clewcat







clewcat on the fly!





Level 0clewcat on the fly! [Beta] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « on: March 30, 2014, 07:00:24 PM »



Gameplay GIF:





Heavily inspired by Tower of Sorcerer, DungeonUp aims to take the classic gameplay further to infinite fun.



PLAY IT HERE

(You can play the first 30 levels for free in the demo version.)



Thanks for your time! Hope you like the game!





===============================================

UPDATES:

v0.7.0

Initial public release.



v0.7.1

* Added shadow casting of walls and creatures;

* Added a setting option which can double the speed of movement and text;

* Disabled the usage of teleporting items in boss levels. Wont't effect save data of previous versions;

* In Casual Mode, the key-buyer is gifted free keys as well, so he no longer wants buy any key from you

* Fixed the bug that the monster tooltip blocked clicking of the monster on the map.



v0.7.2

* When you start playing Story Mode after the first time, you can skip the opening scene;

* You can now attack monsters that have higher defence than your attack. To avoid dying, you can use "Flee";

* Optimized login workflow;

* Fixed bug: the game may freeze after clicking "Resurrect" in Game Over menu.



v0.7.5

* Finished all levels in Story Mode. You can still play first 30 levels in the demo version;

* Added a new type of consumable item "Scroll of Chaos";

* The Book of Monsters becomes smarter: it now shows special abilities/attributes of monsters;

* Also does the Wand of Flying: the gems and blue keys can be revealed for each level;

* Added a close button to the UI of the Book of Monsters;

* Splitted sound & music switch button in the setting panel;

* Monsters are now moving faster as well if you turn on "Faster Move & Text Speed";

* Added tooltips to arms;

* The disabled items will become darken when you enter a level; the Scrolls of Teleport are no longer disabled in boss levels;

* Map loads much faster.



v0.7.6

* Brand-new website and main screen in game!

* Added higher quality music;

* First release of Windows and Mac version;

* Fixed some text errors;







vote for the features you want! I have created a survey, please

DungeonUp is a dungeon crawler features procedurally generated levels and map-based mini puzzles (key and door problem-solving and so on).Gameplay GIF:Heavily inspired by Tower of Sorcerer, DungeonUp aims to take the classic gameplay further to infinite fun.(You can play the first 30 levels for free in the demo version.)Thanks for your time! Hope you like the game!===============================================UPDATES:v0.7.0Initial public release.v0.7.1* Added shadow casting of walls and creatures;* Added a setting option which can double the speed of movement and text;* Disabled the usage of teleporting items in boss levels. Wont't effect save data of previous versions;* In Casual Mode, the key-buyer is gifted free keys as well, so he no longer wants buy any key from you* Fixed the bug that the monster tooltip blocked clicking of the monster on the map.v0.7.2* When you start playing Story Mode after the first time, you can skip the opening scene;* You can now attack monsters that have higher defence than your attack. To avoid dying, you can use "Flee";* Optimized login workflow;* Fixed bug: the game may freeze after clicking "Resurrect" in Game Over menu.v0.7.5* Finished all levels in Story Mode. You can still play first 30 levels in the demo version;* Added a new type of consumable item "Scroll of Chaos";* The Book of Monsters becomes smarter: it now shows special abilities/attributes of monsters;* Also does the Wand of Flying: the gems and blue keys can be revealed for each level;* Added a close button to the UI of the Book of Monsters;* Splitted sound & music switch button in the setting panel;* Monsters are now moving faster as well if you turn on "Faster Move & Text Speed";* Added tooltips to arms;* The disabled items will become darken when you enter a level; the Scrolls of Teleport are no longer disabled in boss levels;* Map loads much faster.v0.7.6* Brand-new website and main screen in game!* Added higher quality music;* First release of Windows and Mac version;* Fixed some text errors; « Last Edit: May 23, 2014, 09:30:54 PM by clewcat » Logged Axe, Bow and Staff | DungeonUp | River of Time

joe_eyemobi







Fledgling Indie Developer





Level 3Fledgling Indie Developer Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #1 on: March 31, 2014, 12:08:41 AM » I actually like how you've blended an oldschool RPG with a puzzle game! It was quite fun actually



I guess in terms of recommendations, perhaps have some warning when you are low life? I know you can consult the monster manual, but I seemed to be on high health and then I fought this glowy guy and died abruptly in 2 hits. I love rogue-likes so I quite enjoyed thisI actually like how you've blended an oldschool RPG with a puzzle game! It was quite fun actuallyI guess in terms of recommendations, perhaps have some warning when you are low life? I know you can consult the monster manual, but I seemed to be on high health and then I fought this glowy guy and died abruptly in 2 hits. Logged

BrandonSPX







Level 0 Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #6 on: April 23, 2014, 07:56:35 AM » I played it and got up to level -27, where I was able to land myself the blue sword. Unfortunately, I ran out of keys. I did several playthroughs, and I think there are too many doors, or not enough keys. The vendors had a role to play there, but they were generally locked behind a yellow door, so if I needed yellow keys, they were useless.



