New entry: "Descending Dungeons"

[catweazle]

Hello friends!

I'm happy to announce that "Descending Dungeons" is now very nearly complete!

I have a Beta version ready for release, links below:

DungeonsBeta.tap

and I have a first draft of the cassette inlay instructions here:

Inlay_text.docx


All that remains is to fix some remaining bugs, do some final game balancing, and complete the loading screen!
I've not tested it on real HW yet (just ZXSpin), but will give that a shot this evening (gulp, I hope it works!)

I hope you enjoy trying out the game, and any feedback would be gratefully received!

Best wishes,
James

[hikoki]

Hi James. I got to go now but I was reading the text inlay. Sounds a lot of fun with many gameplay mechanics. I'll try it soon.
The teleporter ring drew my attention. What about laying a number of rings to form wormholes? use them to transport anything in the game, even the monsters, would give the game a lot of uses. Oops I've just recalled that I suggested something like this in the wos forums for Intergalactic Space Rescue

[catweazle]

Thanks Hikoki -

That sounds like a pretty cool idea!  Actually I noticed that the teleport spell was bust, which i am just fixing.  There are also magical items which can provide teleport, and the 'pentagram' tiles which anyone can just walk over.

As for chaining them together - unfortunately, I'm so squished for available memory right now, that there's no room for adding any new features - its just a case of minor bugfixes from now

[catweazle]

I tried it out on my old 48k last night, and it worked perfectly. It was quite a buzz to load it up on the actual hardware & party like it was '85

[rmartins]

It crashed on me. (using Zero emulator, in 48K mode).

Steps I did:
1 - Load DungeonsBeta.TAP
2 - Press "Enter"
3 - Select "sorceress" (pressed "4")
4 - Choose to cast a spell (pressed "M")
NOTE: Sometimes, id doesn't reach step 5, crashes just after this step.
5 - Select Firebolt (pressed "0")
6 - Select enemy to cast spell, by just pressing "Enter"

NOTE: Some part of the screen gets scrambled, when the crash or pseudo crash starts.

[catweazle]

Hmm that's weird.. Sorry to hear it crashed. The game is not doing anything particularly unusual, but I wonder if it could be an issue with Zero? Since it's been running well on Spin and real HW so far.. I'll grab an install of that emulator & try it out.

Cheers!

[rmartins]

Repeat the crash steps in your usual emulator, to see if it also happens in your emulator.

I can also test on a real 48K Spectrum later tonight.

[catweazle]

Hey - thanks Rui, there is something funky about this latest version I uploaded. I just got an unexplained crash myself, most likely stack corruption. I'm going to update to a stable version this evening.

Edit: I've figured out the bug & uploaded a new version

[catweazle]

Here's the loading screen now, with a bit more left to do on it.. It's never gonna be a great work of art from me, but hopefully gets across some feel of the game whilst we wait for it to load!



I've been just fixing a few remaining bugs, and doing some last bits of polish & gameplay balancing.

I am cranking up the optimization settings on the compiler, to see how many bytes of memory I can free up.
If its enough then I might be even able to add a new monster type or two..

Am thinking of posting pictures of all the enemies you'll encounter as a teaser!

After this final bit of work, it'll be time to finish the inlay - and then that'll be all done for this game!.. It's been a lot of fun!


Edit: updated screenshot with latest version.

[catweazle]

Great news! The Lone Magpie from WOS forums has very generously created this fantastic cover artwork for the game!! I am knocked out by how good this looks, its really professional.  Many thanks!

[catweazle]

Here is the final version, barring any possible last minute fixes.

I've managed to iron out all the bugs I've found, and increase the number of enemies so that a new baddie gets introduced at every level. I added an Orc to complement the cover art, and there's a new Thief baddie who will steal a character's items if you're not careful. The dragon is particularly hard to beat, but not impossible!


drive.google.com/file/d/0BzPMsltz2rZvTVlZNVhldlNzX2M/view?usp=sharing


edit: updated link to version 1.1

+ fixed projectile rendering bug
+ final pass on some of the artwork

edit: updated link to version 1.2

+ fixes Dragon graphics being inverted
- looks like projectile bug is not properly fixed yet

edit: updated link to version 1.3

+ reversed projectile bug definitely fixed now!
+ Mage renamed Wizard, just because UI looks neater that way
+ fixed issue with ranged weapons "to hit" % being calculated wrong
+ players who are under AI control (ie. when Feral), can only use spells which are known to them
+ fixed bug meaning Dragon could sometimes not be defeated (due to it occupying 2x2 map tiles)
+ fixed issue meaning maps nearly always required a pentagram teleport to reach exit stairs
+ reordered monsters, so that Warlock appears earlier on in Level 3
+ Warlock monster prefers spell casting more than before

edit: updated link to version 1.4

+ fixed map gen issue where rooms could intersect each other & create problems
+ teleporting will now populate unvisited rooms, same as opening a door
+ gave all adventurers a set of rations to begin with
+ balanced casting cost & health replenishment amount for healing
+ fixed a bug where screen could not always redraw after casting a spell

edit:updated link to version 1.5

+ made it less easy to rush through a level to the exit, pentagram is no longer placed in exit chamber if map is disjoint
+ in the final encounter, adventurers come straight into the dragon's lair instead of entering via a passageway - make it more challenging
+ fixed a bug in which AI would sometimes be completely unable to use magic

I'm pretty sure that v1.5 is now gonna be the final revision for the competition.  Good luck everyone!

[catweazle]

So.. It's got to the stage of designing a pretend tape inlay - great fun!

I already had the awesome cover artwork courtesy of Lone Magpie, so doing the rest was easy!  I've added some pencil sketches faded under the writing to give a little astmosphere to the inner pages.

I wanted to evoke the feeling of reading a real 80's game inlay, which often had gothic prose filled with mystery (well, to my young mind anyway.. I'm thinking of some of the Ultimate inlays here).

Also in those days all game genres were completely new, so nothing could really be taken for granted.  It was very exciting to unwrap the cellophane, and get engrossed in the instructions - imagining what the game was going to be like, whilst you waited for it to load.

[Ivanzx]

Hey catweazle! The game looks really complete with that art and the loading screen, it really makes you feel in Front of a comercial game
Now tht finally I have finished the book I was writing, its time to play the games of the ZX Dev´ like they really deserve, so son I will start burning yours
And by the way, I tried it few months ago and I really liked it, looking forward to playing the improved and debugged new versión!