New RL in development

[Nomad]

Hey community! My name is Ian MacKenna aka Nomad.

I've been walking around for the past three years, living out of a backpack, mostly in the forest, eating berries, practicing shamanism, etc, you know how it is.

Several years ago I started a project called AstralHexRL, a graphical RL with hex tiles... Aspects of the project were getting too tricky (line of sight on hex-grid, ARGH!) to handle (computationally intense) and it didn't seem worth it to spend that much effort to produce a serious game for deployment to PC only... Game faded away...

So after a few years of "finding myself", living a real life RL, I've found my way back to society and noticed that the development tools have been advancing steadily along!

Just in time, it seems, I've found my way back to game development... And today I am making the first official announcement of a new RL in development, currently code-named: Project Nomad

The game is programmed primarily in Java using the libgdx framework, which allows for simultaneous deployment to Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, etc. I've been working in the game for the past few weeks and am pretty serious about it. (5+ hours a day coding) No worthwhile screenshots just yet, but a playable demo should be released within the month.

Some features of this game:
Extremely lightweight, highly procedurally generated (Overworld, Dungeons, Items, etc), very dynamic environment, highly expandable through scriptable content, awesome pixel art (by me, and perhaps others as the game grows), flexible skill system which allows for adding skills over time, complex AI profiles, etc...

And there's MORE! But that's a secret for now.

I am FULLY QUALIFIED to produce this game, at least to the point where beta testers become involved. At some point I will also have to enlist the help of a 'sound guy', and probably seek out a few people to generate a serious core of content. A little ways away from that point, although the game is looking great so far...

So... I guess this post is really more of a teaser than anything else... 

More to come...

[getter77]

Good idea on the libgdx front---attack a wide swath with fervor.   

[Krice]

Extremely lightweight, highly procedurally generated (Overworld, Dungeons, Items, etc), very dynamic environment, highly expandable through scriptable content, awesome pixel art (by me, and perhaps others as the game grows), flexible skill system which allows for adding skills over time, complex AI profiles, etc...

So you were eating berries. I wonder what kind of berries.

[Nomad]

Ahh right, Mr. Cynical, I remember yoouuu! But it's all good brah, I ain't no noob programmer. (But yeah, the good ones... And cactus, all kinds of magical plants actually... =D)

I've done all of this shit before - a LOT.

[getter77]

By definition, no person content with the standing, present reality would endeavor upon a mega-project like this in the first place!   

[Nomad]

Lol, right getter... The world needs a serious roguelike for android, iOS, etc... it's time.

And anyway, let's look at each of these 'lofty goals'...

Extremely lightweight - It's lightweight because of procedurally generated and scriptable content. The engine is what I was referring to, the game itself will of course have scripted data, pixel art, and music... Roguelikes are usually lightweight, nothing unusual here..

Highly procedurally generated (Overworld, Dungeons, Items, etc) - Will focus on Overworld and Dungeons for first release... Item system is going to be in-depth but for a later day.. I wrote a tutorial on random map generation like 6 years ago that people seemed to appreciate... I've made random overworld generators and random dungeon generators a dozen or more times, even on hexagonal grids... kid stuff!! Old hobby, and I dream in code.

very dynamic environment - by this I mean, trees burn (fires can spread), rock can be mined, walls can be built, all simple stuff.

highly expandable through scriptable content - i wrote my first scripting language for an rpg game when I was 15... I've updated my design pattern theory significantly since then... Already have an awesome structure for the language modeled out, implementation will be easy.

awesome pixel art - I am an awesome artist. Regarding pixel art, my most notable creation was the tileset for the under-appreciated roguelikelike, Legerdemain, some 1200 or so *beautiful* tiles, if I do say so myself. I mean... Most people don't get far enough into the game to appreciate the graphics but... it's a fucking rad tileset.

flexible skill system which allows for adding skills over time - again, easy, by that I mean essentially that a skill (which generally performs a scripted action on execution, though not always) which has experience, leveling system, etc... Add a new skill to the skills list, actual coding will be minimized...

Complex AI profiles, etc... Last AI system I wrote was for hexagonal tiles which was *way* more complicated than a grid-based world... It included many behavior types like, Aggressive, Wait Until Attacked, Coward, etc... That was like 6 years ago... I'm a little better at that stuff now...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDtEvpKV7-8
That game even supported an ally (a dog)...


Soooo basically, what I'm getting at is...
By making the engine scriptable and procedurally generated, it actually makes it *way* easier to create...
and also, maybe we should all eat a few berries once in a while... 

and ONE MORE THING

how about a little encouragement, sheesh!!

now, excuse me, back to development...!
<3

[AgingMinotaur]

Heh. I remember anticipating AstralHexRL, and I like berries, so full speed ahead, I say. Re: the ease of writing a very lightweight procedural RL (and sorry for going off topic), I still keep a special place in my heart for old, abandoned World of Rogue, with assertions that it "should also be fairly simple to code, consisting only of an engine and data generators" and that "there should be a working version out by the end of the year" made by developer Gamer2k4 (who by the way also wrote some interesting pieces back in the day; World of Rogue strikes me as clearly a parody).

I might get back on topic when you start posting updating Best of luck in the meantime.

