Post news Report RSS The 9th Wizard: Rings of Eternity Video Blog I

(2/7/12) This video is the first in a series of video blogs that document the changes and development of the game. It features commentary that describes recent changes and improvements and the reasoning behind them. This particular video addresses our random dungeon creator and the decisions behind character movement.

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Hi I'm Joe from EpicVessel Games, and I'll be taking you through the development of our Rougue-like project. We haven't got a concrete name for our title yet. That's mostly because the original name doesn't apply anymore, and well nobody liked it in the first place.

The game will follow most typical Rougue-like standards. Showing in this video is our random dungeon designer. This was scripted to be editable and customizable. In addition to giving us more freedom, the player will be able to create custom dungeons and share them with their friends.


I've slowed down the process so you can see how a dungeon is created. The code uses an algorithm to dynamically generate various rooms. It can be set to create precise rooms of a particular size, or more random so that more open spaces, hallways and various room layouts are created.

What you currently see is the default dungeon tiles. We chose to go with an atmospheric look of darkness and the unknown. We want the player to feel that danger is right around the corner, because usually, it will be.

Because of the Rougue-like nature of the game, the deco items won't usually have animation. If you do see something that has life to it, you can bet it's something special.

We've played a lot of Rougue-like games. Picking how the character moves was not a light decision. There are many small nuances that can change the pace, style and feel of the game. We chose to go with a turn based style that lets the player complete their move before the AI make their moves. I think this taps into the more strategic facade of Rougue-like, by letting the player consume the moves and plan for their next action.

We also gave some gross animation to the moves of each character. Instead of a simple sliding token, an instant moving icon or a fully animated sprite, we gave a hopping sort of action to the character. We also direct their 1D facing direction as is typical.

This video only hopes to show the basic dungeon design and basic character walking functions. The enemies here don't do much, other than chase the player if they are spotted. You will notice however that if one of these little skeletons collide with the player, a blood animation ensues. Of course a skeletons won't be creating showers of blood, but we wanted to test how to best to impact the play environment. Drawing blood and other effects seemed like a good way to let you know where you have been and what you did there.

Well, we hope you enjoyed taking a first look at EpicVessel's latest endeavor. We're hoping to find alpha testers among our audience, so if you want to help us out, please follow our game. We thought the best way to pick is from our pool of supporters.

You can visit our website at EpicVesselGames.com, or check out our other title, Potion Master. We appreciate any and all support. Thanks for watching. Look for another update in a about a week.

Look for next week's video which will feature music by noted Chiptune artist, Comptroller. We will also explain how unique tracks play a role in setting the tone, mood and feeling of The 9th Wizard: Rings of Eternity.

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Thunderchicken
Thunderchicken - - 50 comments

Cool. Watching the video blog convinced me to track your game. I hope there will be many more videos to follow.

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vidjahgames Author
vidjahgames - - 30 comments

Thanks, Thunderchicken! We can't wait to make another video and release some of the original artwork and music.

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