Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Indie
Dungeon Looter
Minor patch 1402
This is tuning/improvement patch from various community's feedback.
Database changes
- Player accel 3 > 5 (+66%) This should reduce 'sluggish' feeling most player had with movement. Previously, on clean slate profile, chracter will need 1.23 sec to accel to max speed, now it will use 0.74 sec. Upgrading 'Movement Speed' skill to max will push this value up to 7. Using dash will still be a part of crucial control when you want to quickly get out of damage radius, for example.
- Dash max speed add +0.7 > +1.4 (+100%) - Dash kick start movement speed at 50% > 70% - Dash stamina drain rate 7/s > 9/s Make the dash action has more obvious max speed boost but consume a bit more stamina. Dash speed gained from perk is nerfed a bit to balance with this adjustment.
- Player turn speed 225deg/s > 270deg/s (+20%) For ranger/mage to flip and shoot easier.
- Player inventory item slot count 24 > 30 Add one more row to player item bag, as player upgraded their max carry weight they will instead hit with this slot count limit, so upped it a bit.
- Increase attack push force when player is running Enemies will be pushed farther when you run and attack. Each weapon got a varying gain, the most gain are with large sword (0.1x > 0.5x) and spear (0.2x > 0.6x) Although this sounds fun but if it is too high and it will make player harder to follow with next combo.
- Barrel bomb does extra damage to buildings +60% > +100% Make it easier to break through barricade in mission.
- Mage mana ammo weight 0.02 > 0 - Mage mana ammo max stack 999 > 9999 Allow Mage to stock mana ammo easier.
- Ranger Arrow (crafted version) weight 0.07 > 0 This follows Mage mana ammo adjustment. Note that this only applied to crafted version (digital) obtained from skills, normal arrow still weight the same.
- Reduce content of floor chests On early patch, chest was very rare to spawn and spawn in specific room only. Now chest spawn more, even up to 3 per floor, so reduce content inside a bit.
- Reduce Diver license level loot point curve Reduce overall graph a bit for players to unlock early model/voice packs faster. For example, previously, player will need 600 LP (loot points) to unlock license LV3 which unlocks first model pack. Now it will use only 300 LP. Existing players will get their level rounded to nearest new level, so you will see a slight jump in license level.
- Adjust class EXP percent at the end of the run - Base for normal mode 6% > 7% - Bonus for playing in online room 1% > 2% This would make player gain class EXP a bit faster. Note that there are various bonuses to help in this such as complete the run without dying, etc. Or increase the room difficulty to spawn more enemies, thus more exp.
- Adjust final boss barricade minigame (green orb) - Base HP 8600 +50% per extra player > HP 7600 +35% per extra player - Fix game sometimes does not clear existing enemies when re-enter this room Because this minigame was not balanced in higher adjusted difficulty
- Adjust final boss minion summon when stunned - Previous 2 + 1.5 per extra players > now 3 + 1.5 * extra This would make it a bit harder for solo at difficulty 1.
Technical changes
- Change game version display format From something like 0.11.1-1234 to just 0.11.1234 The game version nickname will still be refer to as 'v1234' as usual.
- Add new control preset "Mouse+QER" Instead of using ZXC as skill shortcut, use QER instead. Interact button moved to F. This will become new default key binding on new profile. Your existing one will use your old one, opt in to this new control in option menu.
- Town screen will now show a condition on how to unlock each model/voice
- Fix NullReferenceException found in cloud error reporting Those errors could be popping up in various places.
- Final boss (floor 9) - Fix hot joining an in-progress game at floor 9 will halt the boss AI - Adjust final boss trap minigame to not generate turrets in start and end room - Adjust final boss that it will try not to pick same minigame from last one
- Game will test if it can write to save folder in the title screen And will warn player if there is something blocking it from saving the game. This was from the case reported in the forum, which could be due to some anti-virus program. It would require user's attention to fix this. So I decided to report it right from get go rather than having player continue and lose their save. It looks like this, enough to scare you ;) ?
- Fix joining a game using TCP/IP There was typo in join (invite) code that make join code unusable.
This change will be live on both main game and DEMO.
If you see any bugs, please report them in the forum! ːsteamhappyː
Thank you for launch week + next plan
Thank you for everyone giving Dungeon Looter a go. Include those who played the demo. The launch week has passed (14 Oct - 24 Oct) without serious incident! Except some naughty and embarrassing bugs.
Launch week wrap-up
Although I have been in Game Dev industry for 8 years, doing this and that for game studio, I got kinda excited launching my first own game. It is like you were doing babysitter work for someone else kids, then you have to raise up your very own children and watch them grow.
Here are some interesting launch week statistics, If you are not a game dev this might mean nothing to you but it might give you some idea how much you have to go through if you are launching a game on Steam, where almost 100 games are added every day. (big game, small game, shovelware, everything you name it)
A 7-players room was quite the brawl!
Launch week sales was 100 units
(net, refunds excluded)
TBH I launched Dungeon Looter with 0 marketing! (bad practice, don't copy this) Part of it was because my own experiment how Steam AI give you the traffic and plus I wanted to start small.
Normally on pre-launch period, you should do marketing in any kind of form like posting a funny gif on twitter/reddit, or outsourcing streamers to play your game, etc etc.
For reference, well marketed indies would break 100k units in first week.
Most traffic came from Discovery Queue
If you never heard of it, it is like Tinder where Steam show you a random selection of games.
For me, I never used this feature myself as I'm always search the game by the name or tags. So this let me know that handful of people used this and it proved its usefulness.
More secondary source is tag genre search, I used this too, I searched for new co-op game to play with my friends back in the day. But it was not much reliable, showing cs:go, dota as top co-op. (kinda, but they're PVP bruh!) I mean I wanted REAL co-op game. I think the pure co-op deserve to have its own genre tag not sharing with those PVP game.
Return rate (refund) was 18%
That was understandable as the game has an old school feeling to it and might not appeal to everyone.
Or some people just wanted to try. (against that 2 hours timer always make your heart racing isn't it?)
whisper* Or they could try demo for no time limit, just sayin'...
FYI healthy game return rate would be around 5-10%
Moving next
The next update (v0.11) is planned to be content addition. +1 new dungeon theme and +1 new class. ETA is expected around Jan+ of 2023.
New theme being working on
The hard mode will still have to wait, Also I considered to add new moves to enemies and boss too, not just tweeking the database value to make it stronger, so that's extra layer of work for every dungeon and enemies I have released. It is deserved to be on its own one big update. It also does not benefit new players.
That's all for now.
ːsteamhappyː Take care, Wappen Games.
(Comment thread associated with event announcements is turned off for better bookkeeping, If you’d like to discuss the content of this post, please make a new thread on Steam forum!)
Minor patch 1370
Fixes
Buying from town shop will instead increase your $$$!
Oh boy, I'm super embarrassed, that was not how economics works! This was due to code typo on code cleanup. o<-<
Minor 0.10.9-1369 patch
Current version 0.10.9-1369
Fixes
Fix an error that could happen when you enter skill dialog with invalid class data.
Fix a graphical glitch where lava stage will not displayed correctly.
Btw, I have seen some player played with 5120x1440. Although I'm aware that such large screen setting exists but I must confess that I did not test the game thoroughly with all resolutions. So I just did a quick boot to check (with in-editor setting of course, not a real monitor). It is so wide that it is almost cheating! Fortunately the game didn't break! That's all I wanted to know. But if you spot something funny in your own playthrough, drop us some message in the forum.
Minor 0.10.9-1366 patch
Current version 0.10.9-1366
Fixes
Fix an error that could happen when generating final boss maze-switch minigame due to generator cannot fit a teleporter.
Fix an error that could happen when mage summon a third mana wall and game auto kill the first one due to limit, trigger an error in health bar UI.
Minor 0.10.9 patch
Current version 0.10.9-1363
Fixes
(CRITICAL) Switch sometimes generated inside other object, unable to use, making the floor become soft-locked.
Fix hot join players will have all equipment unequipped even though you equipped them from the town.
Tuning
Adjust balance for ranger and mage AOE skills.
Minor 0.10.8 patch
0.10.7 -> 0.10.8
Bugs
Fix item with upgrades will restore incorrectly when use continue attempt on a floor.
Early Access Launch + Demo Updated
Dungeon Looter is coming to Steam Early Access (EA) this weekend!
The EA phase will be lacking content depth but it has full game loop. Here is some example on what you can do:
3 dungeon themes (randomized each run) + Final boss theme to finish the game loop
Around 4 type of enemies per theme = total ~16 types
3 main classes (Adventurer, Ranger, Mage)
5 main weapon strategy (Sword, Knife, Spear, Bow, Magic wand)
Online co-op with your friend, or joining the public room (if you don't mind the wilderness of the internet)
Room size can be up to 12* players (*game host must have good connection, large game will be smoother with TCP/IP)
Some upgrade to unlock in home base, which worth 10+ runs at least.
If you look for higher challenge, for now you can try higher difficulty like playing "3 or 4 players" settings on solo, etc. (hard mode will come later)
Current game state will serve as a foundation for future content such as new environments, enemies, game mode, or mods, which will eventually added along the way. For example, with some effort I can add a totally new game mode like PvP or making parody game mode on today meta genre MOBA, battle royale or auto survival. (just an idea, would be nice but it will be in the distant future)
Before you make a purchase decision
Reminder, you can again try the DEMO version which is also updated to reflect new tuning/balance/bug fixes from the main product. Download it now and try with your friends for free! And it has online co-op up to 4 seats.
