Sep 22, 2018

New Beta Branch Update 0.9.8-a: Legendary weapons + QoL item details & pick up improvements!

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG - Rogue Empire

IMPORTANT: How to try the beta branch?

Steps to try out the beta branch of the game:

In your game library right click on "Rogue Empire -> Properties"
In properties select the "Betas" tab
On the drop down select the version: beta - Beta testing for next release

Legendary Loot Table schema:

At the moment you are guaranteed to get at least 1 legendary item from the first boss you kill. After this the loot chance depends on the amount of legendary items already acquired and the source of loot. From higher to lower chance this is:

Bosses.
Golden chests.
Champions.
Zoo rooms.
Regular chests.
Goo protected rooms.
Regular Monsters

Drop rate might change. Balance to this will absolutely change as I add more legendary gear. Specially I want to guarantee somehow that the class you are playing gets a higher chance to get its fitting gear. Might be through a class quest or some other resource.

New Features

Improved item Compare, pickup and detail display.
Show Items On Floor Key:

Improved Compare:

Detailed pickup:

See https://steamcommunity.com/games/650940/announcements/detail/2693605177456149330 for more info!
Added around 15 legendary unique weapons! You will find several little Easter Eggs on them!
Some previews/spoilers:

Fiery Soul Cutter:

Mal 'Rok's Fury:

Zionite Phase Dagger:

Triger's Axe:

Arobase's Vampiric Broadsword:

See
https://steamcommunity.com/games/650940/announcements/detail/1711819722058306753
for more Info!

Bug Fixes

Fixed issue where on the first time you load a game the weight status would not show properly.
Fixed several smaller issues while I was doing the content update.

Balance

Reduced a little the spawning rate of high spawning dungeons and fixed its tool-tip.
Reduced the weight of magic rations to 0.1s
First aid heal and cool down slightly nerffed.
As always feel free to pop up at discord and discuss with me about whatever you want!

Cheers and happy crawling!
GW

Aug 28, 2018

Version 0.9.5 Released!

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG - Rogue Empire

Ok guys, it is time to merge the beta build to the main/default branch increasing the game version from v0.9.4 to v0.9.5 ːsteamhappyː

Note 1: You might notice this patch is not as big as the previous ones, but there is definitely good stuff inside! Some highlights are new abilities, abilities are drawn now every 2 levels instead of 3, improved keyboard support, Leaderboards and new soul essence perks!

Note 2: Because of some weird restrictions by steam I am not allowed to change the game's price on release without preventing me to put up the release discount (this is supposed to attract a lot). This is why soon I willl change the price (it will go up a little) for the early access version of the game to prepare for this. If you wish to know more feel free to talk to me about it.
UPDATE: It seems steam already approved the price change. If you need to get it on the original price tag please look me up discord, I ll be happy to accommodate you out till it gets out of EA.

Without further ado, here are the main changes ( I might have missed some) introduced into the game:

New Features

Reworked the entire Leaderboards:
- Each difficulty and game type (Eghoss, Dawn of Shadows, Challenge dungeon) have their own category/Leaderboard.
- Global Leaderboards are a thing! 30 spots for each category at the moment!
- Each records show your rank, the soul essence amount (these count as points), the name you used for the record, a small description of your character (name, gender, race, level, location).
- If you stream in twitch, a small icon with a link to your channel will be show up.
- If played in timed mode another icon will appear.
Leaderboards are now accessible from the title screen/main menu.
Because of new abilities added for all classes, you now get to pick new ones every 2 levels instead of every 3. :D
Merchant window has now proper keyboard support.
Level Up window has now proper keyboard support.
Button cursor on windows can now be toggle on and off from the settings window.
Added 6 new active ability that can be learned by all classes.
Added 2 new passive ability that can be learned by all classes.
When in a dungeon a small icon next to the dungeon name will hint at the relative difficulty of the dungeon when compared to your character.
In the world map you will have an idea of the dungeons difficulty by glancing at the small icons next to their entrance. On hovering a popup will give you more info.
Soul Essence perks now display an icon when they unlock new options when acquired.
Added 26 new Soul Essence perks.

