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Coming Soon to Shattered: The Cleric!
[hr][/hr]
I went over a lot of the Cleric's base class features in the last blog I wrote. As a quick recap, the Cleric is an ability-focused spellcaster who gains access to a variety of supportive spells through the talent system! They cast these spells using charges from their holy tome artifact, and the variety of spells they can access makes them very flexible. I already shared several T1 and T2 spells last time, but here's a couple more, with animated GIFs! Recall Inscription lets you spend tome charges to repeat the effect of the last runestone or scroll you used. There are almost 40 different items you can duplicate, though some are more expensive than others.
Bless increases accuracy, evasion, and shielding when the Cleric uses it on themselves. When used on allies it offers a longer buff and healing instead!
[hr][/hr] Each of the Cleric's subclasses include a new innate spell, a buff to some starter spells, and three additional spells that are learned via talents. As usual both subclasses also get two shared talents, one of which is a spell as well. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Priest is all about magical ranged combat. All of their spells work from a distance, and they gain a buff to Guiding Light, which lets them cast it for free once every 100 turns, and trigger the resulting illuminated debuff using allies or magical items. When triggered in this way, Illuminated deals bonus magic damage.[/td] [/tr] [/table] Probably the two flashiest spells the Priest gets access to are Holy Lance and Hallowed Ground. Holy Lance is a devastating ranged spell that can absolutely obliterate a single target, but comes with a hefty charge cost and cooldown.
Hallowed Ground, meanwhile, is a much more strategic spell that creates advantageous 'hallowed' terrain for 20 turns. This spreads grass, lightly heals allies, and impedes enemy movement.
[table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Paladin is a simpler subclass that's all about close combat. All of their spells are closer-ranged, and they gain buffs to Holy Weapon and Holy Ward, increasing their effectiveness and allowing them to work with existing enchantments and glyphs.[/td] [/tr] [/table] Unfortunately I haven't implemented the Paladin yet, and so don't have anything to show you, but here are some spell designs I'm pretty solid on:
[hr][/hr] I'm going to be a bit lighter on info here to avoid lategame spoilers, and as two of the abilities aren't implemented yet. Just like with subclasses, each armor ability has three unique spells that are learned and upgraded via talents. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Ascended Form causes the Cleric to assume a glowing radiant form for 10 turns. In this form they gain +2 attack range, access to new spells, and shielding for every holy tome charge they consume. This ability and its associated talent spells are expensive, but you can always just plan around benefiting from the extra reach or bonus shielding instead.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Trinity (not yet implemented) is unique in that rather than being a single armor ability, it's a collection of three individual talent spells that each cost both tome and armor charges! To go along with the themeing here, I'm considering have the spells work with weapons/armor (body), wands (mind), and rings/artifacts (soul).[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Power of Many (not yet implemented) is a more collaborative version of ascended form. The Cleric either produces an ally, or empowers an existing one. This ability has three talent spells that are cast from this empowered ally instead of the Cleric themselves.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] The Cleric is shaping up to be the most complex and strategically flexible hero in the game, and Im very excited for people to start playing with them. I expect theyll be a treat for experienced players in particular, who are going to have quite a few options available via all the different spells. Please let me know what you think of the Cleric in v3.0.0s beta! I expect the beta to last a fair bit longer than usual, both due to the work still needing to be done, and the upcoming holidays. Im going to be taking things easy for the next week or two, so expect for the Cleric to start getting filled in during January, and for v3.0.0 to start getting ready for release around late January or early February. Finally, some of you may be wondering about the in-game visual improvements I shared in the 10th anniversary blog post. I'm afraid there's nothing new to share there yet, but I might have a couple other visual improvements cooking for v3.0 instead...
Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! [hr][/hr] Ill be a little quiet over the holidays, but if youd like more frequent incremental updates on Shattereds development (including further work on the Cleric!), you can: - Subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter - Follow me on Mastodon - Follow me on Bluesky You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-12-19 16:56:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, v3.0.0 and the Cleric are finally ready for beta!
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]The beta for Shattered v3.0.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
In this blog post Im going to share more details about the Cleric! Just as with the Duelist, Im releasing the Clerics beta a little early. Theres still one subclass and two armor abilities to implement before the Cleric is content-complete and ready for release.
Note that visuals and specific balancing are still a work in progress. Details may change significantly before full release.
Introducing the Cleric!
[hr][/hr]
I went over a lot of the Cleric's base class features in the last blog I wrote. As a quick recap, the Cleric is an ability-focused spellcaster who gains access to a variety of supportive spells through the talent system! They cast these spells using charges from their holy tome artifact, and the variety of spells they can access makes them very flexible. I already shared several T1 and T2 spells last time, but here's a couple more, with animated GIFs! Recall Inscription lets you spend tome charges to repeat the effect of the last runestone or scroll you used. There are almost 40 different items you can duplicate, though some are more expensive than others.
Bless increases accuracy, evasion, and shielding when the Cleric uses it on themselves. When used on allies it offers a longer buff and healing instead!
Subclasses
[hr][/hr] Each of the Cleric's subclasses include a new innate spell, a buff to some starter spells, and three additional spells that are learned via talents. As usual both subclasses also get two shared talents, one of which is a spell as well. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Priest is all about magical ranged combat. All of their spells work from a distance, and they gain a buff to Guiding Light, which lets them cast it for free once every 100 turns, and trigger the resulting illuminated debuff using allies or magical items. When triggered in this way, Illuminated deals bonus magic damage.[/td] [/tr] [/table] Probably the two flashiest spells the Priest gets access to are Holy Lance and Hallowed Ground. Holy Lance is a devastating ranged spell that can absolutely obliterate a single target, but comes with a hefty charge cost and cooldown.
Hallowed Ground, meanwhile, is a much more strategic spell that creates advantageous 'hallowed' terrain for 20 turns. This spreads grass, lightly heals allies, and impedes enemy movement.
[table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Paladin is a simpler subclass that's all about close combat. All of their spells are closer-ranged, and they gain buffs to Holy Weapon and Holy Ward, increasing their effectiveness and allowing them to work with existing enchantments and glyphs.[/td] [/tr] [/table] Unfortunately I haven't implemented the Paladin yet, and so don't have anything to show you, but here are some spell designs I'm pretty solid on:
- Smite is a fantasy Paladin staple, and will be the Paladin's innate spell. I expect it to be a fairly straightforward physical attack buff, granting the Paladin a guaranteed hit, and probably some mix of extra damage and enchantment power.
- Lay on Hands is another Paladin classic, and will probably be the Cleric's only 100% direct healing spell in the game. Lay on Hands will grant a nice chunk of shielding if the Paladin uses it on themselves, or healing if it's used on an adjacent ally.
- Cleanse is actually the spell that's shared between both subclasses, so Priest gets it too. It's a useful defensive spell that removes debuffs from the Cleric and allies, applies shielding, and can even grant brief debuff immunity.
Armor Abilities
[hr][/hr] I'm going to be a bit lighter on info here to avoid lategame spoilers, and as two of the abilities aren't implemented yet. Just like with subclasses, each armor ability has three unique spells that are learned and upgraded via talents. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Ascended Form causes the Cleric to assume a glowing radiant form for 10 turns. In this form they gain +2 attack range, access to new spells, and shielding for every holy tome charge they consume. This ability and its associated talent spells are expensive, but you can always just plan around benefiting from the extra reach or bonus shielding instead.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Trinity (not yet implemented) is unique in that rather than being a single armor ability, it's a collection of three individual talent spells that each cost both tome and armor charges! To go along with the themeing here, I'm considering have the spells work with weapons/armor (body), wands (mind), and rings/artifacts (soul).[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Power of Many (not yet implemented) is a more collaborative version of ascended form. The Cleric either produces an ally, or empowers an existing one. This ability has three talent spells that are cast from this empowered ally instead of the Cleric themselves.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Conclusion & Release Plans
[hr][/hr] The Cleric is shaping up to be the most complex and strategically flexible hero in the game, and Im very excited for people to start playing with them. I expect theyll be a treat for experienced players in particular, who are going to have quite a few options available via all the different spells. Please let me know what you think of the Cleric in v3.0.0s beta! I expect the beta to last a fair bit longer than usual, both due to the work still needing to be done, and the upcoming holidays. Im going to be taking things easy for the next week or two, so expect for the Cleric to start getting filled in during January, and for v3.0.0 to start getting ready for release around late January or early February. Finally, some of you may be wondering about the in-game visual improvements I shared in the 10th anniversary blog post. I'm afraid there's nothing new to share there yet, but I might have a couple other visual improvements cooking for v3.0 instead...
Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! [hr][/hr] Ill be a little quiet over the holidays, but if youd like more frequent incremental updates on Shattereds development (including further work on the Cleric!), you can: - Subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter - Follow me on Mastodon - Follow me on Bluesky You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-12-19 16:56:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: A Sixth Hero!
[hr][/hr] Two years ago, when I started work on the Duelist, I talked about how I wanted six heroes: two fighters (Warrior & Duelist), two agile tricksters (Rogue & Huntress), and two magic users (Mage & Cleric). You can also look at this in terms of game mechanics: two simpler equipment focused heroes (Warrior & Mage), two environment focused heroes (Rogue & Huntress), and now two ability focused heroes (Duelist & Cleric). So what would an ability focused magic user looks like? The Duelist's ability focus took the form of a special attack being given to every melee weapon in the game. For the Cleric I'm taking a bit of a different approach, the Cleric's abilities tie into the talent system! The Cleric will posses a holy tome artifact which they can use to cast a variety of spells that mainly focus on defense and utility. The Cleric unlocks and upgrades spells via the talent system! Here's an early low-res peek at their splash art:
[hr][/hr] (Note that the visuals below are a work in progress and subject to change) Currently talents are all passive or triggered effects because I didn't want them to warp Shattered's gameplay too much by being too complicated or powerful. In a way the Cleric is an exploration of the inverse approach, with more powerful talents that are active abilities.
The Cleric's holy tome artifact makes this possible, as even though most of their talents are now stronger player-triggered effects, they're all accessed from a single place in the UI, and all share a charge system. Scrolls of upgrade will still be the biggest source of power for the Cleric, of course, but expect talents to play a much bigger role for the Cleric than other heroes. So what sort of spells can the Cleric actually cast using their tome? Firstly, the Cleric starts with three innate spells:
- Guiding Light is a basic ranged attack option that deals a little damage and guarantees the next physical attack on its target will hit. - Holy Weapon is an offensive buff that's best early on when you have no weapon enchantment. This spell temporarily replaces the weapon's enchantment with a damage boost. - Holy Ward is Holy Weapon's defensive counterpart, adding a temporary glyph that increases damage blocking. Here's a little GIF showing off those three spells:
All the other base Cleric spells are tied to talents. Most Cleric talents let you cast a new spell at +1, and make the spell more potent at +2. Here's a few examples:
- Detect Curse is a T1 talent/spell that acts as the Cleric's talent option to help with identification. For a fairly hefty charge cost, the Cleric is able to tell whether an unidentified item is cursed or not. - Shield of Light is a T1 talent/spell that is a great defensive panic button. For a short duration, the Cleric gains a significant armor bonus against a single target, and the spell is cast instantly! - Sunray is a T2 talent/spell that gives the Cleric a stronger ranged option. The spell deals a bit more damage than guiding light, and blinds the target for a few turns. Casting the spell twice in a row will upgrade the blind to a stun, but this can only be done once per enemy. - Divine Sense is a T2 talent/spell that gives the Cleric a visibility option. For a moderate charge cost the Cleric gains temporarily mind vision in a fairly wide (but not level-wide) area. And here's a little GIF showing off sunray, the flashiest of these spells:
Of course this just covers some of the Cleric's powers up to level 12. It's looking like there will be about 30 Cleric spells in total. Some of these are tied to the base class like the ones above, but others are tied into things like subclasses...
[hr][/hr] I'm currently working towards Cleric subclass choice being about choosing a set of abilities/spells that each synergize with different classes of items. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Priest will focus more heavily on direct spell power and synergy with more magical items like wands and artifacts. Their abilities will likely not do much for weapons and armor or attacking in melee range. Experienced players tend to prefer more positional gameplay and use of wands, so the priest is likely to be the more popular choice for them. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Paladin will, by contrast, more heavily focus on weapons and armor synergy over raw spell power. Somewhat like the berserker, I expect the Paladin would lean more toward defense than offense. The Paladin will probably be simpler to play due to their reliance on simpler equipment, and so they'll probably be the more popular subclass overall.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] Unfortunately the Cleric isn't quite playable in their current state. I want to at least have the base class, one subclass, and one armor ability fully implemented before starting the beta. Things might be a little rough, but I would like to try and push for a beta release of v3.0 around mid to late December, just before the holiday season. That'll give everyone a chance to try the Cleric out and for me to gather feedback to start to push for a release in the new year. ...Of course, I do also release Alphas on Patreon a bit before betas go out, and am less concerned about the Cleric not being fully playable there. I'm not able to commit to an exact timeframe, but I expect Patreon folks will be getting Alpha access sometime this week... Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! In the meantime, if youd like more frequent incremental updates on Shattereds development, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon! [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Ive also now got an account on Bluesky! While I still prefer Mastodon, any platform is better than Twitter at this point, and if the majority of people want to migrate there Im happy to post there as well. Bluesky will get the same posts I send to Mastodon or the Newsletter.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] You can discuss this blog post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-11-26 16:36:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers! Progress has been made on the next major update to Shattered Pixel Dungeon, and it's finally time for me to start showing some things off! v3.0.0 will feature the game's second new hero: The Cleric! This blog will go over some of my design thoughts and early implementation work on this new hero.
The Sixth Hero
[hr][/hr] Two years ago, when I started work on the Duelist, I talked about how I wanted six heroes: two fighters (Warrior & Duelist), two agile tricksters (Rogue & Huntress), and two magic users (Mage & Cleric). You can also look at this in terms of game mechanics: two simpler equipment focused heroes (Warrior & Mage), two environment focused heroes (Rogue & Huntress), and now two ability focused heroes (Duelist & Cleric). So what would an ability focused magic user looks like? The Duelist's ability focus took the form of a special attack being given to every melee weapon in the game. For the Cleric I'm taking a bit of a different approach, the Cleric's abilities tie into the talent system! The Cleric will posses a holy tome artifact which they can use to cast a variety of spells that mainly focus on defense and utility. The Cleric unlocks and upgrades spells via the talent system! Here's an early low-res peek at their splash art:
Divine Magic!
[hr][/hr] (Note that the visuals below are a work in progress and subject to change) Currently talents are all passive or triggered effects because I didn't want them to warp Shattered's gameplay too much by being too complicated or powerful. In a way the Cleric is an exploration of the inverse approach, with more powerful talents that are active abilities.
The Cleric's holy tome artifact makes this possible, as even though most of their talents are now stronger player-triggered effects, they're all accessed from a single place in the UI, and all share a charge system. Scrolls of upgrade will still be the biggest source of power for the Cleric, of course, but expect talents to play a much bigger role for the Cleric than other heroes. So what sort of spells can the Cleric actually cast using their tome? Firstly, the Cleric starts with three innate spells:
- Guiding Light is a basic ranged attack option that deals a little damage and guarantees the next physical attack on its target will hit. - Holy Weapon is an offensive buff that's best early on when you have no weapon enchantment. This spell temporarily replaces the weapon's enchantment with a damage boost. - Holy Ward is Holy Weapon's defensive counterpart, adding a temporary glyph that increases damage blocking. Here's a little GIF showing off those three spells:
All the other base Cleric spells are tied to talents. Most Cleric talents let you cast a new spell at +1, and make the spell more potent at +2. Here's a few examples:
- Detect Curse is a T1 talent/spell that acts as the Cleric's talent option to help with identification. For a fairly hefty charge cost, the Cleric is able to tell whether an unidentified item is cursed or not. - Shield of Light is a T1 talent/spell that is a great defensive panic button. For a short duration, the Cleric gains a significant armor bonus against a single target, and the spell is cast instantly! - Sunray is a T2 talent/spell that gives the Cleric a stronger ranged option. The spell deals a bit more damage than guiding light, and blinds the target for a few turns. Casting the spell twice in a row will upgrade the blind to a stun, but this can only be done once per enemy. - Divine Sense is a T2 talent/spell that gives the Cleric a visibility option. For a moderate charge cost the Cleric gains temporarily mind vision in a fairly wide (but not level-wide) area. And here's a little GIF showing off sunray, the flashiest of these spells:
Of course this just covers some of the Cleric's powers up to level 12. It's looking like there will be about 30 Cleric spells in total. Some of these are tied to the base class like the ones above, but others are tied into things like subclasses...
Subclass Designs
[hr][/hr] I'm currently working towards Cleric subclass choice being about choosing a set of abilities/spells that each synergize with different classes of items. [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Priest will focus more heavily on direct spell power and synergy with more magical items like wands and artifacts. Their abilities will likely not do much for weapons and armor or attacking in melee range. Experienced players tend to prefer more positional gameplay and use of wands, so the priest is likely to be the more popular choice for them. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Paladin will, by contrast, more heavily focus on weapons and armor synergy over raw spell power. Somewhat like the berserker, I expect the Paladin would lean more toward defense than offense. The Paladin will probably be simpler to play due to their reliance on simpler equipment, and so they'll probably be the more popular subclass overall.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Beta When?
[hr][/hr] Unfortunately the Cleric isn't quite playable in their current state. I want to at least have the base class, one subclass, and one armor ability fully implemented before starting the beta. Things might be a little rough, but I would like to try and push for a beta release of v3.0 around mid to late December, just before the holiday season. That'll give everyone a chance to try the Cleric out and for me to gather feedback to start to push for a release in the new year. ...Of course, I do also release Alphas on Patreon a bit before betas go out, and am less concerned about the Cleric not being fully playable there. I'm not able to commit to an exact timeframe, but I expect Patreon folks will be getting Alpha access sometime this week... Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! In the meantime, if youd like more frequent incremental updates on Shattereds development, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon! [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Ive also now got an account on Bluesky! While I still prefer Mastodon, any platform is better than Twitter at this point, and if the majority of people want to migrate there Im happy to post there as well. Bluesky will get the same posts I send to Mastodon or the Newsletter.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] You can discuss this blog post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-11-26 16:36:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.5.4
[hr][/hr] (This sections contains expandable text boxes, you may need to view the post directly in order to see them properly.) Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Toxic gas rooms can no longer contain extra traps - Updated translations and translator credits [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the Following Bugs: Caused by v2.5.3: - New flashbang not using electricity damage type - Various errors with damage numbers in bomb descriptions - Various rare textual errors Caused by v2.5.0: - Very rare Gravity Chaos cursed wand effect not being triggerable - Rare cases where ambitious imp could cause terrain to not behave correctly Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Assassinate/execute effects not working on enraged brutes - Cases where a locked laboratory room could contain the solution potion to a hazard room that contains its key - Cases where the gnoll geomancer could be awoken via debuff - Specific cases where beacon of returning could place the hero inside of closed dooors - Necromancers not being able to summon their minions in unlocked doors - Specific cases where one scroll of transmutation couldn't be used on another - Rare cases where the rot heart could be boxed in and not spawn gas - Specific cases where the parchment scrap trinket could still influence level generation [/expand]
[ 2024-10-09 20:41:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.5.4 is probably the final patch for v2.5 before I start moving on to development of the next update. It's just a few bugfixes this time, plus one tiny misc. change.
Changes
[hr][/hr] (This sections contains expandable text boxes, you may need to view the post directly in order to see them properly.) Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Toxic gas rooms can no longer contain extra traps - Updated translations and translator credits [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the Following Bugs: Caused by v2.5.3: - New flashbang not using electricity damage type - Various errors with damage numbers in bomb descriptions - Various rare textual errors Caused by v2.5.0: - Very rare Gravity Chaos cursed wand effect not being triggerable - Rare cases where ambitious imp could cause terrain to not behave correctly Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Assassinate/execute effects not working on enraged brutes - Cases where a locked laboratory room could contain the solution potion to a hazard room that contains its key - Cases where the gnoll geomancer could be awoken via debuff - Specific cases where beacon of returning could place the hero inside of closed dooors - Necromancers not being able to summon their minions in unlocked doors - Specific cases where one scroll of transmutation couldn't be used on another - Rare cases where the rot heart could be boxed in and not spawn gas - Specific cases where the parchment scrap trinket could still influence level generation [/expand]
[ 2024-10-09 20:41:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.5.3
[hr][/hr] Bombs and Identification [expand type=details] I'm making a few changes as a followup to the removal of the bomb identification exploit in v2.5.0: Firstly Stones of Detect Magic are a new item that replace stones of disarming. Each stone can be used on a piece of equipment to identify whether it is cursed, and whether it is enchanted/upgraded. This should give a few more options when it comes to IDing equipment. Stones of disarming will no longer appear, but existing ones will remain in runs in progress for now. Secondly, here are a bunch of buffs aimed at making bombs themselves more useful: - Bomb max damage +50% (this increases average damage by 33%) - Bombs no longer bounce when thrown directly at characters - Bombs no longer have damage falloff when characters aren't right on top of them - Explosion-triggering effects (e.g. explosive traps, explosive curse) all benefit from the damage and falloff changes. - Alchemy Bombs all benefit from the damage and falloff changes as well, and now deal explosion damage in a minimum AOE of 5x5 if they used to be 3x3. - Flashbangs redesigned, they are now smoke bombs, and spread shrouding fog in a 5x5 AOE in addition to dealing damage. - Shocks Bombs redesigned, they are now flashbangs, and deal +25% electricity damage and stun for 10 turns within their 5x5 AOE. - Regrowth Bomb AOE size up to 7x7 from 5x5, now always generate at least 3 plants, up from 2. [/expand] Item Balance [expand type=details] The new trinkets are doing much better after v2.5.1, but there's still room to hand out a few buffs here. Most notably I want to address feedback where the Chaotic Censer seems to spawn gas too close to the hero too often: - Chaotic Censer gas spawn range up to 2-5 tiles from 1-3 - Chaotic Censer gas volume reduced - Chaotic Censer likelihood of spawning gas near enemies increased - Salt Cube health regen loss reduced to 16/27/34/40%, from 20/33/43/50% I'm handing out a couple nerfs as well: Stones of Aggression were meant to have some use during boss fights, but currently they're too strong in that case, especially with many challenges enabled. - Bosses now take 1/2 damage from their minions when affected by aggression, the final boss specifically takes 1/4 damage. - Aggression duration vs. regular enemies up to 20 turns, from 5. - Mossy Clump upgrade cost reduction reverted, now costs 20/25/30 to upgrade again, up from 15/20/25 [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Vampiric no longer triggers on NPCs or allies - Styli can now be used on known uncursed armor - Wells of health and awareness descriptions are now more accurate - DM-300 can no longer use an ability immediately after existing supercharge state - Wraiths spawned by spectral necromancers are now more powerful [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the Following Bugs: Caused by v2.5.0: - Various minor visual errors - Very rare cases where ooze could trigger many times in a turn - Cases where falling into chasms could affect level generation - Corpse Dust unintentionally being set to droppable - Upgrades to Sandals of Nature not counting in the new catalog - Scroll of Upgrade uses counting twice in the new catalog - Liquid Nature using the wrong position for thrown potions - Invisibility vfx persisting in rare cases when they shouldn't - Bombs not destroying terrain during the beta for v2.5.3 Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Various rare crash bugs - Various minor visual and textual errors - One more rare levelgen freeze bug - Wards not being targetable if they were in solid terrain - Spawned mimics (e.g. via cursed wand) not scaling with ascension challenge [/expand]
[ 2024-10-02 16:56:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! I've just released Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.5.3! This patch includes a few changes in response to feedback and gameplay data from v2.5.0. There is a new way to identify items, a few items have been buffed/nerfed, and bombs have been buffed across the board!
Changes
[hr][/hr] Bombs and Identification [expand type=details] I'm making a few changes as a followup to the removal of the bomb identification exploit in v2.5.0: Firstly Stones of Detect Magic are a new item that replace stones of disarming. Each stone can be used on a piece of equipment to identify whether it is cursed, and whether it is enchanted/upgraded. This should give a few more options when it comes to IDing equipment. Stones of disarming will no longer appear, but existing ones will remain in runs in progress for now. Secondly, here are a bunch of buffs aimed at making bombs themselves more useful: - Bomb max damage +50% (this increases average damage by 33%) - Bombs no longer bounce when thrown directly at characters - Bombs no longer have damage falloff when characters aren't right on top of them - Explosion-triggering effects (e.g. explosive traps, explosive curse) all benefit from the damage and falloff changes. - Alchemy Bombs all benefit from the damage and falloff changes as well, and now deal explosion damage in a minimum AOE of 5x5 if they used to be 3x3. - Flashbangs redesigned, they are now smoke bombs, and spread shrouding fog in a 5x5 AOE in addition to dealing damage. - Shocks Bombs redesigned, they are now flashbangs, and deal +25% electricity damage and stun for 10 turns within their 5x5 AOE. - Regrowth Bomb AOE size up to 7x7 from 5x5, now always generate at least 3 plants, up from 2. [/expand] Item Balance [expand type=details] The new trinkets are doing much better after v2.5.1, but there's still room to hand out a few buffs here. Most notably I want to address feedback where the Chaotic Censer seems to spawn gas too close to the hero too often: - Chaotic Censer gas spawn range up to 2-5 tiles from 1-3 - Chaotic Censer gas volume reduced - Chaotic Censer likelihood of spawning gas near enemies increased - Salt Cube health regen loss reduced to 16/27/34/40%, from 20/33/43/50% I'm handing out a couple nerfs as well: Stones of Aggression were meant to have some use during boss fights, but currently they're too strong in that case, especially with many challenges enabled. - Bosses now take 1/2 damage from their minions when affected by aggression, the final boss specifically takes 1/4 damage. - Aggression duration vs. regular enemies up to 20 turns, from 5. - Mossy Clump upgrade cost reduction reverted, now costs 20/25/30 to upgrade again, up from 15/20/25 [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Vampiric no longer triggers on NPCs or allies - Styli can now be used on known uncursed armor - Wells of health and awareness descriptions are now more accurate - DM-300 can no longer use an ability immediately after existing supercharge state - Wraiths spawned by spectral necromancers are now more powerful [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the Following Bugs: Caused by v2.5.0: - Various minor visual errors - Very rare cases where ooze could trigger many times in a turn - Cases where falling into chasms could affect level generation - Corpse Dust unintentionally being set to droppable - Upgrades to Sandals of Nature not counting in the new catalog - Scroll of Upgrade uses counting twice in the new catalog - Liquid Nature using the wrong position for thrown potions - Invisibility vfx persisting in rare cases when they shouldn't - Bombs not destroying terrain during the beta for v2.5.3 Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Various rare crash bugs - Various minor visual and textual errors - One more rare levelgen freeze bug - Wards not being targetable if they were in solid terrain - Spawned mimics (e.g. via cursed wand) not scaling with ascension challenge [/expand]
[ 2024-10-02 16:56:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.5.2
[ 2024-09-17 16:44:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
Just a quick extra patch this time to fix a few more bugs: Caused by v2.5.1: - Crashes when using transmutation abilities (sorry!) - Shard of Oblivion description not using its new bonus loot rate Caused by v2.5.0: - Dark floors sometimes giving 1/2 vision instead of the new value of 5/8 - drop and throw actions not working on Shard of Oblivion - Some flying characters visually falling into pits when they die that shouldn't (e.g. ghosts) - Various minor textual errors Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Various minor visual bugs with stealthy mimics
[ 2024-09-17 16:44:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.5.1
[hr][/hr] New Trinket Buffs [expand type=details] Based on some early balance data it looks like some of the new trinkets aren't quite hitting the mark. I'm open to more extensive changes after getting in some more data, but for now I'm doing some simple buffs: - Chaotic Censer internal RNG adjusted, now much more likely to fire gas at useful times. Now also tries to avoid firing at all in shops or enclosed spaces, as long as you don't loiter there. - Salt Cube health regen loss down to 20/33/43/50% from 30/50/65/75%. This means total HP granted per food item is now unchanged with the salt cube, the regen just happens more slowly. - Shard of Oblivion bonus loot per unidentified item up to 20% from 12.5%. [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Jumping toward a distant well now clears it from the notes page - Statue enemies no longer become passive again when ascending - NPCs are now fooled by the disguise buff - Sniper's Mark now shows its duration in its buff description - Added Google Play Games achievements for the new researcher badges - ShatteredPD is now categorized as a game on Android devices [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.5.0: - Various crash and freeze bugs with the chaotic censer - Goo and DM-300 benefitting from terrain while levitating - Defeating temporarily transmogrified enemies not counting for the bestiary - Underscores being incorrectly interpreted by the game in custom notes - New 'remembering fullscreen monitor' functionality for desktop users not working properly - Various minor textual and graphical errors Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Shopkeepers often failing to clear gasses from their shops - Debuffs disappearing from DM-300's pylons on save/load - Rare cases of levelgen hanging - Game log spam during the tutorial in specific cases - Corpse Dust sometimes spawning many wraiths in quick succession after spawning none - Direction compass not pointing to exit after defeating Tengu - Split alchemy guide not updating with inventory state in various cases - Magic well note entries not being cleared if there are two wells in a level [/expand]
[ 2024-09-16 20:41:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! The first patch for Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.5.0 should now be out on all platforms! v2.5.1 includes an assortment of small fixes, and some balance changes to three of the new trinkets. I expect to make more changes in future patches as well, before moving on to work on v3.0.0.
Changes
[hr][/hr] New Trinket Buffs [expand type=details] Based on some early balance data it looks like some of the new trinkets aren't quite hitting the mark. I'm open to more extensive changes after getting in some more data, but for now I'm doing some simple buffs: - Chaotic Censer internal RNG adjusted, now much more likely to fire gas at useful times. Now also tries to avoid firing at all in shops or enclosed spaces, as long as you don't loiter there. - Salt Cube health regen loss down to 20/33/43/50% from 30/50/65/75%. This means total HP granted per food item is now unchanged with the salt cube, the regen just happens more slowly. - Shard of Oblivion bonus loot per unidentified item up to 20% from 12.5%. [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Jumping toward a distant well now clears it from the notes page - Statue enemies no longer become passive again when ascending - NPCs are now fooled by the disguise buff - Sniper's Mark now shows its duration in its buff description - Added Google Play Games achievements for the new researcher badges - ShatteredPD is now categorized as a game on Android devices [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.5.0: - Various crash and freeze bugs with the chaotic censer - Goo and DM-300 benefitting from terrain while levitating - Defeating temporarily transmogrified enemies not counting for the bestiary - Underscores being incorrectly interpreted by the game in custom notes - New 'remembering fullscreen monitor' functionality for desktop users not working properly - Various minor textual and graphical errors Existed Prior to v2.5.0: - Shopkeepers often failing to clear gasses from their shops - Debuffs disappearing from DM-300's pylons on save/load - Rare cases of levelgen hanging - Game log spam during the tutorial in specific cases - Corpse Dust sometimes spawning many wraiths in quick succession after spawning none - Direction compass not pointing to exit after defeating Tengu - Split alchemy guide not updating with inventory state in various cases - Magic well note entries not being cleared if there are two wells in a level [/expand]
[ 2024-09-16 20:41:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.5.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.5.0 includes a total overhaul to the journal, some new trinkets, and tonnes of smaller tweaks and balance changes. There are also new splash arts for each of the dungeons regions, viewable during loading screens! Be sure to check the changes screen for full details. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts:
New Content:
Changes:
Buffs:
Nerfs:
[hr][/hr]
[ 2024-09-11 16:36:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
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[td]Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.5.0 has been released! You can get it right now on Steam, or on any of the other platforms Shattered is distributed on.
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Whats new in v2.5.0
[hr][/hr] v2.5.0 includes a total overhaul to the journal, some new trinkets, and tonnes of smaller tweaks and balance changes. There are also new splash arts for each of the dungeons regions, viewable during loading screens! Be sure to check the changes screen for full details. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts:
- Coming Soon to Shattered: New Trinkets and Splash Art!
- Coming Soon to Shattered: A Journal Overhaul!
