New graphics, new skill system, level editor, random levels, new enemy system.

Posted by joshyaxley on Mar 7th, 2016

Hi everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've done any updates, and I'm sorry about that! I've put together a video that covers a lot of the major changes since the most recent playable build, including random levels, a level editor, a new enemy system, new graphics, and a new skill system!





Here's a quick summary of what I talked about:

Graphics

I made a big decision to completely redo all of the graphics, so that there are now 4 times as many pixels, meaning the art now has more detail and looks a lot better. I've done my best to stick to a NES palette, though I have made up a few colours along the way. Making new graphics has taken a long time because I've done all the art myself and (since I am not the best artist) it takes a while for me to be happy with what I've done.

Level Editor

I tried a few different methods for designing levels, including Tiled and GMare, but I decided that the most ideal solution would be to design my own specific level editor! This really streamlines the process because I can tailor it to Fairy Quest. It will also be included as part of the game so players can design their own levels - I would love for a community to form around this, with people playing each others levels.

Levels can be tested straight from the editor, which is handy when I want to quickly test certain situations.

Adventure Mode

Back in October, I made a video about how Fairy Quest uses procedural generation to create random levels, and in that video I talked about how I can design level 'blocks' within the editor, which the game can fit together like a jigsaw to create a unique level. These levels can be played in "Adventure" mode. All the systems are in place for generating these, but I do need to spend some time developing more varied 'blocks' (there are only 40 at the moment) so as to increase the variety of the levels.

I also hope to have random bosses in this mode, which will have abilities chosen at random from a pool of abilities.

Runes and Enchants

Another new feature is the skill system based on runes and enchants. Runescrolls teach you special abilities that you can cast by consuming mana. You can enchant your runes to make them do special things, by paying tribute at a shrine. At the moment there are three different runes (Fireball, Dash, and Summon Spirit), each with a few enchants.

New Enemy System

To players, the new enemies won't look any different, but, in the code, everything has been rewritten. Enemies are now trait-based, meaning that I can make a new enemy and assign it some traits, such as moves-left-and-right or jumps-towards-player, as well as more complicated ones, and if I have already implemented that logic in an enemy previously, then the new enemy will already know how to behave.

Not all of the traits are simple, and mini bosses (for example) will have more complicated traits. This new system is going to make it possible to have random bosses that will possess a random selection of traits.







I really want to be able to push another build for people to play around with, but I don't think I'm quite ready for a new one yet. The next one will hopefully have a varied and playable "Adventure" mode, as well as a working level editor, and possibly a few challenge levels (that aren't random).

If you want to stay updated with the project, then your best bet is to follow me on Twitter, @JoshYaxley.



Until next time,

Yax