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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: GodoRogue (now at v1.6 final?)
« Last post by getter77 on November 29, 2023, 12:01:53 PM »
v1.6 final?

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Thank you very much to all the players who have taken their time to try and play GodoRogue. Special mention to those who decided to make a donation. You have greatly helped this project and motivate me to continue working on new ideas.

Today, I am releasing a small update that adds a minor change and finally resolves those small bugs that were still lingering in the GodoRogue code. I would like to conclude the development of this project (unless a future bug appears, which I would obviously fix) to focus on new ideas and games.

I hope you enjoy GodoRogue as much as I have enjoyed programming it. Thanks and go for the Amulet of Yendor!

    Added: Playing on a dark map halve your vision
    Fix: Adjust score values for weapons
    Fix: Short string when wielding weapons, to avoid UI bug
    Fix: Throwing things to sleeping Xerocs blocks the game
    Fix: Xeroc will not show sleep animation when they are mimic
    Fix: Gold score was 0 when player wins the game
    Fix: Deleting unused string when using scroll of identify
    Fix: Reseting all after win the game
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Non Traditional Roguelikes (Action / Real-time) / Re: Triangle Wizard 2 (now at v1.6)
« Last post by getter77 on November 27, 2023, 12:02:35 PM »
v1.6

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My apologies for releasing another update so close to the last one, but many bugs were reported on the forums and I just had to take the Sunday to fix them ;)

Release notes

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* Wishing for damage type immunities was bugged. Fixed.

* Added the Tigran race.

* Slightly buffed Frostling hitpoints.

* Frostlings, Nomads, and Lizardman now deal additional cold, fire, and poison melee damage respectively.

* Added an option (default off) to reduce the occurance rate of the particle effect of lava, poisoned water, and the like.

* It was possible to summoned multiple versions of the same familiar. Fixed.

* Due to the above bug also the Strengthen Familiar feature, introduced in v1.5, failed to work sometimes. Fixed.

* Creatures that somehow enter up outside the level despite Unity's physics modelling will now teleport back into the level.

* Forbidding spells on an individual basis would sometimes not work. Fixed.

* Some processes were still running when the game was pauzed which could sometimes cause a choke-up when continuing. Hopefully fixed.

* Wish point cost of several wishes increased.

* Euphoria now gives a random amount of wish points and with a significantly reduced average.

* Some quest rewards were giving the player too much experience, especially late game. Fixed.

* Familiars and rare creatures now obey the same maximum spell level rules as players do.

* Spell levels you have given your familiar now also affect the corresponding finding chance.

* Spell levels beyond level 15 no longer increase finding chance (stays at level 15 value).
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Non Traditional Roguelikes (Action / Real-time) / Re: Triangle Wizard 2 (now at v1.5)
« Last post by getter77 on November 26, 2023, 12:08:35 PM »
v1.5

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A large list of bug fixes and various quality of life improvements in this one :)

Release notes:

-------------------------------

* Added the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch unique item.

* If you gained the ability to walk through walls you ironically lost the ability to pick up gold. Fixed.

* Renamed "attack damage type" to "melee damage type" which is hopefully clearer.

* Journal now more clearly displays quest status.

* Failing a quest now displays a message.

* Quests beyond the first one could get stuck in an incompletable state. Fixed.

* Can now specify spells allies are not allowed to cast in the Grimoire. Can also be set on an individual basis in a creature's Grimoire.

* Added an option (default off) to enable a key that allows you to speed up the game by a factor of 10. Use with caution.

* The Strengthen Familiar spell will now also buff a summoned familiar; no more need to resummon it to apply buffs.

* Unsummoning a creature will now make it drop any items it might be holding before disappearing.

* You can now gift (unequipped) items to allies via your inventory.

* You can now ask allies to equip, unequip, or drop any item they are carrying. Allies cannot use utility items.

* You can now switch individual allies between melee and ranged approaches via the inspect screen.

* Added functionality to delete saved games in the load game menu.

* Wishing for damage type immunities would not lower other resistances. Fixed.
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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Cogmind (now at Beta 12)
« Last post by Kyzrati on November 25, 2023, 12:13:07 AM »
SITREP Saturday #52: Zoom In" - An interlude! Yep over 100 new items are complete, but what if... YOU COULD ZOOM THE MAP.

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Warsim 1.1 released with some fixes and features to celebrate the steam sale and awesome support warsim has had from it's community lately

Info, screens, etc here - https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/659540/view/3878224183449006856
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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Incursion source release is here!
« Last post by DaBeowulf on November 20, 2023, 05:01:07 PM »
Recently compiled a good new version on Windows.
(The commits in the repo after the last uploaded release were finally bait/lure enough, also incorporated the open PR and a variant to a suggestion from another issue regarding attribute training).

