v0.12 - A Whole New World

I am pleased to announce that Glyphscape (v0.12) has been submitted to the DOS Games July 2024 Jam. There are still quite a few bugs in this build so I do not consider this a true “release”, but the deadline for the jam approaches soon and overall the game is vastly improved from where it was at 0.11.

The first most visible difference is that I have increased the size of the auxiliary screens to take full advantage of the typically large PC monitor. Rather than simply holding buttons, they now provide a variety of information panes for quick reference.

The previous UI design assumed a small phone screen, and menus had to be displayed one at a time. In this new configuration, all of the information a player might need is available at a glance.

The difference is evident when comparing the left and right panels in the above screenshot. The right panel follows the old UI style, and the left side uses a system of layered ASCII similar to how the core game operates.

I have also improved the weapon art to make full use of the block and diagonal characters in layers. The difference here is huge. Now the weapons look like weapons! I still need to overhaul the apparel art, which currently looks very bad in comparison to the weapons.

The next most substantial change is that I have removed every single aspect of procedural generation from the world. What began as a procedural roguelike has scope-crept its way into a completely new genre.

For a while, the world was mostly procedural, with a few handmade landmark dungeons. I discovered that the handmade content was consistently more interesting to play, so I have been toiling for the last several months to adapt the game systems to provide a more consistent and measured experience.

There is a single world to explore, with many interconnected and secret routes so that players are rewarded for paying attention to cues from their environment and the hints of friendly NPCs. A 50-year history was written to serve as a foundation for Glyphscape's story. More on that later...

The game loop is best described as a turn-based souls-like (lite?) RPG. Monsters are reset and resources are replenished whenever the player sleeps in a bed. Upon dying, the gathered experience is dropped on the ground, and any existing XP on the ground is removed. Observant players are rewarded with hidden paths to shortcuts, secret loot, and unique items.

More updates are to come on this build to fix up the remaining bugs. If you decide to give this version a try, I greatly appreciate any and all feedback!