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

Vapors of Insanity preview

This is the first release of my big roguelike, named Vapors of Insanity. It is intended to be a major roguelike. It already has lots of features, but probably also lots of bugs, imbalances, and other bad stuff. Check it out at your own risk! :)

Vapors of Insanity is a roguelike game set on a paradise island of Fortarica, where the common Humans, mighty Dwarves and Orcs, insect-like Melissans and Formicans, and many more people lived in peace and harmony... until now. One day, you wake up, and see magical fog everywhere around you, and every man and beast around seems to become a mindless machine, wanting only to kill you! The only way to find the source of the problem is to fight the crazy beasts, hoping that you will find a way to remove the vapors, and the beasts will be sane again... Will you be able to win?

Vapors of Insanity features:

• A big three-dimensional world, consisting of a big variety of outdoor, building, and underground locations.
• You can play both in hex and orthogonal mode.
• An original spell system, where you can build complicated spells using simpler spells as components.
• Also original skill/experience and fighting systems.
• Many hopefully interesting magical gadgets that can be found.
• A variety of creatures and items to find: about 150 types of items, 150 species of monsters and plants, 150 materials (including potions), 150 types of magical runes, 80 skills and spells; some of them are parametrized. These include both the standard high fantasy stuff and more original ideas.
• Graphics that are supposed to not only have the advantages of a graphical display (better aesthetics, accessibility for new players), but also the roguelikes' classical ASCII display (clarity, allowing one to use imagination, simplicity of creation of new monsters and items). An ASCII mode is also provided for SSH access, and other hardcore ASCII fans.

For developers:

• Most of the game written in a special scripting language called VaporGS, allowing developers to create new modules, which can be simply placed in an appropriate game to modify the game somehow; these can range from minor additions (and you should be able to easily use several such additions at one time, if there are no obvious conflicts); they can be also provided as either open source (for educational purposes), or as closed source (if you want to have hidden secrets)
• The language is based on a extension of the Object Oriented paradigm, where objects can modify other objects by providing additional methods to them (like a ring of flying providing a flying ability to the wearer, but this paradigm has been applied in many various ways)

(Note: the development tools and the script sources are not yet available in the current release)

Get Vapors of Insanity here

Hydra Slayer for Android update (12.6)

OK, I have finally decided to look for the bug which caused Hydra Slayer for Android to freeze and close sometimes (quite often, actually). Apparently the bug was caused because of my misunderstanding of JNI (I didn't know I have to call DeleteLocalRef).

Also the game runs faster now due to an optimization in transferring the screen data from JNI to Android.

For non-Android users, there is just one small bug fixed (auto-explore mode sometimes worked incorrectly).

Download Hydra Slayer for Android from the Android Market, or the PC version here.

Introduction

Hi!

Given that I am currently running several projects related to roguelikes, I have decided to start a blog in order to have a better place to post updates, and get feedback about them. Possibly I will also put some roguelike reviews (although I would probably prefer IRLDb for reviews of individual games, but maybe a blog would be a good place for multi-reviews) or some generic thoughts about the roguelike world (but for that I would probably prefer the RogueTemple forums).

My projects have been listed on my homepage, but for completeness I also list them here:

• Hydra Slayer - a fantasy roguelike mixed with a mathematical puzzle, which also notably has an Android version
• Necklace of the Eye - a frontend for playing roguelikes, allowing players using new MS Windows systems to enjoy ASCII roguelikes looking just like they would look in DOS, which is very hard to do otherwise nowadays; also can be used to view ASCII roguelikes in a tiles or FPP mode (unfortunately not many roguelikes have reasonable tilesets for NotEye), and several other minor features
• IRLDb - a database of roguelikes, allowing to search for roguelikes meeting specific criteria, and also to rate them and do mini-reviews
• IVAN 3D - my old creation, uses the tiles from IVAN to create a FPP view

OK, that's enough for an introduction. Now get back to work! :)