Thanks once more for all the great work, always feels good to stand on the shoulders of giants. :D

Here it is (just an unofficial release without the source, though):
https://fastupload.io/zk1gvLZIpKYg6fo/file
SHA-256 69b47b930521823be76b024584c8078205d5caa77e5fd0a607f6f0d09fd5c2ae
SHA-512 f71484b715d3c2ae7d17c89a141f2e58d143d28bd65a70bf7dcf3767c65b71b3e98e9b6d12224dd3d4d4a9d118f5519989247df38994ac84da2a7cf409760882

Also, while I supply checksums here I did not scan it for malware on my build machine or online specifically before uploading it there.
'[...] "AS IS" [...]' as they say.

EDIT: Got the journal table with exploration stats to display properly again as well (this is not included in the linked to download, which will no longer function in a few days anyway unless it keeps getting some traffic).
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New video up explaining the history and existence of Warsim! (explicit language! sorry)

https://youtu.be/0ssfGS97AuY?si=wL42lcb-YveaGkyq
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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Cogmind (now at Beta 12)
« Last post by Kyzrati on November 17, 2023, 05:51:52 AM »
"Post-Balance" Cogmind Item Expansion
[Cross-posted from the devblog here--follow link for better formatting and light-on-dark style.]

Beta 11 was a huge milestone in Cogmind development, having completed a comprehensive review of all items and their stats and mechanics in order to rebalance where necessary, a process I wrote about in detail last year. The results since then have been great, but what comes next?

Fun. Lots and lots of fun.

Beta 12 was a part of that new direction with its expanded Garrisons, new faction interactions, and the Scrap Engine, but the main thrust is still in progress, aiming to bring tons of new items, robots, and maps for them to inhabit. Heck, Kacper's on board and there's even going to be a bunch of new tiles :)

Despite being under full-time development for over 10 years, and certainly adding a fair share of fun secondary mechanics to Cogmind along the edges to keep things extra interesting, most of the work needed to focus on honing the core experience, and therefore the core content. However, aside from procedural generation and the potential unpredictability of unfolding events, special items and rare encounters are where it's at when the aim is to ensure every run is fresh and exciting.

Well, after Beta 11 that's where we find ourselves now, switching focus more and more to brand new elements that don't need to adhere to any sort of core content accessibility requirements. There's already a ton of core content--many hundreds of hours worth. Now it's time for the very rare items, the very hard-to-acquire tech, the very difficult optional opponents, and all the implications behind them.

As part of this drive, for months I've been creating over 100 new items, most of them including new mechanics. Some individual items take days or even weeks to build. They're that crazy.


Sample ASCII art from among the 100 new items.

At the time of the Beta 11 rebalance Cogmind contained about 1,021 items, a number that I've increased by 11% so far, the vast majority of which have not been released yet.


Sourcing Ideas
To come up with new items and mechanics, I never just sit down to explicitly think them up. Good ideas do come spontaneously, albeit inspired by random discussions among players, reactions to various situations in game, even playing other games and consuming various non-game media. And I'm always ready to note down these ideas for potential later use, since after all there's never enough time to implement absolutely everything, not to mention many ideas must wait for just the right opportunity or location to be introduced.

Having done this for many years now, that list has grown quite long, and now that plenty of new space is coming to Cogmind, space for more outlandish stuff, earlier this year I reviewed the entire list for the first time.

It's not organized at all, being composed of ideas just slipped in at random locations each time a new one popped up, all filed under the heading "post-1.0 items" that was chosen back during alpha when it was first created.


The current beginning of my random still-unused item ideas list. It's about 800 lines long :P

Here "post-1.0" essentially implies "after core stuff is done," so we're clearly at an appropriate junction to do this :) (regardless of versioning systems and the fact that in reality Cogmind is already far beyond what most people would consider 1.0...)

Anyway, it took a while to filter through everything (on the way even removing a few pieces of tech which had since been implemented without even recalling they were listed there at some point :P), but I did pull out a number of ideas that will no doubt be fun to play with. While none of them are central to the coming Beta releases, any time new maps are added a lot of content is needed to fill them out! Peppering them with cool stuff that you won't see every run helps keep them from feeling too sparse or repetitive.


Balancing Levers
The idea of "post-balance" from this article's title doesn't mean no balance.

On the contrary, as you probably know, Cogmind is big on balance, an emphasis achieved initially through adherence to carefully designed patterns and formulas. But then Cogmind is also always expanding with new content that needs to fit into the existing world, either closer to that core or somewhere out on the fringes.

