Author Topic: Incusion 0.6 Public released!  (Read 25852 times)

Lavastine

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Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« on: July 29, 2007, 02:16:50 PM »
Incursion is finally released to the public, you can download it at http://www.incursion-roguelike.net/
The discussion seems to be happening on r.g.r.m happy dieing!

Adral

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2007, 09:02:57 PM »
I was going to post about it, but it seems you beat me to it! ;)

Anyway, here's the full announcement post for those who do not wish to read on Usenet:

Quote
  Hello, everyone,
 
  I am pleased to announce the first* public release of
the new roguelike game Incursion: Halls of the Goblin
King. This release is not a technology demo or an alpha-
release; while we're still working on fixing many of the
bugs listed on our bug database, the game is a complete,
challenging roguelike and has been played from beginning
to victory by several playtesters; have a look at their
victory dumps on the website!

  Download Incursion free of charge at the official
website of the game,

  http://www.incursion-roguelike.net
 
  There are Win32 binaries currently available; the
Linux version is under development and will hopefully
be available soon.

WHAT IS INCURSION?
  Incursion is a freeware, text-based computer game
set in the swords-and-sorcery world of Therya with an
emphasis on character building, mechanical depth and a
nuanced combat system. Incursion makes use of the same
rules-set as the most popular tabletop RPG in the world,
which was also used in the blockbuster commercial game,
Neverwinter Nights. These mechanics, released by Wizards
of the Coast under their Open Game License, bring the
authentic flavor of old-school roleplaying to a digital
medium in previously unheard-of detail.

  Incursion challenges a player to build a character to
delve deep into the goblin caves in the farthest reaches
of Mohandi, a nation of turmoil and strife, to break the
tide of a goblinoid army being raised by the self-named
king of goblins, Murgash. The player can choose from a
wide variety of roles, including warriors, priests,
bards, woodsmen, necromancers and martial artists, and
can mix these "classes" freely in their character, then
further differentiate their character by choosing feats
-- special techniques and abilities to augment their
abilities. The wide range of character abilitues serves
to guarantee that no two games of Incursion will be
alike, and the game can be won with a wide spectrum of
different playing styles.

  Incursion is a short game, being quicker to play from
beginning to end than major roguelikes like Crawl or
NetHack, yet being longer than most of the so-called
"coffee break" roguelikes. Playtesters report that a
game of Incursion played from beginning to victory often
takes between 10 and 20 hours. Despite this rapidity,
Incursion contains a wide range of content, with 9 races,
11 character classes, 17 gods, over 500 monsters, 200
feats, 490 spells and 450 magical items. Every game of
Incursion also features 10 dungeon levels which are
randomly generated by the game from a wide variety of
terrains, room types and dungeon features, and are thus
different every time the game is played.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
  Incursion is a reasonably compact game, taking only
3 megabytes of disc space for the game proper, but the
saved game files can be 2 MB or more. The game uses
the Win32 API and should function on any video display
in common use today. Players with very slow processors
or less than 256 MB RAM may experience slowdowns during
gameplay.

INCURSION: RETURN OF THE FORSAKEN
  Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King is a complete and
complex roguelike game, but it also serves as a teaser
for a coming work of greater complexity, Incursion:
Return of the Forsaken. While the action in _Halls of
the Goblin King_ is limited to the interior of a 10-
level underground complex, _Return of the Forsaken_
will feature a full, dynamically generated overland
map, weather, NPCs who gain experience and character
levels just as the PC does, quests and plot development,
social factions to join and advance in, many different
cities and dungeons to explore and advancement all the
way to 20th character level. _Return of the Forsaken_
is tentatively scheduled for release in 2011, and will
be more strongly inspired by the classic old-school
roguelike, Omega.

  Messages about Incursion are on-topic in the Usenet
newsgroup rec.games.roguelike.misc, and I will be
watching there to answer any questions people might
have about the game.

  Good luck with your first games, and many thanks to
everyone who takes the time to have a look at Incursion!

-- Julian Mensch

 
  • Exempting a deeply buggy and essentially unplayable

release in 2002.

Oh, how I wish it was playable under Linux...
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Anvilfolk

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2007, 12:03:54 AM »
Wow! I've been waiting to try that game. I should be studying still. *grin*

I've just gone through my first adventure, and here are a few opinions:

The letters are way too small, I have some difficulty reading them. The interface isn't really like most roguelikes, but it's not hard to adapt. A lot of text in menus, coupled with the small letters make it hard for me to read them with ease.

