Author Topic: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games  (Read 14430 times)

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Details on XBox.com:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Silent-Call-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550a0f

It's a graphical roguelike where the 360 controller's left analogue stick is used for movement, and right stick for looking.
One controller trigger opens a list of available commands for the tile currently being looked at; the other trigger performs commands automatically based on the player's current situation.


getter77

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2011, 09:40:10 PM »
Congrats!  Any plans for an eventual PC port?   :D
Brian Emre Jeffears
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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2011, 12:16:36 AM »
Thanks!
Apparently it's fairly straightforward to wrap an XNA game up for Steam; but I don't know if it would do well at all so I'm not motivated to try.

If anyone on here would like a pre-paid code for a free copy of this, email me jstocks@gmail.com and I'll give you a code if I have any free

Cheers!

getter77

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2011, 01:28:49 AM »
That's a right nice gesture!

Ah well, give it time and see how it shakes out.   Dredmor and Binding of Isaac are tearing it up on Steam afterall.  :D
Brian Emre Jeffears
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Joeyboots

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2012, 11:34:06 AM »
  Just got done playing Silent Call 2 for a few straight hours and I must say I quite enjoy it, except for a couple very minor issues I will get into later.
 
  When you start a new game, your starting inventory is randomly generated, although your class influences what these random inventory items will be. The dungeons are randomly generated as well, save for ten static boss fights. SC2 has a static town, reminiscent of the classic ADOM, that serves as a hub with the usual things such as a guild hall for quests and a shop. The quests themselves are randomly generated, as is the inventory of the shop in town. The quests are color coded and you can pick the harder ones for a stiffer challenge if you so desire. The difficulty seems to be connected to the quest or level you're on instead of your character's level. Harder quests give better loot and your "boss progress meter" will increase by a larger amount upon completion of the quest.

  Usage of an item known as a "Scroll of Wild Descent" will take you instantly deeper into the dungeon where tougher enemies await. Speaking of enemies, They are randomized as well and randomly placed throughout the different levels of the dungeon for your killing pleasure. The loot is random, both found and dropped by baddies, as is the stats or difficulty of each monster.

 On to the presentation. Off the bat, I will tell you ASCII lovers that the graphics are tile based in this title, so if you prefer ASCII only......well you won't find that here.  With that out of the way, For a tile based roguelike, SC2 is not bad at all graphically, relatively speaking in the context of the roguelike genre. Now these games have never been about whiz-bang-boom graphics by any stretch of the imagination, but I have one little complaint to make in this category. When you walk or attack there is no animation to speak of. Your character is a static picture. Now when I say "animation", I simply mean a 2-3 frames of animation to represent a strike, or legs that move back and forth to represent walking, nothing major of course. Perhaps this could be addressed in an update or a sequel? There are different effects though for hits and misses during combat, and decent animations for status ailments like poisoning and the like, so it is not totally devoid of "pop". Anyway, the interface is clean and you have varying levels of zoom if you like your tiles extra small, extra big, or somewhere in between. The maps fill in as you go, and have a neat "Indiana Jones" styled ancient wrinkled cloth look to them. The monsters you fight and characters you interact with are all clearly discernible, a bat looks like a bat, a troll looks like a troll etc.

  Finally for the most important thing, gameplay. The movement and combat is of course turn-based in traditional roguelike fashion, each movement or action being counted as a turn. Though the interface may seem a bit obtuse at first, it becomes second nature quite quickly, and you forget about it entirely. The difficulty is completely in your hands, and as I stated earlier, you can delve deeper and/or accept harder quests to ramp up the challenge if you're feeling too strong. There are stats that are tracked like kills, etc. And when you die your character's progress on that run-through counts towards (level wise) to your next character upon creation. You do lose all your stuff when you die. And now we come to my other small complaint. I only wish for a "reset button" if you will. If I want to start clean with a level 1 character, I cannot do it, Well at least not through the game's interface. Perhaps this would not be a hard thing to implement? The more "hardcore" roguelike players would like that. There is a way however, to bypass that "feature". If you want to start clean you can just delete your game save off your Xbox 360 hdd. Viola! You now have a fresh game. It would be cool to be able to do it through the game itself though. Or maybe  implement a "hardcore mode", where when you die that's it, no level retention, no nothing. Just a thought. Though, at any rate, the max character level is like 9999 and you can traverse a total of 9001 levels over the course of your character's life, so there is plenty of meat on it's bones.

  Overall, I've had a pleasant experience with Silent Call 2, and recommend it to anyone looking for a solid roguelike on their Xbox 360, of which there are not many. Go pick it up on Xbox Live Indie Games section for only 80msp ($1 US).

