Something I realized that I didn't cover while rewatching the video was the way I handled implementing status effects. Essentially the item or the tile that applies the status effect passes a scriptable object to the target, that scriptable object contains information like the status effect damage and duration. The unit (either player or enemy) contains a method that checks during certain times in the game states if the status effect object data is null or not, if the data is not null the method runs (which would be either burning the enemy or freezing their actions).
Maybe you could reimplement the Poison and Bleed status but reflavor it. Poison doesn’t do damage but it weakens the enemies attack or limits their possible actions. This status effects can wear off after a while. Bleed can can be similar to the Fire DOT but instead it will take multiple rounds in between damage. For example: Upon Taking damage and receiving the bleed status effect, only after a certain number of rounds will the enemy take damage. This damage will be different because it will be a percentage of the creatures health rather than a fixed amount.
I think bleed could work as an action limiter by popping for big damage if they take a certain number of actions before it expires. It can stack to reduce that number until it's guaranteed.
0:43 phone went straight to my left hand… nah jk 😭 love the devlog man!! it would be so cool if we got some bigger enemies that take up like a 2x2 tile area or something like a mini boss or something!! All the art and effects look amazing keep up the great work!
Looks great so far! I'm a huge fan of the art style. A couple of ideas, take them or leave them, for making status effects less same-y and reducing the power of really strong items. In Dicey Dungeons, the poison condition deals damage equal to how much poison an enemy has, and then reduces by one at the end of their turn. Making it something that you can build around by stacking it so that it sticks around is one of my favourite parts of that game. For items like the bone club that can completely stun an enemy, it might feel better for a player if they can reliably count on it. It would be too powerful if it was guaranteed and you could repeatedly stun enemies, but if it was some sort of consumable that you could counto on to get you out of a tough spot that could be cool!
Two recommendations: Change the lava tile into a magma stone so it makes sense why you can step on it (fire dmg would still fit) Item that heals you x amount every turn you are not attacked
Fire could be tile-based. So if you're on the tile, you take damage. If you move, then no more damage. Poison could be a true status effect. Once you're poisoned, you take damage every turn for 3 turns- even if you move away from the tile that you got poisoned on. Hades kind of works this way!
As a way of making the Draught of Juice less powerful, you could maybe make it so that every stack you pick up increases the chance of not spending an action. (say by 20% or whatever) Then, to make sure you cant get lucky and get infinite actions, every time the effect is triggered and an action is not consumed, the chance for it to happen again lowers by 20%, until it reaches 0 if you keep getting lucky. Finally, it just resets back up to the initial value at the end of your turn. Might not be the exact functionality you need but it could be worth exploring similar solutions a bit.
To add to that: Games like Risk of Rain tend to prefer chance based effects over flat bonuses, (so more crit chance instead of damage up), because it allows for more synergies with other items. (Like heal on crit, or increased luck for chance based effects) A flat damage bonus is nice but you can't really have it combo with other things besides more multipliers.
What if one of the status effects were to only damage the character if they moved? If they attacked? Something akin to resting a limb to prevent further bloodloss or keeping your heartbeat down to slow the progression of poison It would be hard to implement these behaviors into the AI, I imagine, but would make them more interesting to fight instead of just constantly getting rushed down by them at once
Something I realized that I didn't cover while rewatching the video was the way I handled implementing status effects. Essentially the item or the tile that applies the status effect passes a scriptable object to the target, that scriptable object contains information like the status effect damage and duration. The unit (either player or enemy) contains a method that checks during certain times in the game states if the status effect object data is null or not, if the data is not null the method runs (which would be either burning the enemy or freezing their actions).
Maybe you could reimplement the Poison and Bleed status but reflavor it.
Poison doesn’t do damage but it weakens the enemies attack or limits their possible actions. This status effects can wear off after a while.
Bleed can can be similar to the Fire DOT but instead it will take multiple rounds in between damage.
For example: Upon Taking damage and receiving the bleed status effect, only after a certain number of rounds will the enemy take damage.
This damage will be different because it will be a percentage of the creatures health rather than a fixed amount.
I think bleed could work as an action limiter by popping for big damage if they take a certain number of actions before it expires. It can stack to reduce that number until it's guaranteed.
0:43 phone went straight to my left hand…
nah jk 😭 love the devlog man!! it would be so cool if we got some bigger enemies that take up like a 2x2 tile area or something like a mini boss or something!! All the art and effects look amazing keep up the great work!
Looks great so far! I'm a huge fan of the art style. A couple of ideas, take them or leave them, for making status effects less same-y and reducing the power of really strong items.
In Dicey Dungeons, the poison condition deals damage equal to how much poison an enemy has, and then reduces by one at the end of their turn. Making it something that you can build around by stacking it so that it sticks around is one of my favourite parts of that game.
For items like the bone club that can completely stun an enemy, it might feel better for a player if they can reliably count on it. It would be too powerful if it was guaranteed and you could repeatedly stun enemies, but if it was some sort of consumable that you could counto on to get you out of a tough spot that could be cool!
Loving how the game is coming together
Two recommendations: Change the lava tile into a magma stone so it makes sense why you can step on it (fire dmg would still fit)
Item that heals you x amount every turn you are not attacked
very clean UI and game, good job!
Fire could be tile-based. So if you're on the tile, you take damage. If you move, then no more damage.
Poison could be a true status effect. Once you're poisoned, you take damage every turn for 3 turns- even if you move away from the tile that you got poisoned on.
Hades kind of works this way!
Yup, I would play this.
I think it would make a lot more sense for you to gain actions when entering new floor stages like a forest, a town, the dungeon etc.
As a way of making the Draught of Juice less powerful, you could maybe make it so that every stack you pick up increases the chance of not spending an action. (say by 20% or whatever) Then, to make sure you cant get lucky and get infinite actions, every time the effect is triggered and an action is not consumed, the chance for it to happen again lowers by 20%, until it reaches 0 if you keep getting lucky. Finally, it just resets back up to the initial value at the end of your turn. Might not be the exact functionality you need but it could be worth exploring similar solutions a bit.
To add to that: Games like Risk of Rain tend to prefer chance based effects over flat bonuses, (so more crit chance instead of damage up), because it allows for more synergies with other items. (Like heal on crit, or increased luck for chance based effects) A flat damage bonus is nice but you can't really have it combo with other things besides more multipliers.
Yay, new video ❤
What if one of the status effects were to only damage the character if they moved? If they attacked? Something akin to resting a limb to prevent further bloodloss or keeping your heartbeat down to slow the progression of poison
It would be hard to implement these behaviors into the AI, I imagine, but would make them more interesting to fight instead of just constantly getting rushed down by them at once
What if you could use the ice ring to freeze watter tiles and make them into slipery ice
Those poor enemies 😭😭😭🥺
Keep on going, looks really good. Can‘t wait to wishlist it on steam ;) Are you still happy with your decision to move away from pixelart?
Yes I think it was the tight call, although I haven't worked on any new sprites in a while outside of the items
Forg
Wow first comment and like guess I’m your favorite