Information Heroes of a Broken Land Announced: Turn-based Multiple Party RPG

[Niektory]

Played it for a bit (on Windows). Random thoughts:

Combat feels simplistic, it could use some formation or timing related mechanics. But maybe complex combat is not what you're going for.

The music is atmospheric, but more dungeon tracks would be nice.

I find it pretty confusing that new combat messages show up on top, the natural order is from top (oldest) to bottom (newest), here it's reversed.

If you are in the casting screen and click a spell once to highlight it, you can't leave the screen. You can still cancel casting later during target selection, but it should be possible at any time. Also, you should be able to leave each screen by pressing Esc.

The dungeon clear window needs a scrollbar, the loot list doesn't always fit. I've also once got a bug where I couldn't close it at all and had to reload. I could still click things underneath, end my turn etc., but the window just wouldn't close when clicking the accept button.

Are character attributes explained anywhere? While it's not hard to guess what they do, it would be better to have explicit descriptions. Also, how is turn order resolved?

The monsters are all tiny! I understand rats, but other monsters like skeletons should be larger. Unless they're rat skeletons.

 

[WingedPixel]

Thanks for the feedback, especially such detailed UI bug reports!
The message log is getting more loving soon, I agree the order seems backwards. I'm planing to add a history window too.

Attributes are not explained anywhere, but they should be somewhere. There's not a lot of screen space to spare when you're doing a retro-style game, I'll likely add some tool-tip hover text with some breef explanation.

Turn order currently is: (100 - sqrt(2 * speed)) + some random variation with a minimum delay. Flanking and surprise add a fixed delay to the victim's first action. I imagine that some tatical combat lovers will really hate the random factors, but unpredictability is some what of a secondary theme to the game.

Combat feels simplistic, it could use some formation or timing related mechanics. But maybe complex combat is not what you're going for.

I am going for a streamlined combat system, so that's one reason for limited choices. However the monsters to get tougher and force you to adapt at later levels, and you do get more skills to use to open up your options. I think the forced/auto targeting and side vs row attacking does give you some tatical depth that might not be obvious at first.

The monsters are all tiny! I understand rats, but other monsters like skeletons should be larger. Unless they're rat skeletons.

The size is meant to indicate their level, they do get bigger. I might adjust the scaling rates per-monster so that you don't get mini skeletons, but you'll always be fighting tiny monsters at the early levels.

 

[Metro]

One of the YouTubers I watch on occasion is starting a Let's Play on the game:

 

[WingedPixel]

There's also a decent length preview on IndieRPGs.com: http://indierpgs.com/2013/08/indierpgs-com-checks-out-heroes-of-a-broken-land/

Watching both of these people play my game is a bit bittersweet - they seem to really enjoy the game which is great, but I cringe at every bug they find, everytime the UI confuses them and I am constantly embarassed by the sheer number of typos there was in my text.

On the bright side I've just released Alpha 11.0 which fixes just about every bug I noticed in both Let's Play and finally adds a simple tutorial, explaining some of the basic concepts: http://wingedpixel.com/heroes-of-a-broken-land-alpha-11-0/

 

[Metro]

You're a one-man operation -- don't be so hard on yourself.

 

[Overboard]

So, beta.

Beta is a major milestone for the game, but there’s still lots to do!

The game is also now on Steam’s Greenlight, and hopfully with you help will one day be available for purchase from Steam. Don’t forget to vote Yes, it’s appreciated!

Between Beta and the Final version dungeon variety will be improved, with new traps and interactive objects. The game needs some balancing work, espeically with non-human classses and the end game. Of course all bugs must be squashed and there are 100s of little issues to address before the final version can be released.

 

[Lady_Error]

Looking better and better. Good story and I like the Civ1-style intro and world creation.

Some suggestions:

- It should not be necessary to press the end turn button for a new turn to begin on the overland map. You can make it optional to press the end turn button, just like in Civilization.
- The greyish background is kind of bland. Try something like a marble background (Eye of the Beholder style) or something with columns (Wizardry 7 style).
- Personally, I prefer having just one party to get used to and explore the world through. But since this is a central aspect of the game, I guess it cannot and should not be changed.

 

[WingedPixel]

Thanks for the feedback!

- It should not be necessary to press the end turn button for a new turn to begin on the overland map. You can make it optional to press the end turn button, just like in Civilization.
- The greyish background is kind of bland. Try something like a marble background (Eye of the Beholder style) or something with columns (Wizardry 7 style).
- Personally, I prefer having just one party to get used to and explore the world through. But since this is a central aspect of the game, I guess it cannot and should not be changed.

