A new update has landed for Margoq's Lair, and it is reflected in the demo as well!
I've received some great feedback from players to improve the game, and it has significantly enhanced it.
So here's a quick rundown of patch notes. Further down, I will go a bit more in-depth with some of the decisions:
Patch Notes
Controls:
- WASD + Controller schemes fully implemented
- Option to use auto-aim
- Option to auto-pickup items
Gameplay Design:
- Implemented an all-new class system.
- 7 initial classes, Ember Knight (Demo), Sorcerer (Demo), Blood Lord, Earthcaller, Elementalist, Pyromancer, Viking Warrior.
- The Ember Knight is a hybrid character that wields the power of fire to deal damage both in close combat and at range.
- The Sorcerer is a fragile but versatile magic caster, dealing a lot of damage from afar.
- Players now have a kit of three basic starting spells + one ultimate spell + a basic attack (melee or ranged)
- Spell scrolls have combos attached to them instead of spells, meaning you have to learn combos
- New death animation for the player
- Zkyrix, the final boss, has been updated to be a bit more challenging and interesting
System Compatibility:
- Better support for different resolutions: 1280x720, 1920x1080, 2560x1440 (experimental), 3440x1440 (experimental)
- Optimized performance for better FPS on lower-end systems
- Not taking over native resolution + bigger windowed modes supported, making it easier to tab in and out of the game
- Screen shake on/off options
- All option states are now saved properly and will carry over to your next game
Details
Alright, a couple of these changes have a major impact on the gameplay, so I thought it would be fitting to provide a bit more space. Let's dive into it.
The new class system
The game was initially designed with a class-less approach because I thought it would be awesome to have players design their own build just the way they like it. However, the issue with this has become increasingly apparent due to a little something known as combinatorial math!
Because of the combo system (which is the core mechanic of the game), each newly added spell would require spawning a set of new spells derived from the combination of the new spell with each old spell. This would make the creation of spells grow exponentially. With only 10 basic spells where everything can combo with each other in 2-spell-combos, it would result in 100 spells. Add 3-spell-combos, and it becomes 720 spells! And that's only if we don't allow the same spell in a sequence twice! This would render full coverage of 3-spell-combos out of the question and basically any 4-spell-combos as nothing but a broken dream. It also means that adding much more than 10-12 basic spells would be quite impossible.
Enter the class system. Classes are instead limited to 3 basic spells and an ultimate ability each. Basically, this means that with 3-spell-combos, each class will have access to 15 spells each, which is much more manageable while still providing lots of room for experiments and fun combinations. It also allows for the occasional 4 or even 5-spell-combo. On top of that, it makes it possible to create more interesting Blood Upgrades for the specific combo-spells, meaning lots of build options within the classes themselves. With this approach, it is possible to make 100/15=6-7 new classes with the same amount of work as only the 2-spell-combo 10-ability no-class system.
I hope that you look forward to playing the new classes in the game and like the design choice behind this pretty impactful change of design.
The control scheme
I'll admit it—I've been stubborn! I envisioned the Diablo-like point-and-click control scheme right from the first thoughts of this game and never truly explored other options because that was how it was played in my head. But ever since the very first playtest, I've received feedback that people wanted WASD controls, and controller support requests followed soon after. I've postponed it for too long, and I finally made support and tested with the new control scheme—and IT IS AWESOME! So, thanks to everyone who pointed me in that direction, and sorry for being so stubborn before. The new control scheme makes for a much better feel of the game, and with the controller support as well, it is really coming together great.