Also, I haven't found an easy way to compare equipment, such as a simple inventory listing with the bonuses each piece offers. You can, however, access a text-based description with all the numbers in it, plus some more useful stuff. I'd still prefer to have an easy way to see quality/bonuses/numbers.

I haven't really had the chance to explore the inventory screen thoroughly, but it seems alright. Loads of places to put equipment, a little bit like IVAN, and some carrying locations too (belt, for example). Managing it is slightly clonky, because you can only swap items from place to place. It is realistic though, which is something I like... it appears you only have a limited amount of space where you can carry stuff (I did manage to bring some relatively heavy armour on my belt, so that's slightly weird *grin*).

Everything is slightly more awkward and less straightfoward than in most roguelikes (picking stuff up or looking around being an example). This isn't inherently bad, given the type of playstyle that Incursion seems to offer, but it would be really nice to be able to get what you want quicker.

Again, the font should be much bigger. Can't stress this enough. It's really hard to get accustomed to the interface when you can't easilly read all the text that gets thrown at you. And text is something you get a lot more in Incursion than in other roguelikes.

Even with all these slight difficulties, in my opinion mostly due to interface decisions, the game manages to seem pretty darn complex. Getting into a fight with a single enemy can and will be a challenge most of the time, and you have to be resourceful in almost all situations. This isn't the kind of game where you see a few (g)oblins and keep an arrow pressed 'till they're all dead.

I'm not much of a fan of the D20 system in computer games, because it was invented for un-aided play, only with dice. Computers can handle a lot more than that with no "overhead", so why not take advantage of it? I'm pretty sure regular D&D players should fit right in, even though the author says some modifications have been made to the standard system.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try my second incursion!

P.S. Ah, yes, also, every room IS something. Not just a square space you can walk, as opposed to a single-square corridor, but a room that has some sort of meaning, and all sorts of items and furniture are placed accordingly inside. I really like it!
« Last Edit: July 30, 2007, 12:17:30 AM by Anvilfolk »
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Adral

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2007, 08:45:00 AM »
The letters are way too small, I have some difficulty reading them. The interface isn't really like most roguelikes, but it's not hard to adapt. A lot of text in menus, coupled with the small letters make it hard for me to read them with ease.


Well, in the documentation I think it actually says you can change the letter font on the options menu at the start of the game, for both windowed and fullscreen mode... Check that out. :P
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Anvilfolk

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2007, 11:58:32 AM »
Didn't know about that. It was 2am, and my net kept crashing, so I couldn't really read the manual ::)

I've found it (you can scroll options menus with left and right arrows), but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I can't change resolution, and I seem to be stuck with the 8x8 font :\
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Adral

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2007, 01:25:45 PM »
Didn't know about that. It was 2am, and my net kept crashing, so I couldn't really read the manual ::)

I've found it (you can scroll options menus with left and right arrows), but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I can't change resolution, and I seem to be stuck with the 8x8 font :\

Maybe it's a bug then? You can try to report it to the author...
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Anvilfolk

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2007, 01:54:32 PM »
I've been having some severe net problems. I can only access it for a few sparse minutes at a time. It'll have to wait. I also found a log, so I'll leave it here. I hope this post gets through.

Code: [Select]
al-main INFO: Allegro initialised (instance 1)
al-gfx INFO: Called set_gfx_mode(2, 1280, 1024, 0, 0).
al-gfx INFO: First call, remembering console state.
al-gfx INFO: Autodetecting graphic driver.
al-gfx ERROR: Failed setting graphic driver 0.
al-gfx INFO: Called set_gfx_mode(2, 1024, 768, 0, 0).
al-gfx INFO: Autodetecting graphic driver.
al-gfx INFO: The driver will wait for vsync.
al-gfx INFO: set_gfx_card success for 1024x768x8.
al-gfx INFO: Called set_gfx_mode(-1, 0, 0, 0, 0).
al-gfx INFO: Closing graphics driver (00635BC8) DirectDraw window.
al-gfx INFO: Closing, restoring original console state.
al-gfx INFO: Graphic mode closed.
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Rabiat

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2007, 06:52:22 AM »
Isn't this release worth mentioning on the front page?

I've been waiting for this one. Now that it's out, I can't find the time to play it. Argh. :$

Adral

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2007, 09:49:02 AM »
Well, at least we can try to keep updated this post...

0.6.0B recently released at the official page.

Announcement:

Quote
Corremn wrote:

> Also if I use the following options to gen a character the game
> crashes everytime.

