QuickHack Complete!

[wire_hall_medic]

So after numerous false starts, I decided to just knock out a quick, fun project.  This is it.  I spend a few weeks, and here is the result.  Aside from any minor fixes that are needed, this baby's done.   Let me know what you think!

http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php/QuickHack

[Legend]

It's pretty cool and fun. Although lack of full screen support is a big turn off for me personally. If it had fullscreen, I could see myself playing it pretty often.

Nice work.

[Nachtfischer]

Some first impressions.

• Very easy to get into. Nice interface (love the immediate feedback when fighting, not having to look at a message bar all the time). It's really just "pick up and play". Also thank you for putting in the shift+arrow keys to move diagonally. Ever since I played Shiren the Wanderer I'm wondering why so few roguelikes include such an option. This and the very well stripped down gameplay make it perfect for netbook/laptop gaming. That's pretty cool!
• Nevertheless I aggree that it would be neat to at least have options for bigger resolutions. On 1080p it's quite tiny.
• There should be some indication when activating the special. At first it was completely unclear to me whether "s" did something (playing a warrior). When I hit it became pretty obvious, though.
• Especially the first 2-3 levels were a no brainer. Might be good for a first time player but I'd imagine them getting pretty boring after a few tries. The following levels were much more exciting.
• Typo, I guess: It says "Minotuar" instead of "Minotaur".
• No savegames? 1-3 hours (taken from RougeBasin) is quite long for a "coffeebreak".

This one really has potential to become one of the better (if not best) coffeebreaks out there while retaining the original "roguelike feeling". Put some more stuff in it (found the same items over and over again on floors 1-5, perhaps enemies but that'll need new balancing again) and it'll be even greater. Do you plan on expanding it?

[wire_hall_medic]

I hadn't really planned on expanding on it (it was supposed to be a quick confidence booster; knock out a complete game), but there's no real reason not to.

I've been debating a save game; my wife and I both play, and having 3 save slots would be pretty helpful.

The arrow thing is totally from Shiren.  The first time I used that, I couldn't believe that so few developers put it in.

Fullscreen?  That shouldn't be too difficult; the layout is based on font size . . .

Swag variety:  A little expansion couldn't hurt; there's 3 possibilities for each slot, and a maximum number of times each possibility can be chosen.  Lowering the minimum level requirements for some options, and adding a few more could be worthwhile.

Thank you both for the feedback!

[guest509]

  I downloaded the .jar but I don't know how to make it go.

[Legend]

  I downloaded the .jar but I don't know how to make it go.

If you have the current version of Java installed, you should be able to just double click

[wire_hall_medic]

Sometimes computers get their file associations mixed up.  If you have Java installed, try right-clicking, then select "open with", then something like "Java SE Platform Binary", or "Java Runtime Environment".

[guest509]

  yeah that's the issue. Mine was treated as a .zip file. I unzipped it and saw all the neato classes and such, but nothing to run.

  When I get back to my main comp I'll give it another whack.

EDIT: Okay I gave it a go. Cool little game man. Good polish.

[wire_hall_medic]

Good thing I didn't name my classes anything obscene.  Though I have been known to have functions called workYouPieceOf$hit().

[Nachtfischer]

Gave it another try with knight and barbarian and had quite some fun.
The missing indiciation of the special power is obviously NO problem there at all (because it's activated immediately). So that was indeed a class specific complaint I had. Also, I have to say that I do like the slow introduction of new enemy types per level. Combined with the simplified inventory it gives me this "Shiren feeling" again (which is quite amazing because Shiren is one of my favourite games ever). Maybe there's no need for changes or additions there. Though I wonder if 7 types (including minor variations) are enough for 30 levels. A few more maybe? Felt fine till level 15 though.

Still the game would (just like Shiren) hugely benefit from having quite a variety of items with different effects, I think. At the moment it's just too obvious. First you find all the white items (guess there's only one of every type?), then the (obviously better) green ones, then blue... there are just no interesting decisions item-wise. They could as well be picked up and equipped automatically.

[loom_weaver]

I was able to run the .jar on my MacBook Pro.

Took me a while to figure out some of the keys.  Tried F1, ?, Esc, etc. to bring up the help.  Then I discovered 'h'.  [edit] Upon playing again I saw the blinky text and the Press 'h' for help.  They didn't register in my mind the first time and so I would recommend keeping the Press 'h' for help visible always until the player explicitly presses it for the first time.

Selecting what skill to increase needs some feedback.  I moved the prompt to one of the skills then I pressed Enter.  Oh, the game started!  Did I increase my skill or did I waste a skill point?

I found an armband but it wasn't apparent if it was equipped or not.  In the inventory screen pressing 'e' didn't seem to do anything.

The instant feedback during combat is great.  The numbers scroll by a tad too quick imho.

Cool little game.  Thanks for sharing!

[Nachtfischer]

I found an armband but it wasn't apparent if it was equipped or not.  In the inventory screen pressing 'e' didn't seem to do anything.

Your three equipped items are displayed at the top of the screen next to the item type icons. Below's your inventory. To equip/exchange select the item in the inventory and press enter (or just "e" I think).

[wire_hall_medic]

It's possible that the naming scheme for items is making them appear identical; regardless of what the bonus is, all offensive-slot items with one bonus are called "Armband of Might".  Perhaps it would be more intuitive if I removed the "of Adjective" part of each name.  I just didn't come up with a name for each ability, because at this point I would need 3 * (3 ^ 6) names.

When you equip something, it kicks you back to the main screen because equipping takes time, and monsters shouldn't be able to kill you while you're buried in your inventory screen.

I do get that more feedback would be helpful, though.  It's the hardest thing for me as a programmer to see, because everything behaves the way I expect it to.  Visual effects for ability ups and equipping are a good idea.

Thanks for all the great feedback!