Glyphscape Version 1.1

Version 1.1 improves all of the core game systems. This is by far the largest update to date, and brings Glyphscape substantially closer to a state that I am happy with. Details below!

Combat Improvements

Class Traits

Class traits have been reworked to better support their intended play styles. The new class traits are as follows:

• Champions regenerate HP at an elevated rate

• Conjurers regenerate MP at an elevated rate

• Wanderers dash AP cost is reduced by 1 (from 2)

• Cutpurses deal melee damage to all adjacent tiles

All classes have also been granted a small rate of HP regeneration over time, so that it does not become hopeless to continue after all healing items have been depleted. Champions receive this healing at an accelerated rate. The trait formerly granted to Champions has been given to Cutpurses instead. The Cutpurse monster-vision ability has been reworked as a stealth mode and granted to all classes.

Monster Sprites

Monsters in version 1.0 were static sprites, which would only change to a different sprite and color when a player is spotted. In version 1.1, every monster has a unique animation for each state. This makes monsters much easier to see in the dark, and allows for a lot more variation in visuals.

New sprites have been added to the font file, and the new dynamic sprites have allowed for a lot more flexibility in creating unique monster faces.

Stealth Mode

In 1.0, Cutpurses had access to a special ability that allowed them to see the line-of-sight of nearby monsters. This ability was not nearly as impressive as those granted to the other classes, so it was reworked into a stealth mode and made available to all classes.

Stealth mode reveals the line-of-sight of any enemy that is also in your own line of sight. It also forces a slower player movement speed, which can be helpful when movement precision is important.

Spell Crafting

The interpretation of glyphs into spell effects in 1.0 was very limited in scope. You could change the size and shape of spell attacks, and combine damage dice in many combinations, but non-damage effects were not well defined in the spell parser. For example, Fire + Resistance would have previously dealt 1d6 fire damage and granted a generic Resistant status for 3 turns.

In 1.1, glyphs can be combined properly to create new contextual effects. Fire + Resistance will now produce a "Resist Fire for 1d6 turns" effect. Fire + StatusEffect will now apply Burning for 1d6 turns (previously it also dealt 1d6 damage, and applied burning for 3 turns).

Resistances & Vulnerabilities

Monsters in 1.0 were resistant or vulnerable to specific damage types based on the class of monster. All skeletons had the same set of buffs, as did all humans, all beasts, etc. Additionally, there was no way to apply temporary vulnerabilities to monsters, or temporary resistances to oneself.

In version 1.1, monsters may have unique damage resistance profiles, such as armored skeletons that are resistant to bludgeoning damage. Temporary resistances and vulnerabilities may be applied through spells or through equipment effects.

Equipment Improvements

New Equipment

Over 250 new apparel and weapon items have been added to make use of the new variety in equipment effects. Weapons now support up to 3 passive effects, and almost a dozen new effects have been added.

Restocking Shops

Shops no longer have a static one-time inventory. Every shopkeeper has a pool of items that may appear, and an interval at which they restock. