Old news
5.Jul.2008
Hi again, it's time to look at Frozen Depths' future a bit now after the release. First of all, the release went well. All version are working and during the first week only one reproducible bug was reported, but it's nothing game breaking. Just a small exploit, plus it should be very uncommon/hard to find for most players and the benefit isn't huge, so there is no need to hotfix it. One unreproducible bug was reported as well, and unfortunately it is a crash bug. If it's a bug. The circumstances were a bit dubious, and since I haven't been able to reproduce it, I'll declare it a possible bug until someone else reports the same. In case it is a bug, it's a rare one. So if anyone else's game quits/crashes when you press s (to sell) when chatting to a sage, report it immediately so that I know if it really is a bug and not just the reporting user's computer acting strange.
Moving on, as many of you can guess, the next version isn't coming out any time soon. It might even take more than a year if I'm unlucky. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't send the suggestions how to make it better or requests for features, because the development isn't going to die for good. It just goes into hibernation mode again, and when it comes back, it needs a long list of what to add next.
Unfortunately I can't answer questions immediately from now on either, probably in a long time, so if you send a message and don't get a reply in a few days, it doesn't mean I hate you. I will answer sooner or later, just be patient. The delay could be even two weeks at worst. But this shouldn't stop you from sending the messages either.
That should be everything. Good luck on your adventures and have a better summer than I will!
27.Jun.2008
Hello everyone, it's that day again! The release day. And it has again been almost a year since the last release day, quite accurately 11½ months. If you read the previous news entry you know that I didn't plan to prolong the development time this much, but sometimes the brown stuff hits the fan unexpectedly. But enough of the past, 1.03 is here! You can read the full list of changes here, it's not quite as long as the big update last year, but there should be many great changes that make the game more diverse. Reading the list of changes is again extremely recommended if you want to get the full benefit of the changes and stay up-to-date with what's what.
Some of the highlights of this version include: The first Macintosh version (a big thanks to Dana Larose for compiling it!), rejoice Mac players! It's untested on PPC at the time of writing, but it might very well run on that architecture too. If a PPC player tries it, do let me know if it works or not so that I can confirm it. I'll add the note to Mac players here too: You have to configure your terminal to support at least 16 colors if you want the game to work correctly. Don't ask me how, though, I'm not a Mac user. Moving on, the next highlight would certainly be the two new very distinct dungeon generators (you'll encounter these after the first 10 floors, after which the game starts getting a lot more interesting): a cavern generator and a corridor heavy generator that might resemble a maze a bit, but it's not as annoying to navigate in.
The balance is a lot better in this version, for example the later bosses aren't pushovers anymore and the late game is a bit easier thanks to the new passive skills and the fact that there are slightly less monsters on the deeper floors than before. This version should also be even more newbie friendly, don't be afraid to recommend it to new roguelikers that might not be ready for the major games' complexity. There's also a new Sage-like service provider, the deep smith, and with him a new item type: material. The smith can exchange material, craft items from your materials and repair your items. All of these services cost gold, naturally, but you can decide the size of the payment when crafting or repairing, and the quality of the work depends on this too. In addition to these the game is again a lot more polished and full of other smaller changes that you can check from the list of changes.
With these forewords I wish you luck on your adventures in the frost covered Depths! Be sure not to forget to report any bugs you find, any suggestions you have or especially any comments you'd like to make. I'll be waiting for those, but now I'll let you head to the Downloads page.
Have a good day.
2.Jun.2008
Woah. It's been quite a while since the last update. It's about time I let you guys know I'm not dead and nor is this project. Quite a lot of stuff has happened during this break, I haven't been just lazy. Unfortunately some of my plans have also been delayed or completely destroyed. I'll try to write a recap of what has happened and why this update is so late. My plan was to update the site already a few months ago.
Starting from the very beginning, when I released 1.02 I wanted to take a small break from Frozen Depths and play around a bit with graphics and networking. I finished the initially planned part of the project (nope, there's nothing worth showing at least yet) already before December, though I've now planned some more fun features for that project, but that will have to wait. A lot, most likely.
So what did I do after finishing that project? Started developing Frozen Depths, of course! I got into a coding spree in December and early 2008 and was making great progress. I didn't update this website, because I kinda wanted the release to be a small surprise, before summer and all. As you now know, something screwed the plan and I didn't release it before the summer.
When there was only one feature left in the to-do list, I hurt my right wrist, and obviously coding with one hand is very slow, so I didn't feel like it. This happened somewhere around March, during my final exams. What a great timing. Thanks to the exams, the wrist wasn't able to heal and probably got a bit worse too, so I spent the next month healing the wrist. Then my summer job began and that left me with no time to code. Also, I managed to hurt my other wrist too during the month long job, but that healed a lot quicker, though at the same time the other wrist didn't heal as quickly, but it wasn't that bad. Now I'm on summer holidays again, with a healthy wrist and a nearly perfectly recovered one. I can type with both hands.
After the series of unfortunate events, I'm now going to finish the next version during June, and release it before the second week of July at most, since I can't code after that in a long time thanks to a particularly stupid obligation that concerns Finnish men. I'll even try to find a Macintosh person to compile the game for Mac users, I've received enough requests about porting to Mac to know it's worth it. Other key features of 1.03 include two new very distinct dungeon generators, better balance across the board, new skills, more beginner friendliness, some subtle crash bug fixes and a lot of polishment of the old features. There are even unconfirmed rumours of a Nethack/Crawl-like telnet server for Frozen Depths. A month isn't a lot of waiting after the almost 11 month wait, so try to survive that long before you can delve again into the even cooler caverns of ice!
Have a warm summer and a good night.
28.Aug.2007
Good morning. Time for a small report of the current version and the future development. The current version has received more publicity and more downloads in the same amount of time than any of the previous releases, this progress is very good. The little fix earlier repaired pretty much all the bugs, there *might* be one cosmetical bug remaining, but at least no one has reported bugs that affect the gameplay. Very good.
And then the future. Summer is pretty much over and schools have begun already. Luckily this term is a bit lighter than the previous one (I couldn't practically code anything back then). But there's something else this time. I'll be working on a small graphical game when I have time to code. And it really is small, won't take years to finish like this one, but I have to pause the development of Frozen Depths while I work on that. But that doesn't mean I won't be writing down ideas for the next version, and it shouldn't stop you from sending me suggestions for the next version! You won't see the next version soon, but the ideas grow even during this break. Hopefully I'll return even more eagerly back to Frozen Depths' development after this graphical project is finished. Until then updates here won't be very regular as there is nothing to talk about really.
Anyway, have a great late Summer (unless you live in the southern hemisphere)!
23.Jul.2007
Hello again. So far the feedback has been, again, very positive. Also, a few bug reports have appeared, thanks for those, since one of them is nearly critical and another very annoying. And that's why I've decided to upload an updated version of 1.02 (the version number didn't change). The next version isn't coming out any time soon, so I don't want a flawed version to be the current one. This fix update will be a silent one, as I won't be advertising it a lot, and the few changes don't concern all players.
