Dungeon Skank

[Alienhead]

Seven-Day-Rogue-Like-Challenge 

I just finished submitting my 7DRL game entry to itchio.  Once again Leadwerks is thrown into action against other games and engines.  I'll post back the results here next week when they come in.. But in mean time everyone is welcome to play my entry !

This game was created in 6 1/2 days from ground up save the media,  so there may be some rough spots here and there.. I ran out of time to polish it further or do any other additions but it is a complete playable game.

Some infos -   download here - https://abinarylife.itch.io/dungeon-skank-7drl

 

• Rogue-like gameplay through and through.
• Procedurally generated dungeons.
• Every things generated randomly on game start.
• Mobs, chests, floor traps, locked doors, armor, weapons and more!
• Perma - death,  hurts so good.
• Bi-levels, up and downstairs and multi-directional hallways.
• Grid based movement, all three axis.
• Turn-based combat, pick your enemies from afar or avoid them all together.
• Watch as your dungeon is created before your very eyes then pick to redo it if you wish.
• Loot bags, mob loot, chest loot, and character upgrades.
• Collect Portal scrolls to easily get back to the starting chamber.
• The deeper you go the harder things become. Build up your character before traveling to deep!
• One goal, become strong enough to slay the Queen Skank, if you can find her in the depths below.

 

 

About: 

I was so glad to see 7DRL return. In the past I was never really setup to do a  game Jam but that wasn't the case this time around. I've really worked around the clock to get what I got completed.  There's still so much I had to leave out due to the 7-day time frame given.  I'll go over what I had to leave out and then I'll highlight what I plan on doing to this title after the competition .

The Planning:

Day 1,  I sat down and wrote out a list of all the features I wanted to try and get in.  Needless to say the list grew extensively.  I then categorized by crucial features, needed features, polish and fluff.  Being a single person team I had my work cut out.

What I didn't finish

• Flee option ! If you turn a corner and bump into a lvl 10 mob then you'll have to fight him all the way as it is. I wanted to add Flee mode so you have a chance to get away,.
• UI and proper game options menus
• Ground clutter and additional armor pickups.
• Additional tile plates for more extravagant dungeons. Right now there are only 6 plates in the game and it still turned out pretty well.
• Story - Mode ! I didn't even get a chance to touch a story-line and I had an excellent one in mind to.
• Side quests and additional things to do.

Conclusion

If enough interest in this project develops then I will continue work on it. Probably wouldn't take much more than a few months to turn into a full-fledged title release. Adding things like additional tile plates for fancier dungeons,  more mob types, playing cards, story driven quests and a proper UI, not to mention bugs I wasn't able to get out in time.

In closing I would like think thank the people at 7DRL for their loyalty with this game jam.  This is the first time I've joined their jam but I hope it won't be the last ! Until next time. Good bye.

 

[Marcousik]

Hey Alienhead that looks so really fun and cool, after I saw a few thing you made, I have to ask: are you some kind of professional game maker or just incredible good inspired? Or a future professional game maker ?

[Alienhead]

Heh, thanks for the comments.  I'm not a professional, or at least I don't make games  for a living, although my wife says I need to start due to the amount of time I put in on my computer all week long hehe.  I've been playing around with game design and coding for about 20 years or more, it's a passion as I find problem solving during game creation more challenging than gaming itself.  I've had a few published games in the past but nothing recently as in the last 10 years.  Hope you enjoyed the game! 

[Marcousik]

On 3/11/2023 at 10:50 PM, Alienhead said:

I find problem solving during game creation more challenging than gaming itself. 

That's the point.

I think a nice idea are games that give the gamers the possibility to create their own part, as part of the game; like for example The elder scrolls with the creation kit.

More and more players don't play the game just have fun customing their own version.

[Alienhead]

Hmm interesting.. something to think about ! Not modding, but a form of game logic building.

[Josh]

This would be very interesting in VR.

[Alienhead]

I had some positive feedback from other players and the competition judges so I've decided to continue with it. While I was working in the 7 day contest I didnt have time to do any texture work so I left it plain shaded and toony like.  I really really wanted to see what this plate set would do once I had time to bring it out some. So I spent this week uvmapping and material building, I got about 50% of it texture now.  I also went back and replaced almost all the random generators and created a ton of new ones for thing such as floor tile, decaying roof, side wall and debris..   I still have a list of 11 more generators I want to create for this project.  To be honest this is really just the beginning. 

This is a cool comparison : the old shot of the dungeon generator VS the one I've been working on this week.

Keep in mind this is fully randomize, every brick, cob web , arch way, board, debris  tile.. etc.. all randomized on map load up.

 

New:

 

and the original :

 

[havenphillip]

You got your process streamlined. Your levels seem to just pop up out of nowhere. I'd be interested in reading a tutorial.

