After two and a half years, it is clear that this game will never be a money maker. Given that, I the developer would rather it be freely available than locked behind a paywall, and to be something I can freely share without it being seen as advertising. I find the game a lot of fun, even if not (by design) complex or the story driven experiences that have become so popular today. It was made for some simple, fun, casual entertainment with a hardcore twist, something that could entertain for an hour or two without trying to replace your real life. For that it is good, even if it lacks the depth, complexity, and narrative focus typical of modern games -- its a good ol' time. I'd like to be able to share that. Starting today, Caverns of Evil is free forever. To everyone who believed in this game, and took a chance on buying it thank you. I hope no one feels cheated by the game going free to play -- you did get access earlier than others, by a good two years in most cases. There is nothing to be gained in clinging a commercial status that is not profitable, nor in begrudging what someone else got for free, is there? Again, if you bought the game when it was for sale, thank you. I hope you all got some enjoyment out of it. There is no active DRM (though the two Steam achievements will not work if you don't have it on your steam account. In addition, the core source code for the game is now open source; note that this does not include some code libraries that are referenced, and those are not included under the license. Also, this DOES NOT include any artwork, sound, music, or other non-code asset -- some of which I created and still claim rights too and some of which was licensed from third parties so that I have no right to license separately. The source code can be found at: https://github.com/BlackJar72/CavernsOfEvil

After two and a half years, it is clear that this game will never be a money maker. Given that, I the developer would rather it be freely available than locked behind a paywall, and to be something I can freely share without it being seen as advertising. I find the game a lot of fun, even if not (by design) complex or the story driven experiences that have become so popular today. It was made for some simple, fun, casual entertainment with a hardcore twist, something that could entertain for an hour or two without trying to replace your real life. For that it is good, even if it lacks the depth, complexity, and narrative focus typical of modern games -- its a good ol' time. I'd like to be able to share that. On Friday, September 27, 2024, that is two weeks from this announcement, Caverns of Evil will become free to play. To everyone who believed in this game, and took a chance on buying it thank you. I hope no one feels cheated by the game going free to play -- you did get access earlier than others, by a good two years in most cases. There is nothing to be gained in clinging a commercial status that is not profitable, nor in begrudging what someone else got for free, is there? Again, if you bought the game when it was for sale, thank you. I hope you all got some enjoyment out of it. There is no active DRM (though the two Steam achievements will not work if you don't have it on your steam account. In addition, the core source code for the game is now open source; note that this does not include some code libraries that are referenced, and those are not included under the license. Also, this DOES NOT include any artwork, sound, music, or other non-code asset -- some of which I created and still claim rights too and some of which was licensed from third parties so that I have no right to license separately. The source code can be found at: https://github.com/BlackJar72/CavernsOfEvil Here is my only Youtube playthrough of a game -- a complete developer letsplay of Caverns of Evil, for anyone who just wants to see more: [previewyoutube=lWV4QGJKG1k;full][/previewyoutube]

A bug where the final boss did not spawn consistently should be fixed.

This improves the variety of level themes seen, especially on shorter runs. Level 1 is still always an urban theme (high number of materials and also the most modern theme), and the second will still be anything but urban. Beyond that, simple random selection has been replaced with a shuffle, increasing the number of themes seen and insuring all themes will be seen be the time the option to beat the game arises. Also, fixed an incorrectly rotated normal map on one material, meaning the old wood should look better. ...still no idea how to solve some old bugs, but most of these only produce minor jank rather than anything serious.

Better desert and jungle themes Level 1 will always be urban, level 2 will never be urban (fully random afterward) The music for level 1 will never be played for level 2 (fully random afterward) Arrows no longer stay around after hitting walls, since they rarely stayed in the right place.

There are now achievements for beating the first level and making it through level 16, at which point you officially beat the game. Also tracks highest level completed as a state (though I have no idea how you see stats).

Some changes:

• The final bosses actually spawn
• The victory screen will not advance the level or do other normal intermission stuff
• Difficulty in NG+ is now asymptotic, with 16=16 and infinity=32

Version 1.8.0: The Intermission Screens now show Hints and Lore

Finally, I seem to have fixed the late game stutter problem, so it should be fully playable to the point of victory -- yeah, that's right, this game now actually has an official victory condition that involves reaching level 16, though you can still play as many as you like with levels after 16 being considered a kind of new game plus. The permadeath is still there, of course.

More bug fixes now, but the big change is in the ending ... there sort of is one now, contrary to the last versions trailer (though the same trailer teases this). This was always supposed to be a simple game -- something like a "Doom, casual edition" -- and at this point it seems its actually done. Time for new projects.