Necklace of the Eye 3.0

After more than a year, a new version of Necklace of the Eye has been released!

If you do not know what it is, go to its homepage.

If you know the older versions, this new version has the following new major features:

• Works not only under Windows, but also under Linux.
• Lua scripting. You now have much greater flexibility in adapting NotEye to new games, and also can use Lua scripting to change the game interface in other ways (e.g. create automatic players to do boring stuff for you) or even to create new roguelikes in NotEye itself (although I am not sure how this compares to other RL dev methods).
• Easier to use (press Ctrl+M to get the NotEye menu).
• Includes a nice menu from which you can choose the game you want to play (again, easier to use).
• Basic mouse control.
• Includes Hydra Slayer to show the capabilities. Hydra Slayer has a full tileset (both in orthogonal and hex mode) and basic mouse control (you can switch weapons and move).

Read more about NotEye and download it from here.

Good luck to all your Roguelike characters played via NotEye!

Small update to VoI

A small update: hex mode looks great but the eight-directional mode was not displayed correctly, this is fixed now.

Vapors of Insanity 0.52 (third preview)

The time of ARRP 2011 has come, and time to release a new version. Thus, a new version of Vapors of Insanity is released!

As you can see on the screenshot, the game now correctly displays hexes (as hexes, not as bricks), this is prettier and hopefully less confusing. Also a small icon shows health state and facing of all creatures (well, in this particular screenshot, only the player character). As for more changes...

• Reworked the 'use' command. It now includes relevant usages which were previously considered usages of different objects. It also returns automatically after performing an use. Thus, if you are robbing a body and want to search the backpack, wield its weapon and wear its armor yourself, read the map, drink the potion right away,  pick up or pocket some other items, then the 'use' command will allow you to do it more comfortably. Icons are added for some usages. Right clicking on the map now performs 'use'.
• Wands: Fixed some wands. Pocketed wands now recharge mana.
• Removed the copy of vapors.ini from config subdirectory (only the one in the main directory is used, which was confusing).
• Pressing up/down (or diagonals in the 4-directional mode) does more reasonable things now.
• Mutations: Changed probabilities of mutations. Mutagen potion. Mutant monsters now can be found randomly. Some mutations need to be identified.
• A spell with a big object bound now has as a big missile (thus it always hits creatures and cannot be shot through windows).
• Introduction story now mentions that you should go Southeast.
• Staves: there were some problems with enchanted staves, these are fixed. Runes of elemental brand.
• AI now can shoot through terrain features which block movement (but it still cannot go around them).
• Gems can contain enchantments now (as they were supposed to). The verb 'rub' is now used for touching with items (not with your body) instead.
• Display: Your damage is now displayed in the classical way (100/100 means full health). Damage percentage is displayed for other beings.
• Monsters: less cats, giant crabs appear, greater chance of weaker races to appear (especially for humanoids). Harpies are humanoids now as they were supposed to be. Melissans now start with a skill in stinging (similar for other races with interesting body attacks). Floating eyes now come in different flavors, which have shuffled colors.
• Map generation: Wells now contain some monsters and items (also going down them has been fixed), some minor treasures appear in beast lairs too. Fixed some huts generating inaccessible furniture. Materials for floors, walls, furniture, and roofs are now chosen with different distributions; also theme-dependant. Honeydew appears in formican farmers' inventories and farms. Potions more frequent. All floor runes are named 'floor rune' now. Hybrids now appear (they were implemented, but had no chance to appear). Featured hybrids: five randomly generated monsters which appear commonly. Some fixes and better icons. Furniture now has more reasonable weights (and hit methods).
• Fields a bit more interesting: they block vision, (slightly) missiles, and movement (although wielding a relevant weapon helps here).
• Books: different colors and images on covers. Updated the final chapters (which were not consistent with the game). Skills learned from books now work correctly right away without reloading. Other fixes.
• Many fixes with attacking, font is centered, 3D renderer, display, engine, descriptions. 

Get it here!

