Archmage Rises - the play-how-you-want mage simulator - now available on Early Access

[Gangrelrumbler]

I don't get it why people waste so much time trying to do a procedurally generated sub routine instead of just writing some nice side quests and making a solid dungeon. There is no good procedurally generated shit!

Because in theory it guarantees infinite content.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Because in theory it guarantees infinite content.

And in practice, a bit of incline >>>> an infinite quantity of shit.

I have to admit the huge world with an almost infinite amount of handcrafted content is a kind of cRPG gamer wet dream (the base gameplay has to be great first) but it can't be achieved, WoX and Might & Magic VI were made with that unreachable goal in mind.

Maybe a game will allow mods to add an infinite amount of regions to the game's world, possibly with vetted paying third party DLC, to avoid low quality content.

 

[thesecret1]

And in practice, a bit of incline >>>> an infinite quantity of shit.

True words. When I see "procedurally generated" anywhere in the game's description, I don't even bother trying it anymore. "Inifinite content" my ass, it's just infinite repetition.

 

[adrix89]

Procedural generation is fine, and frankly Indies don't have much of a choice.
It's just that in this particular case they forgot the Gameplay.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/5/9/update-116-3d-dungeons-released-meet-the-team-of-build-12

Build 12, 3D Dungeons, is finally released! If you are part of the pre-alpha pre-order group, go to Steam and play it now! And if not, well there has been no better time to jump in and support the game. Read the full 12.1 Release Notes.

Please report issues in the Steam bugs forum

Procedurally generating 3D Dungeons has been a long journey. 493 days to be exact. We’d sure like to know if you think it was worth it!

In this update we celebrate the programmers who built all the features of Build 12. Not in the video but very valuable to the experience are:

• Rogier van de Beek - 2D & Concept Art
  
  
• Emily - 3D Art
  
  
• James - Audio experience

That makes seven of us trying to make Archmage Rises a reality. The journey is funner with friends!

And a special thanks to our Small Council who provided valuable testing, feedback, and insights:

• willsama974
  
  
• Dhuran
  
  
• IsDonIsBest
  
  
• dRow_28

The next couple of weeks we will fix all the bugs and problems you discover. Tell us where to focus our efforts; we read everything you say. Steam Bugs Forum

While we solidify the dungeon experience, we’re going to start laying plans for Build 13: Combat & Spells. Expect to see active design discussions on Steam Discussion Forums in the next couple of weeks!

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/5/8/build-121-release-notes-may-8-2020

Intro
Well that took forever! Only 1 year, 4 months, and 7 days.

Whether you’ve been following the game for a little while or since the beginning, thanks for being here! I’m very happy to announce we finally have a playable enough build of the 3D dungeons you can try it!

Please report issues in the Steam bugs forum.
This lets us keep the main forum focused on design discussions.

Spoiler

Key Features

1. 3D explorable dungeons. Designed and decorated through AI so no playthrough is ever the same.
   
   
2. Completely overhauled dungeon map, minimap, UI, keyboard short keys
   
   
3. All new audio experience: hear monsters before you encounter them
   
   
4. Interact with levers, lockpick or bash in doors, find keys, maps, teleporters, and loads of treasure
   
   
5. New items to use in the dungeon, like lockpicks and crowbars
   
   
6. Traps now provide a moment to react before springing
   
   
7. Overhauled AI Motivation quest system to give you reasons to go into dungeons. As townsfolk encounter monsters they will react in different ways creating different kinds of quests
   
   
8. 8 more quest types, with all new dynamic NPC speech
   
   
9. New Artifact quests to find rare and valuable objects
   
   
10. Added Undead, Bandits, Wolves, and Giant Spiders to go along with the Goblin lairs and quests
    
    
11. Treasure maps of long last artifacts which can be found, purchased, or earned
    
    
12. Mayor now decides which threats are most important to address based on townsfolk reporting issues and time since incidence
    
