I was reading over Jane’s shoulder this evening, and someone that she had friended (but doesn’t know IRL) posted something about Sarah Palin being next president, and how they can’t wait.  Some spirited discussion followed, with one of the other people in the thread saying “…it’s good to see you can get the libtards to show their true colors…”.

Libtards?

Really?

This is the state of discourse in this country? I know I shouldn’t be surprised at all, but the idea that “you don’t agree with me, therefore you are retarded” just makes me sad for this country.  I have many friends that I don’t agree with, politically speaking, and yet somehow we’re able to have conversations about our positions and somehow avoid insulting each other.  And as we begin the long march to the next presidential election, I’m sure things will only get worse rather than better.

Here’s an idea: Listen to something you don’t agree with and consider that the person telling you that something is just as smart and capable as you are.

http://wwflgames.com

From now on, all of my game development stuff will be posted over there, instead of here.  I have also moved the last month’s worth of posts about Fury, my in-development roguelike, there as well:

http://wwflgames.com/index.php/topics/fury/

I’m also going to try to be a better blogger. I say that about once a year.  It’s unlikely that this time will be any different.

Portrait for the "Triple Lindy" Class In Fury

I have mapped out a pretty ambitious class structure for Fury, which you unlock over time based on upgrades you do to the Fury Academy building.  So the player gets to choose when they get access to which classes.

The classes are broken down into two basic types:  ”Pure” classes, and “Hybrids”.  The type of class you choose decides which cards you have access to for your adventurer, and may also convey some special abilities (I haven’t decided on that part yet).

Pure classes are specializations of the basic classes, and hybrids draw cards from each of their parent classes.

These are my initial thoughts on how the player goes about unlocking the classes, and a little bit about each class. Of course, this is all subject to change as I start implementing.

Pure Classes

Warrior Classes:

Warrior

The basic warrior, cards are based on martial prowess. Unlocked from the beginning of the game.

Barbarian (Unlock: Level 1 Altar)

Fierce warriors who rely channel their devotion to their barbaric gods into success on the battlefield. Unlocking the Barbarian class requires a level 1 altar.

Knight (Unlock: Level 1 Training Ground)

Chivalrous fighters who use heavy armaments and large weapons to defeat their enemies.

Paladin (Unlock: Level 2 Altar, Level 2 Training Ground)

Holy warriors who use the use their strength and faith to rid the world of evil.

Wizard Classes:

Wizard

Your quintessential wizard, cards based on arcane magic. Unlocked from the beginning of the game.

Summoner (Unlock: Level 1 Library)

Specialists in summoning beings from the elemental plains to serve their will.

Enchanter (Unlock: Level 2 Library)

Enchanters bend the minds of their opponents to make them fight each other.

Necromancer (Unlock: Level 1 Graveyard, Level 3 Library)

Necromancers can summon the undead to fight for them.

Rogue Classes:

Rogue

Relies on daggers, stealth and poisons to defeat the enemy.

BladeMaster (Unlock: Level 1 Blacksmith)

Masters of all forms of weapons.

Assassin (Unlock: Level 1 Apothecary)

Assassins specialize in killing their enemies from afar with poison.

Ranger (Unlock: Level 2 Blacksmith, Level 2 Training Ground)

Masters of the bow and equally skilled with swords.

Hybrid Classes

Trickster (Wizard/Rogue) (Unlock: Level 3 Library, Level 3 Apothecary)

Tricksters appear when you least expect them, and wield daggers and magic to devastating effect.

BattleMage (Wizard/Warrior) (Unlock: Level 3 Library, Level 3 Training Ground)

Wizards who have learned to focus their arcane energy into a runeblade, becoming terrifying whirlwinds of destruction on the battlefield.

Gladiator (Warrior/Rogue) (Unlock: Level 3 Training Ground, Level 3 Blacksmith)

Gladiators combine the swift moving attacks and poison of the rogue with the brute strength and martial prowess of the warrior.

Champion (Wizard/Warrior/Rogue) (All buildings upgraded to Level 4)

Champions are the true jack-of-all trades, drawing cards from every available class.

Exciting, right?

http://facebook.com/furygame

Thanks to all of my RL friends, mostly for getting me over the 25 fan limit to get a vanity URL.

Fury Roadmap

Instant roadmap!  I’m going to be fleshing the first few releases out in terms of features there, so I have a more structured approach to getting this done (instead of just doing whatever the heck I feel like working on, which is usually why things flounder).

Also, I have been thinking a lot about the class structure and how you go about getting them all unlocked, I’ll do a separate post on that soon.

Here’s the roadmap for getting to Ornery Orc:

• Add monster cards, and the ability for monsters to play them
• Flesh out more cards for the Warrior class, the first class I’m working on
• Add a boss monster
• Add a win screen, so that when you defeat the boss monster, it does something

I have also been working on the basic ideas for the classes that are available in Fury, and how you go about unlocking access to them.  I have come up with 3 tiers of classes, which you can see in this google doc:

Fury Class Structure

The player starts with 3 classes unlocked: Warrior, Wizard and Thief.  All of the rest of the classes are unlocked based on upgrades the player makes to the Academy itself.  For example, to get access to the Barbarian class, you need to have a level 1 altar as part of the Academy.  For the Knight, you have to have a level 1 training ground.  For the Paladin, you need a level 2 alter, and a level 2 training ground (of course, these are my initial thoughts, and will probably change).  But the player chooses their upgrade path based on how they upgrade their Academy.

