Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Occidental Heroes - mobile roguelike retro RPG

Galdred

Studio Draconis
Patron
Developer
Joined
May 6, 2011
Messages
4,338
Location
Middle Empire
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
It looks very good actually. Pixel art is harder to work with than vectorial drawing or 3D, but it can look better with a small budget indeed. I will definitely give it a try once things calm down for me, and would definitely pay for it.
 

pakoito

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Messages
3,086
My feedback bit: scrolling of game texts needs to be tweaked a bit because it's not responsive enough, and any actionable UI element like the choices in the story windows needs to have a highlighted state while pressed. I love the transitions you have for most elements and the quick flow of the whole game, you can play fights quite quickly and travel the map blazing. It needs a bit more content, specially in combat, but that you already know.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,606
Have you confirmed that? Phones today have around 500dpi. It is likely that all of your pixels are scaled, and differently on different devices.

Yes, they'll be scaled but the scaling has to be done by integer factors (1x, 2x, 3x) or the result will be messed up. See this for example:
eeO7xMa.png

The middle two images are at 150% and it looks either all crooked because the pixels are of a different size or fuzzy and loses that retro pixelated style. So any image has to be scaled by whole number factors and that means you can't take just any image and make it the desired size, it has to be drawn at a specific size to begin with.
I am familiar with the concern you have. I would be interested to know how you manage to maintain integer factors for your pixel art on two devices that are the same size when one of them is 420dpi and the other is 500dpi.
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
I am familiar with the concern you have. I would be interested to know how you manage to maintain integer factors for your pixel art on two devices that are the same size when one of them is 420dpi and the other is 500dpi.

I do not try to check the dpi the user has (I don't know if I can), just the number of pixels. The game's base dimensions are 200x320 pixels, so I just upscale the viewport by a factor that will cover the viewport entirely even if it goes over. So for example, if the user has 540x960 pixels I will upscale it 3x so that the game is 600x960. That leaves the 60 extra horizontal pixels that will not visible (because the image is larger than the screen), so I move all UI elements (on both sides) 30 pixels towards the center of the screen so that they are at the same position relative to the edges no matter the resolution. If the user has 480x800 pixels, I will also upscale it 3x but this time it will have to chop off 120px in width and 160px in height. Since this is quite a large proportion of the entire image, I will adjust the margins/padding used in the game so UI elements are packed tighter without overlapping. If the user has 1080x1920 pixels, the scaling is 6x which means 120 pixels have to be chopped horizontally, but since that's a much smaller proportion of the image on an 1080p device than on a 480p device, I will leave the margins/padding as they are

It was much simpler on my previous game where I used higher res assets and proper linear scaling. As pakoito said, Libgdx takes care of all of that, but when it comes to pixel art with its own rules on scaling, the scaled image will almost always be larger than the screen so you have to be aware of which part of the image is visible so you can position UI elements within that area.


My feedback bit: scrolling of game texts needs to be tweaked a bit because it's not responsive enough, and any actionable UI element like the choices in the story windows needs to have a highlighted state while pressed. I love the transitions you have for most elements and the quick flow of the whole game, you can play fights quite quickly and travel the map blazing. It needs a bit more content, specially in combat, but that you already know.

Eek, scrolling uses Libgdx's (scene2d.ui) scrollpane so it's about as responsive as it's going to get. :(
If you mean the scrollbar/scrollbar handle, that's different. I suppose I could enlarge it, but I was hoping users will scroll by just dragging on the screen rather than the scrollbar (which is there primarily to draw attention to the fact that the screen can be scrolled, not that users have to drag the scrollbar/handle in order to scroll).

As for choices, they do have a highlighted state (dark red to brighter red), but you're right, it is too hard to see. I will probably change the ellipsis on the left of the pressed choice to something eyecatching while in pressed state, like an arrow or something.