And the changes. Wraith's damage was insanely high and health too low, this has been fixed. Dual wielding was a bit bugged, as you didn't hit twice if your first try was a hit. There were also some minor additions to the manual, and the starting skills' SP costs are shown correctly in the skill menu now.
So, if you think you can get near the 40th floor or like dual wielding, you should update your version. Old save files work perfectly with this, and you have no reason to delete your scores, so just overwrite the old files with these. I'd like to thank everyone who have played and enjoyed the game, and of course those who are still on their way to the Download page. Good luck in the Depths!
(Note: You may have to clean your browser's temporary files if you can't download the updated file. Check the VersionInfo.txt, scroll to the end of the changes of version 1.02 and if there are 4 new changes marked with + sign, you know you have the updated file. If there are no 4 new changes, clean the temporary files and try again.)
13.Jul.2007
Whee! It's here! 1.02 is finished! I planned to release it three days ago, but the final polishing took a bit longer. I guess 3 days isn't that much after almost a full year of development, as the previous version was released in August 2006. The development was very slow or non-existent at times and I didn't even add any big new features, but then again the list of changes is rather long too.
You should read the whole list of changes, you don't want to miss, for example, the new way of uncursing your whole equipment, but I'll mention a few of the bigger changes. New special things, like unidentified items, prefixes, ailments, described floors, scroll effects and traps. A lot of new monster special things, also the bosses have now their own special skills. Reduced the skill requirements and SP costs a lot, improved the quick move, unknown B/C/U status in inventory is represented by a gray color now, added a quick weapon swap and changed the warmth system too. And a lot of other smaller changes that you'll want to check.
After you've checked the length of the list of changes, you can be pretty sure that there are new bugs hiding behind the icy rocks. I've done a lot of play testing myself, but I can't find them all alone, and nor should I. So, it's up to you to find if there are more bugs, at the moment there are no known bugs. Send me a message without hesitation, bug reports, feedback and random thoughts are all welcome, as always. But now I'll let you get back to the Depths. Click the Downloads and have fun!
5.Jun.2007
Just a quick update for now. My Summer holidays began yesterday and I started coding today. Luckily coding didn't feel troublesome at all. I'll continue tomorrow and keep going until this version is finally finished. Hell, it's about time really. I can't give an estimated time of arrival yet, but I can assure you that development is a lot more active now!
13.May.2007
Bah. Just bah. This last period has proven to be a lot more demanding than I thought. Just guess what that means for the development. The only thing I've managed to do is some planning. I've designed most of the special stuff that I'm going to add, but I need to invent a few more things to be satisfied. And that's about it. I feel lazy.
My Summer holidays begin in less than a month and I really hope I can then finally finish this version. Unfortunately I can't add anything in May thanks to the last few essays and exams. I hope your May is a bit more productive. See you in about a month.
9.Apr.2007
Heya. The previous two weeks were full of exams and the last period begins tomorrow. Also the new real-time strategy game Supreme Commander has been eating my leisure time rather efficiently, I'm afraid. (I'm already the 650th player on the ladder and going up!). That means I couldn't add anything major this time, but now everything on the to-do list is bound to the non-generic items, skills, etc. that I have to add. I had to add a primitive spam protection to the contact page though. I've been waiting for this and now the spammers finally found me.
Something else happened during the last month despite the slow development. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the message. One brave hero managed to beat the game! Using his sharp blade and even sharper wit, he is the first person to beat the game. I was 100% sure that the current version is too hard to beat. But he proved me wrong. Congratulations to that person!
11.Mar.2007
Usually I write the update earlier, but this time I had the holiday week, so I decided to delay it a bit. I added something every day during the holidays, which is, needless to say, great for the development. The changes weren't very important for all players, but still too important to ignore. For example, playing as an archer is a bit faster now with the new arrow auto pick feature. I should also tell you about the new Goddess' feature. She can now uncurse your equipment if you pray when you have full hp, no ailments and no temperature problems. As always, there were many smaller changes too, but they aren't worth mentioning here. You'll see them when this version is finished.
Now after the holiday week the to-do list is a lot shorter. Only three things! Three isn't a big number, but all the remaining things are slow to code. In addition, I still have to create many non-generic items, skills, special stuff and so on. Maybe the next version is out before Summer. But this isn't a promise! Just a hopeful wish. I haven't got any extra holidays before Summer, but I hope I can code the remaining things slowly and steadily during the weekends. Now how should I say "See you" this time... Hey! I know! See you.
5.Feb.2007
Good afternoon. Let's take a quick look at the last month's development. I thought a month ago that I would be able to code a lot now. I've been babbling a lot about school's effect on the development and I guess there is no end to it. Two teachers surprised me again with essays, so I had to use two weekends on them. Luckily I could code quite well on the free weekends, for example the skill system is now a lot better. I dropped the requirements and SP costs a lot, which should make them a lot more usable. Aside from that, I added a new command: quick use skill. You can now set a quick skill and then spam it without opening the skill menu. Of course there were other smaller changes too, but that's the most important part for this month.
We shall see how well I can code in the next period, as our school period is about to change again. I've got a bit less hours, but the subjects are heavier. Luckily there's one holiday week during this period. Let's hope for the best. I guess that's about it, you'll have to wait a month for the next update here. Good luck whatever you're doing!
6.Jan.2007
I'm a bit late, but happy New Year! December was a very good month for the development. I managed to code a lot and the future seems bright too as I have more time to code now. Last time I said that all the small changes are finished, and they were at the time, but I gave a quick beta to two friends of mine and the to-do list grew quite a bit. Now I've added most of those suggestions and managed to finish a few older tasks from the to-do list too. So the next version isn't any closer than a month ago, but the update contains more polishing. I'll let you decide whether that is a good or bad thing.
Unfortunately I can't code next weekend, but now that I've regained my motivation to code (because school doesn't cause that much stress anymore) I'll code a lot after that wasted weekend. I want to release this update as soon as I can, I'm getting excited already, but I won't drop anything from the to-do list. Take care till then, the next monthly update is in February. This message will self-destruct in five.. Four.. Three...
3.Dec.2006
December's update is here! The hellish period is over! I didn't do much coding before this weekend, because I was sick last weekend and before that it was still hell. But now I've finished all the small changes from the to-do list. For example I improved the quick move command so that it stops in obvious intersections. Now there are some "larger" updates left on the to-do list, plus I'm going to add a few new unidentified items, special skills and other non-generic things before this version is ready. Unfortunately this version doesn't introduce new features, but after this "polishing" version I'm going to add something neat and edit some old stuff to make it cooler.
I've got more time to code from now on plus the Christmas holidays are soon, but there's still a lot to do before this version is finished. Hmm... I think that was all. The next update is probably in January. Have fun on your Christmas vacation!
5.Nov.2006
Here comes the monthly update. So... The holiday week passed and I indeed managed to program. I did many small changes, like the * in the equipment screen (which indicates that you have something better to equip) appears now if you're wearing something, too. But that's not all. I implemented the not-so-fun feature from the to-do list. You can now ready weapons in the equipment screen and swap them quickly by pressing S. This should make hybrid rangers more appealing.
