Atlas Warriors (now at Alpha 9)

[thelochok]

Good morning all!

I've just released the second alpha of my game 'Atlas Warriors'. It is in most ways a fairly traditional roguelike with a minimalist twist.

The chief concepts of it are that:
- Every type of monster has to be a unique opponent to justify its existence;
- Every class of weapon has to be unique to fight with
- It's not overly long.

It also has an interesting 'kill or be killed mechanic'. When you drop below 0 health, you have a small number of turns (8 in Easiest, 6 in Normal, 5 in Hard and 4 in Hardest) to kill an enemy. If you do, you are restored to life with some of your health (again depending on difficulty).

Unlike many roguelikes, health does not naturally regenerate. Health can be regenerated in three ways:
- Exploring new areas
- Dying, and successfully killing a monster and
- Leveling up (as frequently happens).

It's current state is almost feature complete, needing more balancing.

I've programmed it in Python 3.3 + Pygame +  Pygcurse. It's also been released under the MIT license for people to have fun with as they wish.

Details and a download link are on my website at http://www.nerdygentleman.com/.

[thelochok]

What I would really really really like is feedback on two things:
1 - How do you think I could improve balance? and
2 - Do you think the parchment backgrounds are a good idea, or should be toggleable or disabled entirely?

It's also worth noting that its on Github at https://github.com/lkingsford/AtlasWarriors

[Samildanach]

Couple of points.

Why do you start off with loads of weapons and no room in your backpack? That means I just have to immediately drop a load of stuff. (On a related note, I'm not sure that starting the player with equipment but none of it actually equipped is a good plan. Making me equip stuff at the start of every game is just busywork. Double busywork in this case, since I also have to clear out my backpack every time.)

Why navigate the title menu with keys, move, attack and open inventory with keys, but then navigate inventory with only the mouse? It's an inconsistent control scheme and it forces me to keep moving my right hand between the keyboard and the mouse. Which is a bad thing.

Otherwise it's too early to have much opinion on the game. I like the parchment background but I see no harm in making it toggleable for anyone who doesn't want it. I enjoy the smooth feel of movement and the minimalist but effective use of colour.

As to balance, I'd suggest watching out for ranged enemies. I've played a few times now and every single time the first thing that happened when I descended to floor 2 was 4 or 5 ranged enemies locked me in a crossfire which I could neither escape nor counter. If that's occasional, it's annoying but excusable. If it's every time, or almost every time, it's a deal breaker.

[thelochok]

The chief reason for you starting with one of each weapon is that each class of weapon is unique and useful in different circumstances. Specifically:

• Daggers - You get a free counterattack when you are attacked and hit.</li<
  
• Swords - Blocking a hit with a sword allows you to parry, effectively attacking the monster.
• Polearms - Polearms can attack two monsters in a row. At the moment, this only works when one monster is adjacent to you. I'm considering whether or not this should chance. Edit: As of Alpha 3, polearms also attack monsters who move towards you (you 'skewer' them), and when you move next to a monster (you 'lunge' at them).
• Axes - Axes are slow, but attack in a 90 degree arc.
• Blunt - Blunt weapons will stun any monster for one turn, if they hit.

I will normally focus on one, but still find uses for the others. For instance, Blunt weapons tend to be really useful against Orcs (ie - the ranged attackers) as (whenever you hit) they're frozen in place. I want to include a better description of the weapons inside the game in one of the next releases. I do agree that it might be a good idea to start with a weapon equipped. I will note though that (if you can get the skills up) - unarmed combat can be very effective and skills up quicker then other weapons.

I'm not sure therefore what the best approach to the starting inventory is. An alternative I considered would be to make sure that the first room has each of the basic weapons available instead of pre-backpacking them. Do you feel like that might be an improvement?

I agree with you re: the keys/mouse. I think what I will do is have the main game also navigable with a mouse (Brogue style) and the dialogs navigable by keyboard. Best of both worlds.

Thank you for your feedback and for playing!

[Samildanach]

The chief reason for you starting with one of each weapon is that each class of weapon is unique and useful in different circumstances. Specifically:

• Daggers - You get a free counterattack when you are attacked and hit.</li<
  
• Swords - Blocking a hit with a sword allows you to parry, effectively attacking the monster.
• Polearms - Polearms can attack two monsters in a row. At the moment, this only works when one monster is adjacent to you. I'm considering whether or not this should chance.
• Axes - Axes are slow, but attack in a 90 degree arc.
• Blunt - Blunt weapons will stun any monster for one turn, if they hit.

I will normally focus on one, but still find uses for the others.

Ah, that makes sense. It's not clear from the game though. Lacking that sort of information could easily put a new player off. Yes, having the weapons available in the first room rather than pre-backpacked might be a good idea. Worth playing with anyway, to see how it works.

A bit more feedback after playing some more. Auto-pickup is annoying. Is there a way to turn it off? Whenever I plaay Nethack the first thing I do is turn off auto-pickup because it's such a nuisance having to manually drop things that I can't avoid walking over in a narrow corridor.

