Tower of Kalemonvo
Visual Update and Content Update
Hello gamers, long time no see (on itch, at least)!
I've got a nice crisp new version for you to sink your teeth into, which contains 2 new levels, new items, a new environment, a boss battle, some new mechanics, a new spell, and most importantly a nice visual update on the early game.
Before going into details, if you're interested in this project and want updates more often than twice a year, you can follow the project's Twitter page over at https://twitter.com/kalemonvo , where I post consistently.
Anyway, what do I mean by Visual Update, you might be asking? Well, I...
-Remade all of the wall models for levels (formerly known as) 1, 2 and 3
-Remade the cave models in the Bug Burrows
-Remade the art to potions and a couple of other inventory items
-Improved all UI aside from the Spellbook, that's for the next patch!
-Improved loading screen to play a video on loop instead of a static image
-Added a basic menu screen on launch instead of booting straight into the dungeon creation screen
-Changed wall fade-in scripts to allow for better visibility on player when obstructed by walls. This is currently best seen on the first half of the game, and is still under construction for the cave sections and Burrows level.
-Removed the visuals for any areas that are not pathable (Before, you were able to see the area outside the dungeon, but it is now covered due to shader magic!)
-Added a basic death screen, showing some info about the run the played just had
The above section took most of the last 3 months to get to a working state, but the patch also includes:
-New Item slot (Hands!)
-New Item type (Offhand Support)
-New Items aimed for improving Intelligence-focused builds
-New Spell
-New World Object
-Added Attack Rating instead of To Hit %
-Added auto-updating information on being hit/ hit chance on enemies in the Stats Screen
-You can now hold shift to attack without moving
-Changed the way Barrels work, giving them only a tiny chance of being missed on attack
-Some projectile spells break barrels on impact (including Bone Wizard's fireball!!)
-Dungeon generation for the first three levels only takes a few seconds
-Added a first iteration of a goal-oriented dungeon generation algorithm for levels with special/specific rooms.
There probably wont be a difference for you now, but it should be up to par with the non-goal dungeon floors soon!
Some balance changes include:
-Reworked item-levels to be tied to the strength of the magical properties an item gets. Higher tier item -> better buffs.
-Changed the item-level of all lategame items, effectively delaying their spawns by a level starting at Lower Dungeons 2.
-6th potion slot
-Nerfed skeletons and skeleton archers of all types
-Added a new level to all spells
-Increased level-up experience requirements a bit
And other things I wont spoil here
As always, this is the first released build with these changes - there will probably be two, or three... or four... builds that will fix some soon-to-be-discovered bugs. For this, I added a bug reporting section should you be so inclined to use, in case of something breaking.
Speaking of bugs,
-Fixed barrels leaving holes on the pathing area on returning to a previous level
-Fixed Bone Wizards standing too close to furniture, making their hitboxes weird
-Fixed Bone Wizards' aggression levels being too low when in melee range. It's still low, but not as low as before.
-Fixed Demongirl hitboxes being too small
-Fixed rare case of unkillable Named Fly being spawned by a shrine
-Fixed casting a spell right before an attack finishes preventing a player from attacking again without first moving
-Improved Demongirl pathing to not stutter-step as much
-Fixed Poison Circle visuals being bigger than the collider
-Added appropriate player voiced responses on certain cases
-Removed Door colliders when the door is open
-Fixed rare cases of incorrect 3D models for certain items
-Fixed being able to place armor items on top of rings in inventory, deleting the rings
And many more...
I hope you enjoy playing this version. As always, you can reach out to me here, on twitter, or on discord (osur#0549) with comments, questions, criticism or insults.
Comments
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Tried the newest version and I'm pleased with the progress the project is making. Haven't encountered any serious bugs, so instead I will focus on things that could be improved.
Graphicaly speaking, the game would benefit greatly from having dynamic shadows, but even having simple blob shadows for characters and objects would be enough. Also, some kind of ambient oclusion would make the corners between walls and floor look much better without having to bake the shading into textures manualy. Here is a little picture I made with my amazing photoshop skills.
And with shading
Other than that, I would definitely focus on sound effects. Tiny bugs dying when you step on them on the second to last level was a great touch, but it would be greatly improved by adding a splat sound effect and a puddle of goo. Enemies could also use more sound effects for attacking, hitting, getting hit, walking and so on.
Now for the gameplay part.
Having some kind of class selection or starting gear / spell shop would be nice. I wanted to play as a mage this time and with my bad luck, I didn't really find any kind of good magic oriented gear in the first few levels. This could also be solved by having some kind of a shop system. Maybe a much weaker version of golden goblin at the end of every floor that will allow you to chose from like three options.
Don't really remember if the mana and healing spells were in the previous version, but I didn't use these because the penalty of losing 2 maxHP / MP after some uses seemed too harsh. Personaly I would make them half as powerful, make player lose 3 max hp/sp and remove this penaly at the start of new floor.
That is all I can think of right now. Good luck with your project.
Thank you for playing and reviewing this latest version. I am very pleased knowing that you are enjoying playing through a second time all the way through. Visuals are by far my weakest aspect, and I will take all your suggestions into consideration.
To address your points:
You are right that it's a pain to decide on a build, only to not get the appropriate gear for it. While the Goblin was a good starting point, I'm looking into adding more player agency when it comes to gear and other character deciding aspects. It is certainly something I would like to improve upon for the next build.
The harshness of the heal/manaheal spells will see some rebalance, but the way I would like them to be used is as a last resort mechanic, for when the player is in a tough spot and is low (or out of) potions. I've noticed many players who do not have experience with this genre of games would get stuck and run out of potions, while others will have full inventories of just potions! It's a design battle to give players some sort of bail out in case things get tricky, while experienced players can't abuse them to steamroll through everything. Regardless, I will try all approaches and see what sticks.
Again, thanks for dedicating the time to play and review this version. Hoping your project is also going well - it's about time for me to give the colony another go!