Wayward (now at Alpha 1.5 ARRP)

[Vaughn]

Hello everybody, I'm a big Temple of the Roguelike forum reader, but I rarely post, I usually hang out in #rgrd. Today/tonight I have released the first public alpha of my browser-based, turn-based, graphical roguelike, Wayward. I would really enjoy some opinions and thoughts on it. There's more information here:
http://roguebasin.com/index.php/Wayward

Play it here:
http://www.unlok.ca/wayward/

Wayward is a browser-based, turn-based, graphical roguelike currently in alpha. It is currently supported and will work in the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera. In the game, there is a large focus on realism and survival. Because of these elements, most weapons, and items will need to be crafted by natural objects found around the terrain. Unlike traditional roguelikes, in Wayward there are no levels; however, you can gain different skills which increase your effectiveness for each of the individual skills. You can also increase your strength (health), hunger (starvation), and dexterity (stamina), by performing skills that would realistically use one or more of those attributes, for example, parrying increases dexterity and mining increases strength.

Stylistically, Wayward hearkens to a 16-bit aesthetic in graphics and in sound. Game mechanics wise, the game is similar to the Ultima series, more specifically, Ultima Online with inspiration from other roguelikes and roguelikelikes.

[alexbard]

Nice graphic! love that style. You plan to make it multiplayer?

[getter77]

I also think it has a good graphical aesthetic going for it----congrats on making release and keep at it!   

[Vaughn]

Thanks for the comments.

Nice graphic! love that style. You plan to make it multiplayer?

Well, it was definitely discussed and talked about. At first, I tried to go to large scale with the project which ultimately led to delays in production, so I tried to scale some things back a little bit so I can one day hope to get a non-alpha, non-beta release, haha. I can say it's a possibility, but not until the game is more of a game

I agree that it definitely lends itself towards that kind of multiplayer gameplay in some aspects.

[getter77]

Since v1.0:

v1.1

    Tons of bug and performance fixes.
    More equipment, more items, more enemies, more sounds, more crafting, more environments.
    Monsters now have corpses that can be carved for resources.
    You can now rest with the bedroll.
    Better support for lower resolutions.
    Dialog/window positions now save on your browser.
    You can now skip/wait a turn with the space bar.
    There is now a static and unique map to explore, filled with dungeons and treasures.
    There is a “win” scenario built into the game. Can you discover it?
    Better combat functionality.
    Projectiles and throwing.
    Intelligence has been taken out – Hunger is in!
    Random starting equipment.
    Browser warnings for older browsers.
    Temporary loading/title screen.
    New character look
    Hotkeys implemented.
    Tool-tips enabled for items and crafting recipes for more information.
    Much more…

v1.2

    Over 100 new recipes, items, monsters, environments/tiles, sounds and skills!
    All planting/dropping/item effects now are “used” on your facing adjacent tile instead of below your character.
    You can now work yourself into exhaustion.
    It’s now more rare to destroy a plant on failure.
    Many bug and performance fixes.
    Item durability and breakage implemented.
    Eating or using an item now logs the stats regained or decreased in Messages.
    Leaf bedroll now tied into Camping skill usage – amount of sleep gained is dependent on skill.
    New tool-tip system.
    New resizable, snappable, savable UI.
    New sound options panel.
    Failure on any given action is now a little bit easier to notice with new sound effect.
    Items now drop without being planted or used in some way if the tile you are trying to drop on a tile that can’t be used/planted to. The Messages panel will log what is happening here.
    Basic fire system implemented full with a fuel and cooking sub-system.
    Basic information/tutorial system implemented.
    Saplings can now be grown.
    Hotkey usage now timed properly to mirror resource gathering speed (based on Stamina).
    Swimming is now in!
    You can now carve certain items now that were exclusive to being “dug” up like Mushrooms.
    Treasure spawning and discovery is a little bit different to promote more exploration/skill usage.
    Some plant-able items now have multiple tiles that they can grow on.
    Many skill system changes, tweaks and increased usefulness all around.
    Right clicking equipped items now un-equips it.
    You can now use items that are equipped.
    Hunger now resets to a minimum of 0 when eating.
    Monsters no longer scale in difficulty.
    Water routing via digging is now in.
    Many digging improvements introduced as well as bug fixes.
    Basic dynamic lighting system implemented – still needs work.
    You can respawn/play again after you die or win with the space bar.
    The resource/gathering system now require tools equipped to take down tree or rock tiles. Your tool now also effects what resources you get.
    Stepping on plants reduces their spreading ability.
    World map has been updated slightly (to include shallow water and other tiles).
    Much more…