My school weeks are still pure hell, and that's not changing any time soon, but hopefully I can force myself to code something every now and then on the weekends. In fact, I'll program some small changes in sage behaviour after this update. Development is slow, but it's better than nothing. Estimated time of arrival of the next update is in December. See you then.
7.Oct.2006
A news update without anything new. That's great. Aside from planning, there's only one thing that I've managed to do. I changed one minor thing in the freezing system: your temperature will increase or decrease all the time now. Even if you have the best clothing on the first floor, you'll lose (a VERY small amount of) warmth. That should keep the pressure on. But excluding that, I haven't added anything new! That's probably because the next thing on the to-do list isn't fun. Editing old code is always boring if you ask me. But fear not! One week of tortu... Ehm, school and then I have one whole week of freedom! I'm sure I'll continue programming during the holidays, even if I have to force myself. And after that week... I'll leave that for the next update. Good night.
2.Sep.2006
Here we go again. School began and gulped my free time. I've been very lazy with the game lately, only 4 new additions in the VersionInfo.txt. Well, at least I've planned well what I'm going to do next. I was right when I said that the next release isn't any time soon: I'm just relaxing during the weekends. And then there's more! I've got a good new game idea (which isn't a roguelike). At the moment my plan is to finish the version 1.02 very slowly, but steadily, then pause this project and create the new not-too-large graphical project.
There's at least one bug in the 1.01 version: some rings are completely black. I know of this so you don't have to report it. Also, at least one person has seen the writhing corpse of the last major demon, congratulations to the anonymous hero! I'd really like to see the mortem of that dwarf.
Anyway, that's all for now. Have a nice day!
5.Aug.2006
Finished! At last, 1.01 is finished. About two years have passed since the first "Hey, programming a roguelike could be fun!" thought. But the slow pace didn't kill the game, the change list proves that. 30 documented changes and many tiny undocumented ones. I could even call the game 'quite balanced' now. I guess I don't need to mention this, but I'll do it anyway. Feedback is always welcome.
Like I said, this update is full of smaller fixes and balance changed. I didn't add much content. Maybe the next update will be full of new items and special stuff? Who knows. It depends partly on how many bugs I managed to create in this update.
Now I have nine holidays left. Hooray. After that I can practically program only at weekends, so the next version isn't coming out any time soon. Let's try to stay alive!
22.Jul.2006
Good day. The next version isn't finished yet, but it soon is. This will be the last update before the release. I have about ten or less minor tasks to do, so it shouldn't take many weeks. Besides I have soon spent my summer holidays, I won't relax before 1.01 is out. Three weeks and the infernal education system engulfs me again, but don't worry, I'll manage to finish this version by then. After that the development pace will get much slower, I'm afraid.
I found an interesting page today. It's called the Roguelike Magazine. Do check the review section.
6.Jul.2006
Maybe I should update the News section once again. First of all: The next version isn't ready yet. I've had a rather busy week, so the development has been slow (but steady). After the weekend I can go back to my lair and code more. The next version will be full of small and easy to code, but necessary updates. The feedback has again helped me to create a solid list of things to do. Thanks. I think that's all for this time. Check this from time to time, though the next update probably isn't very soon.
20.Jun.2006
Almost one month has passed since the first release. Now the next version is ready to be released! The biggest addition is probably the Linux port (the making of it was a very... educating experience, but I managed to do it with the help of one individual). I believe the game is now much more enjoyable, but I won't list all the nifty changes here, you can find the full list of changes from the VersionInfo.txt inside the zip if you're interested. And by the way, I updated the screenshots too.
I said "No shortcuts next time" previously. Unfortunately that's now false, because Curses didn't change the colors like I expected (plus the shortcut is an easy way to get the correct terminal size). I guess a shortcut is better than no shortcut with a worse play experience. Anyway, it won't take long and it's only for us Windows users.
Again I'd like to get feedback. As much as I can. So if you find a bug, think that there's a balance problem somewhere or you have this awesome suggestion, contact me!
Now go download the game and let snow and ice surround you.
4.Jun.2006
As you may have noticed, I'm a lazy updater. The first thing that comes to your mind is probably "is the next version finished?", and I'm afraid it isn't yet. But that means I have more time to polish it! I have fixed all the reported bugs, created some of the requested tweaks, but not all yet, and I also improved one of the dungeon creators a bit even though no one asked for it. Today I shall create destroyable clothes, in other words they'll get a durability too. It's a bit smaller than weapon/armor durability, but pieces of armor protect clothes. For example boots protect socks, the socks will take damage, but it's lower than without boots.
I've got about five bigger tasks to do before the next release, which will be a bit wider. The largest thing to do is probably porting it for Linux using Curses. No shortcuts next time. My summer holidays started this weekend, hopefully I can code a bit faster now.
21.May.2006
Here it is! I have finally released Frozen Depths. The accessories were fast to create and my estimated values for monsters were excellent, I didn't have to do much balancing. I play tested it a few times and didn't find any bugs last time. Of course that doesn't mean they are 100% gone. A first release is always the most unstable, but that's why I have to release it: I need your help to locate balancing, bug and typo problems. One tester can't find everything.
Now click the download section open, download the game, read the required help files and start playing. If you encounter a bug, please report it. If you think that something is terribly imbalanced, report it too. All feedback is positive feedback for me. Of course I hope you don't flame me without argumentation. Suggestions are welcomed with joy too, but I don't promise anything. I'm also interested in the Wine+Linux+Frozen Depths combination. But for now, good luck in the depths!
Edit: 22.May.2006
I forgot to mention that this is more like a final beta than a stable & balanced game. I still have many things to improve. And fixed a fatal bug too, I hope that doesn't happen again. Grab the new version (the number didn't change) if you're planning to play it. I've already got very much pretty feedback, thanks! I can assure you that the next version will be much better.
10.May.2006
Let's see what I've finished in exactly one month (using only weekends though). Item prefixes are in there to spice the items a bit. I created almost 20 of these. The special skills are ready to be used, though they might be a bit imbalanced. I'll have to test them a bit more later. The potions are ready to be quaffed and the wands can be found and zapped. More than 20 of these too and they should work well. I wrote a manual too, though there are probably many grammar errors (like in here) thanks to my ugly English.
I've killed all the obvious bugs when I've met them, but that part isn't complete yet. And nor are the accessories. The rings and amulets are the next thing to do. I'll program those the next weekend. After that, you can do the 1+1 maths or guess the very last thing to do. Play checking for bugs. The next update you'll see is the release. Estimated time of arrival is 2 weeks, have fun waiting.
10.Apr.2006
Hello there again. I've already finished the monsters (the balance *might* be terrible) and the simple items (still need potions, rings, amulets and wands). The bosses are now living in their unique levels without problems. That means everything is going extremely well here!
I'm getting excited. The release draws near and I can almost see a crazy rogueliker enjoy my little game. Almost. If nothing weird happens, the release will be before June.
The last things to do, for real now, are item prefixes, special skills, potions, wands and accessories. Then the game manual, some balancing plus debugging and the very last preparations! Glowie out.
26.Mar.2006
Yay an update. Everything is going according the plan. Two-weapon fighting was surprisingly easy to program and it works fine. The traps are awaiting for your clumsy steps, the dungeon features are ready to fulfill your dreams and nightmares and the special levels will add some excitement to you adventure. They are all ready for the release! I made some minor changes to the info page, updating stuff and such.
I've made some calculations. I believe I can release the game in two months or less IF everything goes really well. But this isn't official information! Anything can happen and the next weekends aren't completely free for me.
The next thing to do is items (part 1), monsters (without balancing, for now) and bosses plus their levels. Maybe even some potion effects. That's all for now, have fun!
18.Feb.2006
Good morning. Today I finished the fighting styles. There are 6 (plus a normal, "nothing special") of them and they add things like damage, armor, accuracy, dodge, speed and critical strike chance. For example, when one uses aggressive fighting style, he gets a bonus to damage, but a slight minus to armor.
First and thus the most basic status ailments and monster special skills have been implemented. I was lazy so I left things like invisibility and blindness from the first release because I didn't want to use large amounts of time editing the very engine itself.
I used my imagination and data from other roguelikes and wrote a long list of items, traps, special levels and stuff for later use when I'm creating them.
Next week I'm going to program two-weapon fighting. I have to adjust the engine to do that which isn't always very fun. After that I haven't got much to do on the programming side. Special levels first, then bosses and their unique levels and then probably only potions, wands, player skills, traps and more events to the dungeon features. But as I said, I have already planned that. See you... maybe next month.
19.Jan.2006
The fastest update ever! I just had to announce that I have finished the game's second dungeon generator which generates more rooms and less random corridors. But that's not all. I have also updated the screenshots with new pretty colors and bigger font. You can see the new dungeon generator there, though you probably don't recognize it from the other one.
I balanced the item-dungeon feature-monster-trap-etc. ratio too and added some surprises for the players. The game has exactly 21 054 lines of code at the very moment. I know it's not that much for some but for me it's whee! And of course there is the non-code part too, the pages and many text files.
15.Jan.2006
Exactly one year has passed since the release of these pages. The game has improved very much but I still haven't released it. I want to implement most of my ideas before releasing it. Sadly, this will still take some time, big thanks to school for that. Maybe next summer?
This time I have done much "invisible work". You probably won't notice the changes in the game but many little things have changed. I created a new dungeon feature and I'm creating another dungeon generator at the moment. I also have a big list of monster names now, so that won't be a problem. I did add something else too but I already forgot that. Great.
Many annoying tasks left but now it's only matter of time. Programming a roguelike is slow, especially when one can work on it only on holidays and weekends. I seriously thought that it would be quicker, but oh well I have learned much already. Back to work now!
20.Nov.2005
A new little addition to my more-like-a-diary-than-a-news-site (at the moment). The release date isn't very much nearer because I've made up new things to add while I've added the old ideas. Good news is that I've added the following things: a spine for the special attacks, now I just have to create more of these, most of the dungeon features, a few more events wouldn't do bad, a spine for the bosses too, but they need again some balancing and such and the evil save/load system.
Next on the to-do list is... Some special events, some special levels, maybe even 1-2 new dungeon generators, tons of new monsters, items, skills and special stuff for monsters (and of course the damned balancing of them) and the last but not least: some additions to the combat system like different fighting styles and status ailments.
1.Oct.2005
I said previously that the release would be in 1-3 months, but I don't want to force myself to work on it and I found more little things to add so I'll take my words back. We'll see when it's ready to be released. I'm not pausing the development, don't take me wrong. I've already added most of the dungeon features and a nice little event.
16.Sep.2005
"An orc cautiously peeks into this cave, thinking 'Is this one taken?'. An arrow flies from the dark and penetrates the orc's skull. The orc falls down, spending its last moments thinking 'Yes, it was taken'" - In other words, yes I'm still alive and developing, even though I haven't updated recently, and this time it isn't WoW's fault!
Once again I have added many little and a bit bigger things, which seem to work well. I decided to release the game when all the basic elements are there. That means you will have to wait a few more months (1-3 I think, school is slowing me down). The few last things on the to-do list before release are: Special attacks, dungeon features and altars, random events, a few special levels, bosses, the evil save/load system and a few more things like adding tons of monsters, items and so on.
I won't abandon the project now. It's almost released, so now you just have to be patient.
27.Jul.2005
Hehe, I did it again. I bought more time. You knew I would. But I promise, this is the last time!
Again the game has grown. Inventory system works now perfectly, it's not world's best inventory system, but it works well enough. Archery system is now there and works well too. I even added the freezing system, which works, surprise, very nicely. I made a tiny change to the dungeon generator and the dungeons are now better, in my opinion. I'm too lazy to update the screens and you wouldn't probably see the difference. I added also some tiny details that I didn't mention, like durability.
Next I'll add more to the Sages (yes, they are there, but they don't do anything), cursed/blessed states for equipment and maybe even add some special moves. After those the release is soon here! Doom's day!
28.Jun.2005
The game has improved nicely. The item system works soon perfectly and then I can start adding those tiny details. Maybe you'll get soon a "demo" version of it... When I've added shoplike things, Sages (for more info about these, check the info page) and the archery system.
Again I did some changes to plans. I won't create a food system, because that would be nearly useless when the freezing system is there.
You might want to check the screenshots page, I updated the shots. The info page has some new info too.
3.Jun.2005
I've been playing WoW again, but I've got only a month of play time left and I won't (probably) buy more play time for some time. And thus I can continue the development of the game!
I've updated the info page, because I won't create a mage class and I won't port it to Linux anymore. Only if the game will be a success, I have time and something like that, I'll do those. I want to create other games too, you know.
18.Apr.2005
My play time expired in World of Warcraft, which is a good thing for the game. I have completed the monster creator, a tool, that helps me create monsters faster and easier.
I will soon get a prepaid gamecard for World of Warcraft (2 months of playing) so you won't see updates here very soon, unfortunately. Though I will add something for the monsters before the card arrives.
21.Mar.2005
I've been playing World of Warcraft (and I'll continue playing it). And guess what that means? The game's development is paused, but NOT abandoned.
23.Feb.2005
Added some more info about the game. Check the info page for that.
There are now monsters in the game, though they can't hit you. They only follow you. And they are, of course, still growing.
8.Feb.2005
Added contact page.
Monsters are growing slowly.
1.Feb.2005
Added little things here during last week like frames.
Deleted High Scores page, because I realized that you COULD cheat by copying saves.
20.Jan.2005
The Dungeon Generator is ready.. For now. It uses all the space in the dungeon so it doesn't have any secret rooms or doors. As you can see in the screenshots, it doesn't look like ADOM's or Nethack's dungeon. I might make other Dungeon Generator(s) with fancy stuff, but that will do for now.
Few new screenshots added from the new Dungeon Generator.
I'll start creating monsters soon.
15.Jan.2005
These pages were born.
The game has at the moment only a not-good Dungeon Generator, simple player and the Line of Sight, using Recursive Shadow Casting. Next I'll add better Dungeon Generator and when that is finished, I'll continue on to the monsters.
