PonyRL [beta] announced

[Elthari]

Hello, fellow roguelikers!

I would love to announce my coffee-break - PonyRL.
Fair warning: it is about ponies. If consumption of ponies gives you seizures, migraines or any signs of anger please stop reading here.

http://ponyrl.com

About: fully written in JS (no obfuscation for now), partially based of famous Desctop Dungeons. No tiles for now as I am looking for a proper 2D artist. Game sessions intented to be short, not all content is released by now.

Reasons to post here: fame.. err.. I meant feedback. I badly need it. I may be a bit prejudiced when it comes to speak about my own game, so I need more opinions.

Anyway I hope you'll like it. Happy playing!

[Trystan]

I died on my first turn of the normal game.
I tried again and died on my first turn of the normal game.
I tried again and died on my second turn of the normal game.

I guess that's progress, but the initial difficulty isn't what I'd expect form the pony theme or the amount of newbie-friendly help text.

Also, you can spend gold to buy items at any time?

[Anvilfolk]

I guess having some Desktop Dungeons experience help. Some monsters are just too strong. This is more of  a puzzle game... keep exploring to find lower level monsters that you can take on. Eventually you level up and can tackle larger monsters. You also get health every time you explore an unexplored tile. If you mouseover an enemy it will tell you what happens if you attack it!

[Elthari]

I died on my first turn of the normal game.

You can see mob level displayed as a small number under his letter. Try to find and beat several low-level (as in `level 1`) enemies, so you can levelup. Repeat with level 2 and so on.

Also, you can spend gold to buy items at any time?

Yes.

I guess having some Desktop Dungeons experience help.

Even though you had some DD experience, was the tutorial of any assistance to you?

[Anvilfolk]

Sorry, I didn't actually end up playing that much

I just tried it once or twice, though I can give you a couple of feelings I got from playing it.
- You really should implement pathfinding - right now it's easier to use the keyboard/numpad to move around, but then to understand what's going to happen during a fight it's easier to use the mouse. Switching between the two makes for a very awkward experience. Something like DesktopDungeons' system where you can click and go anywhere seems a lot better.
- If you are going to use the mouse, a larger interface would be a big help. It's kind of a chore to point to all the tiny little characters and figure out what's happening

[Elthari]

Pathfinding is on the list now. Also a [l]ook button as well.

[Elthari]

It's time to put ROGUE in this ROGUELIKE.

0.7.3 Going rogue (24.07.2013)
- New class: rogue
- New ability
- New achievement
- Changeling enchanters joined the fray
- Nightmare now has two bosses
- The Hive rebalanced

[Elthari]

0.7.4 Know Thine Ancestors

Hall of fame added. This one keeps players attempts to beat the game.

[Elthari]

0.7.5 Sweet Rewards!
- Wizards Cap buffed: now gives +40% mana
- Warrior exp bonus changed
- Slight mob rebalance
- New achievements
- Now there will be max two scrolls in shop (4 for alchemists)
- Slight layout fixes
- Leather Saddle is a Zebra Charm now
- A few custom names

[Elthari]

A really small quick fix.

Champions are not affected by statuses anymore. Sorry, Rogues - killing boss on lv7 was too easy previously.
Gold rebalanced and made more flat around levels.

[wire_hall_medic]

First and foremost, I enjoyed it.

Experience with Desktop Dungeons definitely helped.  The understanding that exploration is your healing mechanic makes a big difference.

I did not use the store; things didn't get difficult enough that I had to, so I just ignored it.

I liked that there were multiple paths to the end, though one was based on player knowledge I in no way possessed.

Standout moments for me were when I stepped on a torch, and when a mummy ran away; I didn't expect either of these.

I'm on a laptop, so it was easy to switch back and forth between mouse and keyboard.

I did beat it on the first run, but like I said, DD experience helps a lot.

[Elthari]

 0.7.6 Quality of Life (30.07.2013)
- Adventurers that lasted less than 30 turns will not enter Hall of Fame
- New skill icons
- New skills & items
- Slight rebalance of existing skills
- Proper display of trait tooltips
- Proper display of achievements that unlock items
- Different fields now give different score multiplier
- Field and number of turns are now displayed

[Elthari]

Hello, wire_hall_medic, and thank you greatly for your review!

First and foremost, I enjoyed it.

Best part for me =)

Experience with Desktop Dungeons definitely helped.  The understanding that exploration is your healing mechanic makes a big difference.

I really tried to show it in a tutorial for those lacking this experience.

I did not use the store; things didn't get difficult enough that I had to, so I just ignored it.

Which mode were you playing? Have you tried harder ones? I guess you've played Ancient Pyramid - it differs a bit from pseudo-random usual dungeons. But I will definitely add more quest maps in future.

Standout moments for me were when I stepped on a torch, and when a mummy ran away; I didn't expect either of these.

Yes, I try to liven the game with such details. Anyway - I am glad that you liked it!

[Laughing Lyric]

I walked into this with 0 XP in roguelikes. However, I found it quite easy to pick up, beating the tutorial on my second try after accidentally running into the boss the first time through.

Attempting the Postgraduate achievement (I really wanted to play as a unicorn) definitely gave me a feel for how to find the most effective path by the time I could use a unicorn wizard, which helped me through the normal adventure.

The item system is nice, and the random set of items for purchasing at any time is interesting most of the time, though I find it can be a bit frustrating in  the tutorial, as it adds an element of luck into the careful planning needed for defeating the boss without taking the element.

(Also enjoyed the special items for getting the Postgrad achievement)

I love the sense of humor you've given the game. It doesn't take precedence over other, more important things, but it works alongside them, and makes for a fun, lighthearted tone.

[Laughing Lyric]

Is Pink-Blink in-progress? I can't seem to use it.