The Big V2.0 at long last!
It’s been almost a year since Release #7 came out. A lot has happened to the game since then. In fact, there are so many and radical changes that I consider it to be a new version of the game. The first release of this new version of the game will have the incredibly exciting name v2.0! This means that Release #7 was the last release for the old version. Part of the reason for this new version is that I intend to introduce even more huge changes in the near future, but more about that in another post.
Summary of Highlights in v2:
I will give a small overview and summary of the biggest changes in the game with links to blog posts where you can read more about them:
You can now see all attributes and attacks of each monster (post)
Monsters now have named attacks, their magic and ranged attacks now works like they do for the player (using Mp and ammo) (post)
Monster can have several attacks instead of exactly just one (post, interesting consequences)
Light in the dungeon is now explicit instead of implicit (braziers lit the dungeon) (post)
There are now surprise attacks in the game (post)
The “light” attribute is replaced by a “vision” attribute. Line of Sight is no longer symmetric with monsters. (post)
You now have energy points as a new resource that restricts how much you can swap weapons, you can also use to identify things with (post)
Enchanted equipment is now unknown when you find it, and there are cursed equipment in the dungeon (post)
You can now hear nearby noisy monsters (post)
There are a new category of items: tools (post)
The game has a completely new tutorial and better tutorial system (post)
You are either in “exploring” or “combat” mode, each mode have their own rules (post)
Viewing maps now give an overview of notable features (post)
There are also some new interesting things that I haven’t blogged about:
Almost all situations where you would be blocked by water or lava is gone. This should make the game much more fair to the point that I might remove the disclaimer in the FAQ.
The drowning effect has been removed, as well as water breathing (bye sea-pearls…). The reasoning is that it was annoying and binary: water was either an extremely huge threat, or no threat except that it could rust equipment. There is still rusting in the game though… there are rust traps.
There’s an option to change the colour theme of the panel frames. New default colours for v2 (it is possible to change back to the original colours for those who wish)!
Some Disclaimers
Despite having tested the game extensively together with a friend (and I plan to test even more before the release), I am not confident that v2.0 will be bug free. After the initial release I can imagine there might be a bug fix release from any reports I may receive.
I can also imagine that v2 is so different that some players would prefer the old release. I will keep Release #7 available for download for those who still wish to play that.
In order to not delay the release even further, the manual is going to remain outdated for a while. However, as resources you have a new improved tutorial (including tutorials that specifically teaches the new stuff in v2). Furthermore, the blog posts listed above can be used as detailed documentation. Finally, I am releasing a reference document for all the effects in the game. So whenever you find an effect you don’t know you can check there. I plan to eventually make this reference in-game. I also plan to gradually update the new manual, but it may take a while.
Anyway, I hope you are as excited as I am
Content
new features, rest events, monsters, spells, attacks, items, statuses and effects. Too much to list
new item category: tools, including containers
more enchantments (and curses)
somebody have been placing signs in the dungeon
a large new collection of traps
minor changes to dungeon generation
quivers are no longer accessories but containers
restoring fountains are replaced by energy fountains
scrolls of disenchantment, disenchanting services
twisty stairways: cannot be used while in combat
replaced blue dragon mail with ice dragon mail
normal “trolls” are reworked into “grey trolls” that attacks with claws (dualwield)
wizards are renamed to “summoners” because that’s what they actually are
floors with lava heavily reworked and much less to cause unwinnable situations
pickaxes are now tools, they cannot be equipped and costs Ep to use.
pickaxes can no longer be upgraded, but the miner’s pickaxe can be found randomly in the dungeon
empty bottles are now tools that has to be explicitly used
renamed “pool of darkness” to “fountain of chaos”
“light boots” are renamed to “soft boots”
“ring of vision” is renamed to “ring of seeing” (to not give impression of altering the vision attribute)
tweaked descriptions, and properties of several items
Removed content
levels can no longer be flooded
Drowning as a damage. Consequentially removed:
water lizards, white snakes, water elementals (but i’m planing to possibly re-introduce water elementals in another form)
wand of drowning, rod of rain
helmet of the fish enchantment, potion of waterbreath, sea pearl
fish head mutation
almost all sources of item identification except using Ep
there are no more “brightly lit floors”
wand of gravity has been removed (no more distance attribute for monsters)
some accessory books, books are no longer accessories
sadly the diamond pickaxe is gone. Doesn’t work with the current tool-implementation. May come back in later versions.
Gameplay
monster overhaul
full monster stats are displayed
monsters use spells and magic points, ranged attacks and ammo
monsters can have have multiple attacks
all monster abilities are named
dungeon lighting is reworked
you and monsters vision is no longer symmetrical, the “light” attribute is now”vision”
the dungeon is lit by braziers, “in light” is a status
you and monsters can make surprise attacks
New resource: Energy points
Equipping and identifying costs Ep
Equipment enchantments are now unknown, can be cursed
New item category: tools
Very long unpassable water or lava should no longer appear
you are now in either combat or exploring mode
being in water drains Ep instead of Hp
all new tutorial interface and new tutorials
you can now equip anything regardless of your magic points [hedoNNN]
open/closed melee is now strictly a visible bonus
monsters that can’t swim instantly dies on water
confusion can make you swap places with a monster
rods now apply to all monsters around you which are not behind a wall. Independent of your vision (prev. light) attribute.
valves now only drains water from a level, they never flood it, they appear only on levels with water
you can no longer burn yourself on camp fires
camp fires and grindstones now bring up a menu to choose what you want to grill/grind [gza]
added option: see the distance to monsters in the monster-display. Turned off by default.
