Labyrinth Lord the computer game

[kingius]

Highlights from the latest build...


*The sky at night, with stars.
*Clouds in the sky at day and a sun that rises and falls with the time of day. The sun may also be covered by clouds.
*Enemy formations are now depicted graphically on screen and are updated as the enemy die. At the end of each round you see the ranks close if the first rank are now dead.
*Slings and bullets are now in the engine... clerics now finally get their ranged weapon!
*Character classes are now linked to locations. Create Thieves and Halflings at the village, Fighters and Dwarves at the castle, Mages and Elves at the tower and Clerics at the temple.

After hearing an interview with Frank Menzter on the Save or Die podcast I'm going to rework the start of the game to allow the player to begin in a safe area. In particular it was his thoughts on Red Box (old and new) which got me thinking that starting the player with nothing would be just too hard on beginner players.

[kingius]

Highlights from the latest build...



*Animated dice rolling in combat (to hit rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, hide in shadows, move silently) and in character generation (character attributes, hitpoints and starting gold)
*Player gets a choice of four different dice sets (ocean, woodland, sunset and darkness)
*Different dice set (red) used for the enemy
*New medieval font implemented in combat and on the party display window
*Characters are now created in the village (of any class) and not in seperate areas
*Wilderness encounters are now in the engine. Fields and grasslands are safe; all other terrain may contain monsters...
*Rumours are now seeded at the village and the castle.
*The village marketplace now allows party members to sell items.
*The first monster lair, the Goblin Gatehouse, exists!

The game is becoming playable...

[kipper]

*Player gets a choice of four different dice sets (ocean, woodland, sunset and darkness)
*Different dice set (red) used for the enemy

Awesome touch!

Animated dice rolling in combat (to hit rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, hide in shadows, move silently) and in character generation (character attributes, hitpoints and starting gold)

Aren't the thief rolls (for the most part) supposed to be kept secret from the player, so the player always thinks the thief has rolled successfully until it's revealed otherwise?

[kingius]

Yes you are right, absolutely. Maybe I should do that here too. I've implemented it this way because it's currently only possible to perform hide in shadows and move silently while in combat and therefore as part of a back stab option. In that scenario it makes sense to show that the hide failed so it can be retried and the move silently failed hence no double damage. I'm open to a discussion on this aspect, though.

[kingius]

Highlights from the latest build...



* Magic shields can now be found within treasure hoards. The actual number of different magical items that can be found at this point is really very low, shields being the first magical armour type that the game can select to appear in the hoards. Magical items are not found identified and will appear to be normal weapons. Detect magic is your friend!
* A new monster lair - the Kobold caves! This actually displaces the Goblin Gatehouse as being the first monster lair in the game, pushing the Goblin Gatehouse down to number two status. The game is working to a sandbox model so the various monster lairs in the game can be attempted by the player in any order they wish to.
* A second wall set has been added into the engine, a moss covered stone wall set.
* Secret passages are now in the engine and can be searched for while exploring dungeons.
* Giant rats have gnawed their way into the game. Their bite against players has been implemented as a very slow acting poison for now. I aim to change this later to a disease instead, but not before I implement the cure disease spell.

Lots of testing is now beginning so development of new features will likely slow down. The game is in its early stages of playability where things are hanging together correctly. Every test leads to niggly little bugs being fixed like being able to collect 'rat bites' to put in your inventory after killing giant rats.

[JVWest]

This looks great! I'm having flashbacks of Zork and Bard's Tale on my friend's Tandy.

[kingius]

Highlights from the latest build...



A big focus on testing has consumed much of the development time.
Lit torches are consumed upon leaving a dungeon. This is different from the light spell which has a true duration. Resting also consumes a lit torch.
Locked doors are now supported by the engine. Their locks may be picked by thieves or the doors may be broken down by brute force!
The King's Champion patrols near the castle and will ride in to lend a hand against the forces of chaos from time to time...
Characters now have faces that are displayed on their character information screen and in combat. Monsters have faces too and these are used to depict who is acting and against what target.
The character information screen is now styled as a character sheet.
The Medusa is in the game and so characters can now be petrified...

[kipper]

Locked doors are now supported by the engine. Their locks may be picked by thieves or the doors may be broken down by brute force!

Does bashing a door force a wandering monster check? Or cause automatic loss of surprise if failed?

The King's Champion patrols near the castle and will ride in to lend a hand against the forces of chaos from time to time...

What do you mean by this? That he can join your party? Or help out in a combat? Or just that you can meet him as a (friendly?) encounter?

The character information screen is now styled as a character sheet.

Another nice touch!

[kingius]

Does bashing a door force a wandering monster check? Or cause automatic loss of surprise if failed?

Yes bashing the door down forces a wandering monster check per attempt. The chance of being surprised is currently unaffected. I hadn't considered that aspect, maybe I should increase the chances.

What do you mean by this? That he can join your party? Or help out in a combat?

He will join your party for the combat and fight to save you. It's possible (though unlikely) that he could be slain, perhaps against Hill Giants or some other high level nasty, in which case he's out of the game, so it might be prudent to heal him up in a fight if you want to keep him around. Between fights his health is always restored.

[kipper]

Just curious if there's been any recent progress ?