dislekcia
Desktop Dungeons Interface Reboot
Progress on DD is picking up, now that we’re able to start on it full time properly:
Aequitas has been getting the basics going in Unity so that we can start moving development over to that for the full version. Those ofย you that have issues with getting hemmed in by monsters at low level will have a new target for your ire soon, because he’s been messing with the random generation algs as well.
Nandrew’s been working on the religion system in the game and we’re busy testing how the changes impact both first-time players and veterans. It was clear that certain gods were just too powerful if worshipped early and that the incremental increase system was a little too open to runaway positive feedback. He’s also been resolutely squishing bugs and poking the Vampire with a stick in the hopes that it’ll be less broken when he’s done…
I’ve been messing with the game’s interface (because I tend to feel strongly about these things), trying to make it more streamlined and less “math heavy” for people to play. It took a while to write a modular interface overlay that I can change the look of in a hurry, but I’m getting to the point where the sorts of big, friendly health bars and damage taken/dealt indication are in the game.
One of the big things I’ve been focusing on is to remove the need for popups unless user-prompted and to re-use the bottom-right pane of the screen depending on current context.ย So shops and altars tell you what’s on offer or who they belong to without a popup and you can choose to buy/worship without the game pausing… At least, that’s the theory. We’ll probably still have to have some sort of menu for the new religion system so that you can choose what to spend your piety on, but that’s still coming ๐
May 10th, 2010 at 9:48 am
First off, I’m a huge fan of this game – it is the most addictive thing in years!
You should really look at making a mobile version of this. Something like iphone (and ipad?) or android and then sell it on the app store or in the market. It would be a perfect fit for a touch screen device – the interface would need very few changes and things should mostly just fit. The main pattern for the interface would probably just be to not do anything immediately: tap to select where you want to go or attack, tap again to actually move or attack.
This is the perfect low power casual game – you can just save the current game’s state when you exit the app and continue to play later.
Btw, just realised you are also in Cape Town. Nice! ๐
May 10th, 2010 at 10:34 am
We’re working on building the full version in such a way that we’ll be able to move it across to iPhone/Android very soon after it’s out for PC ๐
May 30th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Nice little game you’ve got! I published a mini-review/recommendation of it in my company’s last newsletter. Here’s the text:
In just a few seconds (depending on the speed of your Interwebz), you can play DD right on your desktop. Yes, that’s right, Desktop Dungeons has arrived, and it’s an amusing way to kill some time.
“What is Desktop Dungeons?” you ask.
Well, the site’s managers anticipated that very question. Here’s the official answer: Desktop Dungeons lets you “[f]ight your way through a fantasy dungeon in 10 minutes or less” with “[c]lassic roguelike play re-imagined as a single-screen puzzle game”. Along the way, you can “[u]nlock loads of classes, races and challenge dungeons for awesome replayability”. The “[o]nline leaderboard allows you to compare yourself against other players”. Best of all, DD provides “[d]eep, challenging, randomly-generated gameplay.”
DD strips roguelike games to the barebones. You get to kill monsters, loot treasure, visit shops, and worship at strange altars, but the only thing that moves is your character. The monsters and obstacles remain stationary. By hovering the mouse pointer over a monster, you get an assessment of its deadliness compared to your character. The result is a cross between a maze and puzzle that you must navigate and solve through clever exploration and resource management in order to kill the boss monster. If you kill the boss monster, additional game features unlock.
Hop over the Desktop Dungeons site and take a look. Who knows? You might enjoy yourself.
July 1st, 2010 at 5:26 pm
it is very interesting~~