SNEAK PEAK

This section is discontinued now.  Chapter 3 is confirmed to be in the making, and detailed updates are provided to pledgers in the related Kickstarter campaign.  In certain intervals I will also update the Facebook community about progress.  I am also working on a ‘the DARK SIDE’ spinoff (see details HERE).

Old posts:

Here I will post some pictures and ideas that are making their way into the next updates.  Seeking feedback and suggestions (reply below). BTW, I know it is not spelled ‘peak’ but once the whole webpage is named that way, links and referrers would break so this is the page’s name now.

28 May update:

ALL maps, quests and content finished.  Launch week announced for early June, final beta-testing happening. VERY excited and a bit scared.  Announced it to the world via facebook, nice reaction so far:

13 May update:

Minotaur keep done, what a massive map. very enjoyable as it is atmospheric, filled with loot and secrets, aligns to underlying story and of course there are some nasty monsters in there, the worst are not even the minotaurs…

11 May update:

Finally on a roll getting content churned out.  Icy valley, Catacombs, dragon den, mountain path, hermit hut now done.  And I also put a new UI feature in whereby it chooses different sliced button images depending on screen size.  Now on tablets the buttons won’t look like stretched silver plates.

2 May update:

Another feature added: multi-spawned random maps.

A normal random map gets created using randomised variants of specified characteristics.  The orc lairs are a good example, they all follow the same “orc lair” design specs but differ in room count and whether a warlord is present or not (boss).  To make randomised dungeon maps even more interesting and versatile, I have added a multispawn random map feature.

Essentially, an orc lair is created in detail once you enter, then when you exit and don’t come back for a while (timer A) the data gets deleted and the orc lair entrance and visual removed.  Another timer (B) then starts and once finished it will create a NEW orc lair (using the same specs, but rolled afresh) in one of a list of specified locations. This way, monster lairs/dungeons pop up as new after a while once you looted/visited it.

This is now implemented a new norther part of the starter island, where GNOMES inhabit the hills.  Makes for fun (and endless) dungeon runs if you want to.  But beware, gnomes seem like easy enemies until you stumble into some gnome mages, or even worse a legendary gnome shaman somewhere deep in their burrows… they also make ample use of secret passages so to explore their lair you need the right skill or spell.

30 April update:

Few of the new features:

DUNGEON RUN walking mode.  When active, you follow the direction, but in a simple corridor also follow it around bends and through open doors, until you hit something interesting, a monster, a dead end, or fork in the road.

MAP MOOD MESSAGES.  First time you enter a map, you get a sense for what you see/hear/smell/feel:

29 April update:

Now officially behind the timeline I had intended.  Not thrilled.  Only good thing is, it is not because of any issues encountered with the game itself, purely my private life causing some scarcity of time.  But I have added more functionalities, fixed bugs and built more content.  Now what was previously called Chapter1 is completed, and I am building Chapter2 maps now.  Not long to go.

16 April update:

More maps completed: the village with all its NPCs, quests and shops, and the undead tomb.  Also made another improvement to the game overall that did not exist in the iPad version: quests being given, completed or rewarded now trigger a notification ‘banner’ to appear, stay a few seconds, then move outside the view range again.  Definitely makes for a much better experience when moving through the storyline.

9 April update:

The HUGE first island is complete, and so is the shelter, rat cave, spider lair.  It feels good to see the content come together, and I make lots of changes to make it just a tiny bit different to the old DoC maps.  For example am re-designing the purpose and flow of the old knight’s grave discovery etc.  That is an early glimpse at what will be relevant much later in the game.  I am already using some animated tiles for fire pits, and it looks awesome.  Will ultimately be expanded to all campfires and torches so that common light sources in general are animated.  Adds a whole new feel to it.  Unfortunately I don’t have the graphics or own skills to do something about animating characters or monsters.  Something for the future…

1 April update:

Help pages / tutorial, credits, links all added.  Whole code scanned for “add this later” remarks and few things completed where necessary.  Now I have started building the maps.  Should be fun, intending to actually expand the first island.

25 March update:

All the functional stuff is COMPLETE.  And many cool things added:

1. More auto fight options (the direction to use HEAL spells can now be coupled with any other tactic choice, and using magic attack spells can be set to have a mana threshold under which the player stops and saves mana for HEAL spells later).  You can also now set a MARKER that is the preferred target by any auto player if in range.  means you can have auto fights against a strong opponent with his minions, and ask all players to ignore the minions by placing the marker on the boss.
2. There is now an option you can set whereby your REST default setting is either what you previously had, or daylight, or heal/recover SP+HP.  makes for quicker play if you have a clear choice each time.
3. ITEMS now have intrinsic special attributes.  For example a DRAGONSCALE (shield) has fire resistance, irrespective of prefix, suffix or condition of the specific instance randomly rolled.  SHOP owner now has many more expensive items for you to see those in action.
4. SNEAKING now works.  there is a chance you can enter a monstergroups’ range in which it would pursue you, but the party’s combined skill can prevent them from noticing you.  once you are noticed it is not re-rolled and the group stays focused on you until you leave their range.  they may not run after you every turn, that depends on their level of interest.  There is a message displayed when a monsters spots you and starts chasing.
5. To boost your chance of sneaking (the skill is not that quick to increase with TP of course), you can learn and cast the DISGUISE spell.
6. Each player class now earns class-specific bonuses each level, which vary over time.  rogues and assassins will get “+1% chance to critical hit” every 3rd or 4th level for example.

11 March update:

Interface for GUILDS is built, and I finished the engine to track and update QUESTS that relate to discovering maps or killing monsters.  So now all is set to complete the class change functionality that comes with guilds.  If I am not mistaken, then I only have to fill a few minor gaps here and there, and put the rest of the monster types in.  And then it would be time to (re-)create all the maps and NPC dialogues.  Close to the finish line!

8 March update:

LIGHTING ENGINE is done, and as hoped for, in a new way with less performance drag (but also an option to switch it off or have the sun shine longer each day).  Makes for good atmosphere, and together with light spell duration display is an improvement to the old game where the daynight cycle was not so pleasant.

6 March update:

Another major (and almost last) milestone done: casting spells and using skills in MAP view is complete.  You can now resurrect players, cast Light or Wizard’s Eye, and those last two also have icons showing including remaining spell duration.  A nice improvement from the old game where this just abruptly stopped.

3 March update:

Most advanced skills are also now implemented (EXORCISE, DIVINE FAVOUR, REPULSION…).  Lots of fun to have an overpowered party in some of the easier encounters…

Have also added randomised hints to the LOADING screens and will soon build the HELP pages which also hold history of monster kills, NPC encounters, quest status etc.  Only a few features left until it is purely a matter of re-building all the maps and then it is done!

27 February update:

Lots of spells now fully implemented and even have visuals.  Check out the area effect FIRE BALL effect, which come with the corresponding spell but are also employed by some monsters:

DRAGON throwing fire ball

player casting fireball at enemies

19 February update:

Massive progress.  Android works like a charm, beta testers chipping away to find whatever bugs are left, and I am making nice improvements to the engine.

Main one was the introduction of one-click processing of OPEN, TALK and USE commands.  basically if you are next to a door or chest, an animated OPEN mark is shown on the tile and if you click it, it is like using the respective button.  In the old iPad DoC it was even worse, you had to click the button AND select the tile.

15 February update:

BIG goal accomplished:

DoC now works on Android!  Sky is the limit …

12 February update:

Random dungeons now work beautifully.  After a lot of work though.  Translating pathfinding and procedural content generation routines that were at the edge of my abilities into C# has proven to be a big consumer of time.  But now it is done.  And I will make more use of it in DoC and it should make for even more replay value.

Overall, I am 95% finished I’d say with the app overall, here are some screenshots.  Hoping to release mid to late March:

Character generation:

A typical view walking around, with ZOOMED-IN view which most people will probably use on phones:

Similar situation, but ZOOMED OUT like most tabled users may opt for, but I also use this in phone-sized devices as I like the wide view:

And there is also the MAP button which shows you previously explored areas around you (you can move view as well):

Party view, in this case inventory (left), equipment of the 2nd party member (middle) and his stats (right):

fight intro screen, detailing monster knowledge, and your feeling about how it may go.  Also quick access to AUTO fight settings:

These are the AUTO fight options, and you can have each player individually set to AUTO or not and change anytime during combat:

May things you can change in OPTIONS in general:

The opening screen:

 

 

8 February update:

Spending a LOT of time on the random dungeon creation routines, making them more bug proof and stable in the process.  I have posted an overview of general outstanding steps HERE, and would like to reiterate that if anyone is eager to playtest the beta, just send me an email to dungeonsofchaos [ at ] gmail.com.  I will set up Testflight for iOS testing this week, and will also soon jump into the cold water and build from Unity for Android (have not tried it yet, is supposed to work though).

27 January update:

Lot of remaining functionality now done, and many improve upon the original iPad game.  5 pages of options and customisations, better fight AI, more intuitive monster knowledge, detailed fight statistics, better fight warnings, easy pre-fight auto settings, COMPARE loot and shop items to your equipment etc.

12 January update:

Progressing very well adding more functionality, autofights, quickaction selection, leveling up, training, minimap, zoom.  All done.  Very soon it will be down to the content, and then onto some serious testing and fine-tuning and seeking to approve the visual appeal and user interface.

7 January update:

A long awaited feature is now included in the Unity version: projectiles.  Magic missiles or arrows now fly from shooter to target, and there is also damage (or ‘miss’) text display appearing on the target, which makes for a much more interactive fight experience.

6 January update:

After a lot of work, and a small holiday break, am now playing the alpha version on my iPhone.  Struggling with some Unity issues at the moment, first time objects become visible it lags.  Seems to be an ultra common problem, now I just need to mirror one of the many workarounds people use.  I am more and more thinking that auto-fight is the predominant way to play out fights, so I am currently also investing more time into making that more sophisticated and user friendly.

Exploring (in zoomed in mode) is definitely as enjoyable as in the iPad version.

In regards to release date, I have to get my bearings on what needs to be done from here, but I would have to say end of February is most likely.

 

4 December update:

Screenshots!  Unity cross-portal version, example screenshots from iPhone5C:

1. character generation:

2. general world view.  line of sight (you can look through portcullis but not through iron doors etc.):

3. stats and inventory view

4. skills view:

5. spells view:

6. NPC dialogue:

7. SHOP view:

8. special transactions in the shop:

9. ZOOMED-IN view, more details on smaller screens.  full functionality and movement in either zoomed mode.

I am now busy adding more of the game engine: quests, quest triggers, random maps, etc.

At this stage it may be possible to launch the game in January, fingers crossed!

 

2 December update:

FIRST, about the new game port:

Unity port developing very fast.  Will add screenshots tonight. Done so far:

• saving and loading works
• walking around with line of sight works perfectly
• doors work, and with an improved engine
• character creation works
• character display works, with suitable UI for phone-sized devices
• inventory, shops, equipment works
• NPC core engine works, and with an improved engine to control quest impacts and other triggers

SECOND, about the current game:

Something I also wanted to post is the following.  Note, this is border-line SPOILER in terms of the current game.  But most of these will be implemented in slightly different form in the new game, so I may as well.

In the current game, if you have finished it and thought you have seen it all, there are a few easter eggs or non-essential elements that I think people might find interesting to look into if they enjoy the exploration part of the game.  In no particular order, and without being TOO prescriptive:

** SPOILER **  only read on if you think you have seen it all…  [2016 update: this is NOT for the current UNITY version of the game, below is the 2014 iPad edition]

1. there is a dragon living on the starter island
2. there is a knight’s grave hidden underground somewhere early in the first chapter
3. there is a hidden chest in the starter cave (‘shelter’)
4. there is a hidden ring in the starter cave (‘shelter’)
5. there is a 2nd prisoner in the outlaw’s camp in the icy valley
6. there is an ice map accessible from the starter island, and it is not totally empty
7. there is an evil tree living on the starter island, similar but weaker than the one you encounter in chapter2 near the elves
8. there are very valuable chests at the top of the lich tower (I hope no-one descended back down without finding them…)
9. there is a way you can convince the old bloke in the castle shelter to let you into the old tunnels
10. there is a throne room in the minotaur castle
11. there is a very cute animal locked up in the minotaur’s castle cellar.  Or so someone said…
12. there are (I think) a dozen or so stone monuments scattered over all the maps that become active once you speak to the druids
13. it pays off to kill (and search) the boss in the berserker’s cave
14. there is some hidden treasure in the elven tree city
15. there is a second way from the castle up to the icy peak, albeit no access to the wider icy valley from there
16. there is lots of odd stuff going on in the castle catacombs
17. there are HEAPS of dragons where the warrior tells you to go look for one.  the deeper you get into the cave, the more powerful they are.

** SPOILER END **

10 November update:

Unity port developing nicely.  In terms of UI, to make it phone-friendly, I am trying a minimalistic approach and also include a ZOOM function.

iPhone5 actaul screenshots:

• Walking around the world, normal zoom

• Same, zoomed in

• Inventory/stats view

so far I find it very manageable to see detail on iPhone-sized screen, and hit specific tiles accurately.

28 October update:

Long time no post!

v2.1.2 has been totally stable over the last 2 months and DoC is now in a static state.  Great news: my development is focussed on porting it to Unity to allow iPhone and Android devices to play it.  See POST here.  Obviously I have to make a lot of UI related decisions.  this is a prototype of the SKILLS section for example that works fine on a screen as small as an iPhone5C:

4 August update:

Advancing my 2nd game with tremendous speed.  Will open up a separate wordpress blog in about 2 weeks, with some previews.  It is built in Unity so will come to all iOS and Android tablets, phones and whatever else has a screen of at lest 640×400.

27 July update:

v2.1.2 live.  Now I am taking a breather in terms of DoC.  Because I am heavily coding on my 2nd game!  It is RPG related, but different at the same time.  Will keep you posted with details soon…

21 July update:

v2.1.2 is with Apple for review and brings:

– berserkers! guild, boss monster quest, shop, a new skill …
– an artefact with teleportation abilities (defeat the boss monster in the berserker mine to get it)
– 9 savegame slots instead of 3 so you can try out more party builds

18 July update:

Expanded savegameslots from 3 to 9.  Upon fan request, to try out various party builds without having to overwrite.

17 July update:

“Kratos’ heart” ARTEFACT and related functionality is almost finished.  I will also expand the savegame slots to 6.  Expect to submit 2.1.2 on the weekend.  Fingers crossed Apple will review it quickly again.

13 July update:

Berserkers (NPCs, guild, shop, boss fight) are completed.  What is missing now is I need to implement the ARTEFACT that you find at the boss fight’s end. It will be called “Kratos’ heart” and allow for some limited teleportation.  Haven’t fully decided on the limitations yet. Options:

– reach the current portals on the island and in the castle shelter
– also reach druid stones you have touched
– or all druid stones
– and/or let’s you place some sort of item anywhere and you can return to that spot… (entrance of dungeon etc.)

Don’t want to make it too powerful.

8 July update:

Berserkers are coming (in 2.1.0)!  They emerged from a collapsed mine and bring with them their own guild, a new skill, a nice shop for 2-handed axes and blunt weapons, and a quest to take out a boss enemy.  If you were wondering when lightning resistance will come in handy, this would be it…

However I just noted the H and H+ auto fight option icons are not showing on retina devices, however this is a display problem only and the options itself work fine.

4 July update:

After a fair while of celebrating Chapter2, and fixing some immediate bugs in the process, things have now settled down a bit and new elements are worked on, such as:

– HEAL and HEAL+ fight auto actions.  These feel great, I have enjoyed them myself for a while now, and 2.0.5 is with Apple for review which will bring it to your iPad in a few days (~ 8 July is my guess).

– significant performance improvements in terms of walking speed in large maps and dungeons.  Only now that parties have accumulated a lot of knowledge (number of monster spawners activated etc.), did some issues come to light where I have coded the engine in a sub-optimal way (nice way to say ‘dirty coding’). Fixed in 2.0.5.

– Since 2.0.5 is already submitted, I am now working on 2.1.0, which brings a content update: BERSERKERS!  They had been busy tracking down a mob in a mine, when the evil hordes arrived and something strange happened down in the mine as well, leading them to turn from the hunters to the hunted.  They just escaped and broke free, and they can help your party (let your barbarian advance to a berserker) if you help them…  Berserkers have a unique skill that over the course of their ‘career’ let them become immune to STUN effects (those caused by force, not paralyse effects).  Which makes them a different kind of fighter when it comes to opponents like minotaurs or mercenaries, which can otherwise wrack havoc to your melee fighters.

– Maybe in 2.1.0, maybe a bit later, I will add some sort of teleportation spell.  A simpler one than the one that archmage Parnosz uses.  One where you set a beacon and can return to it later.  Or maybe several.  Or maybe you have to find/earn beacons and each additional one lets you keep another portal open.  Or maybe beacons can only be used once and you have to re-earn them… we will see.

28 May update:

While I think it will take a long time to come up with a feasible UI solution/revamp, here is a proof of concept that DoC iPhone port is being looked into.  But without such changes you would need TINY fingertips:

27 May update:

Chapter2 is now released !!

 

25 May update:

It is done!  I have spent HOURS testing the end sequence, fixed a few bugs I didn’t even know existed, and made a small attempt at balancing things.  Balancing is really something to be enhanced over the next weeks.  But for now … the Chapter 2 update is with Apple for review!

24 May update:

After a decent weekend session, Chapter2 is complete bar the end fight! Will finish that today, then subject to some rigorous play testing it will be submitted to Apple in the next 48 hours.  =8^O

Quite a few things, as last time, that I put aside because it would take too long to include.  Would probably have loved to add more skills and spells, but I can add them later still, like the shipwreck quest added features to Chapter1.

** update ** just finished 4 hours of play testing, and I am very pleases that only minor things needed fixing. Also built up everything for the end fight.  So what is left for tomorrow is a good end sequence that leaves the player with a sense of accomplishment, and some way to continue with future story expansions.

21 May update:

Made great progress on the remaining storyline steps and bringing the areas to life.  The quest to be accepted into the geomancer’s guild will involve venturing to many different places and find ancient stone monuments, which really enriches the exploration experience.  And the rewards are worth it!  But ultimately these are SIDE quests as the player can follow the main storyline at his own pace and confront the arch enemies comparatively quickly if he does not feel the need to reap the benefits of all the side quests and advanced player class guilds.  I am very excited to show this to the world soon!

19 May update part II:

Upon popular request, I bring you:

SCROLLABLE MINIMAP!  hitting the map itself will re-centre it on the party position, arrows will move it in chunks of 20 tiles:

19 May update:

Apart from the end fights, there were really only two major areas left to build: the druid’s cover and an old evil underground location, where you can also find the exorcist’s guild (short commute to work is VERY important…):

Getting closer and closer to completion.  Have also put two technical improvements on the agenda:

a) making the minimap scrollable.

b) making sure random dungeons don’t get stuck on creation.  a rare bug because I used a workaround and stayed away from large randomised locations.  This will be fixed and the underground evil places depicted in the above will actually be 4 HUGE randomised locations.  Full of undead creatures by the way:

17 May update:

Filling all the gaps, today mostly some randomised dungeons with not-too hard mobs and ability to grind for loot and XP.  Ember orcs in the example below, a more sinister form of orc.  They also once stole something precious to the priests, so a guild quest also makes you go down their caves.

And in Chapter2, the priest will also (once a deed is completed) allow training in DIVINE FAVOR, a really powerful daily skill which is not fully controllable, but rather depending on level lets the deity choose the outcome:

1. Holy Aid, major healing of HP as well as negative effects

2. Holy Avenger party status, and quite a long duration.  A buff to all fighting attributes.

3. Holy Curse.  A major debuff to all enemies.

4. Holy Wrath.  Crushing damage to all enemies.  Those that survive, receive a massive stun effect.

5. Holy Fire.  Massive fire and vs.undead damage to all enemies.

6. Holy Angel.  Not implemented yet: An angel materialises and fights on your side.

The higher the level of DIVINE FAVOR, the more likely the higher level outcomes become.  But if you are severely wounded, the Holy Aid is most likely chosen by the deity.

15 May update:

Weaving the nets … I have completed the main storyline (except end battles), and have built a lot of side quests as well.   Not just battle-based, I have just finished one that is quite intricate and hard compared to other quests, and largely does not require fighting.  It does however interweave with other quests that do, so it will actually form a nice side-thread that spans throughout the story.  These are the things I want to get right, and I am quite happy how this one turned out (it is the ‘pub’ quest, if you need to know…).

14 May update:

Been heavily filling in all the gaps for Chaper2.  Populating all the NPCs in the elf city, setting up a raided river village/city with villain…  evil boss/quest monster to get access to the marksmen guild.  All sorts of individually little things.  but it is coming together.  Am also formally putting my list together of things that will and will not make it into chapter2.  touch choices, not unlike the ones I had to make up to the Dec-14 release of Chapter1.  Never easy to put on hold a functionality I really see benefit it, but time matters.  Can’t polish the game forever without giving people a playable update.

9 May update part 2:

Something I really enjoy is fan interaction.  I had granted two players the right to name an NPC or villain of their choice, now I can proudly introduce JAIMAR the wizard and RYLD the death knight:

Jaimar will allow the player access to the wizards guild, quite an important step to beef up the party’s magic abilities.  If you can save him from the perils he got himself in that is.

Ryld is a dangerous villain.  When the party asked to get access to the assassins’ guild, he was chosen as the required ‘proof of proficiency’.

9 May update:

Good news: I think Chapter 2 is about 80% finished.  I played through the first half of it and fixed up little things here and there, clocking up the equivalent of (without cheats) at least 10 hours playtime.  So I am happy with the extent of content, and will finish a few things in the last half over the next 2 weeks.

6 May update:

More NPCs and guilds being built.  Knight, Priest, Warrior, Wizard … a few good options each with their own ‘admission’ quest now in place.  Just be aware that there are choices to be made, once you choose an advanced class you cannot revert back.  You will most likely be torn between Wizard (more theoretical and frail) and Warlock (hands-on), as well as Priest vs. Exorcist, and Warrior vs. Knight.  They are really similar to your choices during party creation, where monk/rogue/druid/archer seem like a bit too specialised, but actually provide a good flavour and skill set to a party.  If you enjoy they way these change the tactics, there is definitely replay value there for you.  Advanced classes drift apart even more.  If you want to maximise a lot of spells and see what a level 10+ ‘magic rupture’ spell can do, you need to go down the WIZARD path and ultimately (later) become and ARCHMAGE.  But that comes at a price, a WARLOCK cannot become an ARCHMAGE but may feel a bit more versatile due to his combat abilities.

Hope this adds interesting depth and replay value.

3 May update:

Not visually exciting, but this marks a major step and something crucial to Chapter 2: class upgrades.

Because as much as I allow the players to wander freely and choose their fate, the ability to adopt a more advanced class and really master new as well as the old skills and spells, only now becomes available.

It may be a small impact to start with, but once you cast a level 10 fireball or use a level 10 exorcise skill, you will know the power that is unleashed here.

And don’t forget, with the right insignia you can boost skills and spells even beyond the natural level 10 limit…

2 May update #2:

Added a feature that allows you to find (or be given) maps.  These are hand-drawn maps so do not auto-fill your automap.  You may also not always be able to trust them…

They can be looked at via the HELP -> MAP menu in party display mode.  Example map a warrior is drawing for the party to show where they can find a dragon:

2 May update:

One of the few remaining technical additions is coming to life: GUILDS.

They will all have a quest that grants you ‘access’ itself, meaning you will then be allowed to upgrade certain players to that class.  But from there the guilds will differ: all offer additional quests, but the rewards will differ (access to a shop, access to a locked map location, item rewards, artefacts etc.).

I am also contemplating the following, however due to time required possibly not into Chapter2:

ARTEFACTS. These will be characterised by:

– their own experience counter and level.  so basically this item grows more powerful the more you use it. SO MANY different ways in which I like this idea, but basically it forces you to make some decisions on how you specialise your players, and what you literally ‘invest time in’.  The more you use it and power it up, the less you want to part with it.  However no item will fulfil all your desires eventually…

– unique names

– rare attribute combinations

– unique pictures:

1 May update:

Been focussed on building/connecting the storylines and NPCs.  Another element taking longer than I hoped.  I have also been distracted with App updates to deal with 2 bugs.  All out of the way now.  Another item that has kept me busy is the continued call for an iPhone port.

I have spend some time this week building a ‘feasibility study’ for an iPhone port.  I think it can work, with a revised UI and smaller view, but retaining all content elements as they are (the fights may feel different but I aim to keep all spells and range factors same).

22 April update:

v 1.3.0 is available for download! Which adds he SHIPWRECK bonus mission to Chapter1, see UPDATE section for details.

Have finished the Beholder Abyss (part of Chapter2, just for clarification).  some good loot and grinding opportunities there.  There are lots of one-off random finds, and the beholders that spawn indefinitely out of the abyss will rarely but surely drop various spell books, so for those of you who want to make your spellcasters more powerful this is a place to hang out.

Hard to estimate when Chapter2 will be finished, I am trying to uphold the depth and quality of the content and it really takes longer than expected.

18 April update:

Another major dungeon in the works: The Abyss.  Here is the type of monsters that await you there:

16 April update:

Not progressing as fast as I want.  Also just noted that the HELP fight function looks a bit odd on retina, text is off-centre.  Forgive me for that, will fix in 1.3.2.  Not worthy holding up the 1.3.0 release for that.

I have revamped the vs. undead damage concept and the EXORCISE skill.  They were not very useful against incorporeal undeads (ghost, spectre) but ok against bodied undeads (zombie, lich). In essence you had a really hard time to hurt them even with EXORCISE or 200% vs. undead bonus.  fixed that.  will be in 1.3.2.  Essentially now they are still IMMUNE to normal physical attacks, and physical attacks with low ‘vs. undead’ bonus do very little.  However if your bonus is over 100% (not too hard to do.  EXORCISE has about 160%+ 60% per skill level so minimum of 220%), the physical immunity vanishes very abruptly as your weapon/attack is essentially divine/ethereal.  With a bonus of over 200% the target is basically without the incorporeal bonus, which means they are without any armor at all and hurt a lot.  between 100% and 200% bonus the effect is scaled, so you do quite a bit of damage.  And incorporeal beings don’t have a lot of hitpoints as they rely on their immunities.

However EXORCISE effect is lower the higher your difficulty setting.

14 April update:

Just another update in regards to the bonus mission.  I am using it to also introduce the concept of insignia, you can get some insignia for your basic (current) classes and try them out.  They are specifically designed to also give you access to some rare or new(!) spells and skills.  Enjoy!

In terms of Chapter2, am working on a dragon ‘cave’.  More like a dragon community.  You can venture deep enough to find not just the type of young dragon that exists in Chapter1, but mature ones, elder dragons … and even nastier/more ancient varieties.  Elder dragons are tough, you need really high fire resistance to front those (see below).  And even more advanced dragons employ a variety of magic as well, so fire and massive physical damage won’t be the only problems once you approach for example a great dragon or an ancient dragon.  I intend to make these side-quest relevant, for example for superior rewards from the knight’s guild.

12 April update:

It is done.  Feels good to submit something the fans can play right away.  A little glimpse of one of the shipwreck decks as a teaser below.  1.3.0 should be coming out of Apple review phase in a week hopefully.  The shipwreck is a bonus mission, available if you have at least completed the orc warlord quest/deed.  A shipwreck and survivor can be found southeast of the shelter/cave then.

11 April update:

Have focussed on general improvements, and will submit 1.3.0 (still Chapter1) asap:

– now with a HELP function in fight mode, showing a brief description of all your quick actions and the weapon attack style:

– light spell now lasts longer and is a bit stronger, upon popular request

– TALK, OPEN, USE, SHOP button now executes on first click if there is only one possible target. No change for LOOK because LOOK has a passive (ranged) and active (close by) functionality.

– changed the way you gain skill and spell levels just by using them.  was way to hard/slow due to some rounding issues in my formulas.  Basically each skill and spell as a number of repeats now you need to reach to advance your proficiency by 1.  That depends by skill and spell.  For an auto-used skill like ‘SPRINT’ this can be a high as 45.  For some spells it is as low as 10.  For every 10 proficiency increments (= ~ 1 spell level for example) this gets 20% longer.  So to go from spell proficiency 1 (= level 1) to spell proficiency 21 (= level 3) you need 10+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+12+12+12+12+12+12+12+12+12+12+12+14 uses.  Feel free to grind away but really the game is set up so that you can use talent points where you want to focus on.

– a bug ‘fix’ that relates to a rare item data corruption instance

– and when I submit 1.3.0, I will try to add a bonus mission for those of you who have been waiting long for additional content.  Currently thinking of having a shipwrecked person show up in the cave, saying he deliberately crashed his boat as fast as he could into the coast to get off, as it is infected by some nasties… which you can locate and raid.  He/it will appear as long as you have already completed the orc warlord quest.

9 April update:

Growing and pruning, that is what content development is like.  I ‘grew’ the skills and spells a bit more over the last days, and tonight will be a lot of ‘pruning’, meaning I will make some decisive cuts to determine where Chapter2 is going to end.  My ideas are enough to fill 5 chapters and more, but to be able to submit a Chapter2 in 3 weeks’ time, I need to hit the right balance. So essentially:

** SPOILER ALERT (but not too bad, read on if you crave some news) **

Party will be teleported back to the castle cellars.  meet Lord Aldrich.  Castle cellars has various NPCs, 3 guilds you can use to advance player classes, and 2 shops.  Various side quests from guilds and also others, and random dungeons that are infinite in number for those that just want to grind. One ‘main’ side quest takes you down into the depth with a huge map and some nasties.  Opens up a 4th guild NPC.

Then you get access to the icy valley, some side missions and dungeons, some random dungeons, a vast map to explore.

That takes you to an outlaw village, NPCs, very nice shop, storyline quests.  One guild you can unlock, some guild related sidequests.

Main storyline progresses by you being allowed into the mountain path, but not yet the valley itself.  Mountain path contains main storyline ‘keep’ full of minotaurs.  various random dungeons, things to discover, vast map.  the lot.

Once successful you are allowed to enter the northern part of the valley.  You touch base with lord Aldrich and are asked to meet the Elfes.  Valley is again a huge map.  Has the elf forest, a swamp, various other stuff.  will place some goodies to explore/find.

Elf forest has entrance to the elf city in the sky.  visually nice.  various NPCs.  One guild to unlock, with quests.  will place some other side quests and stories, some of which will only start and continue in Chapter3.  You get some insight and are asked to meet the druids.

Swamp has the druid’s cove.  One guild to unlock, some side quests.

Some main storyline fights, then End of Chapter2.

