Incline Das Geisterschiff - turn-based cyberpunk dungeon crawler

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

And spinners? What about spinners

Since compass and minimap are present, I thought they wouldn't be as annoying as they are in older dungeon crawlers. They should be very easy to implement if I change my mind.

As long as there are no dark zones I'll be happy to be honest.

There are dark zones, though. However, they can be turned off by finding the generator and pulling a switch/smashing it if they get very annoying for you.

 

[BlackGoat]

Spinners that briefly scramble compass and minimap perhaps?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Possible. I thought of a rare trap that causes abnormal behavior for a random number of turns instead of spinners.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The scariest part of teh UI is pretty much done.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Linking UI stuff to the ingame functions. Got used to quick attacks by a single key press during earlier combat tests, so I think I'll leave a hotkey (CTRL) to quickly attack whatever is in front of you without moving.
Right now attack/use commands are linked as well as weapon switching/reloading. Moving on to the ram responses and text-related stuff.

Going to work on AI too -- the groundwork is done, now I need to move on to the fun part and design different enemy types and their stats/equipment/behavior. I'm thinking about 12 unique enemy types for now +optional bosses.

Also noted the stuff I need to finish to call this game feature-complete. There's still a lot to do, but the worst stuff is already way behind me and I'm optimistic that I'll be able to deal with the majority of remaining features in November if I keep moving at the current (relaxed) pace. Then I can move on to work on actual content as well as graphics/sound.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

BTW, here's the latest progress video:

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Another update:

• Improved landmines. Now they are affecting objects located at the adjacent tiles instead of a single object that interacts with it. The damage is halved for adjacent objects while the object on the same square gets full damage. Thus max damage is slightly increased from 40 to 56, while the minimum damage remains at 24. This allows you to give your enemy a light burn in da face if they are standing next to it and also makes disarming less of a pain in the ass, while makes stepping on the landmines even deadlier, or end up in a situation where you've accidentally smashed the door you wanted to use. Also you can trigger a chain reaction if there is a landmine located at the adjacent square... which can be either a good or bad thing, depending on whether you're surrounded by landmines or not.
• Added crackable walls just for the heck of it. Will probably serve as a way to create shortcuts between areas or as temporary cover from enemy attacks.
• Created a loader to load important shit on startup. While there's not too much to load for now apart from a few small data files and a few sound effects, at least you can kick back and enjoy some music if the amount of data ends up being huge.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Tiny update before I move on to more interesting tasks:

• Added music switching.
• Implemented audio on the code side, added a sound effect or two for now.
• Added animations to landmines.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Latest progress vid.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Committing sudoku on cam.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

4 days passed since the last full progress vid, but I'm too lazy to record another one for now, so here goes a small list of additions and changes:

• Enemy mesh and animation system implemented. The system uses 3 static meshes (idle, attack, dead) and switches them according to enemy action. During the movement phase the enemy is displayed as a wireframe cube that matches the size of an entity. This was the best possible solution to avoid going overboard with animations.
• Landmines are now hidden from the main view until you stand next to them. They won't disappear afterwards which allows some careful planning in case things go haywire.
• Audio for the UI/player weapons/ramming/reloading implemented. Enemy sounds will probably need additions depending on which weapon they're using but it shouldn't be a problem to add additional sounds.
• Visual fade in/fade out added, primarily used upon level load or savegame loading.
• Event flags implemented. Thinking about using them to track certain player actions and add simple mini-quests to non-deserted areas.
• Save system implemented, takes into account the player's position/angle, doors, landmines, triggers and event flags. More objects will be added soon as I move on to finalize the remaining interactable objects. Save points have also been implemented. You can only save outside of combat according to the design and if you're loading a save within the same level, you don't even have to reload it.
• UI: All functions except for Files have been implemented. Thinking about ditching the Files option altogether.
• Level switching added.
• AI has been slightly improved to change the behavior of an entity according to the player's state, e.g. health, currently equipped weapon, etc. For example, certain enemies will start using more aggressive tactics if the player's health is low, while others will try keeping their distance if player has a low-accuracy weapon currently equipped. Also considering a few ways to bamboozle human enemies, but I won't spoil the fun by sharing them. Special thanks to Helly for sharing some ideas.
• Running away from the enemy is now fully implemented. If the enemy doesn't see the player for X turns, they'll leave. Certain enemies are easy to avoid, while it can be a different case for the others

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the exact genre of the game since I decided to go with uncommon design and while a very narrow circle of folks who tested the game liked it, there was a bit of false expectations raised from one's experience with a specific genre. Of course, adventure/dungeon crawler hybrid kinda suggests that it's a mix of elements from both, I guess it's worth to see if someone can give a few thoughts on the matter.

