Author Topic: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 3/31!  (Read 150117 times)

Rickton

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike
« Reply #150 on: April 27, 2016, 12:09:02 AM »
Hey. :) Thanks for checking Demon out, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Anomaly: 2 is pretty amazing for a first run. :D Congrats!

Re: Resting, Demon uses a bit of a different scheme than most roguelikes. There is no reason not to rest up between fights... but on the other hand, encounters are balanced assuming you've rested between them. Of course, that makes the timed recruitment events you pointed out require some pretty efficient conduct to succeed at (though in some cases, the thing you're trying to recruit is willing to help out.

Good luck on your second run. :D
Apparently I had a lot of beginners luck first go round. Happened to pick a good relic/power combo, had some lucky early recruits...haven't made it past tower 3 again yet!
Creator of the 7DRL Possession: Escape from the Nether Regions
And its sequel, simply titled Possession

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike
« Reply #151 on: May 29, 2016, 05:05:20 PM »
Hello. :D

Finally far enough along on the next big feature in Demon to have a decent amount to show for it. :D
Introducing: Relic Upgrades!



Relic Upgrades are a collection of summoner-specific abilities that change how basic mechanics specific to the player work.  17 different upgrades (not counting ranks for upgrades that have multiple ranks) will be available in the build introducing them, with more to follow in future builds.

Here's a few examples of what these upgrades can do for summoners:


1) Enemy Sense

Enemy Sense provides two different benefits: primarily, it shows the locations of enemies on your map. But in addition to this, when you fully explore a level, it will perform a more through scan of the level, revealing hidden enemies that otherwise can be found, providing additional opportunities for recruitment and gaining experience.





2) Consume and Recycle

Consume provides you with HP and SP when you delete one of your demon allies. Since Delete Demon is a free action, this can provide a valuable emergency measure during a fight that isn't quite going your way. Recycle similarly grants you Credits when you delete a demon, which can provide one last use for allies you've outgrown (or had to hurriedly Consume during combat, since the abilities stack!) The strength of both effects is based off of how many levels the demon has gained since joining you however: new recruits won't provide much benefit.







3) Far Summon





Last of the examples today is Far Summon, a three rank upgrade that increases the range of your summon ability by 2 each rank. By default, you can only summon your allies into adjacent squares, but with Far Summon, you can place your allies much more strategically: you can summon melee allies much closer to their desired targets, make sure ranged allies have clear lines of fire and are safely out of harm's reach, etc.


This build is probably still a couple of weeks or so out from release, but I'm pretty excited about it. :) I'll post again later with more information about some of the other upgrades. :D Cheers!


Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike
« Reply #152 on: July 05, 2016, 03:18:06 PM »
Okay, so it was a bit more than a couple of weeks out from release. :D But, the Relic Upgrades build is finally done. :D You can grab the builds at the usual link here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web





Relic Upgrades are new summoner-only abilities that significantly change how basic mechanics of summoning work, either by tweaking existing abilities or adding entirely new ones. I gave some examples in my last post, but those are only a few of the nearly two dozen different upgrades available starting with this build.

Each relic has two starting upgrades, and you can add more upgrades of your choice after reaching specific levels. The starting upgrades for each Relic are:

Crown of Glory: Starts with Quick Summon and Quick Dismiss, which replace the turn cost of using Summon and Dismiss with 1 turn cooldowns instead.

Eye of the Dragon: Starts with Item Sense and S.E.P.I., which help you find more items and more Credits, giving you more resources to work with.

Faithful Heart: Starts with Revelation, which lets your demon allies learn powerful abilities, and Nightingale, which speeds up recovery rates for currently inactive allies.

Hand of the Dead: Starts with Consume and Recycle, which provide various benefits when you delete demon allies.

Orb of Power: Starts with Transpose Soul, which allows you to convert demon allies into very powerful abilities for your own use, and Translator, which significantly reduces the cost of learning abilities from your allies.

Titan's Fist: Starts with Fusion Saver, which reduces the cost of fusing demons together into new ones, and Soul Armor, which lets you sacrifice allies to gain their resistance, HP, and Speed modifiers.

Vodun Mask: Starts with Enemy Sense, which shows enemy positions on the map, and Far Summon I, which lets you summon allies 3 squares away instead of only being able to summon adjacent to you.

But, beware: enemy summoners also possess, and intelligently use, these new upgrades. :) Also, in order to preserve balance against non-summoner enemies, the starting stable size has been reduced from 8 to 6. (There is, however, a series of upgrades you can take that let you raise the limit back up to 8... or even higher, if you wish.)