Balance Changes

Kick mechanic changed to be a 1 time damage with a guaranteed success. The damage is dependent on the dungeon level and the kicker strength.
All merchants now start with an additional 2500 gold in their pockets.
Buffed moon-crystal shields across the board. This only affects newly generated shields.
Naga wizard lightning bolt spell level reduced.
The detect traps enchantment spell now auto casts on yourself as it was to confusing before.
Assassin and Hunter dodge improving abilities where changed from a multiplicative amount to dodge rating to a flat amount to dodge chance.
Class signature attributes (for example intelligence and spell power for mages) are now guaranteed to have at least a +1 point increase during level up.
All characters and enemies have had its constitution influence on hp increased as well as its signature damage stats influences (str, sp, agl have an increased influence on damage done). This is made so stat increases are more influential.
Most of the poison attacks/abilities from enemies and traps have been buffed to balance out the constitution changes and also make them more of a thread. As part of this change most poisons have a longer duration.
Negative/bad item enchantments where removed from the game (does not affect items already acquired in a current game).
Item modifier formula adjusted so you seem more enchanted items on more dangerous dungeons.
Increased item drop amount across the board. Changed weight of type of items dropped accordingly for balancing purposes.

Bug Fixes

Fixed bug that would prevent to switch the camera shaking option.
Fixed bug where sometimes buttons in the action bar would disabled for use till the game is restarted.
Fixed bug where range weapons would no longer be harder to dodge.
Fixed a bug where character, inventory spell and talent screens button remapping would not work properly.
Fixed a bug where water splash spell would not scale with spell power.
Fixed infamous ring of satiation freeze. Added some safeguard code to hopefully prevent similar situations in the future.
Fixed several typos.
Fixed the location of several 1 way portals in the Dawn of Shadows campaign.

Other

Both spell and abilities windows have a small informative text when not showing a specific spell/ability.
Level 100, 50 and 25 achievements where shifted to be level 50, 40 and 25 respectively.
Portals generated by bosses now will be attempted to be created around them and not under them to avoid being in the same location as the loot dropped by the boss.
Redid keyboard UI navigation.
Moved the rings subcategory in the inventory from "other" to "armors" as it made more sense when using it.
Enchanted gear now stands out when picking it up and when looking at them in the inventory. More to come.
If for any reason your character end up on a none traversable tile, you will now be able to get back to a valid tile.
Changed a little the UI coloring scheme.

As always feel free to pop up at discord and discuss with me about whatever you want!

Cheers and happy crawling!
GW

Aug 22, 2018

New Beta Branch Update 0.9.5-b: New talents! + bug fixes & balance changes

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG - Rogue Empire

IMPORTANT: How to try the beta branch?

Steps to try out the beta branch of the game:

In your game library right click on "Rogue Empire -> Properties"
In properties select the "Betas" tab
On the drop down select the version: beta - Beta testing for next release

Note: I highly recommend to switch to this beta build. Your save files should transition without a problem. I will attempt to release 0.9.5 to the default build by the end of this week.
Something fairly game changing is that you now get to choose new abilities every 2 levels instead of 3 (this means you get 50% more abilities during game play)!

New Features

Added 6 new active ability that can be learned by all classes.
Some Examples (spoiler text under image):

Focus: Guarantees any attack during the current turn to be a critical hit!

Intimidate: allows you to freeze an enemy in fear!
Added 2 new passive ability that can be learned by all classes.
Because of new abilities added for all classes, you now get to pick new ones every 2 levels instead of every 3. :D
Merchant window has now proper keyboard support.
Level Up window has now proper keyboard support.
Button cursor on windows can now be toggle on and off from the settings window.
When in a dungeon a small icon next to the dungeon name will hint at the relative difficulty of the dungeon when compared to your character.
In the world map you will have an idea of the dungeons difficulty by glancing at the small icons next to their entrance.
Soul Essence perks now display an icon when they unlock new options when acquired.
Added 26 new Soul Essence perks.