    
13. Mayor now provides escalating quest chains. A simple investigation could lead to bounties, item retrieval, or wiping out the entire lair
    
    
14. Massive performance improvements, framerates went from 30fps to ~200fps
    
    
15. Bigger overland maps with line of sight fog of war
    
    
16. And so much more, everything we’ve been improving for the last 16 months
    

Play Tips

1. Use WASD-QE to navigate the overland hex map (Q is North West, E is North East)
   
   
2. J - Quest Journal, C - Character Sheet
   
   
3. Press and hold Spacebar to pass time by hour, handy when waiting for someone to come home or a store to open
   
   
4. Learn to run away and fight another day. Not all combats can be won, dungeons can rarely be cleared right away
   
   
5. You are a wimpy mage not a tank! Use your spells (Arcane Shield) to protect yourself in combat or you will die
   
   
6. Knocking on the door of a house when no one is home will give a new option to wait until someone comes home
   
   
7. Hovering over a building will tell you what it is, who lives or works there, and greys out the name if they are not present. You can also click it to visit it, so you don’t have to use the left menu
   
   
8. Use WASD or the Arrow Keys to navigate the dungeons. Just like Eye of the Beholder!
   
   
9. TAB or M brings up the dungeon map. You can navigate right from the map, unless the door is blocked
   
   
10. Monster sounds in the dungeon tell you the race, direction, and distance from your location
    
    
11. Sleep restores stamina. Healers restore health. Alcohol solves all problems. :-p
    

Known Issues
Things we know and wish were better, so you don’t need to report them, we’re working on them:

1. Combat - the dungeons are greatly improved, but the combat is not. It’s the focus of the next major build
   
   
2. Sometimes leaving a town takes forever and there is no loading screen
   
   
3. Notifications are repeated upon exiting a Town
   
   
4. Sometimes the notification bar says on the screen and won’t go away
   
   
5. Quest list shows black faces first time it is accessed
   
   
6. Stutter in map display when leaving location
   
   
7. Sometimes the NPC text has an extra “is”, we’re still training the text generator!
   
   
8. Some menus overlap when there are long menu options
   
   
9. Overland map sometimes show random black hexes, or the opposite, shows hexes that shouldn’t be shown
   
   
10. Sometimes rooms are decorated totally blank - this is because the decorator gave up after N iterations
    
    
11. Some room furniture overlap
    
    
12. Some dungeon props don’t outline properly
    

SDG

 

[ntonystinson]

Hope Rises

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2...ge-rises-3d-dungeons-build-121-the-grigg-ring

Today my good friend Neil joins me for a totally unscripted play through of Build 12 and the 3D dungeons. When I say unscripted, everything that could go wrong, did! Audio problems, gameplay bugs, 10 foot poles breaking, live code editing and game recompiling, all in the unwavering quest to find The Grigg Ring!

Every other Let's Play of Archmage Rises will be better than this one!

 

[Haba]

"I don't think this Let's Play is going to help me sell any copies of the game, I can tell you that..."

Yup.

Also, the first RPG with competing NPC adventurer parties completing quests? Uh... I'm pretty sure some games at least planned to do this. Grimoire?

 

[ntonystinson]

"I don't think this Let's Play is going to help me sell any copies of the game, I can tell you that..."

Yup.

Also, the first RPG with competing NPC adventurer parties completing quests? Uh... I'm pretty sure some games at least planned to do this. Grimoire?

The let's play bugs aside actually showed a lot of interesting features. I especially liked the news system as well as the line view system on the map where a hill gives you a longer point of view

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

"I don't think this Let's Play is going to help me sell any copies of the game, I can tell you that..."

Yup.

Also, the first RPG with competing NPC adventurer parties completing quests? Uh... I'm pretty sure some games at least planned to do this. Grimoire?

Well, other games have certainly simulated it, if not actually implemented it. With time limits implied to be NPC parties doing the job for you. I know Mordor II did that, but I can't help but feel someone actually managed have other parties roaming around...

