Vapourware Codexian Game Development Thread

[rap2h]

Hello! The Secret of Darkwoods is out now on Steam (free, forever). I hope you will like it!



I made this game in my spare time during the last 6 months, I would be glad to have your feedback. Feel free to ask me anything!

 

[Justinian]

What's the best forum to start a thread for a roguelite? Rpg or general gaming?



Anyway, here are some free keys for my game. If they get taken and anyone else wants one DM me (not sure if spoilers tag hide them from bots).

Spoiler

LJWDQ-BN5BH-PY807
NA34R-K8WYB-4EA4D
4TQ4C-VPQTL-6CRX3
TQFKR-9W8FJ-GQ9PH
QFZHZ-8CRGY-A250N

Also, is there a codex thread for giving away free keys in general?

 

[barker_s]

Thanks, Justinian, I took the last code out of curiosity, since I never played Vampire Survivors or any of its clones.

As for the dedicated keys thread, there's giftstravaganza.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Started building the world, with 26 screens completed so far. The world size in the original was about 209 screens (including maps used for story scenes), which makes me wonder if this spin-off will end up being bigger.

There's still a lot of work to do, but I'm satisfied with the current progress, as the game has been in active development for about a month. Hopefully, all systems will be done by late April, so I can focus on content and (hopefully) finish it this Summer.

 

[Tweed]

Yeah yeah sure, but when are you making a spiritual successor to VIRTUAL Hydlide?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Yeah yeah sure, but when are you making a spiritual successor to VIRTUAL Hydlide?

If you're willing to play the princess for free, I'll think about it. Keep in mind that you'll have to buy the dress / wig / pair of coconuts with your own money.

 

[NoMoneyNoFameNoDame]

I fixed a bug relating to Money in my game.
Then added some giant Colorful Discs.

https://i.imgur.com/9Ygtt76.png

They rotate.

 

[Justinian]

Thanks, Justinian, I took the last code out of curiosity, since I never played Vampire Survivors or any of its clones.

As for the dedicated keys thread, there's giftstravaganza.

Looks like I don't have access to it, I guess I'll have to wait a year, like with getting brofists & ratings.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Decided to rebrand the studio and come up with a new logo to keep up with the ever-changing market.

 

[Ysaye]

Working on a level editor for a tactics game

Nice graphics! Like a professional Ultima 8 look (Regardless of it's gameplay I always had a soft spot for the graphics in that game).

 

[Spectral Pontifex]

I fixed a bug relating to Money in my game.
Then added some giant Colorful Discs.

https://i.imgur.com/9Ygtt76.png

They rotate.

Damn, Redaxium 2 actually looks rad. I got the first one for free so I bought this one with my own money.

I was appalled that the only review on there is some German complaining. I have to admit it made me chuckle though. The game was priced at 25 Euros before?

I will write a review to dispel this anti-Redaxium propaganda once I get to play it.

 

[Twiglard]

I was able to fix sprite draw ordering. It becomes a problem when sprites are bigger than a single isometric tile. It could be worked around if only character movement was stuck to the grid, but actually I prefer seamless movement by a whole lot.

This video was very informative:

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Found some free time to participate in the Dungeon Crawler Jam 2023.

 

[Justinian]

Running out of minutia to waste time on. No real choice, gotta start producing advertising material for my game. Was not looking forward to this but it's gotta be done unless I want my game to die in obscurity.

 

[GoblinGrotto]

Nice graphics! Like a professional Ultima 8 look (Regardless of it's gameplay I always had a soft spot for the graphics in that game).

Thanks! No way I'll be able to match the details of that art, but I've always loved how it looks.

I was able to fix sprite draw ordering. It becomes a problem when sprites are bigger than a single isometric tile. It could be worked around if only character movement was stuck to the grid, but actually I prefer seamless movement by a whole lot.

I was looking into that as well for my game. In the end I went for this approach instead


It's far from perfect, too wide objects would still clip into tiles. But it should work for what I'm going for.

 

[CryptRat]

 

[Tweed]

I think I'd rather play a game about two Eskimos and their dog instead of Nightmare in Lisafrankland.

 

[CryptRat]

You can end the game without entering the dream world (except for the first minute, you start inside), it's kind of the hard mode though'.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

I'm jamming guys!

 

[Kev Inkline]

I think I'd rather play a game about two Eskimos and their dog instead of Nightmare in Lisafrankland.

 

[Justinian]

Is there such a thing as too many summons? No, I don't think there is.

Spoiler

 

[CryptRat]

The number of entries of the Dungeon Crawler Jam will be crazy, probably more than 150 and 200 is not unlikely, that's 7day-roguelike challenge levels.

 

[GoblinGrotto]

Wish I had time to join the Dungeon Crawl Jam. Kinda want to dust off my old crawl engine:

 

[Moaning_Clock]

My game for the Dungeon Crawler Jam will be a tower of the sorcerer/magic tower type of game, if you never heard of it, it's very niche. Deep Rune and Myth Bearer are also inspired from the game (and that is where I got the inspiration, I never played the original game). The genre relies heavily on resource management. You try to get optimally through the dungeon, normally you replay the game a couple of times until you finally got it and win - you absolutely can play yourself into a dead end and this is intended. Optimizing your route after winning is additionally fun!

I have a Love/Hate Relationship with themes but finally came up with the idea that you play a bloodmage. The health of the character is also your mana pool and every spell you cast takes parts of your life. When you level up your life is restored. So, you die to kill, and kill to live!

There are four spells available:
- Attack
- Magic Armor
- Create Key
- Fill Experience (you can fill enemies with experience to get more when you kill them)

You start with your attack spell but with each level up you can choose another one - your strategy depends also on the order but every order should be possible but some are harder than others.

I think Dungeon Crawlers work pretty well together with this type of game but as far as I know this was never done before.

Right now, the game is playable from start to finish. I just put the first two sounds into it. I'm also happy that I have a few small overworlds which are a great visual breakup from the dungeon; visual variety was one of the problems that accompanied my development of Sonucido.

Still missing:
- more sounds
- ambience or music
- save system
- ability to restart the game
- story text
- some way to change options (basics: fullscreen, audio)
- one dialogue
- a better win screen with functionality
- a better lose screen with functionality
- (optional) german localization
- (optional) trailer
- (optional) in-game credits (I could ship it with a .txt)

 

[Moaning_Clock]

My fiancee helped me with the color palette and I think this gives me an extra point for the graphics! The colors should blend together better.



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