My suggestion would be to put all vendors on the level that has the stone, or remove keys altogether and just add a separate stone for keys that also scales in price. If you don't like that, perhaps you would consider only placing vendors next to the entrance of a level.



I was actually hoping that this game would have static levels, as opposed to procedurally generated. During my first playthrough, I saw where I went wrong and came up with some ideas on how to improve it, only to find out that the levels were different. Desktop Dungeons (paid version) had procedural levels, but they also had a challenge section that was not procedural with really well-designed levels. I found that to be more fun than the rest of the game, and thinking about that across multiple levels sounds amazing. Designing and balancing that would certainly be a challenge.



All in all, I had a lot of fun. Losing came with too much overhead, so it had limited replayability for me, but I enjoyed my 45 minutes or so of gameplay. Logged

lonelytomato







Level 0 Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #7 on: April 24, 2014, 12:51:47 PM »



I've also come across this a few times at the skeleton boss.



This seems to occur if you switch to another tab on the browser while the fight sets up, it's impossible to go further because of the door and the boss just disappears. I just tried your game out and I find it oddly addicting and pretty darn fun, however I too fell victim to the vampire boss issue and I felt kind'a cheated. Every other enemy in the game (Boss skeleton included) had shown what was needed before hand, yet I had to walk into a room that would trap me inside without knowing and throwing myself to randomness rather than the calculating mindset the rest has shown off with deciding a path and what is safe to take down without putting me too low and the likes and being forced to restart, which made no sense as I barely had less than his shield, but I had the cross which does double damage so I should've been able to take him on.I've also come across this a few times at the skeleton boss.This seems to occur if you switch to another tab on the browser while the fight sets up, it's impossible to go further because of the door and the boss just disappears. Logged

clewcat







clewcat on the fly!





Level 0clewcat on the fly! Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #10 on: April 25, 2014, 08:55:38 PM » Quote from: BrandonSPX on April 23, 2014, 07:56:35 AM I played it and got up to level -27, where I was able to land myself the blue sword. Unfortunately, I ran out of keys. I did several playthroughs, and I think there are too many doors, or not enough keys. The vendors had a role to play there, but they were generally locked behind a yellow door, so if I needed yellow keys, they were useless.



My suggestion would be to put all vendors on the level that has the stone, or remove keys altogether and just add a separate stone for keys that also scales in price. If you don't like that, perhaps you would consider only placing vendors next to the entrance of a level.



I was actually hoping that this game would have static levels, as opposed to procedurally generated. During my first playthrough, I saw where I went wrong and came up with some ideas on how to improve it, only to find out that the levels were different. Desktop Dungeons (paid version) had procedural levels, but they also had a challenge section that was not procedural with really well-designed levels. I found that to be more fun than the rest of the game, and thinking about that across multiple levels sounds amazing. Designing and balancing that would certainly be a challenge.



All in all, I had a lot of fun. Losing came with too much overhead, so it had limited replayability for me, but I enjoyed my 45 minutes or so of gameplay.



Thanks for your 45 minutes and great feedback!



Keys balancing is really difficult, sometimes the random generator gives you 60+ keys in a zone(every 10 levels), sometimes there are only 30. Keys vendors are designed to try to balance this, and you should all benefit from them at the beginning.(A yellow key worths ~100G, while there's a merchant selling 5 keys for only 50G). In the upper levels, their deals get less worthy but sometimes player may still want to have the choice.



I'm also planning to add custom maps with full static levels. There might be a in-game Map Editor too! Anyway, I have to finish the levels and storyline for Story Mode first.

Thanks for your 45 minutes and great feedback!Keys balancing is really difficult, sometimes the random generator gives you 60+ keys in a zone(every 10 levels), sometimes there are only 30. Keys vendors are designed to try to balance this, and you should all benefit from them at the beginning.(A yellow key worths ~100G, while there's a merchant selling 5 keys for only 50G). In the upper levels, their deals get less worthy but sometimes player may still want to have the choice.I'm also planning to add custom maps with full static levels. There might be a in-game Map Editor too! Anyway, I have to finish the levels and storyline for Story Mode first. Logged Axe, Bow and Staff | DungeonUp | River of Time

clewcat







clewcat on the fly!





Level 0clewcat on the fly! Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #11 on: April 25, 2014, 09:01:26 PM » Quote from: lonelytomato on April 24, 2014, 12:51:47 PM



I've also come across this a few times at the skeleton boss.



This seems to occur if you switch to another tab on the browser while the fight sets up, it's impossible to go further because of the door and the boss just disappears.

I just tried your game out and I find it oddly addicting and pretty darn fun, however I too fell victim to the vampire boss issue and I felt kind'a cheated. Every other enemy in the game (Boss skeleton included) had shown what was needed before hand, yet I had to walk into a room that would trap me inside without knowing and throwing myself to randomness rather than the calculating mindset the rest has shown off with deciding a path and what is safe to take down without putting me too low and the likes and being forced to restart, which made no sense as I barely had less than his shield, but I had the cross which does double damage so I should've been able to take him on.I've also come across this a few times at the skeleton boss.This seems to occur if you switch to another tab on the browser while the fight sets up, it's impossible to go further because of the door and the boss just disappears.

Oops...never tried to switch browser tab, but this is definitely a critical bug need to fix.



I have disabled the "Attack Protection" functionality, that means, you can rush into combat with any monsters now. In case of misoperation, you can use the "Flee" button. Oops...never tried to switch browser tab, but this is definitely a critical bug need to fix.I have disabled the "Attack Protection" functionality, that means, you can rush into combat with any monsters now. In case of misoperation, you can use the "Flee" button. Logged Axe, Bow and Staff | DungeonUp | River of Time

PeterPixeleap







Level 0 Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #13 on: April 26, 2014, 03:02:26 AM »



I took a quick tour of the tutorial and I think the experience already feels really polished.



I really like the sound effects in the game, I think they add a nice feel, and I like the puzzle element as well, good ideas all around in my opinion, the idea that you can keep increasing health feels good and I am curious to see how it plays out over a longer session.



I have a suggestion for the monster atlas/book, in it self this is a very helpful and nice tool, but I would like some tooltips when I mouse over the different attributes of the monsters, because shortly after being told I had forgotten what they meant



Keep up the good work

Peter Hi guys,I took a quick tour of the tutorial and I think the experience already feels really polished.I really like the sound effects in the game, I think they add a nice feel, and I like the puzzle element as well, good ideas all around in my opinion, the idea that you can keep increasing health feels good and I am curious to see how it plays out over a longer session.I have a suggestion for the monster atlas/book, in it self this is a very helpful and nice tool, but I would like some tooltips when I mouse over the different attributes of the monsters, because shortly after being told I had forgotten what they meantKeep up the good workPeter Logged

neutonm







Elusive Slacker





Level 0Elusive Slacker Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #16 on: April 27, 2014, 09:01:23 AM »



I decided to skip the tutorial and start the game instantly on normal mode. Roguelike with story, heh? I got my first impression on positive side! Although haven't really got into fighting system at first glance - it seemed to me a bit absurd... but going further made me reconsider it and enjoy the game. This is sort of mini RPG tactical puzzle game where you use calculations as your main weapon. The puzzle itself lies on maneuvering with keys mostly. Since keys are essential part of this game they are very disturbing - sometimes levels are generated in not very convenient way so that you will end up without having that damn yellow key no matter how you cut your way out. I replayed several times and couldn't enter vampire room without red key which was held in other room under yellow door.



Looks like casual difficulty makes the day! Having free key solves everything. However, this free key requires 60 sec to wait, which is actually a bit odd assuming we are having here non-action game. If it would be action game like Serious Sam or good old Crimsonland then 60 seconds would be awesome option since player knows it's not safe to idle for one minute. Perhaps, trading some health or money for that very key could be solution. You might as well put it as another option for that dwarf machine;trade for money or health if there is no money cuz there might be moment that there is like 2000 health but not even a penny in a pocket.



Sometimes music plays, sometimes game forgets about such feature.



About that dwarf machine. I think health boost option is the unbalanced here. It gives so little for such high stacking price and not worth buying.



All other odds and ends are completely awesome: sound, graphics, gameplay etc. Level generation makes it quite re-playable. Indeed a very great game. It could be a boom for mobile platforms i guess. I'm looking forward for fixes, changes and new features - it would be very enjoyable to replay it once more!



I ended game on dwarf boss room, disability to do something (place a bomb) was fatal . Fallen dwarves and lizards traded ~460 hp per fight. It happened that during 29-20 levels there was no red key but only traded who wanted 2000g for it, f**k... There is "save & exit" in menu - it would be better to add another button but either "load" or "exit" without save. Hey,I decided to skip the tutorial and start the game instantly on normal mode. Roguelike with story, heh? I got my first impression on positive side! Although haven't really got into fighting system at first glance - it seemed to me a bit absurd... but going further made me reconsider it and enjoy the game. This is sort of mini RPG tactical puzzle game where you use calculations as your main weapon. The puzzle itself lies on maneuvering with keys mostly. Since keys are essential part of this game they are very disturbing - sometimes levels are generated in not very convenient way so that you will end up without having that damn yellow key no matter how you cut your way out. I replayed several times and couldn't enter vampire room without red key which was held in other room under yellow door.Looks like casual difficulty makes the day! Having free key solves everything. However, this free key requires 60 sec to wait, which is actually a bit odd assuming we are having here non-action game. If it would be action game like Serious Sam or good old Crimsonland then 60 seconds would be awesome option since player knows it's not safe to idle for one minute. Perhaps, trading some health or money for that very key could be solution. You might as well put it as another option for that dwarf machine;trade for money or health if there is no money cuz there might be moment that there is like 2000 health but not even a penny in a pocket.Sometimes music plays, sometimes game forgets about such feature.About that dwarf machine. I think health boost option is the unbalanced here. It gives so little for such high stacking price and not worth buying.All other odds and ends are completely awesome: sound, graphics, gameplay etc. Level generation makes it quite re-playable. Indeed a very great game. It could be a boom for mobile platforms i guess. I'm looking forward for fixes, changes and new features - it would be very enjoyable to replay it once more!I ended game on dwarf boss room, disability to do something (place a bomb) was fatal. Fallen dwarves and lizards traded ~460 hp per fight. It happened that during 29-20 levels there was no red key but only traded who wanted 2000g for it, f**k... There is "save & exit" in menu - it would be better to add another button but either "load" or "exit" without save. Logged Smintheus DevLog | Homepage | Twitter | Facebook

neutonm







Elusive Slacker





Level 0Elusive Slacker Re: [Alpha] DungeonUp - A puzzle-like rogue-like dungeon crawler « Reply #18 on: April 28, 2014, 02:53:23 AM »



Stones are to be something ultra mega intergalactic divine artifact at first glance, especially after you see possibility to buy some artifacts in dwarf machine room. To trade one stone for yellow key is like sell your Dodge for a hot dog ... well just like with bloody trader and his key for 2000 gold coins.



The problem with trader is that there was no skipping item or red key for last 30 rooms - the only way to obtain the key is to buy it! I understood if there was room with 10 lizards guarding red key and you have 2000 gold and you say "baah, f..k em, i;ll buy a key and pass this quickly"; if you decide to buy it instead of loosing fights with lizards then it's ok. In this case this is alternative! But now, in the game, it's pure deadlock with no alternatives.



Quote How about double the number? I guess triple it! Minimum. If you buy 8 armor then most likely you will save 1000 health in further fights (calculations!). If you buy 200 health instead of armor then that would be a hoot.



Lack of keys make trap situations. If player goes up and up bypassing bonuses only focusing on opening doors that lead to stairs still able to put player into "no key" situation. But if somehow you manage to get more further you will most likely encounter situation where you don't have enough money/health/damage/armor to pass that monster because you skipped rooms with monsters (that give money) and artifacts just to keep those keys.



Lack key situation usually appears after first boss.



Despite what i say it's up to you how to make the game. I'm just saying what player experiences from his position with psychological perspective.



Keep up the good work clewcat! Yep, died and restarted the game and once used that stone. It actually doesn't really help that much.Stones are to be something ultra mega intergalactic divine artifact at first glance, especially after you see possibility to buy some artifacts in dwarf machine room. To trade one stone for yellow key is like sell your Dodge for a hot dog... well just like with bloody trader and his key for 2000 gold coins.The problem with trader is that there was no skipping item or red key for last 30 rooms - the only way to obtain the key is to buy it! I understood if there was room with 10 lizards guarding red key and you have 2000 gold and you say "baah, f..k em, i;ll buy a key and pass this quickly"; if you decide to buy it instead of loosing fights with lizards then it's ok. In this case this is! But now, in the game, it's pure deadlock with no alternatives.I guess triple it! Minimum. If you buy 8 armor then most likely you will save 1000 health in further fights (calculations!). If you buy 200 health instead of armor then that would be a hoot.Lack of keys make trap situations. If player goes up and up bypassing bonuses only focusing on opening doors that lead to stairs still able to put player into "no key" situation. But if somehow you manage to get more further you will most likely encounter situation where you don't have enough money/health/damage/armor to pass that monster because you skipped rooms with monsters (that give money) and artifacts just to keep those keys.Lack key situation usually appears after first boss.Despite what i say it's up to you how to make the game. I'm just saying what player experiences from his position with psychological perspective.Keep up the good work clewcat! Logged Smintheus DevLog | Homepage | Twitter | Facebook