For anyone who's new/interested, I have put together an item guide for the game. I may update this later to be a more general guide, or may not update it as new builds come out (it was a lot of work), but hopefully some of you will find it useful.
Wow!! I am amazed at the detail in this doc! I'm going through it as feedback and may want to issue some changes based on your thoughts (I agree with a lot). There's a few bugs here too which I can look into as well!
Noticed some strange behavior when using Mass Teleport on floor 4. Some moved monsters turned into white squares/tiles with their power listed on the white square. At least some hidden ("?") tiles stayed in place (such as the cyclops').
Unrelated, but something that would be nice to have is "endless" floors below the 4th. No achievements for them, just there to continue runs/for bragging rights. Probably easiest to generate them like a 4th floor but have the dragon increase in power each additional floor (possibly by more than 2) and/or apply a stacking sacrificial whip effect each additional floor.
It would be nice to be able to continue a good run to see how far you could take one.
add a floor clearing bonus! unless those coins were the floor clearing bonus and i didnt realize. also if you end up extending the runs, make the demon become 0 whenever the whole board in its entirety except the demon is cleared. it would be satisfying and makes sense.
if you want him to remain a "undefeatable foe" for some lore reason you could make the space be empty when you click him and you get no xp to show he escaped.
Yeah, the coins are the "perfect" floor clearing bonus right now. I do think it's a little lack-luster, but it does help your run with more $ to spend on items.
Just a small thing, but marking a 15 (for fire lord) seems impossible? Also marking low squares makes a part of the options off screen, maybe make the options go up when trying to mark those?
It seems that after the recent updates, the pickaxe no longer works. (Confirmed on first two floors, using the miner). Could you take a look into it when you have the time?
Also, a random idea. Right now, once you have the "annihilator" achievement there's no benefit to completely clearing a floor. Would it be possible to add a little cash bonus or bonus item (maybe by having an item chest spawn) for when a floor's been completely cleared?
Seems like you are right about the Pickaxe. I'll make a note to address that for the next patch, thanks for the report!
Getting something in the run for being an "annihilator" is a good suggestion. Cash would make the most immediate sense right now. I'll also look into adding that.
Thanks for a quick turn around. Unfortunately, it seems a new bug slipped in with 4.1. Namely, if clicking on a tile would reveal a scroll, the scroll now gets auto-used. E.g., if you click on a heal chest, it doesn't put a heal spell on the tile, it auto-uses one (a problem since heal and item chests seem indistinguishable), ditto for collecting xp from a defeated lover, hitting an unrevealed tile that has a heal scroll, or killing slime wizards, liches, or pipers.
It's not such a big deal for the auto-reveal/disarm spells, but auto-using heal spells results in a lot of overhealing and removes the ability to strategize when to use heals, making the game a lot harder.
Though Dragonsweeper is more refined, I'm actually having more fun playing this game.
There is one major quality of life improvement I'd like though, as of right now, it seems to be impossible to mark tiles on mobile. This doesn't break the game, but it is annoying.
...Also, is it even possible to get the Advanced/Master Annihilator achievements? I haven't been able to find a way to kill the Balrog, so there's no way to totally clear floors 3 and 4, unless I'm missing something.
It would also be nice if there were a few more rewards for achievements. Maybe say, having certain achievements give some money and unlock a shop prior you could use prior to the first floor?
I'll see what I can do for mobile marking. Maybe I can try touch-hold to open the context menu.
Yeah you are right I think annihilator achievements aren't filtering out balrog properly, I'll address that soon. Thanks for pointing that out.
As for more rewards I was considering locking items in the shop pool behind achievements too. Or go the rogue lite route instead and have power increases like "gain +$5 more" or "shops now have sales". Not sure im yet. If you get anymore ideas let me know :)
Interesting concept, I really like it! There's only a minor change I would add: having to click on the bottom left image to level up serves little purpose and distracts the player from the game. I think automatic levelling would improve the experience. In case of any spare HPs before levelling, I would simply add them as temporary HP to the next level. It would also be cool If the player could store healing items, this way the player can see the number underneath the item without consuming it straight away.
