Author Topic: Infra Arcana, a horror/Lovecraft roguelike (now at v22.1.0!).  (Read 300580 times)

Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #15 on: July 28, 2011, 11:22:43 AM »
Extremely cool.

Some thoughts/comments:

I especially like the idea of the height mechanic, although I'm not totally sure what the difference is between firing a shot at a shorter enemy versus a taller one is command-wise.

I really like the tombstone screen.

Kinda weird how the program seems to close then open when returning to the main menu after dying.

How do I throw missiles? I had throwing knives, but every time I used the throw command, I got a message saying I have nothing to throw. They can't seem to be equipped either. Is this not fully implemented yet or am I missing something?

Some commands like bashing doors or closing them can't be cancelled using the esc key like other commands.

A yes/no confirmation before lighting dynamite would be extremely helpful. or an option to extinguish it right after you light it in case you did it by accident. Like I did.

Vilomaxus and the Fungi handed my butt to me. Almost unfairly so. They kept diseasing me from a distance. Btw, how does a fungi wave it's hand and have an alien electric gun? Is that supposed to be like the Tesla Cannon/THunderbolt from Blood/Quake?

The reanimating corpses are very annoying, but very cool. I especially like how you can hear them "thud" against doors you close in front of them. Haven't tried it yet, but can they be completely stopped by making them blow up or dismembered somehow? I think that would make sense that they keep getting up if shot or stabbed, but can be stopped for good if they are blown up or somehow completely dismembered by a heavy duty bladed weapon.

I really like the healing mechanic where you have to find somewhere safe to try and heel instead of just healing every few turns like most other roguelikes.

Is there an arm-mounted chainsaw somewhere? That would be awesome! Any kind of chainsaw?

Nice selection of skills to choose from.

Any chance of making a power-up, scroll, skill, etc. or some sort of way to dual-wield a melee weapon and a firearm so you don't have to switch weapons so often? Not as a standard permanent ability, but some way to earn it?

It would be nice if there was also a command to exit the game from the Tombstone screen instead of having to return to the main menu to do so.  

Maybe the Necronomicon could be used kinda like the Tome of Power from Heretic/Hexen II? a Temporary buff to your weapons.

Is saving implemented yet and I'm just missing it?

Is there a way to change the default player name or make it start blank so you don't have to delete "player1" everytime you start a game?

Any chance of adding the page up/down and home/end keys as an alternate diagonal movement? I play on a laptop so I have no number pad and it's kinda annoying to use the number row at the top of the keys for diagonal movement.

Think it would also be possible to make it possible to navigate the menus using the arrow keys and enter to select the option/item/etc like in doomrl? I often play with a gamepad using xpadder, and this is a very nice addition. At least for me.

This is a very nice blend of themes that makes it stand out on it's own as a roguelike. I can't wait to see how it progresses. Thanks for a very cool addition to roguelikes.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2011, 12:33:14 PM by Legend »

NON

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #16 on: July 28, 2011, 02:30:47 PM »
Ah nice, a huge wall of feedback.  ;D

Ok one thing at a time-

Quote
I especially like the idea of the height mechanic, although I'm not totally sure what the difference is between firing a shot at a shorter enemy versus a taller one is command-wise.
Command-wise it only depends on where you aim. The rules are there only because a rat shouldn't block your shot when you aim at a person.

Quote
Kinda weird how the program seems to close then open when returning to the main menu after dying.
Yeah this is only due to lazy programming. It shuts down and restarts almost the entire program, because then I need to worry less about things left over from the previous session. I intend to improve this situation sometime.

Quote
How do I throw missiles? I had throwing knives, but every time I used the throw command, I got a message saying I have nothing to throw. They can't seem to be equipped either. Is this not fully implemented yet or am I missing something?
It seems to work for me. The throw command is 't', and missiles are equipped in the "missiles" slot. They should be equipped in that slot when the game starts.