As always,
Minotauros

[getter77]

In addition to your recommended backlog, I'd say it is also worthwhile to check the vids from IRDC this year that went down in Atlanta---Bob's and Jim's especially seem handily relevant to your labors to come, but all are spiffy food for thought:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNLzpFdhCqk2HKId_glRexeI-zORKDhIk

Thanks for the reminder on Legerdemain, between that and your YT channel the various hazy memories are coalescing moreso.   

Pixel front:  What's the plan here as far as contending with screen size and resolution interface?  As you are doing pixel as opposed to vector art, I'd imagine you have some sort of scalers/filters combo reckoned to maintain a congruent experience for when this runs the gauntlet between desktop/tablet/mobile realms?

The usual top down or something of an angled view down viewpoint?

Using/intending to use the latest on LibGDX or hanging back to an earlier state of it?

Aiming for a "winnable" game or an infinite one of sorts?   Shorter game loops with progression unlocks or something monstrous like ADOM where it is all there from the start and the journey is long?

Sound reckoned to be A Thing?

[Krice]

how about a little encouragement, sheesh!!

As a roguelike game fan myself I want people to succeed, but roguelike development is harder than it would seem to those who don't know a lot about it. Let's say you have experience from developing a small or even more advanced 7DRL game. You still don't know anything about creating a full size (major) roguelike. Those two kind of games are so far away from each other as development projects. But you never know what happens as people have different skill levels as developers. The URR guy is quite awesome if he can get the gameplay work with the stupendous size and complexity of the game world.

[Nomad]

@Minotauros:
Sorry that never played out Minotaur, AstralHex was looking pretty cool for a while there.. I was 20 when I worked on that project and have lived in 4 states since then, lots of crazy adventures... The game just wasn't meant to be... I still would like to do a hex-based roguelike someday, just keeping it a little simpler this time around... But I guess this is all talk for now, especially given my track record so far... Soooo less talk, more coding I suppose. :-p

@getter:
The UI can be scaled to multiple resolutions easily, and the world-view, ie, pixel art, will be scaled in multiples of 2 and rotated within the screen... I like that somewhat pixelly look, personally, especially if the art is decent.

Regarding viewpoint, wasn't going to mention it at first but since you asked... it is going to be isometric.

Latest libgdx - should be able to target the vast majority of devices...

The game will have an 'ultimate attainment', (a really simple "master quest" that doesn't need much of a story...) There will be a plethora of smaller dungeons ADOM style (generated once, then saved), accessible from overworld. This is all I'm striving for with the first playable version... It's actually rather generic. (or, let's say instead, classic!) Once that version is live (a year from now?), I can space out for another year developing content - that's the fun part - which includes quests (quest generators), a story\theme, etc, and will flesh out the world itself. (will talk with some cool creative types and dnd nerds, probably outsource a good amount of design just to get some depth to it all :-p) The goal of the game is to be winnable, but still enjoyable and with secrets to unveil even after the game is 'won'.

Yes there will be sound effects and music, although that's one of my last priorities for development.. will get someone to compose some original music for the game when the time is right...

@krice:
okay, true that... you're totally right. i've never completed a full-sized "major" game... (i've come close but the projects succumbed to natural disasters, etc...) So I guess I won't talk up my abilities any more than I already have.. I don't want to end up with my foot in my mouth over another piece of vaporware.. In fact it's a little early to talk about it, but I'll keep chugging along and I'm confident in my success this time around... (Lots of backing up projects, etc..)

Next post will have some gameplay, either video or a demo...

[Nomad]

Oh and I'm still living out of a backpack btw... :-p Currently in Oregon, working my way south along the 101... I do most of my development in libraries\cafes along the way... Something about the lifestyle of a traveling\shaman\coder... 9-5s just don't do it for me. I love waking up in grassy a field, pulling the tarp off, rolling up my sleeping bag and choosing a direction... I think the discipline that my lifestyle requires is actually a plus for game development... (Even though I have to lug around this freaking laptop, keeping it dry somehow...)

[akeley]

@krice:
okay, true that... you're totally right.

No, he isn`t. Nobody who wrote a major roguelike has completed one beforehand - it`s a fallacious prerequisite :) There`s always the first time...

[AgingMinotaur]

@Minotauros:
Sorry that never played out Minotaur, AstralHex was looking pretty cool for a while there.. I was 20 when I worked on that project and have lived in 4 states since then, lots of crazy adventures... The game just wasn't meant to be... I still would like to do a hex-based roguelike someday, just keeping it a little simpler this time around... But I guess this is all talk for now, especially given my track record so far... Soooo less talk, more coding I suppose. :-p

Talk is also good, I guess, at least to a certain extent. And you're right about hex-maps being a bit of a hassle to work with. I actually have a hex-based rl in the works myself. So far it's been more talking than releasing, although I think the next version is coming soon-ish; I strictly adher to the Slow Application Develeopment methodology¹

Be that as it may, here is my take on fov on a hex grid, which you mentioned earlier in the thread.

As always,
Minotauros

¹ Which, speaking of berries, incidentally even includes the maxim to always delete all backups and start refactoring whenever one has happened to ingest some fly agaric broth

[Nomad]

Really looking forward to Land of Strangers, looks awesome!! Really interested to see how that plays out, your blog is awesome...

¹ Which, speaking of berries, incidentally even includes the maxim to always delete all backups and start refactoring whenever one has happened to ingest some fly agaric broth

literally LOLed just now, thanks for that =D

[Krice]

Something about the lifestyle of a traveling\shaman\coder...

Are you a homeless person? What is that shaman thing, do you perform actual shaman stuff to people?