11 replies to this topic

[bomberpunk]

i need some suggestions on essential features needed in a BASIC/SIMPLE old-school dungeon game.

so far the controls are arrow keys to move and Z to swing your sword. i want to keep it that way; one action button.
there's no real story except you want to be filthy rich and will put your life at risk for riches.

here is a list of features already included in an ASCII-character dungeon crawler:
* 998,001 rooms that generate a random room-type as you enter them.
* rooms are only 7x5 in size, hence the game's title.
* nine different room types: enemy rooms, trap/puzzle rooms, chest rooms, toxic rooms, empty rooms, etc.
* chests contain food (for HP), gold, traps, or nothing at all.
* leveling up (from 1 to 19) via simple EXP system, increasing HP and Attack.
* 20 types of monsters. a new one is introduced each time the player levels up.
* entering enemy or puzzle rooms lock all four doors until the enemy is gone or the puzzle is solved.
* puzzle rooms have you simply walking around to find a hidden trigger to open rooms, but there is also a hidden trap too!
* fights are in real time (not turn based). enemy AI has a charge/attack routine and a run/evade routine selected at random. once you are wounded they disappear.
* a simple merchant system where you pay X amount of gold for a random prize. random prize could be health restoration, an item, directions to the exit room (i.e. east, northwest, etc), or the bastard takes your money and leaves!
* items so far: map (to know current location), compass (know exit room location), boots ( to walk through green sludge), food (for HP).

what i DON'T want:
- any more enemy types
- magic / spells / MP / etc
- complicated crap

what i am currently brainstorming:
+ some type of rescue mission
+ some type of artifact(s) to recover
+ ability to save/load and keeping track of stats like # of deaths, etc
+ a few other things that i can't think of at the moment


below is a screenshot of an older version
even better is a BETA VERSION ready to play: post #9

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by bomberpunk, Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:20 AM.

[Legend]

The only thing I can really think of is a simple scoring system and to make the puzzle rooms more "puzzly". Like maybe make them simple sokoban variations or sliding block puzzle variations. That would probably get it more attention and intrigue people. Don't know if that falls under "complicated crap" though. Sorry if it does.

[bomberpunk]

thanks for your input! more puzzles = a great idea!!

a simple sokoban block-pushing puzzle isn't hard for me to tackle, so i'll add that in the near future.

in addition to that, i thought that a mastermind-type puzzle would be a nice touch as well. the player would have to guess a predetermined configuration of 3 to 5 symbols to unlock the doors.

i also questioned a sort of slot machine / gambling mechanism, but that would take away from the "creepy dungeon" environment. besides, merchants are a gamble themselves as you have to pay them before you know what you're getting (which could be nothing at all).

not sure if a scoring system would be necessary, as there is already a currency system in addition to the experience points / leveling up system, albeit simple (no defense points, only HP and attack points)

feel free to chime in with more ideas!

[Legend]

Quote

i also questioned a sort of slot machine / gambling mechanism, but that would take away from the "creepy dungeon" environment.

I don't necessarily think it would take away from the dungeon feel of it. I kinda like the idea.

A variety of types of puzzles would be the coolest thing I think. I like the mastermind puzzle to unlock doors idea. Maybe the player ggets damaged if they can't figure it out in so many guesses. Kinda like trying to pick a lock that's booby-trapped.

maybe a mini minesweeper type puzzle? Maybe even some small chess-like puzzles. I think that would kinda fit a dungeon theme. I'm sure if you google "simple" or "small" "puzzles" you could get some more ideas.

[bomberpunk]

sokoban room-type is done. instead of the typical sokoban gameplay, the player is in a wide open room and must maneuver two boxes onto two of three placement dots and stand on the third dot. there are six possible solutions (ABC , ACB , BAC , BCA , CAB , CBA) but only one will work so the player will have to rearrange the two boxes and the little guy in the correct spots in order for the door to open. the player cannot be harmed in this room type. he cannot push the two blocks into each other or against the wall (because then you're screwed). rather, he hops over them to the other side when they are 1 space away from the outer dungeon walls.

the next thing i will tackle is the mastermind-type puzzle room.

once i get a bit further along with the coding i will post a beta version.

[bomberpunk]

double-post..

mastermind-type puzzle is done, along with a few glitch fixes here and there. i shot a 2-minute gameplay video but it came out a bit too blurry and the file is too big to post here anyway (400 MB). it's been deleted. like i said earlier i'll just post the game when it gets a bit further along.

for now i'm at another 'brainstorming blockade'. i'll see where my mind takes me before i do any more coding.

[c_t_f]

I have a fairly good suggestion...

I used to play a similar game on a black-and-white cell phone, and it was called "Cavern Crawl". In the game, food would help satisfy your hunger, which would deplete as you wandered about. Thus you would have to search for pizza (with different pizza-sizes, so different pizzas would replenish different amounts of hunger, according to their size) and making carelessly wandering around a bad thing. Otherwise, you'd starve to death and die!

So in other words, let's just say you run low on HP. If you ate food, it would raise your HP as well as your hunger whether you were hungry or not. Likewise, if you were getting hungry, you'd need to eat food whether you were low on HP or not. It would add a little strategy, as well as a replacement of something like a timer system or something like that.

I hope those are good ideas! I think this would be a fun game to play. :-)


@CTF@

[bomberpunk]

thanks for the suggestion c_t_f but the game is quite challenging enough without having to worry about a hunger meter. it might actually be a little too hard.

there's a small list of things that i want to add/change/finish before compiling a demo of the game, but it is very playable and to me quite enjoyable even with the high-set difficulty.

things i have added:
a new item, the torch, which allows you to see floor traps in Trap rooms and Chest rooms
boss showdown (unfinished)
an easter egg

i want to add one more item. which of these three interest you the most?
a. armor item. it would double the Max HP
b. resurrection item. it would bring you back to life w/ full health immediately after you die. one time use.
c. tool item. it would allow you to disarm booby-trapped chests.

anyway, i want to try to mash out my to-do list before the end of next week and finally upload the damn game.

cheers!

Edited by bomberpunk, Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:37 AM.

[bomberpunk]

alright, i have an EXE file ready to go but i am not permitted to upload the damn thing. i tried a RAR file and that's not permitted either.

so it's here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NAG4ZL7M

enjoy. feedback greatly appreciated.


edit: one thing i noticed is that it runs hella fast compared to the uncompiled BAS file. it's quite hard to make a kill! the sword loses some of its animation as well. i need to tackle that on a future update.

Edited by bomberpunk, Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:52 AM.

[bomberpunk]

double post. see above ^

Edited by bomberpunk, Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:20 AM.

[Goochman]

I would think along the lines of 2600 Haunted House - random rooms, treasures, monsters - but ultimately there is 'something' you need to get and possibly do with it (escape, use it on final monster, open a gate, etc...)

Just my $0.02

[bomberpunk]

Goochman, all the things you said are already in the game!

i haven't worked on this in two weeks, but the best ideas come to me when i shelve projects. with that said, i have a few bugs to fix from the demo i posted and a boss fight to change/expand on.