Bug Fixes

Fixed bug where sometimes buttons in the action bar would disabled for use till the game is restarted.
Fixed bug where range weapons would no longer be harder to dodge.
Fixed bug that would prevent to switch the camera shaking option.

Balance

Kick mechanic changed to be a 1 time damage with a guaranteed success. The damage is dependent on the dungeon level and the kicker strength.
All merchants now start with an additional 2500 gold in their pockets.
Buffed moon-crystal shields across the board. This only affects newly generated shields.
Naga wizard lightning bolt spell level reduced.
The detect traps enchantment spell now auto casts on yourself as it was to confusing before.
Assassin and Hunter dodge improving abilities where changed from a multiplicative amount to dodge rating to a flat amount to dodge chance.
Class signature attributes (for example intelligence and spell power for mages) are now guaranteed to have at least a +1 point increase during level up.
All characters and enemies have had its constitution influence on hp increased as well as its signature damage stats influences (str, sp, agl have an increased influence on damage done). This is made so stat increases are more influential.
Most of the poison attacks/abilities from enemies and traps have been buffed to balance out the constitution changes and also make them more of a thread. As part of this change most poisons have a longer duration.

Other

Both spell and abilities windows have a small informative text when not showing a specific spell/ability.
Level 100, 50 and 25 achievements where shifted to be level 50, 40 and 25 respectively. This will not translate correctly to steam till the changes go up on the default/main build.

As always feel free to pop up at discord and discuss with me about whatever you want!

Cheers and happy crawling!
GW

Aug 14, 2018

New Beta Branch Update 0.9.5-a: Bugfixes, Balance and UI

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG - Rogue Empire

IMPORTANT: How to try the beta branch?

Steps to try out the beta branch of the game:

In your game library right click on "Rogue Empire -> Properties"
In properties select the "Betas" tab
On the drop down select the version: beta - Beta testing for next release

This branch has logs enabled to be more verbose so that I get more info from you guys when you sent them to me (this might make it a little more annoying if you get an error).

Note: Because of some critical bug fixes I highly recommend to switch to this beta build. Your save files should transition without a problem. I will attempt to release 0.9.5 by the end of this week or early next week.

New Features

Portals generated by bosses now will be attempted to be created around them and not under them to avoid being in the same location as the loot dropped by the boss.
Partially reworked keyboard UI navigation. More to come.

Bug Fixes

Fixed infamous ring of satiation freeze. Added some safeguard code to hopefully prevent similar situations in the future.
Fixed several typos.
Fixed the location of several 1 way portals in the Dawn of Shadows campaign.

Balance

Negative/bad item enchantments where removed from the game (does not affect items already acquired in a current game).
Item modifier formula adjusted so you seem more enchanted items on more dangerous dungeons.
Increased item drop amount across the board. Changed weight of type of items dropped accordingly for balancing purposes.

Other

Moved the rings subcategory in the inventory from "other" to "armors" as it made more sense when using it.
Enchanted gear now stands out when picking it up and when looking at them in the inventory. More to come.
If for any reason your character end up on a none traversable tile, you will now be able to get back to a valid tile.

As always feel free to pop up at discord and discuss with me about whatever you want!

Cheers and happy crawling!
GW

Aug 3, 2018

Version 0.9.4 Released!

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG - Rogue Empire

Ok guys, it is time to merge the beta build to the main/default branch increasing the game version from v0.9.0 to v0.9.4 :D

Before we dive into the changes, I wanted to let you know I plan to do a small streaming session on Monday 4pm EST(UTC -5) on Rogue Empire's twitch channel . I will be playing some Rogue Empire but that is just an excuse to do a small meet and greet/Q&A. This is the first time I would do this and If I see a few of you there that would be awesome and I would probably redo this at some other point.