Small FAQ section
More like a chitchat section...
Q: What will be EA roadmap?
I don't have a solid slideshow to present here, simply put, the plan is to fix critical gameplay or technical problems reported by community, then adding contents towards full release scope, modding and new game mode will be somewhat lower priority after that.
Q: Not my cup of tea
I'm aware that Dungeon Looter will have some barrier of entry, not everyone will 'click' with our game design, that's also why the DEMO version exists. Game formula can still evolve. To tell you the truth 1 year ago was worse than this to the point that our internal testers complained, but now it is getting better with each feedback iteration.
In the long run, if public modding system comes, I'm sure some community-tuned gameplay formula might even better than mine, I'm not the best game designer but I do adapt to the feedback.
Q: I see a lot of ready-made store assets?
While I felt embarrassed as they are not original, for solo developer, I do have to rely on them for now, art asset is one of my weak field to tackle. I also tried my best to modify some of them rather than using them as-is from the package. And yes I do get that tingling feeling too when I see other indie game using exact same asset pack. (It is like A-HA! moment)
Q: Discord?
I think I won't be able to meet the expectation of managing/moderating/active/keeping everyone happy on the discord server. If it is going to be a inactive one, I prefer not to have one. Let's use Steam forum for now. (although a bit inconvenient that it cannot post images, but doable with external site like imgbb) I will try my best to reply to every comment as my schedule allow.
---------------------------------------- We hope to leave Dungeon Looter in your consideration!
ːsteamhappyː See you in dungeon! Wappen Games.
2022 New DEMO Update
Dungeon Looter is getting some redesign as stated in last post. The preview of new design are now LIVE in demo. Get it in the game store page now.
New design
The New Economic
Before, there was no real concept of currency, player just trade out their stuff for something new, you don't actually get the payout or change in form of currency.
Now, you can sell items you got from dungeon for money (the new eco) just like everyone would expected from a average RPG game.
Currency is then used in item shop or upgrade shop.
Roguelike Perk
This was something I planned for some time after the EA but I decided that it would be more healthy to put it now. As you can already guess, the perk add up during the run and reset when start a new run.
More minor improvement
Such as highlighting enemies and players, boxes loot which you can destroy, which sometimes hard to spot when they are behind the wall.
Current state of full game
4 theme dungeons + Final boss, game can now complete in full loop. (DONE)
New design (New eco, roguelike perk) as seen in new DEMO (DONE)
Composing BGM for last theme and last boss.
Last mile polishing (tuning, credit and acknowledgement screen, tuning reward for career mode, etc)
Trivial Chat
The game is going in good direction and so far I'm satisfied with it.
During the 7 months from last demo release that I keep tuning the game to be more 'FUN' for me is really a pitfall, because when I looked back it makes the game harder. When I'm using the that database with this new DEMO and let new player test it, it was already absurdly hard and not enjoyable at all. Now I have to re-tune everything in database (sweat).
Looking at how each popular game like Left4Dead set the bar for their 'Normal' difficulty, I just realized that it has to be 'absurdly easy' in veteran player's eyes. In Left4Dead Normal mode you can take a beat from horde of zombies with ease, there are more room in making dumb mistake, you have 100 HP while normal zombies do only like 1-2 HP in this mode.
While in my game, player had 300HP on start and most basic enemy "Bone Skeleton" hits you for ~35 damage, so you only take 8-9 hits to bite the dust, not to mention that if you encounter 2 of them that's now only 4 hits from each of them! Even faster death. That would surely transform into awkward rage quit for new player who is going to try my game.
Now that I've learned from this, from now on when I'm testing for myself, I have to offset extra player into the game, like I'm playing on 4-players setting while I'm solo-ing it. That's more or less make it better! Better for me and new player!
(Image: Content of the same wave for Left: 1 player setting, Right: 4 players setting)
That's all for now.
ːsteamhappyː Take care, Wappen Games.
Plan for 2022 and EA release
Dungeon Looter demo has been released for 5 months and a handful of players (~200) had played it. As the game matured and more feedback received, the game design itself is revealed to be a bit too troublesome for some player to enjoy. Thus:
Plan for 2022
Dungeon looter will receive a partial redesign such as confusing game eco, rouguelite-ness of the game, etc. The combat gameplay will stay the same as you saw in demo.
Sell items you got from dungeon for money (the new eco)
The final destination is a bit... plot twist?
What's left?
4 theme dungeons to be released in EA. (DONE)
Final boss to end the expedition loop. (DONE)
Hard mode and 4th class (-> not in EA, postpone to later update)
Basic bot AI players to run along with you (pending)
Core partial redesign (NEW)
There are only couple of checklist left before going into EA, but they are not trivial. Hope I can get through them without much problem.
Expected release date for EA?
As redesign has factored in, I would looking at around mid 2022. ːsteamsaltyː
