"The fragments of a broken Felidol, still greedily tugging at imaginary wealth despite having lost their soul. Should a creature be slain on top of the shards, the Felidol will be reassembled, its iconic grin restored to a pure, shining white."

• Soul Siphon description

The Games Foxes Play

(github | view all previous posts | play 0.3 online in browser on itch.io!)

Ah, long time no see.

Random circumstances led to an opportunity to show my game to a group of people in the legendary dimension spoken in whispers among developer enclaves: the Demiplane of Real Life.

I initially didn't want to hog the spotlight for too long, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the audience was genuinely interested and asking many questions. They were a bit overwhelmed by all the interconnecting mechanisms (especially considering they had no experience with traditional roguelikes) but otherwise, it was a resounding success.

Now, as for progress proper, I implemented prefabricated dungeons on the map. Now, I can build my own little fortresses to my heart's content!

Attentive observers may notice the new grid display on the map. This is actually not intentional. This "bug" appeared out of nowhere and I have no idea why it displays like this, but honestly, I find it hard to complain. It looks kind of good. You know things are working out when the universal entropy of the universe is helping you make your game.

I'm getting a lot of cold feet every time I try to think of something new. A lot of times, I will think of something, cross it off, go back to the drawing board... I implemented and removed 3 features in a row now and I don't want to waste any more time.

Maybe that fabled "design document" wasn't a joke after all.

"blehh"

• Zaint voicing a profound philosophical argument on the cosmic insignificance of sentient life

The Games Foxes Play

(github | view all previous posts | play 0.3 online in browser on itch.io!)

It's about the fifth time now that I heard someone say my game is very unintuitive with its mechanics, so this week, I implemented an infamous, yet essential component of any game - a tutorial.

I hate tutorials. Walls of text everywhere, immersion-breaking instructions, and infuriating assumptions that this is the first time the player has touched a video game in their lives... it's an utter travesty for any slightly self-respecting fictional world. Except Just Shapes & Beats's tutorial. I don't hate that one. Not a single word. No disrespect of the player's capabilities. Instantly filters out any players who wouldn't enjoy the rest of the game anyways.

Now, bullet hells with zero powerups are generally a little less complex than spell-focused traditional roguelikes. But taking some inspiration is absolutely a possibility...

blehh

The structure is simple: start with the absolute basics. Immobile target, elementary objective: destroy him. Should that be done, the challenge intensifies: the target is now (slowly) moving and trying to attack you back. Have you annihilated that one as well? Good, now you have only one HP and will get 1-shotted every time you try to get close. His name is Zaint, by the way. He only knows how to say "blehh" and isn't really the chatty type. The challenge is impossible.

Until you use the Saintly Soul you have extracted from the paralyzed husk at the centre of the room, that is. There are infinite attempts available, should you be an enthusiast of getting punched into the wall over and over instead of completing objectives.

Then, the five other Castes are introduced one by one - as a secondary enemy now accompanies Zaint in his quest to make you close the tab before you can see any further portion of my "interesting" game design choices. Each time, you can only defeat Zaint by using the new power available to you.

For further assistance, the UI can now have its functions clarified by mousing over each element. Including the Souls required to complete the tutorial. No keyboard support yet for this feature, but it shall come in due time.

Here is a quick video showing the Unhinged and Artistic parts of the tutorial.

Collectivists, Take Notes

There was already another "tutorial" in my game - a long wall of text blurted out by a Harmony representative to explain one of their unique mechanics. While some have told me that they enjoy the Harmony's sass, one of my game design goals is "have a lot of flavour text but ensure that only ability descriptions are required to beat the game" and I will stand by it. I think a good plan is to implement more of these contained, interactive, puzzle-like experiences to teach my game's more unconventional mechanics, and remove the text-dumps. Of course, I expect the Collectivists have a slightly greater vocabulary than Zaint does, so appreciators of insufferable narcissism should be pleased nonetheless.

Hmm, at the end of that video I linked at the top, there is a final showdown to test all that you have learned... Perhaps I am not quite done with this initial tutorial just yet.