Yes, I plan on adding this option. Originally there was no end-turn button, but it turned out to actually be more complex than it first apears when you have multiple parties moving around.

I agree the dialog/gray UI is boring and I do plan on fixing it up.

 

[Severian Silk]

You should put "tactical" or "blobber" in the thread title. I always get frustrated when I find out it's one and not the other.

 

[Desktop Commander]

Changelog from the newest beta:

* Help Menu (shows class skill list, building info and monster stats)
* Tweak loot drops (slightly more armor drops)
* World object tool tips
* Speed now has more influence on action timings
* Lizard skill tree adjusted, many more unique options on level up
* Fae skill tree adjusted, Fae's main attack changed to Fae Blast an upgradeable, unique spell
* Mage and Priest skills adjusted, now more difference between classes
* Skill descriptions now show stat adjustments
* Ice Storm skill fixed, Ice Elementals should behave better
* Skill selection now keyboard selectable
* Fixed crash when player had 100% resistance
* Fixed bug where Golem, Fae and Lizards could become Adventurers

 

[WingedPixel]

So I've just released Beta 4.0, you can read a bit more about it on my site, but the list of changes is here:

* Game now downloads new versions automatically (auto-patching still TODO)
* Fix Spell Focus and Healing Prayer skills to properly boost damage/healing
* Event system upgrade - multi-stage events, world awareness (karma, danger levels, etc)
* Undead Hoards & Rat Plague Events added - quest spawing events
* Alchemist Huts can now be found on the world map
* Fix bug where reloading on turn 1 would give a new party
* Higher level recruits may now be from Elite classes

 

[WingedPixel]

Beta 5 just went out, adding some long requested features, plus a bunch of world events and quest

• Fixed a bug where multi-floor dungeons could change on reload
• Auto-attack toggle added, automatic melee attacks for easy encounters
• Added basic mini-map feature to the world
• World monster made more dangerous, damage is % of total gold, monsters are more agressive
• Keyboard shortcuts are now user-configurable
• You can now select your party by keyboard (1, 2, 3, etc)
• Added basic Dungeon generating events - random dungeon creation w/reward
• Fix potential crash with certain events on Tiny sized worlds
• Tiny worlds are a little bit bigger
• Multiple rescue quests added
• Treasure hunt quests added
• Artifact quest added
• Custom portraits

 

[Zewp]

I noticed this game on Desura on Friday and immediately had to buy it. I've put in more hours than I'm willing to admit since then.

The only thing that bothers me is some dungeons seem to 'break' halfway through, then you can't finish them. In one two-party dungeon I reached a point where I could go no further until the other party unlocks the ladder to go up a second level, so I parked my party at the trap door where the ladder would come out. When I cleared the other part of the dungeon with the second party and flipped all the switches, the trap door had disappeared. So I couldn't continue playing the dungeon.

 

[warmonger3]

I noticed this game on Desura on Friday and immediately had to buy it. I've put in more hours than I'm willing to admit since then.

The only thing that bothers me is some dungeons seem to 'break' halfway through, then you can't finish them. In one two-party dungeon I reached a point where I could go no further until the other party unlocks the ladder to go up a second level, so I parked my party at the trap door where the ladder would come out. When I cleared the other part of the dungeon with the second party and flipped all the switches, the trap door had disappeared. So I couldn't continue playing the dungeon.

Click near where the ladder would appear. Its actually still there. You can always see its location on the map once you've been near that square.

 

[GrimoireFTW]

how does the targeting work I haven't been able to find any info on that. It seems guys on left auto target monster on left and right targets right. Is there no way to manually target mobs?

 

[WingedPixel]

I noticed this game on Desura on Friday and immediately had to buy it. I've put in more hours than I'm willing to admit since then.

The only thing that bothers me is some dungeons seem to 'break' halfway through, then you can't finish them. In one two-party dungeon I reached a point where I could go no further until the other party unlocks the ladder to go up a second level, so I parked my party at the trap door where the ladder would come out. When I cleared the other part of the dungeon with the second party and flipped all the switches, the trap door had disappeared. So I couldn't continue playing the dungeon.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the game!

Are ladders still disappearing, I thought I'd fixed that? Send me the save game if you can, I'll fix it (and keep an eye out for that problem). Or just click the red bug button in the save game menu when you're in the dungeon.

how does the targeting work I haven't been able to find any info on that. It seems guys on left auto target monster on left and right targets right. Is there no way to manually target mobs?