And now the latest and greatest Alpha v1.3

I code-named this release “Gameplay” because many of the changes were in effort to help aid game mechanics and an overall increase in fun/enjoyment. There’s quite a lot of tweaks and fixes in this release as well.  New to this release is the ability to download an offline version. For some reason, even though I am making a browser-based game, people would still rather download it… then… run it in their browser anyways? Not sure about that one, haha. Download it here.  http://www.unlok.ca/wayward_alpha_1.3.zip

The biggest changes in this release is the re-introduction of procedural world generation, changes to the goal or “win” mechanic, monster spawn scaling (rather than monster difficulty scaling), and overall less grinding. As always, I’m already looking forward to the next release where we will see a huge amount of new items, recipes, and other content.

This release also features some amazing artwork from Dusty Melling.

    Procedural map generation implemented back in to the game (last present in 1.0 due to technological constraints).
    Templating system implemented for “point of interest” spots and buildings/houses.
    Most performance issues resolved.
    New, better artificial intelligence.
    Weight and carrying system implemented.
    You can now use spacebar to pick-up multiple items on a tile without moving.
    Gathering resources is now more common.
    Resource tile breakage happens more frequently (kind of a bug from 1.2).
    You can no longer rest, place tiles or craft while in water.
    Monsters spawn more frequently over time.
    Brand new game screen art by Dusty Melling.
    Nasty creatures come out at night and hide during the day.
    The previous mechanic and goal to “win” the game has been changed – made more specific to “treasure hunting” and exploration.
    The raft now moves between land masses (across deep water).
    You can no longer sleep while starving to death.
    You can now “over eat”.
    Basic Fishing has been implemented.
    Day and night cycles are now more realistic (hunger has also been changed to reflect this).
    After crafting an item, its requirements are now logged in your messages.
    Defense and monster damage now works on a minimum-maximum system to promote variety in battles.
    A “Campfire” is now needed to cook food. You will still need to start a fire, but started directly on the campfire to light it. Additionally, you can still start fires indiscriminately (for burning trees, avoiding monsters, etc.).
    You can now fail at cooking and crafting (no resource loss, yet!).
    Archery has been implemented (with use of one of the new items).
    Skill gain is now faster at the start.
    Other miscellaneous bug fixes.
    Dynamic lighting fix (on fire).
    Downloadable offline version now available.
    Item sorting has been added via the options menu.
    Some new items, sounds, monsters, environmentals, skills, and recipes.

In other words, now is the time to perhaps pay extra attention if you don't frequent the Early Dev board.   

[getter77]

Alpha 1.4

It’s been a long time coming, but after some bug fixing via my team of testers and donators, I think I finally managed to squash them all. Some of the biggest things in this version is the re-introduction of caves, mouse movement, game saving, equipment qualities, past crafting log after smarter AI. Oh ya, there’s like 40 new items! There is a huge number of other changes in this version as well, take a look at them in the changelog. I think in the future I will make the releases a bit more compact so I can push new content, much faster. Opinions?

This release also features a brand new track from Will Phillips.