I’m introducing multi-classing, so the BattleMage is a character that draws cards from the Warrior tree and the Wizard tree.

I’ll do a post in the next week or so outlining each class and how they differ from each other.

With my current rate of progress, I’m hoping to have a Ornery Orc ready to go in about two weeks or so.

Playing in the dungeon is similar in many respects to other roguelikes.  You move around, pick up items, fight monsters and visit shops.  But, I am trying to streamline and simplify these things as much as possible.

Items

The character you’re controlling in the dungeon starts with a main weapon (Sword for Warriors, Staff for Wizards, Bow for Rangers, etc).  This main weapon can be upgraded throughout the adventure, but cannot be replaced.  So, you won’t be finding new swords in the dungeon (but you will find enchantments that will improve your sword).  Each character has 3 other slots for additional items, and no bag.  So, when you pick up an item, if your inventory slots are full, you have to make an immediate choice: Keep the item and get rid of something else you’re wearing, or transmute it to gold (every character learns to transmute items to gold as part of their Academy training).  Note that potions aren’t considered items in this respect, and have their own inventory.

Combat

Combat only occurs through the playing of cards.  When the dungeon starts, the character has a deck of cards, and draws 3 cards from the deck into their hand.  To attack a denizen of the dungeon, you must play a card on that creature.  Every time an opponent is defeated, you earn a “Fury Point” (FP), and you can have up to three FPs at any given time.  Fury points can be used in conjunction with cards. Every time you play a card, you can choose to also use one or more FPs, and depending on the card, the use of FPs will alter the ability of the card, granting more damage, effecting multiple enemies, adding additional effects.  So the player must choose where and when to use Fury Points, as it may make the difference between winning and losing a fight.

Death

Like most roguelikes, death can be swift, brutal and permanent for the adventurer.  But as the Headmaster, you have an unlimited supply of recruits at your disposal, so you can always try again.  But when one of your adventurers dies on a job, your fame will decrease, and certain jobs that were available to you may not be after a death.

Leveling Up

Throughout the course of completing a dungeon, the adventurer will gain new levels.  On gaining a new level, the adventurer will have the choice of how they want to improve their character.  They can increase stats (like Strength or Health) and skills (like their skill with their main weapon).  Additionally, every few levels, the adventurer will gain the ability to hold additional cards in their hand, giving them more strategic choices for dealing with different situations.

Finishing the Job

When you beat the boss of the dungeon as an adventurer, the player will get a 20% cut of whatever loot they found in the dungeon, as well as gain experience based on the amount of experience gained by the player.  If the Academy “Levels Up” as a result of the experience, new Cards that can be played will be unlocked, and new classes that can be trained as adventurers will be unlocked.  The adventurer then goes on to fame and fortune, leaving the next dungeon to a fresh recruit.

The player must take whatever jobs they can, dispatching newly trained adventurers to whatever towns will take them in an effort to restore the Fury Academy to it’s former glory.

The game starts with a randomly generated world map, with the Fury Academy (a small tower) in the center of the map, with towns scattered throughout the countryside.  These towns will have jobs available, and will pay cash if the job is done well.  The player will dispatch a newly trained adventurer to take on the task.  Once the job is done, the adventurer goes off on their own, keeping whatever treasures they find in the dungeon for themselves (except for the customary 20% cut that the Fury Academy gets).

As the adventurers complete jobs, the Fury Academy gains experience along with the adventurers.  When the Academy “levels up”, it gains access to new cards that can be used by the adventurers, and the adventurers produced by the Academy are slightly better (better starting stats).  With the gold the Academy earns, it can upgrade the facilities and equipment that adventurers get when they start an adventure.

The player also plays as the adventurer, but each one is a trainee, so they only get whatever equipment the academy can afford.

As the Fury Academy successfully clears dungeons, it’s fame will grow, and more jobs will become available.  But, over time these challenges will grow in difficulty.  The orc outpost outside of the nearby town, if not dealt with, may become an orc fort, which much more difficult occupants.  The player must balance which dungeons they tackle to make sure threats don’t grow too large.  And failure in a dungeon has a price too, your fame will decrease and towns may not be willing to hire you.

That sort of sums up my vision for the meta-game, I’ll do a post later about actual dungeoneering.

There are some ideas from Desktop Dungeons that work really well with my ideas for a collectible-card combat mechanic:

• Simplicity and approachability.  Desktop Dungeons is very easy to grasp, and hard to master, which I like.
• Meaningful choices. Give the player the information they need to decide what they should do next.
• Interesting progression. Give the player new stuff, but at a pace they can absorb it.  And give them interesting ways to discover how to use new things.  DD provides this in the way of unlockable characters with different playstyles.

My original design for Fury was a fairly typical rogue-like in some ways. You move around the dungeon, collect items, fight monsters.  But when you fought monsters, you left the regular dungeon screen and went to a battle screen, where you played out your combat by playing cards from your deck.  This approach caused some issues, one in particular was the lack of ranged combat, which I never liked.  For the new Fury, I’m sticking to a regular dungeon screen, and you can play your cards at any time (so you can cast that fireball, or shot the bow).

I’ll do a post soon that gives more details about the gameplay and progression in Fury.