New Content:
- Developer Commentary [expand] - Released September 11th, 2024 - 119 days after Shattered v2.4.0 Dev commentary will be added here in the future[/expand]
- Journal Overhaul! [expand] The game's Journal interface has been completely overhauled! The Notes section has an entirely new grid-based UI with new icons, and support for custom notes! Custom notes feature user-enterable text and can be tied to a floor, specific item, item type, or just be plain text. The Catalogs section has also been moved to a grid UI, and has been massively expanded with almost 500 entries! The catalogs now contain almost every item in the game, and a bestiary featuring almost every character, plant, and trap! There are also 9 new badges which can be unlocked by filling the catalogs out! You can also now view badges directly from the journal, both the ones for your current run and overall badges. [/expand]
- New Trinkets! [expand] Four new trinkets have been added! Bringing the total to 15 trinkets. The Salt Cube extends the duration that food keeps you full, but also reduces HP regeneration. The Vial of Blood increases the healing granted by major healing sources, but also slows that healing down. The Shard of Oblivion increases the amount of loot you'll find from enemies when you are wearing unidentified equipment. The Chaotic Censer randomly spreads gasses nearby, that are harmful to you and to enemies. There is also now a fourth 'random' option when selecting trinkets, if you don't want any of the first three. [/expand]
- Region Splash Arts! [expand] New splash arts have been added to the game's loading screens! There's one for each of the five regions, once again made by Aleksandar Komitov! Loading times have not been increased, but the first loading screen of each region now pauses to display that region's story text. This gives an opportunity to appreciate the art without making players wait longer on every loading screen. The game will even start panning the loading screen art during this pause for mobile portrait users! [/expand]
Changes:
- Interface Improvements [expand] In addition to the journal overhaul, there are several smaller UI changes and additions in this update too: Scrolls of Upgrade now have a preview window that appears when they are used, that summarizes how the stats of an item will change when upgraded. The main menu Badges Screen has been replaced with a new journal screen, containing the catalogs and guidebooks as well as unlocked badges. The Alchemy Screen has been adjusted, primarily for desktop users. The guidebook button is now more visible, and shows the guidebook to the side when used on desktop. The game now displays a little congratulations message after your first win, and clarity on what winning the game unlocks has been improved. [/expand]
- Cursed Wands [expand] Cursed wand effects have been massively expanded! There are now 16 new effects bringing the total number of effects up to 32. These include simple common effects like shooting bubbles and new super rare effects like a giant supernova explosion! A few existing cursed effects have also been changed: - Reduced healing from the uncommon health transfer effect by 50% - The uncommon 'shock and recharge' effect is now a lightning bolt, does more damage to a target and grants less wand recharge - The rare inter-floor teleport effect now caps at sending the player back 10 floors [/expand]
- Inventory Management Improvements [expand] I've made various smaller changes to make inventory management a bit easier: - The potion bandolier can now store the waterskin, and the scroll holder can now store arcane styli - Converting a potion or scroll into alchemical energy now also identifies it - Reduced the chance for multiple equipment drops from slimes, skeletons, guards, DM-200s, and golems - Increased the base drop rate of equipment from DM-200s and golems to compensate - Stones of Intuition now always get 2 uses each, even if the first guess is incorrect - Dark dungeon levels no longer contain a torch, but also reduce vision by 3/8, down from 4/8 [/expand]
- 30+ Misc. Changes [expand] Highlights: - Enemies are now less willing to follow the hero's movement path when approaching from a distance - Improved the quality of loot from tormented spirits - Traps which choose targets now have a max range of 8 tiles (or 6 on dark floors) - Burn and Ooze now end the moment water is entered, but still always do at least 1 turn of damage - Improved visibility of the ambitious imp - Trinkets can now be energized to get 5 energy back - Rings transmuted from artifacts can now be +1 or +2 if the artifact was +5 or +10. - Blooming now produces furrowed grass if regen effects are disabled during boss fights Characters: - Tengu no longer avoids ground-based effects as if he were flying - Flying characters now visually fall into pits when they die - Flying characters now only wake sleeping enemies they are next to - Shadow clone now inherits silent steps from the Rogue - DM-300 no longer spews gas at inorganic allies - Necromancers now interrupt the hero if they start summoning within vision Effects: - Drowsy debuff now states its remaining duration in its buff description - Thorns glyph no longer rebounds damage to allies Items: - Rapier's lunge ability no longer triggers weapon ability use effects when it is aimed at empty space - Warrior's broken seal now includes glyph info in its description - Added a cancel confirmation window to scrolls of enchantment - Armor now always takes 1 turn to equip, instead of 2 turns multiplied by movement speed - Minor visual changes to hourglass stasis effect - Potion of Storm Clouds no longer triggers traps when thrown Misc: - The game now remembers which monitor it was set to fullscreen on in multi-monitor setups - The journal window and hero info window can now be closed via key binding - Single wraiths can now spawn adjacent to their spawning cell if it is blocked - Added a little game log text when shopkeepers flee - Reduced the maximum size of some trap-filled rooms - Updated internal code libraries - Made slight tweaks to tutorial functionality - Added a new buff icon for wand-based buffs - Updated translations - Added dev commentary for v1.4.0 [/expand]
- 35+ Bugfixes [expand] Fixed the following bugs: Highlights: - Hall of Heroes pages 5-10 not syncing via Google Play Games on Google Play version - Incorrect behaviour when game is force-closed from trinket selection window - Scroll of remove curse not being consumed when freeing tormented spirits - Sleeping enemies not being alerted by allies in many cases Misc: - Various rare crash bugs - Various minor visual and textual errors - Surface victory badges not being added to the rankings screen - Very rare cases of players getting outside of boss arenas - Settings defaulting to audio tab and not languages tab when user is using a language with an incomplete translation Effects: - Warrior being able to gain extra upgrades on his armor via hero armor transfer effect - Earthroot and living rock armor not applying to bone explosion damage - Precise Assault not working with unarmed melee attacks - Deferred damage sometimes being delayed on save/load - Various situational errors when enemies are transmogrified over chasms - Challenge Arena effect briefly persisting between floors - Magically slept enemies waking up when terror expires on them - Duelist's Spike ability incorrectly triggering on-kill effects in specific circumstances Items: - Trinkets becoming unidentified when transmuted - Wondrous resin applying its effect to chaos elementals - Exotic crystals and Parchment Scrap trinkets affecting levelgen in some cases - Auto-aim not working correctly with cursed wands - Aqua brew always knocking hero up and left when thrown on self - Bomb fuses not being visually cleared when boss levels are reset by unblessed ankhs - Exotic crystals and Parchment Scrap trinkets affecting levelgen in some cases - Helpful darts dealing damage to allies in rare cases - Tipped dart cleaning window showing 'clean all' and 'clean one' even with just 1 dart - Death via a reclaimed trap not counting as dying to your own magic item Characters: - Final boss not immediately advancing to its final phase in some cases - Sad Ghost rarely spawning inside of walls - Ally position swapping working when allies are paralyzed - DM-300's exposed wire shielding mechanic and the vertigo debuff interacting incorrectly - Brutes not being affected by terror in specific cases - Enemies not properly prioritizing targets based on distance - Very specific cases where the hero would refuse to walk onto visible traps - Ripper Demons refusing to leap onto enemies above chasms [/expand]
Buffs:
- Trinket Buffs [expand] I'm handing out buffs to several trinkets that are underperforming: - 13 Leaf Clover upgrade cost up, but it now only affect the hero's damage rolls. It no longer applies to armor or enemy attacks. This should preserve the intended chaos of the effect without making enemies way more dangerous. - Dimensional Sundial upgrade cost up, but it now slightly reduces enemy spawn rates during daytime. 'nighttime' has also been adjusted to be 8pm-8am, from 9pm-7am. - Wondrous Resin's bonus cursed wand effects are now always neutral or positive. - Mimic Tooth now boosts loot from all mimics. [/expand]
- Duelist Buffs [expand] The Duelist is doing much better balance-wise since v2.4.0, but there are various specific abilities that are getting boosts this update: Weapon Abilities: - Lunge, Cleave, Spike, Retribution, and Brawler's Stance abilities all now deal more bonus damage - Crossbow's Charge Shot ability can now also cause a melee attack to knock back, or an untipped dart attack to deal bonus damage. Tipped dart benefits unchanged. Talents: - Liquid Evasion talent evasion at +1 reduced to 3x from 4x, but the talent now also grants bonus accuracy on the next attack. - Lethal Haste talent now grants instant movement, instead of haste. - Swift Equip talent's second use at +2 no longer has a 5 turn timer. - Deadly Followup talent damage per level up to +10% from +8%. - Precise Assault accuracy bonus increased to 2x/5x/inf., up from 2x/4x/8x. - Expose Weakness talent now applies weakness as well as vulnerable. [/expand]
- Monk Buffs [expand] v2.4.0's Duelist buffs were mainly focused on weapon abilities, which mainly benefit the Champion, so it makes sense that the Monk has fallen a little behind. I'm giving out several buffs and mechanics changes to boost the Monk back up, which should improve every ability she has, except meditate. - Removed ability cooldowns entirely, except for flurry which has a 1 turn cooldown - Flurry damage increased by 50% - Focus now works on magic attack and has infinite duration - Dash range increased by 33% - Dragon Kick damage doubled - Unencumbered Spirit energy gain changed to 50%/75%/100% from 40%/80%/120% - Combined Energy is now more permissive and reduces charge use by 1, instead of 50% [/expand]
Nerfs:
- Bomb Identification [expand] This is actually an exploit fix, but I'm listing the change here for clarity. Explosions will now avoid destroying any equipment, previously they would destroy un-upgraded equipment only. This led to some players purposefully blowing up un-identified items to see if they were upgraded. I've been hesitant to change this functionality as I know it lessened inventory congestion, but after taking in feedback during the beta it's become clear to me that some players were relying on it to effectively avoid ever equipping unidentified items. Apologies for letting this persist for so long, I would have removed this exploit much sooner had I known how dependant some players were on it. I am, however, considering some compensation changes to bombs (to make them more useful for their intended purpose), and to other items to lessen the risk of trying on unidentified gear a bit. [/expand]
- Grassy Floors [expand] The Mossy Clump is still far and away the strongest trinket, despite several nerfs since adding it. At this point it's clear the value of that trinket is more reflective of how powerful grassy floors are, rather than the trinket itself. So, I'm nerfing the drop-rate of dew from grassy floors by 50%, meaning that they will generate 2x as much dew as a regular floor on average, down from 4x. Seed drops from these floor are unaffected. This reduces the bonus dew granted by the mossy clump by 67%, which should hopefully bring it more in-line with other trinket. I've also reduced the upgrade cost of the mossy clump to compensate. [/expand]
- Other Item Nerfs [expand] - Whip's Lash Ability bonus damage reduced to 0%, from +20%. Ability still guarantees a hit on every target. - Ring of Haste bonus speed per level reduced to 17.5% from 20%. Elixir of Featherfall adjusted: - Output quantity reduced to 1 from 2 - Recipe energy cost reduced to 10 from 16 - Falling into a chasm now reduces effect duration by 10 turns instead of ending it. Total duration unchanged at 50 turns. [/expand]
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- The next major update to Shattered will be v3.0.0, which will add the game's 6th hero: The Cleric!
- The Cleric is going to be a divine spellcaster who focuses on defense and utility magic that they access through a unique item! I expect them to contrast best with the mage, who's arcane magic abilities enhance the power of wands. I expect to share more details about the cleric in blog posts when v3.0.0 gets closer to releasing. Like all other heroes, the Cleric will have 2 subclasses, 3 armor abilities, and 26 talents!
- v3.0.0 is also likely to feature some visual improvements, potentially including some of what I've teased in the recent 'Ten Years of Shattered Pixel Dungeon' blogpost, plus a few others I've not shared yet. Unfortunately the new art is still in the early stages, and so it's very hard for me to say where things will be when v3.0.0 releases, and what things in particular might be ready.
- As always there will be some smaller changes in v3.0.0 as well, including bugfixes and minor balance/mechanics tweaks. Given that v3.0.0 will take a while to make, I'll likely give v2.5.0 some bigger patches that usual, including any needed balance or mechanics tweaks that I don't want to delay into v3.0.0.
[ 2024-09-11 16:36:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: New Trinkets and Splash Art!
[hr][/hr] v2.5.0 is fairly light on new content, with most of the emphasis being on the things I talked about last time. There are some new trinkets Im adding though! Trinkets have been designed with lots of room for expansion, and in this update Im adding four more to bring the total number to 15!
[hr][/hr] While those new trinkets are the only direct new gameplay content coming in v2.5.0, there are also a bunch of smaller tweaks and changes that should impact game feel quite a bit: [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Probably the biggest change in terms of game feel is some adjustments Im making to improve inventory management. This includes some specific changes to free up inventory slots here and there, and one notable change to alchemy. Energizing items now also identifies them, which gives players a new way to use up consumable items up in order to ID them.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Now that cursed wands are being used more with Wondrous Resin, Its a good time to expand the functionality there a bit. v2.5.0 will feature 16 new cursed wand effects, ranging from common effects like shooting bubbles to rare and powerful effects like a massive supernova explosion! The bubbles are harmless, and the explosion is the exact opposite of that.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Im making several changes to improve overall trinket balance. Most notably, the Dimensional Sundial is getting an effect during daytime, the 13 Leaf Clover will now only affect the heros damage rolls, and the Mossy Clump will generate less bonus dew. I hope these changes will make more trinket options appealing, increasing overall variety.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Continuing with balance changes, Im also making some adjustments to the Duelist and Monk to follow up on bigger changes from v2.4.0. The Duelist is mainly getting buffs to specific weapon abilities (mostly extra damage) and talent bufs, and the Monk is getting an overall boost to her abilities to help her keep pace with the Champion.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] Lastly, while it doesnt affect gameplay directly, there is one more major change coming in v2.5.0. In Shattereds 10th anniversary blog post I talked about new in-game pixel art, but Im also working with Aleksandar Komitov on some new splash arts for Shattered as well! That pixel art is still a long ways out, but some of Aleks new art is ready to go now! In v2.5.0 Shattered is getting five new full detail splash arts, one for each of the dungeons regions! These arts appear during the games loading screens, and will pause to display story text when you first descend to each region.
Much like the hero splashes, I think these region splashes go a long way toward enhancing Shattered's presentation, and help fill in some of the more subtle visual details that aren't present in the lower-res pixel art within the game. There are also lots of lovely new larger details in each art, some of which I'd love to better represent in the game itself at some point. You can see the sewers art above, and the metropolis art below, to see the rest you'll have to play through the regions in the game ;).
Mobile portrait users will get to see vertical slices of these arts during loading screens, instead of seeing them all at once, but I am going to experiment with adding a panning effect when story text is displayed. You can also minimize the story text to view the region splash arts on their own. [hr][/hr] I expect the beta for v2.5.0 to last a little longer than a week, as I've got to get a couple more trinkets functioning in it before release. If you'd like to keep up to date on that progress, or get more updates in general, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. Folks who's been following those have been getting little bite-sized trinket teaser for almost the last two months now. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-08-26 16:53:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey everyone, after a bit longer of a wait that I initially planned, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.5.0 is now ready for beta! In this post Im going to share some more of the new things coming in this update!
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[td]
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[td]The beta for Shattered v2.5.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
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Shattered is also on sale on Steam right now as a part of the No Time To Loot Festival from August 26th to September 2nd! During the sale you can grab Shattered at 40% off, which is a new all-time low price on Steam! There are also a bunch of other great dungeon crawler games on sale as part of the festival.
New Trinkets!
[hr][/hr] v2.5.0 is fairly light on new content, with most of the emphasis being on the things I talked about last time. There are some new trinkets Im adding though! Trinkets have been designed with lots of room for expansion, and in this update Im adding four more to bring the total number to 15!
- The Salt Cube is a fairly simple trinket that makes satiety from your food last longer at the cost of reduced HP regen. At +3 your food will last 50% longer, but at the cost of no passive health regen while youre satiated.
- The Vial of Blood is another simpler trinket that enhances the amount of healing from major healing sources at the cost of also slowing it down. Youll get 50% more healing at +3, but youll need to plan around healing much more slowly.
- The Chaotic Censer produces puffs of different harmful gas near to you. With good positioning you can stay out of these gasses while kiting enemies into them. Higher levels make the gas effect more frequent and increase the chance of more powerful gasses.
- The Shard of Oblivion increases your chance of finding loot from enemies for each unidentified item youre currently wearing. The trinket also comes with a built-in way to turn off passive identification, making it easy to Minmax which items you want identified or not.
Content Changes
[hr][/hr] While those new trinkets are the only direct new gameplay content coming in v2.5.0, there are also a bunch of smaller tweaks and changes that should impact game feel quite a bit: [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Probably the biggest change in terms of game feel is some adjustments Im making to improve inventory management. This includes some specific changes to free up inventory slots here and there, and one notable change to alchemy. Energizing items now also identifies them, which gives players a new way to use up consumable items up in order to ID them.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Now that cursed wands are being used more with Wondrous Resin, Its a good time to expand the functionality there a bit. v2.5.0 will feature 16 new cursed wand effects, ranging from common effects like shooting bubbles to rare and powerful effects like a massive supernova explosion! The bubbles are harmless, and the explosion is the exact opposite of that.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Im making several changes to improve overall trinket balance. Most notably, the Dimensional Sundial is getting an effect during daytime, the 13 Leaf Clover will now only affect the heros damage rolls, and the Mossy Clump will generate less bonus dew. I hope these changes will make more trinket options appealing, increasing overall variety.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Continuing with balance changes, Im also making some adjustments to the Duelist and Monk to follow up on bigger changes from v2.4.0. The Duelist is mainly getting buffs to specific weapon abilities (mostly extra damage) and talent bufs, and the Monk is getting an overall boost to her abilities to help her keep pace with the Champion.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Region Splash Art!
[hr][/hr] Lastly, while it doesnt affect gameplay directly, there is one more major change coming in v2.5.0. In Shattereds 10th anniversary blog post I talked about new in-game pixel art, but Im also working with Aleksandar Komitov on some new splash arts for Shattered as well! That pixel art is still a long ways out, but some of Aleks new art is ready to go now! In v2.5.0 Shattered is getting five new full detail splash arts, one for each of the dungeons regions! These arts appear during the games loading screens, and will pause to display story text when you first descend to each region.
Much like the hero splashes, I think these region splashes go a long way toward enhancing Shattered's presentation, and help fill in some of the more subtle visual details that aren't present in the lower-res pixel art within the game. There are also lots of lovely new larger details in each art, some of which I'd love to better represent in the game itself at some point. You can see the sewers art above, and the metropolis art below, to see the rest you'll have to play through the regions in the game ;).
Mobile portrait users will get to see vertical slices of these arts during loading screens, instead of seeing them all at once, but I am going to experiment with adding a panning effect when story text is displayed. You can also minimize the story text to view the region splash arts on their own. [hr][/hr] I expect the beta for v2.5.0 to last a little longer than a week, as I've got to get a couple more trinkets functioning in it before release. If you'd like to keep up to date on that progress, or get more updates in general, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. Folks who's been following those have been getting little bite-sized trinket teaser for almost the last two months now. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2024-08-26 16:53:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
Ten Years of Shattered Pixel Dungeon!
[hr][/hr]
In the last ten years Shattered has received 11 major updates, 36 minor updates, 124 patches, and hundreds more beta releases and internal revisions. I've already done a lot of writing about the gameplay content of these updates, so instead I'm going to go over some of the biggest visual changes that Shattered has had over the years! (If youre only interested in whats new, feel free to skip down to the next section)
[previewyoutube=gz9JceO9vAE;leftthumb][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube=2IaWJUJSFzc;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]
Firstly, before we get into the visuals, heres some music to listen to. Shattered received new remastered music in v1.0.0 by Kristjan Haaristo, replacing the original tracks from Pixel Dungeon. While the replacements where a stylistic change, they are much grander, higher fidelity, and have been expanded on since v1.0.0 as well. The main menu theme is above, and the in-game theme is below, old on left and new on right. [previewyoutube=UYzoKZsztII;leftthumb][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube=DijCCSJn0CY;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]
Shattereds icon went through some early iterations before settling on the current gold and green chest design, and refining it from there. The chest icon was always iconic to Pixel Dungeon, so staying in that theme was an obvious choice. The vast majority of Pixel Dungeon versions use a chest with changed colors, and I like to think I started that trend.
The title screen starts with a simple torch recolor, and then porting the glowing effect added in Pixel Dungeon v1.7.5. Keeping the unchanged Pixel Dungeon title for so long seems silly in retrospect, but back in the early days Shattered wasnt really considered to be its own distinct game.
Over time I did add a proper unique title graphic though, and eventually overhauled the buttons as well. Shattereds original main menu just needed four big buttons, but as Ive added more and more functionality to the game it became necessary to redesign and expand the main menu. Every screen that the main menu goes into has been substantially changed or totally overhauled as well.
The first and second hero select UI were unchanged from the original Pixel Dungeon (v1.7.1 and v1.7.5). Eventually I moved the UI into a window and tried to add better hero info, but then redesigned the entire UI again when adding hero splash arts! Shortly after releasing on Steam I also made an expanded verison of this UI for desktop users:
The story here is all about the splash arts, done by Aleksandar Komitov. I always wanted to include more fully detailed images of the heroes, like you might find in the title screen of a classic computer game. The splashes have been important both for those hero details and for Shattereds visual identity, I try to use them in promotional material whenever I can.
The game screen started out with simple changes, first with additions from Pixel Dungeon v1.7.2, and then a design change that swapped one of the toolbar buttons for four quickslots total. Moving up to four quickslots was a direct response to Shattereds growing complexity. With new usable items (most notably artifacts) and big improvements to existing items, players really needed quick access to more items at once.
Later on there were more small improvements and additions to the UI, plus one big change to the environment visuals in v0.5.0. Desktop users also got a big interface change in v1.2.0 with a dedicated large-screen UI (pictured below). Mobile users got a quickslot swapper in v1.3.0, an attempt to get them up to 6 slots to match with desktop users.
The largest change to overall game visuals was easily v0.5.0. Changing the games walls to be raised instead of flat was a big visual adjustment that a lot of people felt unsure about at the time, but now cant do without. The shape of the levels themselves was also totally overhauled in v0.6.0. If youre curious about the v0.6.0 changes you can read these two blog posts, which were actually the first long-form blog posts I ever made! part 1, part 2. If youre interested in more details on Shattereds history in general, consider reading more of the posts here or check out the in-game changelog. If you want to go even deeper, you could take a look at my archive of old Shattered releases, or old Pixel Dungeon releases (Android only). These archives go all the way back to the first version of both games! For now though, lets move on to whats to come
[hr][/hr] Looking back on how the game has changed visually, you might notice one detail thats pretty absent: the actual direct game visuals themselves! Most in-game visuals from Pixel Dungeon are unchanged by all the updates over the last ten years, with the notable exception of v0.5.0. That might be changing soon though Ive been working with artists and gathering feedback behind the scenes, and I'm finally ready to announce some very exciting visual improvements I have planned for the game! These changes are focused around improving the in-game pixel art while staying true to the games existing style. This is a big undertaking, and today Ive got lots of early WIP art to show off! (You can click/tap on any of the following images to see a zoomed in version. Many of these images compare the existing visuals to new ones, the old version is always either above or to the left.)
Most of the games T2-T5 melee weapons are shown above along with a sampling of thrown weapons. The emphasis here is to try and keep the items sihouette similar while improving the shading to add details or better convey shape. Youll see that approach a lot in the various art samples here.
Various other items are shown above with similar improvements. Some changes are very mild, while others deviate a bit more from the original design. Were generally more willing to play with an items silhouette when it feels like a justifiable improvement.
While v0.5.0 did give the game a new 2.5D art style, it largely just remixed the existing wall visuals, rather than using new ones. Shown above is a first attempt at adjusting the wall visuals with new texturing and bolder outlines to better take advantage of the 2.5D style.
Above is a bigger shot, showing an entire sewer level with improved walls and other potential additions. The game currently re-uses generic terrain visuals quite frequently, which leaves a lot of room for detail improvements.
Here are a few prospective enemy improvements, ranging from very mild shading additions to pretty expansive adjustments. Many of the games character designs are quite iconic, so its important to try and preserve that where possible, while also improving detail, shading. and shape.
Of course characters have animations, so here are a few examples demonstrating those as well! A lot of the games existing animations are pretty stiff or minimal, so there is a LOT of oppourtunity for added detail and flair here.
Not all characters are enemies though, the heroes could do with some improvements as well! The hero sprites are probably the most iconic in-game visuals, so getting this right is really important. The potential payoff is creating in-game visuals that more closely match with the splash arts, and better convey each character within the game world. And lastly, were also considering making more dramatic changes to enemy designs in a few specific cases
Please keep in mind that all of this is WIP and I am actively looking for feedback, please let me know what you think! Obviously it's impossible to make everyone happy, but taking in and responding to feedback is the best way to ensure the new art is as good as it can be. There's still a lot of work to be done before any of this appears in-game, and none of the art shown here is final. [hr][/hr] Thanks so much for reading, and for playing! The enthusiasm from Shattered Pixel Dungeons players is the reason why its been able to grow so much over the last decade. Thank you so much, whether youve been around since the original Pixel Dungeon or just started playing today. Ive not got any firm times for when the art shown here will appear in-game, but expect to hear more about it in the future as development on Shattered continues. As for v2.5.0, Shattereds next regular update, Im still hoping to get another blog post and beta out in about 2 weeks. As always, if youd like smaller incremental updates about Shattereds development you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon!
[ 2024-08-05 16:00:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
On this day, 10 years ago, I released Shattered Pixel Dungeon v0.1.0. This tiny initial release was my first serious attempt at gamedev and was distributed to maybe 50 people on the Pixel Dungeon subreddit.
Fast forward 10 years and Shattered is my full-time job, with roughly 5 million combined downloads and roughly 150 thousand combined sales over several platforms. Even after all these years, more new people are discovering Shattered now than ever before, and the updates I make are getting bigger and better.
Join me for a quick walk down memory lane, and for a preview of something very exciting that's yet to come...
Ten Years Of Updates Visualized
[hr][/hr]
In the last ten years Shattered has received 11 major updates, 36 minor updates, 124 patches, and hundreds more beta releases and internal revisions. I've already done a lot of writing about the gameplay content of these updates, so instead I'm going to go over some of the biggest visual changes that Shattered has had over the years! (If youre only interested in whats new, feel free to skip down to the next section)
Music
[previewyoutube=gz9JceO9vAE;leftthumb][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube=2IaWJUJSFzc;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]
Firstly, before we get into the visuals, heres some music to listen to. Shattered received new remastered music in v1.0.0 by Kristjan Haaristo, replacing the original tracks from Pixel Dungeon. While the replacements where a stylistic change, they are much grander, higher fidelity, and have been expanded on since v1.0.0 as well. The main menu theme is above, and the in-game theme is below, old on left and new on right. [previewyoutube=UYzoKZsztII;leftthumb][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube=DijCCSJn0CY;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]
Game Icon
Shattereds icon went through some early iterations before settling on the current gold and green chest design, and refining it from there. The chest icon was always iconic to Pixel Dungeon, so staying in that theme was an obvious choice. The vast majority of Pixel Dungeon versions use a chest with changed colors, and I like to think I started that trend.
Title Screen
The title screen starts with a simple torch recolor, and then porting the glowing effect added in Pixel Dungeon v1.7.5. Keeping the unchanged Pixel Dungeon title for so long seems silly in retrospect, but back in the early days Shattered wasnt really considered to be its own distinct game.
Over time I did add a proper unique title graphic though, and eventually overhauled the buttons as well. Shattereds original main menu just needed four big buttons, but as Ive added more and more functionality to the game it became necessary to redesign and expand the main menu. Every screen that the main menu goes into has been substantially changed or totally overhauled as well.
Hero Select
The first and second hero select UI were unchanged from the original Pixel Dungeon (v1.7.1 and v1.7.5). Eventually I moved the UI into a window and tried to add better hero info, but then redesigned the entire UI again when adding hero splash arts! Shortly after releasing on Steam I also made an expanded verison of this UI for desktop users:
The story here is all about the splash arts, done by Aleksandar Komitov. I always wanted to include more fully detailed images of the heroes, like you might find in the title screen of a classic computer game. The splashes have been important both for those hero details and for Shattereds visual identity, I try to use them in promotional material whenever I can.
In-Game Visuals
The game screen started out with simple changes, first with additions from Pixel Dungeon v1.7.2, and then a design change that swapped one of the toolbar buttons for four quickslots total. Moving up to four quickslots was a direct response to Shattereds growing complexity. With new usable items (most notably artifacts) and big improvements to existing items, players really needed quick access to more items at once.
Later on there were more small improvements and additions to the UI, plus one big change to the environment visuals in v0.5.0. Desktop users also got a big interface change in v1.2.0 with a dedicated large-screen UI (pictured below). Mobile users got a quickslot swapper in v1.3.0, an attempt to get them up to 6 slots to match with desktop users.
The largest change to overall game visuals was easily v0.5.0. Changing the games walls to be raised instead of flat was a big visual adjustment that a lot of people felt unsure about at the time, but now cant do without. The shape of the levels themselves was also totally overhauled in v0.6.0. If youre curious about the v0.6.0 changes you can read these two blog posts, which were actually the first long-form blog posts I ever made! part 1, part 2. If youre interested in more details on Shattereds history in general, consider reading more of the posts here or check out the in-game changelog. If you want to go even deeper, you could take a look at my archive of old Shattered releases, or old Pixel Dungeon releases (Android only). These archives go all the way back to the first version of both games! For now though, lets move on to whats to come
New Graphics!
[hr][/hr] Looking back on how the game has changed visually, you might notice one detail thats pretty absent: the actual direct game visuals themselves! Most in-game visuals from Pixel Dungeon are unchanged by all the updates over the last ten years, with the notable exception of v0.5.0. That might be changing soon though Ive been working with artists and gathering feedback behind the scenes, and I'm finally ready to announce some very exciting visual improvements I have planned for the game! These changes are focused around improving the in-game pixel art while staying true to the games existing style. This is a big undertaking, and today Ive got lots of early WIP art to show off! (You can click/tap on any of the following images to see a zoomed in version. Many of these images compare the existing visuals to new ones, the old version is always either above or to the left.)
Items
Most of the games T2-T5 melee weapons are shown above along with a sampling of thrown weapons. The emphasis here is to try and keep the items sihouette similar while improving the shading to add details or better convey shape. Youll see that approach a lot in the various art samples here.
Various other items are shown above with similar improvements. Some changes are very mild, while others deviate a bit more from the original design. Were generally more willing to play with an items silhouette when it feels like a justifiable improvement.
Terrain
While v0.5.0 did give the game a new 2.5D art style, it largely just remixed the existing wall visuals, rather than using new ones. Shown above is a first attempt at adjusting the wall visuals with new texturing and bolder outlines to better take advantage of the 2.5D style.
Above is a bigger shot, showing an entire sewer level with improved walls and other potential additions. The game currently re-uses generic terrain visuals quite frequently, which leaves a lot of room for detail improvements.
Characters
Here are a few prospective enemy improvements, ranging from very mild shading additions to pretty expansive adjustments. Many of the games character designs are quite iconic, so its important to try and preserve that where possible, while also improving detail, shading. and shape.
Of course characters have animations, so here are a few examples demonstrating those as well! A lot of the games existing animations are pretty stiff or minimal, so there is a LOT of oppourtunity for added detail and flair here.
Not all characters are enemies though, the heroes could do with some improvements as well! The hero sprites are probably the most iconic in-game visuals, so getting this right is really important. The potential payoff is creating in-game visuals that more closely match with the splash arts, and better convey each character within the game world. And lastly, were also considering making more dramatic changes to enemy designs in a few specific cases
Please keep in mind that all of this is WIP and I am actively looking for feedback, please let me know what you think! Obviously it's impossible to make everyone happy, but taking in and responding to feedback is the best way to ensure the new art is as good as it can be. There's still a lot of work to be done before any of this appears in-game, and none of the art shown here is final. [hr][/hr] Thanks so much for reading, and for playing! The enthusiasm from Shattered Pixel Dungeons players is the reason why its been able to grow so much over the last decade. Thank you so much, whether youve been around since the original Pixel Dungeon or just started playing today. Ive not got any firm times for when the art shown here will appear in-game, but expect to hear more about it in the future as development on Shattered continues. As for v2.5.0, Shattereds next regular update, Im still hoping to get another blog post and beta out in about 2 weeks. As always, if youd like smaller incremental updates about Shattereds development you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon!
[ 2024-08-05 16:00:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: A Journal Overhaul
[hr][/hr] The first major journal change comes to the adventuring notes section, which is currently laid out in a list view and records points of interest within the dungeon like unused keys and landmarks. The list layout and samey visuals end up making this UI pretty cumbersome though, and so it goes mostly unused.
To remedy this, Ive redone this UI with a more grid-based layout. This new UI is more compact and visual, which should make it much easier to see what important things are where at a glance. Individual grid items can also be selected to view a more detailed description. Thanks to the more compact UI, theres also room to add some new landmark types, such as for special floors.
You might also notice that little + icon on the top right, which leads into another new thing this UI supports. After years of requests, Shattered Pixel Dungeon is finally going to support user-enterable, custom notes!
In v2.5.0 it will be possible to record custom notes and attached them to items or dungeon floors. These notes can contain whatever text you like, and even appear in the descriptions of items they are linked to. This will not only help people keep track of information between play sessions, but also lets players note down suspected properties of items they havent identified yet.
[hr][/hr] The catalogs are another part of the journal UI thats badly in need of a more compact design. The current list UI contains every identifiable item in the game (about 100), and is full to bursting with 7 tabs and support for only about 9 items visible at once.
Just like with adventuring notes, Ive moved catalogs to a new grid-based UI and expanded them massively. With the grid UI its possible to put many more items into the catalogs, and so Ive expanded them from ~100 items total to instead include almost every item in the game!
But why stop there? An in-game bestiary has been another common request, and so I decided to fullfill that demand too. The catalogs UI now also includes almost every character in the game, plus traps, plants, and lore documents in the final tab.
In total there are now just shy of 500 things in the catalog for players to discover! To go along with all these new things, Ive also redesigned the badges that tie into the catalogs. There are 9 badges in total, 5 which are based on reaching certain thresholds of filled catalog entries, and 4 which are based on more specific criteria. The catalogs now also track a few statistics, such as how often an enemy has been killed, how often a consumable has been used, and how often and equipment item has been upgraded.
[hr][/hr] While those two interface overhauls are the biggest journal changes this update, there are a few important smaller ones as well: Badges are now viewable in-game using the journal UI. You can look at badges that youve earned this run, or badges overall. Previously it wasnt actually possible to see a runs unlocked badges until after it was completed.
The alchemy guide can now be directly viewed in the alchemy scene if youre playing on a large enough screen! This makes alchemy much more conveient in a similar way to how desktop users already enjoy an inventory pane in the main UI.
And lastly, the badges button in the main UI has been replaced with a journal button that lets you view badges, catalogs, and guidebooks from the main menu!
[hr][/hr] Also, while its not a journal change, one last significant UI adjustment coming to v2.5.0 concerns scrolls of upgrade. Smart scroll of upgrade use is an extremely important part of effective game strategy, but despite that the game currently doesnt do anything to actually show you how upgrades affect any particular item. In fact the only way to know how an item will respond to upgrading currently is to actually spend a scroll on it. Im changing that in v2.5.0 by adding a new UI that summarizes how upgrading an item will affect it before the scroll of upgrade is actually used up!
I hope that this will really help improve clarity on upgrading mechanics, especially for less experienced players. The window shows almost every stat in the game that scales with upgrades, properly handles cases like unidentified items, and even shows extra information such as curse or enchant removal chance!
If youre an experienced player and worry that this seems cumbersome, you might be happy to know that if you have multiple scrolls the window will automatically re-show itself after each upgrade, making dumping multiple upgrades into an item actually faster than before. [hr][/hr] While all of these changes dont directly affect gameplay, almost all of them are very long-standing things Ive wanted to get done. While v2.5.0 isnt addressing every UI/UX to-do (in particular I still want to improve controller support) its definitely shrinking that list quite a bit. While its meant the update is coming a little later, this is a lot better than my original plan of just doing one or two things. As I mentioned at the start of this post, Im now expecting v2.5.0 to hit beta around early to mid August. Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! In the meantime you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon if youd like more frequent incremental updates.