By the way, what is incline and decline in the context of this site?? :decline::incline:
 
Last edited:

pakoito

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Messages
3,086
They refer to cRPG quality measured by Codex standards; decline is literally anything made 2003-2013 or any game ever released in console, incline is 1970-2003 and 2014-2015.
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
I have updated the game and removed the beta warning from the title (still in beta but hopefully more random ppl will download it now).

I've added several random encounters, some buyable equipment, arena tournament in the starting town (to sort of ease the players into the game) and eased the difficulty curve significantly (roughly half the games ended with the death of the entire party in the first battle).

The game is available on its Google Play page and it doesn't have any ads or require special permissions.

Please give me some feedback, especially the negative stuff since the positive stuff I obviously already did right. :D
 
Last edited:

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
Update! A lot of small changes, some new quests, new encounters, a few new items, alternative font in settings, etc.
I wanted to add music but then decided against it because of download size and it's a mobile game so who cares. I recommend the soundtrack for Betrayal at Krondor, I listened to a lot of that while making this game.

n3gtej0.png


Get it now from Google Play. No ads, no in-app purchases, no special permissions.
If you don't have an Android device, the game works well on BlueStacks.
 

Rhuantavan

Arcane
Patron
Developer
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
717
Location
Ergendon, Merrentar
Codex 2012
Played it for an hour on Bluestacks and quite enjoyed it. It gets repetitive after a while, but I love the attention to detail.

I'd pay a considerable sum for an iOS port. Good job.
 
Last edited:

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
Played it for an hour on Bluestacks and quite enjoyed it. It gets repetitive after a while, but I love the attention to detail..

Thanks. You're right, it does get repetitive. The game has 9 random encounters and 19 quests, and the fact that quests are repeatedly generated so that locations are different (like "Radiant" quests in Elder Scrolls) doesn't really do all that much to avoid repetitiveness. I don't know why I thought it would work better in my game than in Oblivion/Skyrim.
I did make one unique and more involved quest for the background character Betrayed mercenary captain, but it's so work intensive (~30 hours) that I'm not sure it's worth it for the 5 minutes of gameplay that it adds. :?

One thing where I plan to add more variety is the ability for the party to obtain visas to cross those fortified bridges into further areas (Frontier, then Badlands and finally a mysterious empire in the western end of the continent). Each area will have different types of settlements, some different enemies, a special quest or two for some of the characters, and the enemy party generator makes encounters tougher and tougher the more you move towards the west. I also plan to add an overarching storyline, but that's still a long way away.

To my disappointment, most players miss one of the aspects of the game I'm really proud of: retiring characters. Each character has a goal (hinted at but not spelled out) that they can achieve. Depending on whether they do, and the amount of money they earned (some goals are just to earn a lot of money), when the character retires, in the ex-party members section of the Ledger you can read a unique blurb about what happened to that character later on. (kind of like when you retire in Pirates!)
There is also a blurb for characters who were killed and what happened with their share of the money.
But as far as I can tell, players just spend like sailors and use the party members until they're killed, so if they read the blurbs (and I'm sure most don't) it's usually So-and-so was killed by a bandit and the $20 he earned with the party wasn't even enough to cover his funeral.
I was kind of hoping that this aspect would keep players involved while I add more areas/quests, but I was wrong. Oh well, too late now.

I'm writing all this because I looked at the game you're developing (sounds great, like something I'd do if I had the resources to make a desktop-worthy game), so I figure maybe you can avoid some of my mistakes. :)
 

Rhuantavan

Arcane
Patron
Developer
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
717
Location
Ergendon, Merrentar
Codex 2012
Thanks. You're right, it does get repetitive. The game has 9 random encounters and 19 quests, and the fact that quests are repeatedly generated so that locations are different (like "Radiant" quests in Elder Scrolls) doesn't really do all that much to avoid repetitiveness. I don't know why I thought it would work better in my game than in Oblivion/Skyrim.
I did make one unique and more involved quest for the background character Betrayed mercenary captain, but it's so work intensive (~30 hours) that I'm not sure it's worth it for the 5 minutes of gameplay that it adds.

