Christmas Release - Version 1.0

So, here's version 1.0 of the game, at long last:

Dungeon of Lost Maidens 1.0

I wasn't able to find time to play through the game with debug mode turned off, but at least the early part of the game seems to be fine.  Theoretically, the whole game should be playable from beginning to end, although that was tested piecemeal.

There are a few known issues:

Resting can take a fair amount of time, making it look like the game is frozen.  Just wait.
Some monster AI is still kind of wonky.
Some mechanics and quests are introduced kind of awkwardly.

There's some convenience issues that need to be addressed in later versions:

You probably need to be able to town portal back down, instead of just to town.
I promised customizable character graphics for people who didn't like the art, I'll try to add that in later versions.

The default settings:

The game begins on Easy mode, which gives  you virtually unlimited characters, maps that remain between deaths, and no XP loss on death.  QuickStart is also set to "On", this gives you all the basic quests in town, and puts you right by the dungeon entrance.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys it and helps with bug reports / balance issues.  I won't be able to address any of them for a bit due to the holidays, but either comment on this post, or send me a link to a forum where you discuss it and I'll take a look.

Christmas Release

Yeah, just about everything appears finished... now, there's still some features I'd like to add, and I'm sure it could use some testing, but I should release it here in the next several days.

Onwards to the last level

On the per-level testing, only the final level with the final boss remains.  After that, I need to implement a few minor things (and adjust game balance a bit), play through in non-debug mode, and we should be done.

Most of what I've been fixing recently has been getting the advanced transformations (vampire and succubus) to work correctly.  Unlike the earlier lycanthropy transforms, these turn you into a monster with a unique appearance, and in the case of the succubus, colored death scene.

Here's a character getting transformed into vampire, and then showing up when you come down with another character:

The succubus transformation is the most involved... there's a kill scene, a view and death scene for the new succubi, and a ghost corpse left behind by the dead succubus:

Testing continues

I'm about 60% through testing all the levels, although after that, I'll still need to try and exit debug mode and play through the game on normal, to guarantee it works.

Also, I've cleaned up the status/inventory screen a bit:

...although here you see a character who's been given all the trinkets by debugging.

Speaking of trinkets, the last shop that was incomplete in town now allows you to identify and purchase (some) trinkets.

"Post-mortem" adventures

So, as I'd mentioned earlier, besides being able to find defeated player characters, they also have stuff happen to them after you've rescued them.  First, they go to the infirmary for some game turns, then may either leave or become whores in the town.  First, a heroine is defeated:

Then, another player character can find and rescue them:

You can ask them what happened or rescue them with a town portal scroll:

Once you're back in town and enough time has gone by, they may now have found... alternate employment:

There's still a bit of a coloration bug, but most of the correct character color is transferred:

Getting Closer

I think we'll definitely have a 2015 release date for this thing, at long last.  All the underlying game is done, what needs to be done now is some UI clean-up.  Recently, I added some additional features common to many rogue-likes, some special rooms.  In this case, a crypt:

There's also fountains in the game, and a number of trinkets, which don't consume inventory space, but you can only carry one of, and add some kind of passive effect.  I need to redo some of the interface now, and continue bug testing.

NPCs

I added the (four) hirable NPCs previously, but they were badly broken in the game.  After a fair amount of debugging, they are pretty much working now:

You hire them in town, and they manifest once you descend into the dungeon.

Additionally, I added the option to disable the Tooltips I'd mentioned earlier to the configuration, fixed a bunch of miscellaneous bugs regarding Inn events.  I should mention that every creature in this game can gain XP and levels, and the NPCs can as well (which is good, as you don't get XP for what they kill.)

Some interface updates

Still busy with checking through the full game, but as I started to do that, I realized parts of it were really just... a hassle.  So I added some ability buttons, so you can remember what the number keys are mapped for, and icons for the status ailments.

Then, after some thought about the icons not being very obvious, I added some tooltips to all of it.  They don't seem very intrusive, but I suppose I should add an option to disable them in the preferences at some point.

Some visible progress

Ok, after months of irritating script-writing that didn't lend itself to screenshots, let's discuss how the game has evolved.  Earlier, I'd mention that there were certain Game Over events that would transform your character into an enemy, and those are implemented now, via lycanthropes and vampires.  For the former, there's both a boss that can turn you, as well as more common mobs (and players who get turned, themselves.)

Here's the player encountering the boss:

...I don't think earlier screenshots had the debug window, I added that a while back.  It won't be visible in the final version, of course.  Here's the player getting transformed by the boss:

...and finally, here's a new player running into the boss and their new minion:

Right now, the boss in question is really overpowered (I think she one-shot this character after using her pounce ability to instantly close the distance) but game balance is definitely something I'm working on.

Another neat Roguelike in development

Erna and the Mysterious Cave

The game's a little simple, particularly when it comes to levels and enemies, but that's probably a necessary result of some pretty interactive and animated game over scenes.

On my side of things, I'm hoping to finish up the scripting today.

It's been a while..

...it's been so long, the whole "No hentai on Blogger" came and went before I could comment on it.

Anyway, game is still going, I'm just having to do all the event and script writing, which is why I haven't posted anything recently, since there's not much to look at.  Once I finish that up and start debugging, there'll be more interesting posts.