Sunday, 15 March 2015

Hoplite Challenge Mode is ready

Play it HERE

So I went a bit overtime but I'm not really counting this as a 7DRL.

The basic gameplay hasn't changed much since the last post.  I've mostly been tweaking the balance and fixing bugs.


My thoughts on balance

Challenge Mode is intended for players who have mastered the original.  I expect people new to the game will find it quite difficult (I'm really just making the game for myself.)

I like games that are very difficult to win yet still always make me feel like it's my own fault when I lose.  For the record, DCSS achieves this better than any other that I know of.

I've played quite a few challenges now and while some have taken me a few attempts, I'm yet to find one that I couldn't beat.  This is basically ideal as far as I'm concerned so I'm happy with how this has turned out.

Some tips

If you're looking for extra help, here are some hints and advice.

The aim is not to kill all the demons.  You can use them to shield or block for you if you keep them alive.
  • Archers can't shoot through other demons.
  • Demonitionists won't throw bombs into tiles adjacent to other demons.
  • Wizards won't shoot if their beam would hit a demon behind you.

Damage taken from demons can always be determined in advance once you've learned how they behave.

Archers and Wizards prefer to be in tiles they can attack you from. You can often predict their movement based on this.

Bombs can easily end your game if you're not careful.  Consider where they are likely to be thrown before moving.

Hold the mouse button (or finger) down while targeting to check the result of your turn in advance.  Demons highlighted in red will be killed, stunned or knocked back.  A tile highlighted in blue shows where you will move to, which is especially useful when you have Reactive Bash.


Monday, 9 March 2015

Challenge Mode Progress

Play it HERE (edit: this is the completed version)



This is a work in progress with some placeholder text and known issues:

  • The animations seem to stutter and lag in the web version I've uploaded and I'm not sure what's causing this yet.
  • Sound effects were having similar issues so I've disabled sound for now.
  • Having Leap Strike and Staggering Leap together prevent lunge from working.  
I've disabled other combinations that shouldn't be given together but that last one needs to be fixed.  Various combinations that can't usually be acquired together are available and not all have been tested yet so you might find something fun.

There are probably many other issues so let me know if you find them.

I'd also be interested to hear if you find any that seem far too easy or completely impossible.


Friday, 6 March 2015

Challenge Mode

It's 7DRL time once again and I'm about to get started.  This year, I will be making a new gameplay mode for Hoplite.

I'm planning to make this as a standalone web game so that it can potentially be submitted to the official challenge (I'm still deciding).

Then depending on how it goes, add it into the existing mobile version later.