Thanks for playing! Auto-leveling is something I can explore. Giving temporary over-health is already in the game, technically, but automatically doing so might change the dynamics since it means you could "up trade" earlier than anticipated. Leveling from 7->8 with 2 overhealth would mean you could immediately kill the Lich on level 8. While this gives more potential plays, I do wonder if it is too strong! Perhaps this can be a new class item :)
You are right about the overheal, after playing for a little more I understand what you're saying and you are totally right. I was thinking about autoleveling only when you're HPs are 0, but that would also not be 100% ok since the player could decide to consume a full life restore instead, even if in some cases is suboptimal. Another idea I was thinking about is "character unlock". For example, the player can pick the bard from the get go. What if the character is locked until you defeat him during game? This way you create curiosity in the player when he checks out all available characters and sees that some are locked away. This will make them want to explore and replay the game over and over in order to unlock everthing, and each character will allow them to add a different flavour to the experience. Like it's done in Vampire Survivor: it's the same game, but each character gives you a new experience and makes you want to replay the game over and over
Yep! That's what I have planned next actually. We're thinking on the same wavelength haha. My current plan is to have Adventurer be the only class, then you unlock the rest by doing achievements (currently inactive button). That way you have some goals to work towards.
The game is balanced pretty well, which on the one hand is great because it means you tested it pretty well, and the game functions "as is" without anything being added. On the other hand it's hard to add new content, if one wanted to, without disrupting the game balance.
You have equippable items, it could be interesting to let the player find new equippable items in chests. Or swap an already equipped item. Finding a new item might completely change how the player interacts with the dungeon, making an impassable passage feasable. Or, one time use items, like an item that allows you to destroy a single bomb, or an item that reveals a single tile, or an item that reduces an non-dragon enemy damage/exp, etc... A common encounter in mine sweeper is the unavoidable 50/50 mine choice, the one-time use items could fix that.
Another Idea. You could also explore levels with different shapes, moving out from the traditional rectacle, making it look like a proper doungeon with halls and corridors and secret rooms (maybe behind cracked walls?). Hell, you can even make the level be so big the player has to scroll with its mouse to move from side to side.
You're providing the player a list of monsters and the amount of each monster in the dungeon, which is hreat. I think, it would be useful to also know how many there are currently left. For example, If i know there's a 5 monster, but I also know i've killed all slimes, it has to be the piper. I would add such list of "alive monsters/initial amount" in the side of the screen at all times, for the player to check whenever he wants
I just added one-time use items, actually! You can buy a health potion that you use from your inventory, but I am looking to add a lot more. Adding an item-chest is a good idea!! Perhaps each level of the dungeon could upgrade the chest too so you can get more out of it. I lament that the shop occurs after you win a dungeon because you might not even get to play with the extra items. Adding a chest to discover could whet the appetite for it!
Different shaped dungeon layouts is also on my todo list -- I want to also add biomes so that maybe the monster variety could change with the map/biome. I can see a monster that only lives in dead-ends, or only appears in certain biomes.
Upgrading the chest seams a great idea and would allow the player to specialize its gameplay towards what he likes the most. One could specialize in rats while playing the piper class by buying all rats related upgrades. The same goes for chests, the player strategy could circle around the concept of upgrading chests and finding them as soon as possible via tarot cards and the such.
You are right about the shop. There's no hint to it and most player might not even experience it, which is a shame. Chests could give the player an anticipation for what's to come, thus motivating the player and keep them engaged, but I feel like this is not enough. A possible Idea, enter the gungeon approach: you let the player know beforehand that more items can be unlocked via the shop or after each game spending some kind of acquired currency. This way you build curiosity in them. So, initially, chests provide only a small catalogue of possible drops, but after reaching the shop you can not only buy an item, but that item might spawn from a chest in later levels/games. This is more of a roguelite approach, while your game is more roguelike oriented, so it might not be the direction you want to take.