Ah maybe you pressed the command to EQUIP missiles ('m'). Then it would say "You have nothing to use as a thrown weapon". Which means there is nothing in the inventory to equip.

t = throw equipped missile
m = equip missile

Quote
Some commands like bashing doors or closing them can't be cancelled using the esc key like other commands.
Good call, I'll fix that for next release.

Quote
A yes/no confirmation before lighting dynamite would be extremely helpful. or an option to extinguish it right after you light it in case you did it by accident. Like I did.
I've been meaning to add more dynamite/bomb-type weapons (like Molotov cocktails). So then you'd get a query which dynamite/bomb you want to ready. That will work as a confirmation query.

Quote
Vilomaxus and the Fungi handed my butt to me. Almost unfairly so. They kept diseasing me from a distance.
Vilomaxus? What? Who?  :)
Well, I balance the game after my own play testing, and I don't think they are that much of a problem. They always fall for the old 'wait-around-the-corner-with-a-shotgun' trick.  ;)

Quote
Btw, how does a fungi wave it's hand and have an alien electric gun? Is that supposed to be like the Tesla Cannon/THunderbolt from Blood/Quake?
I don't know if you've read Lovecraft. Those are extremely evolved fungi. As it says in their in-game description they look like crustaceans and have wings, several limbs and a tail. The electric gun is one invention of this great scientific race. Yes, the gun could look like the one from Quake.

Quote
The reanimating corpses are very annoying, but very cool.
Hm, "annoying" isn't good.

Quote
Haven't tried it yet, but can they be completely stopped by making them blow up or dismembered somehow? I think that would make sense that they keep getting up if shot or stabbed, but can be stopped for good if they are blown up or somehow completely dismembered by a heavy duty bladed weapon.
I've had others comment on this. But the zombies can actually only rise once. Kill them twice and they lie down forever. I've been thinking about making them always blow apart the second time you kill them, so that there is no corpse left to worry about. I'll make it so for next release.

Quote
I really like the healing mechanic where you have to find somewhere safe to try and heel instead of just healing every few turns like most other roguelikes.
Good!

Quote
Is there an arm-mounted chainsaw somewhere? That would be awesome! Any kind of chainsaw?
Evil Dead eh?  ;)  Maybe some day.

Quote
Any chance of making a power-up, scroll, skill, etc. or some sort of way to dual-wield a melee weapon and a firearm so you don't have to switch weapons so often? Not as a standard permanent ability, but some way to earn it?
I've been doing some planning for dual wielding, and it would be nice to have. But there's a bunch of other stuff that must be done first.

Quote
It would be nice if there was also a command to exit the game from the Tombstone screen instead of having to return to the main menu to do so.
Adding it.

Quote
Maybe the Necronomicon could be used kinda like the Tome of Power from Heretic/Hexen II? a Temporary buff to your weapons.
I intend to use it (and other tomes) for learning spells.

Quote
Is saving implemented yet and I'm just missing it?
No it's not there yet.

Quote
Is there a way to change the default player name or make it start blank so you don't have to delete "player1" everytime you start a game?
I could add a setting for this in the config file.

Quote
Any chance of adding the page up/down and home/end keys as an alternate diagonal movement? I play on a laptop so I have no number pad and it's kinda annoying to use the number row at the top of the keys for diagonal movement.
Yeah that should be easy to add. Something that could also be used:
shift + left = up left
shift + right = up right
ctrl + left = down left
ctrl + right = down right.

What do you think of that?

Quote
Think it would also be possible to make it possible to navigate the menus using the arrow keys and enter to select the option/item/etc
I'll see if I can add it.
Happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.

Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #17 on: July 28, 2011, 03:05:02 PM »


Quote
I especially like the idea of the height mechanic, although I'm not totally sure what the difference is between firing a shot at a shorter enemy versus a taller one is command-wise.
Command-wise it only depends on where you aim. The rules are there only because a rat shouldn't block your shot when you aim at a person.