[ 2024-07-25 18:10:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Adventurers, July is coming to an end and I owe you guys an update! Unfortunately, Im going to miss my earlier estimate of a beta during July. This is mainly due to v2.5.0 becoming a much bigger update than I originally planned. Im now anticipating v2.5.0 will be ready for beta around the second full week of August. In the meantime though, lets go over some of the new stuff thats coming soon! I was originally planning to make some targeted interface improvements to the journal in v2.5.0, but that slowly ballooned into almost totally overhauling it! In this blog post Im going to mostly focus on those journal changes and other UI improvements, but there are some gameplay changes coming too, which Ill cover in another blog post when the beta releases.
Adventuring Notes
[hr][/hr] The first major journal change comes to the adventuring notes section, which is currently laid out in a list view and records points of interest within the dungeon like unused keys and landmarks. The list layout and samey visuals end up making this UI pretty cumbersome though, and so it goes mostly unused.
To remedy this, Ive redone this UI with a more grid-based layout. This new UI is more compact and visual, which should make it much easier to see what important things are where at a glance. Individual grid items can also be selected to view a more detailed description. Thanks to the more compact UI, theres also room to add some new landmark types, such as for special floors.
You might also notice that little + icon on the top right, which leads into another new thing this UI supports. After years of requests, Shattered Pixel Dungeon is finally going to support user-enterable, custom notes!
In v2.5.0 it will be possible to record custom notes and attached them to items or dungeon floors. These notes can contain whatever text you like, and even appear in the descriptions of items they are linked to. This will not only help people keep track of information between play sessions, but also lets players note down suspected properties of items they havent identified yet.
Catalogs
[hr][/hr] The catalogs are another part of the journal UI thats badly in need of a more compact design. The current list UI contains every identifiable item in the game (about 100), and is full to bursting with 7 tabs and support for only about 9 items visible at once.
Just like with adventuring notes, Ive moved catalogs to a new grid-based UI and expanded them massively. With the grid UI its possible to put many more items into the catalogs, and so Ive expanded them from ~100 items total to instead include almost every item in the game!
But why stop there? An in-game bestiary has been another common request, and so I decided to fullfill that demand too. The catalogs UI now also includes almost every character in the game, plus traps, plants, and lore documents in the final tab.
In total there are now just shy of 500 things in the catalog for players to discover! To go along with all these new things, Ive also redesigned the badges that tie into the catalogs. There are 9 badges in total, 5 which are based on reaching certain thresholds of filled catalog entries, and 4 which are based on more specific criteria. The catalogs now also track a few statistics, such as how often an enemy has been killed, how often a consumable has been used, and how often and equipment item has been upgraded.
Other Journal Changes
[hr][/hr] While those two interface overhauls are the biggest journal changes this update, there are a few important smaller ones as well: Badges are now viewable in-game using the journal UI. You can look at badges that youve earned this run, or badges overall. Previously it wasnt actually possible to see a runs unlocked badges until after it was completed.
The alchemy guide can now be directly viewed in the alchemy scene if youre playing on a large enough screen! This makes alchemy much more conveient in a similar way to how desktop users already enjoy an inventory pane in the main UI.
And lastly, the badges button in the main UI has been replaced with a journal button that lets you view badges, catalogs, and guidebooks from the main menu!
A New UI for Upgrade Scrolls
[hr][/hr] Also, while its not a journal change, one last significant UI adjustment coming to v2.5.0 concerns scrolls of upgrade. Smart scroll of upgrade use is an extremely important part of effective game strategy, but despite that the game currently doesnt do anything to actually show you how upgrades affect any particular item. In fact the only way to know how an item will respond to upgrading currently is to actually spend a scroll on it. Im changing that in v2.5.0 by adding a new UI that summarizes how upgrading an item will affect it before the scroll of upgrade is actually used up!
I hope that this will really help improve clarity on upgrading mechanics, especially for less experienced players. The window shows almost every stat in the game that scales with upgrades, properly handles cases like unidentified items, and even shows extra information such as curse or enchant removal chance!
If youre an experienced player and worry that this seems cumbersome, you might be happy to know that if you have multiple scrolls the window will automatically re-show itself after each upgrade, making dumping multiple upgrades into an item actually faster than before. [hr][/hr] While all of these changes dont directly affect gameplay, almost all of them are very long-standing things Ive wanted to get done. While v2.5.0 isnt addressing every UI/UX to-do (in particular I still want to improve controller support) its definitely shrinking that list quite a bit. While its meant the update is coming a little later, this is a lot better than my original plan of just doing one or two things. As I mentioned at the start of this post, Im now expecting v2.5.0 to hit beta around early to mid August. Please keep in mind that while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, they are just estimates. If you don't hear from me by the ETA, it means I'm still busy with the update! In the meantime you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon if youd like more frequent incremental updates.
[ 2024-07-25 18:10:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.4.2
[hr][/hr] Weapon Ability Buffs [expand type=details] Overall success rates are up across the board for the Duelist and weapon abilities, but I'm giving out some buffs to a few abilities that didn't benefit as strongly from v.2.4.0: - Harvest bleeding increased by ~30% - Harvest now deals regular damage to bleed-immune foes - Spin damage boost up to 8+lvl from 6+lvl - Runic Slash base enchant boost up to 300% from 200% I'm also making a general change to the Duelist's weapon ability charge cap to improve her scaling a tiny bit, especially at level 4: - Duelist now gains another weapon charge every 3 levels, down from 4 - Max possible charges unchanged, but they are now reached at level 19, down from 25 I had mentioned in v2.4.1 that I was planning to make more changes to trinkets, but I've decided to hold off on that for now. [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Buffed the bonus damage on the Warrior's new Provoked Anger talent. Now grants 2 or 3 damage, up from 1-2 or 2. - Cursed wands can no longer turn important NPCs into sheep - Spectral necromancers now only kill wraiths they are aligned with when they die - Dwarf King now only clears minions that are still allied with him when transitioning phases. [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.4.0: - Wondrous Resin not triggering when using wild magic - Lingering magic duration stacking instead of resetting when re-triggered - Various rare actor order issues caused by dagger blink ability - Alchemy UI disabling cancel button when it shouldn't in specific cases Existed Prior to v2.4.0: - Various minor visual and textual errors [/expand]
[ 2024-06-05 16:22:58 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! ..And here's the second patch for v2.4! this one focuses a little more on balance tweaks, and I expect it'll be the last patch for the update.
Changes
[hr][/hr] Weapon Ability Buffs [expand type=details] Overall success rates are up across the board for the Duelist and weapon abilities, but I'm giving out some buffs to a few abilities that didn't benefit as strongly from v.2.4.0: - Harvest bleeding increased by ~30% - Harvest now deals regular damage to bleed-immune foes - Spin damage boost up to 8+lvl from 6+lvl - Runic Slash base enchant boost up to 300% from 200% I'm also making a general change to the Duelist's weapon ability charge cap to improve her scaling a tiny bit, especially at level 4: - Duelist now gains another weapon charge every 3 levels, down from 4 - Max possible charges unchanged, but they are now reached at level 19, down from 25 I had mentioned in v2.4.1 that I was planning to make more changes to trinkets, but I've decided to hold off on that for now. [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Buffed the bonus damage on the Warrior's new Provoked Anger talent. Now grants 2 or 3 damage, up from 1-2 or 2. - Cursed wands can no longer turn important NPCs into sheep - Spectral necromancers now only kill wraiths they are aligned with when they die - Dwarf King now only clears minions that are still allied with him when transitioning phases. [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.4.0: - Wondrous Resin not triggering when using wild magic - Lingering magic duration stacking instead of resetting when re-triggered - Various rare actor order issues caused by dagger blink ability - Alchemy UI disabling cancel button when it shouldn't in specific cases Existed Prior to v2.4.0: - Various minor visual and textual errors [/expand]
[ 2024-06-05 16:22:58 CET ] [ Original post ]
2.4.1
[hr][/hr] Trinket Balance Changes [expand type=details] I'm making some balance tweaks to trinkets based on early gameplay data. I expect I'll be making more tweaks here later on, both to trinkets and the new Duelist abilities, once a little more time has passed. - Mossy Clump upgrade cost increased Ebony Mimics (from Mimic Tooth) adjusted to be more rewarding: - Stats reduced by ~20%, now a little weaker than golden mimics - Surprise attack damage unchanged (still really hurts!) - Now contain two random item drops, in addition to normal golden mimic loot - Trap Mechanism upgrade cost reduced - Dimensional Sundial upgrade cost reduced - Thirteen Leaf Clover upgrade cost reduced [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Enemies seen via mind vision can now be auto-targeted, but the game won't auto-aim as aggressively for performance reasons - Added dev commentary for v1.3.0 [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.4.0: - Saves from before v2.4 sometimes generating trinkets in the dungeon - Errors when DM-300 took massive amounts of damage - Duelist harvest ability being reduced by damage reduction effects twice Existed Prior to v2.4.0: - Various minor visual bugs and typos - Swiftness glyph not working near neutral characters - Specific cases where damaging immune enemies would count towards regen time during boss fights - Ascension hero speed debuff triggering at 7+ amulet curse stacks instead of 6+ - Fixed view distance becoming 0 during final boss in specific cases [/expand]
[ 2024-05-23 15:38:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! Here's a first patch for v2.4, mostly focused on fixing up bugs and some early balance tweaks.
Changes
[hr][/hr] Trinket Balance Changes [expand type=details] I'm making some balance tweaks to trinkets based on early gameplay data. I expect I'll be making more tweaks here later on, both to trinkets and the new Duelist abilities, once a little more time has passed. - Mossy Clump upgrade cost increased Ebony Mimics (from Mimic Tooth) adjusted to be more rewarding: - Stats reduced by ~20%, now a little weaker than golden mimics - Surprise attack damage unchanged (still really hurts!) - Now contain two random item drops, in addition to normal golden mimic loot - Trap Mechanism upgrade cost reduced - Dimensional Sundial upgrade cost reduced - Thirteen Leaf Clover upgrade cost reduced [/expand] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] - Enemies seen via mind vision can now be auto-targeted, but the game won't auto-aim as aggressively for performance reasons - Added dev commentary for v1.3.0 [/expand] Bugfixes [expand type=details] Fixed the following bugs: Caused by v2.4.0: - Saves from before v2.4 sometimes generating trinkets in the dungeon - Errors when DM-300 took massive amounts of damage - Duelist harvest ability being reduced by damage reduction effects twice Existed Prior to v2.4.0: - Various minor visual bugs and typos - Swiftness glyph not working near neutral characters - Specific cases where damaging immune enemies would count towards regen time during boss fights - Ascension hero speed debuff triggering at 7+ amulet curse stacks instead of 6+ - Fixed view distance becoming 0 during final boss in specific cases [/expand]
[ 2024-05-23 15:38:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.4.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.4.0 features a new category of item: trinkets! They are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. There are also a bunch of smaller additions and tweaks, most notably to the Duelist and to Alchemy. Be sure to check the changes screen for full details. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's the full changelog for v2.4.0! Click or tap on each entry to read more. Note that this changelog may become slightly outdated as patches are released, so check the changes screen in-game for the most up to date version.
New Content:
Changes:
Buffs:
Nerfs:
[hr][/hr]
[ 2024-05-15 15:31:49 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
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[td]Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.4.0 has been released! You can get it right now on Steam, or on any of the other platforms Shattered is distributed on.
[/td]
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[/table]
Shattered is also 33% off on Steam right now as part of the endless replayability fest!
Whats new in v2.4.0
[hr][/hr] v2.4.0 features a new category of item: trinkets! They are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. There are also a bunch of smaller additions and tweaks, most notably to the Duelist and to Alchemy. Be sure to check the changes screen for full details. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's the full changelog for v2.4.0! Click or tap on each entry to read more. Note that this changelog may become slightly outdated as patches are released, so check the changes screen in-game for the most up to date version.
New Content:
- Developer Commentary[expand] - Released May 15th, 2024 - 118 days after Shattered v2.3.0 Dev commentary will be added here in the future. [/expand]
- Trinkets! [expand] A new category of item has been added: Trinkets! Trinkets are a new item type produced and upgraded via alchemical energy, and are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Look out for a trinket catalyst in the early stages of the game, which you can use at the first alchemy pot to produce one of three trinket options. There are 11 trinkets in total. [/expand]
- New Rooms [expand] New standard rooms have been added to the various regions of the game! This includes one totally new room per region, and two new variants of entrance/exit rooms per region. Rooms that are mostly empty rectangles are now much less common, and there's a bunch of variety for which rooms can have entrance/exit stairs in them. Entrance rooms are now also capable of merging with other rooms in a dungeon floor, but there are some guarantees so that enemies won't ever be near you right after descending to a new floor. [/expand]
- More Holiday Items [expand] I've added more holiday items for the rest of 2024! Expect to see some new temporary holiday overrides for cornish pasties for: - Pride in late June - Shattered's Birthday in early August - Pixel Dungeon's Birthday in early December - New Years in late December and early January This is in addition to the usual pumpkin pie around Halloween and candy cane around the Winter Holidays. ...I may have also added a tiny little surprise for Rat King's birthday, but that won't appear until 2025. [/expand]
Changes:
- Duelist Weapon Abilities [expand] I'm making some overarching changes to the Duelist's weapon abilities, to make them stronger and feel more impactful: - Weapon ability charge speed down by 33% - Weapon ability charge cap reduced to 2-8, from 3-10 - Weapon abilities buffed across the board - Some talents adjusted to account for weapon charges being less frequent - Weapon abilities now directly state their damage ranges Check the buffs and talent changes section for specific weapon ability and talent changes. There are also some changes to the Champion subclass to go along with this: - Champion's two weapons now share a charge count, but Champion gets boosted max charges and charge speed. - Champion's secondary charge talent has been replaced with a new talent that encourages varied ability use. [/expand]
- Alchemy Changes [expand] I've made a bunch of changes to the alchemy system to streamline things and complement the addition of trinkets: - Catalysts have been removed entirely, recipes that required one now simply cost 8 or 9 more energy. - A new unstable brew and spell have been added, which give random potion/scroll effects. - Aqua Blast and Featherfall are now a brew and elixir, otherwise unchanged. - High value potions/scrolls now grant a little more energy if they are energized. - Alchemy pots now always spawn on the 3rd or 4th floor in each region. - Various UI improvements have been made to the alchemy screen. Various specific alchemy items have also received changes to their energy cost, output quantity, or mechanics. Check the buffs and nerfs section for more details on those. [/expand]
- Talent changes [expand] Duelist talents have been changed to account for adjustments to weapon charge mechanics: - Aggressive Barrier shielding increased to 3/5 from 3, threshold changed to 50% from 40%/60%. - Focused Meal charge boost reduced to 0.67/1 from 1/1.5. - Weapon Recharging boost reduced to every 15/10 turns from every 10/6 turns. - Counter Ability now grants up to 1.5 charges, instead of reducing cost. I've made some changes meant to improve some of the least popular T1 talents: - Cached Rations now awards a smaller number of unique 'supply rations'. These rations grant a little healing and cloak charge. - Test Subject and Tested Hypothesis have been replaced with two new talents that grant small combat bonuses. Plus one change to an unnecessarily complex T1 talent: - Hearty Meal has been simplified, now just has one threshold at 30% HP [/expand]
- Miscellaneous Changes [expand] Highlights: - Potion and Scroll talents can now trigger from elixirs, brews, and spells - Ankh resurrection window now warns if two items aren't selected - Trying to attack an enemy that has charmed you now shows a warning Heroes: - Gladiator and Monk now include brief ability descriptions in their subclass descriptions - Ability descriptions for Gladiator and Monk now change if their abilities are empowered Items: - Thrown weapons now state when they break in the game log - Tipped darts now last forever when reaching 100 uses, like other thrown weapons - Dried rose now includes the ghost's strength in its description - Plant effects (e.g. fadeleaf) now trigger before traps when time freeze ends Misc: - Updated various code dependencies - Slight optimizations to memory use - Improved the error message on Android when native code is missing - Removed the power saver setting on Android 4.4+ devices, if the user hadn't already enabled it. (Power saver was always meant for very old Android devices. It gives no real benefit for more modern ones.) [/expand]
- Bugfixes [expand] Fixed the following bugs: Highlights: - Ruins rooms in the last region using incorrect wall shapes since v2.2.0 - Rare cases where some victory badges would not save if game was immediately closed - Rare cases where game actors could continue to process for a moment when hero falls into a chasm - Various cases where characters would not play death animations if they died while paralyzed Enemies: - Newborn elemental boss rarely firing its attack through walls - Rare cases where the final boss could command minions to attack themselves - Gnoll geomancer and sappers potentially dropping boulders next to entrance - Gnoll sappers granting armor to corrupted gnoll guards - Necromancer skeletons not following necromancer's aggro in some cases - Teleportation effects not accounting for large characters in specific cases - DM-300 not becoming supercharged if exactly damaged to the supercharge threshold Items pt.1: - Armband not working on hiding mimics - Chilling enchant reducing chill duration in rare cases - Rare cases where lucky enchant wouldn't trigger - Runestones affecting terrain when thrown at a character - Thrown weapons sticking to downed ghouls in some cases - Camouflage glyph not working if hero uses ethereal chains to move into grass - Sandals of nature incorrectly interacting with artifact charging - Various specific errors with artifact charge boosting - King's crown not preserving armor hardening Items pt.2: - Brimstone glyph not benefiting from glyph power boosts past +50% - Errors when leaving/entering blacksmith's area while a boomerang was circling back - Transfusion not benefiting from wand damage bonuses - Dwarf King's crown automatically IDing armor - Armband allowing more than one steal in specific cases - Swiftness glyph ignoring nearby enemies in specific cases - Stone of fear applying to hero and allies - Spike ability overriding elastic enchant in some cases - Geyser traps and aqua brew not extinguishing flames Heroes: - Duelist's swift equip not working during time freeze - Monk's flurry of blows not using projecting enchantment when empowered - Various battlemage on-hit effects not showing as magical damage - Empowered strike talent not working with blastwave - Challenge ability incorrectly working on neutral mobs - Seer shot talent not working in blacksmith quest area Misc: - Various minor visual and textual errors - Various rare crash bugs - Specific cases where unbreakable traps could spawn in halls in the caves - Music not properly pausing in background on desktop in some cases - Various rare errors when game launches in fullscreen - 'taste vengeance' badge not being earnable in a run after unlocking it [/expand]
Buffs:
- Weapon Ability Buffs [expand] - Lunge damage up - Cleave damage up, is now instant if it kills, but no longer chains - Heavy Blow damage up, non-surprise penalty changed to no bonus damage - Sneak charge cost down to 1 from 2, invis duration now scales - Combo Strike damage up, combo duration now resets on hit (like gladiator) - Spike damage up - Defensive Stance charge cost down to 1 from 2, duration now scales - Harvest charge cost down to 1 from 2, bleed amount dealt is now constant - Sword Dance charge cost down to 1 from 2, duration now scales, ACC boost up to 50% - Block duration now scales, now keeps blocking until you attack - Lash now deals bonus damage and is guaranteed to hit all targets - Spin charge cost down to 1 from 2 - Runic Strike enchant boost now scales - Charge Shot AOE up to 7x7 from 5x5, dart durability boost now scales - Retribution is now instant if it kills - Brawler's Stance now deals bonus damage, reduces recharge speed instead of costing charge per hit [/expand]
- Alchemy Buffs [expand] Firstly, many items have received simple energy cost reductions. Note that all energy costs are after accounting for catalyst removal - Caustic Brew cost down to 1 from 2 - Blizzard Brew cost down to 8 from 11 - Shocking Brew cost down to 10 from 14 - Aqua Brew cost down to 8 from 11 - Elixir of Dragon's Blood cost down to 10 from 14 - Telekinetic Grab cost down to 10 from 11 - Beacon of Returning cost down to 12 from 15 - Magical Infusion cost down to 12 from 13 - Recycle cost down to 12 from 17 Some alchemy produce has also received bigger buffs: - Elixir of Toxic Essence cost down to 8 from 10, spreads gas quicker, and gives 5 turns of lingering gas immunity - Elixir of Icy Touch cost down to 6 from 14 and now applies 3 chill each hit, up from 2 - Wild Energy now requires a regular scroll of recharging, instead of mystical energy - Reclaim Trap cost up to 8 from 6, but output quantity increased to 5 from 4 - Alchemize has a new recipe, it is now much cheaper to make - Summon Elemental cost down to 10 from 15 and buffing the spell now persists after use [/expand]
- Ghost and Blacksmith Enchantments [expand] I've given a slight boost to the rewards of the Ghost quest and Blacksmith's smith reward, aimed at making enchantments/glyphs more likely. this should hopefully make these rewards a bit more interesting more. - Ghost reward enchant rate up to 20% from 10% - Blacksmith smith reward enchant rate up to 30% from 0% [/expand]
Nerfs:
- Alchemy Nerfs [expand] - Elixir of Might cost up to 16 from 14 (after account for catalyst removal) - Phase Shift cost down to 10 from 13, but output quantity down to 6 from 8 [/expand]
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- The next update to Shattered will likely be v2.5.0, which will be a fairly small update focused on following up v2.4.0's changes and making some interface/QoL tweaks.
- v2.4.0 ended up being a pretty massive update balance-wise, with a new item category and sweeping changes to both the Duelist and alchemy. More fine-tuned adjustment will definitely be needed once the dust settles a bit, and so I expect that will be an important aspect of both v2.5.0 and v2.4.0's patches. Ideally most of the followup changes will be buffs, but we'll have to see how everything shapes up.
- Given that v2.5.0 won't have a new content focus, I'd also like to take the chance to make some smaller interface-driven changes that players have been asking me for. I can't guarantee what will be in v2.5.0 specifically yet, but frequent requests include better journal functionality (landmarks, catalogs, notes, etc.), a bestiary, and better support for controller users and keyboard users.
- The next major content addition I have planned is the Cleric, coming in v3.0.0. While I do think it's a good idea to do a small v2.5.0 update first, I will start actively designing the cleric now behind the scenes, so keep your eyes peeled for info on that as well!
[ 2024-05-15 15:31:49 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: Trinkets!
[hr][/hr] The major new content in v2.4.0 is an entire new category of item: Trinkets! Trinkets are produced and upgraded via alchemical energy, and are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Look out for a magical catalyst in the early stages of the game. You can use this catalyst and a bit of alchemical energy at an alchemy pot to produce a trinket. You'll get three different trinkets to pick between each run.
Once you have a trinket, its effect will passively apply for the rest of your run (unless you decide to drop it), and can be upgraded using more alchemical energy. At +0 most trinket effects are fairly minor or subtle, but they can be made quite a bit more pronounced when upgraded to the max at +3.
These effects are all about mixing up the variables of a run a little bit. You might encounter rare enemies more often with the rat skull, find exotic potions/scrolls instead of regular ones with the exotic crystals, hit for max or minimum damage more often with the 13-leaf clover, encounter enchantments and curses more often with the Parchment Scrap, or encounter visible traps and chasms more often with the trap mechanism. I'm planning for v2.4.0 to have 10-12 trinkets in total when it releases. It's my hope that trinkets will add another layer of variety on top of every run, making the game feel more fresh and varied without changing things up enough to disrupt regular gameplay. There's also a lot of room to add more trinkets in the future, which will mix things up even further!
[hr][/hr] To go along with trinkets, v2.4.0 also includes some very substantial changes to the alchemy system.
Alchemical and arcane catalysts are being removed entirely in favor of having recipes just require more energy instead. This makes recipes more flexible, simplifies the process of creating a bunch of items, and doesn't actually change the cost of creating anything. Many recipes are also getting small or large balance changes (mostly buffs). These changes should hopefully continue to push the alchemy system away from needlessly complex recipes and toward it's original goal: giving players more control and choice when it comes to consumable items. I am sorry that alchemy recipes itself are becoming less detailed as a result of this, but it's very clear to me at this point that the alchemy system is at its best when its streamlined and gets out of the way as quickly as possible.
[hr][/hr] I'm making some big changes to the Duelist by scaling back her weapon ability charge speed quite a bit, but am also buffing weapon abilities across the board.
Every single weapon ability has been made stronger, received mechanics changes, or had its charge cost reduced. The goal here is for abilities to be less frequently available, but also **MUCH** more impactful when the player does use them. This better fits their nature as an addition to weapons, which already have a default attack that has unlimited availability. I expect this to both feel much stronger, and actually be stronger as well. I'm also taking this chance to streamline the champion a bit. Her two weapons will now share a single charge meter, but with a bigger cap and faster charge speed. The secondary charge talent is also being replaced with a new talent that rewards using varied weapon abilities with even more charge boosts. This should hopefully make the champion a bit less fiddly to use while still encouraging varied and frequent weapon ability use.
[hr][/hr] And, of course, v2.4.0 has a bunch of smaller changes and additions as well. Most notably:
[ 2024-05-01 02:20:37 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers!
After some disruptions back in February and March, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.4.0 is finally ready for beta! Read on for more details about what's coming in this update.
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[td]
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[td]The beta for Shattered v2.4.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
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[/table]
Trinkets
[hr][/hr] The major new content in v2.4.0 is an entire new category of item: Trinkets! Trinkets are produced and upgraded via alchemical energy, and are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Look out for a magical catalyst in the early stages of the game. You can use this catalyst and a bit of alchemical energy at an alchemy pot to produce a trinket. You'll get three different trinkets to pick between each run.
Once you have a trinket, its effect will passively apply for the rest of your run (unless you decide to drop it), and can be upgraded using more alchemical energy. At +0 most trinket effects are fairly minor or subtle, but they can be made quite a bit more pronounced when upgraded to the max at +3.
These effects are all about mixing up the variables of a run a little bit. You might encounter rare enemies more often with the rat skull, find exotic potions/scrolls instead of regular ones with the exotic crystals, hit for max or minimum damage more often with the 13-leaf clover, encounter enchantments and curses more often with the Parchment Scrap, or encounter visible traps and chasms more often with the trap mechanism. I'm planning for v2.4.0 to have 10-12 trinkets in total when it releases. It's my hope that trinkets will add another layer of variety on top of every run, making the game feel more fresh and varied without changing things up enough to disrupt regular gameplay. There's also a lot of room to add more trinkets in the future, which will mix things up even further!
Alchemy Changes
[hr][/hr] To go along with trinkets, v2.4.0 also includes some very substantial changes to the alchemy system.
Alchemical and arcane catalysts are being removed entirely in favor of having recipes just require more energy instead. This makes recipes more flexible, simplifies the process of creating a bunch of items, and doesn't actually change the cost of creating anything. Many recipes are also getting small or large balance changes (mostly buffs). These changes should hopefully continue to push the alchemy system away from needlessly complex recipes and toward it's original goal: giving players more control and choice when it comes to consumable items. I am sorry that alchemy recipes itself are becoming less detailed as a result of this, but it's very clear to me at this point that the alchemy system is at its best when its streamlined and gets out of the way as quickly as possible.
Duelist Weapon Abilities
[hr][/hr] I'm making some big changes to the Duelist by scaling back her weapon ability charge speed quite a bit, but am also buffing weapon abilities across the board.
Every single weapon ability has been made stronger, received mechanics changes, or had its charge cost reduced. The goal here is for abilities to be less frequently available, but also **MUCH** more impactful when the player does use them. This better fits their nature as an addition to weapons, which already have a default attack that has unlimited availability. I expect this to both feel much stronger, and actually be stronger as well. I'm also taking this chance to streamline the champion a bit. Her two weapons will now share a single charge meter, but with a bigger cap and faster charge speed. The secondary charge talent is also being replaced with a new talent that rewards using varied weapon abilities with even more charge boosts. This should hopefully make the champion a bit less fiddly to use while still encouraging varied and frequent weapon ability use.
Side Content
[hr][/hr] And, of course, v2.4.0 has a bunch of smaller changes and additions as well. Most notably:
- I've added a new standard room type to each of the five regions of the dungeon, and added two new variants for entrance and exit rooms to each region as well! These new rooms further increase level variety and substantially reduce the number of plain empty rooms.
- I've added a second batch of new holiday items for events later in the year. Expect to see holiday overrides to the cornish pasty during Pride, New Years, and the birthdays of both Shattered and the original Pixel Dungeon.
- In addition to Duelist talent tweaks, I've also changed up some of the less popular T1 talents. The Mage and Warrior get a new damage-boosting talent, and the Rogue's cached rations talent has been changed up.
[ 2024-05-01 02:20:37 CET ] [ Original post ]
Status Update: v2.4.0
[hr][/hr] If we take my initial timeframe for v2.4.0 and shove everything back about a month and a half, then you could expect to hear from me sometime around mid to late April. I think that's a reasonable estimate for now, at the very least I should have enough content finished to show off in a blog post by then. In the meantime you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon if you'd like more frequent incremental updates. In fact, so this post not being completely barren, here's one little thing that I showed off in a small update recently: v2.4.0 is a fairly alchemy-focused update with the addition of trinkets, so I'm making some other changes to the alchemy system as well. Here's a streamlining change I'm making to the alchemy system, meant to simplify a bunch of the higher end recipes: replacing catalysts with a simple energy cost.
This change won't just go through in isolation though, I am planning on making adjustments to catalysts themselves so that there's still some reason to make them, and both aqua blast and feather fall are getting changes so that their produce better matches their input items thematically. Here's a quick look at how those items look now:
[ 2024-03-06 18:16:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Rat Punchers, You may remember that when v2.3.0 released I gave a rough ETA of 'early to mid March' when it came to hearing back from me on v2.4.0. Well, early March is here, so where are we at? Unfortunately, I've got some bad news when it comes to progress on Shattered: v2.4.0 has been substantially delayed. For pretty much the whole month of February I've been dealing with helping my family with a surgery recovery and recovering from getting sick myself. None of these things are life threatening or anything, but they have made work on Shattered almost impossible for the last month or so. In addition to all of that, I'm going to be steadily moving where I live over the course of March, which is sure to also get in the way of Shattered dev a fair bit.
A new ETA for v2.4.0
[hr][/hr] If we take my initial timeframe for v2.4.0 and shove everything back about a month and a half, then you could expect to hear from me sometime around mid to late April. I think that's a reasonable estimate for now, at the very least I should have enough content finished to show off in a blog post by then. In the meantime you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon if you'd like more frequent incremental updates. In fact, so this post not being completely barren, here's one little thing that I showed off in a small update recently: v2.4.0 is a fairly alchemy-focused update with the addition of trinkets, so I'm making some other changes to the alchemy system as well. Here's a streamlining change I'm making to the alchemy system, meant to simplify a bunch of the higher end recipes: replacing catalysts with a simple energy cost.
This change won't just go through in isolation though, I am planning on making adjustments to catalysts themselves so that there's still some reason to make them, and both aqua blast and feather fall are getting changes so that their produce better matches their input items thematically. Here's a quick look at how those items look now:
[ 2024-03-06 18:16:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.3.1 (and v2.3.2 soon)
[hr][/hr] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] I've updated to the latest version of Shattered's game library (libGDX), which has a few benefits:
[ 2024-01-29 17:46:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Folks! I'm currently releasing the first patch for Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.3 across all platforms! It's mostly internal code changes, but there are a few small fixes, technical additions, and QOL adjustments too. I expect there will be one more very tiny patch for v2.3 in another few days, as a couple more small issues have popped up since putting out this patch.
Changes
[hr][/hr] Misc. Changes [expand type=details] I've updated to the latest version of Shattered's game library (libGDX), which has a few benefits:
- Improved vibration on modern iOS devices
- Improved changing audio device behavior
- Misc. stability & compatibility improvements
- Magical fire is now cleared by frost next to it, in addition to on top of it
- Tengu's fire wall attack now ignites items
- Improved music transitions in main menu when game was just won
- Added support for controller vibration
- Added a vibration toggle in the settings
- Updated translators and translator credits
- Increased the minimum supported iOS version to 11, from 9
- Game unintentionally spamming new Google Play players with Play Games login requests
- Events which interrupt the hero not interrupting resting
- Rare cases where hero could lose a turn when moving between depths
- Transmutation removing items from quickslots in rare cases
- Incorrect death messages when player is killed by wards
- Amoked allies not being affected by aggression debuff
[ 2024-01-29 17:46:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.3.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.3.0 includes a second gnoll-themed variant for the new caves quest! There are also some smaller item additions, visual improvements to floating text, and the usual slew of small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's the full changelog for v2.3.0! Unlike in previous update posts, I've included the entire changelog text, but put it under expandable text. Click or tap on each entry to read more. Note that this changelog may become slightly outdated as patches for v2.3 are released, so check the changes screen in-game for the most up to date version.
New Content:
Changes:
Buffs:
[hr][/hr]
[ 2024-01-18 17:57:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
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[td]Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.3.0 has been released! You can get it right now on Steam, or on any of the other platforms Shattered is distributed on.
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
To celebrate v2.3.0s release, Shattered is also 33% off on Steam for the next week!
Whats new in v2.3.0
[hr][/hr] v2.3.0 includes a second gnoll-themed variant for the new caves quest! There are also some smaller item additions, visual improvements to floating text, and the usual slew of small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's the full changelog for v2.3.0! Unlike in previous update posts, I've included the entire changelog text, but put it under expandable text. Click or tap on each entry to read more. Note that this changelog may become slightly outdated as patches for v2.3 are released, so check the changes screen in-game for the most up to date version.
