v1.1.85
Comprehensive new item generator with tons of new item properties. Now, all items are generated from a base item with a chance at an extra ability like regeneration, fire damage, poison resistance, stunning, etc. Likely to be bugs, as this is a pretty big addition, but I think the majority are worked out. Adds a huge amount of depth that the game was lacking.
New command - (x) will now switch between a main and back-up melee weapon. This is especially useful for rogues to use a dagger for max damage on a stealth attack, and then switch to a better weapon for melee, though any class will benefit.
New Visual Cues - I hate having the message log cluttered with a message for every weapon swing when a monster is resistant or weak to an attack. Instead, I have removed the messages (you can still see the damage you do and infer whether an attack is effective or not) and instead added different animations for each attack. An entirely missed attack looks different from a normal hit, which in turn looks different from a critical hit, which in turn looks different from a resisted attack. Hopefully this will make the gameplay a little more fluid. The cues will be updated to look 'prettier' in the future, but are currently fully implemented and will let you know how you are doing without having to review the message log constantly.
In line with the new randomized item attributes system, I have cleaned up and standardized the base items in the game. Now, there is a clear, clean progression of each level of base item, and the relationships are pretty standard. For example Iron armor is a set amount better than Copper armor, and a standard price based on material, as well. Each individual piece of armor will increase a certain amount per level (ie, if iron gauntlets are 2AC better than copper gauntlets, then you can assume an iron helmet is 2AC better than a copper helmet.) This also applies to weapons; ie, a mace of whatever construction/level will always be slightly inferior in damage to a sword of similar level/construction.
As promised in the prior patch, I have cleaned up the skill tree screen. Unpurchased skills appear in white, whereas purchased skills are colored. The screen can be controlled solely with the mouse or the keyboard, for those who prefer to play a certain way. Also, I've added a skill description box to the bottom of the screen for people who don't want to use a mouse and hover over the skill - simply move the selection to the skill you want to see described.
Reworked the skill 'save' system. Your stats now have a much greater (and uniform) effect on your skill saves. Saves are performed by comparing a 'challenge rating' versus the appropriate stat. Willpower is used to resist poisoning, and dexterity is used to avoid falling into a fire trap, for example.
Monsters can now appear in swarms, depending on type, so beware.
Out-of-depth loot can now be generated, but only rarely.
Added an experience bar to the bottom of the display.
Fixed a bug with target selecting (I think). (UPDATE: Truly fixed now)
Increased the total number of monsters, and the rate at which they spawn.
Fixed a bug with recentering screen properly after teleporting.
Brought the Fire Elementals damage in line with the mage Fireball spell.
Both skeletons and wolves have gotten a boost to their stats as they level.
Added a message log to the inventory screen for real-time inventory messages.
Fixed a bug/poor programming decision to allow certain actions to still occur when you are stunned (such as looking at the message log, selecting a new target, or checking your inventory). Previously, you couldn't do ANYTHING when stunned, not even toggle a health bar or reset the camera.
On the whole, the balance of the game has shifted. Certain classes seemed easy to me before, and are harder now, and vice versa. I will continue to balance things as features are added. In the meantime, thanks for playing, and I welcome any comments on how I could better balance or implement features.
v1.1.78
On second thought, maybe identifying entire classes of objects is a little too easy. I have switched over to the other method, where each individual item must be identified. There are still exceptions to this - for example, if you identify a trivial item, such as a piece of food, all occurances of that item will be identified. However, weapons and armor must be identified on an individual basis.
There are also a fairly large number of less obvious refinements to simply make things more streamlined. For example:
-Accessing Inventory screen while in town no longer kicks you back out of town when you close it. This is most useful when you are trying to decide what to buy in comparison with your current equipment. You still are kicked back into the game world if you perform an 'action' (drink a potion, read a scroll, eat, etc.).
-A 'real' item generation system is in place for generating enchanted/cursed items, rather than the earlier system where items were hard-coded as enchanted.
-(Hopefully) eliminated a bug which has been haunting me for at least the past 78 versions. Very sporadically, equipping an item will simply cause it to disappear; I still have no idea why exactly it occurs, especially since it doesn't seem to be reproducable in any obvious way. Hopefully my changes have addressed it, but let me know if you see it pop up again.
-Refinements to the Inventory/Character screen. (Subtle changes to displayed info; the Drop Item button has been removed, this function is performed by highlighting the item and pressing D; Made the background text darker for more contrast, etc.)
Added some new dungeon improvements.
Fixed a bug where the exit from a teleported could be in a tree.
