Been continuing to really enjoy this game; finally put enough time in to give an informed rating. By far my biggest suggestion would be to include more ways of interacting with the environment. A larger variety of traps, maybe a few items a la Zaga-33 and 868-Hack, etc. would really enhance the gameplay by introducing more strategic options. That said, I love the simplicity of the game in its current state, so I wouldn't give the player TOO many tools. A difficulty option that simply increases the number of enemies per room would also be a fun addition. The fewer meaningless moves, the better. Of course, more themes would be great as well, as would a couple extra characters with different pros/cons, and some more enemies - but it sounds like you're already thinking about those things . Thanks for making an awesome game!
When I add the first expansion of you have it on it will increase the number of enemies I plan on making the expansion really tough, by giving the player the option to turn it on, I can make it a bit harder. I am thinking about "items" but I think it will be more like tiles then things the player chooses to use. Like a tile that may freeze enemies around it. So the player can use it like a trap only they can activate. So it will still be about placement. I feel like the more I have worked on this the more refined some of the enemies have come. I understand the mechanics space a bit better and I can play around with it. But some future musings: I would love to do a portrait mode, and am really sad I didn't. I think I am going to try and figure it out, but it might not work the way I built it. Dragons may change in the future. I am thinking about maybe creating different dragons that have different attacks after every move and then that will be randomly chosen each run. So maybe one run its the fire dragon next run it might have ice breath. There would be sprites for each.
Alright new build is working, and the orientation bug is fixed. the update will submit this weekend and we hope it goes through fast. its going to include the following - Fixed Orientation for people running iOS7 or lower - Small graphic and text changes. - Game no longer exits on suspension. - New option added to increase enemy turn speed. and today I will be adding a few extra things and more small bug fixes, then its onto the big update (Version 1.2) I already have two new enemies ready to go.
Okay, So update was all submitted last week, we are just waiting for Apple approval for it to go live. I have also expanded out my plans for the Next update. I reworked the Monster code, so now I can choose specific monsters for specific floors. Meaning I could do a "fire" floor which has a tendency to have more fire based enemies and traps. It also meant I had to redo the tower generation and since I was already redoing the code, I quickly did some changes meaning I can also create different sized towers. So I am thinking like a 5 floor tower, and 10 floor, and possibly a 15 floor. But since I added that it also means I can just straight up make themed towers. The next big thing is deciding how to add the new enemies. Should they be rolled into the towers, or should I create say a volcano dungeon to explore and it only has fire related enemies? or both. It will take a bit of figuring out on how I want to handle it. As for the new things in the update, I have two enemies done already. One is a Salamander, which leaves a flame trail behind it blocking off the level, the other is a dragon whelp which is a smaller version of the big one that chases you. It will only breath fire in the space in front of it. not diagonal. as for other ideas I have they are: - Imp Trap: a Tile that spawns fire imps every few turns - Spells! they will be one time use and given to the player when killing certain enemies - Fire Commander: a large Fire guy. He will work in tandem with the fireguys that move two spaces. When he is on the screen he will allow them to move 3. As for any other new enemies I want to try a get a little more syngery between the enemies. like the Ogre Mage who protects an enemy.
Can't wait! #1 feature for me would be portrait mode. I'd also love some new themed dungeons and floors, just for some variation differences. Maybe different outfits for the main character for completing dungeons?
It now saves state when exiting and immediately re-entering, but it will still take you back to the beginning if it's booted out of memory. Not a theoretical concern -- even just a few minutes of switching to another app would result in loss off all progress. Really weird omission for a turn-based, grid-based game with easily definable states.
Hey Zen mode. What do you mean by booted from memory? If I swap out to a different app and come back its still in the same position. Are you double tapping out to the multitasking list and closing Microgue?
I think zen is talking about if you turn off your device (not actually turning it off but only the screen) for about 15 minutes the game will still lose your progress. It just happened to me when I tested it out. The save states seems to only work for a short period of time, like 5 minutes. It doesn't bother me at all because you could probably do an entire run in about 10 to 20 minutes.
Yes, I closed the app from the multitasking list. The reason I do this is to simulate what happens when you use another app (e.g Safari) for a couple of minutes and then return to Microgue. Other similar puzzle roguelikes (868-hack, Hoplite, lamp and vamp, dumgeonism, Auro etc etc) all persist the game state even when it's booted out of memory due to reallocation by another app or force quitting. I highly recommend adding this feature (although I've long moved on from playing this game personally).