---***Ok. I figured it was something like that. So if there is a rat in front of a zombie, I cn fire a shot over the rat and at the zombie? Cool.***---

Quote
How do I throw missiles? I had throwing knives, but every time I used the throw command, I got a message saying I have nothing to throw. They can't seem to be equipped either. Is this not fully implemented yet or am I missing something?
It seems to work for me. The throw command is 't', and missiles are equipped in the "missiles" slot. They should be equipped in that slot when the game starts.

Ah maybe you pressed the command to EQUIP missiles ('m'). Then it would say "You have nothing to use as a thrown weapon". Which means there is nothing in the inventory to equip.

t = throw equipped missile
m = equip missile

---***lol. That's exactly what I was doing. Hitting "m" instead of "t". I was playing with a gamepad so I confused which button I had assigned to m/t.***---


Quote
Vilomaxus and the Fungi handed my butt to me. Almost unfairly so. They kept diseasing me from a distance.
Vilomaxus? What? Who?  :)
Well, I balance the game after my own play testing, and I don't think they are that much of a problem. They always fall for the old 'wait-around-the-corner-with-a-shotgun' trick.  ;)

---***My first time getting that far and I rushed down and was only at xp level 2, no shotgun, and several of the fungi. I don't really think it was unfair. Just learning the game afterall.***---

Quote
Btw, how does a fungi wave it's hand and have an alien electric gun? Is that supposed to be like the Tesla Cannon/THunderbolt from Blood/Quake?
I don't know if you've read Lovecraft. Those are extremely evolved fungi. As it says in their in-game description they look like crustaceans and have wings, several limbs and a tail. The electric gun is one invention of this great scientific race.

---***I'm aware of lovecraft and am familiar with works inspired by him. Also aware of some of his mythos, but unfortunately have not read anything of his yet. I was going to buy a compilation of his works the other day that I had been eyeballing at the bookstore for months, but it was gone. :( ***---

Quote
The reanimating corpses are very annoying, but very cool.
Hm, "annoying" isn't good.

---***I like them. More like a pain in the butt, but good challenge. I didn't really mean annoying as in they shouldn't be there. I really like them. They are kinda hard to deal with a hoard of them on the very first level though.***---

Quote
Any chance of adding the page up/down and home/end keys as an alternate diagonal movement? I play on a laptop so I have no number pad and it's kinda annoying to use the number row at the top of the keys for diagonal movement.
Yeah that should be easy to add. Something that could also be used:
shift + left = up left
shift + right = up right
ctrl + left = down left
ctrl + right = down right.

What do you think of that?

---***That's a really cool and interesting idea. I'm surprised no one else has ever thought of something similar for rl players without a numpad.***---

Quote
Think it would also be possible to make it possible to navigate the menus using the arrow keys and enter to select the option/item/etc
I'll see if I can add it.
[/quote]

---***You would be my hero if you did!***---
« Last Edit: July 28, 2011, 03:07:33 PM by Legend »

Psiweapon

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #18 on: July 28, 2011, 04:19:36 PM »
Oh my my this is sounding like a monster game O_O
...They did the mash! X_D
I'm going to download it right away!
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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #19 on: July 28, 2011, 05:52:25 PM »
Oh, by the way: here's the skinny on the Mi-Go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi-go

Enjoy!


Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #20 on: August 05, 2011, 05:27:07 AM »
Just curious, ever think about adding some hellraiser/hellbound heart inspired creatures to the game? I always thought some clive barker inspired cenobite-like creatures  and/or elements would be cool in a roguelike. Maybe even the LeMarchand box as a rare item.