Nope, no manual targeting. The first few battles have some flashing text to explain this, but I think a lot of people miss that. I'll be adding some "game rules/how to play" screens to the help text soon.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Oh man, I really wanted to play the latest build but the game crashed on me Dunno why, it used to work fine previously.

Hey, WingedPixel, so how did you go about implementing puzzles in your randomly generated dungeons? Any advice/examples from the Codex threads I linked earlier that you used?

 

[WingedPixel]

Oh man, I really wanted to play the latest build but the game crashed on me Dunno why, it used to work fine previously.

Hey, WingedPixel, so how did you go about implementing puzzles in your randomly generated dungeons? Any advice/examples from the Codex threads I linked earlier that you used?

The crash sucks... what plaform? Do you remember the last version you played?

Your links to examples and play throughs were great reference, but I found that implementing puzzles was pretty hard/time consuming. Trying to fit puzzles into a random generator is pretty hard. It proved quite a bit of work to take a puzzle concept and break it down into a extendable pattern than can be reused, and then make sure all variations were solvable, and then test it to make sure it really did work properly.

Certain puzzles really need to define the dungeon layout, where as my dungeon generation scheme was built around the idea of fitting puzzles into an existing dungeon layout.

So puzzles are still pretty limited. Swith & gates for the most part. Teleporters are on the way. I've found obstacles (like auto-map jamming towers) and objects (altars, jails) worked much better with random generation. They add the variety with out the complexity.

That will be a disappointment to some, I'm sure. The experience did leave me with a much better understanding of the issues, so maybe one day there will be a HOBL 2 with more puzzles.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

What you were able to accomplish in little more than 7 months is more than enough consolation.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Oh man, I really wanted to play the latest build but the game crashed on me Dunno why, it used to work fine previously.

Hey, WingedPixel, so how did you go about implementing puzzles in your randomly generated dungeons? Any advice/examples from the Codex threads I linked earlier that you used?

The crash sucks... what plaform? Do you remember the last version you played?

It was a laptop running Win 7 x64. I'm moving to a different machine today though; will see if I get the crash again.

 

[Reapa]

@WingedPixel
you might want to link to you're site in your signature.
plus, desura is stupid. this is what I can buy/download on the site although it says beta 5 is out:

Releases

Heroes of a Broken Land Alpha
Heroes of a Broken Land Alpha Version - Still in development, the Alpha version is not yet finished but fully playable Buy 7,99€ Mac Linux64 Windows
Heroes of a Broken Land Demo

If it's out, where is it? this kind of thoughtlessness can mean the difference between buying or moving on.
Also, there's the demo, but no information on what the demo is restricted to. I'd like to know prior to buying whether the actual game contains more than the demo and more of what. Also, is the demo getting updates as they come out? These are questions I as a potential customer shouldn't have to ask. I don't know who takes care of the stuff shown on desura so I leave it to you to look into that.


EDIT: Loot is quite important for all dungeon crawlers. So I have to know prior to buying whether there are any unique items out there or just random generated loot like in diablo 3.

 

[Zewp]

Sounds to me more like you're just being excessively anal.

Anyway, Winged Pixel, I've been pretty busy with university stuff this week, but I'll upload that saved game and link it to you asap.

 

[Reapa]

Humanity has risen! said:

I think there are problems in the game, I have been in more than one dungeon where I couldn't find a switch to open a door after having been in all other cases.

I'm in a dungeon with two locked doors and no switches left, so I'm guessing switches might get generated inside locked rooms, so i basically can't open a door with a switch that's behind the other door which holds a switch to the first door.
Also, based on the size of the demo in Mb and the size of the game you can buy, I feel like there might be no difference between them. Also I'm playing the demo more than a few hours already and I don't miss anything that would hint at it being a demo.

Edit: found the missing switch - guess I'm blind.

 

[Reapa]

@Zewp
This isn't about me, it's about being successful on the market, and stuff like that just stands in the way.

 

[WingedPixel]

Reapa

Thanks for the feedback.

You're always getting the latest version, regardless of what Desura actually says (give or take a day), but I've updated that text anyways, thanks for pointing it out.

The demo is the full game with limited world settings (smaller) and a level cap - you should get a popup window when you hit level 5 or 6 - other than that it's the full game. It gets updated more or less when the main version does (I don't always update the demo for minor fixes). At least that's what it's supposed to be, I think I may have screwed up and the demo isn't limiting levels currently. Oh well.

There's no unique items, it's all random.