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/5/22/build-122-release-notes-may-22-2020

Intro
Build 12.1 took 16 months.
Build 12.2 took 2 weeks.
Hey! We’re getting faster!

This release expands on Build 12 by addressing issues brought up by the community.

Whether you’ve been following the game for a little while or since the beginning, thanks for being here!

Please report issues in the Steam bugs forum. This lets us keep the main forum focused on design discussions.

Major Improvements (Since 12.1)

1. New trap detection and disarming mechanic - thanks to the Steam community discussion.
   
   1. Traps are now at the item level not the room. Traps are on a door, searchable object, lever, etc.
      
      
   2. Traps can now be detected (Perception skill) before being triggered
      
      
   3. New spell Freeze for disarming mechanical traps
      
      
   4. New spell Dispel Magic for disarming magical traps
      
      
   5. New item: Thieve’s Tools for Stealth checks in disarming traps
      
      
   6. Repurposed 10 foot pole - it used to help trap detection, now it can be used to harmlessly trigger a detected trap
      
2. Dungeon rooms now contain sensible loot: No more Books from the Kitchen, Rations from the Study!
   
   
3. Time only passes in the Dungeon when exploring NEW rooms.
   
   
4. Dungeon rooms now begin dark and require a light to light fireplaces, candlesticks and torches.
   
   1. You cannot search or interact with items in a dark room
      
      
   2. You may only leave a dark room, new doors do not open
      
5. Removed loading times/stutters when entering hexes and towns
   
   
6. Added a quest type for treasure maps. If you are lucky enough to find one.
   
   
7. Added more loading screen artwork (then eliminated most of the need for loading screens :-p )
   
   
8. Added a New Game option directly to the ESC Game Menu.
   
   1. You no longer have to save your game in order to start a new life.

Spoiler

Bug Fixes
We believe we have fixed all reported bugs. Some we think we fixed because with all the other code changes we could not reproduce what was reported. Here’s what we solved:

1. 10 foot pole broke the game and ruined Let’s Plays
   
   
2. No way to complete dropped my [object] quest
   
   
3. Dropped my [object] quest was dropping in Town hex making it impossible to turn in
   
   
4. It was possible to get the game into a state where saving would create a junk file and never ever load
   
   
5. Quest completion didn’t show the right card
   
   
6. Food & wine crates were appearing in the hallways
   
   
7. Mage Tower UI didn’t work
   
   
8. Random black hexes appearing on the map
   
   
9. Notifications replaying when leaving a town
   
   
10. Household list scrolling too slow with mouse wheel
    
    
11. Monster tracks were appearing in a town
    
    
12. Treasure room didn’t provide treasure (boo!)
    
    
13. NPC Dialog window didn’t align
    
    
14. Teleporter not appearing in final dungeon room
    
    
15. Passing time in front of someone’s home made the game unplayable
    
    
16. News clipping mask too low
    
    
17. Quest log shows black faces first time it is viewed
    
    
18. Crates and Barrels were generating and stacking way too far and high. There is now a sensible max so people don’t need a levitation spell to get the top barrel
    
    
19. Stone floor material lost transparency
    
    
20. Casting during a Trap encounter did not show particles nor played sound effects
    
    
21. Relationships were showing XBox controller buttons instead of colored faces for level of relationship and heart for romantic relationship
    