“detect chests” is now “detect treasure” and detects chests, money and mysterious veins
the target display has been enriched with distance information to monsters
bookshelves no longer helps you identify stuff, but you might find some interesting books there…
most flying monster now use an ability to fly [gza]
you have 25% chance to open a stuck door, and it will cost 2 Ep to attempt it. You can try as long as long as you have 2 Ep to spare or if you are starving.
more actions (such as reading known bad scrolls) now asks for confirmation
traps are a bit more contextual now, it matters where the trap is (ice traps are more likely in icy places etc.)
standing on large rocks now gives a slight melee advantage as well
weak monsters can no longer push past others (this is a status)
aliens comes for items that you’ve dropped on the floor
sages and healers provide new services and adjusted their prices
wooden floor now gives electricity resistance
monsters now wake up after being attacked, not slightly before
stronger visual effect when a monster wakes up
walking on carpets reduces noise [gza]
level 1 can never be a cave or a wooden level
Interface
monster display now shows monster hp/mp instead of relative hurt level (like “moderately damaged”)
the target panel has been greatly enchanced and more clear
the attribute display has been changed to make room for Ep
the resting screen looks much better. Warnings and events are clearer.
new colour themes, you can select from the “options” menu
pc now gets red at 3hp (instead of 2hp) and yellow at 7hp (instead of 5hp) to better reflect acuteness
floor effects have been renamed to context effects (abbreviated as “ctx”).
Contextual effects now includes effect such as the melee bonus in open/closed melee.
the title screen has been updated
the word “mana” has generally been replaced with the word “magic”. In particular Mp is now known as “magic points”
rods now shows in the same colour as wands in the inventory (purple), since they are both magic devices
a known trap will now blink as a ‘6’ for clarity
the frame of the status window turns red if you are very low on HP [hedoNNN]
“on hit” effects for fists now refers to gloves instead of showing directly when examining fists
the player character screen is better aligned
bedrolls now uses the ‘8’ symbol to not confuse with rods
the item category name in the item description window now displays in the same colour as in the inventory
The ‘@’ in the seen-panel now reflects your current colour
Hp now have a colon in the attributes window, weirdly enough it has never had it in previous releases and I didn’t even notice it!
the aim cursor now has brighter colours when you can use ranged combat
no more “Generating level…” messages
{unseen} in stores is now {undiscovered} [David]
there’s now a message in the message log when you rest [David]
Bug Fixes
it doesn’t take a turn to unequip anymore
fixed bad bug when grinding rusty dual wielded weapons
the buggy “lose: open combat” is gone [eryk, david, and others]
Mp can now be negative, this solves a bunch of previously persistent bugs(negative Mp has no particular game effect though) [zennaris]
light bows and goblin bows are no longer identical
autorun now eventually stops if caught in a loop [tinyrodent]
halberds (and their upgrades) now works as they should [TyreForHyre]
unconsious monsters can no longer stumble in confusion [TyreForHyre]
fixed potential bug when objects are moving when resting
fixed some bugs that appeared when you win [David, gza]
enchant menu should no longer look messy with very long names [tinyrodent]
ghost worms now have an attack as they should
all options are now being saved
swapping places with a monster now updates FoV correctly [val]
enabled dungeon generator to put features in the left corners of a room (weird bug, it has actually been impossible until now)
chest mimicks should not appear as normal monsters anymore
landing on a knockback-immune monster will kill it instead of hanging the game [reetside]
sleeping humanoids will no longer see you place traps [hedoNNN]
rusty and upgraded armour no longer gets double resistances [gza]
upgrading an amulet of resistance is now better [gza]
FoV should update directly after using/equiping items instead of waiting one turn
King plate is now much better (as initially intended) [gza]
monsters should no longer stand around golden vault doors when fleeing [gza]
crowns are no longer treated as jewellery, and can be now enchanted [gza]
(non-lethal) damage now applies before knockback on wooden clubs
you can no longer place traps on floors occupied by an item [hedoNNN]
the game is no longer crashing when bringing an ice cape to a tailor [roneitis]
Balance
nerfed many dangerous monsters, especially extremely dangerous end-game monsters
effects of food items have been tweaked
the amount of monsters for each level no longer increases by depth
mysterious veins are rarer
extremlely slightly increased number of items generated at deeper levels on theavarage, probably not noticable
bolts no longer have a ranged attack
halberds now have open melee
acid fog is gone (unfairly dangerous)
barbed whips are more expensive
minor adjustments to floor item distribution (probably not noticable, but lesspotions)
altered item distribution in many containers
potions of speed give +2 instead of +3
the artifact has double value
adjusted some prices (wands of poison/disease)
truly strong items can no longer be corroded by acid
coal now works… better
chickens are a bit slower
One of the modern and outright greatest of greats roars back into the action!
