I am blown away by this roguelike engine. Seriously, what I'm seeing is overwhelmingly impressive. It shows a level of attention to detail in the graphics that just floors me. I was solving a ziggurat block puzzle and noticed that there were multiple snake blocks, and they had different designs (though I think there were only two different designs). That is just something that greatly impresses me. Not to mention the word feels rich and inspires the imagination even though it's ASCII+custom.
I seriously think that you should make multiple games or license the engine or something, because what could be done with all of this is just... awesome. I don't even mind that I was ultra-excited from the first post about the roguelike civ sim and was disappointed that it's not in the game nor going to be.
Also, that puzzle. I had to actually open notepad to coordinate all the hints and make the connections. I hope the other puzzles are similar, but even so, good job on being cryptic and making it a bit difficult without making it impossible or giving everything away.
That said, I don't actually know what I'm supposed to be doing, or what there is even to do. Haven't read through the thread all the way, though, so that's probably my fault.
Firstly, thanks a ton for the amazing comments! After all the work I've poured into the damned thing, this kind of feedback means everything to me. I'm glad to say there are not just two snake blocks - the snake, for example, is composed of 2 components, a body and a head - there are 3 bodies, 2 heads, so 6 possibilities (bodies with a few/some/many coils, and heads open/shut). Some blocks have only one or two total variations, whilst others have 12 or 16 permutations (I think the octopus block has 16, and that's the highest, but I'm not sure). I want *everything* that can possibly be random/varied/procedural to be so
. I'm glad you feel that way about the world, as that kind of "lived in" feeling is what I want. I mean, yes, ok, right now you're the only human alive, but give it time!
Licensing is an interesting idea. Multiple game, at least with this engine, is never going to happen - this one is going to take a decade, then I'll either never make a game again, or make one completely different (some kind of very difficult platformer appeals). Those are the only two options I really foresee. I have considered bringing on extra help, but I'm not sure about that, and if I did it would be one close friend of mine who has helped me with designing the game a lot up to this point.
The puzzles are all of that type, though puzzles in other dungeons will be utterly different. The solutions and the clues are randomly generated, and I can't even begin to consider how many puzzles there are. For example, in the "boss" room like you posted, there are 80 different layouts of the room, about 30 or so different blocks exist, there are several thousand variations for how the clues can be expressed... and that's just for the boss rooms, let alone all the smaller puzzles. It was an interesting design challenge to make the clues cryptic, but unambiguous - for instance, I previously had "shadowed moon", but does that mean eclipse, or crescent? Or either of the other two? It was cryptic, sure, but it was too VAGUE, so it had to go. I've made sure all the clue synonyms now can only possibly mean one thing. I hope.
As for "objectives", right now you can explore ziggurats, and find "secret" items atop over 50% of them. If you got a "clue" ziggurat, that should point you towards the ones that contain the items, which will have important story value later! Equally, if you check out the '?' on the map...
Found a simple error in a puzzle inscription.
The great steps are built southwards of the croaking one and are between a mischievous creature the tree of sun.
There are also numerous typos/errors elsewhere, like in the guidebook. Anywhere convenient where I can send you a list?
Edit: Also, just went up a set of stairs and was surrounded by blocks. Had to push one away to make it into the puzzle chamber.
Well spotted. Now I need to find where the hell that is in the code...
Are there really many others? How embarrassing. Er, mark@ my domain is my email address, and that would be great. I playtest a lot, but thinking about it I really don't proofread. As for coming up stairs into blocks, I knew that was possible (but rare) and I ensured all "boss puzzle" designs CANNOT trap the player, no matter where stairs spawn. However, someone pointed out to me elsewhere that blocks being unable to pass over downward stairs can "trap" a block in a corner. Will be fixing that.
Will you be able to lead armies or command the civs? No.
Dealbreaker right there. That's the premise which the game was founded upon, and that's the premise that got me interested in the game. I'm sad to say that I've lost my main reason for being interested in URR. Don't get me wrong, I am still amazed in how you've pushed the boundaries of ASCII, but when I was told about this game about a year ago now, I was told that you would be able to indirectly command armies by giving your generals orders etc. Also, becoming ruler of a civ, and leading your civ to glory in a 1600's 1700's environment was the main focus of the game. Plus epic naval battles which you could command. It's obvious that these are no longer the main focuses of the game, or even a focus at all. This... Kind of lost me as a fan. I'm still interested in how this turns out, and I wish you the best of luck with it.
i'm sad to say I agree. What if we threw our money at you URR? Would you go back to making our dreams come true?
@ Glloyd - sorry to hear that, but I fully understand where you're coming from. I know the game has mutated a lot as time as gone by, but the reason is because I'm putting so much time and effort into it that I just have to follow what concepts and mechanics really interest me at this point. There's also, as I mentioned above, a timescale issue - my current plan is audacious, but not impossible to complete before my death; the original plan, unless I suddenly started working at it full time and brought in help, was simply impossible. Also, psychologically, those goals were too "far away" - I have the next three or four versions very clearly planned out, I know where I'm going, and the development plan I have on my computer now is so much more "focused" than my original. Thank you re: ASCII, and thanks for the good wishes.
@ Scoop - again, sorry to hear that, but I'm afraid not. As above, with a one-man team and with the amount of detail I'm putting in, and the amount of time I expect the game to take, I simply have to focus on what I feel really passionate and driven about creating, and that's the universe I'm working on now. If I was to still be doing what I originally planned, I don't know if I'd still be doing URR now, or at least not at the same speed. So much time and energy is going into it that I have to direct that in the way I want. I hope I'll be able to produce something cool which will interest you "back" into the fold, but if not, no hard feelings and thanks for following this far. Though as for the money - if I ended up doing a kickstarter (unlikely, but possible), I would certainly take advice/thoughts on people on goals, rewards, etc...
Author
Topic: Dwarf Fortress meets The Outer Wilds? "Ultima Ratio Regum", v0.10.1 out Feb 2023 (Read 634973 times)