Perhaps adding more involved and longer quests is the way to go, even if the development time doesn't seem to pay off in gameplay time, the player shoud feel the effort.

One thing where I plan to add more variety is the ability for the party to obtain visas to cross those fortified bridges into further areas (Frontier, then Badlands and finally a mysterious empire in the western end of the continent). Each area will have different types of settlements, some different enemies, a special quest or two for some of the characters, and the enemy party generator makes encounters tougher and tougher the more you move towards the west. I also plan to add an overarching storyline, but that's still a long way away.

As your writing is pretty good, I would focus on the story and a main quest within the fortified bridges zone. You can always expand once you find the game is polished enough.

To my disappointment, most players miss one of the aspects of the game I'm really proud of: retiring characters. Each character has a goal (hinted at but not spelled out) that they can achieve. Depending on whether they do, and the amount of money they earned (some goals are just to earn a lot of money), when the character retires, in the ex-party members section of the Ledger you can read a unique blurb about what happened to that character later on. (kind of like when you retire in Pirates!)
There is also a blurb for characters who were killed and what happened with their share of the money.
But as far as I can tell, players just spend like sailors and use the party members until they're killed, so if they read the blurbs (and I'm sure most don't) it's usually So-and-so was killed by a bandit and the $20 he earned with the party wasn't even enough to cover his funeral.
I was kind of hoping that this aspect would keep players involved while I add more areas/quests, but I was wrong. Oh well, too late now.

I too haven't noticed this in my quick hour of play. While I see this as another nice detail you've implemented, players grow attached to the characters they play, and they don't want them to retire. :) So spending development time on a game feature that accentuates that sounds counter-productive IMO.

I'm writing all this because I looked at the game you're developing (sounds great, like something I'd do if I had the resources to make a desktop-worthy game), so I figure maybe you can avoid some of my mistakes. :)

Thanks! As I see it, you've got a playable game, pretty much a cut-down version of what I am creating, but you've got a PLAYABLE game. I will be lucky if I complete my overambitious behemoth in 10 years from now.

While your game is more simulationist in nature, mine focuses on the story and its characters, and goes deeper into some aspects like travel, inventory management, etc... all that takes time to create, but I want the game to be deep, even if it will stay in development forever. On the other hand it is hard to work on something so large (in my spare time, which is little) and stay motivated. You've developed a tight game and it is out for people to play... I'm so envious :)

Do you have a twitter handle or a dev blog?
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
Perhaps adding more involved and longer quests is the way to go, even if the development time doesn't seem to pay off in gameplay time, the player shoud feel the effort.
As your writing is pretty good, I would focus on the story and a main quest within the fortified bridges zone. You can always expand once you find the game is polished enough.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll do. I'll also consider giving characters more personality, like permanent name, a portrait and a sprite for every of the 15 background stories instead of random name/no portrait/generic sprite for each of the three classes.
Maybe players will then care more about what happens to the characters afterwards. Or not, it won't be that much work so I might as well do it.


I will be lucky if I complete my overambitious behemoth in 10 years from now. While your game is more simulationist in nature, mine focuses on the story and its characters, and goes deeper into some aspects like travel, inventory management, etc... all that takes time to create, but I want the game to be deep, even if it will stay in development forever.

Yeah, compared to like painting or writing a book or making an album or even a movie, game development is much more time consuming. Your game looks like it's going to be complex, but as long as you don't have anything riding on it, you can take your time.


Do you have a twitter handle or a dev blog?

No, this thread is the closest thing I have to a dev blog. I just can't imagine enough people being interested in something like that to make it worth the effort.
 

MCMustang51

Barely Literate
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
2
No, this thread is the closest thing I have to a dev blog. I just can't imagine enough people being interested in something like that to make it worth the effort.