Playtime if you rush it:  10 hours minimum I’d say.  If you explore it all, unlock all guilds and guild benefits, but minimal grinding: hard to say, 50 hours at least I’d say.

** SPOILER END **

It feels tough to exclude ideas and content from Chapter2 but it is a question of time now, I want to deliver to you fans out there who are waiting for more.  Given the size/playtime I think no-one will be disappointed.  Remaining concern really is how much time I can spend to balance things.  Monster strength, classes etc.

1 April update:

More spells! I am quite enjoying this, the outcome is very visual.  And rat-destroying.

IGNITE is a spell that hits all foes, instead of large damage upfront it deals damage over time by setting them on fire.  nice to clear out minions, even orcs if you stack a few spells on top of each other.

BALL OF LIGHTNING.  does what it promises.  area effect lightning damage and paralyse chance.  at higher levels quite a blast.  bigger even at very high levels than a fireball.  it is really the quicker option of what otherwise means casting 10 lightning strikes at folks.  Most of the spells I am doing right now are really emphasising the “DPS” (damage per second = throughput) aspects of spells.  You can choose to deplete your spell points in a quick and powerful way.  If you are facing several fights before you can rest again, this means a tactical decision how you approach each fight.

What I found from testing this out is that it is quite enjoyable to have the option to cast this, but trying first to preserve spell points.  Then when some enemies are just a bit too tough to defeat in an efficient way, you say “F* it” and blast them away with a powerful spell.  It is fun to be ‘wasting’ spell points to show off the power of a spell caster.

Now off to create some powerful daily skills, to achieve the same for non-magic classes.

30 March update:

Spells and skills.  This is quite an interesting bit I am working on now.  Trying to find the right balance and add skills or spells that are:

– worth investing in
– exciting at first
– offer tactical depth
– worth investing MORE in and getting a stronger specialised power out of it
– boosting each class so that a certain balance is maintained
– NOT making it so overpowering that they become the only tool thereafter

Takes some careful consideration.  HERE is a blog post about which ones I am considering, and the list will be expanded over the following days.

And here is a significant one I just implemented:

HEALING AURA.  Basically the professional’s choice.  PRIESTS will be experts in this, CLERICS will be amateurs but would still seek to learn it as soon as they can.  It heals ALL players.  That sounds overpowering, doesn’t it?  Well here is the balancing elements:

a)  the impact (to HP as well as curing some poison, bleeding and stun effect) greatly depends on the distance between the caster and the player.  Not trying to give too much away but at spell level 1, adjacent players get 80% effect, players (4/4) away from the caster get 22%. At spell level 5, this changes to 90% and 30%.  The effect is generally strong, however due to the distance factor it means you have to trade off exposing the caster to some risk to make it work fully.
b)  the caster suffers from some dizziness for a bit
c) it costs a lot of spell points.  At higher spell levels it actually starts to cost LESS.

So basically it is powerful if you tactically employ it wisely.  And definitely worth investing if you are a priest, as it can mean supporting the front-line fighters in a tough long fight. Why are only priests really good at this?  Simple answer: so that priests are worth having in your party.  The LOWERED spell costs and INCREASED effect at higher spell levels means this spell gains a cumulative ~30% value/spellpoints with each level.  A standard cleric at end of Chapter1 would have enough spell points to cast this twice.  But a priest if he invests talent points in it, will later in the game be able to use the same amount of spell points to cast it 4 times, and with about double the output.

Needless to say, an insignia with healing aura will also be an awesome quest reward…

29 March update :

Have taken a good look at what I have built so far vs. what I want to built overall and made some decisions, you can read the detail HERE.  Essentially I need to make sure my ambitions for Chapter2 are not too big, else I won’t be able to release in my desired timeframe.

25 March update – REQUEST:

I am really wondering what strength the party of the average user is.  Some of you may be grinding, others may not.  Anyone interest to share their status, would you mind sending me a screenshot of each of your 6 players’ STATS screen?  You can email it to dungeonsofchaos @ gmail.com.  I am expecting people to be about level 13 when they end Chapter1, but how beefed up their stats are via equipment, or how much people levelled up beyond that, is really not clear to me at this stage.

If you feel that any particular SPELL or SKILL investment you made also makes a player in your party stand out, a screenshot of that would be also be useful.  Share any other insight or feedback you have, now is the time!  IF you find the highest difficulty level too easy etc., I can still tweak that even for 1.2.7 release in the next days, but definitely for wide-ranging monster design elements for Chapter2 as well.

THANKS!

25 March update:

With an unexpected busy week in my day job I am mostly focussed on 1.2.7 changes, and technical features paving the way for some Chapter2 stuff:

• -better visibility/readability of buttons.  Upon popular request, I will change buttons and font colour from RED (before) to BLACK (after):
        
• introduces the ability to change party member start positions in fights
• multi-target ‘spin’ attacks are now working, however you need the right weapon type and high proficiency
• lightning strike spell can now paralyse, strong at high proficiency levels
• critical hit reduces armor impact BEFORE doubling damage
• hp/sp/speed per kill bonus now works
• holy chant now does a bit of ongoing damage to undead at low levels already
• functionality added that will be used in Chapter2: drawn maps given by NPCs or found, sometimes needed to make exploration more focussed or reveal secret passaged (treasure!)
• simplified the skill/spell proficiency needed to reach the next level. now basically in steps of 10. due to insignia, maximum skill or spell level, where applicable, is now 16. Without insignia, a character can reach a skill/spell level relevant for its class, for example level 6 RAGE is the maximum for a barbarian as his proficiency is capped at 55. A berserker can reach level 9 RAGE with a proficiency cap of 80. Each of them could however find/obtain insignia that boost the skill. To boost it by 1,2 or even 3 levels is common (proficiency up to +30). More than that would be VERY rare but also possible. Each spell and skill effect is now defined up to level 16.

*update*

yes, new buttons do look neater and cleaner:

22 March update:

Been on a holiday (offline) for 9 days, and got a good list of things done on Chapter2.  I am piecing the NPCs and quests and locations together now, and at the same time putting some nifty new technical elements in place:

a) monsters that throw area effect spells/things at you.  Since there was a young (!) dragon on the island, I have now created a bigger/deeper/nastier dragon cave on the mainland where you will find mature, elder, great and ancient dragons.  So in order to make the dragons throw fire balls, I added some features that allow monsters in general to throw area effects at you.  Some more intelligently than others.  Here is a mature dragon throwing a fireball:

The dragons will be incrementally MUCH more difficulty to defeat, so I will either leave them as self-induced challenges or I will link them to supplementary rewards (insignia?) from the KNIGHT guild.

b) added the hp/sp/speed per kill features that some rare items can give.  “of the SOULSUCKER” is an item suffix property so rare that I will probably create a quest solely around obtaining one…

c) more spells!  MAGIC RUPTURE provides ongoing magic damage to all foes, but renders the mage immobile in the process as he shields his friends from it.  SMITE is a magical way for a monk or exorcist to boost their melee damage versus undead.  Am also fine-tuning a few of the existing spells and skills.  HOLY CHANT now does ongoing damage do undead while it lasts, even at lower levels.  And it works properly now.

d) you can now find MAPS.  some will be crudely drawn, some detailed.  They will closely resemble the real world and be either found or given by NPCs.  They will be accessible in the HELP menu from the party screen.

e) simplified the skill/spell proficiency needed to reach the next level.  now basically in steps of 10.  due to insignia, maximum skill or spell level, where applicable, is now 16.  Without insignia, a character can reach a skill/spell level relevant for its class, for example level 6 RAGE is the maximum for a barbarian as his proficiency is capped at 55.  A berserker can reach level 9 RAGE with a proficiency cap of 80.  Each of them could however find/obtain insignia that boost the skill.  To boost it by 1,2 or even 3 levels is common (proficiency up to +30).  More than that would be VERY rare but also possible.  Each spell and skill effect is now defined up to level 16.

It does not look like I will finish Chapter2 in less than ~5 weeks I think, still a lot to do because I designed a story and it turns out that all the locations and detail to be filled in costs a bit more time than I thought.  Thanks for waiting everyone, it is well worth it if you liked Chapter1.  My guess is that Chapter2 adds at least 3 times more playtime, and should also be more challenging.

12 March update:

Been a bit technical getting all elements of the insignia to work.  Equipping one and removing one triggers a complete re-check of the fight quick action slots because insignia could give you access to a new skill or spell, or at least a higher spell/skill level for an existing one.  Putting it on would ideally update your quick actions to the new maximum level, and removing HAS to remove the ability to cast the higher level and replace it with a possible one.  So that is all in place now and working fine.  Just took longer than I thought.  Insignia metrics are as follows:

– can have up to 3 skill/spell boosts
– and additionally up to 3 other boosts

the type of boosts can be fixed for specific item drops, or set in random parameter ranges, with are specific by player/insignia class.

For example, a typical insignia you earn as a MONK at a later stage could have:

– 100% chance for a medium skill/spell boost suitable for a monk
– 100% chance for an additional small skill/spell boost
– 33% chance of an additional small skill/spell boost

– 100% + 50% + 20% chances of a small other boost each. (STR, DEX, accuracy, speed, evade are typical outcomes for monk insignia)

For each class (like ‘monk’) I have defined what skills and spells are deemed relevant and with what comparative probability.  For example ‘unarmed’ combat skill is quite likely for a monk to be chosen.  ‘Exorcise’ is a rare one. Many others have zero chance: ranged attacks, 2h axe, lots of the spells etc.

So there is ability for a lot of random drops that still make sense and allow for some loot grinding if you so choose to.  Insignias provide a very powerful customisation element because you may get a spell that otherwise you just could not find a spell book for, or you can lift a skill or spell proficiency beyond a characters’ natural maximum limit (no limits apply to the boost).  Up to now all skill and spell impacts are defined for a proficiency level of up to 100.  Now I will increase that to allow for insignia-boosted characters to get impacts that are not achievable by other means.  Given this allows for some serious min-maxing, I will make the higher difficulty levels tougher so that there remains a challenge for those aiming to have ‘the best’ character builds.  For normal difficulty, min-maxing will not be a requirement to prevail.

9 March update:

Insignia are here!  This uses the one vacant item slot.  Items are specific to a character class (or its later advanced classes), and usually provide benefits to skills and spells.  Hence it can be a powerful supplement to a player.  The skill boost can take a character beyond the cap otherwise applicable to a class for any particular skill.  Same for spells.  Here is how it looks:

7 March update:

What you may have been waiting for: FIRE BALL spell!  At high levels, this not only deals heaps of fire damage, the radius also increases.  Leaves blackened floor and burnt trees, similar to frost effect from frost ball. Not really fair to use it on a bunch of rats, but good fun:

Question to the audience: should fire ball and frost ball hurt players in the blast?  Reason says yes, but I think the game would work either way, just have to factor in the powerfulness of the spell if the answer is NO.  Problem/reason I have with YES: then it would be really bad if you mis-touched the target tile or if you simply had no idea how powerful your fireball is (=radius).  So I think I will stick with NO, just enemies get hurt.  Similar to the SPIN multi-target attack.

5 March update:

A lot of content coming together.  Big side quest finished that can easily take 1 to 4 hours of gameplay.  Includes a few interesting monster challenges.  ‘Vampire’ is a very broad concept and required a few decisions as to what that means in my game.  Life stealing is the biggest feature, and it really does make it a bit challenging to have a creature that negates a significant portion of damage by just replenishing its health by damaging you.  ‘Trolls’ is another one of those names that can mean a lot of things.  I have decided to see a ‘troll’ like a massive melee based fighter with a lot of strength, but also fast regeneration abilities.  But feels quite different to a vampire of course.  Also created a type of slime/blob beast that uses poison in both direct and gas form, quite tough to keep your party alive if not prepared for that.  Hoping that these fight challenges will add depth to the tactical part of the game.  Of course the content includes vast locations, secrets and treasures as well.

Also now activating the FIRE BALL spell, meaning the party can find a book to teach them about it (if their magic lore is high enough).

2 March update:

I know a few have been eagerly awaiting this:  with the advanced player classes and the right weapons, there is a weapon attack type available called ‘spin’, which targets all 4 adjacent squares:

I never stress-tested this but can now proudly announce it actually works.  This screenshot was taken in AUTO fight mode so you can now (now = Chapter2) clear out hordes of tiny monsters by sending in people with high weapon experience in staff or axes etc.  Needless to say, if you have a weapon with cold or poison or similar bonuses, you can find this very useful when fighting multiple stronger monsters.  Gives your tank a bit of an edge…

26 Feb update:

Putting monsters in now, trying to make it challenging at least tactically.  This ice demon for example is pretty good with its area effect frost ball and when you come too close his ice breath is also a problem. Really need to approach this fight with the right resistance boosts in your chosen equipment.  The frost ball also changes the battle arena visually.  Will do the same for fire balls soon.

23 Feb update:

The level under the castle is finished.  Shop, Lord Aldrich, knights etc. almost done.  Levels opening up from here: CATACOMBS and off-shoots (built but needs a bit more tweaking), ICE PLAINS (built, just need some gimmicks and monsters), random mountain TUNNELS (to be defined yet, to allow for some additional grinding or exploring.  I like making random dungeon generation configurations however always cautious if any bugs are encountered along the way).  Tonight I will link up the outlaw camp (90% done but now need to make the NPC data), troll cave (basic layout done), dragon cave (tbc, not sure I want it there actually).   Anything added at the moment is really progressing noticeably so it feels quite rewarding to see it come together.  The though decisions about where to take the story are mostly done.

Quite enjoyable, but time consuming, is adding meaningful off-the-path encounters and/or treasure.  Like these creatures of the dark:

19 Feb update:

New functionality added in terms of monster capabilities.  Monster behaviours can now incorporate area effects / blasts / bursts and suicide as well.  My monster engine can therefore now simulate something along the lines of bombs:  a non-moving entity spawned by a monster, using the blast action after a set period of time, then dying immediately.  Looks, feels, hurts like a bomb.  More details HERE. Comes in the following flavours: fire, cold (+freeze effect), gas, lightning.  I gave this feature to a creature in Chapter2 and it makes for great tactical fun because you may not want to keep your fighter right in front of the enemy if that enemy puts a bomb next to you…  or in more RPG-style terms, an incorporeal being summoning an exploding orb next to your characters from a distance (every few seconds) really keeps you on your toes.  Alternative use:  boss slime monster in the swamp, spawns little green bubbles that, when bursting, cause an area poison effect.

Have also added the concept of a supporting monster.  One particular new monster summons what looks like a whirlwind, and these do not damage you and very quickly approach you and paralyse you over and over again.  So choosing whether to take out the annoying support acts or the main culprit will be important.

Also working on more nasty target selection for monsters, maybe at least for higher difficulty settings.  If you know which monster to focus on first before targeting the rest, why should an intelligent tactical enemy not focus all their firepower on your flimsy cleric first?  or your ranged attackers maybe?

16 Feb update:

The detailed work has begun.  The party is now teleported back to where the trouble started.  Albeit not without a few hiccups along the way as well.

If you get the advice not to engage one of these, heed it!  Chapter2 will generally have much less easy fights, most common enemies have some nasty powers that lets them curse, spawn, teleport etc., so a lot more fights will feel like the boss fights from Chapter1.

11 Feb update:

been a bit slower in terms of progress lately due to my real-life commitments. But still chipping away at the locations, have designed a guild concept and will from tomorrow start actually building up the detailed game flow, starting with the easy teleport to the deeper castle cellars  a mysterious side-effect of the teleportation step, revealing what seems to be some chaotic influence encroaching on the earthly plane…

Guild concept:

what I try to achieve with the guild concept, time permitting and if it suits the storyline along the way, is that there is a guild representing each advanced player class (exorcist, geomancer, marksman, knight etc.).  Some are more formal than others.  A guild may consist of members not in the same physical location.  Each guild will have some or all of these features:

1. the guild will allow the respective beginner class to advance to their class, provided they fulfil a deed/quest/favour.  Note: class change up is non-reversible. [all guilds]

2. the guild is where you will be given your initial class insignia.  which is a special item type fitting the 12th free item slot.  nice properties/bonuses. [possible all guilds]

3. the guild allows you to buy better insignia as well, at much better prices than those shopkeepers trading in rare stuff [some guilds]

4. potentially earn better insignia through further quests [some guilds]

6 Feb update:

out of the HUGE location maps of which there will probably be at least 6 (Chapter 1 had just one), I have finished the third today pretty much.  Unfortunately to show any of that would not be good.  But let’s just say the trip towards what I call the ‘valley’, which is the mainland where the trouble started as shown in the intro movie sequence, is now complete.  And in the valley there are several important sub-locations with their own occupants, quests, threats.

So far complete:

a) mountain pass and icy plains, includes trolls and that path to a settlement in the mountains.  will add some random stuff like caves or old mines as well later.

b) settlement, which is sort of a bottleneck to move on

c) the mountain slopes leading to the valley, includes entry to castle with minotaurs and some ancient icy caves.

d) castle besieged by minotaurs, which was one of the first things I did, some screenshots below belong to that

e) northern part of the valley currently under development, huge area hosting a few smaller things plus the vast elven forest, with entry to elven city in the sky/treetops

f) elven treetop city is built.

1 Feb update:

Main storyline is finished, an A3 sheet of paper full of font size ~4 writing:

Current view is that Chaper2 will have:

• twice as many locations as Chapter1, of equal or bigger size (status 1st February: I have built 8 of about 40 already);
• a doubling (at least) of monster types;
• a higher ‘baseline’ difficulty.  not only boosting monster speed, accuracy, AC, hp but also trying to make some monsters be more nasty in terms of target selection;
• the ability to change player class.  Note: most classes have 2 advanced classes to choose from and the choice if final, and you pretty much have to work pretty hard (quests, discovery) to be allowed to change class;
• more items.  First of ~20% more items in each item class, but also a new item class altogether, using the vacant 12th item slot in a player’s equipment.  Working title ‘class insignia’, it will be very restrictive in that each class has their own.  A cleric or priest or exorcist can wear a holy cross for example.  I will allow a wide range of attributes for these, even those otherwise restricted to weapons for example (life steal, damage+ …). Here is early impression of graphics I intend to use for them:

Pictures of maps and texture concepts used in Chapter2:

1st impression: ICY PLAINS, will be used in the mountains in the new area (back to where the assault started), but also in the elemental plane of COLD which may be added later in the game.

Second impression, ELF FORT HIGH IN THE TREES.  Speaks for itself. Blurred view on the forest below.

What you may have been waiting for: a private audience with Lord Aldrich’s smith…

There will be a quest to reach this place:

which will however require you to get past these fellows: