Dark Gates (now at Release v1.1) $

[getter77]

http://www.desura.com/games/dark-gates   $9.99 Alpha funding  Win/Mac/Linux and Linux64
http://darkgates.dfourgames.com/

Shadow ... it came so suddenly. Fear found his home and pour sadness to peoples hearts. It is a time where peoples forgot how the clear blue sky looks like. Those who did never spoke about it. They feared to offend an evil and mysterious force which found a home in darkness of underground tunnels. Peoples waited for a someone to challenge Dark Gates hidden deep within labyrinth of death.

If you ever played paper RPG Death Maze, Citadel of Blood or Labirynt Śmierci then you already know this game. DG is a tribute to this RPG (three names but game the same). In Dark Gates you lead your team of 6 heroes into dungeon where they will fight their way through in order to destroy Dark Gates and evil mage who is the master of the dungeon. Main feature of the game is dungeon itself. This is no predefined layout and every time you play, map is always different. Dungeon creates itself as you play. In your quest you will find monsters, magical items, trap, puzzles and treasures. Glory awaits one who destroys Dark Gates and evil mage. Game is in alpha stage, lot's of stuff missing or not working as intended.

Free demo of this same version also available, but it won't be updated per se in terms of if you actually buy into it.

0.2.0 Changelog

New: Art for Skeleton, Black Knight, Sorcerer, Phantom, Medusa, Gargoyle
New: Defensive spells while in fight (Heal, Blessing, Magic Armour, Strength, Magic Shield)
New: Spells for Monsters (Unnamed, Sorcerer)
New: Background music for menu, main game & battle
New: Sound effects
New: In fight phase indicator(text)
Change: Credits menu.
Bugfix: Damage animation taken from traps is more constant.
Bugfix: Selection in team stats menu is being cleared on re-entry.
Bugfix: Screen is not being redrawn after a fight with a 'friendly' monster
Bugfix: Game now will finally play without a sound card or when sound somehow is broken in the system

Alpha funding is there to make sure that Dark Gates can be finally released and provide a quality content. So what to expect in near future from DG ?

    -I have planned a "save system", static maps support and with static maps support maybe some online leaderboards,
    -Map editor for fully and semi static maps, "save team" - where you can choose previously assembled teams and more,
    -Support for more languages
    -Finishing, refining all the missing art and animations.

Bare in mind that those are plans and please don't take them for granted but still this is the stuff that i want to include in this game either as a part of the official release or some post release DLC.

Video communicates the gist of it OK---essentially various Roguelike sensibilities with a grid combat system that works something like the Lufia games and other tactical classics.

[Legend]

Knew about this game for a bit. I didn't think they were going to end up charging for it though since it is a remake of Citadel of Blood which I assume they don't have the rights to.

I do own the original Citadel of Blood and DeathMaze, but probably would still be interested in this. Although I dislike steam and desura and would probably only be willing to part with $5 or so myself for this game if I could get it directly.

If it goes up past the current $10 price then it will likely be no sale for me unfortunately.

I wish them luck though and I do like the idea of remaking Citadel of Blood for pc.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3248/citadel-of-blood

[getter77]

So...this kept going!

v0.4.2

New: All remaining heroes now have avatars.
New: Hero Matthias - Winner of indiebundle.com competition.
New: Longsword (two-handed) weapon.
New: Community based language files now can be used, see HOWTO.txt in lang folder.
New: German translation
Bugfix: Stairs down on level 3 are wrongly placed ( there is nothing down past level 3)
Bugfix: Game crash while in fight when heroes attack
Bugfix: Re-done language selection in options in order to support user-generated translations
Bugfix: Game will start without settings.cfg file and will use default settings

New: hero All Zebest
bugfix: non QWERTY keyboard layouts support
bugfix: more corrections to English,French & Polish translations
bugfix: Windows version - some tile names were wrong resulting in game crash

New: Avatar for Dierdra
New: Save/Load game system
New: Dark Gates level icon in main main game window
New: Heroes stats upgrades and ability to 'restock' the party
New: Confirmation screen before leaving party selection menu
New: French translation
Bugfix: corrections to English and Polish translations
Bugfix: While exploring trap door, ESC will brake the game

New: Avatars for : Ravon-tith, Weldron, Sliggoth
New: Hero : Ravon-tith
New: Experience points
Change: Currency sign replaces 'Cost' in descriptions
Change: Balance tweaks in normal difficulty mode
Bugfix: Polish language - spells descriptions don't go out the parchment frame
Bugfix: In Fight - Spells menu selection is not just a grey rectangle

New: Avatars for : Braqoon, Gilith, Corran, Draugr, Almuryk, Zuryk
New: Team Loadouts load/save system
New: Difficulty levels : easy,normal & hard
New: Loading screens (to show progress in loading between modules of the game)
New: Spell 'Fear' - can be learned while exploring an altar
Change: Draugr is stepping in for Glade.
Change: Small changes to in-game descriptions.
Bugfix: Game breaks while demon Asmoday gives spell that was not there while exploring an altar
Bugfix: Music from fight sequence not stops and overlaps with main game music when spell Peace is used
Bugfix: When going back from party selection menu into main menu, main music in BG starts to play again and overlaps with existing loop
Bugfix: In Fight when player is selected pressing 'f' will skip the hero without need to unselect hero
Bugfix: Navigation in menus with WSAD
Bugfix: Spell 'Peace' or 'Fear' can't be used against Unnamed
Bugfix: If monsters are found while exploring an item or bribe ends in failure then monsters starting the fight first.

New: In fight animations for spell : Heal , Magic Shield, Magic Armour, Magic Strike, Lightning, Explosion, Fireworks, Resurrection, God's Wrath, Strength, Blessing
New: In fight animation for damage, miss
New: Art for Minotaur, Demon, Goblin, Ogre, Warg, Werewolf, Unnamed, Hydra, Spider
New: Spider is replacing Chimera
New: Dark Gates have own exploration event - Destroy Dark Gates
New: In fight when team fights against the Unnamed, Dark Gates attack as well
Change : New art for spell icon : Heal, Magic Shield, Magic Armour, Magic Strike, Lightning, Peace, Explosion, Fireworks, Resurrection, God's Wrath, Strength, Blessing
Bugfix: bug where game is crashing if player will choose an empty space in hero selection (doors, item exploration)
Bugfix: When resetting a game while playing, party stats were persistent between resets.
Bugfix: In Fight finally shows avatars of all monsters in mixed parties
Bugfix: Dark Gates now are being placed only once.
Bugfix: Dark Gates are drawn behind monsters.
Bugfix: If party of monsters has more than one type display info correctly in monster menu
Bugfix: Magic results are now random.
Bugfix: Game no longer breaks when going to party selection screen after comeback from game ( in game -> options -> Main Menu)
Bugfix: If Dark Gates are on first level, team needs to find second mirror to reveal correct position of the Dark Gates
Bugfix: In Fight game breaks if Monster attacks and only one hero is still alive
Bugfix: Resurrection spell is breaking the game (not working)
Bugfix: Resurrection spell info and cost.
Bugfix: After language change game still present spells description in previous language in team selection screen
Bugfix: Few Polish texts don't show polish characters
Bugfix: Spell can't be selected if hero have less live than cost of the spell
Bugfix: Sound delay on Windows OS
Bugfix: Typos in English translation
Bugfix: Dark Gates will only reveal itself if second mirror has been found

That's a fair bit of progress since last checking in, though it looks as even the newest bit was from back in mid-July so here's hoping it keeps on steaming ahead.   

[akeley]

Although I dislike steam and desura and would probably only be willing to part with $5 or so myself for this game if I could get it directly.

I`m also allergic to Steam - and used to think Desura`s the same, but it`s not the case. It`s not much advertised but you can actually buy games from them DRM Free, as direct downloads, no need for client installs.

It`s also worth watching out for various bundles - that`s how I got the Dark Gates, it was in the Hellish Dungeons bundle on indiegamebundle.org (sadly retired now). Good site to keep track of such deals is http://www.indiegamebundles.com/ or maybe we could have an alert thread somewhere here...

[getter77]

v0.5.0

New: Gamepad support

New: Visual indicator of which positions have to be occupied in team movement phase while in fight

New: In fight avatars: Almuryk, Braqoon, Draugr, Gilith, Lordil, Zareth

New: Button icons in UI instead of text

Change: New look of fight arena

Change: Lower upgrade price to enhance heroes.

Bugfix: Game is trying to load an empty slot in Continue menu

Bugfix: Game crash while exploring labyrinth - map generation script.

Bugfix: Game crash while trying to continue a saved game and game tries to display spells in player selection menu but one of the spell is not in default selection (eg. Resurrection)

Bugfix: In save game menu, going back from typing name of the save game takes you back to main menu.

Bugfix: Game crash while in team movement while attempting to swap heroes in positions.

[getter77]

v0.6.0

New: In fight avatars: Matthias, Corran, Zuryk, Ravon-tith, Gerudirr

New: Easy and normal difficulty now have monster life indicator, hard don't. Unnamed regardless of difficulty level, life indicator will not be shown.

New: Visual enhancement to the labyrinth.

Change: Hero life indicator in fight arena now shows max life eg. 5/10.

Change: Use ranged weapon or magic from first row if hero don't have anyone to attack in adjacent fields.

Change: If in team movement phase, UI skip description is changed to "end of turn" to make clearer how to get you from that phase.

Change: Exploration menu and more stats are now showing max and current life indicator.

Bugfix: All monsters are now hostile after team is returning to labyrinth.

Bugfix: Game is crashing while in fight (to much power) - problems with upgraded heroes.

Bugfix: Undead are among us. Heroes killed by door are still kind of present.

Bugfix: Game crashes when you die in final fight.

[getter77]

0.7.0

First update in 2014 finally arrived. This time we have got a bunch of new stuff so let's see what new release have on offer.

Fight avatars

Finally all playable heroes have their own avatars while in fight. That was the last thing on the list which was holding other changes to be looked at. No more black silhouettes. Original game art is finally complete.

Special skills

This is probably the most interesting change in this release. Some monster have gained special abilities which will change how you fight against those monsters. Those special abilities will either affect your heroes or it will help monster in the fight. What are those abilities you ask ?

Hydra - If wounded, agility increases +1 with each turn, which in the end increases damage of Hydra's attack,
Kronk - They smell so badly that affected heroes are -2 on agility. Hero ability to not be affected by smell depends on resistance stat.
Troll - If wounded, Trolls can heal themselves (+1) on every each third turn.
Spider - while facing a spider, heroes needs to watch out for spider web. On each turn spider extrudes web towards all heroes. Each hero if affected will lose ability to perform an attack. Ability to deflect this web depends again on resistance stat.
Gorgon - It can turn peoples into stones. If hero in front row, middle position will fall under the spell it will be out of the fight. Hero still can be killed. Ability to deflect depend on resistance stat.
Sorcerer & Unnamed - They will cast an lightning spell instead of normal attack. They will do so until casting another spell will kill them.

Other stuff

Mass HealNew elements to Fight arena UI has been added. Information about the current phase of the battle and effects that are in place are placed on left top corner for the screen.  This release also introduces permanent death to heroes regardless of which difficulty you are playing on. Previously a killed hero could have been selected again. This no longer possible. Stats for most of the heroes and few monsters has been touched to provide a more balanced gameplay. Few additions also has been made to game sounds department and a new spell "Mass Heal" is available to be selected.

Changelog  - Release 0.7.0

New: In fight avatars: All Zebest, Alryk, Curvenol, Dalmilandril, Dierdra, Eodred, Maytwist, Gwaigilion, Sliggoth, Gislan, Larraka, Linfalas, Theregond, Weldron,
New: Monsters (Hydra, Kronk, Troll, Spider, Gorgon, Sorcerer, Unnamed) have special skills/spells which affect fight,
New: Permadeath - Killed heroes no longer can be selected back into party when continuing saved game,
New: Doors are now displayed on corridor tiles,
New: Enhanced fight screen UI,
New: Sounds for Female heroes, Spider, Warg/Werewolf,
New: Dark Gates are visible on mini map after placement.
New: Spell - Mass Heal
Change: Adjustments in frame rate to make menus more responsive
Change: Monsters and heroes stats adjustment.