Hi again, it's time to look at Frozen Depths' future a bit now after the release. First of all, the release went well. All version are working and during the first week only one reproducible bug was reported, but it's nothing game breaking. Just a small exploit, plus it should be very uncommon/hard to find for most players and the benefit isn't huge, so there is no need to hotfix it. One unreproducible bug was reported as well, and unfortunately it is a crash bug. If it's a bug. The circumstances were a bit dubious, and since I haven't been able to reproduce it, I'll declare it a possible bug until someone else reports the same. In case it is a bug, it's a rare one. So if anyone else's game quits/crashes when you press s (to sell) when chatting to a sage, report it immediately so that I know if it really is a bug and not just the reporting user's computer acting strange.
Moving on, as many of you can guess, the next version isn't coming out any time soon. It might even take more than a year if I'm unlucky. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't send the suggestions how to make it better or requests for features, because the development isn't going to die for good. It just goes into hibernation mode again, and when it comes back, it needs a long list of what to add next.
Unfortunately I can't answer questions immediately from now on either, probably in a long time, so if you send a message and don't get a reply in a few days, it doesn't mean I hate you. I will answer sooner or later, just be patient. The delay could be even two weeks at worst. But this shouldn't stop you from sending the messages either.
That should be everything. Good luck on your adventures and have a better summer than I will!
27.Jun.2008
Hello everyone, it's that day again! The release day. And it has again been almost a year since the last release day, quite accurately 11½ months. If you read the previous news entry you know that I didn't plan to prolong the development time this much, but sometimes the brown stuff hits the fan unexpectedly. But enough of the past, 1.03 is here! You can read the full list of changes here, it's not quite as long as the big update last year, but there should be many great changes that make the game more diverse. Reading the list of changes is again extremely recommended if you want to get the full benefit of the changes and stay up-to-date with what's what.
Some of the highlights of this version include: The first Macintosh version (a big thanks to Dana Larose for compiling it!), rejoice Mac players! It's untested on PPC at the time of writing, but it might very well run on that architecture too. If a PPC player tries it, do let me know if it works or not so that I can confirm it. I'll add the note to Mac players here too: You have to configure your terminal to support at least 16 colors if you want the game to work correctly. Don't ask me how, though, I'm not a Mac user. Moving on, the next highlight would certainly be the two new very distinct dungeon generators (you'll encounter these after the first 10 floors, after which the game starts getting a lot more interesting): a cavern generator and a corridor heavy generator that might resemble a maze a bit, but it's not as annoying to navigate in.
The balance is a lot better in this version, for example the later bosses aren't pushovers anymore and the late game is a bit easier thanks to the new passive skills and the fact that there are slightly less monsters on the deeper floors than before. This version should also be even more newbie friendly, don't be afraid to recommend it to new roguelikers that might not be ready for the major games' complexity. There's also a new Sage-like service provider, the deep smith, and with him a new item type: material. The smith can exchange material, craft items from your materials and repair your items. All of these services cost gold, naturally, but you can decide the size of the payment when crafting or repairing, and the quality of the work depends on this too. In addition to these the game is again a lot more polished and full of other smaller changes that you can check from the list of changes.
With these forewords I wish you luck on your adventures in the frost covered Depths! Be sure not to forget to report any bugs you find, any suggestions you have or especially any comments you'd like to make. I'll be waiting for those, but now I'll let you head to the Downloads page.
Have a good day.
2.Jun.2008
Woah. It's been quite a while since the last update. It's about time I let you guys know I'm not dead and nor is this project. Quite a lot of stuff has happened during this break, I haven't been just lazy. Unfortunately some of my plans have also been delayed or completely destroyed. I'll try to write a recap of what has happened and why this update is so late. My plan was to update the site already a few months ago.
Starting from the very beginning, when I released 1.02 I wanted to take a small break from Frozen Depths and play around a bit with graphics and networking. I finished the initially planned part of the project (nope, there's nothing worth showing at least yet) already before December, though I've now planned some more fun features for that project, but that will have to wait. A lot, most likely.
So what did I do after finishing that project? Started developing Frozen Depths, of course! I got into a coding spree in December and early 2008 and was making great progress. I didn't update this website, because I kinda wanted the release to be a small surprise, before summer and all. As you now know, something screwed the plan and I didn't release it before the summer.
When there was only one feature left in the to-do list, I hurt my right wrist, and obviously coding with one hand is very slow, so I didn't feel like it. This happened somewhere around March, during my final exams. What a great timing. Thanks to the exams, the wrist wasn't able to heal and probably got a bit worse too, so I spent the next month healing the wrist. Then my summer job began and that left me with no time to code. Also, I managed to hurt my other wrist too during the month long job, but that healed a lot quicker, though at the same time the other wrist didn't heal as quickly, but it wasn't that bad. Now I'm on summer holidays again, with a healthy wrist and a nearly perfectly recovered one. I can type with both hands.
After the series of unfortunate events, I'm now going to finish the next version during June, and release it before the second week of July at most, since I can't code after that in a long time thanks to a particularly stupid obligation that concerns Finnish men. I'll even try to find a Macintosh person to compile the game for Mac users, I've received enough requests about porting to Mac to know it's worth it. Other key features of 1.03 include two new very distinct dungeon generators, better balance across the board, new skills, more beginner friendliness, some subtle crash bug fixes and a lot of polishment of the old features. There are even unconfirmed rumours of a Nethack/Crawl-like telnet server for Frozen Depths. A month isn't a lot of waiting after the almost 11 month wait, so try to survive that long before you can delve again into the even cooler caverns of ice!
Have a warm summer and a good night.
28.Aug.2007
Good morning. Time for a small report of the current version and the future development. The current version has received more publicity and more downloads in the same amount of time than any of the previous releases, this progress is very good. The little fix earlier repaired pretty much all the bugs, there *might* be one cosmetical bug remaining, but at least no one has reported bugs that affect the gameplay. Very good.
And then the future. Summer is pretty much over and schools have begun already. Luckily this term is a bit lighter than the previous one (I couldn't practically code anything back then). But there's something else this time. I'll be working on a small graphical game when I have time to code. And it really is small, won't take years to finish like this one, but I have to pause the development of Frozen Depths while I work on that. But that doesn't mean I won't be writing down ideas for the next version, and it shouldn't stop you from sending me suggestions for the next version! You won't see the next version soon, but the ideas grow even during this break. Hopefully I'll return even more eagerly back to Frozen Depths' development after this graphical project is finished. Until then updates here won't be very regular as there is nothing to talk about really.
Anyway, have a great late Summer (unless you live in the southern hemisphere)!
23.Jul.2007
Hello again. So far the feedback has been, again, very positive. Also, a few bug reports have appeared, thanks for those, since one of them is nearly critical and another very annoying. And that's why I've decided to upload an updated version of 1.02 (the version number didn't change). The next version isn't coming out any time soon, so I don't want a flawed version to be the current one. This fix update will be a silent one, as I won't be advertising it a lot, and the few changes don't concern all players.
