They say rewrites are the bane of all roguelikes - thus far, I’ve known this to be 100% true. This week I’ve rewritten most of the collision system, parts of the spawning systems and various routines that deal with the various coordinate systems used in the game (screen, map and world). The code is ‘feeling’ more cohesive and stable now and I’m confident the game can now be more easily expanded.
Ranged Attacks
Having completed work on melee attacks near the beginning of development, it was time to get the ranged attacks working. So far, the fireball attack is the only available ranged attack but the code can easily be reused for any number of other ranged attacked. Having these available to the player increases the strategy element of the game significantly.
Mana
The player now has mana points (MP) to use with various spells. The aforementioned fireball is currently the only functioning spell but the mana system is ready to be used for any number of other spells in the future. Some of the supporting stuff such as the ability to drink mana potions is also done.
Balance
I’ve started to think more about balancing the game and tidied up a few things. I’ve implemented a system to prevent stuff spawning in the wrong places or on top of other stuff. The types of monster now get steadily harder as you progress through the levels e.g. you’ve only vampire bats and goblins to deal with on level 1 but around level 15 you’ll be tackling trolls and dragons.
Progression
There is now a complete game cycle - a basic front end leads you into the game and you can progress through levels building up your character before eventually dying and returning the the front end to start again. Dying happens a lot in roguelikes!
Various other areas of the game continue to be gradually added to and improved. This following week will mostly be taken up with adding functionality for weapons, spells and other items. I may even start thinking about quests.