Also, I think I found a bug. During a fight I went down to -23 HP, the game kind of hung for a few seconds, then I went back up to 7 HP. If it happens again I'll try and remember to take screenshots.

EDIT: Ok, it's not a bug, it's the 'kill or be killed' thing. That could be a fun idea. I'm not sure how it works though. Just now I was down to -5 HP, I ran away and it started regenerating up to -4 HP. Will my health just come back from even way down at -23 as long as I don't take another hit?

[thelochok]

I think the next version needs to be the 'Teach the player better" edition. I've been OK with putting it in the 'leave it until next version' basket, but it seems to be becoming a hindrance. I don't think it's worth or even good doing a full tutorial, but I think a few tutorial messages the first time things happen to a player (not a character) (particularly unusual mechanics like kill or be killed) would go a long way.

The kill or be killed mode gives you a few turns to kill another monster. If you successfully land a kill in those 7 (on easiest) turns, you're restored to 75% health (again on easiest). I think this would be clearer if the messages were less crowded out - sometimes, combat messages mean you don't see them at all. I also think I need to stop showing HP at all when you go into that mode to make it clear that you're already dead HP wise (or just leave it at zero) and that your life simply depends on getting another kill.

There isn't a way to turn off Autopickup yet. I'll add it to the next release.

Thanks again for your feedback! I'm really appreciative of you playing it despite its flaws.

[thelochok]

I've just released Alpha 3 of Atlas Warriors. Your feedback was invaluable and has influenced most of the changed.

You can get information and download it from http://www.nerdygentleman.com/2014/12/atlas-warriors-alpha-3-released.html.

Change log:
ALPHA 3 - 6/12/2014
- Enhancements
  - Keyboard control of inventory
  - Tutorial messages for
    - First run
    - Death
    - Kill or be killed
    - All weapons
    - Attacked
    - Duel wielding
    - Levelling
    - Levelling weapon skill
  - Option for disabling autopickup
  - Option for disabling background.
  - Added polearm skewering and lunging
 
- Bugfixes
  - Closing issue #10
  - Healer AI bug
  - Drake bug
  - Zombie defence
  - Prevented crash on winning screen

[thelochok]

I've just released Alpha 7 of Atlas Warriors. There's been a fair few bug fixes since Alpha 3.

You can download it from www.nerdygentleman.com/2014/12/atlas-warriors-alpha-7-released.html.

Change log:
ALPHA 7 - 7/12/2014
- Enhancements
  - Crashing now creates an error log file
  - Space can exit inventory dialog
  - Difficulty adjustments
  - Complete new Healer AI
 
- Bug fixes
  - New Healer AI closes Issue #18
  - Goliath Superpunch doesn't attack as many times
  - Inventory screen no longer crashes with non alpha-numeric key (Closes #17)

ALPHA 6 - 7/12/2014
- Bug fixes
  - Fixed plethora of bugs for inventory screen with keyboard

ALPHA 5 - 7/12/2014
- Bug fixed
  - PC couldn't drop item

ALPHA 4 - 6/12/2014
- Enhancements
  - Tutorial message for Fire
- Bug fixed
  - Fixed errors with cheat mode
  - Closed #15

[thelochok]

I've just released Alpha 9. It's a fairly big update to the game.

Can get it from http://www.nerdygentleman.com/2014/12/atlas-warriors-major-update-alpha-9.html, or skip my site and go straight to https://github.com/lkingsford/AtlasWarriors/releases/tag/alpha-009

ALPHA 9 - 8/12/2014
- Notes
  - Lots of changes in this one. This is the first that has been proven
    to be beatable from start to finish on easiest.

- Enhancements
  - Rewrote part of victory screen
  - Dungeon restocking now occurs within the normal span of playing a level
  - Spending longer on a level will result in higher monsters being restocked
  - Animation speed significantly increased, and made simulataneous. It will
    make levels with lots of orcs and healers a lot less frustrating
  - Added 'pummel' attack for unarmed. After a successful unarmed strike, you
    get a free attack with a slightly higher chance of hitting.
  - Disabled background by default
  - You now receive XP for the xombies that die when you kill the Necromancer
  - The message log only shows what's happened since your last turn. It also
    always shows 'Kill or be killed' in the top row if you're in Kill or Be
    Killed.
  - Difficulty adjustments including:
    - Warlord level decreased
    - Drake's MP increased     
    - Goliath levelling speed increased and HP increase per level decreased
 
- Bug Fixes
  - Fixed crash when opening message dialog with 'm' key
  - When punched by goliaths, your visibility updates
  - Fixed issue with no random monsters appearing on final level
  - Fixed issue with drakes causing crashes when attacked
  - Fixed issue with necromancer draining self
  - Various monster bug fixes
  - Fixed issue with animation not displaying when winning
  - Fixed issue with winning, and then the warlord being healed again
  - Dungeon restocking now works as intended
  - Fixed issue with two handed items in inventory screen
  - Animations no longer appear where you can't see them
  - Messages no longer appear if you can't see their cause
  - Skewering is no longer broken
  - Warlord no longer is unbeatable due to rapidly increasing weapon skills