Fantastic observations! We love all the suggestions so far -- I think our job as good game designers is figuring out which ones we can add and how to add then without overcomplicating the game. We hope that we can continue to rise to the task. Sincerely, Jeff McCord
I'm back. Have just caught up on the thread. Nice suggestions and observations. I am working on the next update as we speak. I aim to have a nice mini-update ready in a couple of days that will address most of the main concerns and add a bunch of new features and surprises. Stay tuned. Paul
I totally agree with you Mindfield. I love the game exactly how it is for it's simplicity. I would hate to have that ruined by things being added just for the sake of adding them. One of the app store reviews gives it 3 stars and says "great start but needs a store and more items." This is a good example of what I don't want to happen to this game. A store just doesn't fit this particular genre. I'd be open to new ideas if they worked properly, and as long as the present core game was intact still thru options or a separate mode. The types of changes I wouldn't mind seeing are things like new tile sets or character avatars, just for cosmetic fun. Or the endless dungeon idea, or possibly have a few different swords you could go after. The one on floor 20 would be like an Easy mode, then one on 40 for Medium, 75 for Hard, etc. You could have different ending animations for each one. I haven't beat the game yet, so I don't know if there's any sort of cutscene if you do. But the intro video and stair animations are so beautiful, there really should be something like that to complement rescuing the sword. Also, I sort of agree with the items being a little clumsy to use. Not a huge deal, but I've definitely chose the wrong item more than once and had panic attacks trying to change gear mid battle. To summarize, please don't mess up the near-perfect, sublime experience that this game already is. Obviously you guys know what you're doing and I trust you, but I will have a well guarded copy of 1.0 backed up just in case.
As an idiot who always wants MORE OF EVERYTHING but also appreciates this game's intentional simplicity think they too might eventually have multiple modes and difficulties. If even one two axises Pure/Advanced and Normal/Hardcore for four variations. So that it could go from a casual minimalistic experience to a very nasty dungeon dive with extra spells, creatures, and artifacts from a couple of configuration settings.
I made it down to to sword today, but I didn't last past level 19 on the way back up. As soon as I went up to level 19, a mage stole the sword and I was surrounded by three fire drakes. At the end, I had only found three enchant scrolls and one (!) invisibility spell, so it was a slug fest all the way down. This game is a blast! I agree with the general sentiment that simpler is better is this game. As I mentioned earlier I have a tendency to hit the wrong item or scroll button, but besides that I could be pretty happy with this game just as it is.
This idea is very cool. And yes, there is a BEAUTIFUL ending sequence. I was really excited watching it.
I'm all for separate modes if at some point there's going to be a more "hardcore" version of the game with deeper RPG elements. I do know of a few of the things that are going to be making it into the next update or two that will add a little more depth to the game with a minimum of encumbrance on the game flow or mechanics, which will be good and very interesting to see. I can see lots of ways to enhance the game without breaking the flow, but if you're going to start having a deep inventory system and such, that sort of thing I think should go in its own separate mode if indeed it's to happen at some point in the future. However, I think much of it is beyond the scope of the game. There are always going to be those for whom it's never enough and think there should be more to it. But I think they kind of miss the point. Yes, there's lots that could be added and enough that I know will be added, but it isn't going to become some sort of Zelda/Chronicles of Inotia/whatever type of RPG with a bunch of side quests and stuff because it was never intended to be. That's the point. You are the story. The adventure is yours to make. The sword is just the last chapter.
Oh sure, there is no getting blood from a stone here, but little tweaks within the game's existing framework and more monster special unique abilities and such.
For what it's worth I ran into this same "feature creep" after Rogue Touch started to get noticed and people saw that I was willing to take suggestions and issue good updates. A lot of vocal people would love to stuff RT full of shops, towns, NPCs, then liberally sprinkly every feature of nethack, angband, and ADOM combined into one! Certain things make sense to add, like new items, a few new monsters, bottomless dungeons, leaderboards, things of that nature. Beyond that, you're adding so much it is becoming a fundamentally different game, one that may turn off *more* players than it satisfies. Sword of Fargoal and RT are classic games, beautifully hand crafted steam engines in a world full of shiny modern vehicles. You really need to think twice before bolting on a spoiler, ground effects, and a NOX kit
Naturally. Stuff like that can be added without changing the formula too much, and I'm quite looking forward to the next batch of improvements. I just don't think things need to wander too far outside this particular box. It's great the way it is, there are ways of making it even better, but as said before, K.I.S.S.
So I went back to my first saved game and managed to finally solve the mage dilemma. Gotta get creative, it seems, which is cool. But now a freakin' assassin stole it and I can't find the bastard. I did get to a point where the whole damn dungeon shook, and the text, "What was that?" showed up. Don't know what that was about, but I suspect it means the sword has been returned to its resting place and now I gotta steal it again. (If that's the case, does that reset the move limit I have to get back to the surface?) I hope so anyway. I'm tired of chasing these sneaky little coonts.
The shaking I believe means time is beginning to run out...it will get louder as you get nearer expiration which is a really nice feature....So unfortunately the sword has not been returned and you will have to chase down the illusive assassin...I am very impressed you caught the mage btw...My understanding is the counter is seconds and not moves .so you get 6000 seconds (100 minutes) to get out once you pick up the sword dont think there is anyway to slow, stop or reset this .is however 3 times as much as you got in the original version right? (I never played this)
Well, here I am again, playing this game into the wee hours of the morning. I don't think I've ever been so addicted to a game. I'm starting to believe the "gateway drug" comparison. After a few "practice" games where I dove maybe 5-10 floors or so and ended up dying, I'm really taking my time with the current game. Trying to get to every nook and cranny of every floor. It's amazing how intricate each floor can be. You think you've seen everything, but then you'll go up a flight of stairs into a new area on a floor you though you'd cleared. Sometimes I'll even take some crazy path up or down 2 or 3 floors, and end up in a new area. Ahhhhh it's so much fun. I've even bought a ton of great games lately, and I'll force myself to try and pay attention to playing them, but my mind's just on Fargoal. I'm scared to spend so much time on this run, knowing full well how suddenly the game can end. But I know that even if that happens, I'll be excited to start over from square one. Love this game. Love. It.
Wow, very impressive game. I liked the C64 version back then, but the graphics are really a gem in this one. Totally worth every cent.
Never played a game of this type before but I am addicted, it's stunning. One improvement needed: have the health bar visible all the time.