New Content:
- Developer Commentary[expand] - Released January 18th, 2024 - 92 days after Shattered v2.2.0 v2.3.0 was originally going to contain two new variants for the caves quest, but after a longer than expected dev cycle plus the holidays, I opted to release v2.3.0 with just one more variant and move on to other content for a while, instead of spending even more time on the caves quest. More dev commentary will be added here in-game the future. [/expand]
- Gnoll Caves Quest [expand] A second variant has been added to the caves quest! This variant features gnolls and earth-moving magic. Expect to spend a bit more time digging, as this environment features collapsed walls, boulders, and angry gnolls wielding spears and earth-moving devices. Their magic is quite chaotic, so be ready to dodge and possibly get the gnolls caught in their own attacks. The boss for this variant is the gnoll geomancer, an experienced gnoll with access to lots of mobility and earth-moving power. [/expand]
- Remains Items [expand] Heroes remains now contain a new unique item that varies based on the class of the hero that died. These items are single use consumables that provide a small benefit that's themed after the hero who died. There are also two new badges relating to these items. Remains now always contain a signature remains item in addition to an extra item from the previous run, if one was chosen. This replaces the previous behaviour, where remains would contain 50 or 10 gold if no eligible item could be chosen. Additionally, remains which contain a stackable item from the previous run now cap the quantity of that item at 3. [/expand]
- New Holiday Items [expand] Shattered has had little holiday food items that temporarily replace cornish pasties ever since 2016, but only for Halloween and the Winter Holidays. Throughout 2024 you'll see a bunch of new items for more holidays through the year, which all have different tiny bonus effects when eaten. For now I have implemented items for Lunar New Years and Easter, with more on the way in future updates. I've also shortened the duration for Halloween and the Winter Holidays after 2023, so as not to make the game overly festive in the later months of the year, and nerfed the healing effect on Halloween pumpkin pies. [/expand]
Changes:
- Floating Text Icons[expand] The little bits of floating text that appear above characters to indicate damage, positive effects, and currency gain now have tiny icons to indicate the type! For damage, it is now shown whether the damage is physical, magical, or if it comes from a particular debuff or DOT effect. There are separate physical damage icons depending on whether armor reduces the incoming damage. Armor never reduces magical or DOT damage. Damage text is also now always red, warnings and negative effects are always orange. For positive effects, icons are now shown for healing, shielding, and exp gain. Loads of healing or shielding effects which previously didn't show floating text now do as well. [/expand]
- 20+ Misc. Changes[expand] Highlights: - Improved the sprites for Armored Brutes and DM-201s - The troll blacksmith no longer works on cursed items - Reduced the chance for sleeping enemies to clump together in caves quest levels - Random scroll and potion drops are now more consistent throughout a run Enemies: - DM-300's rockfall attack now uses positional danger indicators - Improved visual clarity of sparks in the DM-300 fight - Removed unnecessary game log entries when DM-300 uses abilities - Phantom piranhas now die on land if there is no water to teleport to Items: - Added a warning when trying to steal from shops with less than 100% success chance - Curse infusion now preserves an existing curse on items that don't have the curse infusion bonus yet - long pressing on the ghost equip window now shows the stats of equipped items Allies: - Ghosts and Rogue's shadow clone are now considered inorganic (immune to bleed, toxic, poison) - Corrupted allies no longer attack passive enemies - Spirit hawk now interrupts the hero when it expires Misc: - Added a bit of clarity text to some parts of the blacksmith quest/rewards - Surface scene now shows night later in the evening as well as after midnight - Did a consistency pass on heal over time effects interrupting the hero resting - Long-press to assign quickslot now works in the full UI inventory pane, just like the mobile inventory window - Added support for themed icons on Android 13+ - Removed support for saves prior to v1.4.3 - Added developer commentary for v1.2.0 [/expand]
- 45+ Bugfixes[expand] Fixed the Following bugs: Highlights: - Enemies continuing to fight each other after amok expires in many cases - Some inter-level teleportation effects working inside caves quest level - Transmutation being usable on the pickaxe during the caves quest - Unintended changes to reforge functionality when both items are the same level - Rounding errors causing tipped darts to last longer than intended in some cases Quests: - Crystal spire being considered a mini boss, not a full boss - Crystal spire attacks ignoring damage-resisting effects - Cases where remains would fail to appear in the new mining level - Blacksmith landmark entry not clearing when you have spent all favor - Rare cases where hero could appear to be on top of crystal spire - Corpse dust quest tracking all wraiths instead of just the ones it spawned - Some cases where new rot garden room could spawn much smaller than intended Enemies: - Final boss fight not properly interacting with the into darkness challenge - Monk ability use disqualifying for dwarf king's 'no weapons' badge when a weapon was equipped - Tengu behaving slightly incorrectly when taking massive damage - Mimics not dropping their loot if corrupted while hiding - Rare cases where DM-300 finale music would play before the fight - Rare errors in DM-201 target selection Items: - Rotberry seed being deleted in rare cases - Rare cases where the game would freeze after reviving via unblessed ankh - Some bombs and explosion-spawning effects incorrectly dealing magic damage - Foresight effects not triggering after level transition - Projecting missile weapons not working on enemies inside solid terrain - Cursed wand of warding having different targeting properties than other wands - Thrown potions not clearing fire/ooze if they shattered out of view - Retribution and psionic blast not applying to all visible characters in very rare cases - Degrade debuff not applying to thrown weapons - Cloak of shadows not losing charge if it is dispelled as it is activated - Items being assignable to non-visible quickslots in specific cases - Rare quickslot errors when bags which already contain items are collected Hero & Allies: - Thrown potions not triggering Liquid Agility talent - Sneak ability working while Duelist is rooted - Damage from Body Slam talent ignoring armor - Lunge ability incorrectly interacting with movespeed in some cases - Cases where prismatic images could keep appearing and then disappearing - Hero not being able to self-trample plants when standing on stairs - Berserker being able to rage without his seal equipped in some cases - Allies rarely spawning on hazards after ankh revive - Ally warp working on corrupted DM-201s - Duelist's lunge ability not correctly applying range boosts in rare cases Misc.: - Various rare crash and freeze bugs - Various minor visual and textual errors - Tutorial becoming stuck in rare cases - Beta updates setting not working as intended - Music fading not working in rare cases - Scrolling pane in journal window freezing in rare cases3. [/expand]
Buffs:
- Hero Abilities[expand] No nerfs this time, and just a couple targeted buffs to hero abilities/talents. - Rogue's Foresight talent trigger chance increased to 60% at +1 and 90% at +2, up from 50% at +1 and 75% at +2. - Elemental Strike ability base range increased to 4 from 3. [/expand]
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- The next update will be v2.4.0, including a new type of item called trinkets!
- Trinkets are a new item type that are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. You'll be able to get one trinket per run (with some choice), which will change up the game slightly with effects such as increasing rare enemy spawn rates or making enchantments and curses more likely. Trinkets will be upgradeable via alchemical energy, increasing the strength of their effect.
- As always, v2.4.0 will include some smaller changes and fixes as well. Right now I'm considering making some targeted balance and design tweaks to various hero abilities, but I haven't locked that in yet as there are lots of little things I could choose to look into changing or improving.
- The next update will also be dropping support for iOS 9 and 10, which currently make up ~0.05% of Shattered's iOS playerbase. I'm making this change due to an update to Shattered's game library (libGDX), and to remove the requirement to include 32-bit iOS code with the game. iOS 9 and 10 players will still be able to continue playing Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.3.
[ 2024-01-18 17:57:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2024
[hr][/hr]
While 2023 was another year with just 3 game updates, they were at least some pretty big ones!
[/td] [td]On the business side of things, 2023 has been Shattered's best year yet, with continued strong sales on both the App Store and Steam. In fact, in late 2023 Shattered Pixel Dungeon passed 100,000 units sold across all platforms! Your support has allowed Shattered to grow from a hobby project into my full-time job, thank you so much![/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] Here are the major pieces of content that I'd like to add in 2024, in the order I'm currently planning to implement them. Please note that while I'd very much like to stick to this, game development rarely works out exactly as planned. There is a high chance that I won't get through everything here in 2024, and it's also possible that the order may shift or things may change entirely. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The gnoll caves quest I talked about last time is finished, but the final third caves quest variant is still pretty incomplete. The caves quest has also already taken forever to make and has been extremely well received as-is. So, I've decided to release v2.3.0 with just the second gnoll variant, and move on to other content for now.[/td] [/tr] [/table] I know that changing priorities like this is a disappointment for people who were expecting three variants to the caves quest, but at this point I've been actively working on it for more than 2/3 of a year, and have been doing serious concepting since early 2022. I think it's time to move on to other content and revisit the caves quest at a later date to add another variant. The good part of this is that v2.3.0 will release fairly soon! Expect that to happen some time next week. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I've alluded to these in prior posts, but it's time to be a bit more specific! Trinkets are a new item type produced and upgraded via alchemical energy, and are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. As an example, one trinket will increase the chance of encountering rare enemies![/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I first mentioned this last year, but new splash arts for each of the game's five regions by Aleksandar Komitov are still coming! These will show up during loading transitions and show off each environment in fully rendered detail. Check this post's header image for a better look at the sewers splash art.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I'd like for 2024 to have a new hero release, just like 2023. The Cleric would likely be the headline release for the year, with abilities based on divine magic, to contrast with the Mage's more arcane magic. While I don't plan on releasing the Cleric first, they are easily the thing I most want to release this year.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Lastly, with the caves quest finished for now, it would be nice to get moving on the city quest! My current concept is to have the Imp ask the player to raid a special dwarven vault. The major catch will be that none of the player's items can go with them, leading to a little microcosm of gear progression that will only exist within the vault.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Shattered updates usually include some pretty significant smaller changes in addition to headline content. Here are some of the smaller things that I'm currently considering for side content in future updates in 2024 and beyond, in no particular order.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] Here are some other things I'd like to do in Shattered that I'm definitely going to be implementing after 2024. Think of these are longer term 'nice ideas' or 'stretch goals'. The higher an item is on this list, the more clearly defined my idea is for it. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]There's an obvious opportunity to add a quest to the game's final region. While I don't want to make the game overly long, a bit more gameplay at the tail end of the game is sorely needed, and I have a few ideas for interesting quests that could test an endgame character.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once I've added the Cleric, I would really like to start adding lore documents that focus on the heroes themselves. These could include journals written by the heroes from their perspectives, or documents that describe interactions and conversations between the heroes.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It would be nice to add one more subclass to each hero, to better take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. However, it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Over the years Shattered has gotten loads of audiovisual improvements, and the game's pixel art and environments are starting to look pretty dated by comparison. I'd really like to work with an artist to improve the game's spritework and environmental detail, while still staying true to the current art style.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Some form of endless mode is an extremely common request. This partly ties in to the last region of the game being the shortest, but also there's just a desire for players to see how far they could get with particularly strong character builds. I have a few loose ideas for how endless might work, but no solid design at the moment.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Another common request is to have more dungeon floors, but just tacking more on risks making the game too long. An alt path could offer new environments and enemies without making the game directly longer. This would be a huge time commitment though, so I'd only really consider it when ShatteredPD is otherwise finished.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] And that's everything I've got plans or ideas for right now; here's to another great year of Shattered Pixel Dungeon! I'll keep posting larger news articles here, of course, but if you'd like smaller incremental updates, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon.
[ 2024-01-12 16:14:46 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Happy New Year rat punchers! After a busy holiday, and getting sick =S, I'm back with some news about v2.3.0 and my plans for the year ahead! This post starts with a year in review, and then lists the major changes and additions that I have planned for Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2024 and beyond. I've written one of these posts every year since 2019, you can take a look at the previous ones here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
2023 in Review
[hr][/hr]
While 2023 was another year with just 3 game updates, they were at least some pretty big ones!
- In March we had the release of the Duelist, Shattered's first ever new hero!
- While it wasn't a game update, in April Shattered released on GOG.com and Itch.io.
- June saw the release of a followup update, with balance tweaks and a few smaller additons.
- In October the caves quest redesign started to release, alongside 20 minutes of new music!
[/td] [td]On the business side of things, 2023 has been Shattered's best year yet, with continued strong sales on both the App Store and Steam. In fact, in late 2023 Shattered Pixel Dungeon passed 100,000 units sold across all platforms! Your support has allowed Shattered to grow from a hobby project into my full-time job, thank you so much![/td] [/tr] [/table]
The Plan for 2024
[hr][/hr] Here are the major pieces of content that I'd like to add in 2024, in the order I'm currently planning to implement them. Please note that while I'd very much like to stick to this, game development rarely works out exactly as planned. There is a high chance that I won't get through everything here in 2024, and it's also possible that the order may shift or things may change entirely. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Releasing v2.3.0
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The gnoll caves quest I talked about last time is finished, but the final third caves quest variant is still pretty incomplete. The caves quest has also already taken forever to make and has been extremely well received as-is. So, I've decided to release v2.3.0 with just the second gnoll variant, and move on to other content for now.[/td] [/tr] [/table] I know that changing priorities like this is a disappointment for people who were expecting three variants to the caves quest, but at this point I've been actively working on it for more than 2/3 of a year, and have been doing serious concepting since early 2022. I think it's time to move on to other content and revisit the caves quest at a later date to add another variant. The good part of this is that v2.3.0 will release fairly soon! Expect that to happen some time next week. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Trinkets
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I've alluded to these in prior posts, but it's time to be a bit more specific! Trinkets are a new item type produced and upgraded via alchemical energy, and are more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. As an example, one trinket will increase the chance of encountering rare enemies![/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Region Splash Arts
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I first mentioned this last year, but new splash arts for each of the game's five regions by Aleksandar Komitov are still coming! These will show up during loading transitions and show off each environment in fully rendered detail. Check this post's header image for a better look at the sewers splash art.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
The Cleric
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I'd like for 2024 to have a new hero release, just like 2023. The Cleric would likely be the headline release for the year, with abilities based on divine magic, to contrast with the Mage's more arcane magic. While I don't plan on releasing the Cleric first, they are easily the thing I most want to release this year.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
City Quest
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Lastly, with the caves quest finished for now, it would be nice to get moving on the city quest! My current concept is to have the Imp ask the player to raid a special dwarven vault. The major catch will be that none of the player's items can go with them, leading to a little microcosm of gear progression that will only exist within the vault.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Smaller Things
[hr][/hr] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Shattered updates usually include some pretty significant smaller changes in addition to headline content. Here are some of the smaller things that I'm currently considering for side content in future updates in 2024 and beyond, in no particular order.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
- Adjustments to hero and talent mechanics
- UI and UX improvements for larger screens, and keyboard/controller players
- More badges or a challenge to test the skill of experienced players
- A few more supporter benefits for users who've purchased the game
- Further streamlining to the alchemy system and tweaks to specific recipes
- Reworks, tweaks, and additions to existing item categories
- Further improvements to shops, possibly including some new ones
- New room types and general improvements to level generation
- And, of course, every update comes with a bunch of bugfixes and small QoL tweaks
Longer-Term Plans
[hr][/hr] Here are some other things I'd like to do in Shattered that I'm definitely going to be implementing after 2024. Think of these are longer term 'nice ideas' or 'stretch goals'. The higher an item is on this list, the more clearly defined my idea is for it. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Halls Quest
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]There's an obvious opportunity to add a quest to the game's final region. While I don't want to make the game overly long, a bit more gameplay at the tail end of the game is sorely needed, and I have a few ideas for interesting quests that could test an endgame character.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Hero-Focused Lore
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once I've added the Cleric, I would really like to start adding lore documents that focus on the heroes themselves. These could include journals written by the heroes from their perspectives, or documents that describe interactions and conversations between the heroes.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
More Subclasses
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It would be nice to add one more subclass to each hero, to better take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. However, it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
New In-Game Art
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Over the years Shattered has gotten loads of audiovisual improvements, and the game's pixel art and environments are starting to look pretty dated by comparison. I'd really like to work with an artist to improve the game's spritework and environmental detail, while still staying true to the current art style.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Endless Mode
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Some form of endless mode is an extremely common request. This partly ties in to the last region of the game being the shortest, but also there's just a desire for players to see how far they could get with particularly strong character builds. I have a few loose ideas for how endless might work, but no solid design at the moment.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Alternate Paths
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Another common request is to have more dungeon floors, but just tacking more on risks making the game too long. An alt path could offer new environments and enemies without making the game directly longer. This would be a huge time commitment though, so I'd only really consider it when ShatteredPD is otherwise finished.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] And that's everything I've got plans or ideas for right now; here's to another great year of Shattered Pixel Dungeon! I'll keep posting larger news articles here, of course, but if you'd like smaller incremental updates, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon.
[ 2024-01-12 16:14:46 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: The Gnoll Caves Quest!
[hr][/hr] To quickly recap, the mining area is a special level that's only accessible during the new caves quest, where the player can dig through walls! Making your own terrain opens up interesting strategic opportunities, and lets the quest area have a much more free-form shape compared to regular floors. The existing quest variant, added in v2.2.0, tasks the player with tunneling through a cave filled with fragile crystals.
The new gnoll variant has different terrain which is quite a bit less fragile. These gnolls have been using some pretty chaotic earth-moving magic to get at the gold in the area, resulting in lots of boulders and cave-ins. Unlike the crystal quest, where rooms were mostly connected to each other, rooms in the gnoll caves quest will mostly be closed off from each-other. Not to worry though, there are plenty of environmental hints that can point you in the right direction. (Please note that the following pictures use unfinished visuals. Obviously this new area isn't going to be as shiny as the crystal caves, but there are some visual improvements I'd like to make before full release.)
The core ingredients of the quest area are otherwise the same: you'll need to collect 40 gold, there are one or two secret rooms, three larger rooms with tougher enemies, and one giant room with a boss!
[hr][/hr] The gnoll caves quest has three unique enemies: [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The first and most common enemy in this region is the Gnoll Guard. Guards are weaker than brutes overall, but have extra attack range thanks to their spears. They also deal heavy bonus damage if they can attack you at a distance. The best way to fight them is to try and force them into close-up combat, as they have trouble attacking around terrain like walls and boulders.[/td][/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Next up are Gnoll Sappers, which have a variety of disruptive and supportive tools granted to them by the area's boss. They aren't especially proficient with them, but still pose a notable threat. Each sapper also comes with an accompanying guard, and you'll want to try and use the sapper's abilities to your advantage to get the upper hand.[/td][/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Finally, the region boss is the Gnoll Geomancer. Unlike sappers, the geomancer is very proficient with rock-based magic, so expect to do a lot of fancy footwork or you'll be taking a boulder to the face. The fight plays out a bit like Tengu's fight, with the geomancer jumping away from you while hurling various rocky attacks. The geomancer will also conscript any living gnoll sappers to help it, so you probably want to clear the cave out before starting the geomancer fight.[/td][/tr][/table]
[hr][/hr] As always, v2.3.0 is going to include some side content as well! This time around I've tried to focus on little additions that were fairly easy to implement:
[hr][/hr] I'm not too certain how long the beta for v2.3.0 will last, as there's still one more quest variant to implement before the caves quest as a whole is complete. I'm going to spend a bit of time working on that, and depending on how smoothly development of the final variant goes I'll either include it as a part of v2.3.0 or put it off until later in favor of getting v2.3.0 fully released sooner. If you'd like to keep up to date on that, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-12-13 18:00:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers!
The second variant of the new caves quest is now ready for beta! In this post I'm going to go over what this new quest area entails, and also share some other content coming in v2.3.0.
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]The beta for Shattered v2.3.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
The Gnoll Mining Area
[hr][/hr] To quickly recap, the mining area is a special level that's only accessible during the new caves quest, where the player can dig through walls! Making your own terrain opens up interesting strategic opportunities, and lets the quest area have a much more free-form shape compared to regular floors. The existing quest variant, added in v2.2.0, tasks the player with tunneling through a cave filled with fragile crystals.
The new gnoll variant has different terrain which is quite a bit less fragile. These gnolls have been using some pretty chaotic earth-moving magic to get at the gold in the area, resulting in lots of boulders and cave-ins. Unlike the crystal quest, where rooms were mostly connected to each other, rooms in the gnoll caves quest will mostly be closed off from each-other. Not to worry though, there are plenty of environmental hints that can point you in the right direction. (Please note that the following pictures use unfinished visuals. Obviously this new area isn't going to be as shiny as the crystal caves, but there are some visual improvements I'd like to make before full release.)
The core ingredients of the quest area are otherwise the same: you'll need to collect 40 gold, there are one or two secret rooms, three larger rooms with tougher enemies, and one giant room with a boss!
Gnoll Enemies
[hr][/hr] The gnoll caves quest has three unique enemies: [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The first and most common enemy in this region is the Gnoll Guard. Guards are weaker than brutes overall, but have extra attack range thanks to their spears. They also deal heavy bonus damage if they can attack you at a distance. The best way to fight them is to try and force them into close-up combat, as they have trouble attacking around terrain like walls and boulders.[/td][/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Next up are Gnoll Sappers, which have a variety of disruptive and supportive tools granted to them by the area's boss. They aren't especially proficient with them, but still pose a notable threat. Each sapper also comes with an accompanying guard, and you'll want to try and use the sapper's abilities to your advantage to get the upper hand.[/td][/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Finally, the region boss is the Gnoll Geomancer. Unlike sappers, the geomancer is very proficient with rock-based magic, so expect to do a lot of fancy footwork or you'll be taking a boulder to the face. The fight plays out a bit like Tengu's fight, with the geomancer jumping away from you while hurling various rocky attacks. The geomancer will also conscript any living gnoll sappers to help it, so you probably want to clear the cave out before starting the geomancer fight.[/td][/tr][/table]
v2.3.0 Side Content
[hr][/hr] As always, v2.3.0 is going to include some side content as well! This time around I've tried to focus on little additions that were fairly easy to implement:
- Firstly, hero's remains now contain an extra unique consumable that's themed after the hero who died. These items replace the old boring 50 or 10 gold remains drop, and will also appear in conjunction with regular remains loot if the game selected any. You can use these items for a small benefit, or hold onto them earn some new badges.
- Next, Shattered has had little holiday food items that temporarily replace cornish pasties ever since 2016, but only for Halloween and the Winter Holidays. I'm finally expanding that for 2024, so keep an eye out for something for Lunar New Year in early February, and for Easter in late March to early April. I'll be adding more of these throughout the year too.
- Lastly, I'm adding new icons to the various numbers that indicate damage, positive effects, and currency gain. These icons make these text popups much cleaner and make it more clear where damage or healing effects are coming from. I've also taken the opportunity to add a bunch of text popups for various healing and shielding effects.
[hr][/hr] I'm not too certain how long the beta for v2.3.0 will last, as there's still one more quest variant to implement before the caves quest as a whole is complete. I'm going to spend a bit of time working on that, and depending on how smoothly development of the final variant goes I'll either include it as a part of v2.3.0 or put it off until later in favor of getting v2.3.0 fully released sooner. If you'd like to keep up to date on that, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-12-13 18:00:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.2.1 - bugfixes and new quest reward tweaks
[hr][/hr] Blacksmith Reward Changes [expand type=details] Overall I'm fairly happy with the level of challenge and reward the new quest offers, but from looking at gameplay data the rewards are a bit overtuned currently. I certainly don't plan to reduce the blacksmith rewards back to being similar to before this new quest, but for now I am making some initial changes to get them into a better place balance-wise. This will make it easier to fine-tune the overall quest difficulty and rewards in v2.3.0.
[ 2023-10-26 19:11:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.2.1 has just released! This patch fixes various small bugs, and include some mild nerfs to the rewards of the new quest. I do want the new caves quest to be a lot more rewarding, but not so much that it makes the later stages of the game significantly easier. I'm also trying out a slightly new format for writing down changes here as well. You can now click on 'show details' under each entry to get a complete list of changes, instead of being forced to check them in-game.
Changes
[hr][/hr] Blacksmith Reward Changes [expand type=details] Overall I'm fairly happy with the level of challenge and reward the new quest offers, but from looking at gameplay data the rewards are a bit overtuned currently. I certainly don't plan to reduce the blacksmith rewards back to being similar to before this new quest, but for now I am making some initial changes to get them into a better place balance-wise. This will make it easier to fine-tune the overall quest difficulty and rewards in v2.3.0.
- Cost for second reforge/harden up to 1500 from 1000
- Upgrade now caps at +2, down from +3
- Chance for smith to produce a +0 item up to 30%, from 20%
- Chance for smith to produce a +1 item down to 45%, from 55%
- The Crystal Spire now awards 20 exp when it is defeated
- Increased the amount of toxic gas that the rot heart can produce
- New quest bosses now interrupt the hero when they are telegraphing an attack
- Updated translations and translator credits
- Various rare crash bugs in new quest
- Hardening not being preserved when transmuting weapons
- Items rarely spawning on new quest entrance
- Hero getting teleported to quest entrance if game was loaded while they were inside a crystal spike
- Various minor visual bugs in new quest
- System gestures in iOS sometimes registering as taps within the game
- Endure ability not working properly when used twice quickly
- Melee damage of Mage's Staff benefiting from talents that boost wand levels
- Various blink effects allowing movement over magical fire
- Some game actions being possible while meditating
- Various minor visual and textual errors
[ 2023-10-26 19:11:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.2.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.2.0 includes a brand new quest in the caves, almost 20 minutes of new music, and substantial improvements to the prison and sewers quests! there's also the usual bunch of big and small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in three previous blog posts:
[hr][/hr]
[ 2023-10-18 16:56:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
[table noborder=1][tr][td]
[/td]
[td]Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.2.0 has been released! You can get it right now on Steam, or on any of the other platforms Shattered is distributed on.
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Shattered is also 33% off on Steam right now, both to celebrate the release of v2.2.0 and as a part of the sale for Roguelike Celebration 2023!
This update also roughly doubles the length of Shattered's soundtrack! You can get the soundtrack on Steam Here.
Whats new in v2.2.0
[hr][/hr] v2.2.0 includes a brand new quest in the caves, almost 20 minutes of new music, and substantial improvements to the prison and sewers quests! there's also the usual bunch of big and small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in three previous blog posts:
- Coming Soon to Shattered: The Crystal Caves Quest!
- Coming Soon to Shattered: A New Quest! Eventually
- Coming Soon to Shattered: Sub-Floors and Digging!
- v2.2.0 releases 138 days after v2.1.0.
- An entirely new quest in the caves, with a new environment, enemies, boss, and rewards!
- ~20 minutes of new music from the game's composer: Kristjan Thomas Haaristo!
- Extensive changes to all 3 prison quest variants
- Rebalanced the hostile champions challenge
- Redesigned T2 talents that trigger on potion and scroll usage
- 15+ misc. changes
- 35+ bugfixes
- Various weapon ability buffs, most notably to the sneak ability
- Mild nerfs to the katana, and to sacrificial and corrosion curses
- Reduced ascension enemy power scaling in caves and prison
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- The next update will be v2.3.0, and will add two new variants to the new caves quest!
- The first of the upcoming caves quest variants is an unstable gnoll encampment. The gnolls have taken to trying to mine out some gold themselves, but are preferring to use earth-moving magic with little care for cave stability. Expect a lot of closed in walls and fallen rocks, as well as gnolls that'll be able to use those rocks against you.
- The second upcoming variant is a mushroom forest. A large mycellium network has grown in this area, creating lots of hostile plant life. The abundance of tall vegetation isn't just pretty tough, you'll want to use it (or the cave walls themselves) to keep out of sight from the powerful, yet stationary, mushroom sentries.
- I also expect v2.3.0 will include followup changes to the initial new quest variant, as well as the usual assortment of other smaller improvements, fixes, and additions. I'd like for v2.3.0 to be fairly quick, so the other changes will probably be lighter than usual.
[ 2023-10-18 16:56:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: The Crystal Caves Quest!
[hr][/hr] It's now been a bit more than 4 months since v2.1.0 was released. At the current pace of development, the full caves quest will need another month of development at least, which would put its release around mid November at the earliest. Those of you who've been reading these posts for a while might remember that I've consistently been disappointment at how long it can take to make large updates, and I've often regretted not splitting them up where possible. Here's a little chart illustrating that, with two updates I wish I had split up, and one significantly larger update that I actually did split up: [table] [tr] [th][/th] [th]Updates[/th] [th]Days Indev[/th] [th]Avg. Days/Update[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.7.0 alchemy system[/td] [td]1[/td] [td]168[/td] [td]168[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.8.0 enemy/boss overhaul[/td] [td]1[/td] [td]197[/td] [td]197[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.9.X talent system[/td] [td]4[/td] [td]308[/td] [td]77[/td] [/tr] [/table] With 3 quest variants that each have unique enemies, bosses, and terrain, it is really starting to feel like v2.2.0 is another good candidate for being split. So, I'm going to take my own advice and split the new caves quest into two updates. This way everyone can enjoy the first variant very soon, I can work on the next two variants under a bit less time pressure, and I can get a wider breadth of feedback on the new quest sooner. v2.2.0 also includes a bunch of other content in addition to the new quest, which I'm eager for players to get their hands on. You can read more about that in the previous blog post Here. So what's the quest variant that's actually coming in v2.2.0 then?
[hr][/hr] Note that most of the visuals here are still WIP. I plan to improve them before releasing v2.2.0. As I've mentioned before, the new caves quest tasks you with exploring a new sub-level, mining out gold ore, evading hazards, and defeating a boss. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, the player can dig through walls, which creates a bunch of interesting gameplay opportunities. Each quest variant has its own terrain, enemies, and boss. The first of these variants, and the one releasing in v2.2.0, focuses on Crystals.
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]This crystal quest area has unique crystalline terrain that's as colorful as it is fragile. Crystals can be broken easily, and will even shatter if terrain next to them is mined. however, you might want to think twice about doing too much crystal mining, as some of the locals won't take too kindly to it.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]You'll encounter Crystal Wisps and Crystal Guardians in this area. The wisps can move through crystals, but can't shoot their ranged attack through them, which makes the crystals ideal terrain to hide behind. Meanwhile, the guardians are incredibly tough, but are slow to move and won't wake to attack you if you leave the crystals around them undisturbed.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The boss of the region is the Crystal Spire, a towering ultrahard crystal which you'll have to defeat via mining. Steadily picking away at it is bound to attract a lot of attention though, so be prepared to deal with all the other crystalline enemies while you're fighting the spire. The spire is also capable of defending itself, although smart players can use these attacks to their advantage.[/td] [/tr][/table]
[hr][/hr] As mentioned, v2.2.0 won't include the other two planned quest variants, so I'll talk a bit more about them later, but here's some early information to give you a general idea:
The second variant is an unstable gnoll encampment. The gnolls have taken to trying to mine out some gold themselves, but are preferring to use earth-moving magic with little care for cave stability. Expect a lot of closed in walls and fallen rocks, as well as gnolls that'll be able to use those rocks against you.
The third variant is a mushroom forest. A large mycellium network has grown in this area, creating lots of hostile plant life. The abundance of tall vegetation isn't just pretty tough, you'll want to use it (or the cave walls themselves) to keep out of sight from the powerful, yet stationary, mushroom sentries. [hr][/hr] If all goes well then v2.2.0 should release in about another week. I'll give an estimate for v2.3.0 then. As a reminder, I am not longer posting to Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook. If you'd like some more incremental updates about what I'm working on, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-10-11 14:23:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers!
I've got some more news to share about v2.2.0. I have decided to split the release of the new caves quest into two updates.
v2.2.0 is now going to include just one variant for the new quest: The crystal caves. The following update, v2.3.0, will include the other two quest variants. While this does mean a slight delay in getting all of the quest variants to you, it also means that v2.2.0 can release much sooner, in about a week in fact!
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]The beta for Shattered v2.2.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Why the Change?
[hr][/hr] It's now been a bit more than 4 months since v2.1.0 was released. At the current pace of development, the full caves quest will need another month of development at least, which would put its release around mid November at the earliest. Those of you who've been reading these posts for a while might remember that I've consistently been disappointment at how long it can take to make large updates, and I've often regretted not splitting them up where possible. Here's a little chart illustrating that, with two updates I wish I had split up, and one significantly larger update that I actually did split up: [table] [tr] [th][/th] [th]Updates[/th] [th]Days Indev[/th] [th]Avg. Days/Update[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.7.0 alchemy system[/td] [td]1[/td] [td]168[/td] [td]168[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.8.0 enemy/boss overhaul[/td] [td]1[/td] [td]197[/td] [td]197[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]v0.9.X talent system[/td] [td]4[/td] [td]308[/td] [td]77[/td] [/tr] [/table] With 3 quest variants that each have unique enemies, bosses, and terrain, it is really starting to feel like v2.2.0 is another good candidate for being split. So, I'm going to take my own advice and split the new caves quest into two updates. This way everyone can enjoy the first variant very soon, I can work on the next two variants under a bit less time pressure, and I can get a wider breadth of feedback on the new quest sooner. v2.2.0 also includes a bunch of other content in addition to the new quest, which I'm eager for players to get their hands on. You can read more about that in the previous blog post Here. So what's the quest variant that's actually coming in v2.2.0 then?
The Crystal Caverns
[hr][/hr] Note that most of the visuals here are still WIP. I plan to improve them before releasing v2.2.0. As I've mentioned before, the new caves quest tasks you with exploring a new sub-level, mining out gold ore, evading hazards, and defeating a boss. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, the player can dig through walls, which creates a bunch of interesting gameplay opportunities. Each quest variant has its own terrain, enemies, and boss. The first of these variants, and the one releasing in v2.2.0, focuses on Crystals.
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]This crystal quest area has unique crystalline terrain that's as colorful as it is fragile. Crystals can be broken easily, and will even shatter if terrain next to them is mined. however, you might want to think twice about doing too much crystal mining, as some of the locals won't take too kindly to it.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]You'll encounter Crystal Wisps and Crystal Guardians in this area. The wisps can move through crystals, but can't shoot their ranged attack through them, which makes the crystals ideal terrain to hide behind. Meanwhile, the guardians are incredibly tough, but are slow to move and won't wake to attack you if you leave the crystals around them undisturbed.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The boss of the region is the Crystal Spire, a towering ultrahard crystal which you'll have to defeat via mining. Steadily picking away at it is bound to attract a lot of attention though, so be prepared to deal with all the other crystalline enemies while you're fighting the spire. The spire is also capable of defending itself, although smart players can use these attacks to their advantage.[/td] [/tr][/table]
The Other Variants
[hr][/hr] As mentioned, v2.2.0 won't include the other two planned quest variants, so I'll talk a bit more about them later, but here's some early information to give you a general idea:
The second variant is an unstable gnoll encampment. The gnolls have taken to trying to mine out some gold themselves, but are preferring to use earth-moving magic with little care for cave stability. Expect a lot of closed in walls and fallen rocks, as well as gnolls that'll be able to use those rocks against you.