I expect the development rate will drop now... But as always, if you have any ideas for improvements, please send them to me, this will probably make the next include the suggestion, and be released faster :)

Vapors 0.51

A new version of Vapors of Insanity (0.51) is released!

Most focus went into making the development tools available, so players can see how VoI has been created, and (in future) create mods. Again, this is just a preview, as it is not documented very well yet.

I have also considered all the comments I have seen so far. Almost all ideas for improvements have been implemented (some have been implemented only partially, like improving the interface). So if you don't like something, please post a comment, I'll try to fix it in in the next version, after three weeks. :)

Many people don't like the interface. I have made some improvements, and improved the tutorial, so it is much better now (hopefully). But surely it needs much more work.

Other visible changes... well, the most visible one is that you can now see wielded weapons. ;) Also trees are more interesting now.

For a more complete change log:

- refactoring
- you are told how to quit after you die
- improved Elftown design
- you can now target spells in other directions by "rotating" the staff
- fixed wells
- big hammers as a starting weapon for blacksmiths (there was no good blunt weapon of suitable power)
- fixed learning designs from books
- you can now tell your allies to stay in place (and golems to stay in the forge)
- smiths start with some basic designs
- greatly improved the smithing interface (just go into a forge or furnace)
- fixed a bug with recognizing cells inside a room (which caused weird mixed-material huts)
- chimneys; you have to explicitly ask for it if you want to go down a well/chimney
- trees now have many different shapes (and some fixes added); the list of types has been extended
- some monsters are able to climb trees
- added some icons in menus
- dead beings no longer block or dodge
- roads and tunnels are now less twisty (the straightening algorithm was already there, but not active)
- you can  now 'talk to all'
- graphics: you can see weapons, shields, and helmets now
- target life now can target upwards or downwards
- lizards now able to climb chasms and dunes
- a much better tutorial
- Aiming (Archery skill) now reduces encumberance.
- some balance improvements
- decoration added for cells next to roads; roads work better on beaches (and ocean)
- some other minor modifications

Have fun :) And please submit comments, I need them to improve things.

donations

I have added some donation links to my projects, so that people who like my creations more than commercial games can express that, and make me think more seriously about roguelike development (which could lead to faster development of Vapors of Insanity, and improvements to Necklace of the Eye). Although PayPal is much more popular, I have chosen to use Moneybookers (they seem to have many advantages, even though popularity is also a huge advantage in this case). I have not tested the links myself (as I cannot pay myself), but I hope they work..

I hope to release another preview of VoI this month (mostly the development version to allow others to see how VoI has been created, and create mods and improvements, but also with some minor gameplay updates, based on the comments I have received so far, or on my own testing or new ideas), and another one for ARRP (Sep 18), but I'll see.

Hydra Slayer 12.8

As further playtesting revealed some bugs with vampire hydras... Version 12.8 is released!

• Fixed descriptions of some weapons (bows did not say that you can use 'T', stunners now tell you how stunning works)
• In the list of hydras, bows now correctly display the regrowth value "x2" instead of "+0". Also stunning time is now displayed if relevant.
• Potions of knowledge did not work correctly with vampires. Some automated tests added to prevent them breaking in the future. Probably there should be more tests here, and also tests for ambidexterity (another thing which often breaks down).
• Testing revealed some further bugs with potions of knowledge (large ivy-hydras, rare divisor-like weapons could not kill, attacks with some rare divisor-like weapons larger than hydras were ignored, useless 'wait until awakened' loops displayed, potions of ambidexterity made non-fresh by potions of knowledge, not working correctly with the weapon G2)

Please tell me if you find more illogical stuff :)

Hydra Slayer 12.7

I have watched a "Let's Play" video about Hydra Slayer. Thanks!

I have noticed some bugs in this video, so they are fixed in version 12.7 (and also some other issues):

• Shield damage was displayed incorrectly
• Hot key to control both twins was shown incorrectly on the race selection screen
• Twin was displayed incorrectly in the hex mode
• Fighting messages were incorrect (incorrectly stated who does what)
• Added missing messages about GPL to source and help

Link: Hydra Slayer