Without further ado, here are the main changes ( I might have missed some) introduced into the game:

New Features

General game play additions:
- Added +16 new “regular” enemies.
- Added 4 type of shadow pylons to the game. These are destructible structures that buff nearby enemies.
- Added a new ability to the hunter’s deck: Dirty Shot
- Added Barricades that impede your movement till destroyed. If in corridors this can cut off an escape or give you some time to engage an enemy coming at you. In the case of outdoor environments something similar comes in the form off Vine Walls.
- Dungeons now have fenced walls characters can see through. These walls let through ranged and spell attacks! Dungeon forming algorithm tries to put these in interesting spots.
- Resting inside a closed (or even better a locked) room highly reduces the chance of getting spotted and interrupted by an enemy.
- Added the spell Dimensional Shatter: Does a lot of damage to summons. The hit points reduced from the victim then feedback to the summoner damaging him!
- Added the spell Raise Vine Wall: Raises vines in a 3 x 3 radius to trap the target in a wall of vines.
- Added the spell Bark Skin: Hardens the target skin, granting additional armor rating!
- Added the spell Flame Bolt: Single target fire spell that costs less mana than the fireball but does no AOE.
- The Green blob enemy is now... more unique.
- The Blue blob enemy is also... more unique.
- Added potions of unfreeze and quelch fire. "Warning: only use when intended ;)"
- Archer enemy type AI was improved: Enemy will try to figure out where is the best place to shoot at you as well as try to get at least 1 shoot at you before you can engage in melee. Range characters should not notice much difference, except the enemy will try to get in firing range instead of running away if out ranged.
Quality Of Life Additions
- Hitting the level change key binding when cycling(tabbing) through exits now navigates your character to the corresponding exit.
- Improved auto explore. Locked doors you can pass by should be now ignored.
- Added the option to skip leaderboards when dying.
- Battle texts now have 3 modes: Disabled, classic (Similar to what was now but a little faster and less obstructive) and modern (very compact but also gives more information revealing the direction of attacks).
- In game log text was improved.
- Level up screen now shows the amount of current stats you have for easy comparison.
- Level up gold focus option now shows the exact amount you will be getting (which is rolled when you level up.
- Restore from previous backup tool: This is mainly a just in case tool that I hope you won’t need to use. The tool enables you to restore a game to a previous state (a previous level you were exploring). This is done when loading a game using the wrench icon. Important to know is this operation cannot be undone so don't use it unless you are sure your game is broken.
- Games now can be saved in a compressed mode which is enabled by default (you can change this in settings). It is recommended you run with this mode as saving uses a fraction of the space it used to and will sync much faster in steam.
Graphical related improvements
- Updated the game's font to be mono spaced.
- Improved the grass and ruins theme tile set.
- When dying you now see your character shatter and its soul fly away. ;)
- Critical hits now have a specific special effect to them.
Dawn of Shadows Campaign: You can now complete the main game. Balance might be off. If you do beat it let me know what you thing of the ending you achieved and if the message I tried to transmit made any sense ;).
- The Elven Shadow Tower with its boss encounter is now accessible in the Dawn of Shadows Campaign.
- Added a the lava/hot tile set skin for a late game dungeon of the Dawn of Shadows campaign.
- Added 11 new story sections for the main campaign with its unique beautiful illustrations.
- Added a new mid game "town" to the world map with specific merchants.
- Added a late game "town".
- A total of more than 30 new dungeon levels where added to the Dawn of Shadows campaign
- Added a new boss that acts as the gate keeper to the final dungeon .
- Added several new random encounters on the world map.
- Added the final? boss of the Dawn of Shadows (main) campaign.
- Added multiple endings to the Dawn of Shadows (main) campaign.
IMPORTANT: Ongoing games won’t have access to all new areas mainly because the worl map as a whole changed a little.
Challenge Dungeon
- Added a new type of stacked challenge to the challenge dungeon: Faster enemies .
- 1 new stacking option to the challenge dungeon. This is: Average Amount of pylons

Balance Changes

Changed xp formula to make leveling more spread out. Changed dungeons in the campaigns accordingly. This will affect ongoing games.
Some type of champions (high dmg ones and high speed ones) will only appear later in the game.
Rats in crates and barrels no longer have a first strike on you.
Rooms where a character enters a dungeon by regular means (e.g. stairs, two way portals) shall generate much less enemies.
Armor penalties for casters and stealth users are now based on the equipped weight. UI was updated to show your current equipped weight.
Some enemies have had their mana pool increased.
Reduced disarm duration from 4 to 3 turns.
Enemies do not aggro at each other over friendly AOE fire anymore.
Reduced fast champion archetype speed and damage as these where able to one shot unprepared travelers to easily.
Range attacks now can fire through other entities towards the target. How ever doing so comes with a penalty to the to hit rating modifier in the case of ranged weapons.
Made challenge dungeon slightly bigger and with more enemies to compensate for the previous patch level slowing at start.
By popular demand, you will now see a status effect icon when somewhere on the current the magician merchant shows up!
You can no longer get robbed by resting.
Dodge chance now depends on the attacker's perception and fate. In general dodged has been reduced on higher levels to avoid constant dodging. Also make perception more valuable in general.
Low level champions now won't have new abilities only stat increases.
Higher level champions will have more hp.
Low tier enemies eventually can level up spells if encountered in high level dungeons.
On higher level dungeons low tier enemies will drop less powerful items. On the other hand high tier enemies will drop more powerful items.
Item prices where re balanced.
Restocking from the same merchant appearance increases in cost with every restock.
Chests have higher chances to be unlocked in low tier dungeons. The opposite is true for higher tier dungeons.
Player summons now get destroyed when exiting a level.
The amount maximum summons a summoner can maintain in a level now depends on the square root of the summoner's level. This can be change with an ability for the mage.
Ring of speed modifiers where reduced. This change only affects new rings found.
Buffed up human druid starting weapon.
Because of their high hp pool bosses got their hp regeneration reduced to 1/3.
Hunters now start with the "create ammo I" skill.
Nature regeneration duration improved greatly for lower levels of the spell.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where some holes would crash the game by making the character fall off the screen on the next level.
Added some improvement to memory allocation within each rendering frame in hopes to help with the memory issue some are having.
You should no longer go swimming in the world map.
The game should be in general more stable.
Fixed auto explore when sometimes it would freeze having all reachable areas explored.
Volley of Knifes now correctly targets crates and barrels when they are the only target available.
Fixed freeze issue when hitting enter to using potions from the inventory.
Armor effects for spell casters and characters with stealth are now shown immediately when loading a game.
Fixed issue where flare shot was making a stealthed character unstealthed indefinitely in the area of the flare shot.
Fixed bug where the mage's brew potion ability would always generate the same potion.
Eghoss campaign final boss now won't teleport right after a focus blow.
Just being out of sight is not enough to start resting.
Fixed bug where sometime enrage would not trigger for enemies.
Fixed achievement issue that prevented them to show on steam.
Fixed sound issue with frost traps.
Spawning to a new dungeon level should now properly avoid a place where the character would be surrounded.
Fixed issue where AI would cast wind shield on barrels.
Fixed issue where champions where getting too much additional damage.
Fixed several typos.

Other

Armor effects for characters with stealth is shown always regardless of if the character is currently in stealth.
The game should be running in borderless window mode now.
Most off view abilities should be executed instantly now.
Resting is disallowed on world map now.
Frame rate default is now 30 fps.
Game disk size reduced around 30%.
Memory usage reduced around 70%.
Map transition speed improved by around 10% to 60% depending on your hardware.
Game performance improved considerably.

As always feel free to pop up at discord and discuss with me about whatever you want!

Cheers and happy crawling!
GW