Is is an RPG? Nah, it's a very simple RPG at best. Char progression is limited to optional upgrades which must be found inside the dungeons, no C&C shit planned, equipment is fixed (but their stats can be modified with upgrades).
Is it a dungeon crawler? I bet aweigh would beat it with his eyes closed, hands tied and a deadly dose of krokodil shot in his groin. While there are non-linear dungeons with light puzzles and traps as well as turn-based combat inside the dungeons, it's definitely not as complex as some of the best games in the genre.
Survival horror? Guess so, mainly due to the focus on extreme resource management.
Adventure game? Puzzle game? Sort of, since each one of the enemy types has a different AI pattern which can be examined and abused, not to mention figuring out the most efficient way to get through the dungeon.

Let me know what you think.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Currently doing plans and tests for a demo level. Made an outline of stuff I want to have as well as a dungeon prototype for one of the areas so I can get the scale right. Right now skething the tiles on paper and trying to pick something that doesn't look too ugly for teh game. Will most likely keep the graphics minimal, just like in dem vids I posted before, since too much clutter will only make it harder to see what's what.

 

[DavidBVal]

I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the exact genre of the game since I decided to go with uncommon design and while a very narrow circle of folks who tested the game liked it, there was a bit of false expectations raised from one's experience with a specific genre. Of course, adventure/dungeon crawler hybrid kinda suggests that it's a mix of elements from both, I guess it's worth to see if someone can give a few thoughts on the matter.

Is is an RPG? Nah, it's a very simple RPG at best. Char progression is limited to optional upgrades which must be found inside the dungeons, no C&C shit planned, equipment is fixed (but their stats can be modified with upgrades).
Is it a dungeon crawler? I bet aweigh would beat it with his eyes closed, hands tied and a deadly dose of krokodil shot in his groin. While there are non-linear dungeons with light puzzles and traps as well as turn-based combat inside the dungeons, it's definitely not as complex as some of the best games in the genre.
Survival horror? Guess so, mainly due to the focus on extreme resource management.
Adventure game? Puzzle game? Sort of, since each one of the enemy types has a different AI pattern which can be examined and abused, not to mention figuring out the most efficient way to get through the dungeon.

Let me know what you think.

If (per your last ss) you handle evasion and accuracy by a % rather than pure collision, then you're making an RPG. Yet it seems to be, combatwise, a real time shooter? Not sure how that will work.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the exact genre of the game since I decided to go with uncommon design and while a very narrow circle of folks who tested the game liked it, there was a bit of false expectations raised from one's experience with a specific genre. Of course, adventure/dungeon crawler hybrid kinda suggests that it's a mix of elements from both, I guess it's worth to see if someone can give a few thoughts on the matter.

Is is an RPG? Nah, it's a very simple RPG at best. Char progression is limited to optional upgrades which must be found inside the dungeons, no C&C shit planned, equipment is fixed (but their stats can be modified with upgrades).
Is it a dungeon crawler? I bet aweigh would beat it with his eyes closed, hands tied and a deadly dose of krokodil shot in his groin. While there are non-linear dungeons with light puzzles and traps as well as turn-based combat inside the dungeons, it's definitely not as complex as some of the best games in the genre.
Survival horror? Guess so, mainly due to the focus on extreme resource management.
Adventure game? Puzzle game? Sort of, since each one of the enemy types has a different AI pattern which can be examined and abused, not to mention figuring out the most efficient way to get through the dungeon.

Let me know what you think.

If (per your last ss) you handle evasion and accuracy by a % rather than pure collision, then you're making an RPG. Yet it seems to be, combatwise, a real time shooter? Not sure how that will work.

Evasion is handled by %, accuracy is handled by % as well as distance between you and your target (every weapon has a range set up which increases or reduces the hit chance depending on whether the enemy is within the weapon range or not). Everyone's favorite critical hits only work in 25% of cases where player fails the accuracy check while the enemy succeeds his evasion check -- basically, the bullet and the enemy end up in the same spot. Combat-wise it's more of turn-based shooter with some puzzle elements (finding ways to abuse the enemy AI).

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

UPDATE:

-- Landmine disarming can be upgraded now. There's also a chance that the landmine won't go off (DISARM_CHANCE - 50), but it's initially unavailable since the disarming chance starts at 50%. This means you'll have to seek upgrades in case you want to increase your chances and sometimes get a second chance upon failure. I'm thinking of only stuffing one or two upgrades like this in the entire game to avoid turning it into a walk in the park.
-- Status Report now tells you the remaining amount of save points as well as disarm chance.

Currently designing the slum level and creating detail objects for the tileset. Did some running around between planned points of interest @ current chunk, which is roughly 25-33% of the level, took me about 3 minutes. Add the stuff related to the events as well as combat and usual topographic cretinism of cashul players, and it can go up real fast. Thinking about stuffing a few low fences into the pathways to show off some of the movement features, such as climbing over small obstacles (which is faked by simply adjusting the player position to the floor and placing a collision mesh on it).

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I'm thinking about releasing a small tutorial demo just to generate some buzz and get feedback on current mechanics before I release the planned alpha demo with a massive dungeon in it as well as other features. Will probably do some testing and small tweaks before that based on the current feedback I've got -- just rewrite the explanations of some mechanics and that's all.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

ATTENTION
Tutorial demo is out: https://surt-r.itch.io/das-geisterschiff-tutorial-demo
Don't forget to bitch about it.

I'd like to thank Helly, Nekot-The-Brave, JarlFrank, felipepepe and Jinn for doing some prior testing.

Spoiler

ITS OUT
DOWNLOADING NOW

 

[DavidBVal]

I run the exe and see the "made with unity" splash for a fraction of a second, then disappears. And the exe is gone. Was it an installer? is it someplace else now?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I run the exe and see the "made with unity" splash for a fraction of a second, then disappears. And the exe is gone. Was it an installer? is it someplace else now?

Do you use antivirus software like Avast? Several people reported false alarms with Unity Engine games, which deleted the exe file.

 

[Zep Zepo]

it's not coming out.

Zep--

 

[DavidBVal]

I run the exe and see the "made with unity" splash for a fraction of a second, then disappears. And the exe is gone. Was it an installer? is it someplace else now?

Do you use antivirus software like Avast? Several people reported false alarms with Unity Engine games, which deleted the exe file.

I use avast but I didn't get any alert... checking.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I run the exe and see the "made with unity" splash for a fraction of a second, then disappears. And the exe is gone. Was it an installer? is it someplace else now?

Do you use antivirus software like Avast? Several people reported false alarms with Unity Engine games, which deleted the exe file.

I use avast but I didn't get any alert... checking.

Same used to happen with an ogg encoder and a bunch of games when I had Avast installed. Try turning it off before running the game.

 

[boot]

I completed demo in ~8 minutes.

I thought the music was really cool, I was impressed. I liked how the tutorial said if I couldn't manage the controls it was my own fault. The little writing that there was is very snappy and I like that. Also, nice interface.

everything else was shit

Spoiler

I thought that the game was very simple and there is no reason for it to play as slowly as it did. It was kind of cool how moving from one tile to the next seemed to sync up with the music, but I think it should play much faster. The enemy graphics are too abstract, I don't know what the enemy even is. I don't know what I am supposed to be. Combat is kind of a weird puzzle dance against floating mask things.

Dancing around a pillar hitting attack button/advance. Can you automate this, like in blobbers?

Faster! And with more detailed enemies. That's my bitching.

 

[DavidBVal]

Definitely it is Avast. I used the "turn off for 10 mins" and played the game, 10 minutes later I got kicked out and the exe disappeared again.

I just wandered around the training area and I like what I see so far. I would play a game with these aesthetics and music. In that area you shouldn't be worried.

A few details. You need to put a "press enter" at the bottom of the "transmissions" window. Also I guess it's just the tutorial, but enemies barely did any damage. Walking into locked doors shouldn't attempt to slam them on default, too easy to do it inadvertently. Landmines, all my attempts to disarm failed. And the combat options are a bit confusing. Instead of "Advance" or "stay" it should say "attack & advance", etc. As the visuals are not very clear, took me a few combats to understand I was actually attacking.

I'll try to spend some time on it tomorrow, although I'm a bit busy these days.