Good luck in the Tower. :D

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike
« Reply #153 on: August 12, 2016, 04:00:39 PM »
New build is out! You can grab the Windows, OSX, and Linux builds here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

This build was something of a consolidation opportunity: a chance to take some time between major features/updates to address a pile of smaller things that had been on the to-do list for awhile. Among the notable changes:

1) Unity 5 and Performance Upgrades
Starting with this build, Demon is now developed in Unity 5. Among other things, this has given me access to a profiler which I have used to make substantial performance improvements to Demon. However, it does mean the list of older systems that can run Demon has shrunk a bit. You can review the system requirements here to see if your system is able to run Unity 5 games: https://unity3d.com/unity/system-requirements


2) Light and Dark Revamp
Many abilities in the Light and Dark ability sets have been significantly changed. For the most part, these abilities fall into three categories: Smites (low to medium damage spells that don't require line of sight or check accuracy, usually no or only a very brief cooldown), Miracles (moderate cooldown, high damage spells that affect all enemies, and only enemies, in a wide area which meet a certain condition), and Miens (passives that add bonus effects to all sources of Light & Dark damage if specific conditions are met.)

The intent is that these should prove much more useful and fun than the previous model, where Smites had conditions *and* cooldowns, often making them feel not worth the effort of trying to use. Miracles did not exist prior to the revamp, and their presence now gives Light and Dark users a high effort/high reward option they can take advantage of if they choose. Miens are not new to the revamp, but the vast majority of them did not exist prior to it.


3) Credit rebalancing
Currency costs have been significantly adjusted for nearly all transmutations. The two biggest changes are:

* Most transmutations involving demons (such as Copy Ability, Fuse Demons, and Restore Demon) now have their cost based on the demon's initial level, rather than their current level.

* Copy Ability's base cost has been significantly reduced (on top of the change on how the cost is calculated relative to demon level.)

The goal here is to allow more experimentation and use of transmutations, with only Fuse Demons and Restore Demon remaining relatively high costs. This will end up making the game a bit easier... but metrics strongly, strongly suggest this will not be a problem, 98% or so of games still end on the first four dungeon floors (out of around twenty-five!)


4) Strength change
The latest and finally successful (if testing and early feedback results hold up over more time) change for attempting bringing melee characters into line with magic characters: the Strength stat now reduces all damage taken in addition to raising the damage dealt by physical attacks, giving melee-focused characters a significant benefit for their investment in Strength. This helps make up for the facts that most physical attacks are short range versus the longer range of magic, and that magic encompasses a wider array of abilities than non-magic.


5) UI Upgrades
Leveling up is now done manually via the Transmutations menu instead of being forced at the moment you have enough XP:



Targeting UI has been improved as well, highlighting characters who will actually be affected by the ability, which is particularly helpful for Light and Dark's conditionally effective abilities. In the screenshot here, Humble (which only hits enemies with full health) is correctly highlighting only the full health enemy goblin, and not the wisp (who isn't an enemy) or wounded goblin:




Some other smaller changes here and there too. :) You can find out more details in the change logs included with each build. :D Cheers, and good luck in the tower!

getter77

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #154 on: September 18, 2016, 09:35:39 PM »
9/18 ARRP release since Ferret might actually be asleep for awhile~
Quote
And we’re clear! The 9/18 build, for ARRP 2016, is up! Download links to your left have already been updated!

In case you’ve missed it, the big changes in this build are:

    10 new demons, including 3 uniques.
    22 new abilities.
    9 new Sanctums, 4 of which will appear in each game, controlled by uniques old and new alike.
    Some moderate adjustment of the “Strength = Defense” mechanic to make it more balanced at low and high Strength.
    Some changes to how bonus MaxHP accumulation/loss operate to make this a more viable mechanic for melee casters.
    Other smaller bits and pieces, detailed in the change logs included with every build.

Enjoy, and good luck in the Tower. :D I’m a tired FerretDev and am going to go be flat somewhere for awhile to prepare for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse’s release Tuesday. :P

May his incoming theft...er..."adaptation" of SMT IV: Apoc to further feed Demon fly just and true.   8)
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Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #155 on: September 18, 2016, 09:39:54 PM »
Hey, I was on my way here! :D Thank you for the assist though! :D

mammal93

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #156 on: December 11, 2016, 10:07:25 PM »
Shin Megami Tensei is my favorite game franchise, and I love roguelike, so from a concept stand point you already won! I haven't spent a ton of time with the game, but what I've played is excellent and actually reminds me of SMT with the conversation system. I'll be sinking a lot of hours into this and provide real feedback as I go.

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #157 on: December 16, 2016, 11:59:07 PM »
Awesome. :D I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to the feedback. :) Apologies for the slightly tardy response, this past week has been especially busy. (For that matter, I should probably write up a post about the build I released this week here. :P )

mammal93

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #158 on: December 17, 2016, 04:10:42 AM »
Oh is there a new build? When did you release it?

