Witch Blast (roguelite dungeon crawl shooter)

[Cirrus Minor]

Hello !

Although I've been around RogueTemple and RogueBasin for years, I'm new in this forum.
I'd like to show you my new free game.
It's called Witch Blast, and it's a roguelite action game, with mechanics based on The Binding of Isaac, in a more "classic" roguelike background.

It features:

• randomly generated dungeons,
• monsters with various AI,
• items displayed on the player,
• pixel art (yes, could be better but I'm a dev, not an artist ),
• doors, keys, chests,
• gold and shops,
• spells,
• two powerful bosses.

I would gladly like some feedback about the difficulty, fun, gameplay, etc... and what you would like in the future versions.

Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases
Project: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast

Screenshot (v0.4):




Trailer (v0.4)


Enjoy !

[chooseusername]

Congratulations on getting a game done and out there for people to play.  And thanks for adopting the "roguelite" classification, rather than doing what a lot of others do, and glomming onto the progressively less meaningful "roguelike".  Hopefully you get some feedback.

[Cirrus Minor]

Thanks chooseusername !

The game is far for completed, but it's already quite fun and challenging (well, I hope so), and I won't make the confusion between roguelike and roguelite in within the Temple of Roguelike. And Witch Blast is clearly an action game, but I think roguelike players could enjoy it.

I will notify the future updates in this thread.

[getter77]

Looks promising, compared design notions with Adventure Dungeon yet?  http://adventuredungeon.weebly.com/

Both seem to be attacking in some similar directions, could well be some nifty reckonings to be had.

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi getter77 !
I didn't know "Adventure Dungeon", it's another game inspired from Binding Of Isaac, I should definitely try it, thanks for the tip !

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi all,
I've just released a new version of the game !



Witch Blast v0.2.0
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases

What's new in these release ?

• new items, monsters, and monster's animations,
• various gameplay improvements and bug fixes,
• a new level with a new boss,
• a new familiar,
• elemental resistance and effects,
• shots' level,
• menu,
• keys may be redefined in game.

More content and better gameplay, enjoy !

Changelog (from v0.1.0 to v0.2.0)

- ADD New familiar (Ice Fairy)
- ADD New items (4 rings)
- ADD New monster and variants
- ADD New level
- ADD New boss
- ADD Lightning's shot effect and sound
- ADD Special shots levels
- ADD Menu screen
- ADD Keys configuration
- ADD Death animation and sound for bats and rats
- MOD Bolt's bounding box is bigger when testing collision with monsters
- MOD Player's invincibility delay after being shot increases
- MOD Player's diagonal velocity decreases
- MOD Bosses are now in the middle of the room, 2 seconds idle
- MOD Giant Slime's latency decreases
- MOD Resistance and status immunity new system (boss can be frozen now, although it's difficult)
- MOD Player's step sound removed
- MOD New game with [LShift]+[X] now (used to be [X] alone)
- MOD Tutorial's text (first room) removed
- FIX Switching windows while player is dead
- FIX Player can fire while getting an item
- FIX Player does not drop fairies anymore when dying
- FIX Giant Slime life bar corrected
- FIX King Rat protection while berserk

And here a gameplay video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKmvS3jY5CE

Oh ! And could someone tell me how I can add my game to the RogueBasin main page ?
I've seen there's a RogueLite (or Roguelike like) category now.

[Cirrus Minor]

I've released a new version of the game, with improved gameplay and a new "newbie" level.

Witch Blast v0.2.5
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases

Changelog (from v0.2.0 to v0.2.5)

- ADD New mini-boss
- ADD New first level - easier
- ADD Time control (2x faster)
- ADD Display of HP/HPmax on the life bar
- ADD New health items: apple, bread, cheese (no more potions)
- ADD Monsters can drop health item
- MOD Shot distance is longer
- MOD Acquiring stance can be broken after the half of the time
- MOD Changes in item' level
- MOD Blood Snake damage's bonus decreases
- MOD Merchant sells cheese an bread now
- FIX Lost item when leaving the game while acquiring the item
- FIX Monsters can leave the game zone while lagging or windows moving
- FIX Player can walk through south wall at the door
- FIX Player's death display artefacts

Now I'm working on the 0.3 with new content and this new boss:

[Endorya]

You know, I as very skeptical about this thread of yours when I first saw it long ago, as its subject is definitely NOT my type of game. But I just gave it go after watching the game's game play movie, and man, I kept playing it and playing it. It it actually very fun and it seems to be damn well executed with the right setting of difficulty.

Great job! I seriously advise those who haven't tried it yet to play it.

[Brigand]

This is pretty fun - did you develop it in GameMaker Studio?


EDIT: Nevermind, I saw that you had the source and just downloaded and took a look myself.

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi Endorya and Brigand !
Yes, I understand the game is very different of a roguelike - it's pure action, without RP - and I'm very pleased to read that some people here enjoy it.

and it seems to be damn well executed with the right setting of difficulty.

It's difficult to tell, as the game may be too difficult for some players and too easy for others. I'm beginner in game design, and it's pretty hard to balance a game ! 

This is pretty fun - did you develop it in GameMaker Studio?

The game is made with C++ and SFML, and, as you note, is free and the code is available on GitHub.

[Cirrus Minor]

I've released a new version of the game, with a lot of new stuff.

Witch Blast v0.3.0
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases

Changelog (from v0.2.5 to v0.3.0)

- ADD New level with a new boss
- ADD New items
- ADD New familiars (fire and target fairies)
- ADD New monsters variants (rats with helmet, violet slime)
- ADD New monsters (bubble, witches, cauldron)
- ADD New shot type (fire)
- ADD Challenge Room
- ADD Explosions
- ADD Chest's trap
- ADD New tiles : holes
- ADD New decorative tiles
- ADD Display of health items on the minimap
- ADD Display of the damage in the game area
- ADD New graphics for Rat King
- MOD Health items drop's rate decreases
- MOD Rat King berserk's mode is easier now
- MOD Cyclops' falling stones bounce (one time)
- MOD Cyclops has protection before stones are falling
- MOD Butcher drops a silver coin now
- MOD Evil Flower missile's damage decreased
- FIX Sprite center and Z-order
- FIX Giant Slime bug when falling on the wall
- FIX Freeze when opening a chest while having all the items (but not the fairies)
- FIX Player does not bounce while being repulsed

Here a gameplay video:

[Cirrus Minor]

I've released a new version of the game, focused on gameplay.
New features are particles for the player's missiles, french translation (german soon) and a "death screen" when the player die.

Witch Blast v0.3.2
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases

Changelog (from v0.3.0 to v0.3.2)

- ADD Particles for player'ss missiles
- ADD Death Screen
- ADD Force shop generation if there is no one in the previous floor
- ADD Display gold when getting coins
- ADD New starting screen with language selection (English or French) and standard keyboard configuration
- MOD Invert Cyclop and Rat King bosses
- MOD Dual bolt angle is smaller
- MOD Damage's display size increases with damage
- MOD Rat with helmet are slower
- MOD Green rats' don't collide while spawning
- MOD Fairies don't stay stuck in wall/door
- MOD Player's bounding box is now smaller
- MOD Rat and bat's dying sound's volume is lower now
- MOD Better Bubble physics
- MOD Target Fairy (Scarlett) firerate decreased
- FIX Wrong HP display (bar) when a boss is dying
- FIX Items are not dropped out of screen anymore

And here the gameplay video:

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi ! I've released a new version of the game.
New main features are spells, poison and text (story and tutorial).

Witch Blast v0.3.7
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases

Changelog (from v0.3.2 to v0.3.7)

- ADD New monsters (snakes)
- ADD New items (spell orbs)
- ADD Poison
- ADD Cold bolt (generated with an unloaded ice shot)
- ADD Spells (5 different ones)
- ADD Translations: Spanish, German and Russian
- ADD New art for bats
- ADD Texts "widgets" for story and tutorial
- MOD Vibration Gloves are now Displacement Glove (player's velocity impacts bolt velocity)
- MOD Items presentation windows colour has changed
- MOD Repulsion improved
- MOD Giant Slime HP decreased
- MOD Cyclops melee and missile damage decreased, now repulse
- MOD A merchant on each floor > 1 now
- MOD Force Challenge room for each floor > 2 if no spell is equipped
- FIX Crash when getting the quartz ring
- FIX Texts are now in UTF-8
- FIX Monsters out of the game zone
- FIX Persistent particles on some machines/systems

And here the gameplay video:

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi,
Witch Blast has a new talented pixel artist now, we plan to redesign 100% of the graphics.
Here some sprites:



And the new game intro and menu in a short video:

[Cirrus Minor]

Hi all,
I've just released a new version of the game !

Witch Blast v0.4
_____________
Download: https://github.com/Cirrus-Minor/witchblast/releases/tag/v0.4.0

The current release focuses on:

• new 2D art and music,
• more speed,
• more content (items, monsters...),
• the 6th level.

Changelog (from v0.3.7 to v0.4)

- ADD New level
- ADD New monsters
- ADD New items
- ADD New spell
- ADD New art for sprites and tiles
- ADD New room surfaces
- ADD New intro and menu
- ADD Levels have different tilesets now
- ADD In-game menu (pause)
- ADD Inventory display in the in-game menu
- ADD Chest for completed challenges
- ADD Tutorial state save and reset
- ADD Cauldron now explodes while dying
- ADD Sound for imp's teleportation
- ADD "Jump" animation for items you can get
- ADD Zoom effect when starting / dying
- ADD In-fight save game
- ADD Mouse right click support (spell)
- ADD Show selected key in key configuration
- ADD Credits screen
- MOD Game is faster now
- MOD Standard Rat IA changes (rats now move in 4 directions)
- MOD Frozen dividing bubbles generate frozen "children" bubbles
- MOD Fireball (spell) now goes through monsters (if enough HP)
- MOD Lightning bolt now goes through monsters (if enough HP)
- MOD Cyclops' damage decreases
- MOD Giant Spider is more difficult to kill now
- MOD Shop's items too expensive displayed in red
- MOD One cauldron max in witches rooms in level 5
- MOD New death screen
- MOD Exploding fire shot replaced with sulfur item
- MOD Exploding corpse with timer now
- MOD Snake AI changes (no more "group attack)
- MOD Witches and Flowers use ray casting to fire or not
- MOD Cauldron + Witches only on rooms with walls
- MOD Bats and little slime HP-
- MOD "Elemental" monsters resistance or weakness increase
- MOD Double and triple quick shots don't do so much damage when cumulated with damage items
- FIX Cyclops firing in the wall when too close to the north wall
- FIX Items can fly a long time on the walls
- FIX Clean message queue while starting a new game

Trailer