The third variant is a mushroom forest. A large mycellium network has grown in this area, creating lots of hostile plant life. The abundance of tall vegetation isn't just pretty tough, you'll want to use it (or the cave walls themselves) to keep out of sight from the powerful, yet stationary, mushroom sentries. [hr][/hr] If all goes well then v2.2.0 should release in about another week. I'll give an estimate for v2.3.0 then. As a reminder, I am not longer posting to Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook. If you'd like some more incremental updates about what I'm working on, you can subscribe to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter, or follow me on Mastodon. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-10-11 14:23:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: A New Quest! ...Eventually
[hr][/hr] So, as mentioned above, the new caves quest isn't currently in the beta. This is due to a mixture of development taking longer than expected, and honestly August just ending up being a very busy month for me for a variety of personal reasons. This has put development significantly behind the ETA I previously gave of 'beta sometime in late July or August'. Although the new quest isn't playable yet, I have made a lot of incremental progress since the last blog post.
Firstly, I've made some big improvements to the generation of the mining level since v2.1.3's tester area, as you can see above (old on left, new on right). Levels are now more random seeming, but are actually more consistent under the hood. As an example, while some rooms are still secret, they are now guaranteed to be adjacent to regular rooms. Gold is also now generated in more consistent patterns, creating larger chunks overall, and guaranteeing that the overall quantity of gold falls within a specific range. There is still work to do though. Gold tends to cluster a bit too much currently, and I worry that these levels are currently a bit on the large side. They also seem pretty empty, mostly because of all the content that isn't quite done yet, including three different sets of hazards to place within these levels.
While I'd like to keep the specifics a bit close to my chest for now, I've pretty solidly worked out three variants for the quest. Each variant will come with its own hazards, enemies, and boss encounter. You'll be tasked with mining though a cave filled with **ancient and fragile crystals**, **thick vegetation and aggressive fungi**, or **cave-ins and magic-wielding gnolls**. I'll talk more about the new quest in another blog post, once it's closer to releasing. I'm afraid I'm not totally sure when that will be just yet.
[hr][/hr] The new quest is still going to come out with v2.2.0 when it fully releases, but v2.2.0 also includes a bunch of other smaller additions. I decided that it would be best to get a beta out now with all of the other content in v2.2.0, rather than just sitting on it while I finish v2.2.0's headline content. [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Firstly, Shattered's soundtrack has doubled in size! In total there is ~20 minutes of new music from Shattered's composer: Kristjan Thomas Haaristo. This includes extensions to the game's regular region tracks, new 'intense' tracks that play during quests and ascension, and new 'finale' tracks that play towards the end of boss fights and the game overall.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I've also taken some time to improve the game's two pre-caves quests. Prison quests now have a few new mechanics and overall have more consistent and engaging gameplay. Sewers quests are mostly unchanged, but I have made a few subtler tweaks to make both the ghost and quest bosses easier to find.[/td] [/tr][/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Hostile Champions challenge is also getting some big changes to try and smooth out its difficulty spikes, which are a bit too extreme at the moment. Stronger champion types now have more counterplay options, and some of the weaker ones have received boosts as well.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]There have also been a few balance changes. Most notably, Dagger type weapons have a reworked ability that lets the Duelist blink to a location in addition to granting her brief invisibility. T2 potion and scroll talents now have slightly weaker effects, but trigger on any potion or any scroll instead of only on specific ones.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]And, of course, there are a bunch of smaller misc. changes and bugfixes. Most notably, shopkeepers will now warn you the first time they are attacked, the crystal path room has been redesigned to offer more choice, and sacrifice rooms should be less tedious in the earlygame.[/td] [/tr][/table]
[hr][/hr] Firstly, I have decided to end my use of Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook as platforms to share news about Shattered Pixel Dungeon. This is both due to decisions these platforms have made recently, and also just being fed up with corporate, centralized, profit-driven social media in general. I'll continue to post updates about my projects on Patreon, Mastodon, here on the Steam Community, and will now also be posting on the Pixel Dungeon community over at Lemmy! I owe Shattered's early success to the Pixel Dungeon subreddit community, and so I really hope its move to Lemmy works out. Lastly, I understand that not everyone wants to make another new account on another new website, so I'm also starting a Shattered Pixel Newsletter! You can subscribe to get emails about new blog posts, and optionally also get more frequent emails with smaller incremental updates. [hr][/hr] I expect that I'll be fixing a few beta bugs over the next couple of days, and a little while after that I hope to finally get work finished on the caves quest. If you'd like smaller updates leading up to that, consider following me on Mastodon, or subscribing to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter. The beta itself should also get updated pretty quickly after the quest's content is ready. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-09-10 15:57:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers!
I've got some news to share about v2.2.0. The new caves quest isn't ready to show off yet, so in the meantime I am releasing the other content in v2.2.0 as an early beta!
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]This early beta for Shattered v2.2.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Caves Quest When?
[hr][/hr] So, as mentioned above, the new caves quest isn't currently in the beta. This is due to a mixture of development taking longer than expected, and honestly August just ending up being a very busy month for me for a variety of personal reasons. This has put development significantly behind the ETA I previously gave of 'beta sometime in late July or August'. Although the new quest isn't playable yet, I have made a lot of incremental progress since the last blog post.
Firstly, I've made some big improvements to the generation of the mining level since v2.1.3's tester area, as you can see above (old on left, new on right). Levels are now more random seeming, but are actually more consistent under the hood. As an example, while some rooms are still secret, they are now guaranteed to be adjacent to regular rooms. Gold is also now generated in more consistent patterns, creating larger chunks overall, and guaranteeing that the overall quantity of gold falls within a specific range. There is still work to do though. Gold tends to cluster a bit too much currently, and I worry that these levels are currently a bit on the large side. They also seem pretty empty, mostly because of all the content that isn't quite done yet, including three different sets of hazards to place within these levels.
While I'd like to keep the specifics a bit close to my chest for now, I've pretty solidly worked out three variants for the quest. Each variant will come with its own hazards, enemies, and boss encounter. You'll be tasked with mining though a cave filled with **ancient and fragile crystals**, **thick vegetation and aggressive fungi**, or **cave-ins and magic-wielding gnolls**. I'll talk more about the new quest in another blog post, once it's closer to releasing. I'm afraid I'm not totally sure when that will be just yet.
So What IS in the Beta?
[hr][/hr] The new quest is still going to come out with v2.2.0 when it fully releases, but v2.2.0 also includes a bunch of other smaller additions. I decided that it would be best to get a beta out now with all of the other content in v2.2.0, rather than just sitting on it while I finish v2.2.0's headline content. [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Firstly, Shattered's soundtrack has doubled in size! In total there is ~20 minutes of new music from Shattered's composer: Kristjan Thomas Haaristo. This includes extensions to the game's regular region tracks, new 'intense' tracks that play during quests and ascension, and new 'finale' tracks that play towards the end of boss fights and the game overall.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I've also taken some time to improve the game's two pre-caves quests. Prison quests now have a few new mechanics and overall have more consistent and engaging gameplay. Sewers quests are mostly unchanged, but I have made a few subtler tweaks to make both the ghost and quest bosses easier to find.[/td] [/tr][/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Hostile Champions challenge is also getting some big changes to try and smooth out its difficulty spikes, which are a bit too extreme at the moment. Stronger champion types now have more counterplay options, and some of the weaker ones have received boosts as well.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]There have also been a few balance changes. Most notably, Dagger type weapons have a reworked ability that lets the Duelist blink to a location in addition to granting her brief invisibility. T2 potion and scroll talents now have slightly weaker effects, but trigger on any potion or any scroll instead of only on specific ones.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]And, of course, there are a bunch of smaller misc. changes and bugfixes. Most notably, shopkeepers will now warn you the first time they are attacked, the crystal path room has been redesigned to offer more choice, and sacrifice rooms should be less tedious in the earlygame.[/td] [/tr][/table]
Social Media Changes
[hr][/hr] Firstly, I have decided to end my use of Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook as platforms to share news about Shattered Pixel Dungeon. This is both due to decisions these platforms have made recently, and also just being fed up with corporate, centralized, profit-driven social media in general. I'll continue to post updates about my projects on Patreon, Mastodon, here on the Steam Community, and will now also be posting on the Pixel Dungeon community over at Lemmy! I owe Shattered's early success to the Pixel Dungeon subreddit community, and so I really hope its move to Lemmy works out. Lastly, I understand that not everyone wants to make another new account on another new website, so I'm also starting a Shattered Pixel Newsletter! You can subscribe to get emails about new blog posts, and optionally also get more frequent emails with smaller incremental updates. [hr][/hr] I expect that I'll be fixing a few beta bugs over the next couple of days, and a little while after that I hope to finally get work finished on the caves quest. If you'd like smaller updates leading up to that, consider following me on Mastodon, or subscribing to the Shattered Pixel Newsletter. The beta itself should also get updated pretty quickly after the quest's content is ready. You can discuss this Blog Post here on the Steam Community, or on the Pixel Dungeon Lemmy Community.
[ 2023-09-10 15:57:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.1.4
[ 2023-07-09 17:32:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers, here is likely the final patch for v2.1 before moving on to full work on v2.2. v2.1.4 includes a few smaller bugfixes and misc. changes, mainly focused on the new functionality added in v2.1.3. Here's a quick rundown of the most significant changes:
- The stairs down to the blacksmith tester area now use custom visuals
- The mining test area now has darkened walls at the non-mineable borders
- Fixed various rare bugs caused by the new tester area functionality
- Made the new boss regen limit vs. Tengu a bit less strict when badder bosses is enabled.
- Adjusted the new gold visuals to only appear in the mining test area for now.
[ 2023-07-09 17:32:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
(v2.1.3) Coming Soon to Shattered: Sub-Floors and Digging!
[hr][/hr] Firstly, this new quest will not take place in a regular floor of the dungeon, but instead will appear in a brand new special sub-floor that will exist purely for the quest! Currently, Shattered uses a numerical value called 'depth' to keep track of where the player is in the overall dungeon. You can think of this as all of the levels existing in a 1-dimensional line, where the depth value determines how far along the line we are.
To allow for sub-floors I've added a second number called 'branch', which effectively turns the 1-d line into a 2-d grid. When you descend to the blacksmith's quest area, depth won't change, but branch will go up by 1. Returning from the quest area sets branch back to its default of 0.
This change also includes code that lets levels have multiple entrances and exists that go to different locations! A lot of the code to support this has actually been in the game since v1.4, but I've added some more code recently in v2.1 patches so that sub-floors can actually exist. Here's a little gif showing off how this all works in practice:
In that sub-floor the player will be tasked with mining though walls in search of rare ores for the blacksmith. Mining itself was actually fairly easy to implement, as Shattered's systems for managing terrain changes are already pretty robust. A few bits of new logic in a few spots and everything was working! To mine the player simply moves to a wall tile and their character will get to work, assuming that they have a pickaxe and are in the quest area, of course.
You can test these new mechanics out right now in v2.1.3! This initial implementation is a simple empty tester floor that just exists to let players try this out. There aren't any special mechanics around mining yet, and being in the tester area pauses hunger/regen effects.
[hr][/hr] These new mechanics are neat on their own, but what matters far more is how they're going to work in a completed quest! In my initial concepting for this, back around v1.3, I wanted the quest to play a bit like a minigame, where Shattered's main gameplay was set aside in favor of something that felt very different. In such a design the player would be expected to mine through a level that's mostly filled with walls, somewhat like a game of Motherload or Dome Keeper. I had trouble 'finding the fun' with this design though, which is why the quest rework ended up getting delayed so much. It kept feeling like I needed to add more complexity to make these new mechanics interesting. This made the quest design become extremely large and cumbersome. Eventually I realized that my minigame approach wasn't working. Trying to put an entire extra game within a regular run of Shattered was just far too much. I went back to the drawing board and instead tried to design the quest's mechanics to complement existing gameplay interactions, rather than replace them. This would mean that the quest would play more like regular Shattered with some extra spice added in from the mining mechanic. Here are a few examples of how that might work:
[ 2023-06-29 16:58:03 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers! In this blog post I'm going to go over some of the new technical additions to Shattered in v2.1.3, and how they're going to allow for future content. In particular, I plan to use these additions in a reworked blacksmith quest in the next major update! Shattered Pixel Dungeon is also 25% off right now, as part of the Steam Summer Sale!
Sub-Floors and Mining
[hr][/hr] Firstly, this new quest will not take place in a regular floor of the dungeon, but instead will appear in a brand new special sub-floor that will exist purely for the quest! Currently, Shattered uses a numerical value called 'depth' to keep track of where the player is in the overall dungeon. You can think of this as all of the levels existing in a 1-dimensional line, where the depth value determines how far along the line we are.
To allow for sub-floors I've added a second number called 'branch', which effectively turns the 1-d line into a 2-d grid. When you descend to the blacksmith's quest area, depth won't change, but branch will go up by 1. Returning from the quest area sets branch back to its default of 0.
This change also includes code that lets levels have multiple entrances and exists that go to different locations! A lot of the code to support this has actually been in the game since v1.4, but I've added some more code recently in v2.1 patches so that sub-floors can actually exist. Here's a little gif showing off how this all works in practice:
In that sub-floor the player will be tasked with mining though walls in search of rare ores for the blacksmith. Mining itself was actually fairly easy to implement, as Shattered's systems for managing terrain changes are already pretty robust. A few bits of new logic in a few spots and everything was working! To mine the player simply moves to a wall tile and their character will get to work, assuming that they have a pickaxe and are in the quest area, of course.
You can test these new mechanics out right now in v2.1.3! This initial implementation is a simple empty tester floor that just exists to let players try this out. There aren't any special mechanics around mining yet, and being in the tester area pauses hunger/regen effects.
Making a Quest
[hr][/hr] These new mechanics are neat on their own, but what matters far more is how they're going to work in a completed quest! In my initial concepting for this, back around v1.3, I wanted the quest to play a bit like a minigame, where Shattered's main gameplay was set aside in favor of something that felt very different. In such a design the player would be expected to mine through a level that's mostly filled with walls, somewhat like a game of Motherload or Dome Keeper. I had trouble 'finding the fun' with this design though, which is why the quest rework ended up getting delayed so much. It kept feeling like I needed to add more complexity to make these new mechanics interesting. This made the quest design become extremely large and cumbersome. Eventually I realized that my minigame approach wasn't working. Trying to put an entire extra game within a regular run of Shattered was just far too much. I went back to the drawing board and instead tried to design the quest's mechanics to complement existing gameplay interactions, rather than replace them. This would mean that the quest would play more like regular Shattered with some extra spice added in from the mining mechanic. Here are a few examples of how that might work:
- A passageway blocked by traps or other hazards is a big annoyance in regular Shattered, but during the quest it would be possible to mine around them.
- A level usually has to be pretty structured and interconnected, but with mining these levels could be much more free-form, possibly including rooms that are totally isolated.
- Large enemies normally can't chase you into a hallway, but in a more free-form level the mining mechanic could be what controls which areas of the level they can access.
- If the player can see some parts of the level before they mine to them, they would be able to choose how the level becomes interconnected and traversible.
- Of course, the player's ultimate goal is going to be to mine for gold, so the way that resource is placed in a level will influence how the player wants to dig to reach it.
[ 2023-06-29 16:58:03 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.1.2
[ 2023-06-16 16:59:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Folks! v2.1.2 is a quick followup to v2.1.1 that fixes a couple of more serious bugs introduced in that patch. There are also a few smaller miscellaneous improvements as well. Expect more patches to v2.1 in a couple of weeks or so as I work on some technical improvements to support future content additions. You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes.
[ 2023-06-16 16:59:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.1.1
[ 2023-06-13 15:56:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers, here is the first of the patches for v2.1! As mentioned before, I expect there to be more patches than usual in v2.1 as I'm working on some technical changes to support future content additions. This time around there aren't too many user-facing technical improvements though, so the patch is mostly about QoL and bugfixes. Here's a quick rundown of the changes:
- Internal changes that will better support creating a sublevel for the blacksmith's quest.
- Barkskin can now stack from multiple sources. Only the strongest instance of barkskin is used when calculating defense, but this means that very strong short-term barkskin no longer totally overrides weaker long-term barkskin.
- Rooted has had a big consistency pass. It now properly prevents movement from dash, blink, and leap abilities. Teleportation still works while rooted.
- Various abilities that automatically move the hero closer to a target now consider whether the hero is levitating when determining what hazards to avoid.
- ~15 bug fixes, several of which are from prior to v2.1.0
[ 2023-06-13 15:56:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.1.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.1.0 includes a bunch of Duelist balance changes, three new weapons, two new exotic enemies, and a bunch of big and small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in a previous blog post: Heres a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
[hr][/hr]
[ 2023-06-02 15:04:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
[table noborder=1][tr][td]
[/td]
[td]Hey Dungeoneers, Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.1.0 has been released! You can get it right now on Steam, or on any of the other platforms Shattered is distributed on.
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Whats new in v2.1.0
[hr][/hr] v2.1.0 includes a bunch of Duelist balance changes, three new weapons, two new exotic enemies, and a bunch of big and small tweaks and bugfixes. I talked about this update in a previous blog post: Heres a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
- v2.1.0 releases 83 days after v2.0.0.
- 3 new weapons: Sickle, Katana, and War Scythe!
- 2 new exotic enemies: Tormented Spirits and Phantom Piranhas!
- There is now a dedicated shopkeeper interface with buyback.
- More Acension changes, including boosting enemy HP instead of reducing DMG taken.
- The Lightweight Charge talent has been replaced with Precise Assault.
- ~15 misc. changes
- 40+ bugfixes
- The Whip now deals 3-15 base DMG, up from 3-12.
- Almost every Duelist weapon abiltiy has been buffed.
- Mild buffs to Champion and moderate ones to Monk.
- Buffs to Elemental Strike ability, Expose Weakness talent, and Invigorating Victory talent.
- Nerfs to Monks meditate ability and Elimination Match talent.
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- The next update will be v2.2.0, and will include a complete rework of the blacksmith quest!
- There is a decent amount of technical work that still needs to be done for v2.2.0, and I can easily introduce that into the game via some patches to v2.1.0. Because of this, I expect that v2.1 is going to have a longer patch cycle than usual, as Ill be both including those technical changes and taking the opportunity to fix a bunch of smaller issues sooner than if I waiting to release them in v2.2.0.
- I plan to completely rework the blacksmiths quest in v2.2.0, to feature a new sub area and a unique mining mechanic. The player will need to mine out walls both to collect treasure and to navigate around hazards. I expect the quest will be notably more involved and challenging, but there will be new rewards on offer a well!
- As always, there will be some amount of smaller improvements, fixes, and additions both in v2.2.0 and during v2.1s longer than usual patch cycle. I expect that v2.2.0 is going to be mainly focused on the blacksmith quest though, so any new additions aside from that will be relatively minor. In terms of fixes, I plan to keep an eye on the Duelist and weapons in general after the changes in v2.1.0.
[ 2023-06-02 15:04:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: Duelist Buffs and Additions!
[hr][/hr] When I look at balance data, I usually only include players who already have a win. A few weeks ago, after enough time had passed, I ran some numbers for the Duelist, and got some pretty interesting results:
For v2.1.0 I'm focused on a whole bunch of targeted buffs to specific Duelist abilities. These will come together to be a buff to her overall, but it's more about making more of her gameplay options effective than flatly boosting everything. In particular it seems quite clear that I still need to make many of her more awkward or risky weapon abilities stronger, as the 'plain but no downside' cleave ability is still doing quite well compared to other weapon abilities. Pretty much every weapon ability (except cleave) is getting a buff, with most either focused on milder power boosts, or more substantial changes to reduce ability downsides. As probably the most significant example, heavy blow is getting its accuracy penalty replaced with a guaranteed hit, but now costs 2 charges when not surprise attacking. This should still preserve the goal of the ability synergizing with surprise attacks, but also makes it less useless in cases where surprise attacks aren't an option (such as against bosses).
[hr][/hr] While the changes to the Duelist are the biggest overall adjustment in v2.1.0, it wouldn't be an update without some new things as well!
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Katana is a new T4 weapon with 4-20 base damage and 0-3 blocking. It's been made in direct response to the feedback I heard from players about loving the rapiers lunge ability and wishing it was more useful in later stages of the game. Just like with the rapier, the Duelist can lunge at enemies with the katana, dealing +50% damage.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The War Scythe and Sickle are T5 and T2 weapons that trade in some accuracy for more base damage: 6-40 and 3-20 respectively. The accuracy penalty can be awkward, but can be worked around with things like surprise attacks. The Duelist can harvest with these weapons, dealing a large amount of bleeding instead of direct damage, but using 2 charges.[/td] [/tr][/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Tormented spirits are otherwise good ghosts that have been twisted by evil magic. They deal more damage than wraiths, but will grant you a reward if you can free them using a scroll of remove curse. Of course, you could also decide to just kill them, you monster. Tormented spirits replace 1 in every 100 wraiths, but will not show up in cases where wraiths can spawn repeatedly.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Phantom piranhas are a special piranha that can teleport when attacked. This normally moves them to a random place in the dungeon, but if you're next to water they'll teleport right to you and attack! Phantom piranhas replace 1 in every 50 piranhas and drop the exotic phantom meat, which fully restores satiety and grants all the effects of frozen carpaccio at once![/td] [/tr][/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Shopkeepers are getting a new interface when interacted with, which offers a little dialogue and shop buyback! I eventually want to make more extensive thematic changes to shops, but a little bit more interaction and new dialogue is a great starting point.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I'm making some pretty notable changes to the ascension challenge. Enemies now get more max HP instead of damage resistance, and you'll also be able to keep earning exp while ascending all the way to level 30. I hope this makes ascension more fun and a little more rewarding.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]As usual, there's also a slew of smaller changes and fixes. I'm getting more little issue reports than ever, so the game has never been more stable, even though the list of small fixes keeps growing each update.[/td] [/tr][/table] [hr][/hr] I expect the beta for v2.1.0 to last slightly longer than a week, perhaps until next Wednesday. If you'd like some incremental updates on that leading up to release, consider following me on Mastodon or Twitter!
[ 2023-05-22 17:44:41 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, it's time for another beta release!
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]The beta for Shattered v2.1.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
In this blog post I'm going to go over the bulk of the changes coming in v2.1.0, including a bit of new content and a bunch of Duelist balance!
Duelist Changes
[hr][/hr] When I look at balance data, I usually only include players who already have a win. A few weeks ago, after enough time had passed, I ran some numbers for the Duelist, and got some pretty interesting results:
- The Duelist is played 33.7% of the time, quite a lot higher than the average of 20%. This makes sense of course, she is a new character.
- Her overall winrate is almost exactly 50% lower than the average. This seems to indicate that she is extremely weak!
- The overall number of runs studied increases by about 5x, there are lots of people who haven't gotten their first win yet!
- The Duelist becomes played 21.1% of the time, only slightly more than average.
- Her relative winrate shoots up to just 12% below the average. Still a little weak, but much better!
For v2.1.0 I'm focused on a whole bunch of targeted buffs to specific Duelist abilities. These will come together to be a buff to her overall, but it's more about making more of her gameplay options effective than flatly boosting everything. In particular it seems quite clear that I still need to make many of her more awkward or risky weapon abilities stronger, as the 'plain but no downside' cleave ability is still doing quite well compared to other weapon abilities. Pretty much every weapon ability (except cleave) is getting a buff, with most either focused on milder power boosts, or more substantial changes to reduce ability downsides. As probably the most significant example, heavy blow is getting its accuracy penalty replaced with a guaranteed hit, but now costs 2 charges when not surprise attacking. This should still preserve the goal of the ability synergizing with surprise attacks, but also makes it less useless in cases where surprise attacks aren't an option (such as against bosses).
Other Additions
[hr][/hr] While the changes to the Duelist are the biggest overall adjustment in v2.1.0, it wouldn't be an update without some new things as well!
New Weapons
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Katana is a new T4 weapon with 4-20 base damage and 0-3 blocking. It's been made in direct response to the feedback I heard from players about loving the rapiers lunge ability and wishing it was more useful in later stages of the game. Just like with the rapier, the Duelist can lunge at enemies with the katana, dealing +50% damage.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The War Scythe and Sickle are T5 and T2 weapons that trade in some accuracy for more base damage: 6-40 and 3-20 respectively. The accuracy penalty can be awkward, but can be worked around with things like surprise attacks. The Duelist can harvest with these weapons, dealing a large amount of bleeding instead of direct damage, but using 2 charges.[/td] [/tr][/table]
Exotic Enemies
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Tormented spirits are otherwise good ghosts that have been twisted by evil magic. They deal more damage than wraiths, but will grant you a reward if you can free them using a scroll of remove curse. Of course, you could also decide to just kill them, you monster. Tormented spirits replace 1 in every 100 wraiths, but will not show up in cases where wraiths can spawn repeatedly.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Phantom piranhas are a special piranha that can teleport when attacked. This normally moves them to a random place in the dungeon, but if you're next to water they'll teleport right to you and attack! Phantom piranhas replace 1 in every 50 piranhas and drop the exotic phantom meat, which fully restores satiety and grants all the effects of frozen carpaccio at once![/td] [/tr][/table]
Smaller Changes
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Shopkeepers are getting a new interface when interacted with, which offers a little dialogue and shop buyback! I eventually want to make more extensive thematic changes to shops, but a little bit more interaction and new dialogue is a great starting point.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I'm making some pretty notable changes to the ascension challenge. Enemies now get more max HP instead of damage resistance, and you'll also be able to keep earning exp while ascending all the way to level 30. I hope this makes ascension more fun and a little more rewarding.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]As usual, there's also a slew of smaller changes and fixes. I'm getting more little issue reports than ever, so the game has never been more stable, even though the list of small fixes keeps growing each update.[/td] [/tr][/table] [hr][/hr] I expect the beta for v2.1.0 to last slightly longer than a week, perhaps until next Wednesday. If you'd like some incremental updates on that leading up to release, consider following me on Mastodon or Twitter!
[ 2023-05-22 17:44:41 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.0.2
You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes.
[ 2023-04-17 15:12:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! It seems there was enough for one more patch after all! v2.0.2 includes a few QoL improvements and fixes a bunch of very small issues that were added in v2.0.0, and a few more notable ones that have been around for longer. Here's a quick list of the most notable changes:
- Overhauled visuals for the action indicator. It now has different background colors for different actions, and supports a smaller secondary icon or text. Subclass abilities all make use of this new functionality, and some info has been moved from buff icons to this new indicator.
- The game's pixel font now supports Vietnamese!
- Rankings now attempt to show some basic information if loading full game data fails.
- Fixed the resistance from empowered meditate lasting 1 turn longer than intended
- Fixed the threshold for Monastic Vigor being lower than intended (95/75/55 instead of 100/80/60)
- Fixed various bugs with controller input which occurred when two or more inputs were entered at once.
You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes.
[ 2023-04-17 15:12:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
v2.0.1
There are a bunch of smaller bugfixes and QoL improvements in v2.0.1, here are the most notable ones:
I expect to make some more thorough changes in v2.1, after gameplay data becomes more reliable, but for now I'm making some early buffs to the Duelist to improve on a bunch of her talents and weapon abilities that are not performing as well as others. This should hopefully make her gameplay feel more consistent:
[ 2023-03-31 15:49:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! v2.0.0 ended up being a pretty stable update so (hopefully) I've just got one patch for you, a bit more than 2 weeks after the initial release.
Bugfixes and QoL
There are a bunch of smaller bugfixes and QoL improvements in v2.0.1, here are the most notable ones:
- Quickslot contents are now automatically swapped if a newly equipped item that is not quickslotted replaces an item that was quickslotted. This should make Duelist weapon swapping gameplay smoother.
- The changes screen now supports more text for a single entry. On mobile UI the changes window can now have multiple tabs, on full UI the changes pane on the right is now scrollable.
- Attacking an enemy now properly sets them as the auto-targeting target in all cases
- Fixed the duelist not being automatically unlocked for existing players with a win
Duelist Balance
I expect to make some more thorough changes in v2.1, after gameplay data becomes more reliable, but for now I'm making some early buffs to the Duelist to improve on a bunch of her talents and weapon abilities that are not performing as well as others. This should hopefully make her gameplay feel more consistent:
- Weapon ability recharge speed increased by 12.5% at no missing charges, down to being unchanged when at 0/10
- Strengthening Meal bonus damage up to 3 from 2
- Swift Equip cooldown down to 20 turns from 30
- Unencumbered Spirit energy boost up to 33/67/100/150%, from 25/50/100/150%
- Monastic Vigor threshold changed to 100/80/60%, from 100/85/70%
- Sneak now grants 8/6/4 turns of stealth, up from 6/5/4
- Spike now deals +40/30% bonus damage, up from +15/10%
- Heavy Blow now deals +65/60/55/50% damage, up from +50/45/40/35%
- Combo Strike now deals +40/35/30% damage per stack, up from +30/25/20%
- Spin now deals +33% damage per stack, up from +20%
[ 2023-03-31 15:49:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v2.0.0!
[hr][/hr] v2.0.0 includes Shattered's first ever new playable character! The Duelist is a melee weapons specialist who has a unique ability for every weapon in the game. Just like the other heroes, she has 2 subclasses, 3 armor abilities, and 26 talents! Adding a new hero ended up being more work than I expected, but I'm very happy with the result. Over the years Shattered has slowly expanded gameplay for the existing heroes, adding loads of new mechanics and gameplay options, and I'm thrilled to finally bring that to an entirely new character as well! I expect that the Duelist will need tweaks over time, given how new she is, but overall I really hope that her new weapon abilities will make weapon-focused builds more interesting for experienced players.
Despite it not being intended as a focus of v2.0.0, I've also managed to fix just as many bugs and various smaller issues as I did in v1.4.0! I chalk a lot of that up to v1.4.0 clearing out much of my queue of smaller fixes, which made it easier to keep on top of various little issues as they were reported. I'm also getting more messages from players than ever, which means even incredibly specific and obscure things are getting reported to me. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
[hr][/hr]
[ 2023-03-13 16:55:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]Hey Dungeoneers, v1.4.0 has been released on Google Play, the App Store, Steam, and GitHub! The game is also currently on sale on Steam in celebration of such a large update![/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
The Duelist! (and more fixes!)
[hr][/hr] v2.0.0 includes Shattered's first ever new playable character! The Duelist is a melee weapons specialist who has a unique ability for every weapon in the game. Just like the other heroes, she has 2 subclasses, 3 armor abilities, and 26 talents! Adding a new hero ended up being more work than I expected, but I'm very happy with the result. Over the years Shattered has slowly expanded gameplay for the existing heroes, adding loads of new mechanics and gameplay options, and I'm thrilled to finally bring that to an entirely new character as well! I expect that the Duelist will need tweaks over time, given how new she is, but overall I really hope that her new weapon abilities will make weapon-focused builds more interesting for experienced players.
Despite it not being intended as a focus of v2.0.0, I've also managed to fix just as many bugs and various smaller issues as I did in v1.4.0! I chalk a lot of that up to v1.4.0 clearing out much of my queue of smaller fixes, which made it easier to keep on top of various little issues as they were reported. I'm also getting more messages from players than ever, which means even incredibly specific and obscure things are getting reported to me. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
- v2.0.0 releases 160 days after v1.4.0, and 413 days after v1.0.0.
- The Duelist has been added, with a unique ability for every weapon!
- The Duelist also releases with two subclasses: Champion and Monk.
- The Duelist also releases with three lategame abilities: Challenge, Elemental Strike, and Feint.
- Changes to the ascension challenge to better smooth out difficulty.
- 25+ misc. changes
- 60+ bugfixes
- Buffs to: pickaxe, rings of energy and arcana, glyphs of repulsion and flow, and horn of plenty.
- Buffs to: shrug it off talent and wild magic ability.
- More significant nerfs to: shields, wands of corruption and regrowth, chalice of blood, and ethereal chains.
- Smaller nerfs to: rings of furor and evasion, blocking enchantment, timekeeper's hourglass, alchemist's toolkit, and wand of fireblast.
- Nerfs to: Warrior's ID talent, heroic energy talent, double jump talent, and smoke bomb ability.
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
- My current plan is for the next major update to be v2.1.0, which will mostly be focused on responding to any balance or general gameplay issues that appear as dust settles from the Duelist's release.
- The largest changes in v2.1.0 will be focused around the game's heroes, with a big emphasis on the Duelist. I'm generally happy with how she performed during the beta, but such a large addition to the game is definitely going to need some refinement over time. I may also make some smaller changes to the other heroes as well, depending on how things shake out.
- v2.1.0 will also include some amount of side content, but it will probably be fairly small. I plan to add a couple new exotic enemies, and there might be room for one or two other little things as well.
- There will also be more miscellaneous changes and bugfixes! Despite all of the fixes I've made in v2.0.0, my list of things to do has actually grown! I'd like to spend a bit of time keeping that list in check.
- And no I haven't forgotten about the blacksmith's quest! I will likely do some concepting or internal technical work for it during v2.1.0's development, but the quest rework itself is more likely to be part of v2.2.0.
[ 2023-03-13 16:55:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
The Duelist Releases on March 13th!
[ 2023-03-09 18:48:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, the beta for v2.0 lasted a little longer than expected, but everything is now ready and I plan to release the update on Monday, March 13th at 1pm EDT!
I've been pretty regularly updating folks with beta progress on Mastodon and Twitter, but thought it was a good idea to update everyone here as well.
Since the beta started exactly a month ago, I've filled out the Duelist's remaining subclass and armor ability, made some critical balance changes, fixed a ton of bugs, and am in the process of making a few final visual refinements before I submit v2.0 for approval to the game's various platforms.
Once v2.0 releases, Shattered will also be 25% off on Steam to celebrate. The sale will last for 10 days total, which includes Steam's regular spring sale event.
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]If you'd like to play the Duelist a bit early though, The beta for v2.0 is still available. To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
[hr][/hr]
This post will be taken down once v2.0 releases.
[ 2023-03-09 18:48:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: The Duelist!
