A jam submission

1RLView game page

Create your first roguelike or die trying

Submitted by cpiod — 2 days, 11 hours before the deadline

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Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Roguelikeness	#1	4.000	4.000
Aesthetics	#1	4.000	4.000
Completeness	#11	3.667	3.667
Overall	#11	3.500	3.500
Fun	#11	3.333	3.333
Scope	#26	3.000	3.000
Innovation	#40	3.000	3.000

Ranked from 3 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

I had a lot of fun with this one. Aesthetically pleasing map color. Having bugs be a number corresponding with their health was a nice touch. The use of colors on items and bugs made synergies and strengths/weaknesses easy to identify at a glance -- a great touch for the UI. Tying the inventory into monster generation and time into health created some interesting dynamics. The story/theme was great too. Definitely has all the qualities of a true roguelike. One of my favorites of the tourney so far!
A 7DRL about making 7DRLs! All enemies and equipment are themed around different aspects of game creation, and the final boss is a core element of the experience ;) You wander levels gathering 'features' and then fight off bugs as you develop those features. Overall a fun and engaging theme, but the large levels make it cumbersome to play. The mechanics are also quite obscure at times, with little description to hint at what the different game elements actually do. Interface is really nice and polished - hard to believe this is the creator's first game!
Very cool concept with mechanics that make sense within the context of the game. The meta elements and humor were funny, and a nice break from typical fantasy dungeons.

This game really captured the feel of a roguelike: constantly assessing your build while trying to balance your own greed with the hunger clock.

In terms of useability everything was incredibly solid. All of the map and UI elements were very clear, and the on-click tooltips helped me wrap my head around the game.

One minor gripe about the game is that most of the gameplay revolves around long term planning (getting features and weapons that match/complement each other) and I feel like the moment to moment gameplay can feel like autopilot at times. However I recognize that this long-arc planning feeds into the theme of the game, so it does not bother me as much as it would with other games.

Successful or Incomplete?

Success

Comments

Gerhard WonnerSubmitted5 years ago

I have just seen a video of this nice game on the channel of ToneHack.

Submitted

Run To The Stairs

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tonehackJam Judge5 years ago (2 edits) (+2)

This game is a real joy to play. The story/theme is unique and very charming. Lot's of interesting dynamics between item properties, monster generation, damage and resistances. Tying health into time was also a neat twist that opened up a lot of strategic options. The UI is very well done with colors being tied to item type, monster type, damage type, etc. -- very easy to read at a glance.

The only thing that wasn't straightforward for me at first was monster damage since there is no message log for it, but after realizing that is was shown by the modifier next to the timer, I quite liked the simplicity of it. I'm still not quite sure how much "damage" the enemies deal or how the resistances impact that, so I'll have to pay attention to that next game.

I died at the last boss, but now that I understand the mechanics a little better I'm looking forward to giving it another shot! By the way, is confusion disabled for the final boss fight? I couldn't seem to get my paradox weapon to do its thing (even against the bugs).

Confusion effects seemed a little strong in general. Also being able to swap between equipped weapons at no penalty felt exploitable (wander around with a mythical weapon active for speed, swap to telepathic to occasionally to check for bugs at no cost, swap to damage-appropriate weapon for combat, etc.), but I have a feeling that you purposely balanced it like that (since it is somewhat restrictive by only allowing the player to equip one of each weapon type at once).

I think a nice QoL improvement would be able to hover over out-of-sight items that you've seen before and see the name. Since your inventory is small, you have to leave a lot of stuff on the ground, but due to how the synergies work sometimes you want to go back for an item which can be difficult if you don't remember what every item is. Another nice QoL feature would be some way to see what's on the ground in your vision without having to use the mouse. Every time you enter a new room you have to inspect any new items with the mouse. A list off to the side that displayed everything in sight would be pretty cool ;)

Thanks again, I had a lot of fun with this one. Definitely one of my favorites so far. Looking forward to seeing your next project :)

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cpiodDeveloper5 years ago(+1)

Thank you for the long review. I'm glad you enjoyed the game!

The monster damage question is a difficult one. At first, the modifier was displayed in the log but that made it far too spammy; that's why it's written in the "remaining time" frame. The combat system works as follows: most of the player's actions cost some time. The modifier (such as "+320s") is the time penalty of his next action, which gives the bugs more opportunities to attack the player.

In fact, this combat system is a snowball effect. The player attacks for 120s, and during this time bugs attack him 4 times, inflicting a 80s penalty. If the player attacks again, it costs him 200s, and during that time bugs attack him 6 times, inflicting 120s penalty. Etc. (I balanced the time penalty so this snowball effect can only happen if the player is attacked by several bugs at the same time.)

That made the game really punishing, so I put some limitations: the bugs can't attack more than 5 times between two player's actions. There is still a snowball effect, but it quickly hits a penalty ceiling. This ceiling is further reduced by the resistance. Resistance diminishes the bugs damage (you only take half damage with resistance = 9).

I don't know how to communicate efficiently this combat mechanics (and it's a shame, since it is probably one of the most prevailing ones).

You are right: confusion doesn't affect the last boss. I should certainly add a log message to highlight it (like I did for the hack). But confusion should affect the bugs invoked by the last boss (if not, I will fix it).

The free weapon change action is on purpose. It wasn't the case in an earlier version. There is a big difference in the game between a free action and a non-free action, since a free action doesn't suffer time penalty, which can get pretty high. I want the player to feel free to swap weapon depending on the situation (for example, basic weapons are useful when the player is overwhelmed). I might change it in the post-7DRL version: the balance is not perfect (I may nerf paradoxical weapons too).

I agree these two QoL features should be integrated in the post-7DRL version. :)

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Vladimirledeux5 years ago(+1)

This game is amazing! So far my fave of the challenge. I streamed me playing it for my roguelike week and it was the crowd favorite too! I would love to see you continue with this game!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/394227796

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cpiodDeveloper5 years ago

Wow, I would never have imagined that my game would be streamed! It's an achievement. I enjoyed watching your stream and I'm happy to see that you quickly understood the mechanics (I spent a lot of time designing the UI).

Your viewer was right: loot on floor have the color of their feature type and the letter of their associated weapon. If you search narcoleptic features only, since telepathic weapon are strong against them, you only need to search for "t" loot. And if you search for telepathic mapgen, it's a purple "t".

A few tips: wield a basic weapon when you are overwhelmed. Bugs that miss you may take damage. And try to get faster to the boss: the sooner you get there, the most "health" (time) you have! The game is hard but winnable.

I don't plan to continue with the game but I will maintain it (bugfix and balance ). I think the game is complete and elegant at its current state. If someone wants to continue it, they can: it's an open source game.

If you have any question or any advice on how to enhance the game, don't hesitate to tell me :)

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Vladimirledeux5 years ago

thanks for the tips! I really did enjoy the game and understand why you would be done. It's a complete game. I am excited to see what else you end up making. Good luck with the ratings for the jam!

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cpiodDeveloper5 years ago(+1)

Thank you! I am motivated to do other games, so you may hear from me in the future :)

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7DRL Challenge 2019

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