Dev Blog/Update - Roaming Death Alpha V1.0 (#3)

It has been too long since the last Roaming Death update so here is what I've been doing.
As always, fixing bugs is my number one priority.

Download! - 6.7MB

Bug fixes

Spawners have been a mess ever since I made them, so they are being fixed.

-They no longer spam particles creating unnecessary lag
-They have a limit on the total number of skeletons they spawn
-The mob spawn time scales with difficulty

Pets have a pathing update, not great yet but works OK.

-Path like regular creeps when path is available
-Attack sprite updated

Gameplay

Shadow mage has a new passive: a chance to summon a ghost on hit.
-Invisibility works as intended, except for an unknown bug
Light mage ability #4 added, needs some modification
Light mage ability #5 (aura) added: restores HP when falling below 50%

Balance changes

Skeletons nerfed xp drops - can't be farmed for xp.

Abilities scale with overall level. (needs work)

Ability scaling adjusted and armour stats added

Visual updates

The season system is being worked on and nearly ready to go. This allows me to improve the dynamism of the environment and is also important for my other game.

-Particles have been tweaked
-Ability sprites + icons were upgraded where necessary
-Ground textures are improved (change with seasons)
-All player and enemy units have el cheapo yscale animations
-Mage select screen characters rotate slower and fire abilities
-Tutorial quest improved

Roaming Death Progress Update: The Revival

I haven't done an update in a long time. I took a big break from working on this game, but I'm ready to continue tentatively. I have some fresh ideas and want to get a better demo out asap.

I have been tidying up some things like footprints and damage scaling/balancing. I added an armour stat to most of the mobs and roughly balanced it.

I have an idea for a stat screen when you finish an area that could show some kind of score based on your stats in combat like healing done, damage taken, times died, damage dealt. This is good because it gives a penalty for dying too many times.

I am having to tidy up a lot of old spaghetti code to make progress so it is very slow.

You can read about all the changes in the update coming soon.

Roaming Death Alpha V0.99

Update notes

Download
Google drive
game maker sandbox

Monsters
Skeleton mages now have improved pathing
More paths added

Abilities
Ice attacks now work as intended and slow more
Fire attacks now do more damage
Scientist ability 1 added but doesn't yet work as intended
Scientist ability 2 added and working
Scientist ability 7 added but currently has no functionality
Skillshots upgraded and no longer centre on the player

Environment
Torches upgraded
Day/night cycle upgraded

GUI
Bug fixed with day/night cycle
Weather GUI compacted
Day/night counter sprite upgraded

Other
Title screen upgraded as always
Chest for first quest moved
Scientist weapon added

Known bugs
Skeleton pathing still not the best
Taser doesn't go off half the time on fist try
Scientist sprites still not finished

Dev Blog - Roaming Death Alpha V1.0 (#2)

In the last dev blog I set some goals for version 1. I released 0.98, a minor revision recently to encourage testing and soon I will release another update - version 0.99. The highlights of this new version will be the scientist abilities and the rest of the enemy pathing upgrade.

I have been developing the first scientist ability for over a week, as it is quite different from the mage's first ability. It will be a claw-like projectile attached to your weapon that sends shocks of power when it hits an enemy, basically a taser rifle.

The second scientist ability didn't take too long to make. It is a deployable shield that will block all attacks for as long as it lasts (timed).

There are also changes to the day/night cycle, torches, and more bugfixes as always.

Roaming Death Alpha V0.98

Update notes

Download here

-Monsters

tentacle beasts now have improved pathing

-Ice mage

added ability 5 (aura)slowing passive now works almost as intended (against tentacle beasts only)
-Shadow mage

added ability 5 (aura)
stealth ability added (not yet fully functional)

-Scientist


Added ability icons and more sprites, not ready to test yet.

-NPCs

trainers have been added, talk to them for advice

-Environmental

first dungeon texturing updated (not final)
more dead tree sprites added
torches turn on at night
new main room added (very empty right now)

-Bugs fixed

ice mage path speed bug
damage bug
spawner bug (they now spawn again)quest text bugs

-Known bugs

mana regen is broken (regens too fast, not game breaking just too easy)No exits for the second dungeon or the main rooms

Dev Blog - Roaming Death Alpha 1.0

Goals for Alpha v1.0

I am going to get more interaction into the game by introducing friendly NPCs. They will have creative names and you'll be able to talk to them to get advice or quests. I want to update the neglected quests with the quest screen I made to complete the first room.

Work in progress
-03/08
I got a lot of work done today. I upgraded the enemy pathing, fixed a few bugs and implemented a proto-save-feature (only saves character name for now). Although I say "upgraded" pathing, it works best in open spaces right now and with only a few enemies at a time, but it's getting there.
-04/08
Not too much done today, some sound effects have been added experimentally, and I'll add more soon.
-11/08
Decent progress, 0.98 ready for release.

Stealth

Stealth is being worked on. I made the ability for the shadow mage (number 7), and I got the basics for that working. Now I need to make the enemies react to stealth (confused, or not able to target properly), and make casting spells break your stealth.

New auras

Two new auras have been added.
The soul-stealing aura of the shadow mage does a small amount of damage and returns some health and possibly mana.
The ice defence aura of the ice mage intercepts enemy missiles with ice chunks and can have 3 chunks active at once.

Effects

Visual effects have been updated for the ice mage. I also plan to update more of the effects before v1.0.

Bug fixes

No one likes bugs. I fixed a couple of bugs that I hadn't seen earlier, or that weren't game breaking enough to get done. The ice mage's abilities no longer speed up enemy pathing, and using an ability right after an aura now does the correct amount of damage.

Roaming Death Alpha v0.96

Update notes

Download here.

-fixed typo causing an error (shadow mage)
-added new enemy, shadow cultist (recycled sprites)
-added music (non-looping for now)
-cleaned up the level text