    
22. Mayor quest could never actually be completed - whoops!
    
    
23. The Grigg ring could not be found. Everyone assures me NOW it can be found!
    
    
24. Save game won’t load after clicking treasure
    
    
25. Screen going black when returning from combat to dungeon
    
    
26. Benches were not facing room centerpiece
    
    
27. Shrine room was sometimes empty
    
    
28. Tavern room was sometimes empty, walls were empty
    
    
29. Large shrine room felt empty, added more decoration
    
    
30. Temple room was too empty
    
    
31. When moving one hex the cursor didn’t adjust to the new position
    
    
32. Beds clipping through walls
    
    
33. Bunk beds appearing right in front of the player’s face
    
    
34. Town Details text was too small/fuzzy
    

Play Tips

1. Use WASD-QE to navigate the overland hex map (Q is North West, E is North East)
   
   
2. J - Quest Journal, C - Character Sheet
   
   
3. Press and hold Spacebar to pass time by hour, handy when waiting for someone to come home or a store to open
   
   
4. Learn to run away and fight another day. Not all combats can be won, dungeons can rarely be cleared right away
   
   
5. You are a wimpy mage not a tank! Use your spells (Arcane Shield) to protect yourself in combat or you will die
   
   
6. Knocking on the door of a house when no one is home will give a new option to wait until someone comes home
   
   
7. Hovering over a building will tell you what it is, who lives or works there, and greys out the name if they are not present. You can also click it to visit it, so you don’t have to use the left menu
   
   
8. Use WASD or the Arrow Keys to navigate the dungeons. Just like Eye of the Beholder!
   
   
9. TAB or M brings up the dungeon map. You can navigate right from the map, unless the door is blocked
   
   
10. Monster sounds in the dungeon tell you the race, direction, and distance from your location
    
    
11. Sleep restores stamina. Healers restore health. Alcohol solves all problems. :-p
    

Known Issues
None!

SDG

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/6/13/update-119-game-engine-updated

It’s a busy time! We have successfully upgrade the game from Unity 5.6 to 2019.3 and will now continue to track with the latest Unity versions. Dungeon tech continues to develop as we add grime and staining to the walls. Finally, we will soon start working on Build 13 - Combat, where you get to participate in the design discussion.

Can’t get enough emergent gameplay? Archmage taking too long to finish? Go checkout EmergentMage for all news on emergent gameplay games.

Huzzah! The pandemic is almost over!

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/6/18/work-in-progress-dirty-dungeons

WORK IN PROGRESS - DIRTY DUNGEONS

(Not sure that title will get us the google hits we want, but whatever… )

Excited to show some of Daniel2’s work on making our dungeons look absolutely filthy, ancient, and lived in:

Before. Pristine.

Yech!

Let me find the McGuffin and get out of here!

For giggles, here is what the 2d dungeons looked like 2 years ago.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/6/20/update-120-new-combat-design-build-13

With the 3D dungeons in place, it is time to improve the Combat Experience. This video update walks through the principles and goals of this major build. We are making our internal design document available to you for review and comment. This is a level of transparency and inclusiveness we’ve never done before!

Build 13 Combat Design PDF
The doc will be updated at that link, so you always have the latest version.

As you read it, you are invited to jump in on the conversations taking place on Steam right now:

1. Goals, Principles, Encounter Mechanics
2. Battlefield
3. Status Effects
4. Spells
5. Monsters
6. Items, Armor, Weapons

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/6/27/update-121-lets-play-3d-dungeons-again-build-123

In the middle of May we shot a Let’s Play of the 3D Dungeons. It… did not go well. Basically everything that could go wrong, did. That’s what you get for a procedurally generated game and making code changes right before shooting a video.

The game is a lot better now. Today we demonstrate what it is like to play a pre-Alpha release of Archmage Rises.

Joining us this week is Ernest Scribner of EmergentMage.com, a gaming blog dedicated to procedurally generated emergent gameplay games. He is a long time fan and recently wrote a feature article on Archmage Rises.

This play through shows the basic cycle of getting a major quest to find an artifact, and completing it. It’s just a taste of all that Archmage Rises is.

We thought we would have Build 12.3 out today, but due to Unity recently removing a critical feature in 2019.3, it will be a few more days.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/7/10/build-123-release-notes

Intro
This release expands on Build 12 by upgrading the Unity Game Engine

Whether you’ve been following the game for a little while or since the beginning, thanks for being here!

Please report issues in the Steam bugs forum. This lets us keep the main forum focused on design discussions.