[hr][/hr]
As mentioned last time, the Duelist focuses on weapons and activated abilities, to contrast with the Warrior's focus on armor and passive durability. Her primary power is a unique ability that changes on a per weapon basis. These abilities are meant to augment gameplay and also provide a more visible and interactive power to each weapon. There are over 15 unique abilities! These abilities make weapons feel a little more like some of the game's 'special' items like artifacts and wands. There are even some mechanics in place to encourage more varied weapon gameplay within a run. Here are some talent examples:
[hr][/hr] Just as with other heroes, the Duelist has two subclasses on offer: [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Champion doubles down on weapon ability gameplay by letting the Duelist wield two weapons at once! The Champion can freely switch the weapon she is attacking with and use either weapon's ability whenever she wants. The Champion has a lot of options when it comes to weapon abilities, which can be further improved via talents:[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Monk has less of a focus on equipment and instead grants the Duelist several utility-focused abilities that are based on physical technique. The monk builds energy toward these abilities as she defeats enemies. This plays a bit like a more relaxed version of the gladiator, as this energy does not fade over time, but does have a cap.[/td] [/tr][/table] I've not got any talents to show off for the Monk just yet, but here are some mostly-final ability concepts instead:
[hr][/hr] Lastly, after defeating the game's penultimate boss the Duelist gains access to three armor abilities! [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Challenge targets a single enemy, compelling them to fight the Duelist while all other enemies are temporarily frozen in time. This is a great move for singling an enemy out from a crowd. Challenge does not freeze the Duelist's allies, or a boss' minions if a boss was targeted.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Elemental Strike hits an enemy or location with a regular attack that's guaranteed to hit and spreads a magical effect in a cone. This magical effect varies based on the enchantment on the Duelist's primary weapon, leading to a lot of variety in exactly how this ability works.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Feint causes the Duelist to pretend to strike an enemy while actually dashing to an adjacent tile. An afterimage remains at her old location for a brief moment, attracting the attention of any enemy that was targeting her. Feint is a great panic button move, but will also grant extra power against enemies that fall for it.[/td] [/tr][/table] [hr][/hr] As mentioned higher up, I expect the beta for v2.0 to last a little longer than usual as I finish up the Duelist's game content. If you'd like some incremental updates on that leading up to release, consider following me on Mastodon or Twitter. I've tried to start posting little progress updates there around once a week.
[ 2023-02-09 16:55:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, v2.0 is finally ready for beta!
[table noborder=1]
[tr]
[td]
[/td]
[td]The beta for v2.0.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
In this blog post I'm going to share some more details about Shattered's first new hero! I expect the beta for v2.0 to last a little longer than usual, as there's still a bit of content to complete. Right now the Duelist herself is fully playable, along with the Champion subclass and two armor abilities. I expect to finish up and fully release in about 2 or 3 weeks.
Just a quick note first: Please keep in mind that a new hero is a big undertaking. We are very close to release, but some details and visuals here may still change before v2.0 goes live. Also, while I always try to keep to the ETAs I provide, please remember that they are just estimates. If the update hasn't released yet, it's because I'm still working on it!
Introducing The Duelist!
[hr][/hr]
As mentioned last time, the Duelist focuses on weapons and activated abilities, to contrast with the Warrior's focus on armor and passive durability. Her primary power is a unique ability that changes on a per weapon basis. These abilities are meant to augment gameplay and also provide a more visible and interactive power to each weapon. There are over 15 unique abilities! These abilities make weapons feel a little more like some of the game's 'special' items like artifacts and wands. There are even some mechanics in place to encourage more varied weapon gameplay within a run. Here are some talent examples:
Subclasses
[hr][/hr] Just as with other heroes, the Duelist has two subclasses on offer: [table noborder=1] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Champion doubles down on weapon ability gameplay by letting the Duelist wield two weapons at once! The Champion can freely switch the weapon she is attacking with and use either weapon's ability whenever she wants. The Champion has a lot of options when it comes to weapon abilities, which can be further improved via talents:[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]The Monk has less of a focus on equipment and instead grants the Duelist several utility-focused abilities that are based on physical technique. The monk builds energy toward these abilities as she defeats enemies. This plays a bit like a more relaxed version of the gladiator, as this energy does not fade over time, but does have a cap.[/td] [/tr][/table] I've not got any talents to show off for the Monk just yet, but here are some mostly-final ability concepts instead:
- Flurry of Blows costs 1 energy and lets the Monk make a quick unarmed strike that penetrates armor. This strike is instant if it follows up a regular attack, making it a great finisher.
- Cleanse costs 2 energy and removes most harmful effects from the Monk, but takes a couple of turns.
- Dash costs 3 energy and lets the Monk instantly move to a location within a few tiles. This is great for a quick reposition, and even goes over hazards.
- Focus costs 3 energy and lets the monk prepare to dodge the next incoming attack, just like a dwarven monk would.
Armor Abilities
[hr][/hr] Lastly, after defeating the game's penultimate boss the Duelist gains access to three armor abilities! [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Challenge targets a single enemy, compelling them to fight the Duelist while all other enemies are temporarily frozen in time. This is a great move for singling an enemy out from a crowd. Challenge does not freeze the Duelist's allies, or a boss' minions if a boss was targeted.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Elemental Strike hits an enemy or location with a regular attack that's guaranteed to hit and spreads a magical effect in a cone. This magical effect varies based on the enchantment on the Duelist's primary weapon, leading to a lot of variety in exactly how this ability works.[/td] [/tr][/table] [table noborder=1][tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Feint causes the Duelist to pretend to strike an enemy while actually dashing to an adjacent tile. An afterimage remains at her old location for a brief moment, attracting the attention of any enemy that was targeting her. Feint is a great panic button move, but will also grant extra power against enemies that fall for it.[/td] [/tr][/table] [hr][/hr] As mentioned higher up, I expect the beta for v2.0 to last a little longer than usual as I finish up the Duelist's game content. If you'd like some incremental updates on that leading up to release, consider following me on Mastodon or Twitter. I've tried to start posting little progress updates there around once a week.
[ 2023-02-09 16:55:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2023
[hr][/hr] Before getting to what I have planned in 2023, let's take a quick look back at 2022. Of the 13 items listed in last year's post, 3 were fully completed, and 4 were partially completed. Some progress has definitely been made, but there's no way around the fact that 2022 has been a more quiet year with just 3 major updates. While 2022 was lighter on new content than I'd like, it did include Shattered's release on Steam! I've been so thrilled to see Shattered do well outside of the mobile sphere, and hope to see it continue to grow on Steam as it has on Android and iOS. In 2023 I want to actually release some of the major content additions that I promised in 2022. This includes at least one new hero, big quest reworks, and probably a bunch of smaller additions/changes as well. Read on for more details! Please note that this is not a specific plan or content roadmap. I really try to avoid locking something down until I'm actually developing it directly. Everything I'm about to discuss is speculative and may change, and isn't necessary going to be added in the order that its listed.
[hr][/hr]
Firstly, The Duelist and v2.0.0 are currently well into development. Unfortunately I've been sick these last two weeks (a nasty cold), which has delayed things somewhat. I'm currently aiming to share more details about v2.0.0, and a beta, around the end of January or early February. If you'd like an overview of the Duelist, take a look at the last blog post. Currently the base Duelist class (including talents and weapon abilities) is complete, subclasses are about half implemented, and armor abilities are fully concepted. I'll also try to post a few shorter updates and teasers for v2.0.0 over on Mastodon and Twitter during this month.
[hr][/hr] These are things I'm giving more immediate priority to. I'm going to try and get most or all of these done in 2023. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Initially slated for 2022, I ended up postponing the caves quest rework to 2023 because of some design hiccups. I want to change the quest into a sort of 'mining minigame' that lets the player dig through a specialized environment to find treasures to bring back to the blacksmith.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Aleks and I are working on some more art for the game! This time around we're planning splash arts for each of the game's five regions. These will show up during loading transitions and show off each environment in fully rendered detail. All I'm ready to show off is a teaser for the sewers art at the moment though.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]After the caves quest, I also have some plans for a reworked city quest. My current concept is to have the Imp ask the player to raid a special dwarven vault. The major catch will be that none of the player's items can go with them, leading to a little microcosm of gear progression that will only exist within the vault.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once the Duelist is finished, I can start thinking about the second hero I want to add. The Cleric is a divine magic user with a wide variety of defensive, supportive, and utility spells. I want them to contrast with the Mage, who likes to heavily upgrade wands for more direct power.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] These ideas are all pretty solid in my head but have less importance, or rely on other things being finished first. I may get one or two of these done in 2023. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I want shops to use an interface, rather than placing items on the ground. This would improve existing shops and allow for new ones. These shops would appear semi-randomly through the dungeon with more limited and specialized stock. Some may trade in things other than gold as well.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I think there's room in the game for a 'modifier' item, which would be more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Alchemical energy might work very well as a means of producing and powering up these items, and would give more reason to turn excess consumables into energy.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once I've added the two new heroes, I would really like to start adding lore documents that focus on the heroes themselves. These could include journals written by the heroes from their perspectives, or documents that describe interactions and conversations between the heroes.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Just as in 2022, There are a bunch of smaller content additions that I could add. These will appear as side content in other updates. Right now the things I'm considering most are: new badges, new music/sfx, a new artifact, new enemies, a new challenge, UI improvements, rebalances/reworks, and QoL/bug fixes.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] These ideas will get worked on eventually, but are lower priority. They might get more fleshed out concepts in 2023 but I am unlikely to work on any of them directly. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]While I don't have a specific design in mind yet, there's an obvious opportunity to add a quest to the Demon Halls. I'm not eager to make the game too long, but I do think that lengthening the last parts of the game a little would be a good thing.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]While working on the new splash arts with Aleks, its really become clear to me that the game's current environments are a bit plain in terms of the types of terrain that you can encounter. New terrain types could have gameplay effects, or just be about visual variety.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It would be nice to add one more subclass to each hero, to better take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. However, it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
[hr][/hr] These are neat ideas I have which I currently do not have a place for, either due to not having a working design in my head or because of the significant effort required. They are the sort of things I might look to work on in the future when I'm otherwise finished with Shattered updates. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It's a common request to have more dungeon floors, but I don't really want to make the game longer. An alternate path solves that problem by offering new environments and enemies which tax the skills of experienced players. Of course, adding in such a path would be a gigantic time commitment.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Over the years Shattered has gotten a new 2.5D art style, new sound effects, hero splash arts, and new music! The pixel art itself now feels a little dated. I'm not sure exactly how I might do this yet, but I might like to remake the game's sprites and environment texturing, while still staying true to the original style.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] Those are my plans for 2023 and beyond! While there's still plenty to do, the items on the priority list are slowly becoming more short-term and specific, as I try to keep the total number of items to about 12-15. Hopefully 2023 will have a larger emphasis on new content, and I can finally share some of the big content additions I've teased for a while now.
[ 2023-01-11 17:15:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Happy new year rat punchers! Just as with previous years, I'm writing a blog post at the start of 2023 to summarize my longer-term plans for Shattered Pixel Dungeon! This post starts with a year in review, and then lists a bunch of major changes and additions that I have planned for the game. These should end up being the focus of future updates both in this year and into the future. If you'd like to see my previous 'plans for the year' blog posts, you can find them here: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
Looking Ahead to 2023
[hr][/hr] Before getting to what I have planned in 2023, let's take a quick look back at 2022. Of the 13 items listed in last year's post, 3 were fully completed, and 4 were partially completed. Some progress has definitely been made, but there's no way around the fact that 2022 has been a more quiet year with just 3 major updates. While 2022 was lighter on new content than I'd like, it did include Shattered's release on Steam! I've been so thrilled to see Shattered do well outside of the mobile sphere, and hope to see it continue to grow on Steam as it has on Android and iOS. In 2023 I want to actually release some of the major content additions that I promised in 2022. This includes at least one new hero, big quest reworks, and probably a bunch of smaller additions/changes as well. Read on for more details! Please note that this is not a specific plan or content roadmap. I really try to avoid locking something down until I'm actually developing it directly. Everything I'm about to discuss is speculative and may change, and isn't necessary going to be added in the order that its listed.
The Duelist
[hr][/hr]
Firstly, The Duelist and v2.0.0 are currently well into development. Unfortunately I've been sick these last two weeks (a nasty cold), which has delayed things somewhat. I'm currently aiming to share more details about v2.0.0, and a beta, around the end of January or early February. If you'd like an overview of the Duelist, take a look at the last blog post. Currently the base Duelist class (including talents and weapon abilities) is complete, subclasses are about half implemented, and armor abilities are fully concepted. I'll also try to post a few shorter updates and teasers for v2.0.0 over on Mastodon and Twitter during this month.
Higher Priority
[hr][/hr] These are things I'm giving more immediate priority to. I'm going to try and get most or all of these done in 2023. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Caves Quest Rework
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Initially slated for 2022, I ended up postponing the caves quest rework to 2023 because of some design hiccups. I want to change the quest into a sort of 'mining minigame' that lets the player dig through a specialized environment to find treasures to bring back to the blacksmith.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
More Art!
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Aleks and I are working on some more art for the game! This time around we're planning splash arts for each of the game's five regions. These will show up during loading transitions and show off each environment in fully rendered detail. All I'm ready to show off is a teaser for the sewers art at the moment though.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
City Quest Rework
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]After the caves quest, I also have some plans for a reworked city quest. My current concept is to have the Imp ask the player to raid a special dwarven vault. The major catch will be that none of the player's items can go with them, leading to a little microcosm of gear progression that will only exist within the vault.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
The Cleric
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once the Duelist is finished, I can start thinking about the second hero I want to add. The Cleric is a divine magic user with a wide variety of defensive, supportive, and utility spells. I want them to contrast with the Mage, who likes to heavily upgrade wands for more direct power.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Medium Priority
[hr][/hr] These ideas are all pretty solid in my head but have less importance, or rely on other things being finished first. I may get one or two of these done in 2023. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Shop Overhaul
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I want shops to use an interface, rather than placing items on the ground. This would improve existing shops and allow for new ones. These shops would appear semi-randomly through the dungeon with more limited and specialized stock. Some may trade in things other than gold as well.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
New Item Type
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]I think there's room in the game for a 'modifier' item, which would be more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Alchemical energy might work very well as a means of producing and powering up these items, and would give more reason to turn excess consumables into energy.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Hero-Focused Lore
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Once I've added the two new heroes, I would really like to start adding lore documents that focus on the heroes themselves. These could include journals written by the heroes from their perspectives, or documents that describe interactions and conversations between the heroes.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Incremental Additions
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Just as in 2022, There are a bunch of smaller content additions that I could add. These will appear as side content in other updates. Right now the things I'm considering most are: new badges, new music/sfx, a new artifact, new enemies, a new challenge, UI improvements, rebalances/reworks, and QoL/bug fixes.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Lower Priority
[hr][/hr] These ideas will get worked on eventually, but are lower priority. They might get more fleshed out concepts in 2023 but I am unlikely to work on any of them directly. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Halls Quest
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]While I don't have a specific design in mind yet, there's an obvious opportunity to add a quest to the Demon Halls. I'm not eager to make the game too long, but I do think that lengthening the last parts of the game a little would be a good thing.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
More Environment Details
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]While working on the new splash arts with Aleks, its really become clear to me that the game's current environments are a bit plain in terms of the types of terrain that you can encounter. New terrain types could have gameplay effects, or just be about visual variety.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
More Subclasses
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It would be nice to add one more subclass to each hero, to better take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. However, it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Stretch Goals
[hr][/hr] These are neat ideas I have which I currently do not have a place for, either due to not having a working design in my head or because of the significant effort required. They are the sort of things I might look to work on in the future when I'm otherwise finished with Shattered updates. [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
Alternate Paths
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]It's a common request to have more dungeon floors, but I don't really want to make the game longer. An alternate path solves that problem by offering new environments and enemies which tax the skills of experienced players. Of course, adding in such a path would be a gigantic time commitment.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table equalcells=1 noborder=1] [tr] [th]
New Pixel Art
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]Over the years Shattered has gotten a new 2.5D art style, new sound effects, hero splash arts, and new music! The pixel art itself now feels a little dated. I'm not sure exactly how I might do this yet, but I might like to remake the game's sprites and environment texturing, while still staying true to the original style.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [hr][/hr] Those are my plans for 2023 and beyond! While there's still plenty to do, the items on the priority list are slowly becoming more short-term and specific, as I try to keep the total number of items to about 12-15. Hopefully 2023 will have a larger emphasis on new content, and I can finally share some of the big content additions I've teased for a while now.
[ 2023-01-11 17:15:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: A New Hero!
[hr][/hr] Each hero in Shattered Pixel Dungeon attempts to fill out a fairly broad gameplay and thematic archetype. A new hero should fit into an open space within that roster, both in terms of theme and gameplay. Currently we have two heroes focused around agility and the environment (Rogue and Huntress), one hero focused around magic (Mage), and one hero focused around direct combat (Warrior). Thinking of the heroes this way creates a clear opening for another magic user and another direct fighter. Of those two openings, I'm working on a new direct fighter first: The Duelist! She focuses on weapons and activated abilities, to contrast with the Warrior's focus on armor and passive durability. Here's an early peek at her splash art:
[hr][/hr] The Duelist fills in a sorely needed gap when it comes to the game's existing weapon mechanics. Weapons are foundational to gameplay in Shattered, so I kept them simple to create room for more complex mechanics elsewhere (artifacts, wands, rings, etc.). Nevertheless, this ends up making weapons feel a bit lackluster. A very common point of feedback I get is that players would like to see weapons themselves do more. The Duelist is a perfect opportunity to address that feedback. Her primary power is a unique ability that changes on a per weapon basis. These abilities are meant to augment gameplay and also provide a more visible and interactive power to each weapon. Here are a few examples of weapon abilities that I've already fully designed and implemented:
[hr][/hr] While they're not quite as solid as the various weapon abilities just yet, I do have two very promising subclass designs to share as well:
[hr][/hr] Implementation work on the Duelist is now going full steam ahead, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to commit to a beta date yet, especially with the holidays coming up. I think it's most realistic to expect something in January. This gives me enough time to ensure everything is working well, and also means I'm not rushed to get something out before the holidays start. You can look forward to another blog post when the beta is ready, which will provide more detail on the Duelist's subclasses, armor abilities, and talents! You can also get some quicker small updates by following me on Twitter. Due to recent events I am actively considering moving away from Twitter, but if that happens I will post on Twitter to let people there know about the move.
[ 2022-12-01 18:40:13 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers! v2.0.0 is unfortunately still a little ways off, but I am far enough into development that I've got a bunch of details to share! While there are a few other odds and ends in v2.0.0, the major focus is a brand new hero! This blog will go over some of my design thoughts and early implementation work on this new hero.
What Should a New Hero Do?
[hr][/hr] Each hero in Shattered Pixel Dungeon attempts to fill out a fairly broad gameplay and thematic archetype. A new hero should fit into an open space within that roster, both in terms of theme and gameplay. Currently we have two heroes focused around agility and the environment (Rogue and Huntress), one hero focused around magic (Mage), and one hero focused around direct combat (Warrior). Thinking of the heroes this way creates a clear opening for another magic user and another direct fighter. Of those two openings, I'm working on a new direct fighter first: The Duelist! She focuses on weapons and activated abilities, to contrast with the Warrior's focus on armor and passive durability. Here's an early peek at her splash art:
Weapon Abilities!
[hr][/hr] The Duelist fills in a sorely needed gap when it comes to the game's existing weapon mechanics. Weapons are foundational to gameplay in Shattered, so I kept them simple to create room for more complex mechanics elsewhere (artifacts, wands, rings, etc.). Nevertheless, this ends up making weapons feel a bit lackluster. A very common point of feedback I get is that players would like to see weapons themselves do more. The Duelist is a perfect opportunity to address that feedback. Her primary power is a unique ability that changes on a per weapon basis. These abilities are meant to augment gameplay and also provide a more visible and interactive power to each weapon. Here are a few examples of weapon abilities that I've already fully designed and implemented:
- The Duelist can lunge with her rapier starting weapon. This attack requires an enemy to be 1 tile away, but is guaranteed to hit and deals a whopping +67% damage. This makes weapon abilities a significant part of the Duelist's earlygame power and encourage a little bit of early positioning gameplay.
- The Duelist can cleave an enemy with regular sword type weapons. This is a fairly simple ability that guarantees a hit and does a little bonus damage. It's best used as a finisher, as a kill makes cleave instantaneous and lets you cleave again for free. Lower tier swords get slightly more bonus damage.
- While it is a sword, the runic blade has a unique runic slash ability. This is still guaranteed to hit, but offers a bunch of extra enchantment power instead of cleave's other benefits.
- The Duelist can sneak with dagger type weapons, blinking her to a nearby tile and granting her 1 turn of invisibility. This is great for repositioning or guaranteeing a surprise attack hit. This ability costs 2 charges, and lower tier daggers get a bit more blink range.
- The Duelist can spike enemies with the tip of a spear or glaive. This attack doesn't work on adjacent enemies and deals reduced damage, but is guaranteed to hit and knocks the enemy one tile back. This is very handy for working around a spear weapon's low speed.
- The Duelist can guard herself with a round shield or a greatshield. This completely negates the next physical or magical attack made against her. Starting to guard spends a turn, so it's best used to block a single heavy attack or in anticipation of an approaching enemy.
Subclass Designs
[hr][/hr] While they're not quite as solid as the various weapon abilities just yet, I do have two very promising subclass designs to share as well:
- The Duelist's first subclass directly enhances weapon abilities, by letting her equip two weapons at once. This subclass will let the Duelist freely switch the weapon she is attacking with and use either weapon's ability whenever she wants. If one of her equipped weapons is higher level and the same or higher tier, it will also share its upgrade level with the weaker weapon!
- The Duelist's second subclass focuses on physical technique and martial arts. This subclass will build up power during combat, which can then be spent on a number of abilities, mainly focused around utility and defense. The class might end up playing like a more relaxed and utility-focused version of the Gladiator, where points are easier to build and maintain but are less useful for outright killing enemies.
Beta When?
[hr][/hr] Implementation work on the Duelist is now going full steam ahead, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to commit to a beta date yet, especially with the holidays coming up. I think it's most realistic to expect something in January. This gives me enough time to ensure everything is working well, and also means I'm not rushed to get something out before the holidays start. You can look forward to another blog post when the beta is ready, which will provide more detail on the Duelist's subclasses, armor abilities, and talents! You can also get some quicker small updates by following me on Twitter. Due to recent events I am actively considering moving away from Twitter, but if that happens I will post on Twitter to let people there know about the move.
[ 2022-12-01 18:40:13 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.4.3
[ 2022-11-01 20:32:07 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! I'm releasing one final patch before moving on to working on the next update. v1.4.3 is a small patch that's entirely about bugfixes, including fixing a few significant crash bugs that were introduced in v1.4.2. You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes in this patch.
[ 2022-11-01 20:32:07 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.4.2
[ 2022-10-28 18:15:06 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! v1.4.2 was delayed a bit due to Roguelike Celebration, but here it is! This is a slightly larger patch, with a few misc changes and balance adjustments in addition to the usual bugfixes. Here's a quick summary of the most important changes:
Balance:
- Sandals of Nature energy costs reduced by 20%
- Sandals of Nature seeds needed to upgrade reverted to 3/6/9 from 4/7/10
- Blocking proc rate scaling with weapon level reduced by 50%
- Empowered Strike special effect boost up to 50% per level, from 33%
- Deathless Fury cooldown reduced to 3/2/1 levels, from 4/3/2
Misc:
- The buff bar now condenses itself if many buffs are visible at once. This raises the limit of on-screen buffs to 15.
- Plants now trigger after time freeze ends, just like traps
- Yog's laser now deducts score even if the hero dodges it
- Goo no longer deducts score by healing in water
- 10+ bugfixes
[ 2022-10-28 18:15:06 CET ] [ Original post ]
Presenting at Roguelike Celebration 2022!
[ 2022-10-20 19:09:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers!
In a few days, I'll be giving a presentation at Roguelike Celebration 2022! The presentation is titled "Smoothing the Sharp Edges of RNG", and will talk about some of the techniques I've used in Shattered to make the game's randomness feel more fair, without just making the game easier.
The presentation will go from 4:15pm to 4:30pm EST on Sunday October the 23rd. There will also be a 30 minute Q&A period afterward, going until 5pm. Here's a full description of the presentation:
Roguelike games involve a huge number of random calculations, from item and level generation to damage values in combat. We love this randomness because of the excitement and variety it brings to the Roguelike genre, but it can also bring unfairness and frustration.
In this talk I'll go over some techniques I've used to 'smooth off' some of the more extreme and frustrating results randomness can provide. These adjustments can make the game experience feel much more consistent and fair without perceptibly affecting the things we like about RNG.
As part of Roguelike Celebration's sale event, Shattered is also 20% off on Steam for the next week! I've made a bunch of improvements for desktop and controller users since Shattered's initial Steam release, so now is a great time to try Shattered out on a full desktop display!
[hr][/hr]
I also gave a presentation at last year's Roguelike Celebration. It was a longer talk titled "Community-Driven Roguelike Development", and talked about Shattered's growth alongside its community. You can watch a recording of that talk on Youtube:
[previewyoutube=NMWQIdfCgQg;full][/previewyoutube]
As for Shattered development itself, v1.4.2 will be releasing in another couple of days with a few more fixes and balance tweaks, and then it's on to v2.0.0 as I described it in the last blog post.
[ 2022-10-20 19:09:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.4.1
[ 2022-10-10 20:10:10 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! v1.4.1 is a small patch that fixes several minor bugs, quite a few of which weren't even caused by v1.4.0. I'm planning on making one more patch in about a week, which should include any balance tuning that's needed for the new and changed item in v1.4.0. You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes in this patch.
[ 2022-10-10 20:10:10 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v1.4.0!
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 is focused on new in-game lore and loads of other miscellaneous improvements. There are 30 pages of story text to find, a new ring, various reworks, a new tutorial, and over a hundred smaller tweaks and fixes! I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
[hr][/hr]
The next Shattered update will be v2.0.0, which is going to focus almost entirely on adding a new hero! The new hero in v2.0.0 will be the Duelist! The duelist will be able to use weapons in ways other heroes cannot, through charge-based special abilities, and other mechanics via her talents and subclasses. Like all the other heroes, the duelist will have 2 subclasses, 3 armor abilities, and 26 talents! I don't yet have any specific plans for other content in v2.0.0. I want to mostly focus on the Duelist, so don't expect as much side content as in previous updates, but I'm sure that there will be some amount of smaller additions and adjustments. I was originally planning for the next update to be v1.5.0, and include a rework to the blacksmith's quest. We're now in the last quarter of 2022 though, and I suspect people would much rather see a new hero release next. I also heavily implied a new hero would come this year back in the 'Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2022' blog post. This doesn't mean that the quest rework is never going to happen though, I'm just readjusting my priorities and will likely get to it in 2023 instead. v2.0.0 will likely have a few blog posts as I make progress on implementing the new hero. Expect to see the first of those posts in November. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter if you'd like some quicker mini-updates!
[ 2022-10-04 19:36:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers, v1.4.0 has been released on Google Play, the App Store, Steam, and GitHub! Note that v1.4.0 is currently held up in review by Google on Google Play, it should become available there within another day or two tops.
Whats new in v1.4.0
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 is focused on new in-game lore and loads of other miscellaneous improvements. There are 30 pages of story text to find, a new ring, various reworks, a new tutorial, and over a hundred smaller tweaks and fixes! I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
- v1.3.0 is releasing 105 days after v1.2.0, which released on Mar 23rd, 2022
- Support for user-enterable custom seeds
- Offline daily runs with local score history
- An overhauled scoring system to go along with seeds and dailies
- New mechanics that make ascension a proper challenge
- Improvements to UI/UX, mainly for desktop and controller users
- ~15 new badges, ranging from easy to extremely hard
- Reworks and replacements for several curse effects
- v1.4.0 is releasing 90 days after v1.3.0, which released on July 6th, 2022
- A new lore system has been added, with 30 pages of lore text to find
- The Ring of Arcana has bee added, itpowers up enchantments and glyphs
- The Sandals of Nature have a new active ability based on seed effects
- The Berserker has been been partially redesigned, berserking is now manually activated
- A new short guided tutorial has been added at the start of the game
- Some T3 talents have been redesigned
- The blocking enchantment has been redesigned
- Hero select now has a new interface for landscape/desktop users
- 30+ misc. changes
- 50+ bugfixes
- Ring of Wealth now gives better equipment when highly upgraded
- Buffed wand of transfusion damage vs. undead
- Telekinetic grab now grabs all items at a location, not just one
- Annoying curse has more dialogue
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr]
The next Shattered update will be v2.0.0, which is going to focus almost entirely on adding a new hero! The new hero in v2.0.0 will be the Duelist! The duelist will be able to use weapons in ways other heroes cannot, through charge-based special abilities, and other mechanics via her talents and subclasses. Like all the other heroes, the duelist will have 2 subclasses, 3 armor abilities, and 26 talents! I don't yet have any specific plans for other content in v2.0.0. I want to mostly focus on the Duelist, so don't expect as much side content as in previous updates, but I'm sure that there will be some amount of smaller additions and adjustments. I was originally planning for the next update to be v1.5.0, and include a rework to the blacksmith's quest. We're now in the last quarter of 2022 though, and I suspect people would much rather see a new hero release next. I also heavily implied a new hero would come this year back in the 'Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2022' blog post. This doesn't mean that the quest rework is never going to happen though, I'm just readjusting my priorities and will likely get to it in 2023 instead. v2.0.0 will likely have a few blog posts as I make progress on implementing the new hero. Expect to see the first of those posts in November. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter if you'd like some quicker mini-updates!
[ 2022-10-04 19:36:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: Lore and the Big Patch!
[hr][/hr] The most significant addition this update is **a big expansion to the game's lore!** There is a new tab in the journal window for lore documents, and each region has a new six page document to find. In total there are 30 pages of letters, journal entries, and notes to find that give a little more detail on each of the dungeon's regions.
Each of these documents is written by someone who has been in the region before the hero. I've tried to have each of them convey both a short character story and reveal more information about events or conditions in these dungeon regions before the hero arrives. Early on the documents are quite recently written, but by the end they are over 100 years old. Here's a quick example, this is the first page of the document from the prison:
This is the first time I've done significant writing for Shattered's story. A lot of these things have been in my head for years, and it's great to finally get some of it into the game. Please let me know what you think! I'm also happy with the replay value this adds to the game, as you'll need to play through each region multiple times to find all the pages. This also won't be the only time lore gets added to the game, eventually I'd like to have individual journals for the game's heroes, and possibly documents about specific technical topics.
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 also includes a significant amount of more medium sized content additions!
Firstly, v1.4.0 includes a new item! The Ring of Arcana passively enhances the power of enchantments and glyphs, letting them activate more often and with stronger effects. There is a lot of interesting gameplay potential in this ring, as upgrading it gives enchantments and glyphs a much bigger power budget than they've ever had previously. The Sandals of Nature are also getting a big expansion this update. Their active effect is a bit phoned in currently, so I've expanded it to allow for a lot more flexibility based on the seed you've most recently fed the item. This should hopefully let the sandals be used for more than just farming seeds. I'm also changing up the Berserker to make his berserk effect more controllable by the player. Berserking now has to be manually activated whenever rage is at or above 100%, but in exchange it has a much, much lower cooldown than before. I'm hoping that this makes the Berserker a bit more appealing to experienced players who didn't need berserking as a safety net. Players who still want the safety net can access it via a new talent. Lastly, I'm making some significant adjustments to the new player experience, including cutting down on early text and adding a short guided tutorial. The goal here isn't to hold the players hand, but rather ensure they know how the basic game mechanics work, and to encourage them to read the game log and the guidebook. This new tutorial takes less than a minute.
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 also includes more smaller changes and improvements than probably any other update. When I decided to postpone the rework to the blacksmith quest, I also decided that v1.4.0 would be a good opportunity to catch up on a big list of smaller changes I've been building for years. v1.4.0 has addressed about 90% of the items on that list!
There are far too many things to cover in this post, but here's a quick rundown of the highlights:
[ 2022-09-24 17:13:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers, v1.4.0 is ready for beta! The beta for v1.3.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list. In this post I'm going to go over what's coming in this update. The headline content is new in-game lore, but there's a LOT of other changes as well.
New Lore!
[hr][/hr] The most significant addition this update is **a big expansion to the game's lore!** There is a new tab in the journal window for lore documents, and each region has a new six page document to find. In total there are 30 pages of letters, journal entries, and notes to find that give a little more detail on each of the dungeon's regions.
Each of these documents is written by someone who has been in the region before the hero. I've tried to have each of them convey both a short character story and reveal more information about events or conditions in these dungeon regions before the hero arrives. Early on the documents are quite recently written, but by the end they are over 100 years old. Here's a quick example, this is the first page of the document from the prison:
This is the first time I've done significant writing for Shattered's story. A lot of these things have been in my head for years, and it's great to finally get some of it into the game. Please let me know what you think! I'm also happy with the replay value this adds to the game, as you'll need to play through each region multiple times to find all the pages. This also won't be the only time lore gets added to the game, eventually I'd like to have individual journals for the game's heroes, and possibly documents about specific technical topics.
Other New Content
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 also includes a significant amount of more medium sized content additions!
Firstly, v1.4.0 includes a new item! The Ring of Arcana passively enhances the power of enchantments and glyphs, letting them activate more often and with stronger effects. There is a lot of interesting gameplay potential in this ring, as upgrading it gives enchantments and glyphs a much bigger power budget than they've ever had previously. The Sandals of Nature are also getting a big expansion this update. Their active effect is a bit phoned in currently, so I've expanded it to allow for a lot more flexibility based on the seed you've most recently fed the item. This should hopefully let the sandals be used for more than just farming seeds. I'm also changing up the Berserker to make his berserk effect more controllable by the player. Berserking now has to be manually activated whenever rage is at or above 100%, but in exchange it has a much, much lower cooldown than before. I'm hoping that this makes the Berserker a bit more appealing to experienced players who didn't need berserking as a safety net. Players who still want the safety net can access it via a new talent. Lastly, I'm making some significant adjustments to the new player experience, including cutting down on early text and adding a short guided tutorial. The goal here isn't to hold the players hand, but rather ensure they know how the basic game mechanics work, and to encourage them to read the game log and the guidebook. This new tutorial takes less than a minute.