As far as core items go, simple stats are generally sufficient to enforce balance, but the tradeoffs and drawbacks required to balance more extreme fringe items may necessitate unique approaches. Some of the optional mechanisms to use for this purpose are more generic, such as giving an item limited uses, while others are item-specific, such as the Dirty Datajack being overall pretty awesome if 1) somewhat unpredictable and 2) eventually, inevitably blowing up in your face when it detonates a power source.

Rarity and difficulty of acquisition are in themselves balancing factors which allow us to make some new items even cooler than usual, which is essential one of our primary goals here, but most items still likely need their own balancing factors that come into play once acquired.

I've organized an overview of some of Cogmind's special item balancing mechanisms below.
  • Disposable (limited uses): Interestingly I didn't want traditional roguelike "consumables" to be an important part of Cogmind's design from the beginning, and they still aren't really, but technically all Cogmind items are consumable to a degree (they protect your core and have limited integrity), and later in development as I wanted to introduce more and more truly powerful items this was a good excuse to play the consumable design card. It's a useful one since it offers really tight control, but I prefer to avoid overusing it if there are any other options available, since it's kinda boring.

The new CPS Tube, a disposable item. You get two shots because it's mainly meant to be a one-shot thing, but you might miss and that would be too mean.
  • Disposable-adjacent: Instead of a direct 1-to-1 use counter, an item's remaining usage is represented in more granular fashion based on other factors, for example the new "ID Mask" item I'll be introducing in a later post.
  • Item integrity loss on use: This concept is fundamentally similar to the disposable mechanic, although not quite the same thing since usage simultaneously weakens the item itself, making it more vulnerable to destruction, and for the same reason damage to the item directly reduces its remaining uses. The idea was pioneered by Vortex weapons, but you will occasionally see more of it where appropriate.
  • Core integrity loss on use: This one's pretty cool, although applying it generally requires good enough lore or tech reasons. There's a lot of room to play with core loss in the design, since it drains something you need to survive, but also tend to have a surplus of at various points on your journey, especially if you're otherwise doing a good job protecting your core. In this case, saving core indirectly supplies you with resources that can be redirected elsewhere That said, doing so could also be risky since the weaker your core the less resilient you are to later surprises! Balancing factors with deeper implications like this are great. We definitely need more core-eating items ;)
  • Deteriorating: An item could degrade/lose integrity for every turn that it's active. Although introduced in pre-alpha as a potential balance mechanism, this was only ever used for one item (Dirty Datajack!), and even that one was reworked along with the robot hacking system and deterioration is now a completely unused mechanic. It's kinda fiddly so I don't like it, but it technically still exists if needed one day. (There is a particular quest item that degrades over time, but that's a different mechanic since it can happen anywhere and you don't even have to attach it.)

An ancient demo image from Cogmind pre-alpha with a deteriorating item state listed on a hypothetical item.
  • Unique resource requirement: Unique resources can be a great balancing mechanic (be it via rarity, storage requirements, or other factors), and lots of roguelikes use them--think ammo types!--though in the past Cogmind hasn't done much in this area precisely because that most common manifestation was simplified into the amorphous energy/matter system (much more appropriate for a game with a vast array of unique weaponry). We did eventually get the Latent Energy Streamer from the Exiles, which takes unique resources to the extreme by adding a whole new geographical resource layer to the world. Honestly that resource should get more use, and definitely would if Cogmind is developed long enough (there are Plans). Looking ahead, one of the new items to come is powered by... other items.

Examining latent energy levels in the area.

Overall the more such levers we can add, the more interesting items and strategic/tactical considerations we can create, branching out into different design and gameplay territories. Everything on the above list has existed in some form or another for a long time, so it's not often that high-level non-item-specific balancing mechanisms are added, but there's a new one coming soon: chargeables.


Chargeables
We can already indirectly create "chargeable" items (and have :P) by simply giving them huge energy requirements, enough that only a small number of uses is feasible before having to generate more energy, though this approach is technically a bit of a fuzzy limitation that can be circumvented by storing massive amounts of energy in advance, so such items have to be designed taking that possibility into account.

What about an alternative item-centric approach that also essentially enforces a minimum time limit between uses? This way we know the maximum rate at which such an item can be used, plus this kind of item is likely more accessible to builds that don't have the capability to supply large bursts of energy at once.

Two different ways to implement the same general concept will be more appropriate for different kinds of applications, further expanding the pool of item design possibilities.

When adding any new feature, or in this case a balancing mechanism, it's important to ensure the UI can keep up with any needs. No big problems there, as charging is a fairly simple mechanic where you have charging and charged states, and it can only be used once the latter is reached.

While charging an item its charge countdown is shown in an adjacent part label, like so:


Tag for an attached chargeable weapon.