NON

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Re: Infra Arcana release 5
« Reply #21 on: August 05, 2011, 08:04:18 AM »
Just curious, ever think about adding some hellraiser/hellbound heart inspired creatures to the game? I always thought some clive barker inspired cenobite-like creatures  and/or elements would be cool in a roguelike. Maybe even the LeMarchand box as a rare item.
I have thought about it. You could have chains flying out of the walls and hooking on to you. It would take quite a bit of special code to simulate the chains though (unless you do it the super easy way - immediately restrict movement in all directions).

Btw, Legend, I've made it so you can navigate all the menus with the movement keys + enter.
Happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.

NON

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Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #22 on: August 05, 2011, 03:11:39 PM »
Oh yes.  8)

http://infraarcana.wikispaces.com

Release 6 (August 5, 2011)
New features
*Insanity
*High Score
*New explosive weapon: Molotov Cocktail
*New thrown weapon: Rocks
*Explosions destroy walls and doors (destroyed walls may leave rocks)
*Pressing the wait command gives status "Still" for one turn. This gives slightly better hit chance with firearms and thrown weapons.
*A wait command can also be made with the period (.) key (as well as the '5'-key)
*Menus can be navigated using the movement keys and enter (as well as typing a letter)
*Alternative commands for diagonal movement (PgUp/Home/End/PgDwn -- or -- arrow keys + shift/ctrl)
*New status effect: Fainted
*One new monster
*The tombstone screen has a command to quit the game

Fixes
*The game restarts smoother (doesn't restart the renderer when going to main menu)
*Zombies leave no corpse the second time they are killed
*The pre-set player name is empty instead of "Player"
*While paralysed, the character info did not show damage taken until the player could move (now it updates for each hit)
*Cancellation commands in some places where they were missing
*Rewrote level up-bonus description text
Happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.

getter77

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #23 on: August 05, 2011, 04:41:29 PM »
R6 Windows download link just takes it back to the main page.

Edit:  Well, that was a quick fix!   :D  Nicely done!   8)
« Last Edit: August 05, 2011, 04:46:12 PM by getter77 »
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NON

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2011, 04:49:08 PM »
Yeah they reported input problems on the bay12 forums.

The trouble only happened on US (or non-Swedish at least) keyboards.

I worked like a maniac there for a couple of minutes to resolve it. Browsing the code, googling, searching old threads feverishly.  ;D

I hope everything works now, sorry for the trouble.
Happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.

Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #25 on: August 05, 2011, 06:00:06 PM »
Awesome! That's so cool that you added the menu navigations. Thanks a ton. I know I'm probably the only one it really matters to.

Just wish I hadn't found it just now. I have to go to sleep and get up in about five hours to work a 12 hour shift. But I wanna play! lol.

The chain idea in the version 5 post sounds cool. Anything Hellraiser influenced is cool to me.

Maybe the Scarrow from Clive Barkers Undying would fit in the game too. It has a very lovecraft look to it and is interesting because it can appear out of the floor and can blind the player. Not sure how difficult that would be to code, but still think it would fit.

It would be kinda cool if thrown rocks could be used to distract enemies to go in another direction as long as you are not in their line of sight already. It would give it a little survival Horror feel.

Would a blunderbuss fit the time period?

NON

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #26 on: August 05, 2011, 09:58:54 PM »
Quote from: Legend
Awesome! That's so cool that you added the menu navigations. Thanks a ton. I know I'm probably the only one it really matters to.
Well I find more joy doing something for one person who thanks me for it, than a hundred people who play silently.

Quote from: Legend
Just wish I hadn't found it just now. I have to go to sleep and get up in about five hours to work a 12 hour shift. But I wanna play! lol.
Hehe "Just one quick game, it'll only take a couple of minutes".

Quote from: Legend
The chain idea in the version 5 post sounds cool. Anything Hellraiser influenced is cool to me.
If I ever add it, I would certainly not spoil it in the change log or anywhere else tough. ;)

Quote from: Legend
Maybe the Scarrow from Clive Barkers Undying would fit in the game too. It has a very lovecraft look to it and is interesting because it can appear out of the floor and can blind the player. Not sure how difficult that would be to code, but still think it would fit.
Oh yeah Undying is awesome. It's kind of a stretch to use creatures from it in IA though, but the traits you describe would be piece of cake.