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2012, 07:32:20 PM »
Hi Joe -

Thanks for taking the time to play, and also taking the time to reply :)

To address a couple of points:
  • Yes, the lack of animation/transition does limit the game's presentation. A friend drew the sprites for me; so I only had what he drew. I suppose I could still do some blur/fade transition. I also wanted to implement some kind of curves to the edges of the "fog of war" to break up the "squareness" of the display. I couldn't find an efficient way to do this though (I would need to learn more about pixel colour blending in XNA).
  • I'm pleased that you found the controls 2nd nature after some time! They're one of the parts of the game I'm quite proud of, I think they deliver casual/automated control that console gamers now expect
  • The idea of being able to start at level 1 is interesting. I'd need to think more about it and speak to you more if I were to implement it. I think the game design would need some changes to accommodate this - players should be rewarded/acknowledged if they play from level 1 instead of keeping their level. Also the difficulty is balanced so that you need to be *roughly* at the right level for the quest's difficulty. You can tackle quests way ahead of your character level by constantly improving a single weapon; and hoarding potions and scrolls in the village; but quite a bit of luck is required and the game experience might become frustrating! This idea reminds me of Time Stalkers on the Dreamcast - in this game you always started at Lvl 1 in the dungeon; as the game progressed you only improved your equipment and starting inventory; you always started a dungeon at level 1

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2012, 07:33:13 PM »
p.s. the game hasn't gotten much attention in the year it's been available; so I appreciate your time and attention now :)

Joeyboots

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2012, 05:36:36 AM »
 :) I would be honored to help you with your game and give you input, if you would have me of course. I am not a programmer, I am a writer, but I have helped a good friend with his game, and I have written a storyline and some character bios for an indie team I know. I have a mental grasp of good gameplay mechanics and how the design process works, but like I said, I know not a bit of coding. I am an indie musician as well, I do alternative rap music infused with rock elements. I am a big fan of roguelikes, so that may be of use to you also.

*Ah, I think I may have used the wrong term when I said "animation". An in-out fade transition or tile swapping effect between two or three static pictures would certainly be sufficient I think. Indeed, learning that pixel color blending trick in XNA would probably go a long way to add to the presentation of the game. You may even be able to use it for more than just rounding out the fog of war. I wish to get into this area more in depth with you, but we must find another way to communicate directly in private. I have ideas.

*Yes the control scheme feels "comfortable" after a few minutes, I don't know what it is, but it feels way better than just pressing directions to do everything. It might just be us, I don't know, lol.

*I understand that some fundamentals of the game may need to be changed in order to accommodate such a feature as a "hardcore mode" or something in that vein. A quest system overhaul would be needed, I am sure. And, Time Stalkers! That game was magnificent! Yes! That's exactly what I mean. If you want players to retain something, make it pieces of gear or a past weapon. Or, even better, make it the player's choice. A game called "Shiren the Wanderer", which is also a roguelike of sorts, allows you to store armor or weapons in a storage chest, with limited slots of course, so that a future reincarnation of yourself is able to take things from the chest and wear/use them.

*Hey man, No problem! I enjoyed the game, and look forward to helping you improve it if I can. I appreciate what you're doing here. Roguelikes are niche enough as it is on PC, let alone on consoles.

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2012, 01:06:43 PM »
I'm never going to play your game because Xbox Live Indie Games isn't available at all in the Netherlands, but I just wanted to say your graphics are radical.
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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2012, 07:51:58 PM »
I'm never going to play your game because Xbox Live Indie Games isn't available at all in the Netherlands, but I just wanted to say your graphics are radical.

Thank you  :)

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Re: I just released a roguelike, Silent Call 2, to XBox Live Indie Games
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2012, 07:54:51 PM »
:) I would be honored to help you with your game and give you input, if you would have me of course. I am not a programmer, I am a writer, but I have helped a good friend with his game, and I have written a storyline and some character bios for an indie team I know. I have a mental grasp of good gameplay mechanics and how the design process works, but like I said, I know not a bit of coding. I am an indie musician as well, I do alternative rap music infused with rock elements. I am a big fan of roguelikes, so that may be of use to you also.

*Ah, I think I may have used the wrong term when I said "animation". An in-out fade transition or tile swapping effect between two or three static pictures would certainly be sufficient I think. Indeed, learning that pixel color blending trick in XNA would probably go a long way to add to the presentation of the game. You may even be able to use it for more than just rounding out the fog of war. I wish to get into this area more in depth with you, but we must find another way to communicate directly in private. I have ideas.

*Yes the control scheme feels "comfortable" after a few minutes, I don't know what it is, but it feels way better than just pressing directions to do everything. It might just be us, I don't know, lol.

*I understand that some fundamentals of the game may need to be changed in order to accommodate such a feature as a "hardcore mode" or something in that vein. A quest system overhaul would be needed, I am sure. And, Time Stalkers! That game was magnificent! Yes! That's exactly what I mean. If you want players to retain something, make it pieces of gear or a past weapon. Or, even better, make it the player's choice. A game called "Shiren the Wanderer", which is also a roguelike of sorts, allows you to store armor or weapons in a storage chest, with limited slots of course, so that a future reincarnation of yourself is able to take things from the chest and wear/use them.

*Hey man, No problem! I enjoyed the game, and look forward to helping you improve it if I can. I appreciate what you're doing here. Roguelikes are niche enough as it is on PC, let alone on consoles.

Thanks! I'm not sure I can do any more work on Silent Call... my work takes up too much time now!
I could possibly share the source code with anyone interested in improving the game