I'm happy to announce that early access for Rift Wizard 2 will begin March 25th.
It has been a long road with many twists and turns. Ive tried a lot of wacky stuff including progression overhauls and multi-tile snake tails, but in the end I settled on equipment, spell upgrades, and procedurally generated bosses as being the main features for RW2.
Going from RW1 to RW2, there are three main design goals:
- Increase run variety. Make each run feel special. In RW1 about 80% of your power came from player decisions, and was independent of the current run. RW2, through the equipment system, brings it closer to 50%, which I think is the ideal for a roguelike. The open SP system still gives the player quite a few options for how to develop their character, but the variety of potential equipment drops also dramatically shape what builds might work in a given run.
- Increase tactical depth. RW1 highly incentivized pouring resources into one spell, and once a player has done this, it becomes a no-brainer to use that spell each turn. I think the game is more fun when you have a few more options of what to do each turn. The upgrade changes, and the transition from shrines to equipment, are aimed at reducing how much the player ends up investing into any one spell. Actually, I think I still have a ways to go for this goal, and it'll be something I think about quite a bit during early access. I've got a few ideas that I'd love to try out here over the coming months.
- Preserve the magic of RW1. RW1 was really fun... and quite a few players, I think, just want more. More spells, more upgrades, new monsters, new levelgen patterns. I want to make sure the game doesn't stray too far from the original formula and remains familiar to fans of the first, and I want to make sure the game has plenty of new toys to play with and challenges to face.
Satisfying all of these goals at the same time isn't easy, but I feel like the game is on a very good path right now.
I want to remind everyone that the game is by no means finished. That's not what early access is!
I consider the current build to be a beta. It requires feedback and testing so that I can hone it into something polished and finished. But it is stable enough- both technically speaking and balance wise- that I'm comfortable opening up to feedback and testing from a wider audience.
My expectation is that early access will last for 1 year, but that is certainly subject to change. Ultimately, it will last until I feel the game is ready.
I'm really excited to launch, and can't wait to share the game with ya'll. In the mean time, heres a beautiful screenshot of khoops blowing and everything else up:
-Dylan