Ighalsk - sneak peak of Tunnels of Lost Dreams final level

So the Ighalsk Level Editor is coming along nicely - recently added options to add circular rooms and monsters. I've posted a screenshot of the final level of the Tunnels of Lost Dreams here. The level is incomplete as yet - though since Lord Apathy is the architect, the final version will be incomplete as well.

Ighalsk - release 0.1.14

I released Ighalsk v0.1.14 a couple weeks ago; it can be downloaded from its SourceForge project page here.

Here are the changes since v0.1.13:
* Simplified controller/viewer swapping for different screens to make it easier (in fact, possible) to generate a Windows executable. I haven't figured out the best way to host this exe yet, since it seems to be too large to upload using the SourceForge File Manager (and SFTP isn't working for me). If you'd like a copy, please email me.
* Added Stealth for Monsters; stealthy monsters will now only be noticed when they are closer to the Hero. There are a couple stealthy monsters to look out for.
* Refactored Monster Editor to simplify it further (separate classes for separate states). This made the next change a whole lot easier.
* Monsters can now have multiple attacks (weapons) instead of just one; this is also supported by the Monster Editor. This is most important right now for the uniques at the end of the first set of quests ...
* Fixed a bug where the keys to move through pages in the Monster Editor (left and right) were the wrong way around. (For a long time, I've been using the buttons instead, and had to look in the code to work out the keys again, only to find that they were wrong.)
* Can now add rectangular rooms in the Level Editor. I plan to also have an option of adding circular rooms, and maybe octagonal, and then there's adding a rectangle and circle of solid walls ...

The next release may be in 6 weeks from now and/or may have a small number of extra features, since I've starting working on a new game ...

Ighalsk - Thanks for the Downloads

This short post is mostly to say, thanks for the downloads. I've said before how I struggle with motivation when working on my own projects, and knowing that there are people out there downloading Ighalsk releases every month does make a difference.

Thanks even more to everyone who's given feedback, both on this blog and in email. It all helps make Ighalsk better one way or another.

Onwards to version 1.0!

Ighalsk - The Nature of a Hero

I claimed recently in an online conversation that I was taking a slightly different slant on the Hero in Ighalsk. I was asked for more details, and gave the following response (slightly edited for blog format and where I felt the need for improvement):

I'm imagining the Hero as someone more than mortal, with extraordinary gifts and abilities. They are called to fight evil and complete quests. So far this is just expressed in the game as a series of speeches by the Queen who needs the Hero's help, by the replacement of "the dungeon" with a choice of quest dungeons, and by the extra powers that a Hero has that normal warriors (for example) don't have. (As opposed to say Angband, where my Priest might meet a Novice Priest in the dungeon and think hmmm, that priest is almost the same as me ...)

The end of this post has got my take on the different types of Hero, though this text isn't in the game yet.

At some stage I'd like to link in the history of other Heroes who tried and failed to complete all the quests: to have the Queen refer to them, to have their entries in the high score table, to be able to find the weapons or armour they owned and maybe even their journals.

I'd also like the game to show the reactions of townsfolk to the Hero, and to have these reactions change as the Hero grows in power ...

This is something that I'm still struggling with and would like to express more clearly in the game. A roguelike in its usual form doesn't offer a lot of opportunities for roleplaying, but there is all the freedom of text (as seen in interactive fiction games) - so I aim to take advantage of that.

Ighalsk - Doom Merchants

Where there has been a concentration of undead for several years, a strange, inky black substance can sometimes be found, pooled in hollows in the ground. If you picked it up, you would find that it pours and moves like a dark, viscous liquid - but it doesn't feel wet. At first it feels cold, then your hands become numb, then strength begins to ebb from your limbs. The solitary adventurer may be overcome at this point, but if you have friends (or at least companions) with you, a healing potion or power will restore you to health.

The unscrupulous soon discovered that this substance, when suitably processed, makes an effective and deadly poison. They called it "raw doom" and set up Workshops of Doom, sometimes even Factories of Doom, to refine and mould it into a more convenient form. A drop or two in a cup of wine induces death while the drinker is sleeping that night. A weapon coated with it strikes through armour and is only stopped by certain white fabrics which have been blessed by sacred rites.

The gathering, processing, selling, buying and owning of both raw and processed doom is illegal in all human, elvish, dwarven and goblin dominions. Nonetheless, there are some desperate souls who traffic in it. They call themselves Doom Merchants, or sometimes Merchants of Doom. The Doom Merchants venture deep into necropoleis, cemeteries and ghost towns, wherever they can find undead, and gather large quantities of raw doom. This they carry in large black bags - Bags of Doom. Their customary costume includes thick white gloves and masks for protection, though the black and white vests they also wear are thought to be ornamental.

By all accounts they make substantial sums of money plying their trade, but slowly lose all colour in their skin and hair, then within a few years become weaker and weaker until they collapse. Rumour also says that after death, they themselves turn into undead, with a shadowed, striped, spotted form that breathes out thick clouds of doom.

Ighalsk - release 0.1.13

I released Ighalsk v0.1.13 last night; it can be downloaded from its SourceForge project page here.

Here are the changes since v0.1.12:
* Can now add up stairs and corridors in the Level Editor. Corridors in particular were tricky since the editor (or some other class) needed to store the start point until the end point had been selected. In fact you can add corridors between any 2 points; the editor will add two corridors (one vertical and one horizontal) between those points.
* Walls are now only shown if seen nearby or remembered (if they have been seen before). In the previous release, monsters were only shown if they were nearby; this release is now more consistent between monsters and walls, though all treasures and stairs in a level are visible at all times ...
* Visibility (the Hero's map) is saved to file, so that a loaded game will have the same memory of walls as when it was saved.
* Refactored Monster Editor and Monster to simplify both by removing duplication - Monster Editor now uses the underlying dict that holds monster definitions more directly. Editing a monster's attack and resists are still special cases.
* Started moving methods from LevelViewer to LevelFormatter so that they can be tested.
* Added 15 new monsters, including Doom Merchant, Gloomhound, Lesser Mook, Huntsman Professor and Wool Golem. Renamed Zombie to Zythar Feeder; added Zythar Axeman and Zythar Deathbringer. I picture Zythar as semi-undead, crazed beings with gleaming green eyes; the Axemen wear black ribbons attached to their helmets.
* Added Monsters for level 4 of each quest. There are some monsters in this new batch of 15 that can't be encountered yet - I'm saving them for level 5 of the quests.

I've got a few features that I'd still like to add in before v0.2.0, as follows:
* Add functionality to the Level Editor to add rectangular rooms, circular rooms and their inverses (filled-in rectangles and circles of walls), zig-zag corridors and a shortcut out of the quest dungeon;
* Refactor the Monster Editor further to simplify the code, and extract editing attacks and resists to a new screen; then adding multiple attacks and possibly descriptions to a Monster;
* Add new damage types, in particular cold, lightning and poison - at this stage, poison wouldn't have the slow draining of health effect, but would be like any other damage type;
* Add Awareness and Stealth attributes and interaction, as a friend of mine suggested, so that some monsters can creep up on you if they've got high enough Stealth and you've got low enough Awareness ...

The Awareness and Stealth functionality would also allow invisible monsters, though I'd prefer to wait to introduce them until I've also added some kind of Detect Invisible power, which would have the effect of increasing Awareness for a time - it's only fair to the Heroes.

Ighalsk - Three User Stories

I've been trying to write a decent introduction to user stories, and it hasn't been working. Instead I'll just summarise them as follows:
* User stories describe what the software should do.
* User stories are written from a user's point of view.
* User stories are often used in agile software development (see e.g. here or here).

Here are 3 user stories for Ighalsk.

User Story A.

Tom feels the need for more, bigger and better monsters. He fires up the Ighalsk Monster Editor and creates a Plaid Dragon and a Blue Orc (starting from existing monsters and modifying stats appropriately). He tries them out and decides that yes, they add something to the game. Maybe Melissa would like them? He knows that she's already got the other monsters that he's created, so he just exports these two using the Monster Editor to a separate text file and emails it to her.

Melissa (a friend of Tom's and a fellow Ighalsk player) reads the email, saves the file, and imports the monsters - again using the Monster Editor. Next time she plays Ighalsk, Plaid Dragons and Blue Orcs might be lurking in one of the dungeons ...

User Story B

The Ighalsk website includes a page for uploading and downloading monsters. Each monster has a summary, a description written by its creator, and reviews posted by others. The Ighalsk community votes regularly on which monsters should be included in the next release, or the next bonus pack of monsters (downloadable separately).

User Story C

Cass stares blankly at the screen. YASD - those stupid Plaid Dragons of Tom's! Ah well, they're not official - she'll remove them before she plays again. Now, what sort of Hero to play this time? How about a Mighty Hero for a change? The good thing about starting a new game, she thinks, is that all Heroes have plenty of powers right from the start, which gives them lots of options in dealing with monsters. Though they can still die if they make the wrong choices ... And each sort of Hero calls for a completely different playing style, and a different choice of quests.