Writing this as I play the new release:
Menu looks amazing. Already the best ASCII interface I've ever seen in a game. Shweet.
Since there are no enemies, I didn't mess around with the weapon tree just yet. Figure I'll test that later when there are things to stab.
Running and sprinting work great. I thought I was so cool that I'd totally sprint a mile on willpower - that didn't work at all. It's a good thing that willpower drains faster, though. If you're smart, I don't think you should ever TRY to rely upon willpower.
Traveled to a forest and saw some awesome looking trees (They. Look. So. Cool.). Also, climbed a bit, jumped off some 3 z-level cliffs. Didn't explode, so I was happy. It makes sense that my character can survive a fall about 3 of his own body lengths down, but I'm a bit worried - will the character be able to look and estimate the length of the fall before we decide to jump? I only ask because it's kind of difficult to tell how far down a cliff goes in a 2d top-down environment. Also, I will climbing trees be a feature as well? (Don't know if someone already asked that).
Transitions from high to low places and vice-versa look very nice too. Thought I should mention that.
All in all, pretty dang sweet. While I am definitely impatient to see the release the includes combat, I hope that you'll take as much time as you need to polish it and not rush the job. You've certainly done awesome work on what's there so far. Keep it up!
Re: menu - thank you! May I quote you on the "best interface" bit at some point
? That makes sense; similarly, the trees are naturally up for alteration as/when combat mechanics get added. Glad you like the running/sprinting mechanics; whilst obviously the exact values for stamina and time will need tweaking and playtesting (and the extent to which things like armour/weight/strength/endurance affect them), I'm happy with the outline of the system I've got going at the moment. That's great to hear about the trees! Hopefully I can make buildings/ruins/caves as interesting!
Tree-climbing: yes, definitely, but I don't know when. Far from essential at the moment though, obviously, so probably not for a while. The messages about the strength of tree branches if you examine them is the first small component of that, though. Glad you like the transitions. As for viewing height, the only current way is to 'l'ook at the terrain below you, and it will tell you how far down it is. Combat is still a way off, though I might actually end up needing to implement it for some of the dungeon areas, or at least more abilities like jumping etc, but we'll see. Otherwise, it's going to have to come after history gen and dungeon gen.
Anyway, my thanks for the very detailed feedback - it's great to know what's working and what could be improved.
This game have a potential to become my favorite... PTF
Glad to hear it!
The new version looks great, I am heartily impressed.
Some of the commands seem destined to follow the normal Roguelike design mantra of 'esoteric extended command lists are good' - Have you got any plans to have e.g. right-click context sensitive interfaces or other such things? A neat and compact interface would do wonders for the accessibility of the game in future, I feel, especially as it gets more and more complex.
Thank you
. Sadly, yes, though that is not on purpose just to stick to the norm - simply because there are so damned many commands I'm going to need! I have no plans for mouse support, BUT I might add it for things like the look function at some later date. Uncertain.
To not be entirely off topic
IMO, Planetary generation should give more moons to gas giants. Yes, I suspect that it will not affect gameplay in like several dozens of versions but still
I think it does? Maybe it doesn't. I'll check. Indeed so - it will affect gameplay in 1.0.0 from religion/cult/myth generation, and as I say, it will have a big role in some of the dungeon "bosses" (which are mainly not physical combat), but I'm not saying more on that just yet.
This game has a huge potential !
I played a bit with it and I so can't wait to play the "full game" !
Thanks! The game will be rather more full come 1.0.0, but come 2.0.0, there will actually be places to explore, believe it or not, at which point the "gameplay" will finally start appearing
Will you be able to get married? The reason why I am asking this is I want to see something along the line of 'dynasty' or 'lineage' from crusader kings 2.
You die, and your son, or even daughter inherits, and you get the option to continue playing.
Absolutely - a similar idea I think I mentioned on my blog aaaaages ago, about dynastic and legacies and things. Families (with a capital F) are going to be a part of history generation, with coats of arms and everything, so that'll definitely be included.