NDRL: n-Dimensional Roguelike

[Destroid]

Hi, I've worked on this concept (heavily inspired by hyper-rogue) a bit lately and it currently displays most of the concepts I had in mind for it as a little side prototype.  It is named n-Dimensional as it's display and control system can handle as many as you like, however in game it will only display a maximum of nine at any one time.  Instructions are in the game, I'd love feedback on whether these are in fact adequate, or anywhere you were confused, understanding what is going on is probably the most tricky part of this game.  Currently it doesn't have many roguelike features (although I had them in mind when I conceived the game), it plays more like Pacman or a maze game.  The objective is simple, escape 20 levels to win the game, you die if you get caught.  If you don't die it probably would take around 15-25 minutes to complete the game, the difficulty takes a step up after level 7.


https://dl.dropbox.com/s/cjkx4w3gwl07zk8/ndrl.swf

[Alex E]

I tried it, and it's not really a roguelike per say, but a unique puzzle game. It's a bit confusing. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at with the different axis views (is it in a third dimension?), but oh well. I thought that it was a bit of fun, but it got a bit repetitive. The levels are mostly the same except for the position of the portal, horror, and the space you have. I'm interested as to where this game goes in the future.

[Destroid]

I tried it, and it's not really a roguelike per say, but a unique puzzle game. It's a bit confusing. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at with the different axis views (is it in a third dimension?), but oh well. I thought that it was a bit of fun, but it got a bit repetitive. The levels are mostly the same except for the position of the portal, horror, and the space you have. I'm interested as to where this game goes in the future.

You are quite right, it really isn't a roguelike at present (and I'm really not sure if I will develop it in that direction - I get a very puzzle game feel from it), the reason the levels feel the same is they are all randomly generated at the moment, and mostly require the same tactics to defeat.  The game generates a map with a random side length (the vertical length of the columns) and a random (restricted to 3-5 until level 8 ) number of spatial dimensions, an axial view of each of which is represented by the vertical columns.  Each space is then randomly filled or empty (depending on the size of the environment) and the horror, portal and player are randomly placed.

[st33d]

I escaped three worlds by blindly scrubbing back and forth until I found the exit. Then I got killed somehow by something I couldn't see.

The main problem is that you can only see where you're going on one axis . This would be fine except that it reduces the game to a scrub-fest, which doesn't really involve much thought.

A few things would be nice:

Don't represent blocked tiles with a few sparse rocks - walls are walls, don't be shy about it, fill the fuckers in. The fact that you have to explain that they are walls is a fundamental visual design flaw.

Make the maps smaller - don't fill it half in with wall. If you can't access half the map - don't have half the map.

Strip the input down to cursor keys. Left and right changes column, up and down moves between the planes.

Using the cursor key model, with a smaller map, you can now show a preview of the plane above and the plane below. This would allow players to understand how they are manipulating the map. No more random scrubbing.

Lastly - if you really want to push it into roguelike territory then you could add some items. I'm not sure it needs it, but it's an option.

[Quendus]

I can win 45% - 75% of worlds by scanning each axis to find the position that minimises its distance to the portal. In a lot of them, I find myself 2 squares away from the horror before I get next to the portal. In those cases I go back the way I came, make some random moves on the other axes, and repeat (hoping that there are now asteroids between me and the horror).

As far as I'm concerned, it's random whether or not that procedure works. Sometimes the horror doesn't get stuck behind a rock, and stays 2 squares away. Since it's impossible to tell which two axes it's close on, eventually all of the axes are stuck against a wall, and I have to guess which axis won't get me killed if I move along it.

Edit: OK, I just got to level 13 or 14. My two feature requests would be:

1. If I walk along the same axis two turns in a row and the distances to the portal are n+1, n, n+1, then the point along that axis where the portal distance was n should be highlighted. It's information the player has, this just saves them from wasting paper writing down which coordinates the portal occupies.

2. Either include a rest command, or highlight the two axes that would lead to the horror. That way when I get killed, it will feel like I was killed because I was stupid enough to get cornered, not because I guessed wrong.

Edit: Oh, space is the rest command! That should be made clear in the game.

Also I've spawned on an asteroid a few times. Not a big deal, but a little weird.

[Destroid]

I can win 45% - 75% of worlds by scanning each axis to find the position that minimises its distance to the portal. In a lot of them, I find myself 2 squares away from the horror before I get next to the portal. In those cases I go back the way I came, make some random moves on the other axes, and repeat (hoping that there are now asteroids between me and the horror).

As far as I'm concerned, it's random whether or not that procedure works. Sometimes the horror doesn't get stuck behind a rock, and stays 2 squares away. Since it's impossible to tell which two axes it's close on, eventually all of the axes are stuck against a wall, and I have to guess which axis won't get me killed if I move along it.

Edit: OK, I just got to level 13 or 14. My two feature requests would be:

1. If I walk along the same axis two turns in a row and the distances to the portal are n+1, n, n+1, then the point along that axis where the portal distance was n should be highlighted. It's information the player has, this just saves them from wasting paper writing down which coordinates the portal occupies.

2. Either include a rest command, or highlight the two axes that would lead to the horror. That way when I get killed, it will feel like I was killed because I was stupid enough to get cornered, not because I guessed wrong.

Edit: Oh, space is the rest command! That should be made clear in the game.

Also I've spawned on an asteroid a few times. Not a big deal, but a little weird.

Yep, #1 is something I've thought of too, and will implement if I develop this further with the same UI.  For the spawning, only the portal has checking for asteroids on it's spawn, because the collision is checked by the square you are moving to.  Space to rest is given in the instruction screen, although I should perhaps make it more prominent.