Major Improvements (Since 12.2)

1. Upgraded game engine from 3 year old unity 5.6 to 2019.3
   
   
2. All new rendering and lighting engine for 3d dungeons – expect slightly better graphics and performance
   
   
3. Unity removed their resolution dialog picker, we created our own at application launch, which saves your setting, and can be changed from the title screen.
   
   
4. New dungeon room: Library
   
   
5. Added monster decorators to room generation, things like blood stains and bones
   
   
6. Greatly expanded the kind of loot you can find in dungeons
   
   
7. Added new Cold trap which, when triggered, damages stamina instead of health
   
   
8. Added new icons for books and drinks
   
   
9. Weaponsmiths and Armorers were not being added to towns for simulator reasons. Forced them to exist for now.
   
   
10. Fixed lever being on the wrong side of a sealed door. Whoops!

Spoiler

Bug Fixes
We believe we have fixed all reported bugs.

1. Fixed 100+ bugs related to the engine upgrade not really worth detailing them all here
   

Play Tips

1. Use WASD-QE to navigate the overland hex map (Q is North West, E is North East)
   
   
2. J - Quest Journal, C - Character Sheet
   
   
3. Press and hold Spacebar to pass time by hour, handy when waiting for someone to come home or a store to open
   
   
4. Learn to run away and fight another day. Not all combats can be won, dungeons can rarely be cleared right away
   
   
5. You are a wimpy mage not a tank! Use your spells (Arcane Shield) to protect yourself in combat or you will die
   
   
6. Knocking on the door of a house when no one is home will give a new option to wait until someone comes home
   
   
7. Hovering over a building will tell you what it is, who lives or works there, and greys out the name if they are not present. You can also click it to visit it, so you don’t have to use the left menu
   
   
8. Use WASD or the Arrow Keys to navigate the dungeons. Just like Eye of the Beholder!
   
   
9. TAB or M brings up the dungeon map. You can navigate right from the map, unless the door is blocked
   
   
10. Monster sounds in the dungeon tell you the race, direction, and distance from your location
    
    
11. Sleep restores stamina. Healers restore health. Alcohol solves all problems. :-p
    

Known Issues
None that we know of!

SDG

 

[NPC451]

This game seems to actually be making progress surprisingly.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

so what do you actually do in this game

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't know the answer to this

 

[ntonystinson]

This game seems to actually be making progress surprisingly.

Progress would be faster if they did a public early access instead of the private one they have

 

[Ranarama]

Early Access is frequently a mistake. You only get one first impression, and for many people if they seek the Early Access label will skip that entirely. Coming out of early access is a non-event. This is better.

 

[ntonystinson]

Early Access is frequently a mistake. You only get one first impression, and for many people if they seek the Early Access label will skip that entirely. Coming out of early access is a non-event. This is better.

Lot less feedback and exposure this way plus early access gives you the bonus of two launch dates

 

[Ranarama]

Lot less feedback and exposure this way plus early access gives you the bonus of two launch dates

Two launch dates, one of which your game is at the worst state it will be in, and have a tag people ignore and filter out. The second is a non-event, a game people have already heard about is still available. Okay. Who cares?

One normal launch date beats both of those put together, that's my point.

 

[Butter]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/8/8/update-123-combat-early-prototype

This week I share some of the challenges we’ve had in July, both personally and professionally, and then show a sneak peak at the new combat system we’ve been working on.

Work so far:

• Reworked the entire combat system to target Spots and anything currently occupying those spots
  
  
• Line of sight calculations and blocking
  
  
• Non-combatant props that impact the combat and react to it
  
  
• Flying creatures (and props)
  
  
• New spell visual effects capabilities
  
  
• New Spell: Flame which causes a spot on the battlefield to burn
  
  
• Clouds/fog

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.archmagerises.com/news/2020/8/14/update-124

This week we address some of the bugs in the release of 12.3, then show some of our progress on the combat engine, then finally show some pics of a new race coming to Vaelun!

 

[lightbane]

It never ends.