pathfinding might be appreciated, but even without it I think that I found the mouse-controls to be intuitive, responsive, and fun. Indeed, I'm inclined to encourage you to extend mouse-control further: add some UI buttons for things like the equipment screen, and make such screens mouse-navigable.

Agree 100%, it's coming!

Quote
I did encounter one bug: At some point the UI-buttons that control the character's abilities seemed to become disjointed from their visual positions. That is, clicking on the button wouldn't necessarily work--instead, some seemingly-arbitrary region, generally nearby, possibly overlapping, would operate the button. (I think that this may have resulted in a few cases in abilities ended up being attempted on a tile near the hotbar, and thus being wasted.)

(I don't know offhand whether this affected the weapon-bar--I think that I had only one weapon at the time.)

That's concerning, if you can figure out a way to reproduce let me know. The UI buttons are supposed to be fixed/anchored and there is nothing in the code that would move them. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the Unity UI/canvas tools. Were you running windowed or full screen?

Quote
The positional elements are indeed rather more fun now that I know to use wall-jumping! However, I found a number of cases in which I ended up fighting enemies in single-tile hallways, leaving little room for directional attacks. I could perhaps have drawn my foes out into rooms--but when there was more than one that incurred the risk of being surrounded, leaving me inclined to keep my opponents bottled.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to experiment with levels that are a little more open, either having broader corridors or simply using an approach different to the current "rooms-and-corridors" layout. This might reduce the temptation to bottle enemies, and might provide more space in which to play with those cool directional elements.

This boils down to dungeon generation. I've done a lot of work on the generation algorithm and I want to make more variety in the kind of levels you can find. I agree that more open spaces should be added. However, corridors and tight spaces should be part of gameplay also. This is a problem for the Brigand naturally BUT... There are going to be at least a dozen more classes, so I have to keep that in mind also :D

Quote
The game still runs a little slowly on my end, but it's tolerable with the mouse-controls (which I imagine are event-driven), and again, it may be in part an artefact of the manner in which I'm running the game.

For the next build I've rewritten a lot of rendering stuff which should hopefully (?) work way way better and more efficiently.
Logged
Thaumaturge
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #39 on: October 05, 2016, 10:20:20 AM »

That's concerning, if you can figure out a way to reproduce let me know. The UI buttons are supposed to be fixed/anchored and there is nothing in the code that would move them. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the Unity UI/canvas tools. Were you running windowed or full screen?

I think that I was in full-screen mode. Hmm... Running the launcher, I note a few things:
 - While I have two monitors, it seems to only recognise one of them (the second)
 - The selected (and only) resolution, on the other hand, seems to be that of the first monitor
This may be related to either WINE or my NVidia drivers--the latter seems to treat a dual-monitor setup oddly (which may be related to my having the second monitor connected via HDMI).

I intend to return to the demo for further play; if I do so, I'll hopefully remember to keep my eyes open, and perhaps see whether it works better in windowed mode.

This boils down to dungeon generation. I've done a lot of work on the generation algorithm and I want to make more variety in the kind of levels you can find. I agree that more open spaces should be added. However, corridors and tight spaces should be part of gameplay also. This is a problem for the Brigand naturally BUT... There are going to be at least a dozen more classes, so I have to keep that in mind also :D

Fair enough, on all counts! Hmm... Indeed, I can see some possibilities for classes and abilities that actually benefit from tight corridors, now that I think of it... Wink

Agree 100%, it's coming!

...

For the next build I've rewritten a lot of rendering stuff which should hopefully (?) work way way better and more efficiently.

Excellent, on both counts. ^_^
Logged

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 11
Print
Jump to:  

Theme orange-lt created by panic