The different biomes idea sounds interesting. This gives me another idea. You know when in games there are entities that not only damage the player but other enemies as well? Like carnivorous plants that eat whatever comes close to them? It makes you feel like you are part of something bigger. It might be that it is actually beneficial to keep an enemy alive for some time (eg. you have a poisonous fly enemy 3, and a carivorous plant 5. While the carnivorous plant is alive, nearby poisonous fly enemies have their exp/life reduced by 2) Enemies interact with each other in an antagonistic way. Food for toughts
I feel like you're in my head, hah. I do have some items about enemies that interact with other enemies in mind. I did the first one last night (in the latest upload) with the Gorgon. She spawns surrounded by bricks, she is 25 power, which is impossible to kill. When all surrounding bricks are destroyed she gets reduced to 0. But I like the idea of other interactions like you described. I can see "aura" effects on enemies, both positive and negative. I want to add more enemies in the next big update so shoot over any ideas you have like that! :)
Hey thanks for playing! Good comments, will try to address this stuff in a future update. As for the Demon Bane power, it currently reduces the HP required from 7 to 3 for the first demon encountered. If you have ideas for new powers and enemies, open to listen :)
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For anyone who's new/interested, I have put together an item guide for the game. I may update this later to be a more general guide, or may not update it as new builds come out (it was a lot of work), but hopefully some of you will find it useful.
Wow!! I am amazed at the detail in this doc! I'm going through it as feedback and may want to issue some changes based on your thoughts (I agree with a lot). There's a few bugs here too which I can look into as well!
you should find an easier way to access potions. maybe an "actives" inventory, sorted by type of potion/spell, and a "passives" inventory.
Yeah that's interesting. It can get annoying finding what you can interact with for sure.
Noticed some strange behavior when using Mass Teleport on floor 4. Some moved monsters turned into white squares/tiles with their power listed on the white square. At least some hidden ("?") tiles stayed in place (such as the cyclops').
Unrelated, but something that would be nice to have is "endless" floors below the 4th. No achievements for them, just there to continue runs/for bragging rights. Probably easiest to generate them like a 4th floor but have the dragon increase in power each additional floor (possibly by more than 2) and/or apply a stacking sacrificial whip effect each additional floor.
It would be nice to be able to continue a good run to see how far you could take one.
Thanks for the bug report! It's definitely an oddity with obscuring logic. I'll have it fixed in the next patch.
Wow, I can't believe there are people out there beating the game! That's awesome!!!
I'll ponder on the infinite mode, maybe I can add even more levels with no more achievements so you don't feel pressured to reach them.
Edit: Fixed! Thanks again for the report
add a floor clearing bonus! unless those coins were the floor clearing bonus and i didnt realize. also if you end up extending the runs, make the demon become 0 whenever the whole board in its entirety except the demon is cleared. it would be satisfying and makes sense.
if you want him to remain a "undefeatable foe" for some lore reason you could make the space be empty when you click him and you get no xp to show he escaped.
Yeah, the coins are the "perfect" floor clearing bonus right now. I do think it's a little lack-luster, but it does help your run with more $ to spend on items.
Just a small thing, but marking a 15 (for fire lord) seems impossible? Also marking low squares makes a part of the options off screen, maybe make the options go up when trying to mark those?
Hey thanks for playing!
Yeah, you're absolutely right, I'll add a 15 mark to the menu in the next patch. I'll also look at keeping the menu onscreen too!
Edit: this has been addressed in v0.6!
It seems that after the recent updates, the pickaxe no longer works. (Confirmed on first two floors, using the miner). Could you take a look into it when you have the time?
Also, a random idea. Right now, once you have the "annihilator" achievement there's no benefit to completely clearing a floor. Would it be possible to add a little cash bonus or bonus item (maybe by having an item chest spawn) for when a floor's been completely cleared?
