Messages

1

Programming / Re: BearLibTerminal: a pseudo-terminal window library for roguelike

« on: March 14, 2020, 10:38:53 PM »

It's probably not easily suited to that but there's two possible ways:

1. Implement a font made up of a wide range of pieces which could be put together by the game to resemble that data. That might work for circles and static content like that but it would have some real problems with things like sine waves and at best you'd probably have to only display an approximation of the data. I don't think this would be the best approach.

2. Implement a font made up of a single large character and update this every time you need it to display a custom image. For instance, I use this approach for my mini map - I build an x, y array of pixels based off my map data and what's been explored by the player, write that array to a png file every turn, update the custom font every turn and then display that large single character as the map. It's not the most efficient method but it works. I do a similar thing for my title screen where I display an image which covers the whole screen.

2

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 15, 2020, 03:16:47 PM »

getter, something like that would be great but I'm not holding my breath. I think best case scenario is that they take a view along the lines of what Sereg says - officially being ignored but unofficially tolerated because I'm actually doing something to help them at my own expense.

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Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 15, 2020, 10:53:48 AM »

I appreciate the concern but I'm reasonably confident that I comply with the Wizards of the Coast licence. I'm a lawyer by day and I can tell you that it's almost incomprehensible to me, let alone a lay person, but I've been as careful as possible to do everything correctly. There's actually a lot of content that you can use legitimately but you're right that there's some specific stuff which is definitely off limits, such as beholders, drow, yuan-ti, etc.

I'm also not allowed to use D&D trademarks or to suggest that my game is an official product, but I don't necessarily agree that the current licence prevents me from referring to the title and content of the document which sets out the open content which can be legally used. Maybe that wasn't always the case with previous versions of the licence, but I've done my honest best to comply with the licence that currently exists and I'll keep doing that until I receive some kind of legal correspondence telling me otherwise.

The game is far from popular in a broad sense but I suspect that it's been publicised enough that some employees at WOTC might have seen it and I hope that I'm past the point where I need to be worried about some kind of legal disaster.  If I'm wrong about that then the game dies a quick death...

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Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 11, 2020, 01:49:37 PM »

I haven't actually thought more about race or classes at all while I undergo this development arc. I've sort of made the decision that that side of the game is complete enough for the moment and it's a completely different focus now. I'll eventually come back around and reconsider those aspects of the game and see how I'm placed once I've got an idea about how the overall game structure is looking.

5

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 11, 2020, 07:52:34 AM »

New version released on both Steam and itch with a number of dungeons and towns to explore and a couple of quests to undertake. The world is still a work-in-progress but there is the beginnings of a broader story and series of quests which I'll be working on expanding as time goes on.

Full change list:

* Implemented static whole map starting level. Implemented special case light map for above ground. Amended save and load routines to deal with scenarios where there aren't any up and down stairs. Implemented a new vault type, which covers the whole map to be The Red Outpost.

* Continued work on fixed level generator. Continued work on The Red Outpost. Added flipping of set map on x and y axis.

* Implemented trees and shrubs into level generator.

* Implemented unique NPC generation from map files.

* Implemented flavour text for unique NPCs and necessary routines around that.

* Wrote Saint Othmar's custom flavour text.

* Updated save system to handle different dungeon branches.

* Continued work on new level generation, multiple branches and overworld content.

* Updated trees to be always visible once discovered so they act as quasi-map walls.

* Updated commands so that options on the overworld are very restricted.

* Removed most of the code to do with procedural quests because they're temporarily a bad fit for the game's structure.

* Finished special item and monster generation code using data from dungeon branches.

* Fixed weird and long-standing bug to do with placement of monsters.

* Reworked encounter generation routines and finished compulsory special encounter generation in a random vault in the dungeon.

* Implemented new tile sets for walls in normal dungeons, towns and the red prison.

* Got rid of the scorpion tail's from crab tiles.

* Implemented basic version of North Warren with unique NPCs: Odette, Sunny, Susie.

* Implemented basic version of Mirefield Keep with unique NPC: Lord Wesley.

* Finished implementing skeletons of remaining towns.

* Implemented unique monster distribution for Badbog, Catacombs, Rage Hill, Haunt and Sanctum.

* Fixed bug with hidden attackers.

* Fixed bug with item distribution.

* Changed village tile to something a bit more consistent.

* Reduced player XP gain by half.

* Added Saint Barnabas, Saint Hedwig and Cardinal Florian.

* Added flavour text for every generic NPC.

* Hopefully fixed a bug with dungeon generation which created unintentional hordes of enemies.

* Added random monster generation to special item vaults.

* Added kobold mobs spawning to warrens:2; added kobold horde as a guaranteed mob on warrens:3.

* Added Nubnag, a powerful kobold boss with the savage, relentless and extra attack traits.

* Varied the monster generation routines so there is always a chance of a random monster turning up on any dungeon level.

