Here we go!

Hi all, I'm fairly new to game development (with my first game "Blerx!" nearly ready for release to mobile app stores), and this is my first roguelike, though I've been playing them since the early 90s when I first encountered Angband. I wasn't sure I would participate in the 7DRL challenge, as I haven't had much time for design & planning in the weeks leading up to now, but decided to take the leap and give it a try anyway.

I'll be exploring and discovering as I go, like a @ in a cave.



Though I don't have a high-concept for the game yet, or anything resembling a design, I do have some principles and guidelines I'm setting out with:

Traditional Roguelike. Let's keep things relatively simple. This will be a traditional RL per the definition of Josh Ge, in that it will be turn-based, grid-based, have permadeath, not include any kind of meta-advancement, and all that stuff. First time out, let's keep it real. Quick Run-based. It's all about the single-session run. Should be able to win in 30 minutes or less, with most games ending in failure in under 10. That's (in part) because I'm thinking this will be... Mobile-oriented. Designed to be played on a phone or tablet. So besides the above, we're talking about simplified UI with no key commands. (For ease of development/testing I will probably keep keys, but can't count on them.) Choices are meaningful! Since the game is compressed, every choice needs to matter, and gameplay needs to be choice-dense. We'll have a smaller map, tactical combat, and character/gear development decisions that are focused and increasingly narrowing. Just the fun stuff. To that same end, let's focus on the fun stuff. No inventory management, no hunger, no lantern fuel. Keep it tight.

Regarding character development, I'm imagining a synergies-based system, with a heavy RNG component making each run-through different. No upfront character generation phase, every run starts with a vanilla, noob dungeoneer, and the character will take shape via level advancement and gear acquisition. Will explore this system more in another post, as it develops a bit.

Tonally I'm thinking light but not "jokey." Would love for this to be more than just a pile of mechanics, adding some real feeling and atmosphere through the use of unique locations and encounters. Might be tough given the timeframe here, but it's an overall design goal. Will keep it mostly in the traditional D&D/fantasy milieu, with possibly some of my own weird flavor, because why not?

Oh, and a quick word about game engine and tech! A few weeks ago I started playing around with the idea of trying Python and libtcod, but as I made my way through the (excellent) tutorial, I was increasingly uncomfortable with how it was all architected and the overall model. Just didn't fit with how my mind worked, for whatever reason. Since I've been working recently in Unity and C#, I decided to stick with that environment. And though Roguesharp looks really cool, since this is a learning experience I decided to try to implement everything from scratch myself. (Not that anything developed within Unity can properly be called "from scratch," but you know what I mean.)

Okay, enough for now, time to get coding! Thanks for reading, and do watch this space for more updates as the week progresses. And most of all, best of luck to my fellow 7DRLers!



Tony