And the changes. Wraith's damage was insanely high and health too low, this has been fixed. Dual wielding was a bit bugged, as you didn't hit twice if your first try was a hit. There were also some minor additions to the manual, and the starting skills' SP costs are shown correctly in the skill menu now.
So, if you think you can get near the 40th floor or like dual wielding, you should update your version. Old save files work perfectly with this, and you have no reason to delete your scores, so just overwrite the old files with these. I'd like to thank everyone who have played and enjoyed the game, and of course those who are still on their way to the Download page. Good luck in the Depths!
(Note: You may have to clean your browser's temporary files if you can't download the updated file. Check the VersionInfo.txt, scroll to the end of the changes of version 1.02 and if there are 4 new changes marked with + sign, you know you have the updated file. If there are no 4 new changes, clean the temporary files and try again.)
13.Jul.2007
Whee! It's here! 1.02 is finished! I planned to release it three days ago, but the final polishing took a bit longer. I guess 3 days isn't that much after almost a full year of development, as the previous version was released in August 2006. The development was very slow or non-existent at times and I didn't even add any big new features, but then again the list of changes is rather long too.
You should read the whole list of changes, you don't want to miss, for example, the new way of uncursing your whole equipment, but I'll mention a few of the bigger changes. New special things, like unidentified items, prefixes, ailments, described floors, scroll effects and traps. A lot of new monster special things, also the bosses have now their own special skills. Reduced the skill requirements and SP costs a lot, improved the quick move, unknown B/C/U status in inventory is represented by a gray color now, added a quick weapon swap and changed the warmth system too. And a lot of other smaller changes that you'll want to check.
After you've checked the length of the list of changes, you can be pretty sure that there are new bugs hiding behind the icy rocks. I've done a lot of play testing myself, but I can't find them all alone, and nor should I. So, it's up to you to find if there are more bugs, at the moment there are no known bugs. Send me a message without hesitation, bug reports, feedback and random thoughts are all welcome, as always. But now I'll let you get back to the Depths. Click the Downloads and have fun!
5.Jun.2007
Just a quick update for now. My Summer holidays began yesterday and I started coding today. Luckily coding didn't feel troublesome at all. I'll continue tomorrow and keep going until this version is finally finished. Hell, it's about time really. I can't give an estimated time of arrival yet, but I can assure you that development is a lot more active now!
13.May.2007
Bah. Just bah. This last period has proven to be a lot more demanding than I thought. Just guess what that means for the development. The only thing I've managed to do is some planning. I've designed most of the special stuff that I'm going to add, but I need to invent a few more things to be satisfied. And that's about it. I feel lazy.
My Summer holidays begin in less than a month and I really hope I can then finally finish this version. Unfortunately I can't add anything in May thanks to the last few essays and exams. I hope your May is a bit more productive. See you in about a month.
9.Apr.2007
Heya. The previous two weeks were full of exams and the last period begins tomorrow. Also the new real-time strategy game Supreme Commander has been eating my leisure time rather efficiently, I'm afraid. (I'm already the 650th player on the ladder and going up!). That means I couldn't add anything major this time, but now everything on the to-do list is bound to the non-generic items, skills, etc. that I have to add. I had to add a primitive spam protection to the contact page though. I've been waiting for this and now the spammers finally found me.
Something else happened during the last month despite the slow development. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the message. One brave hero managed to beat the game! Using his sharp blade and even sharper wit, he is the first person to beat the game. I was 100% sure that the current version is too hard to beat. But he proved me wrong. Congratulations to that person!
11.Mar.2007
Usually I write the update earlier, but this time I had the holiday week, so I decided to delay it a bit. I added something every day during the holidays, which is, needless to say, great for the development. The changes weren't very important for all players, but still too important to ignore. For example, playing as an archer is a bit faster now with the new arrow auto pick feature. I should also tell you about the new Goddess' feature. She can now uncurse your equipment if you pray when you have full hp, no ailments and no temperature problems. As always, there were many smaller changes too, but they aren't worth mentioning here. You'll see them when this version is finished.
Now after the holiday week the to-do list is a lot shorter. Only three things! Three isn't a big number, but all the remaining things are slow to code. In addition, I still have to create many non-generic items, skills, special stuff and so on. Maybe the next version is out before Summer. But this isn't a promise! Just a hopeful wish. I haven't got any extra holidays before Summer, but I hope I can code the remaining things slowly and steadily during the weekends. Now how should I say "See you" this time... Hey! I know! See you.
5.Feb.2007
Good afternoon. Let's take a quick look at the last month's development. I thought a month ago that I would be able to code a lot now. I've been babbling a lot about school's effect on the development and I guess there is no end to it. Two teachers surprised me again with essays, so I had to use two weekends on them. Luckily I could code quite well on the free weekends, for example the skill system is now a lot better. I dropped the requirements and SP costs a lot, which should make them a lot more usable. Aside from that, I added a new command: quick use skill. You can now set a quick skill and then spam it without opening the skill menu. Of course there were other smaller changes too, but that's the most important part for this month.
We shall see how well I can code in the next period, as our school period is about to change again. I've got a bit less hours, but the subjects are heavier. Luckily there's one holiday week during this period. Let's hope for the best. I guess that's about it, you'll have to wait a month for the next update here. Good luck whatever you're doing!
6.Jan.2007
I'm a bit late, but happy New Year! December was a very good month for the development. I managed to code a lot and the future seems bright too as I have more time to code now. Last time I said that all the small changes are finished, and they were at the time, but I gave a quick beta to two friends of mine and the to-do list grew quite a bit. Now I've added most of those suggestions and managed to finish a few older tasks from the to-do list too. So the next version isn't any closer than a month ago, but the update contains more polishing. I'll let you decide whether that is a good or bad thing.
Unfortunately I can't code next weekend, but now that I've regained my motivation to code (because school doesn't cause that much stress anymore) I'll code a lot after that wasted weekend. I want to release this update as soon as I can, I'm getting excited already, but I won't drop anything from the to-do list. Take care till then, the next monthly update is in February. This message will self-destruct in five.. Four.. Three...
3.Dec.2006
December's update is here! The hellish period is over! I didn't do much coding before this weekend, because I was sick last weekend and before that it was still hell. But now I've finished all the small changes from the to-do list. For example I improved the quick move command so that it stops in obvious intersections. Now there are some "larger" updates left on the to-do list, plus I'm going to add a few new unidentified items, special skills and other non-generic things before this version is ready. Unfortunately this version doesn't introduce new features, but after this "polishing" version I'm going to add something neat and edit some old stuff to make it cooler.
I've got more time to code from now on plus the Christmas holidays are soon, but there's still a lot to do before this version is finished. Hmm... I think that was all. The next update is probably in January. Have fun on your Christmas vacation!
5.Nov.2006
Here comes the monthly update. So... The holiday week passed and I indeed managed to program. I did many small changes, like the * in the equipment screen (which indicates that you have something better to equip) appears now if you're wearing something, too. But that's not all. I implemented the not-so-fun feature from the to-do list. You can now ready weapons in the equipment screen and swap them quickly by pressing S. This should make hybrid rangers more appealing.