Quote from: Legend
It would be kinda cool if thrown rocks could be used to distract enemies to go in another direction as long as you are not in their line of sight already. It would give it a little survival Horror feel.
That's outside the capabilities of the engine at the moment. 99% of the time you'd simply slaughter them, so the benefit/work-ratio to implement it isn't very good.

Quote from: Legend
Would a blunderbuss fit the time period?
It's an old place so they could have them lying around. But wouldn't it be extremely weak compared to the Tommy gun and shotgun? It would need to have terrible damage and aim? :)
Happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.

Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #27 on: August 06, 2011, 12:25:14 AM »
Quote
Would a blunderbuss fit the time period?
It's an old place so they could have them lying around. But wouldn't it be extremely weak compared to the Tommy gun and shotgun? It would need to have terrible damage and aim?

You're right. For some reason I just thought one would be cool since you hardly ever see one in any game and it has one of those Dr Suess odd horror feel to it. For me anyways.  Maybe it could be weaker, but have a larger spread than the shotgun. It might be stronger than the pistol/handheld guns? Not sure what kind of ammo it uses though. I remember thinking it was cool in the Deathtrap Dungeon game from Eidos. Just threw it out there.

***EDIT***
Maybe if the chains and hooks don't make it in as a trap, maybe they could be a weapon? Kinda like a long range melee weapon like a chain whip (with a hook at the end). And it could snag enemies from further away and bring them closer. There was something similar in the Blood 2 expansion pack.

Maybe the ball/sphere from Fantasm might make a cool cameo too as either an enemy or item/weapon.

******2nd EDIT*****
I haven't gotten very far yet so I don't know if it's in there already, but maybe a spiked mace or flail would be a cool melee weapon? I think it would be fitting with theme of the game.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2011, 03:29:14 PM by Legend »

Legend

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #28 on: August 09, 2011, 09:53:04 AM »
I finally got a chance to sit down and play some more. Very cool. I loved throwing a moltov coctail in a room full of spiders over the top of them and into the middle and watching them all catch fire.

I noticed dynamite doesn't seem to blow up the trees in the intro level. Some variation to the church lay out would be cool. Can you do anything to/at the altar? What about the graves?

I discovered the green spiders. Guess there's no need for the Scarrow idea I had since they blinded the hell out of me. lol. Might be cool if the spiders had more interesting descriptive names instead of just white/black/green/etc. Unless the effect of different colored spiders was randomized each game like potions in Rogue. I've never seen random enemy effects in a roguelike before.

I read some comments on another board about your game and I think I have to agree with toning down the respawning a little. I rarely make it past the first level of the dungeon because I just keep getting swamped by creatures and no way to find a safe place to heal since I can't get away from them and find a door that isn't broken to close. Plus I have very little equipment and have only gotten as high as level 3 once while still on the first level.

I noticed that I can't seem to move from enemies while they are attacking me. Particularly trying to move diagonally away from them or between to enemies. I can never seem to move diagonally between them.

Maybe some other traits that could be picked would be specific melee weapon proficiency like bladed, blunt, pointed, etc.

Can't wait for potions.

I never get a throwing knife back if it lands on something else like a doorway or a corps etc. At least not that I've noticed.

Haven't been able to find anything by searching yet. Is there anything to find implemented yet?

Could you please elaborate on the effects of insanity? I can't seem to figure out what it does.

That's all I can think of for now. Very fun game.

Chex Warrior

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Re: Infra Arcana r6 - aka "Now it has insanity"
« Reply #29 on: August 09, 2011, 11:24:45 AM »
Well, at the risk of sounding like an idiot... NON is there anyway to save a game yet? Can't seem to figure out how.