Our second Early Access update brings hero progression and a few quality of life improvements. Read on for all the details!
Hero Progression
New in version 0.7, every time you take a hero into the dungeon she will gain permanent experience to build up her power in future games. After each game you earn check-marks to unlock up to 15 talents for each hero. Each hero has their own progression sheet that persists across all of your games.
Practice makes perfect!
The number and color of check-marks you earn in a game depends on a few factors. You earn one check-mark for descending, one check-mark for leveling up, and three check-marks for defeating a boss. Higher difficulty levels grant bonus check-marks if you reach the boss. The colors you can mark depend on the dungeon. After an easy (one dot) dungeon, you can only check off green circles, after a medium (two dot) dungeon, green circles or yellow squares, after a hard (three dot) dungeon, any colored spaces including red ones.
A blank canvas to be painted...
Once you unlock a talent for a hero it's available to use with that hero starting in your next game. Basic talents can be used in every game. At the start of each game, though, each hero must pick one other focus for that game. Starting skills, basic skills (from the Veteran talent), and talents are shown a little bit differently than regular skills so you can better keep track of your skill limit.
After a while, the Rogue is totally pumped up!
Consequences Preview
During an encounter, the Consequences box at the bottom of the screen shows you what will happen when you press End Encounter. This box includes all active effects, but it's not always obvious where the numbers come from. Now you can hover the pointer over the box to see a detail popup of how that's calculated.
There are Freezing Winds outside, let's go kiting!
Remove Dice Button
At the top of each encounter there is a new button that removes all dice from the challenge boxes and puts them back in the dice pool. This can be handy if you change your mind about your approach to the encounter.
I want that Heroic 4 back and I want it now!
Other Improvements
This update has plenty of other bug fixes and improvements. Here's a list of the notable ones:
Visual Polish:
Added animation for descending
Interactions:
Sharing a screenshot at the end of the game indicates that it was saved to your Steam Library
Info Display:
The current state of the game is shown in the top right corner, and you can click it to see context-sensitive how to play info
Starting skills are made visually distinct from learned skills
Full size hero card shows multiple stat icons instead of a number (like the physical game)
Bug Fixes:
Show Gameplay Hints options checkbox now can be clicked
With 2 heroes, you can now use any number of healing potions at the start of each boss round
If you replace a skill or item during Claim Loot, the game will no longer get stuck on a later Claim Loot
What's Next
We have more big features on the way including a campaign/quest mode, Steam achievements, statistics, limited undo support, and more. Thanks for playing and keep sending in your feedback!
Early Access Update #1: Two-Hero Mode!
The first update of the Early Access period is a big one! Two-hero gameplay and improved skill buttons are the banner features, but there's a lot more. Read on for all the details!
Two-Hero Mode
Now in version 0.6 you can take two heroes together to face the dungeon. The core gameplay remains the same, with a few differences here and there. New gameplay hints will pop up the first time you play in two-hero mode.
It's double trouble for this foe!
Improved Skill Buttons
Both 1-hero and 2-hero mode feature improved skill buttons with iconographic representations of skill & potion effects. More skills can fit on screen (especially in 2-hero mode) and are easier to see. You can still hover the pointer over any skill or potion to read the full text.
Gotta learn 'em all!
Extra Confirmations
We've received a lot of feedback so far, and one notable area of discussion relates to the usage of heroic feats, potions, and skills. In this update we've made some changes to help avoid accidental usage. Now by default, using heroic feats and potions will require two clicks instead of one. You can disable the confirmation click, and also enable it if you like for free skills. The End Encounter button will require confirmation if you could easily cover a challenge box with dice in your pool. Furthermore, we're planning more improvements in this area so that you'll be able to revert decisions in some cases.
Be heroic, if you're sure!
Other Improvements
This first update is chock full of various other bug fixes and improvements. Here's a list of the notable ones:
Audio:
Added musical stinger when the party levels up
Interactions:
If a die is already on a box (but not locked in due to an unfilled armor box), you can drag it off and back into the box properly
More animations obey animation speed option: arranging dice after rolling, exploring, opening door
New Game screen indicates if you haven't selected a dungeon or hero
When choosing between skill options (e.g. Lucky Familiar) the screen dims to focus on that
Improved dice rolling so they will not roll as much towards the bottom of the screen
Hero stat panel highlights on mouseover so it's clear you can click on it
Increased sensitivity on scrolling areas
Esc key opens the menu in-game
When claiming an item/skill as loot, you can replace an existing item/skill even when not at the item/skill limit
Dice are reduced in size to improve placement behavior and other interactions
Info Display:
Improved game layout on widescreen aspect ratios
A visual indicator is shown when Hydra's Reef Poison Aura decreases a die value
Dodge and Kiting show the boss-specific effect while fighting the boss
The meaning of "X" on the Swarm effect and the Minotaur is made more clear
The concept of mana is made more clear in the How to Play screen
The restriction on the die from Mana Fountain is now shown visibly. This and the Armor Crush restriction are shown in How To Play
Improved warning when using skill with invalid dice during a peril encounter
Warnings about item/skill limits are shown before entering a room as well
The dungeon card is accessible to view during the Claim Loot step
The current XP level maximum items/skills and bonus encounter dice are indicated on screen at all times
The details of hero items are shown automatically when claiming loot
Bug Fixes:
Dice rendering improvements when overlapping
Fixed problem where a die could stay small after moving it from a skill button
The restriction on the die from Mana Fountain is now saved properly when you quit/continue the game
Fixed a bug that could occur by pressing Back from the New Game screen and then Continue Game
Fixed a freeze that could occur when there were no heroic dice remaining in the general supply
What's Next
The next big feature coming up is hero progression and campaign mode. It's likely that we'll have a smaller update or two out before that major feature is finished. Thanks for playing and keep sending in your feedback!
Early Access Now Available!
One Deck Dungeon is now available in Steam Early Access!
Steam Early Access is a way to play a game before its retail release. This means the game is still under active development. There will be bugs and there are major features still to be added before the retail release. Having said that, the Early Access version is fully playable with the 5 heroes and 5 dungeons from the core game. Upcoming Early Access versions will add 2-hero parties, character progression, campaign mode, and other improvements.
To celebrate the launch of Early Access we will be previewing some upcoming features tonight at 7 pm Eastern on our Twitch channel. Subscribe and tune in to get the latest direct from the devs!
What's Next?
You can keep an eye on our development progress in several places as we work toward the 1.0 release. Our initial roadmap of major features looks like this, though it is subject to change based on your feedback!
Version 0.5: Released today with single hero gameplay, 5 heroes, 5 dungeons
Version 0.6: Two hero gameplay & improved mini-skill display
Version 0.7: Character progression & campaign mode gameplay
Version 0.8: Steam Achievements & stats
Version 0.9: Initial Treasure Chest content (Phoenix's Den, Fanatic)
???
Version 1.0: Steam Retail release (followed 5 days later by iOS/Android tablet release)
Future: Remaining Treasure Chest content, and who knows what else?
With each notable version we'll post an update here and on our blog. To follow along in more detail, visit the forum and our Trello status board.
You can help us make One Deck Dungeon better by letting us know what you think! Post suggestions & bug reports to the places above or using our contact form.
Have fun in the dungeon and good luck on your adventures!
