RogueLight

Hi Guys!

Here's a small 1 Level test of my game RogueLight - It's supposed to be a small break time rogue-like with no combat just a race against time.

<img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b170/mr_flibble_hhah/project3.png">

<img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b170/mr_flibble_hhah/project2.png">

<img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b170/mr_flibble_hhah/project.png">

Controls:

Arrows - Move Character

X - Calls Up The Map

Z - Action - Stood next to chest open - Again to collect gold - Exit while in front of exit stairs - While next to a flame add energy to the torch you're carrying.

When It's game over, either when all goes dark or you find the exit nothing will happen and you'll have to exit the game manually.

I've included 5 randomly generated Levels in the LevelShare folder. To play one of these copy to the level you want to play to the Levels folder and rename to level1.ini.

Full game should have 25 randomly generated levels (generated each time you play) to escape from.

Links -

http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/roguelight/1425/

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this - Becasue if I continue I think I'm going to have to start again because I can't restart the Layout without it crashing, the game itself and the Level Load events are in 1 Layout. The idea was load first level - when complete restart the layout but load the next level in sequence. But at the moment I can't get it to reload the same level without crashing.

Can this be fun? A rogue-like with no combat? Are there too many fires in the Level?

PS - I'm really nervous posting this, so be kind.

Hey, this is looking good!

I'm sad to say, but I'm working on a similar game!

It's also a roguelike, with an explorer/tomb raider theme where you play in a dark enviroment!

But my game has an arcade vibe to it, so I think it will be different after all!

But anyway, your game looks very cool!

I'm having a bit of a problem when I walk - if I press the keys too fast it ends up not walking (or sometimes it misses the grid).

I love the evil darkness lurking around you, it makes everything looks very tense!

Yeah, movement could do with a few improvements, but it looks good.

Thanks guys I'll look into the movement issue.

gammabeam - Does your game use randomly generated levels?

If so how you handling them? I'm currently generating the level. Then on Layout 1 - Loading the level via the ini and then running the game events on Layout 1 too. Then trouble I'm having is getting it to load a second level on the same layout 1 then running the game events for the new level - if that makes any sense.

I was thinking if having a seperate layout for each section (generation, load & gameplay) would be a better method.

Anyway thanks for taking the time to try it out.

Hey Minor!

I'm gonna post some work very soon on my blog about the level generation thing, but I already made a topic about this, which wasn't very popular and soon went down to page 2

I've made some nice improvements on this, but basically I'm making some sets of tiles (I called them rooms - but they are more like sections of a dungeon) and storing them on a 3 dimensional array.

Then, on the game (which is already working, but I must organize it before showing it) I load the array and build the rooms, choosing them randomly.

It's coming along great, and this is a method I may use for several games!

Very nice minor. It was fun... I could really see this turning into a full game. The movement was a little weird for me to. I wanted to just hold down the keys instead of tapping them to move.

The random dungeon creation is a nice touch as well! I'll have to study that aspect more.

Thanks again.

gammabeam - Seems like a similar system to me although instead of an array I use the values in the ini and Private variables to place objects and the type of room it is.

scidave - Thanks for trying it. Seems like I've got the movement well off, i thought roguelikes used that system to move about. Looks like holding down the key to move continuously is the way to go here. Time for some research playing Powder me thinks. I like the random dungeon generation too, I was hoping to include the generator as a seperate app so you could generate a set of 25 levels, share them with a friend (that is what the levelshare folder is for) and see who does the best ie most treasure, fastest escape, etc.

Thanks again everyone.

OK. This is in a semi-finished state. Would any one test it out for me? Would like a bit more feedback before I post it elsewhere.

Bad Windows Movie Maker trailer:

Quick gameplay video:

Controls:

Arrows - Move Character

X - Calls Up The Map

Z - Action - Stood next to chest open - Again to collect gold - Exit while in front of exit stairs - While next to a flame add energy to the torch you're carrying.

Menu:

New Game - Will generate 25 new levels for you to play (takes about a minute or so)

Last Levels - Will play the last levels generated

Stats - Will randomly show some of the game statistics

Level Share & Achievements aren't in yet.

I know some had misgivings about the controls but I've kept it the same as I think it adds a bit of panic to the game when your light gets really low - But I have tightened the movement and shouldn't leave the grid like it used to. But if the movement is still unloved I'll change it to holding a key to move.

BUGS:

1. Sometimes when you start a level you can't move - Think it's solved - If anyone has this problem could you let yourself die, open the laststats.ini, look for [LEVEL] make a note of the number and send me that level file from the Data folder.

2. Sometimes you'll come across a bright shining number somewhere in the level - again I think it's solved - but if you come across it let me know.

NEW LINKS

http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/roguelight/1425/

Thanks

PS - Do you think it's too difficult to get anywhere near escaping?

Hey Minor... good to see a new release! I played it for about 30 min and then gave up.

My biggest complaint is that you have no idea what level you are on or how you are progressing. It is very disorienting, which is perhaps intended.. but the problem is when you die there is an option on the main menu for "last levels" and you have no idea if you are starting from the start or it actually saved your game. The difficulty seemed allright and I believe I was around level 15 or so before I died. I was expecting the further levels to be more difficult, but it seems like it is somewhat random on how difficult the levels were. I actually kind of liked this. One level you could just take your time running around picking up gold and collecting as much fire as you pleased and the next level it is a frantic race to find your way out. That was fun. The big killer for me was a lack of indication on what progress I made and a lack of indication if the saved game feature was really working.

Another issue is the initial loading of the game. It just sits there loading the levels with no indication on what is going on. Some people with ADD may just quit your game before they even start. I would add a progress bar when the levels are first generated.

Also, the controls (as far as repeatedly pressing keys) felt ok this time and they do add to the frantic nature of the levels.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for trying it again scidave.

[quote:18x7i0gu]Another issue is the initial loading of the game. It just sits there loading the levels with no indication on what is going on. Some people with ADD may just quit your game before they even start. I would add a progress bar when the levels are first generated.

I've added a progress bar to the level generator at least now you get an idea of where it's up to & how long it's going to take.

[quote:18x7i0gu]My biggest complaint is that you have no idea what level you are on or how you are progressing. It is very disorienting, which is perhaps intended

It was intended to a degree. I just didn't want to plonk some text on screen saying "LEVEL 7". I'll have a think if I can come up with a more subtle indication of how far you've progressed and how far you've got to go. Maybe instead of a screen saying "loading level" I'll add some sort of overview map showing the start and end and your progression inbetween.

[quote:18x7i0gu]but the problem is when you die there is an option on the main menu for "last levels" and you have no idea if you are starting from the start or it actually saved your game.

My bad. It isn't a saved game it just lets you play the last set of generated levels again from the beginning.

[quote:18x7i0gu]The difficulty seemed allright and I believe I was around level 15 or so before I died. I was expecting the further levels to be more difficult, but it seems like it is somewhat random on how difficult the levels were. I actually kind of liked this. One level you could just take your time running around picking up gold and collecting as much fire as you pleased and the next level it is a frantic race to find your way out.

Levels are totally random so you never know what you are going to get, no matter what the level number. I was hoping it would make no difference to the game not having a diffuculty factor that got increasingly harder, just didn't want the player to have an idea what was coming on the next level/floor.

[quote:18x7i0gu]Also, the controls (as far as repeatedly pressing keys) felt ok this time and they do add to the frantic nature of the levels.

Glad the controls felt better. I just like the feeling of hammering the keys, while on a low light, keep flicking on the map hoping to run into a flame somewhere. I think if in the same situation using a 'hold down the key method' you wouldn't feel as involved, as the character would move at the same rate in a low light situation as in full light.

Thanks again.