Demon: A monster collection roguelike 3/31!

[Ferret]

The next build coming up is a content build, the primary goal of which is to expand the main dungeon from 20 floors to 23 floors.

A grand total of 21 new demons are being added, and I am happy to announce I've finished the sprite are for all of them. If you're a fan of Geminimax's sprite set, don't worry, he's still working on his. Just a little busier with college than usual.

Without further delay, here's the original sprite set art for the 21 new demons:

Abbey Lubber


Alma


Baba Yaga


Basilisk


Brucha


Buruburu


Couril


Death Worm


Estas


Eye Killer


Flying Head


Friar Rush


Jotunn


Leib-Olmai


Mulassa


Mummy


Ogun


Sankai


Shikome


Virtue


Zaltys



Still a ways to go on release, since there's this much content going in, but it should be an awesome build when it's ready. Cheers!

[Avagart]

Congrats for creating sprites on your own! They all looks nice, but Baba Yaga is truly awesome

[Ferret]

Thank you. I'm glad Baba Yaga in particular came out well: she's a major figure in mythology, besides also being a Unique in Demon. Now that I'm getting to doing content for the last third of the main dungeon, I feel I can start using some of the more major figures in mythology (which is why you see Basilisks and the Jotunn finally joining the roster).

[Ferret]

Hey. Things have slowed down a bit as I've transitioned from full-time to part-time work on Demon, but slowed down doesn't mean stopped:

In the month or so since the last post, not only have I finished the icon art for the 160+ new abilities coming in the next build...



...but, as of now, 140 or so of them are also implemented.

A reasonable question to ask would be why so many? It goes back to Demon's random modifier system: every 1/3 of the game uses a different set of random modifiers that can be applied to demons as they spawn. Each random modifier is also supposed to have level-appropriate abilities it chooses from to give to demons that receive it... thus, since the build is the first build with content from the last 1/3 of the main game, I needed to make the abilities to fill out the new set of modifiers' lists properly.

I also wanted to make SP-denial and physical/elemental hybrid builds more attractive and interesting, so some of the abilities were added to accommodate that as well.

This is one of the last big tasks left before the next release, though there are plenty of smaller ones and a fair bit of testing still to go, but I'll get through it. Hoping for a March release at this point. Cheers!

[getter77]

You can do it! 

[Ferret]

The new build is finally released! Here's a link for the PC, Mac, and Linux builds:  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

As discussed in my posts above, the new build adds 3 new dungeon floors, 20 new demons, and over 160 new abilities, as well as some AI and balance tweaks that should make the game play better.

I'd say more about it.. but... I'm tired. You can read most of the important bits in my posts above, or in the change logs included with each build. Cheers, and good luck in the Tower!

[Aleksanderus]

Damn, I recently got into the shin megami tensei and I must say that this game is quite similar to it (especially the demon negotiations and fusions).

[Ferret]

That's pretty much what I was going for. Thanks for trying it out

[ampnaman]

Man, I've been addicted to this game the past few weeks trying out tons of builds and strategies!  Got pretty deep and died to carelessness when my nearly invincible omni-veil titan got drained down to 22 hp. Didn't have enough pure gems.

Some feedback on my numerous playthroughs though:

* Some spawns are extremely brutal! In particular, early relic wraiths, that pair of level 9 charging ghouls at Tower 1 1/2 (while you're likely just level 2 or 3), teams of modified monsters with similar blaster spells (e.g. psychic groups which will mind scream you to death), etc. These encounters can be downright frustrating.

* Everything is so expensive! Prices scale nastily too (via monster level/rarity). Even if you have the related discount relic upgrade, I've found that most actions are too expensive to use (like fuse, transpose, soul armor and revive). Maybe partly because credit pickups don't scale as well on dungeon depth. To overcome the lack of credits, I've been capturing and recycling every demon I can, but still not enough leeway to test out the relic functions.

* Some uniques are extremely hard to recruit, like Ccoa with 4 turns (if it jaunts, you fail). Though thankfully there's that rare golden goblet item that can instantly recruit them.

* Who picks that stupid deer over that hot, hot lady? Lol!

Anyways, the content, customization and strategy is pretty damn solid! Hopefully the bestiary expands and adds more mythology/folklore creatures and such. Thanks for the great game, Ferret! 

[Ferret]

Hey ampnaman Thanks for trying Demon out, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Early relic wraiths can definitely be a bit of a bother: since these are player ghosts, they can have access to some nasty abilities from starting packages early on. If you're not feeling confident, you can skip searching corpses, or pick up the Enemy Sense relic upgrade (which will tell you which corpses are going to spawn enemies or become wraiths) and get the goodies without the danger.

The pair of ghouls in Tower: 1 & 1/2 are toughies, as can be some groups of blaster enemies. One tip I can give that definitely applies to ghouls, and often other troublesome groups: look for opportunities to use recruitment mechanics to break up things a bit. For example, Ghouls are recruited by joining up with one and helping it rampage around the level. If you run into that pack of 2 ghouls, you can start a link with one and it will help you kill the other. Even if you ultimately fail the capture attempt, you get to fight both ghouls separately instead of together. Look for similar opportunities in other troublesome groups: they are not always present, but more often than not they are.

Yeah, the Currency/credits system needs a bit of tuning. I'm in the middle of some experiments with combat at the moment, but this is probably next on my list since it's sort of bugging me too. Uniques're definitely difficult to recruit, though they will be a little easier in the combat experiment build since damage across the board is up a little.

As for Actaeon vs. Artemis, that depends on who you ask. In some circles, Actaeon is widely regarded to be the best choice due to the abilities he provides when used with Fuse Demon, Revelation, or Transpose Soul.

I'm still working on it, so more content will be coming. There's already 23 floors to the main Tower and a smattering of side-dungeons to explore, so you've got plenty to keep you busy depending on how far you've gotten so far. Good luck in the Tower, and thanks for the feedback.