My school weeks are still pure hell, and that's not changing any time soon, but hopefully I can force myself to code something every now and then on the weekends. In fact, I'll program some small changes in sage behaviour after this update. Development is slow, but it's better than nothing. Estimated time of arrival of the next update is in December. See you then.
7.Oct.2006
A news update without anything new. That's great. Aside from planning, there's only one thing that I've managed to do. I changed one minor thing in the freezing system: your temperature will increase or decrease all the time now. Even if you have the best clothing on the first floor, you'll lose (a VERY small amount of) warmth. That should keep the pressure on. But excluding that, I haven't added anything new! That's probably because the next thing on the to-do list isn't fun. Editing old code is always boring if you ask me. But fear not! One week of tortu... Ehm, school and then I have one whole week of freedom! I'm sure I'll continue programming during the holidays, even if I have to force myself. And after that week... I'll leave that for the next update. Good night.
2.Sep.2006
Here we go again. School began and gulped my free time. I've been very lazy with the game lately, only 4 new additions in the VersionInfo.txt. Well, at least I've planned well what I'm going to do next. I was right when I said that the next release isn't any time soon: I'm just relaxing during the weekends. And then there's more! I've got a good new game idea (which isn't a roguelike). At the moment my plan is to finish the version 1.02 very slowly, but steadily, then pause this project and create the new not-too-large graphical project.
There's at least one bug in the 1.01 version: some rings are completely black. I know of this so you don't have to report it. Also, at least one person has seen the writhing corpse of the last major demon, congratulations to the anonymous hero! I'd really like to see the mortem of that dwarf.
Anyway, that's all for now. Have a nice day!
5.Aug.2006
Finished! At last, 1.01 is finished. About two years have passed since the first "Hey, programming a roguelike could be fun!" thought. But the slow pace didn't kill the game, the change list proves that. 30 documented changes and many tiny undocumented ones. I could even call the game 'quite balanced' now. I guess I don't need to mention this, but I'll do it anyway. Feedback is always welcome.
Like I said, this update is full of smaller fixes and balance changed. I didn't add much content. Maybe the next update will be full of new items and special stuff? Who knows. It depends partly on how many bugs I managed to create in this update.
Now I have nine holidays left. Hooray. After that I can practically program only at weekends, so the next version isn't coming out any time soon. Let's try to stay alive!
22.Jul.2006
Good day. The next version isn't finished yet, but it soon is. This will be the last update before the release. I have about ten or less minor tasks to do, so it shouldn't take many weeks. Besides I have soon spent my summer holidays, I won't relax before 1.01 is out. Three weeks and the infernal education system engulfs me again, but don't worry, I'll manage to finish this version by then. After that the development pace will get much slower, I'm afraid.
I found an interesting page today. It's called the Roguelike Magazine. Do check the review section.
6.Jul.2006
Maybe I should update the News section once again. First of all: The next version isn't ready yet. I've had a rather busy week, so the development has been slow (but steady). After the weekend I can go back to my lair and code more. The next version will be full of small and easy to code, but necessary updates. The feedback has again helped me to create a solid list of things to do. Thanks. I think that's all for this time. Check this from time to time, though the next update probably isn't very soon.
20.Jun.2006
Almost one month has passed since the first release. Now the next version is ready to be released! The biggest addition is probably the Linux port (the making of it was a very... educating experience, but I managed to do it with the help of one individual). I believe the game is now much more enjoyable, but I won't list all the nifty changes here, you can find the full list of changes from the VersionInfo.txt inside the zip if you're interested. And by the way, I updated the screenshots too.
I said "No shortcuts next time" previously. Unfortunately that's now false, because Curses didn't change the colors like I expected (plus the shortcut is an easy way to get the correct terminal size). I guess a shortcut is better than no shortcut with a worse play experience. Anyway, it won't take long and it's only for us Windows users.
Again I'd like to get feedback. As much as I can. So if you find a bug, think that there's a balance problem somewhere or you have this awesome suggestion, contact me!
Now go download the game and let snow and ice surround you.
4.Jun.2006
As you may have noticed, I'm a lazy updater. The first thing that comes to your mind is probably "is the next version finished?", and I'm afraid it isn't yet. But that means I have more time to polish it! I have fixed all the reported bugs, created some of the requested tweaks, but not all yet, and I also improved one of the dungeon creators a bit even though no one asked for it. Today I shall create destroyable clothes, in other words they'll get a durability too. It's a bit smaller than weapon/armor durability, but pieces of armor protect clothes. For example boots protect socks, the socks will take damage, but it's lower than without boots.
I've got about five bigger tasks to do before the next release, which will be a bit wider. The largest thing to do is probably porting it for Linux using Curses. No shortcuts next time. My summer holidays started this weekend, hopefully I can code a bit faster now.
21.May.2006
Here it is! I have finally released Frozen Depths. The accessories were fast to create and my estimated values for monsters were excellent, I didn't have to do much balancing. I play tested it a few times and didn't find any bugs last time. Of course that doesn't mean they are 100% gone. A first release is always the most unstable, but that's why I have to release it: I need your help to locate balancing, bug and typo problems. One tester can't find everything.
Now click the download section open, download the game, read the required help files and start playing. If you encounter a bug, please report it. If you think that something is terribly imbalanced, report it too. All feedback is positive feedback for me. Of course I hope you don't flame me without argumentation. Suggestions are welcomed with joy too, but I don't promise anything. I'm also interested in the Wine+Linux+Frozen Depths combination. But for now, good luck in the depths!
Edit: 22.May.2006
I forgot to mention that this is more like a final beta than a stable & balanced game. I still have many things to improve. And fixed a fatal bug too, I hope that doesn't happen again. Grab the new version (the number didn't change) if you're planning to play it. I've already got very much pretty feedback, thanks! I can assure you that the next version will be much better.
10.May.2006
Let's see what I've finished in exactly one month (using only weekends though). Item prefixes are in there to spice the items a bit. I created almost 20 of these. The special skills are ready to be used, though they might be a bit imbalanced. I'll have to test them a bit more later. The potions are ready to be quaffed and the wands can be found and zapped. More than 20 of these too and they should work well. I wrote a manual too, though there are probably many grammar errors (like in here) thanks to my ugly English.
I've killed all the obvious bugs when I've met them, but that part isn't complete yet. And nor are the accessories. The rings and amulets are the next thing to do. I'll program those the next weekend. After that, you can do the 1+1 maths or guess the very last thing to do. Play checking for bugs. The next update you'll see is the release. Estimated time of arrival is 2 weeks, have fun waiting.
10.Apr.2006
Hello there again. I've already finished the monsters (the balance *might* be terrible) and the simple items (still need potions, rings, amulets and wands). The bosses are now living in their unique levels without problems. That means everything is going extremely well here!
I'm getting excited. The release draws near and I can almost see a crazy rogueliker enjoy my little game. Almost. If nothing weird happens, the release will be before June.
The last things to do, for real now, are item prefixes, special skills, potions, wands and accessories. Then the game manual, some balancing plus debugging and the very last preparations! Glowie out.