    -Terrain quality has been significantly increased for gameplay concerns: less flooded areas, less individual small islands, and a better chance for one bigger “main” island – or at least a more connected landmass.
    -More error checking done to stop from crashes for people tinkering with commands – CHEATERS!
    -A new song has been added. Composed by Will Phillips.
    -Over 100 new items, recipes, monsters, sounds and more.
    -Throw damage has been reduced, while archery remains the same. You can no longer throw or shoot over non-passable terrain.
    -Stats/skills/items are now saved on game close. Your save will be deleted if you die.
    -The raft no longer allows the player to travel home; there is another item for this use now. This “new” item will also allow users to travel to completely new areas/parts of the world and not just between islands like the raft.
    -Performance has been improved by over 50%. This will fix the slowdown most players get after playing for awhile.
    -There’s now a cave system filled with baddies, mining, and treasure.
    -You can now use the mouse to move by left clicking a direction on the screen, click yourself to skip a turn/pick-up items under you (functions like the Spacebar).
    -New equipment slots: Gloves, Torch, and Bag (I wonder what those could be used for?)
    -Hostile creatures are a bit less aggressive in chases.
    -You can no longer drop items over top of environmental items unless they directly effect it – for example Fertile Dirt for plants or fuel for fire.
    -Several stats have been added to the win/death screen including turns and raw talent – all of which make up your final “score” now.
    -Starting rest cycles have been reduced; however, resting is now easier during the night.
    -There is now a “scared” AI modifier applied on creatures such as Rabbits – They will always run away from you. Additionally, creatures that get low on health will have this same behavior.
    -You can now drop treasure. Doing so will change your treasure counter. This is useful if you still want to use the new “raft”, but have all the required treasures.
    -Actions that required “dropping” items to get other items such as cooking food is shown in the Crafting dialog instead. These “special” crafted items are shown in green – indicating that you need to have a certain requirement meet before trying it – such as being adjacent to a campfire. These requirements are also listed on the crafting tooltips.
    -Gaining new skills gets harder over time – strategic starting skill development is required.
    -Some of the new monsters have “special” and unique abilities – you will see much more of this type of thing coming up to promote variety in combat. Some of these new monsters also only spawn in certain instances (much like the night-time only modifier in 1.3).
    -Automatic unequipping/swapping.
    -Item qualities implemented. Based on skill you can now create 3 levels of items with durability: Exceptional, Normal (no suffix), and Inferior. These properties will effect their durability (for now).
    -You can now catastrophically fail while crafting and cooking (losing 1 resource from recipe).
    -Items now list which group/category they are a part of in the tool-tip.
    -Durability of item now shown dynamically in tool-tip.
   - Previously crafted items now show in Crafted dialog (faded out).
    -Looted/found items will now have proper durability (they always had 1 durability due to a bug).
    -Being over-weight now effects stamina (as it should have, but didn’t, due to a bug).
    -Font and UI changes – More readable and pleasing.
    -Many, many bug fixes and tweaks (thanks everybody!).

http://www.unlok.ca/wayward_alpha1.4.zip  (that may or may not have sound)

[getter77]

Alpha 1.5

Yes, as promised, the new alpha is out for your enjoyment – released as part of the 2012 Annual Roguelike Release Party (ARRP). There was tons of changes in this version – hopefully this is the final stretches before getting a solid “beta” version out. Some things you will love in this version (without spoiling it too much):

    -Treasure hunting
    -Iron-based crafts
    -New soundtrack by Austin Dhillon
    -40+ new items
    -Monster loot tables

Special shout-outs to Jeff, Silloe, and Jarkko for all the bug testing for this release.

Also, a very huge (and special) shout-out to Austin Dhillon who composed the complete Wayward soundtrack. Four brilliantly moody and atmospheric tracks with the right touches of modern and retro.

Play it now:
http://www.unlok.ca/wayward/

Although Chrome and Firefox have both stopped supporting the local sound/music playing (via Flash), you can grab the (silent) downloadable version here: http://www.unlok.ca/wayward_alpha1.5.zip

A meaty update!