Sorry not much 'fun' content today. The above changes constituted several hours work that really needed to be done. I am finally at a point where I am playing the game over and over with different classes and stopping and fixing bugs as I find them. I feel like the engine is becoming mroe refined with each pass, and I am ore able to focus on fun stuff rather than bug fixes.
Thank you for your time!!
B
v1.1.76
Item Identification - Finally got this feature coded after mulling over it for some time. Similar to other systems you may be familiar with in roguelikes, items now start uinidentified. To identify an item, you must equip it in the case of weapons and armor, or use it in the case of scrolls, tools, etc. There are currently a few other ways to ID items ingame already, as well, including identification scrolls, and some random event type things that may help you out.
There are a few other things to note about the ID system. Once you have id'd an item, all other versions of that item become identified as well, INCLUDING cursed items. My rationale is that, if you have seen a normal version of an item, you should be able to tell if something is wrong with another of the exact same items. I MAY change this in the future, as it is an actual design consideration, and not a consequence of the way the system works. That being said, let the player beware of truly unidentified items the first time they use them.
The effects of cursed items are rather limited at the moment. Firstmost, as expected, you cannot unequip cursed weapons and armor; cursed weapons and armor have randomly reduced stats. Other items function a little bit differently.
There will likely be some bugs cropping up, as this it the first iteration; expect to see the system more refined in the next few days, as I have been pretty vigilant at coding over the past couple of weeks.
Also, I haven't forgotten my last patch notes - I am still working on making the skill tree more user-friendly.
Thanks,
B
v1.1.74
The Character/Inventory screen has undergone a minor upgrade as part of an effort to make the mouse entirely optional. On the character screen, up and down selects items in your pack, enter will perform the default action (drink a potion, equip a weapon, read a scroll, etc), and pressing D will drop the item. Equipped items have a hot key assigned which will remove the item and place it in your inventory (for example, press S to remove your shield, or O to remove your boots). Pressing ESC at any point will close the screen. All mouse functionality remains unchanged. You no longer have to tab to a box in order to give the correct input - the interface is a bit more forgiving and friendly. (Absolutely no need for the mouse unless you just like using it!!)
The skill select screen IS hotkeyed, but you have to press ALT+KEY to get your selection. I will be changing this in the very near future, but in the meantime, be aware you can select skills without the mouse as well. This will be a little more user-friendly in the next version.
In addition, I have decided to remove the turn penalty for equipping/unequipping weapons. The reason for this is twofold: First, causing this action to use a turn essentially requires the inventory to automatically close, so you can see the monsters take their turn. This is disorienting, and does not allow you to easily see the effects of changing armor pieces out. Second, I want the player to have different armor/weapons for different situations. The penalty for having all this equipment is expressed in weight, making the turn penalty superfluous. Yeah, it may be 'unrealistic'....but you ARE fighting giant rats, carnivourous plants, and fire breathing dogs, so....yeah...
Added some information to the character select screen that expressly indicates your starting skill based on class and alignment.
Refinements to the minimap. Stairs are more clearly marked, and resolution has been improved, removing some visual distortion.
Reorganized levels - you will face certain levels in a certain order, rather than randomly, in order to preserve at least a small amount of continuity. (ie, passing through the forest, you come to a lake; passing the lake you arrive at the first castle....Rather than passing the forest into a burning cave with a lake underneath, and another forest below that. However, the level layout remains randomizd. Expect to see the levels ultimately fit into something of a coherent adventure as time progresses and I add more levels.
Fixed some bugs, added a little bit of new content.
Today was mostly fixing UI and bugs; more 'content' to be added the next few versions/days.
Thanks!!
v1.1.73
New skill - (e)xploding shots - Archers can mystically charge their ranged attacks to explode on impact - but beware of being caught in the blast!
Monster speeds have been reassigned (Mainly lowered in general - some ranged attackers were simply too fast, and could destroy the player without them being able to close range. Note that this mainly affected weaker monster - you must still find a way to deal with more powerful, fast ranged attackers. A few lumbering melee creature were slowed down, but have increased damage to compensate.)
Several new monsters (and monster types/skills)
New dungeon features
New items (and item variations)
New traps
New interactivity in dungeon elements. (This category is slowly being worked up in every patch, so don't be surprised to see new stuff in every minor release.)
Toughness changed to have slightly more effect
Healing slightly reworked
Magic damage slightly toned down
Melee damage slightly increased
Debug tools removed
Visual range reduced very slightly (for a decent bump in performance), as well as the total viewable area. This also results in a little less stretching/compressing of the graphics.
Fixed a bug where stunned monsters were acting more as if they were confused than stunned; stuns now work properly.
Fixed a bug where using ice armor to absorb trap damage caused a crash.
Fixed a bug where melee weapon bonuses were being used to calculate ranged weapon bonuses.