The Big Patch
[hr][/hr] v1.4.0 also includes more smaller changes and improvements than probably any other update. When I decided to postpone the rework to the blacksmith quest, I also decided that v1.4.0 would be a good opportunity to catch up on a big list of smaller changes I've been building for years. v1.4.0 has addressed about 90% of the items on that list!
There are far too many things to cover in this post, but here's a quick rundown of the highlights:
- I'm redesigning the subclass talents Empowered Strike, Excess Charge, and Bounty Hunter to be more varied/interesting, and to better encourage interaction with other subclass mechanics.
- The blocking enchantment is being redesigned to sometimes grant a barrier instead of always boosting armor. This should make it feel a lot stronger.
- There are a few more minor item balance changes as well. Most notably, the ring of wealth is getting a sizeable boost to the power of the equipment it drops at high levels.
- Players can now replay daily runs if the daily is still available. Replay runs won't stay in your daily run history, but will briefly show up so that can view rankings info about them.
- Lots of QoL tweaks have been made to player actions, enemies, and items. Most notably, allies have better AI behavior when they are told to hold a position.
- There are several small visual tweaks and improvements, including better indications when thrown items are about to break.
- Several smaller quality of life tweaks have been made for controller and desktop users, including new options for camera following behavior.
- I've made over 50 bugfixes, many of which are for smaller hard to fix bugs and inconsistencies that have been in the game for years.
- Lastly, I am hoping to make a few desktop-focused interface improvements over the course of the beta or following the update in patches.
[ 2022-09-24 17:13:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
Status Update: v1.4.0
[hr][/hr] You can expect another blog post sometime in early to mid September with a beta and more details on v1.4.0, but here is a quick summary of what is coming and roughly how far along it is:
[ 2022-08-18 17:23:19 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Folks, I'm making a quick status update blog post as my plans for v1.4.0 have changed a bit, and so the information I gave when releasing v1.3.0 is no longer accurate. Despite my attempts to keep the scope of v1.4.0 limited, the amount of smaller content additions I want to add to it got pretty large. At the same time, I've been running into some delays with implementing the new blacksmith's quest. Previously this would have just led to 1.4.0 being delayed, but I want to try something different. v1.4.0 is going to be split into two updates. The blacksmith quest overhaul will now be in v1.5.0, and v1.4.0 will instead contain all of the smaller content additions and changes I'm currently working on. This way v1.4.0 will release on schedule and I will be able to focus exclusively on the blacksmith's quest once v1.4.0 is done. This does delay the quest rework slightly, but there will still be plenty of things to look forward to in v1.4.0.
So What is Coming in v1.4.0?
[hr][/hr] You can expect another blog post sometime in early to mid September with a beta and more details on v1.4.0, but here is a quick summary of what is coming and roughly how far along it is:
- Loads of Smaller Fixes (100%): I maintain a list of small low priority changes and fixes that I want to investigate, but over the last two years or so I've let that list grow and grow. for v1.4.0 I've chewed through that list, knocking it down to about 1/8 of its previous size.
- Ring of Arcana (100%): A new item! The ring of arcana will passively enhance the power of enchantments and glyphs, letting them activate more often and with stronger effects. This one has a lot of interesting gameplay potential.
- Footwear of Nature Rework (80%): I'm also planning on reworking the footwear of nature! The item's active effect is a bit phoned in currently, so I'm going to expand it to allow for a lot more flexibility based on the seed you've most recently fed the item.
- Berserker Rework (60%): I'm planning to change berserking around so that it is manually activated, which will let me give it a significantly larger power budget. Players who like the automatic berserk safety net will still be able to access it via a talent.
- Tutorialization Improvements (50%): Shattered plays pretty intuitively on touch screens, but really needs a little more of a lead-in for users on mouse/keyboard or controllers. I plan to add a very short initial tutorial that guides the player though the game's basic controls.
- Lore Additions (40%): I'm planning to finally expand the game's journal system beyond just guidebook pages. Each region is going to have a separate bit of lore text to find, which will give more details about that region and the people who were there before the hero.
- Interface Improvements (20%): Just like with the changes screen in v1.3.2, I'd like to expand a few of the game's interfaces to convey more information, especially for users on large screens. Big candidates are the alchemy screen, hero select, and the rankings screen.
[ 2022-08-18 17:23:19 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.3.2
[hr][/hr] As promised, I'm making a few UI improvements in v1.3.2. Unfortunately, these ended up being smaller than expected due to some design troubles:
[hr][/hr] I have identified and fixed a couple of bugs which made levelgen of seeded runs with the same seed not always identical. Unfortunately, the fixes for this will mean that some of the items generated by a particular seed will be different on v1.3.2 than v1.3.1 or v1.3.0. I generally want to avoid smaller updates changing seeded runs like this.
[hr][/hr]
[ 2022-07-27 16:09:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey folks, here's the final planned patch for v1.3! You can check the in-game changes screen for a full list of changes, but here's a summary of the most important adjustments, which are more significant than usual for a patch:
UI Adjustments
[hr][/hr] As promised, I'm making a few UI improvements in v1.3.2. Unfortunately, these ended up being smaller than expected due to some design troubles:
- Boss health bars have been expanded to show current health and active buffs/debuffs.
- The Changes scene has been expanded on large enough displays. This is the first of several UI expansions I'd like to make over time.
Seeded Run Bugfixes
[hr][/hr] I have identified and fixed a couple of bugs which made levelgen of seeded runs with the same seed not always identical. Unfortunately, the fixes for this will mean that some of the items generated by a particular seed will be different on v1.3.2 than v1.3.1 or v1.3.0. I generally want to avoid smaller updates changing seeded runs like this.
- Fixed a bug where colors of potions, glyphs on scrolls, and gems on rings could vary between runs with the same seed.
- Fixed a bug where the number of enemies spawned over time could affect item generation on the next floor.
Misc Changes
[hr][/hr]
- Characters with guaranteed dodges (e.g. spirit hawk) can now evade Yog's laser beam
- Dates and countdowns for daily runs are now language neutral (only use numbers)
- The rankings scene now automatically opens the daily run window if you just ended a daily
- Minor visual improvements to the amulet scene
- Fixed ~10 bugs, including incorrect button prompts for controller users (I'm working towards getting Steam Deck verified!)
[ 2022-07-27 16:09:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.3.1
[ 2022-07-09 16:27:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey folks, a small patch today to fix a few bugs with v1.3.0's release and update some translations. Expect another patch in about a week that will include some UI improvements, then It's on to v1.4.0! You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes.
[ 2022-07-09 16:27:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon v1.3.0!
[hr][/hr] v1.3.0 includes a variety of additions and improvements, including a new scoring system, custom seeds and daily runs, and a harder alternate ending! There are also some new and changed badges, various UI and control improvements, and a bunch of balance tweaks. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
[hr][/hr] The next Shattered update will be v1.4.0! After focusing on game porting and multiple smaller additions, v1.4.0 will finally focus on new core game content! I expect v1.4.0 to take about 2 months to complete, as I want to focus primarily on the core content and not overload the update too much with other smaller additions.
...Before v1.4.0 though, I would like to add a few interface improvements for desktop users in some v1.3 patches. In particular I still haven't added more detailed enemy info to the main game screen. I expect to be adding these things along with the usual bugfixes in patches for v1.3.
The main content in v1.4.0 is going to be a total rework to the blacksmith's quest in the caves! Currently the quest is pretty simple, and I'd like to expand it to continue the trend of quests getting progressively more involved. Expect more mining for rare ore and gems, with some greater rewards if you perform well!
I plan to also have one significant piece of side content in v1.4.0. I haven't yet locked this in, so there are a few possibilities. Expect the side content to be on the scale of a single new item, challenge, or similar.
v1.4.0 will also have some tweaks, as usual. In particular I plan to focus on hero talents and some pieces of equipment. Shattered's overall balance is better than it ever has been, but there is always room for more incremental improvements.
Lastly, while this won't be coming in v1.4.0, I am making some progress on adding a new hero in 2022! Expect to hear more on this after v1.4.0 releases! v1.3.0 ended up taking a bit more than 3 months. That's longer than I wanted but v1.3.0 also ended up having more content than I was originally planning. For v1.4.0, I'd like to try and get things a bit closer to 2 months. I should have some more info on v1.4.0 to share in a blog post some time in August. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter if you'd like some quicker mini-updates!
[ 2022-07-06 17:15:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, v1.3.0 has been released on Google Play, the App Store, Steam, and GitHub!
What's New in v1.3.0
[hr][/hr] v1.3.0 includes a variety of additions and improvements, including a new scoring system, custom seeds and daily runs, and a harder alternate ending! There are also some new and changed badges, various UI and control improvements, and a bunch of balance tweaks. I talked about this update in two previous blog posts: Here's a condensed runthrough of the major changes this update. You can check out the changes screen in-game for a fully detailed list.
- v1.3.0 is releasing 105 days after v1.2.0, which released on Mar 23rd, 2022
- Support for user-enterable custom seeds
- Offline daily runs with local score history
- An overhauled scoring system to go along with seeds and dailies
- New mechanics that make ascension a proper challenge
- Improvements to UI/UX, mainly for desktop and controller users
- ~15 new badges, ranging from easy to extremely hard
- Reworks and replacements for several curse effects
- Added several more talent options to the scroll of metamorphosis
- Lots of adjustments to existing badges
- Additions to several buff and spell effect icons
- 10+ misc. changes
- 10+ bugfixes
- Buffed several armor abilities
- Buffed the wand preservation talent
- Buffed crystal path rooms
- Buffed a few underused alchemy items
- Nerfed smoke bomb and heroic leap armor abilities
- Nerfed (i.e. made weaker) a few curse effects
- Reduced elemental spawn rate on floor 16
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr] The next Shattered update will be v1.4.0! After focusing on game porting and multiple smaller additions, v1.4.0 will finally focus on new core game content! I expect v1.4.0 to take about 2 months to complete, as I want to focus primarily on the core content and not overload the update too much with other smaller additions.
...Before v1.4.0 though, I would like to add a few interface improvements for desktop users in some v1.3 patches. In particular I still haven't added more detailed enemy info to the main game screen. I expect to be adding these things along with the usual bugfixes in patches for v1.3.
The main content in v1.4.0 is going to be a total rework to the blacksmith's quest in the caves! Currently the quest is pretty simple, and I'd like to expand it to continue the trend of quests getting progressively more involved. Expect more mining for rare ore and gems, with some greater rewards if you perform well!
I plan to also have one significant piece of side content in v1.4.0. I haven't yet locked this in, so there are a few possibilities. Expect the side content to be on the scale of a single new item, challenge, or similar.
v1.4.0 will also have some tweaks, as usual. In particular I plan to focus on hero talents and some pieces of equipment. Shattered's overall balance is better than it ever has been, but there is always room for more incremental improvements.
Lastly, while this won't be coming in v1.4.0, I am making some progress on adding a new hero in 2022! Expect to hear more on this after v1.4.0 releases! v1.3.0 ended up taking a bit more than 3 months. That's longer than I wanted but v1.3.0 also ended up having more content than I was originally planning. For v1.4.0, I'd like to try and get things a bit closer to 2 months. I should have some more info on v1.4.0 to share in a blog post some time in August. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter if you'd like some quicker mini-updates!
[ 2022-07-06 17:15:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: Badges and Ascension!
[hr][/hr] Firstly, v1.3.0 includes 15 new or totally reworked badges! A few are fairly straightforward, but several of them are focused on giving experneced players something to sink their teeth into!
I'm also adding a score breakdown page for players who want more incremental tracking of their performance in a particular game. This page shows how you did on each component of the run, and what multipliers were applied for winning or enabling challenges. For more details on what each score component means, take a look at last month's blog post.
[hr][/hr] For a while now the game's ascension route has been pretty trivially easy. After getting out of the demon halls enemies start getting weak, and it becomes more of a test of patience than anything. I want to ramp up ascension difficulty, make it impossible to just run away back to floor 1, but also not make the player feel like they're just forced into fighting waves of enemies arbitrarily.
To accomplish this, I'm adding a few limitations to the game when the player starts their ascent. They won't be able to teleport back up a bunch of floors to quickly escape, and there will be a steadily increasing debuff that can only be lessened by defeating enemies. The debuff's effects range from subtly drawing enemies to you, to basically forcing you into combat. The enemies themselves are also getting tougher. Each enemy will get a multiplier to their effective health, armor, accuracy, evasion, and damage. This multiplier is on a per-enemy basis, ranging from no changes for scorpios and eyes, to 2.25x for gnoll brutes, to a whopping 10x for rats! The goal in terms of enemy strength is to keep difficulty relatively consistent during the ascent, with it eventually falling off a bit as they player gets close to floor 1. Ideally this will turn the ascent into a proper gauntlet that feels like it encourages the player to keep moving and picking their fights. It will only outright force combat if the player is very consistently trying to avoid enemies. As a reward, players who make it to the surface will find that they get a 2.5x score bonus, rather than the usual 2x for winning.
[hr][/hr] v1.3.0 also has a bunch of other changes both big and small, it's probably ended up being the largest variety update I've ever done. In no particular order, here's a quick summary of a few other things coming that I haven't mentioned yet:
Last blog post covered seeds extensively, and I've now fully implemented dailies as well! Every night at mightnight UTC another daily becomes available, and the game keeps a full history of all your daily scores. At some point in the future I might like to add online leaderboard functionality.
I'm also making several badge adjustments in addition to the new badges in v1.3! Unlocking the huntress is getting a bit easier, grandmaster treasure hunter and monster hunter are being made harder, several gold badges are being promoted to platinum tier, and the dungeoneer badges are becoming a bit less grindy.
v1.3 also has a higher than usual number of balance tweaks. Several curses are getting changes to make them less frustrating, including the complete removal of fragile and exhausting. Armor abilities are getting a variety of buffs and a few nerfs as well. Lastly, woolly bombs and some of the more helpful darts are getting new effects to make their usage less niche.
I'm also making some improvements to various interfaces in v1.3.0. The settings menu is getting expanded with some new options for keyboard and controller users and I've added a new 'quickslot swapper' for mobile users! I plan to implement a little more here before the beta is finished, including radial controller menus and more enemy info in the top left of the full UI. [hr][/hr] With the little bit of remaining UI work, I expect this beta is going to last a bit longer than the usual timeframe of one week. Look forward to v1.3.0's full release in early July!
[ 2022-06-24 18:52:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Greetings Dungeoneers! After some delays, v1.3.0 is finally ready to go to beta! The beta for v1.3.0 is live right now! To access it on Steam, go to your game library, right click on Shattered and select 'properties' then go to the 'betas' tab and select the beta from the dropdown list. In this post I'm going to detail some more of the new content coming to Shattered, with an emphasis on the challenging content additions coming in in v1.3.0!
New Badges and High Scores
[hr][/hr] Firstly, v1.3.0 includes 15 new or totally reworked badges! A few are fairly straightforward, but several of them are focused on giving experneced players something to sink their teeth into!
- The first row contains some new or heavily reworked 'cause of death' badges that are a little harder to get than the bronze ones. Most of them involve death by some special magical means, such as to your own item or to a grim trap!
- The second row are badges for earning a score of 5k, 25k, 100k, 250k, and a whopping 1 million in a single game. They run the gamut from easy to extremely hard, with 5k being achievable by Goo and 1 million probably being the new hardest badge in the game.
- The final row is a set of new boss challenge badges! They are all harder than fighting the boss normally, and keep ramping up as they progress. For the final one you'll need to win with all four demon spawners alive AND the badder bosses challenge enabled!
I'm also adding a score breakdown page for players who want more incremental tracking of their performance in a particular game. This page shows how you did on each component of the run, and what multipliers were applied for winning or enabling challenges. For more details on what each score component means, take a look at last month's blog post.
Ascension
[hr][/hr] For a while now the game's ascension route has been pretty trivially easy. After getting out of the demon halls enemies start getting weak, and it becomes more of a test of patience than anything. I want to ramp up ascension difficulty, make it impossible to just run away back to floor 1, but also not make the player feel like they're just forced into fighting waves of enemies arbitrarily.
To accomplish this, I'm adding a few limitations to the game when the player starts their ascent. They won't be able to teleport back up a bunch of floors to quickly escape, and there will be a steadily increasing debuff that can only be lessened by defeating enemies. The debuff's effects range from subtly drawing enemies to you, to basically forcing you into combat. The enemies themselves are also getting tougher. Each enemy will get a multiplier to their effective health, armor, accuracy, evasion, and damage. This multiplier is on a per-enemy basis, ranging from no changes for scorpios and eyes, to 2.25x for gnoll brutes, to a whopping 10x for rats! The goal in terms of enemy strength is to keep difficulty relatively consistent during the ascent, with it eventually falling off a bit as they player gets close to floor 1. Ideally this will turn the ascent into a proper gauntlet that feels like it encourages the player to keep moving and picking their fights. It will only outright force combat if the player is very consistently trying to avoid enemies. As a reward, players who make it to the surface will find that they get a 2.5x score bonus, rather than the usual 2x for winning.
Other Changes
[hr][/hr] v1.3.0 also has a bunch of other changes both big and small, it's probably ended up being the largest variety update I've ever done. In no particular order, here's a quick summary of a few other things coming that I haven't mentioned yet:
Last blog post covered seeds extensively, and I've now fully implemented dailies as well! Every night at mightnight UTC another daily becomes available, and the game keeps a full history of all your daily scores. At some point in the future I might like to add online leaderboard functionality.
I'm also making several badge adjustments in addition to the new badges in v1.3! Unlocking the huntress is getting a bit easier, grandmaster treasure hunter and monster hunter are being made harder, several gold badges are being promoted to platinum tier, and the dungeoneer badges are becoming a bit less grindy.
v1.3 also has a higher than usual number of balance tweaks. Several curses are getting changes to make them less frustrating, including the complete removal of fragile and exhausting. Armor abilities are getting a variety of buffs and a few nerfs as well. Lastly, woolly bombs and some of the more helpful darts are getting new effects to make their usage less niche.
I'm also making some improvements to various interfaces in v1.3.0. The settings menu is getting expanded with some new options for keyboard and controller users and I've added a new 'quickslot swapper' for mobile users! I plan to implement a little more here before the beta is finished, including radial controller menus and more enemy info in the top left of the full UI. [hr][/hr] With the little bit of remaining UI work, I expect this beta is going to last a bit longer than the usual timeframe of one week. Look forward to v1.3.0's full release in early July!
[ 2022-06-24 18:52:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: Seeded Runs!
[hr][/hr] Probably the largest single feature coming in v1.3 is support for custom seeds! When the game generates the dungeon, a lot of purely random calculations are involved. If theyre given a numerical 'seed', then these calculations always give the same result. Normally the game generates a random seed each time, but starting in v1.3 players who have won at least once can optionally enter a custom seed! Each seed is represented by nine uppercase English letters, with optional dashes in between for readability. You can also enter whatever you want in the text box (like a name or place) and the game will convert it to a seed behind the scenes.
As an example, the header image for this blog post is the first floor from my in-development version of v1.3 with the seed ABC-ABC-ABC. I'm also planning on using this functionality to add daily runs! Each day you'll be able to start a run with a pre-determined seed that's the same for everyone! This makes it easy to play the same game as everyone else, without having to directly share seeds with each other. Note that daily functionality will be pretty basic to start, there won't be any online leaderboards.
[hr][/hr] With seeded runs being added, now seemed like an excellent time to improve the games scoring system too! The current system is very simple, with just 3 components:
[hr][/hr] There are a few other significant adjustments that I already have in place for v1.3: I've implemented a change that makes it possible to have more than one floor at a particular depth! This opens up a lot of possibilities, as the dungeon doesn't need to be a straight line from floor 1 to 26 anymore! To start with, I'm planning on using this so that quests can have their own sub-levels. If all goes well, I'll rework the blacksmith's quest in v1.4 to use this new functionality. I've also made a few improvements to the scroll of metamorphosis. Currently there are 10 talents which are excluded from appearing for other classes, but I've whittled that down to just two. These talents will now have a slightly different effect when metamorphed, mostly to help other classes use the effect without unique class items. A few are a bit of a stretch, but most of them are essentially the same as their regular versions.
Lastly, based on the results of a poll from Patreon I've gone over all of the buff icons in the game and eliminated (almost) all cases of duplicates. There are still plenty of recolors, but it should be basically impossible to have two buffs with the exact same icon now. I've also added icons to a couple of buffs that needed them. Here are a few examples, from left to right, old on top new on bottom: featherfall, targeted, adrenaline, cloak of shadows, fire imbue, and nature's power.
[hr][/hr] I've still got a fair bit to add before v1.3.0 is ready for beta and release though, Here's a quick rundown of what I'm still planning:
[ 2022-05-02 17:36:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Greeting Dungeoneers!
I've got some news to share about v1.3's development! I've implement support for custom seeds, a new scoring system, and a few other miscellaneous changes. However, development on v1.3 has been going slower than planned, so I don't have a beta or release date to share yet.
Also in non-development news, Shattered is part of Steams Going Rogue sale that runs this week! The game is 15% off on Steam during the sale, and Ive taken the opportunity to spruce up the games store listing as well.
Custom Seeds!
[hr][/hr] Probably the largest single feature coming in v1.3 is support for custom seeds! When the game generates the dungeon, a lot of purely random calculations are involved. If theyre given a numerical 'seed', then these calculations always give the same result. Normally the game generates a random seed each time, but starting in v1.3 players who have won at least once can optionally enter a custom seed! Each seed is represented by nine uppercase English letters, with optional dashes in between for readability. You can also enter whatever you want in the text box (like a name or place) and the game will convert it to a seed behind the scenes.
As an example, the header image for this blog post is the first floor from my in-development version of v1.3 with the seed ABC-ABC-ABC. I'm also planning on using this functionality to add daily runs! Each day you'll be able to start a run with a pre-determined seed that's the same for everyone! This makes it easy to play the same game as everyone else, without having to directly share seeds with each other. Note that daily functionality will be pretty basic to start, there won't be any online leaderboards.
A New Scoring System
[hr][/hr] With seeded runs being added, now seemed like an excellent time to improve the games scoring system too! The current system is very simple, with just 3 components:
- Progression, which determines most of the score; it maxes at 78k.
- Treasure, which is just equal to total gold collected.
- Winning will also double your score.
- Progression will be scaled back to make room for more score categories.
- Treasure will include held items and will have a cap to prevent score farming.
- Exploration will grant a bonus for each floor thats reasonably fully explored.
- Bosses will grant a bonus based on how often you were hit by avoidable attacks or hazards.
- Quests will give a fixed bonus for completion, but may be performance-based in the future.
- Winning will still double score, but youll get a slightly bigger multiplier for a surface win.
- Challenges will provide an additional multiplier that stacks with itself.
Other Changes
[hr][/hr] There are a few other significant adjustments that I already have in place for v1.3: I've implemented a change that makes it possible to have more than one floor at a particular depth! This opens up a lot of possibilities, as the dungeon doesn't need to be a straight line from floor 1 to 26 anymore! To start with, I'm planning on using this so that quests can have their own sub-levels. If all goes well, I'll rework the blacksmith's quest in v1.4 to use this new functionality. I've also made a few improvements to the scroll of metamorphosis. Currently there are 10 talents which are excluded from appearing for other classes, but I've whittled that down to just two. These talents will now have a slightly different effect when metamorphed, mostly to help other classes use the effect without unique class items. A few are a bit of a stretch, but most of them are essentially the same as their regular versions.
Lastly, based on the results of a poll from Patreon I've gone over all of the buff icons in the game and eliminated (almost) all cases of duplicates. There are still plenty of recolors, but it should be basically impossible to have two buffs with the exact same icon now. I've also added icons to a couple of buffs that needed them. Here are a few examples, from left to right, old on top new on bottom: featherfall, targeted, adrenaline, cloak of shadows, fire imbue, and nature's power.
Still Some Work To Do
[hr][/hr] I've still got a fair bit to add before v1.3.0 is ready for beta and release though, Here's a quick rundown of what I'm still planning:
- I'm going to be making several UI and UX improvements as a followup to v1.2. In particular I want to add better enemy info in the new full UI, radial menu support for controller players, better controls tutorialization, a better settings menu, and support for 6 quickslots on the mobile portrait view.
- I'm also making some more incremental badge improvements in v1.3. Expect some adjustments to existing badges and several additions. In particular I'm adding some more 'death by X' badges, and a new challenge badge for each of the game's bosses.
- A few curses are also getting improved in v1.3. Some curses are a lot more interesting than others and so I'm going to be taking the most boring and directly harmful ones and change them to give the player a little more to work with.
- Lastly, I'd also like to make some specific changes to the game's ascension route to make it more challenging. Currently it's too easy to simply run back to the surface, and enemies become trivially weak after only a few floors. The changes in v1.3 won't be a full rework, but I would like to improve on these issues.
[ 2022-05-02 17:36:16 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.2.3
[ 2022-04-14 19:51:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
I lied, v1.2 gets one more patch! v1.2.3 is almost entirely bugfixes (about another 10 of them), but there is one tiny tweak to sacrifice rooms: you now get a little progress from sacrificing fly swarms after they split, instead of only getting progress from the initial swarm. You can check the in-game changes screen for a full list of changes.
[ 2022-04-14 19:51:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.2.2
[ 2022-04-08 18:24:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers, one more patch before I move on to v1.3.0! v1.2.2 fixes up a few things left over after v1.2.1 and makes a few more tweaks to some of the new levelgen features. You can check the in-game changes screen for a full list of changes, but here's a quick summary of the most important adjustments:
- Sacrifice rooms now require slightly fewer enemies at lower depths
- Sacrifice rooms now accept sacrifices that are adjacent to the fire
- The game can now only spawn one room that requires a solution potion per floor
- Moved Steam notification location to bottom-left from top-left
- Updated translations.
- Fixed ~10 bugs, including a couple crash bugs and various other issues
[ 2022-04-08 18:24:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered's Soundtrack is now available!
[ 2022-04-05 15:56:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers, I've got a small newspost for you today.
Over the last few updates Shattered's soundtrack has slowly grown from having just two tracks for the entire game to having an entire soundtrack with 20 minutes of combined audio! Now that Shattered has a proper soundtrack, it needs a proper release!
[hr][/hr]
If you enjoy this new music, you can now purchase it as a soundtrack on Steam! If you're not a Steam user, you can also purchase the Soundtrack from Bandcamp. The soundtrack is also available for streaming on Spotify.
Finally, if you haven't purchased Shattered on Steam yet, You can buy both the game and the soundtrack together at a slight discount! My apologies to Steam users who have already bought the game and would have preferred to grab the bundle. I originally planned to release the soundtrack at the same time as the game, but I ran into some logistical issues that held it up.
All revenue from soundtrack sales goes to its excellent composer, Kristjan Thomas Haaristo. We hope you enjoy it!
[hr][/hr]
And that's all for now! Look forward to a blog post about the next game update toward the end of this month or in early May.
Lastly, while we don't have any active plans for more music yet, Shattered is always growing and there will definitely be opportunities for new music to be added to the soundtrack in the future.
[ 2022-04-05 15:56:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
v1.2.1
[ 2022-04-03 00:37:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Dungeoneers! v1.2.1 has taken a bit longer than a patch usually does for me, but contains a bunch of fixes and a few little UI improvements as well. You can check the in-game games screen for a full list of changes, but here's a quick summary of the most important adjustments:
- Added a 'new game' and 'menu' button when the player gets a game over.
- Reduced huntress unlock requirement to 10 enemies hit with thrown weapons from 15.
- Made surprise attack VFX a bit more obvious.
- Removed gold as a possible random loot from crystal choice rooms.
- Updated translations and translators credits.
- Fixed ~20 bugs, including a few crash bugs, several quirks with the new interface, errors with the new magical fire rooms, and various other issues.
[ 2022-04-03 00:37:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
ShatteredPD v1.2.0 and Steam Release!
[hr][/hr]
The release of v1.2.0 marks the first time that Shattered is widely available outside of mobile platforms! I've worked on a whole bunch of new UX functionality for this update, which should make the game play just as well on a computer as it does on a phone. I also plan to keep monitoring feedback after v1.2.0 releases, and make more improvements in future patches and updates. I'm extremely excited to be releasing Shattered on Steam. It's been a dream of mine to make games for as long as I can remember, and a dream to release on Steam ever since I downloaded it to play The Orange Box way back in 2007. The continued engagement and support from Shattered's community is what has enabled me to do this, thank you all so much! As a reminder, the Steam version costs $10 US (Though there's a 10% launch discount!), comes with several Android supporter features, and will continue to be updated in lock-step with the Android and iOS versions. This release doesn't change any of my monetization plans for Android and iOS. There's also a pre-release demo on Steam, which I plan to leave up for a little while longer. I will also be looking into releasing Shattered on GoG and Itch in the near future.
[hr][/hr] v1.2.0 is the first version of Shattered built for computers! It has a bunch of improvements for users on larger screens and who play with controllers or mouse and keyboard! There are also several content changes, including new special rooms, a rework to the Master Thieves' Armband, and various improvements to spell items. I talked about this update in three previous blog posts:
[hr][/hr] The next Shattered update will be v1.3.0! Like v1.2.0, I'm aiming for v1.3.0 to be an update that focused on a variety of smaller improvements and additions. In particular I want this to be a smaller and faster update so that I can respond to the reception the game gets after the Steam release. That being said, I do hope to fulfill some long-requested feature additions with v1.3.0!
The most significant addition in v1.3.0 will be support for custom seeded runs, and possibly the addition of dailies/weeklies as well! One thing worth noting is that this update will not include online leaderboards for daily/weekly runs due to technical limitations, but I will be open to adding them in the future.
I also plan to make more improvements to the game's UI/UX with an emphasis on Steam users. This won't be the core focus like it was in v1.2.0, but expect more interface improvements, tweaks based on feedback, and possibly some additions to help controller users better play with their more limited button count.
v1.3.0 will also include a variety of miscellaneous adjustments. This will include balance tweaks to items and game mechanics, and maybe another item rework. I'd like to also include some more badges focused around more specific accomplishments!
Finally, I also hope to make some behind the scenes technical improvements to the way the game handles loading and storing floors of the dungeon. I plan to use this functionality in the near future to give quests their own sub-levels! I managed to get v1.2.0 out in about 3 months (down from the 4 v1.1.0 took), and I'd like to continue that trend with v1.3.0. Ideally I'll be sharing more info on v1.3.0 sometime around the end of April or beginning of May. If you want faster updates about what I'm working on, follow me on Twitter! The micro-blog format of that website makes it perfect for giving quick project updates.
[ 2022-03-23 15:54:37 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers, v1.2.0 has been released on Google Play, the App Store, Steam, and GitHub! That's right, after almost eight years of development, Shattered Pixel Dungeon is available for purchase on Steam!
Steam Release!
[hr][/hr]
The release of v1.2.0 marks the first time that Shattered is widely available outside of mobile platforms! I've worked on a whole bunch of new UX functionality for this update, which should make the game play just as well on a computer as it does on a phone. I also plan to keep monitoring feedback after v1.2.0 releases, and make more improvements in future patches and updates. I'm extremely excited to be releasing Shattered on Steam. It's been a dream of mine to make games for as long as I can remember, and a dream to release on Steam ever since I downloaded it to play The Orange Box way back in 2007. The continued engagement and support from Shattered's community is what has enabled me to do this, thank you all so much! As a reminder, the Steam version costs $10 US (Though there's a 10% launch discount!), comes with several Android supporter features, and will continue to be updated in lock-step with the Android and iOS versions. This release doesn't change any of my monetization plans for Android and iOS. There's also a pre-release demo on Steam, which I plan to leave up for a little while longer. I will also be looking into releasing Shattered on GoG and Itch in the near future.
What's New in v1.2.0
[hr][/hr] v1.2.0 is the first version of Shattered built for computers! It has a bunch of improvements for users on larger screens and who play with controllers or mouse and keyboard! There are also several content changes, including new special rooms, a rework to the Master Thieves' Armband, and various improvements to spell items. I talked about this update in three previous blog posts:
- Coming Soon to Shattered: New Content and Steam!
- ShatteredPD will be at Steam Next Fest!
- Shattered Pixel Dungeon is Coming to Steam!
- v1.2.0 is releasing 103 days after v1.1.0, which released on Dec 10th 2021
- A bunch of UI/UX additions have been made for desktop users!
- 6 new special rooms, and a new terrain type: crystal doors
- The Master Thieves' Armband has been reworked
- Badges now have names, 8 new badges have been added
- New music has been added for each of the game's bosses!
- 5+ misc. changes
- 20+ bugfixes
- Many alchemy recipes have had their costs reduced. Bombs especially
- Many alchemy recipes have been buffed
- Several tipped darts have been buffed
- Some talents have been buffed
- Some alchemy recipes have been nerfed
- Dreamfoil no longer puts enemies to sleep
- A few talents have been nerfed
What's Coming Next?
[hr][/hr] The next Shattered update will be v1.3.0! Like v1.2.0, I'm aiming for v1.3.0 to be an update that focused on a variety of smaller improvements and additions. In particular I want this to be a smaller and faster update so that I can respond to the reception the game gets after the Steam release. That being said, I do hope to fulfill some long-requested feature additions with v1.3.0!
The most significant addition in v1.3.0 will be support for custom seeded runs, and possibly the addition of dailies/weeklies as well! One thing worth noting is that this update will not include online leaderboards for daily/weekly runs due to technical limitations, but I will be open to adding them in the future.
I also plan to make more improvements to the game's UI/UX with an emphasis on Steam users. This won't be the core focus like it was in v1.2.0, but expect more interface improvements, tweaks based on feedback, and possibly some additions to help controller users better play with their more limited button count.
v1.3.0 will also include a variety of miscellaneous adjustments. This will include balance tweaks to items and game mechanics, and maybe another item rework. I'd like to also include some more badges focused around more specific accomplishments!
Finally, I also hope to make some behind the scenes technical improvements to the way the game handles loading and storing floors of the dungeon. I plan to use this functionality in the near future to give quests their own sub-levels! I managed to get v1.2.0 out in about 3 months (down from the 4 v1.1.0 took), and I'd like to continue that trend with v1.3.0. Ideally I'll be sharing more info on v1.3.0 sometime around the end of April or beginning of May. If you want faster updates about what I'm working on, follow me on Twitter! The micro-blog format of that website makes it perfect for giving quick project updates.
[ 2022-03-23 15:54:37 CET ] [ Original post ]
Coming Soon to Shattered: New Content and Steam!
[hr][/hr] Just as in v1.1.0 and v1.0.0 before it, v1.2.0 has some new music! This time the game is getting a track for each of the five bosses. They're much more intense than the region tracks, but definitely still have a similar feeling. You can give them a listen below, or play through the game if you'd like to hear them in action for the first time: [previewyoutube=xtwotR7NeXw;full][/previewyoutube] Just as before, these tracks were composed by Kristjan Thomas Haaristo! There may still be more music to come, but after these boss tracks Shattered will have a proper soundtrack! If you like the music, we're working on a few ways for the soundtrack to be directly purchasable in the future.
[hr][/hr] Back when v1.1.0 released, I promised to do a full pass on alchemy balance once the dust had settled. So far it seems that the changes made to alchemy in v1.1.0 have been a great success, with usage of exotic scrolls and potions up across the board. Not all other recipes are doing so well though, so I'm making a variety of improvements, mainly focused around recipes that use a lot of energy:
[hr][/hr] v1.2.0 also includes some levelgen improvements in the form of more special rooms! Shattered has had loads of changes and additions to level layours, and every other room type, so it's about time for special rooms to get some love. I"m adding six new special rooms in total:
Firstly, two new rooms (and one existing room) will use crystal doors! These doors let you see through them and require a crystal key to open. Just like with existing crystal chest rooms, this opens up some neat possibilities, as seeing loot doesn't mean you can go grab it yet.
Next, there are three new rooms with hazards that youll need to overcome. There are multiple solutions, just like other hazard rooms, but the default solution to each room involves a potion of purity, frost, or haste. Be careful, as the hazards in these rooms can deal some serious damage if you dont properly mitigate them.
Finally, Im reintroducing sacrifice rooms! These rooms are from the original Pixel Dungeon and granted a scroll of wipe out if enough enemies were defeated atop the sacrificial fire. Im changing up the reward these rooms give, but their mechanics are otherwise very similar to the original Pixel Dungeon. I've also included a few small tweaks to level feelings. The secrets level feel should be less aggressive in how it hides individual rooms, and the game's depth indicator now includes separate icons for each type of level feeling.
[hr][/hr]
v1.2.0 also includes a rework to the Master Thieves' Armband! Currently the armband suffers from having extreme usefulness in shops, and being a waste of an equip slot everywhere else. I'm redesigning it to charge based on exxp gain instead of gold collected, and giving it a new abiltiy so it can be useful anywhere in the dungeon. You can still steal from shopkeepers, but can now also use the armband to rob regular enemies! Doing this will give you an extra chance to get an item drop, and also briefly disorients the enemy. As the armband levels the chance for loot and debuff duration increase. Robbing an enemy takes no time, so it has use as a utility combat action as well as a looting tool. [hr][/hr] The beta for v1.2.0 is live right now on mobile platforms. The game's demo on Steam will be updated for the v1.2.0 beta in another day or two, once any serious bugs have been ironed out. Expect another blog post once v1.2.0 releases next week, where I'll detail my plans for v1.3.0. With the Steam release I think the long saga of porting updates is ending, and I can finally start focusing on game content!
[ 2022-03-17 19:30:44 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com)
Hey Dungeoneers! Sorry for the wait, but v1.2.0 is finally getting close to release!
The beta is available now, and v1.2.0 will be fully launching on all platforms on Wednesday March 23rd at Noon EDT! Most notably, this will be the first version of the game to release on Steam!
The biggest story with v1.2.0 is definitely the Steam release, but I've already spent a lot of time talking about that. For the rest of this blog I'll be focusing on the other game content coming in v1.2.0. If you want to learn more about the Steam release, consider reading these past blogs, or trying out the demo!:
New Boss Music!
[hr][/hr] Just as in v1.1.0 and v1.0.0 before it, v1.2.0 has some new music! This time the game is getting a track for each of the five bosses. They're much more intense than the region tracks, but definitely still have a similar feeling. You can give them a listen below, or play through the game if you'd like to hear them in action for the first time: [previewyoutube=xtwotR7NeXw;full][/previewyoutube] Just as before, these tracks were composed by Kristjan Thomas Haaristo! There may still be more music to come, but after these boss tracks Shattered will have a proper soundtrack! If you like the music, we're working on a few ways for the soundtrack to be directly purchasable in the future.
Alchemy Item Balance
[hr][/hr] Back when v1.1.0 released, I promised to do a full pass on alchemy balance once the dust had settled. So far it seems that the changes made to alchemy in v1.1.0 have been a great success, with usage of exotic scrolls and potions up across the board. Not all other recipes are doing so well though, so I'm making a variety of improvements, mainly focused around recipes that use a lot of energy:
- Exotic bombs are getting big cost reductions across the board, and several brews and spells are getting smaller cost reductions.
- Elixirs are actually doing fairly well, so I'm not planning any direct changes there yet, as I wanted v1.2.0 to focus more on buffs.
- Caustic Brew is getting a flat +1 to its damage, which should let it more effectively out-pace the damage from potions of toxic gas.
- Curse Infusion is going to boost an items level by a small % instead of just +1. This makes it a lot more worthwhile on highly-upgraded gear.
- Phase shift is going to actually properly clear enemy aggro and stun its target for 10 turns (bosses are immune). This makes it much more effective at delaying enemies, but also makes it quite dangerous to use on yourself.
- Aqua blast is going to get a larger water AOE and will throw targets around like a geyser trap.
- Summon elemental is getting more uses and scaling stats depending on the dungeon region. Newborn elementals in particular are getting buffed to start at full health as well. The spell will also be re-castable, to return a summon elemental to your position.
- Lastly, while they don't use any energy, I'm also making a bunch of buffs to a variety of tipped dart effects. Ally effects in particular are getting big duration boosts.
New Special Rooms!
[hr][/hr] v1.2.0 also includes some levelgen improvements in the form of more special rooms! Shattered has had loads of changes and additions to level layours, and every other room type, so it's about time for special rooms to get some love. I"m adding six new special rooms in total:
Firstly, two new rooms (and one existing room) will use crystal doors! These doors let you see through them and require a crystal key to open. Just like with existing crystal chest rooms, this opens up some neat possibilities, as seeing loot doesn't mean you can go grab it yet.
Next, there are three new rooms with hazards that youll need to overcome. There are multiple solutions, just like other hazard rooms, but the default solution to each room involves a potion of purity, frost, or haste. Be careful, as the hazards in these rooms can deal some serious damage if you dont properly mitigate them.
Finally, Im reintroducing sacrifice rooms! These rooms are from the original Pixel Dungeon and granted a scroll of wipe out if enough enemies were defeated atop the sacrificial fire. Im changing up the reward these rooms give, but their mechanics are otherwise very similar to the original Pixel Dungeon. I've also included a few small tweaks to level feelings. The secrets level feel should be less aggressive in how it hides individual rooms, and the game's depth indicator now includes separate icons for each type of level feeling.
Armband Rework!
[hr][/hr]
v1.2.0 also includes a rework to the Master Thieves' Armband! Currently the armband suffers from having extreme usefulness in shops, and being a waste of an equip slot everywhere else. I'm redesigning it to charge based on exxp gain instead of gold collected, and giving it a new abiltiy so it can be useful anywhere in the dungeon. You can still steal from shopkeepers, but can now also use the armband to rob regular enemies! Doing this will give you an extra chance to get an item drop, and also briefly disorients the enemy. As the armband levels the chance for loot and debuff duration increase. Robbing an enemy takes no time, so it has use as a utility combat action as well as a looting tool. [hr][/hr] The beta for v1.2.0 is live right now on mobile platforms. The game's demo on Steam will be updated for the v1.2.0 beta in another day or two, once any serious bugs have been ironed out. Expect another blog post once v1.2.0 releases next week, where I'll detail my plans for v1.3.0. With the Steam release I think the long saga of porting updates is ending, and I can finally start focusing on game content!
[ 2022-03-17 19:30:44 CET ] [ Original post ]
ShatteredPD will be at Steam Next Fest!
[hr][/hr]
The demo will feature all game content until the end of floor 10. Descending after floor 10 will redirect players to a screen congratulating them for completing the demo. Demo runs can still be continued from just before the moment the player descends and will carry over to the full game. The demo will be available a bit before Next Fest on February 9th at noon EST, and will stay up until the game fully releases on Steam. It's worth noting that I would have preferred to make the game free for everyone on Steam for a limited time (like with the iOS release), but having a demo is required for participation in Next Fest. In addition to the existing game content, the demo will also provide a first look at several of the Desktop enhancements I have planned!
[hr][/hr]
Firstly, I have fully implemented Native Executables for Windows, MacOS, and Linux/SteamOS. This means the game can now be downloaded and run through Steam without the user having to install Java. I'm also going to be working on implementing some platform-specific installers (.msi, .dmg, or .deb) for direct download users. The .jar build will still be available as well. Getting the game to run via Steam is only the first step though, I'm also almost finished implementing An Interface for Larger Displays. I shared a concept of this in October, which has now been fully implemented plus some refinements. The inventory panel has a more streamlined appearance, and some windows and other game interaction are now centered on it as well. Take a look: [table] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [/tr] [/table]
There's some obvious space to add more quickslots in this larger UI. Players have been asking for more slots for a while, and while I'm still unsure about adding a whole bunch, it would not be hard to bring the slot number up to 6 or so, assuming I can make them fit on mobile as well.
Another major thing I'd like to add is better mouse functionality, such as hover tooltips and right-click menus. In particular I think this could work extremely well with the new on-screen inventory. The player would be able to right click and select an action for their items, rather than having to open the full item window. This would also make game environment actions like examining much easier to do.
There's also a nice empty corner at the top-left of the screen where I might add some more enemy info. This info would essentially be a summary of the details normally shown when examining an enemy, including a health bar and active buffs/debuffs. Each enemy in view would have its own little info pane. This would replace the little enemy indicator at the top right, and possibly also the boss health bar. I would like to work on some steamworks integration (cloud sync, achievements, etc) for the game as well, but that will likely happen after Next Fest. I also haven't forgotten about improvements like better keyboard and controller support, but I think it's more likely those improvements will be worked on after the game initially releases on Steam.
[hr][/hr] Once I wrap up all the changes I want to do for Next Fest I'm going to start working on the actual game content additions I have planned for v1.2.0. As a quick reminder, v1.2.0 is going to include a variety of smaller content changes and additions:
[ 2022-02-02 22:20:15 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers, I've got some news to share on the Steam release! Development has been progressing well, and Shattered Pixel Dungeon will be participating in Steam Next Fest, running from Feburary 21st to 28th. During this time there will be a free demo of the game, letting people try the desktop version out before it fully releases with v1.2.0.
Demo Details
[hr][/hr]
The demo will feature all game content until the end of floor 10. Descending after floor 10 will redirect players to a screen congratulating them for completing the demo. Demo runs can still be continued from just before the moment the player descends and will carry over to the full game. The demo will be available a bit before Next Fest on February 9th at noon EST, and will stay up until the game fully releases on Steam. It's worth noting that I would have preferred to make the game free for everyone on Steam for a limited time (like with the iOS release), but having a demo is required for participation in Next Fest. In addition to the existing game content, the demo will also provide a first look at several of the Desktop enhancements I have planned!
Desktop Enhancement Progress
[hr][/hr]
Firstly, I have fully implemented Native Executables for Windows, MacOS, and Linux/SteamOS. This means the game can now be downloaded and run through Steam without the user having to install Java. I'm also going to be working on implementing some platform-specific installers (.msi, .dmg, or .deb) for direct download users. The .jar build will still be available as well. Getting the game to run via Steam is only the first step though, I'm also almost finished implementing An Interface for Larger Displays. I shared a concept of this in October, which has now been fully implemented plus some refinements. The inventory panel has a more streamlined appearance, and some windows and other game interaction are now centered on it as well. Take a look: [table] [tr] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [/tr] [/table]
The new full interface at 1080p, 4x zoom. These images show the player selecting their staff, and then selecting to imbue a wand in it. Everything happens in one place on the main UI!
[hr][/hr]
While these additions are enough to show the game off as a demo, there are some other things I'd like to try and get done before or during Next Fest as well: (note that these pictures are mockups and subject to change)
There's some obvious space to add more quickslots in this larger UI. Players have been asking for more slots for a while, and while I'm still unsure about adding a whole bunch, it would not be hard to bring the slot number up to 6 or so, assuming I can make them fit on mobile as well.
Another major thing I'd like to add is better mouse functionality, such as hover tooltips and right-click menus. In particular I think this could work extremely well with the new on-screen inventory. The player would be able to right click and select an action for their items, rather than having to open the full item window. This would also make game environment actions like examining much easier to do.
There's also a nice empty corner at the top-left of the screen where I might add some more enemy info. This info would essentially be a summary of the details normally shown when examining an enemy, including a health bar and active buffs/debuffs. Each enemy in view would have its own little info pane. This would replace the little enemy indicator at the top right, and possibly also the boss health bar. I would like to work on some steamworks integration (cloud sync, achievements, etc) for the game as well, but that will likely happen after Next Fest. I also haven't forgotten about improvements like better keyboard and controller support, but I think it's more likely those improvements will be worked on after the game initially releases on Steam.
After Next Fest
[hr][/hr] Once I wrap up all the changes I want to do for Next Fest I'm going to start working on the actual game content additions I have planned for v1.2.0. As a quick reminder, v1.2.0 is going to include a variety of smaller content changes and additions:
- Balance adjustments to alchemy recipies following the changes in v1.1.0
- A redesign to the Master Thieves' Armband to make it useful outside of shops
- Various levelgen improvements, mostly focused around special rooms
- New music for Yog-Dzewa, and probably music for each other boss as well
- Various smaller tweaks, fixes, and improvements as usual
[ 2022-02-02 22:20:15 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2022
[hr][/hr] 2021 only had four updates, but each one was pretty substantial! You can read some of 2021s blog posts for full details, but heres a quick summary in relation to Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2021. Of the 15 items listed in that blog post 5 were fully completed and 2 were partially completed:
[hr][/hr] For 2022 my main focus is firstly on finishing up the games Steam release, and then working on various bits of new game content that Ive mentioned in previous yearly posts. While Im sure Ill make some improvements to game systems and existing content, I want 2022 to be mostly about adding new content to the game. Read on for more details. Please note that this is not a specific plan or roadmap. I really try to avoid locking something down until Im actually developing it directly. Everything Im about to discuss is speculative and may change. These also arent necessarily the only things I could work on in 2022.
[hr][/hr] These are things I'm giving more immediate priority to because I have a fairly solid idea how they will all fit into the game. I'm going to try and get most or all of these done in 2022.
As mentioned in October 2021, Shattered is coming to Steam! I intend to make some technical and UI improvements to the game to take advantage of different control schemes and larger displays. Mobile users (especially tablet or controller users) can expect to see benefits from this as well. Working toward this is going to be my exclusive development focus in the first bit of 2022, so expect to hear more about this very soon! I'll be making another post about this toward the end of January.
Ive got a bunch of smaller content additions and improvements Id like to make in 2022. These will likely appear as bonus side content in other updates, rather than being the focus of an update themselves. These sort of improvements could take many forms, but heres a quick list of some of the things Im considering most:
I have some rough ideas for both of the later quests, but at the moment the blacksmith's idea is the most promising. Rather than having you run around the existing dungeon, the blacksmith might task you with mining out a special area filled with unique dangers and rewards. This would be a bit like a minigame, pulling inspiration from other mineral digging games like motherload, minecraft, etc. The quest's rewards will be expanded, and how much the blacksmith is willing to do for you may depend on how much ore you manage to bring back.
As mentioned in previous blogs, I want to convert shops to use an interface, rather than placing items on the ground. This will both be more convenient, and would mean shops can take up less space. That would allow me to add new more specialized shops and merchants to complement the existing ones. These shops would appear semi-randomly through the dungeon with more limited and specialized stock. Some may trade in things other than gold as well.
That's right, now that the talent system is done it's becoming more feasible to add new heroes! I have two designs, which I'll show in a random order, along with a little tease at their splash art.
The first hero I have planned is The Duelist. She's a weapons master who will gain unique abilities based on what melee weapon she has equipped. I want her to contrast with the Warrior, who wants to upgrade armor to gain lots of passive power. The Duelist will instead focus on weapons through a bunch of activated effects.
[hr][/hr] These ideas may depend on other things being finished first, I may not have a complete idea of how they may work, or they may not be worth the time commitment versus other updates. I may get one or two of these done in 2022, depending on how well the higher priority items go.
The other hero I'm planning is The Cleric. They're a divine magic user with a wide variety of defensive, supportive, and utility spells. I want them to contrast with the Mage, who likes to heavily upgrade wands. The Cleric will get a wider variety of utility-focused magic instead, without having to use scrolls of upgrade.
I've promised a dedicated lore system in the journal for quite a while, but unfortunately I'm going to hold off on this until I've added the new heroes mentioned above. That being said, I do hope to add lots of incremental lore improvements via other updates. Improving shops and quests are both obvious candidates for this, as quite a bit of lore could be conveyed through the dungeon's friendlier denizens.
In most roguelike games a daily run lets players play with the same dungeon generation once a day, and then be ranked against each other based on score. Some of this, like an online leaderboard, will be very tricky to implement, but it would be relatively easy to build an offline system where players will get the same run based on the day or week. Sharing your scores with others manually isn't ideal, but it would be a good start and would fulfill the oft-requested feature of being able to play the same dungeon as your friends.
Right now the game's badge system is mostly made up of badges that are unlocked through regular gameplay, and so the system becomes pretty sparse once a player is experienced. I'd like to improve how badges are organized, and add a bunch of badges that encourage alternate game styles or reward specific accomplishments. This way badges could add a lot of replayability to the game. While a full overhaul is a bit of a ways off, I do think there's room in the current system to incrementally add a reasonable number of new badges.
[hr][/hr] These ideas are lower priority due to some mixture of heavy dependency on other updates, high difficulty of implementation, or lack of any clear design direction. These ideas might get more fleshed out concepts in 2022 but I am unlikely to work on any of them directly.
I think there's room for one more type of equippable item in the game. This would be a 'modifier' item, which is more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Just like with artifacts, I'm considering alternative ways to power up these items, instead of scrolls of upgrade. Alchemical energy might work very well as a means of producing and powering up these items, and would give more reason to turn excess consumables into energy.
It would be nice to make some more subclasses which take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. This absolutely has to come after adding new classes though, and it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting. Ideally I'd like each hero to have three subclasses, to go along with their three armor abilities.
It's a common request for Shattered to have more dungeon floors, but I don't really want to make the game longer. An alternate path solves that problem by offering a sort of 'hard mode', with new environments and enemies which tax the skills of experienced players. Of course, adding in such a path would be a gigantic time commitment, which is why this is toward the bottom of the priority list.
Since I started it in 2014, Shattered has gotten a new 2.5D art style, new sound effects, hero splash arts, and most recently new music! We're now at a point where the pixel art itself feels a little dated next to all the other things that have been improved. I'm not sure exactly how I might do this yet, but I have a few ideas about remaking the game's sprites and environment texturing, while still trying to stay true to the original style. [hr][/hr] Those are my plans for 2022! While there's still plenty to do, I am excited to see some very old promises start to move up the priority list. If all goes well, 2022 should be a great year for new content in Shattered, and carve a pretty clear path toward 2023.
[ 2022-01-09 16:23:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey rat punchers, happy new year! Just as with previous years, I'm writing a blog post at the start of 2022 to summarize my longer-term plans for Shattered Pixel Dungeon! This post starts with a year in review, and then lists a bunch of major changes and additions that I have planned for the game. These will end up being the focus of future updates both in this year and into the future. If you'd like to look at my previous 'ShatteredPD Plans for the Year' blog posts, you can find them here: 2021, 2020, 2019.
2021 In Review
[hr][/hr] 2021 only had four updates, but each one was pretty substantial! You can read some of 2021s blog posts for full details, but heres a quick summary in relation to Shattered Pixel Dungeon in 2021. Of the 15 items listed in that blog post 5 were fully completed and 2 were partially completed:
- Of the high priority items, The talent system was finished, alchemy was improved, and new music was added! In medium priority, v1.0.0 was released, and some improvements were made to the new player experience (Though there is still more that could be done there).
- Shattered also released on iOS, which was one of the two new platforms I discussed in 2021. The Steam release is next and is the primary focus for the beginning of this year.
- Finally, there was also some incremental progress on challenges, with the new badder bosses challenge added in v0.9.3.
Looking Forward to 2022
[hr][/hr] For 2022 my main focus is firstly on finishing up the games Steam release, and then working on various bits of new game content that Ive mentioned in previous yearly posts. While Im sure Ill make some improvements to game systems and existing content, I want 2022 to be mostly about adding new content to the game. Read on for more details. Please note that this is not a specific plan or roadmap. I really try to avoid locking something down until Im actually developing it directly. Everything Im about to discuss is speculative and may change. These also arent necessarily the only things I could work on in 2022.
Higher Priority
[hr][/hr] These are things I'm giving more immediate priority to because I have a fairly solid idea how they will all fit into the game. I'm going to try and get most or all of these done in 2022.
Full Desktop Support and Steam Release
As mentioned in October 2021, Shattered is coming to Steam! I intend to make some technical and UI improvements to the game to take advantage of different control schemes and larger displays. Mobile users (especially tablet or controller users) can expect to see benefits from this as well. Working toward this is going to be my exclusive development focus in the first bit of 2022, so expect to hear more about this very soon! I'll be making another post about this toward the end of January.
Smaller Additions
Ive got a bunch of smaller content additions and improvements Id like to make in 2022. These will likely appear as bonus side content in other updates, rather than being the focus of an update themselves. These sort of improvements could take many forms, but heres a quick list of some of the things Im considering most:
- Improvements to alchemy recipes following the v1.1.0 changes
- Rebalances or reworks to items/talents/subclasses/abilities
- Expansions to level generation
- New challenges
- More new music and SFX
- Incremental lore additions
- New badges
- New items
- Various QOL and new player experience improvements
Quest Improvements
I have some rough ideas for both of the later quests, but at the moment the blacksmith's idea is the most promising. Rather than having you run around the existing dungeon, the blacksmith might task you with mining out a special area filled with unique dangers and rewards. This would be a bit like a minigame, pulling inspiration from other mineral digging games like motherload, minecraft, etc. The quest's rewards will be expanded, and how much the blacksmith is willing to do for you may depend on how much ore you manage to bring back.
Better Shops
As mentioned in previous blogs, I want to convert shops to use an interface, rather than placing items on the ground. This will both be more convenient, and would mean shops can take up less space. That would allow me to add new more specialized shops and merchants to complement the existing ones. These shops would appear semi-randomly through the dungeon with more limited and specialized stock. Some may trade in things other than gold as well.
A New Hero!
That's right, now that the talent system is done it's becoming more feasible to add new heroes! I have two designs, which I'll show in a random order, along with a little tease at their splash art.
The first hero I have planned is The Duelist. She's a weapons master who will gain unique abilities based on what melee weapon she has equipped. I want her to contrast with the Warrior, who wants to upgrade armor to gain lots of passive power. The Duelist will instead focus on weapons through a bunch of activated effects.
Medium Priority
[hr][/hr] These ideas may depend on other things being finished first, I may not have a complete idea of how they may work, or they may not be worth the time commitment versus other updates. I may get one or two of these done in 2022, depending on how well the higher priority items go.
Another New Hero
The other hero I'm planning is The Cleric. They're a divine magic user with a wide variety of defensive, supportive, and utility spells. I want them to contrast with the Mage, who likes to heavily upgrade wands. The Cleric will get a wider variety of utility-focused magic instead, without having to use scrolls of upgrade.
Lore System
I've promised a dedicated lore system in the journal for quite a while, but unfortunately I'm going to hold off on this until I've added the new heroes mentioned above. That being said, I do hope to add lots of incremental lore improvements via other updates. Improving shops and quests are both obvious candidates for this, as quite a bit of lore could be conveyed through the dungeon's friendlier denizens.
Dailies or Weeklies
In most roguelike games a daily run lets players play with the same dungeon generation once a day, and then be ranked against each other based on score. Some of this, like an online leaderboard, will be very tricky to implement, but it would be relatively easy to build an offline system where players will get the same run based on the day or week. Sharing your scores with others manually isn't ideal, but it would be a good start and would fulfill the oft-requested feature of being able to play the same dungeon as your friends.
Overhauled Badges
Right now the game's badge system is mostly made up of badges that are unlocked through regular gameplay, and so the system becomes pretty sparse once a player is experienced. I'd like to improve how badges are organized, and add a bunch of badges that encourage alternate game styles or reward specific accomplishments. This way badges could add a lot of replayability to the game. While a full overhaul is a bit of a ways off, I do think there's room in the current system to incrementally add a reasonable number of new badges.
Lower Priority
[hr][/hr] These ideas are lower priority due to some mixture of heavy dependency on other updates, high difficulty of implementation, or lack of any clear design direction. These ideas might get more fleshed out concepts in 2022 but I am unlikely to work on any of them directly.
New Item Type
I think there's room for one more type of equippable item in the game. This would be a 'modifier' item, which is more about tweaking gameplay variables than giving direct power or utility. Just like with artifacts, I'm considering alternative ways to power up these items, instead of scrolls of upgrade. Alchemical energy might work very well as a means of producing and powering up these items, and would give more reason to turn excess consumables into energy.
More Subclasses
It would be nice to make some more subclasses which take advantage of Shattered's increased equipment and class diversity. This absolutely has to come after adding new classes though, and it's important that I have enough good ideas to ensure that all of the new subclasses are interesting. Ideally I'd like each hero to have three subclasses, to go along with their three armor abilities.
Alternate Paths
It's a common request for Shattered to have more dungeon floors, but I don't really want to make the game longer. An alternate path solves that problem by offering a sort of 'hard mode', with new environments and enemies which tax the skills of experienced players. Of course, adding in such a path would be a gigantic time commitment, which is why this is toward the bottom of the priority list.
New Pixel Art
Since I started it in 2014, Shattered has gotten a new 2.5D art style, new sound effects, hero splash arts, and most recently new music! We're now at a point where the pixel art itself feels a little dated next to all the other things that have been improved. I'm not sure exactly how I might do this yet, but I have a few ideas about remaking the game's sprites and environment texturing, while still trying to stay true to the original style. [hr][/hr] Those are my plans for 2022! While there's still plenty to do, I am excited to see some very old promises start to move up the priority list. If all goes well, 2022 should be a great year for new content in Shattered, and carve a pretty clear path toward 2023.
[ 2022-01-09 16:23:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon is Coming to Steam!
Firstly, the most fundamental change is Native Executables for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Currently the game requires the user to install Java on their computer, but there are ways for me to bundle Java with the game which allow it to be run/installed like a normal program. This is pretty crucial, so I plan to have this implemented with the release of v1.1.0.
After v1.1.0, Im going to start working on several Core Interface Improvements, which take advantage of the extra real-estate of full-size computer displays. In addition to shifting some elements around, the most important thing I think will be to move the inventory into the main UI. This will allow the player to do all inventory-based interaction right from the main interface, instead of having to constantly open a window.
I also want to look into providing Better Mouse Functionality, such as hover text and right-click menus. Hover functionality could let the game display helpful contextual tooltips, and right-click menus could be used to quickly select all sorts of game actions, such as examining something or dropping/throwing/using an item.
And lastly Id like to look into Better Keyboard and Controller Support. The game currently has some keyboard support and basically no controller support, many interfaces cannot be used without a mouse. I would start with partial controller support, like binding game actions to buttons, but eventually Id like the game to be fully playable without a mouse or touchscreen.
As a reminder, if youd like to play the PC version as it is currently (a straight mobile port + keyboard bindings), its available right now on Github! I also plan to be releasing the game on Itch.io soon under a pay what you want model, with $10 as the suggested amount. These versions of the game will also get the improvements Ive mentioned above. Once Roguelike Celebration is over Im going to be getting back to work on v1.1.0, including those alchemy changes I mentioned last time. You can expect another full post about v1.1.0 sometime in November, but until then you can follow me on Twitter for smaller updates and some animated gifs. My plans for updates after v1.1.0 are still not locked in, but there are some exciting things coming, especially once Ive gotten PC porting work out of the way. Were getting closer to 2022 so expect a big blog on it then, just like the yearly posts Ive made in 2021, 2020, and 2019. It looks like were going to get through about half of the items listed in the 2021 post by 2022.
[ 2021-10-15 18:56:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
(For the best viewing experience, please read the original copy of this post on Shatteredpixel.com) Hey Dungeoneers, Ive got some more exciting news, Shattered Pixel Dungeon is coming to Steam in early 2022! Im moving so quickly on this due to a mix of the games success on the iOS App Store, and a promotion from Roguelike celebration 2021! As I mentioned in the last blog, Ill be giving a presentation at Roguelike Celebration 2021 tomorrow, titled Community-Driven Roguelike Development, you can find more details about it Here. Roguelike Celebration will also be running an event on Steam this week, which Shattered is a part of! While the game wont release for another few months, it already has a page on Steam! If you have any interest in the Steam version of the game at all, please considering adding it to your Steam wishlist. The game will be paid on Steam just like on the App Store, costing $10 US when it releases. Just like with iOS, I want to give PC users a first-class experience. This requires some more direct changes than iOS though, as user-interaction is fundamentally different on PCs. I want the game to play just as well on big desktop screens as it does on tiny phone ones, and that means I can't just scale up the game's current mobile UI. Because of this, I have a bunch of plans for improvements to make before release. I hope to get most of all of them done in time for a release in early 2022.
New PC Features
Firstly, the most fundamental change is Native Executables for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Currently the game requires the user to install Java on their computer, but there are ways for me to bundle Java with the game which allow it to be run/installed like a normal program. This is pretty crucial, so I plan to have this implemented with the release of v1.1.0.
After v1.1.0, Im going to start working on several Core Interface Improvements, which take advantage of the extra real-estate of full-size computer displays. In addition to shifting some elements around, the most important thing I think will be to move the inventory into the main UI. This will allow the player to do all inventory-based interaction right from the main interface, instead of having to constantly open a window.
Here's an early draft of what this UI might look like at a standard 1080p resolution.
The mobile UI will remain as an option, for those who prefer a minimal interface.
I have plans for other UI improvements as well. The extra space means that quickslots could be replaced with a hotbar. This would mean that an entire keyboard row (number keys) could be dedicated to game and item actions. The hotbar would at least work for items, but its possible I could extend its functionality to game actions as well.
Additionally, there is empty space at the top-left which could be used for more detailed enemy info. This info would essentially be a summary of the details normally shown when examining an enemy, including a health bar and active buffs/debuffs. Each enemy in view would have its own little info pane.
I also want to look into providing Better Mouse Functionality, such as hover text and right-click menus. Hover functionality could let the game display helpful contextual tooltips, and right-click menus could be used to quickly select all sorts of game actions, such as examining something or dropping/throwing/using an item.
And lastly Id like to look into Better Keyboard and Controller Support. The game currently has some keyboard support and basically no controller support, many interfaces cannot be used without a mouse. I would start with partial controller support, like binding game actions to buttons, but eventually Id like the game to be fully playable without a mouse or touchscreen.
Other Plans
As a reminder, if youd like to play the PC version as it is currently (a straight mobile port + keyboard bindings), its available right now on Github! I also plan to be releasing the game on Itch.io soon under a pay what you want model, with $10 as the suggested amount. These versions of the game will also get the improvements Ive mentioned above. Once Roguelike Celebration is over Im going to be getting back to work on v1.1.0, including those alchemy changes I mentioned last time. You can expect another full post about v1.1.0 sometime in November, but until then you can follow me on Twitter for smaller updates and some animated gifs. My plans for updates after v1.1.0 are still not locked in, but there are some exciting things coming, especially once Ive gotten PC porting work out of the way. Were getting closer to 2022 so expect a big blog on it then, just like the yearly posts Ive made in 2021, 2020, and 2019. It looks like were going to get through about half of the items listed in the 2021 post by 2022.
[ 2021-10-15 18:56:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
Shattered Pixel
Developer
Shattered Pixel
Publisher
Early 2022
Release
Game News Posts:
57
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
Overwhelmingly Positive
(1341 reviews)
Public Linux Depots:
- Shattered Pixel Dungeon Linux [105.59 M]
Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a Roguelike Dungeon Crawler RPG with pixel art graphics. Every game is a unique challenge, with four different playable characters, randomized levels and enemies, and hundreds of items to collect and use. The game is simple to get into, but strategy is required if you want to win!
Choose Your Hero
Start the game by choosing a hero, which can be improved and customized as you quest through the dungeon!- 4 heroes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Huntress. Each hero has a different playstyle.
- 8 subclasses which let successful heroes further specialize their abilities.
- 13 unique lategame abilities that grant special power at the end of a game.
- Over 100 talents, which let you incrementally power up your hero as you level up.
Explore the Dungeon Depths
Every run though the dungeon is different, with randomized layouts, enemy placement, and items!- 5 distinct dungeon regions over 26 floors, each with their own enemies and room layouts.
- Over 60 enemies, 30 traps, and 5 detailed bosses to test your skills.
- Over 100 equipment items, including powerful wands, rings, weapons, and armor.
- Over 150 regular items to find and craft, each with their own uses.
MINIMAL SETUP
- OS: TBDGraphics: OpenGL 2.0+ compatible GPU
- Graphics: OpenGL 2.0+ compatible GPU
- OS: TBD
- Processor: dual core processor
- Graphics: OpenGL 2.0+ compatible GPU
GAMEBILLET
[ 6138 ]
GAMERSGATE
[ 3335 ]
FANATICAL BUNDLES
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HUMBLE BUNDLES
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