In this state the item cannot be activated, of course begging the question of just when and how it's charged. I originally imagined this to be something you could actively toggle, but that would require utilizing the third item state (overload style), which might have other uses for a chargeable item, so it's best to avoid that approach. Instead the charging happens automatically, as described in the state context help on the item's info page:


Different object states have also been getting unique context help relevant to their specific mechanics, rather than a generic description of the stat.

The so-called "charge rate" is specified in the item's description, which includes a phrase like "Charge rate: 20 energy * 35 turns" or whatever its energy/time requirements are.

When the item is ready to be used it'll play a charge up sound and you are free to blast away. It will also indicate that state directly in its name, in case you want to charge it up then store it away in your inventory for later.


They should be afraid. Very afraid.

That said, chargeable items don't have to be weapons! This just happens to be the first one I created. I wanted a weapon designed around a particular offensive concept but if made as powerful as planned it would be too ridiculous if used in rapid succession, but I also didn't want to make it yet another case of disposable weaponry and would prefer it become a long-term tool one could reuse again and again if you keep recharging it.

The other chargeable item I put together after this one, which I'll be sharing next time while discussing a different topic, is actually a utility.

This whole article started out with a discussion of balance, and while I'm sure this new mechanism has potential, I can't yet say I'm entirely sure just how the balance will work out with these brand new items. They will likely get some tweaks after playtesting, and purely from a theoretical design standpoint I think it may be necessary to at least require that charged items remain attached to retain their charge. We shall see. It also really depends on how they want to be balanced in the bigger picture, as well as how people abuse, I mean use, them :P

This is the first post in a series on new item mechanics. I won't be covering anywhere near everything (or even the coolest mechanics because I don't like to spoil much :P), but some of these also offer a chance for relevant discussion of the bigger picture:
  • Teleportation Mechanics - coming soon
  • Special Events Give Back, and Perfect Stealth - coming soon
  • A Simple Approach to Player-designed Robots - coming soon
  • Projectile Deflection - coming soon
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Non Traditional Roguelikes (Action / Real-time) / Re: Triangle Wizard 2 (now at v1.3)
« Last post by getter77 on November 16, 2023, 11:32:42 AM »
v1.3

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Continuing the porting of the last few missing gameplay elements from the predecessor, in this version Raziel and dimensional travel make a return. In addition, a new class and race which use dimensional travel features. And of course a few bug fixes.

Release notes:

-------------------------------

* Dream Image spawning by Euphoria was missing a particle effect. Fixed.

* Corrupted Sigils were missing a glow effect. Fixed.

* Stunned status effect visual would sometimes jump up in the air. Fixed.

* Added the Syron race.

* Added the Planeswalker class.

* Added the Syntropic shrine.

* Added Raziel, the Soul Reaver to the pantheon of deities.

* Summon spells can no longer be cast outside the level.

* Added tools to travel to other planes and dimensions.

* Zombies created by the Zombie Lord's aura could still drown. Fixed.

* When angry, Pharmakeus will now also sometimes make enemies throw potions at you.

* Many wishes are now instant and will resolve immediately without need to prime them.

* Wishing for health or the removal of diseases is now more expensive (but instant).

* Added The Astronomicon unique item.
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Non Traditional Roguelikes (Action / Real-time) / Re: Triangle Wizard 2 (now at v1.2)
« Last post by getter77 on November 12, 2023, 11:54:24 AM »
v1.2

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New gameplay content in this new version; wishes and the associated deity, Euphoria! And on top of that some bug fixes!

Wishes work a little bit differently in TW2 than in TW1. In TW1 a wish had you enter a word or phrase and gave a certain probability of success. The chance of failure often offset the joy of being granted a wish, so in the sequel I opted for a more deterministic approach. Instead of wishes you will be given wish points and these can be exchanged for fantastical effects in a new Wishes screen. You can use your wish points as soon as you get them to wish for something small, or you can save them up for a huge impactful wish later on.

Release notes:

-------------------------------

* You can now also inspect powerups, items, shrines, altars, and traps in the Inspect screen.

* Spell descriptions now also show statistics for the next level.

* Prismatic Spray and Silver Fire spells now correctly show damage numbers in the Grimoire.

* Added the Wishes screen which can be used to select and prime wishes.

* Added Wands of Wishing of varying potency to the unique item pool.

* Added Euphoria, the Goddess of Dreams to the pantheon of deities.

* Rare creatures may now on occasion wield unique spells.

* Selecting unique spells which do not use incantations in the Grimoire would not select the spell for casting. Fixed.

* Added the Yearning Shrine.

* Perplexing Shrine, Mandelstam Root, and Moebius were handing out too much experience points. Fixed.

* Some quests had a negative experience point reward. Fixed.

* Quests where you had to eliminate X creatures would sometimes not register a kill, making the quest uncompletable. Fixed.
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