[getter77]

v0.8.0

As version 1.0 is finally on the horizon, DFour Games would like to show of our newest milestone - v.0.8. There is few changes so let's get to it:

Weapon Animations

This version introduces animations for each weapon available and also monsters attacks. Best thing is to see it for yourself but now every bite,swing, throw or flying arrow is now visible. Talking about weapons. Crossbow makes a debut as well.

New hero : Lorac

Lorac is our newest hero and she brings already mentioned crossbow to the arsenal. Crossbow is currently an exclusive weapon to Lorac but next release may bring some weapon swaps to other heroes.

Other Changes

Main Menu 0.8

From now on monster can only attack from second line if they have a projectile or can cast a spell. This brings 'reality of a fight' to be more inline and also changes team tactics. Main menu had a little revamp and you can now control music and sound separately in options menu. If you are into language packs, Polish and French languages are now put in their own files along with German. Bug introduced in version 0.7 where having Theregond ,Curvenol or Zareth in the team will break the game when attacked is now fixed. Save games from ver. 0.7 can be used unless you got those three heroes in your parties. Last think, If you not voted yet for DarkGates to be releases on Steam, now you have a single button, which will take you straight to Greenlight page


Changelog - Release 0.8.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
New: Hero Lorac
New: Weapon - Crossbow
New: Weapon animations while in fight.
New: Sound and Music are now independent in options.
New: Steam Greenlight button in main menu
Change: Monsters from second line can't attack unless it's a projectile or magic.
Change: Polish and French language is now exported to separate files in lang directory.
Change: Main menu has been revamped
Bugfix : Game will brake if heroes Theregond ,Curvenol or Zareth are attacked by monster (introduced in 0.7.0 release)

[Legend]

This is actually currently on sale for %80 off. Only $1.99 on indie royale.

http://www.dailyroyale.com/?royale=163

I'm actually considering checking it out now.

[jim]

Anyone played it? Fun? I'd pay $1.99 if it's fun.

[getter77]

v0.9.0

So here we are again. This it time for new release, last one before going gold. Finally some of the old issues has been tackled and whole game is now more consistent. Let's brake it down on what's new and what's changed.

How To Play

From the main menu you can now access a quick, crash course guide on how to play Dark Gates. This will explain the  most common questions about mechanics and what's the end goal. Such guide is a first part of adding more context in the game. While this is purely information for newcomers, second part will include story elements but that's left for version 1.0.

Revamped party selection menu

This is a big change on how you select a team. Grid with heroes avatars allows you for much quicker navigation and more clear selection of heroes. Scroll art assets also has been done from scratch to bring them up to 1080p resolution and to create more unified look with rest of the game. Some repositioning of navigation guides should help as well.

Dark Gates intro music

Błażej Grygiel - composed a Rock Edit version of Dark Gates original score done by Alex Perucci. Both versions you can hear on DFour Games Youtube Channel. You can also hear Rock Edit on the intro of Dark Gates.

-New: How to play section to teach about mechanics of the game
-New: Dark Gates intro music
-Change: revamped party selection menu
-Bugfix: Added select button info in party stats

[getter77]

v1.0

Dark Gates have finally reached gold! This is a road that have started almost five years ago. Developing a game alongside of full time job, being a dad/husband and everything in between was a challenge in it's own right but a great one. I would like to thank to all supporters who helped a lot in many aspects of development. So without further a do let's see what have been included in 1.0 release.


Story

Finally a background story has been added.

Persistent stats for heroes.

This is a big one. From gold release now all heroes stats are persistent. Let's say you have managed to destroy Dark Gates. Now you can save the game after that and start a new adventure with all the stats carried over from the last game. That also means that who has been killed, stays killed.

Additionally if your whole current party have been killed, this no longer means Game Over. If you choose you can continue current adventure with brand new team, assuming you got some heroes still alive

Critical hits and maximum hit while using weapons

Each hero while using a weapon can now score a Critical or Max hit. Critical is a 2x damage hit where Max is a maximum amount of damage by given weapon. Each hit will be indicated by a star and a sound queue while hitting an enemy.

Italian Translation

I'm happy to announce an official Italian translation for Dark Gates done by Agata Gubernat.

Italian translation

Themes

You love to mod games or are want to see how good you are with your graphic skills? Well Dark Gates can help you here. Game now supports complete theme overhaul. All you need is to copy default theme and start moding. Remember that all filenames needs to stay the same. Game will detect your theme and you will be able to chose it from the options menu.

Bug fixes and other stuff

A big number of bugs have been fixed. Please see change log below to see what has been fixed. Also a new weapon has been added - Mace. Quite deadly if you know how to use it (hint: mastery). Post info fight window is also now added after each fight. Now you can see exactly how much XP each heroes gained and what is your loot.

Post fight info

Steam Release

As of 12th of Oct 2014, Dark Gates have been geenlit on Steam. It means that whoever bought Dark Gates before, a key will be available for you (on your platform of choice) as soon Steam version will be available. When you ask? Well, this is my main focus now to get it out on Steam.

New Dark Gates web page

Best way to see what Dark Gates is about is to go to new official games website at http:/darkgates.dfourgames.com.

Changelog

Release 1.0

New: Story Introduction
New: Persistent stats for heroes.
New: Post fight info
New: Continue adventure even if whole team is lost. Pick a new team. Ultimate game over is when all available heroes in game are dead.
New: Themes are now supported from options menu
New: Italian translation
New: Critical hits and maximum hit while using weapons
New: SFX for claws attack
New: Mace weapon
bugfix: If config.cfg is missing game will not start at first run even if config file has been created.
bugfix: Text overlap on confirmation of exit to main menu from party selection menu in French translation.
bugfix: If you want to reset loaded state, item status does not reset.
bugfix: Melee weapon can be chosen even if three is no adjacent enemies.
bugfix: Correct weapon highlight in fight if first line hero don't have adjacent enemies.
bugfix: After fight if you attacked friendly or scared monster, it will not get removed from map until team will move.
bugfix: missing blank space for secondary weapon if weapon is two handed.
bugfix: If Dark Gates are already placed on the map and game is saved, on return to the dungeon a new Dark Gates can appear if Mirror is explored again.
bugfix: Game crashes when Resurrection spell is being used and no heroes died in current fight.

Ps. Currently you can get Gold release from Desura and Direct Download. Gamers Gate should be this week.

[getter77]

v1.1

Release 1.1 is out and as promised, Dark Gates are now fully translated to Spanish. Apart from this there are few changes in the game that should make game more fluent.

Changes

First of them is a skull indicator for spells. If you select a hero to cast a spell and spell might kill him/her while doing so, there is a skull displayed near the spell icon. Also now, if spell cannot be used as it will cost more then a life of one who cast it, it will be greyed out.

Another change is in fight system. As one of the players pointed it out, there is lots of key presses when you fighting. This release makes it easier. If a hero have only one choice in which weapon can be used or there is only one monster to attach, selection will be automatic. This shortens the sequence and hopefully will make fight quicker.

If hero have more than one weapon to use (including magic), player will have to still select which option to go for. Same for more than one monster.

If you prefer to make all choices by yourself then you can do so by adding 'autoselect = 0' in settings.cfg


IndieGameStand

I'm happy to announce that Dark Gates are now available on IndieGameStand. Below you have a handy widget and shortly game will be visible in store.


Sale 40% off over Easter

From 4th of April till 6th Dark Gates is on sale across all the stores. Enjoy !!!

Release 1.1 (including 1.0.1)

New: Spanish translation
New: In fight, if only one weapon can be selected and/or one monster can be attacked, game does selection for the player. Can be switched off by adding 'autoselect = 0' in settings.cfg
New: Game can run without config fileNew: If spells are being selected while in fight, a skull left of spell icon, indicates that this spell can kill a hero if casted.
New: If spells are being selected while in fight, there is an indication which spell cannot be used ( no highlight, red text and fadeout spell icon)
bugfix: Game brakes if Fear spell is used