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 9/18 ARRP 2016
« Reply #159 on: December 17, 2016, 04:27:53 PM »
Same day you posted here, but there was a bug fix update the day after on the 12th. :D I should be able to do a proper write up on it here tomorrow. If you don't already have the 12/12 version, you can grab it here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 12/12
« Reply #160 on: December 18, 2016, 06:31:40 PM »
Oof, been awhile since I posted any progress here, with apologies. Work has continued on Demon throughout, but since I'm not full time on it these days I've diverted some time away from posting so that devwork can continue at a decent pace. :D

There have actually been two builds since my last major post here: a 10/13 build that was mostly UI tweaks and improvements, and the much more exciting 12/12 build that added two major new features to the game: Relic Wraiths and searchable summoner corpses, which are the first instance of the new Interactables mechanic. You can grab the 12/12 builds for PC, Mac, and Linux here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

As the name implies, Relic Wraiths are Demon's take on player ghosts:



When a player dies in the Tower, Relic Wraith will be saved locally and later used to spawn Relic Wraiths in future games. Relic Wraith data is also sent with score data at the end of a game, so you can run into Relic Wraiths created by other players' deaths as well. :D Having had some... disagreements... with how other games handle ghosts in the past, I've done a few things differently with Relic Wraiths:
  • For the moment at least, none are ever encountered randomly. The player must initiate specific courses of action to spawn them.
  • The "rules" on Relic Wraith creation and spawning are specifically designed for fairness. The main criteria for selecting a Relic Wraith to spawn are what the last new floor the Wraith's player discovered was vs. what floor you are currently on, and the relative level of the Wraith and the active player.
  • The demons who serve Relic Wraiths can be recruited once you have defeated the Wraith itself, just as with any other summoner.
  • The resistance tables of Relic Wraiths vary from Wraith to Wraith, based on the Relic the player who made the Wraith was using. There are no universal weaknesses/resistances common to all Relic Wraiths: some are actually resistant to Light and Fire for example, while others can be poisoned or affected by Dark magic. (Despite the name they are not strictly undead creatures.)

Player ghosts have always been an interesting idea to me, but I've never quited agreed with most implementations of them. I'm hoping I've managed to solve the problems I usually see with them and retain the interesting and exciting bits. :D

The other major addition was the first Interactable, summoner corpses:



Summoner corpses are found strewn about the Tower, and may searched for various rewards... though doing so is not without risk (in fact, this is one of the methods by which a Relic Wraith spawn may be triggered.) Besides the horrifying possibility of a Relic Wraith, the results of a search may include finding an item, managing to extract an ability from the summoner's damaged relic for your own use, or accidentally releasing hostile demons from the Relic.

As an aside, the non-Wraith encounters spawned by searching corpses differ significantly from normal encounters in the floor: they are truly random combinations of demons, since they are meant to represent a dead summoner's cadre rather than a group of demons that naturally appear together. This can result in some interesting (and surprisingly challenging) groupings of demons that normally don't occur in the wild. :)

I'll be powering down for the holidays shortly to take a short break, but my hope is to start of 2017 strong for Demon with the next major build including an expansion of the Tower from 20 floors to 23. Until then, cheers, and good luck in the Tower!

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 12/12
« Reply #161 on: January 06, 2017, 06:45:20 PM »
The 1/6 build is out! Updated builds can be found here, as always: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

The main addition in this build? The Codex Daemonium: an automatic record of every demon you've ever recruited. Depending on your option settings (accessed via the '-' key during gameplay), the Codex can be character-specific, global to every character you've played on the current build, or act as a spoiler and show all demons whether you've actually recruited them or not.







Also in this build, by semi-popular demand, you can now toggle online features on or off in the options menu:




In addition to these changes, several other additions and adjustments were added including:
  • Improved corpse interaction results: fewer "nothing" results, more challenging demon encounters, and Enemy Sense now identifies corpses that will trigger encounters
  • Demons now sometimes directly demand Credits during negotiations, previously this only happened as part of other demands.
  • Revamped Hero rank benefits: Heroes are now more deadly than ever

Enjoy, and good luck in the Tower!

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 12/12
« Reply #162 on: January 07, 2017, 04:38:18 AM »
Whoops, found and fixed a bug with level-boosted enemies that prevented them from spending bonus points. :( Fixed in the 1/7/2017 builds, available now at the usual link: : https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-sx_4eW-B5hWnhNZlRPclZLeUU&usp=drive_web

Apologies, and enjoy!

KhaoTom

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 1/7
« Reply #163 on: January 10, 2017, 05:30:38 PM »
Wow, this is great work. The engine is lovely. I'm just starting out but I am very impressed so far. I didn't read the manual at all and was able to get started without any trouble (and lose my first game). You've done a fantastic job with the tool tips and controls.

Love the demon negotiation. One small thing, when the demon asks for something I don't have (like money) it seems like I should be able to say I don't have it, but that's not always an option. I'm guessing "refuse" ends up being the same result.

Ferret

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Re: Demon: A monster collection roguelike 1/7
« Reply #164 on: January 10, 2017, 11:44:44 PM »
:D Hey, thanks for checking Demon out, I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)

I'm happy the tooltips and controls are easy to pick up: I confess UI isn't my favorite thing to work on (says me and almost every other roguelike developer), so it is always nice when someone mentions it has helped them play. :D

Claiming you don't have any of a thing is usually only an option for item requests, rather than money requests, because while it is relatively common to be out of a specific item, it is relatively rare to be out of credits. You could argue the option should still exist for the purposes of lying... but by the same logic, while demons do sometimes believe a lie about being out of an item they want since it is a reasonable thing that can happen, they should probably almost never believe it about money, which would make it a strictly worse option than just refusing since demons who think they've been lied to tend to react worse than demons who are just told no.

Thanks again for checking Demon out, and for the feedback. :D