26.Mar.2006
Yay an update. Everything is going according the plan. Two-weapon fighting was surprisingly easy to program and it works fine. The traps are awaiting for your clumsy steps, the dungeon features are ready to fulfill your dreams and nightmares and the special levels will add some excitement to you adventure. They are all ready for the release! I made some minor changes to the info page, updating stuff and such.
I've made some calculations. I believe I can release the game in two months or less IF everything goes really well. But this isn't official information! Anything can happen and the next weekends aren't completely free for me.
The next thing to do is items (part 1), monsters (without balancing, for now) and bosses plus their levels. Maybe even some potion effects. That's all for now, have fun!
18.Feb.2006
Good morning. Today I finished the fighting styles. There are 6 (plus a normal, "nothing special") of them and they add things like damage, armor, accuracy, dodge, speed and critical strike chance. For example, when one uses aggressive fighting style, he gets a bonus to damage, but a slight minus to armor.
First and thus the most basic status ailments and monster special skills have been implemented. I was lazy so I left things like invisibility and blindness from the first release because I didn't want to use large amounts of time editing the very engine itself.
I used my imagination and data from other roguelikes and wrote a long list of items, traps, special levels and stuff for later use when I'm creating them.
Next week I'm going to program two-weapon fighting. I have to adjust the engine to do that which isn't always very fun. After that I haven't got much to do on the programming side. Special levels first, then bosses and their unique levels and then probably only potions, wands, player skills, traps and more events to the dungeon features. But as I said, I have already planned that. See you... maybe next month.
19.Jan.2006
The fastest update ever! I just had to announce that I have finished the game's second dungeon generator which generates more rooms and less random corridors. But that's not all. I have also updated the screenshots with new pretty colors and bigger font. You can see the new dungeon generator there, though you probably don't recognize it from the other one.
I balanced the item-dungeon feature-monster-trap-etc. ratio too and added some surprises for the players. The game has exactly 21 054 lines of code at the very moment. I know it's not that much for some but for me it's whee! And of course there is the non-code part too, the pages and many text files.
15.Jan.2006
Exactly one year has passed since the release of these pages. The game has improved very much but I still haven't released it. I want to implement most of my ideas before releasing it. Sadly, this will still take some time, big thanks to school for that. Maybe next summer?
This time I have done much "invisible work". You probably won't notice the changes in the game but many little things have changed. I created a new dungeon feature and I'm creating another dungeon generator at the moment. I also have a big list of monster names now, so that won't be a problem. I did add something else too but I already forgot that. Great.
Many annoying tasks left but now it's only matter of time. Programming a roguelike is slow, especially when one can work on it only on holidays and weekends. I seriously thought that it would be quicker, but oh well I have learned much already. Back to work now!
20.Nov.2005
A new little addition to my more-like-a-diary-than-a-news-site (at the moment). The release date isn't very much nearer because I've made up new things to add while I've added the old ideas. Good news is that I've added the following things: a spine for the special attacks, now I just have to create more of these, most of the dungeon features, a few more events wouldn't do bad, a spine for the bosses too, but they need again some balancing and such and the evil save/load system.
Next on the to-do list is... Some special events, some special levels, maybe even 1-2 new dungeon generators, tons of new monsters, items, skills and special stuff for monsters (and of course the damned balancing of them) and the last but not least: some additions to the combat system like different fighting styles and status ailments.
1.Oct.2005
I said previously that the release would be in 1-3 months, but I don't want to force myself to work on it and I found more little things to add so I'll take my words back. We'll see when it's ready to be released. I'm not pausing the development, don't take me wrong. I've already added most of the dungeon features and a nice little event.
16.Sep.2005
"An orc cautiously peeks into this cave, thinking 'Is this one taken?'. An arrow flies from the dark and penetrates the orc's skull. The orc falls down, spending its last moments thinking 'Yes, it was taken'" - In other words, yes I'm still alive and developing, even though I haven't updated recently, and this time it isn't WoW's fault!
Once again I have added many little and a bit bigger things, which seem to work well. I decided to release the game when all the basic elements are there. That means you will have to wait a few more months (1-3 I think, school is slowing me down). The few last things on the to-do list before release are: Special attacks, dungeon features and altars, random events, a few special levels, bosses, the evil save/load system and a few more things like adding tons of monsters, items and so on.
I won't abandon the project now. It's almost released, so now you just have to be patient.
27.Jul.2005
Hehe, I did it again. I bought more time. You knew I would. But I promise, this is the last time!
Again the game has grown. Inventory system works now perfectly, it's not world's best inventory system, but it works well enough. Archery system is now there and works well too. I even added the freezing system, which works, surprise, very nicely. I made a tiny change to the dungeon generator and the dungeons are now better, in my opinion. I'm too lazy to update the screens and you wouldn't probably see the difference. I added also some tiny details that I didn't mention, like durability.
Next I'll add more to the Sages (yes, they are there, but they don't do anything), cursed/blessed states for equipment and maybe even add some special moves. After those the release is soon here! Doom's day!
28.Jun.2005
The game has improved nicely. The item system works soon perfectly and then I can start adding those tiny details. Maybe you'll get soon a "demo" version of it... When I've added shoplike things, Sages (for more info about these, check the info page) and the archery system.
Again I did some changes to plans. I won't create a food system, because that would be nearly useless when the freezing system is there.
You might want to check the screenshots page, I updated the shots. The info page has some new info too.
3.Jun.2005
I've been playing WoW again, but I've got only a month of play time left and I won't (probably) buy more play time for some time. And thus I can continue the development of the game!
I've updated the info page, because I won't create a mage class and I won't port it to Linux anymore. Only if the game will be a success, I have time and something like that, I'll do those. I want to create other games too, you know.
18.Apr.2005
My play time expired in World of Warcraft, which is a good thing for the game. I have completed the monster creator, a tool, that helps me create monsters faster and easier.
I will soon get a prepaid gamecard for World of Warcraft (2 months of playing) so you won't see updates here very soon, unfortunately. Though I will add something for the monsters before the card arrives.
21.Mar.2005
I've been playing World of Warcraft (and I'll continue playing it). And guess what that means? The game's development is paused, but NOT abandoned.
23.Feb.2005
Added some more info about the game. Check the info page for that.
There are now monsters in the game, though they can't hit you. They only follow you. And they are, of course, still growing.
8.Feb.2005
Added contact page.
Monsters are growing slowly.
1.Feb.2005
Added little things here during last week like frames.
Deleted High Scores page, because I realized that you COULD cheat by copying saves.
20.Jan.2005
The Dungeon Generator is ready.. For now. It uses all the space in the dungeon so it doesn't have any secret rooms or doors. As you can see in the screenshots, it doesn't look like ADOM's or Nethack's dungeon. I might make other Dungeon Generator(s) with fancy stuff, but that will do for now.
Few new screenshots added from the new Dungeon Generator.
I'll start creating monsters soon.
15.Jan.2005
These pages were born.
The game has at the moment only a not-good Dungeon Generator, simple player and the Line of Sight, using Recursive Shadow Casting. Next I'll add better Dungeon Generator and when that is finished, I'll continue on to the monsters.