Oct 21, 2011

Rings of Valor v0.8.2 Released

This release got slightly delayed but here it is finally. I would've liked to do even more tweaking but I guess this will do for now.

This version is a bit funny; I added six new races and eight new classes but they're not selectable yet. You will be playing against them, though.

The next version -- v0.10.0 -- will include the final four races and eight classes, and they will all be unlockable through the upcoming Achievement system. Getting all the achievements and unlocking all the races, classes, and maps will be the goal of the game. I'm also considering adding some sort of score system.

Another noteworthy addition in this version are the six power-ups that spawn on the altars ('_'). They're not (yet) documented in the game so I'll list them here:
  • Armor (armor bonus; the bigger the smaller your base armor is)
  • Berserking (attack speed and damage increase)
  • Invisibility (invisibility until you attack with an ability; similar to Stealth)
  • Precision (Hit and Crit bonuses)
  • Restoration (restores health and increases Energy regen)
  • Speed (increases Movement speed and Defense)
The first power-up spawns at 2:45 and the following every 30 seconds. They are random but the last one (at 0:15) is always Berserking (to lessen the chances for a match to end in a draw). The power-ups are picked up by walking over or next to them.

I made a short video (see below), showing the final match of a Tournament and the Statistics screen that now keeps track of various stuff. I also managed to beat the Ladder mode myself. I tweaked some numbers in it and hopefully made it more balanced.

Download (at BayFiles): Rings of Valor v0.8.2 Beta (Windows)

Changelog for v0.8.2:

 New features:
  * 6 new races and 8 new classes (unlockable when Achievements are added in a future version)
  * Statistics
  * 6 different power-ups that spawn on the altars ('_')
  * Field of vision
  * Gore and corpses
  * Reseting for Tournament and Ladder modes
  * Fast Forward key (Escape)

 Tweaks:
  * Numpad can now be used to move your character
  * The costs of weapons and armor pieces in Ladder mode have been reduced by 50%
  * Gladiators now gain 50 experience for winning a Ladder match in addition to 50 exp for each team member alive
  * Class and race info on Team frames (now for all gladiators)
  * Slow mode now affects newly created games and thus can't be turned on/off for already started Tournaments/Ladder seasons
  * Rogue's Sneak Attack now increases the damage of attacks made while hidden by +50/100/150% (up from +30/60/90%)
  * Attack speed is now capped at 5 attacks / second
  * Wizard's Fireball and Frost Nova abilities have now minor effects on certain terrain features

 Fixes:
  * Non-player gladiators no longer gain an extra rank in their abilities in Quick Match
  * Ladder save file is now correctly deleted upon game launch
  * Gladiators are no longer able to get to level 13 in Ladder mode
  * Casting an ability no longer grants immunity to random movement caused by fear effects

8 comments:

  1. Game is way to fast (even with slow mode).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mmh. I have heard that before... I shall make the slow mode considerably slower for the next version.

    The problem with slowing the game down, though, is that it becomes dreadfully boring. Realtime does not work for such a slow-paced thing very well.

    Not sure if it suits this kind of gameplay anyway, but I would say RoV is playable (at least for me it is). It might just take some time to learn what to look and what to ignore on the screen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello!

    First off, congratulations on releasing 0.8.2

    >The problem with slowing the game down, though, is that it becomes dreadfully boring. Realtime does not work for such a slow-paced thing very well.

    I was actually about to ask if there was any chance of implementing a turn-based mode...

    For me, the greatest problem is sticking to my opponent. Most of the time they nimbly dash away, leaving me confused whether I've actually been attacking them at all! (My damage dealt is usually among the lowest on my team, though perhaps I should just use my skills more often.)

    Ah, but the game is very entertaining. I very much appreciate all the message/float options you've provided in the settings.

    I'll be looking forward to any updates.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey and thanks, Holsety.

    I hadn't thought of having a turn-based mode in addition to realtime before your suggestion. I guess I was completely focused on making a realtime game. If I were to start this project now, though, I would most definitely include a turn-based mode.

    But currently it seems very unlikely I will ever add one; it would require rewriting too much of the code. I will instead focus on just completing the game.

    Who knows what I might implement after v1.0 but I already have a new project in mind, which I'd like to start as soon as possible. A proper turn-based roguelike this time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Perhaps an command that has you auto-follow your targeted enemy? Definitely the biggest issue for most classes is just staying in range of an enemy that's (seemingly) randomly moving around, causing a great deal of your attacks to miss (or rather, never happen, because you weren't in range).

    Something that just had your character chase an enemy would help counter that, without completely negating the impact of speed differences -- you could still be outran if the enemy feels like it.

    As it is, it can be rather difficult to really contribute to the battle unless the enemy's actively targeting you, something they tend to avoid until your allies are dead.

    In any case, I've enjoyed the game a fair amount when I've played, so far. Definitely looking forward to actually unlocking stuff, heh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Like Frumple said, an auto-follow would help immensely. If the enemy team is three melee they sometimes cluster together and ROTATE so that my active target is separated from me by his two teammates. As soon as I switch active targets they just rotate again, haha.

    That's why the Fighter class is great as a defender; Charge lets you peel an enemy off your caster as if you were a guided missile, giving you very nice crowd control.

    Playing a caster is usually suffering (especially Wizards in Ladder mode). The warlock gets by since Death Coil is an incredible skill: simply run circles around a pillar and throw Death Coil whenever you can and you should be good to go. Yay, damage, healing and fear!
    And if you're not afraid of standing still, Shadow Bolt absolutely ruins anyone.

    But the wizard lacks such utility; casting fireball is asking to get your face stomped in, and any stuns coming your way are incredibly frustrating. Frost Shield would be a great tool, but Wardens usually have no trouble keeping up. And getting hit increases your casting time for Fireball...

    It's not so bad in Quick Match and Tournament, since you'll soon have Frost Shield + Fireball, and once you have Frost Nova everything's fine.

    If there was a melee class with a taunt skill (ie, capable of forcefully pulling enemy aggro) that would be a godsend.

    Though I guess we'll find out once achievements and unlocking are in the game :)

    PS. Another idea; the ability to change what character you have active control over.
    Let's say you're playing a Wizard and this Barbarian just won't get off you. If you could just switch over control to your Fighter and Charge the Barbarian etc etc...

    ReplyDelete
  7. The AI players move around to seem more lively, and also to make it harder for you to hit as melee. That's why I'm not sold on the idea of having auto-follow; I want melee to have at least some difficulty. I could make them jump about less, though.

    I agree that it's not possible to contribute to the fight that much when you're not being targeted. All the defender classes do have a passive that makes attacking your allies less attractive or even somewhat dangerous. However, the AI doesn't react to that at all. I think by making them to target the defender after being afflicted by such a passive, each defender would have a taunt and a way to control the opponents.

    And there's definitely some imbalances between the classes -- the warlock indeed has a pretty awesome set of abilities. I will make some changes on that matter, probably more by improving the other class rather than nerfing the really good ones.

    That control-switching is a great idea, and it even would be pretty simple to implement technically. However, the achievement system, that is mostly now in the game, judges the performance of a single character in most cases and by letting the AI control your character, it wouldn't be you accomplishing the feats.

    But I'd like to have that feature, and I shall see if I could make it happen without violating the achievements.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I won my first tournament, i love this game. :)

    ReplyDelete