* Made all potions stackable to save inventory room.

* Fixed bug with NPCs dropping some items on death.

* Slightly reduced food generation rate.

* Added ranged attack stats for skeletons.

* Created necromancer horde with skeleton archers and zombie brutes.

* Added Saint Cormag the necromancer as a boss for the ancient shrine.

* Added flavour text for Nubnag.

* Designated certain encounters as special so that they don't randomly spawn.

* Added dictionary for actor positions to try and optimise the AI functions somewhat. Should cut down on a lot of looping through lists looking for actors in certain spots.

* Fixed bug with targeting system and lookup table.

* Added visual indicator of when a unique NPC is seen.

* Implemented basic journal to record all player actions.

* Implemented basic quests and reward system.

* Added gold and made it spawn as a common item in amounts between 5 and 20 pieces.

* Implemented new quest system with ability to create multiple quests per quest giver with different priorities, rewards and prerequisites.

* Fixed bug with items spawning in walls around the exterior of the map.

* Added quest given by Cardinal Florian to kill Saint Cormag.

* Finished work on quests so that they work properly and quest givers can have multiple quests to give with different prerequisites and competing priorities as well as properly giving rewards.

* Reduced how often the screen is updated to hopefully give a big boost to speed.

6

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 01, 2020, 11:57:15 PM »

I figured out that error - I'm fairly sure it crops up when an NPC dies with an item in their inventory which adds a trait to the user and that's a bit of a rarity which is why I hadn't factored the possibility of a dead carrier into my item dropping code. I've fixed it and that fix will be included in the next version that I upload relatively soon.

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Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: January 01, 2020, 03:06:21 AM »

Whether a body blocks someone in a real game of D&D is one of those things that would come down to the individual DM I'd say. I don't think many DMs would say that a small or medium sized body would block a hallway, but perhaps it's a different story for an ogre or dragon corpse.

That error is almost certainly to do with items in your allies inventory when they die. I don't think I use that same function when the player dies so I'll hopefully be able to recreate it fairly simply.

8

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: December 29, 2019, 09:53:45 PM »

Thanks heaps for the feedback. I agree about the highlighted square being hard to see sometimes, it became a lot worse when I changed some of the graphical tiles and it needs a fix.

The inventory is going to undergo a bit of a rework with merging piles of the same item type removing a heap of clutter and you're right that there's a graphical bug at that one point in the screen.

I suspect that lag is due to me pushing the limits of python with inefficient AI programming. I've had similar issues and I think I need to streamline some aspects of that part of the game to improve performance.

You'll also be pleased to know that I'm working on making unconscious or sleeping creatures not block corridors anymore. I'm just going to make it so that you can walk over the top of them because I experience the same issues. It can sometimes feel unfair if your allies can't get to you or cheap that you can hide behind an unconscious ally, so it seems to me that it should just be removed altogether and incapacitated creatures should essentially become part of the background.

And that error message you posted is a new one for me... I'll look into that as well.

This kind of feedback is absolutely invaluable so I just wanted to make sure you know how appreciative I am for you providing it, thanks so much.

9

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: December 26, 2019, 06:29:26 AM »

And of course I made some mistakes in that experimental version with item generation being completely out of kilter for testing purposes along with an incorrect graphical tile for villages. Fixed now with a new version uploaded.

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Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: December 25, 2019, 11:40:36 PM »

Great! Make sure to let me know what you think!

Commoners are definitely NPCs which I use to populate the towns a lot but can also show up in the dungeons when I don't specify what monsters to generate on which levels.

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Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: December 25, 2019, 11:19:54 AM »

I've just uploaded an experimental version of the game filled with some HUGE changes. I never planned on making the game anything more than a simple dungeon crawl but the idea of creating an overworld and a number of different places to visit and explore crept into my thinking and I've spent the last few weeks working pretty heavily on it.

Here's what the new overworld looks like:



Normally I would remove the old version from itch.io and upload all new versions to Steam straightaway but I haven't had the chance to test this as much as I would like although it feels pretty stable to me. So at the moment I've got two different version for download (http://patjw.itch.io/theredprison) - one of them is the stable(ish) single dungeon crawl and the other is the experimental version with the full overworld and other features enabled.

You can expect to find 9 dungeons to explore, each with a different theme, enemy types, dangerous bosses with powerful artifacts to be discovered. There are also 5 friendly settlements around the map, some containing unique NPCs to interact with. A lot of this is just a skeleton to be filled out with future updates but it should give you a good feel for how the game is progressing and the direction I'm heading in.

A word of warning though, some of the dungeons might be quite deadly - especially as you go deeper and deeper and I'll definitely rebalance them as time goes on. I intend on directing the player to the easier dungeons through various quests so that they don't accidentally stumble into the hardest dungeon on the map. For now, my advice is to start with the Warrens, and then look for the Bandit Keep and the Ancient Shrine. And if you want to explore the old dungeon layout, it still exists at the far south-west of the map.

If anyone tries this out and wants to give me some feedback (good or bad), I'd be really appreciative!

12

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: November 26, 2019, 12:00:36 PM »

Things have been a bit slower for me in terms of putting out new releases. That's been because of a combination of real life commitments which needed to take priority over game dev work but also because there was some big ticket items which would need a fair bit of time to complete and to properly test.



The current new version is one of those big changes and the game now includes variable movement speeds for all creatures. While that might seem like a relatively small change, it required a lot of behind-the-scenes work to implement a kind of energy system for all entities and to translate that to work with each creature's speed.

The big reason for the change was the intent to rebalance the game more in favour of melee combat and against ranged combat and spellcasters who spam offensive cantrips. I've always worked on the theory that each on-screen tile represented ten feet in terms of distance. That worked quite well in most respects until you think about the normal PC movement speed being 30 feet per turn. Without that aspect of the rules being implemented, spellcasters and ranged combatants effectively got 3 times as many turns to attack while melee fighters slowly approached them. That's all changed now.

It's still a bit experimental because you'll see that when you're actively engaged in combat that other creatures can kinda jump towards you as they move multiple squares at once. That's deliberate and that's part of what I'm monitoring in terms of whether it's actually fun or not. From my own playtesting it feels pretty good, but I'm very open to ideas if someone thinks that movement speeds should be tweaked in any way.

Full change list:

* Fixed bug with opportunity attacks where a creature has died somehow (I think?)

* Implemented constants for time to take actions and movement. Add cooldown variable to all objects to record this. Added method to record this value whenever actions are movements are made.

* Finished implementing variable movement speed system - movement now takes 1/3 as long as other actions as base costs and these can be altered to reflect different speeds for each creature for each types of acts.

* Changed order of attribute display just to suit my cosmetic preference.

* Implemented movement delay of 50% times base value for hidden actors.

* Implemented movement delay of 50% times base for wearing heavy armour without requisite strength (apart from for dwarves).

* Updated movement speeds for all monsters.

* Implemented numpy instead of standard python lists to deal with a number of arrays for map storage to improve speed problems introduced by new speed system... and then removed it because my poor programming actually meant that it was slower!

* Did some tidying up of graphics routines to remove redundancies to improve speed.

* Added custom time costs for resting, opening and closing doors and talking.

* Fixed bug with heavy armour and movement speeds not calculating properly.

* Updated action surge to work with new speed system which is actually a lot simpler than the previous system.

* Removed an anomaly with the sidebar display when the player is affected by only invisible conditions and there shouldn't be any visible sign of this.

13

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: October 30, 2019, 12:41:14 PM »

I've got to admit, I don't really understand what the Solasta licence means for them given that the SRD is fair game for anyway, but if Wizards of the Coast would like to officially endorse my product then I'm ready to talk business haha

14

Early Dev / Re: The Red Prison - roguelike based on 5th edition D&D

« on: October 30, 2019, 12:57:23 AM »

New version released: warlocks and other spell casters can now use higher level spell slots for extra spell power!

Here's a gif of warlock gameplay, linked only because it's fairly large: https://i.imgur.com/tYgMONY.gif

The user interface is still up for discussion but the way it works currently is that for non-warlock spellcasters when selecting a spell, you can also press a number between 0 and 9 as an override for the default spell slot level. If you have the corresponding spell slot available and it's higher than the default spell slot level, then you'll cast that spell at the higher level and potentially have it cause considerable more impact. Warlocks use the higher level spell slot by default so they don't have the same option in the menu.

Overall, it's a buff for spellcasters and allows for a fair bit more flexibility as well as letting spellcasters make full use of all of their spellslots rather than being stuck with unused higher level slots but needing to cast a low level spell like in previous versions.

Next step from here is to rewrite the speed system so that different races and monsters can have different move speeds along with allowing for different time for different actions to be performed. The idea will be that movement will become cheaper and attacking and casting, along with moving steathily, will become more expensive timewise and this will shift the game balance away from archers and spellcasters spamming cantrips at range and put melee fighters onto a level playing field.

15

Development Process & non-technical / Re: I am new and unsure.

« on: October 03, 2019, 10:41:37 AM »

My background is very, very similar to yours in terms of motivation and what you've described is the exact reason I'm writing a roguelike. I've never played D&D properly but grew up reading an older brother's rulebooks and here I am writing a D&D roguelike.

I've never had any formal programming education either but it was something that I've always dabbled with from a young age (at the same time as being introduced to Nethack as a kid like you).

My advice would be to dive into the python and libtcod tutorial. Things would have been a lot faster for me if that was around when I started. You'll inevitably hit a wall when it comes to programming ability but it's a process of gradual improvement by iteration and if you find yourself enjoying it as a hobby then there's no reason why you can't pick up enough functional programming skills to write virtually anything.