Hey, thanks for playing!
Seems like you are right about the Pickaxe. I'll make a note to address that for the next patch, thanks for the report!
Getting something in the run for being an "annihilator" is a good suggestion. Cash would make the most immediate sense right now. I'll also look into adding that.
Thanks for a quick turn around. Unfortunately, it seems a new bug slipped in with 4.1. Namely, if clicking on a tile would reveal a scroll, the scroll now gets auto-used. E.g., if you click on a heal chest, it doesn't put a heal spell on the tile, it auto-uses one (a problem since heal and item chests seem indistinguishable), ditto for collecting xp from a defeated lover, hitting an unrevealed tile that has a heal scroll, or killing slime wizards, liches, or pipers.
It's not such a big deal for the auto-reveal/disarm spells, but auto-using heal spells results in a lot of overhealing and removes the ability to strategize when to use heals, making the game a lot harder.
I just quietly pushed a fix for that too in 0.411
Thanks for that!
Anytime! Thanks for finding stuff!!!
Cooll game, I like it.
Though Dragonsweeper is more refined, I'm actually having more fun playing this game.
There is one major quality of life improvement I'd like though, as of right now, it seems to be impossible to mark tiles on mobile. This doesn't break the game, but it is annoying.
...Also, is it even possible to get the Advanced/Master Annihilator achievements? I haven't been able to find a way to kill the Balrog, so there's no way to totally clear floors 3 and 4, unless I'm missing something.
It would also be nice if there were a few more rewards for achievements. Maybe say, having certain achievements give some money and unlock a shop prior you could use prior to the first floor?
Wow that's a huge compliment, thanks!
I'll see what I can do for mobile marking. Maybe I can try touch-hold to open the context menu.
Yeah you are right I think annihilator achievements aren't filtering out balrog properly, I'll address that soon. Thanks for pointing that out.
As for more rewards I was considering locking items in the shop pool behind achievements too. Or go the rogue lite route instead and have power increases like "gain +$5 more" or "shops now have sales". Not sure im yet. If you get anymore ideas let me know :)
I've added Mobile support for tile context. Tap-and-hold to bring it up! And fixed Annihilator achievements. Cheers!
i liked it a lot! please replace the art as soon as possible
Thanks for playing! I'll try my best to replace as much of the art as I can!
Interesting concept, I really like it!
There's only a minor change I would add: having to click on the bottom left image to level up serves little purpose and distracts the player from the game. I think automatic levelling would improve the experience. In case of any spare HPs before levelling, I would simply add them as temporary HP to the next level. It would also be cool If the player could store healing items, this way the player can see the number underneath the item without consuming it straight away.
Thanks for playing! Auto-leveling is something I can explore. Giving temporary over-health is already in the game, technically, but automatically doing so might change the dynamics since it means you could "up trade" earlier than anticipated. Leveling from 7->8 with 2 overhealth would mean you could immediately kill the Lich on level 8. While this gives more potential plays, I do wonder if it is too strong! Perhaps this can be a new class item :)
You are right about the overheal, after playing for a little more I understand what you're saying and you are totally right. I was thinking about autoleveling only when you're HPs are 0, but that would also not be 100% ok since the player could decide to consume a full life restore instead, even if in some cases is suboptimal. Another idea I was thinking about is "character unlock". For example, the player can pick the bard from the get go. What if the character is locked until you defeat him during game? This way you create curiosity in the player when he checks out all available characters and sees that some are locked away. This will make them want to explore and replay the game over and over in order to unlock everthing, and each character will allow them to add a different flavour to the experience. Like it's done in Vampire Survivor: it's the same game, but each character gives you a new experience and makes you want to replay the game over and over
Yep! That's what I have planned next actually. We're thinking on the same wavelength haha. My current plan is to have Adventurer be the only class, then you unlock the rest by doing achievements (currently inactive button). That way you have some goals to work towards.
The game is balanced pretty well, which on the one hand is great because it means you tested it pretty well, and the game functions "as is" without anything being added. On the other hand it's hard to add new content, if one wanted to, without disrupting the game balance.
You have equippable items, it could be interesting to let the player find new equippable items in chests. Or swap an already equipped item. Finding a new item might completely change how the player interacts with the dungeon, making an impassable passage feasable. Or, one time use items, like an item that allows you to destroy a single bomb, or an item that reveals a single tile, or an item that reduces an non-dragon enemy damage/exp, etc... A common encounter in mine sweeper is the unavoidable 50/50 mine choice, the one-time use items could fix that.
Another Idea. You could also explore levels with different shapes, moving out from the traditional rectacle, making it look like a proper doungeon with halls and corridors and secret rooms (maybe behind cracked walls?). Hell, you can even make the level be so big the player has to scroll with its mouse to move from side to side.
Another thing, then i shut up xD
You're providing the player a list of monsters and the amount of each monster in the dungeon, which is hreat. I think, it would be useful to also know how many there are currently left. For example, If i know there's a 5 monster, but I also know i've killed all slimes, it has to be the piper. I would add such list of "alive monsters/initial amount" in the side of the screen at all times, for the player to check whenever he wants
Good idea!
I just added one-time use items, actually! You can buy a health potion that you use from your inventory, but I am looking to add a lot more. Adding an item-chest is a good idea!! Perhaps each level of the dungeon could upgrade the chest too so you can get more out of it. I lament that the shop occurs after you win a dungeon because you might not even get to play with the extra items. Adding a chest to discover could whet the appetite for it!
Different shaped dungeon layouts is also on my todo list -- I want to also add biomes so that maybe the monster variety could change with the map/biome. I can see a monster that only lives in dead-ends, or only appears in certain biomes.
I saw the health potion, it's a must buy!
Upgrading the chest seams a great idea and would allow the player to specialize its gameplay towards what he likes the most. One could specialize in rats while playing the piper class by buying all rats related upgrades. The same goes for chests, the player strategy could circle around the concept of upgrading chests and finding them as soon as possible via tarot cards and the such.
You are right about the shop. There's no hint to it and most player might not even experience it, which is a shame. Chests could give the player an anticipation for what's to come, thus motivating the player and keep them engaged, but I feel like this is not enough. A possible Idea, enter the gungeon approach: you let the player know beforehand that more items can be unlocked via the shop or after each game spending some kind of acquired currency. This way you build curiosity in them. So, initially, chests provide only a small catalogue of possible drops, but after reaching the shop you can not only buy an item, but that item might spawn from a chest in later levels/games. This is more of a roguelite approach, while your game is more roguelike oriented, so it might not be the direction you want to take.
The different biomes idea sounds interesting. This gives me another idea. You know when in games there are entities that not only damage the player but other enemies as well? Like carnivorous plants that eat whatever comes close to them? It makes you feel like you are part of something bigger. It might be that it is actually beneficial to keep an enemy alive for some time (eg. you have a poisonous fly enemy 3, and a carivorous plant 5. While the carnivorous plant is alive, nearby poisonous fly enemies have their exp/life reduced by 2) Enemies interact with each other in an antagonistic way. Food for toughts
I feel like you're in my head, hah. I do have some items about enemies that interact with other enemies in mind. I did the first one last night (in the latest upload) with the Gorgon. She spawns surrounded by bricks, she is 25 power, which is impossible to kill. When all surrounding bricks are destroyed she gets reduced to 0. But I like the idea of other interactions like you described. I can see "aura" effects on enemies, both positive and negative. I want to add more enemies in the next big update so shoot over any ideas you have like that! :)
addictive game and i spent a few hours playing it.
just a few things to make it even better
Hey thanks for playing! Good comments, will try to address this stuff in a future update. As for the Demon Bane power, it currently reduces the HP required from 7 to 3 for the first demon encountered. If you have ideas for new powers and enemies, open to listen :)