[Alienhead]

Well these levels are popping out of nowhere actually..  its a Rogue-like game so its randomly generated every load-up.  Getting it to the point of making these levels random  on load up is a different story however.

This started out as a game jam on itchio, I've never made a roguelike game, or a level generator for that matter, in the past so I thought it be fun to try. Come to find out I was really enjoying the game I made, which seldom happens,  then with a little boost from the itchio community I pledged to take the little 7 day game to a full fledged title.   It's a a lot easier game making when you have a basic shell in front of you.  Design a short but playable game, then if it seems like it has potential - take it a step further.. That's all I'm doing. The Jams are a life-line to me, they force me to get outside of my box and do something I wouldn't normally had tried.

What's cool about this project I'm on is I don't get tired of working on it.. The more random stuff I generate the more detailed it becomes and I'm not tied up making static levels all day long.  To bad this concept don't work for all games, but it does for this one so I'm going to ride the wave!

Here's another screenshot I just generated running through the level just now..  I love LE's static lighting, you get the benefits of a backed level with super low overhead! I can only imagine what Ultra can do ...  

I'm working on the dirt molding right now, as you can see in the bottom screenshot it just don't look right... yet 

 

Got it, that was really bugging me.  

Anyways I'll leave you guys alone for awhile, I've been bugging to much hehe. L:)

 

[Alienhead]

Latest shots from beyond the crypt.  Finished up all the land and ceiling random generators today.. phew.  Tomorrow I start the critters generators for things like spiders, ants , snakes etc.. 

[Josh]

So the walls you are creating, they are from a pre-formed piece segment, right?

[Alienhead]

6 hours ago, Josh said:

So the walls you are creating, they are from a pre-formed piece segment, right?

Yes.  I've built a set of basic shells that are used in the initial random map layout stage. Then the generators come in for stuff like, randomlly moving bricks, placing ceiling boards etc. and building all the extras you see in the screenshots.

[Alienhead]

I swore I wasn't going to do this when I started this project because it's a hell of a lot of extra work but I couldn't resist.   I started adding cave plates to the tilesets and height  awareness, not just the stairs. So far I have a handful of cave plates completed, and the results have turned out well as far as mixing them into the random generator. 

Heres an early shot of it working.. still needs tons of fine tuning and polish however.

 

 

[Alienhead]

While developing the lighting and color platelet for the cave areas I had the idea of giving the option for theme based dungeon creation.  So I started to work on it. 

I plan on three themes which are selectable during map creation. 

• Rustic - Metal Dungeon
• Mossey - Vegetation
• Modern - Artistic

I have nearly completed the first theme, Rustic.  By changing the color platelet,  replacing the ivy and moss with barbed wire then tossing in some wall and floor rebar debris then splatting some rust decals around the walls and base lines - I was able to transfer the dungeon in a tetanus infested haven!

Here's a random screen grab of the first theme nearing completion -

 

[Alienhead]

While theme 1, Rustic turned out pretty good, the real kicker is theme 2 mossy/algae.   I'm about 50% done with the platelet and still modeling the actual moss/algae geometry.  I picked up a few new techniques doing this theme, so I may apply them to theme 1 later on. 

Welcome to Hotel California !

Calling it a day for now.

Here's a early sneak peak of theme 2!

 

[Alienhead]

Finished up theme 2, "Mossy", I didn't enjoy that much, was a lot of work..  Tough figuring out how to model algae patches.  Next I'm going to rip out the zombies, mummies and skeletons and bring in the story line characters.  As you might can tell from the screenshot below, one of two main characters have found their way into the game.. 

 

[Alienhead]

Finally got one of two main characters textured and cleaned up for game-ready state.  I just happen to catch this screen shot on accident, probably never happen again.

This is what happens when you kidnap big sisters little sister, you get a high heal to the throat! lol.

 

[Alienhead]

My game project took on a huge change this week,  I've decided I wanted to modernize the dungeon, instead of trolls and goblins and swords and chests I've went with a much more modern theme. 

The game will take place beneath  L.A. California, where all the low life of the city hangs out, prostitutes, drug pushers, drug addicts, murders, homeless etc..  Player will have to 'endure' in this environment in order to complete the tasks at hand.

It's still 'freaks and ghouls'... just of another kind. 

Here's a sample of the new look. 

[Josh]

Looks like home!

[Alienhead]

-

[Alienhead]

Official announcement - https://abinarylife.itch.io/dungeon-skank

[Alienhead]

I've really had fun with this weeks update, although it's purely cosmetic - I've been wanting to add this stuff since I originally thought up the project.

I've added spiders, rats, ants, snakes, stary cat(s) and roaches to the random dungeon. Each of these critters are interactable in some way or another..  Reworked the entire UI system and got the male playable character ( Mike ) in-game finally. 

That's it until next week !

Happy Easter to all!