  Okay, this makes it impossible to make ANY priest character (!),
so I figured it should be fixed ASAP. I would like to point out that
these chargen crashes are the result of a last-minute memory
issue fix, they're just oversights and the game is actually more
tested than they make it seem. If there are one or two more, I
will patch them quickly over the next day or two.

  What should I be doing with patch release announcements?
I've been patching frequently, and I don't want to spam Usenet.

  Incidentally, I'm going to bulletproof the Yuse menu more in
the immediate future, but in general the only commands on it
you /need/ are Dip (fountains), Mount, Dismount and Apply
(for oils). Everything else can be done with one-key commands
on the key-binding legend screen that comes up when you
press '?'.

  New version now on the website.

Changes in 0.6.0B
* "Dark Blue" color made brighter for readability
* Crash on trying to build a priest (!) fixed.
* Game no longer crashes when you attempt a social action
    targetting dungeon features or inanimate objects. (i.e.,
    try to 'dismiss' a trap)

Changes in 0.6.0A
* Weapon Focus crash / screen corruption fixed.
* String queue overflow on multiple rerolls fixed.
* /gust of wind/ now clears away fog terrain, acid fog,
  solid fog, etc. properly.

-- Julian Mensch
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Slash

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2007, 04:19:40 PM »
I cant post about it until I can give it at least a quick play, and none of the staff members wants to post anything, so it will have to wait a bit :)

Just a small bit, mind you :)

Tarindel

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2007, 03:45:29 PM »
Finally got a chance to try Incursion yesterday for the first time.  The game seems like it has a lot of promise and depth, but it certainly didn't grab me, I think mainly because I found the UI to be clunky and the letters were really small and hard to read.  I also didn't like that it took me so long to actually create my character.  Spending 5 minutes creating a character is fine for a game you are going to play for hours, but in a roguelike, your characters often die within minutes -- one shouldn't spend longer creating their character than playing it!

I liked the dungeon descriptions and the different rooms, though it didn't seem to have much effect other than flavor.  I also thought it strange that I killed a monster in the water and it didn't wash away, but as soon as I picked something up off the corpse and accidentally dropped it, it seemed to be gone forever.

I definitely need to give this one more time, but my initial impression is that despite it's complexity and lengthy development time, it still needs a lot of work, particularly on the UI end.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2007, 11:43:04 PM by Tarindel »

Anvilfolk

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2007, 04:00:52 PM »
Hey, Tarindel. That too was my opinion, that I wrote in my post.

Once you go through chargen a couple of times, making roughly the same type of characters, you'll get used to it and it won't be so much of a bother. It's just that D&D type thing, where you have to read every skill/feat description twice before you sort of have an idea where you want your character to go.

The interface clunkiness is there, but after playing a couple of times, you'll reduce the time fighting with it. The stowing system is the only thing I still loose a fair amount of time on. The rest has been sort of mechanized.

I've tried fighter types, and didn't have a lot of success, so I changed to human rogues. It's a neat character to play, as you can hide in the shadows and make a few surprise attacks. Also, there's a feat which allows you to change weapons really fast, so you can wipe out lots of enemies with your bow before they're upon you.

The only bummer with that character is that your main stat should be dexterity, but melee attack bonuses are based on strength, so you're stuck with fairly low bonuses until you can pick the Combat Finesse feat at level 3 (if I'm not mistaken) - the feat allows you to use dexterity instead of strength for melee to-hit bonuses.

I also haven't been able to get past the 2nd level. I've managed to get my rogue to level 4, and even sneak past a black dragon, but there are some invisible enemies (I think) that always terrorize me, and my character gets too scared to do anything. There must be some trick to that...
« Last Edit: August 05, 2007, 04:02:34 PM by Anvilfolk »
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Robson

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2007, 07:55:24 PM »
Once you go through chargen a couple of times, making roughly the same type of characters, you'll get used to it and it won't be so much of a bother.

In the main menu there's a "Reincarnate a Character" option (Key C) which is super-useful if you want to make the same character without going through all the character generation steps.

Anvilfolk

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2007, 08:25:10 PM »
I know! Still, going through chargen a few times to explore it isn't really a bad idea. I end up making new characters about 4 or 5 times until I hit one with good main stats and not-that-bad secondary :) Plus, it gives me the chance to try out different feat combinations!
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DaBeowulf

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Re: Incusion 0.6 Public released!
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2007, 10:16:55 PM »
This one's an instant classic with me. You could have dropped the info sooner for all I care!
The next best thing since Slaves to Armok II and ADOM.
My second character has reached XP level 2 just like the first, here's hope this one will make it further than that (he already peeked into the 20m depth level so in a way he already has).  ;D