I think people generally like the game when they see it and would keep up with its progress. Having a dev blog, would also get more people interested. i sent a few idea via email too
 

MCMustang51

Barely Literate
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
2
I made some images, you can use as placeholders for the monastery and bridge fort, if you like. I made them somewhat quickly, but they can be edited later. They are attempted to be in the same style as the other art in the game

sXKzms7.png
PkYFsgG.png
751dpXh.png
 
Last edited:

QuidProQuoBrute

Barely Literate
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Messages
1
Hey, came across this game, I hope that this thing is being worked on still. I would gladly pay for a game like this on Android or PC
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
An update at last! Much smaller than I had hoped for, but people keep giving me money to do other things, so I spent only 154 hours on this since October. Changes include:
- new area beyond the fortified bridges
- new quests and encounters
- nerfed archers (-1 range)
- added/refined graphics
- more legible default font
- added incentive to voluntarily retire party members
- every settlement now has its own prices for selling/buying
- every character background now has its own default name and sprite
- optimized margins for higher res devices
- reduced size from 3MB to 2MB (no idea how I did that)

MCMustang51 thank you for the placeholders, I had the artist use one of the images you provided.

BHJ0l6x.png


The game is free with no ads or in-app purchases (so far, heh), and no weird permissions. You can check it out on Google Play, and if you don't have Android, the game works well using Bluestacks App Player on Windows or OS X.
 

Lhynn

Arcane
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
9,816
Any way to recover resolve bro?
This game could be great, btw. Keep working on it
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
I have decided to rework the combat system in the game. I don't think that it's bad or boring now, it's just that with the combat being so deterministic (and generally chess-like), there's no room in the game for some of the staples of the RPG genre like experience/progression and inventory/items.

I'm not planning huge changes, though. I'm going to:
1. add chance to hit (affected by exp + weapon of the attacker, and exp + weapon of the attackee) with a possibility of critical hits
2. make health more granulated to allow for variability in damage taken (which can be affected armor of the attackee)

By adding those two changes, I'll be add to add items like weapons and armor (which would be the totality of the combat inventory - it is a mobile game after all), character progression, and a greater variability of enemies.

This will make combat take longer so I'll have to reduce the number of encounters, and recalibrate combat difficulty (like I calibrated it before, ha ha), but I think it will add a lot to the game without adding a lot to the development. I believe it will take me about the same time to do these changes as it would to write say 5-6 quests. Writing is by far the most time consuming aspect of making this game, which was a surprise to me.


Any way to recover resolve bro?
This game could be great, btw. Keep working on it

Thanks. No way to recover resolve yet, but I'm planning on adding some.
 

Lhynn

Arcane
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
9,816
Combat being deterministic is the best thing about it, means its entirely on you to get your team tru the encounter. Id say your combat is perfect the way it is.

What you need to focus on is everything else, namely content. towns, cities, ruins, npcs, quests, more powerful creatures, more ways to spend money. make more chain of quests, more involving, add C&C. Make character development also deterministic, maybe feats that allow you to do X easier, like trading, or dealing with enemies.
Fencers need some love, maybe they could have a new special ability to allow them to avoid 1 ranged attack per fight, as they are now they are horrid.

It doesnt need a main quest, just quests all around, maybe picked at random for each given playtrough or state of the game. Maybe establishing relationships with npcs, like lords, merchants, smugglers, kings. A bigger world to explore, more enemies to defeat.Have the player tell their own story as they play.

Combat is what sets your game apart, dont make it the same as every other rpg out there.
 

Guy de Incognito

Ensit Media
Developer
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
59
The problem with the combat system is that it hobbles the rest of the game, and the game as a whole is much more important than combat. I can live with players potentially liking combat less if it allows me to enrich the rest of the game with character progression, items and perks/abilities. And this is a RPG after all, made for players who like RPGs, so I don't think it's too bad if one aspect of my game becomes a bit more like other RPGs that players love.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom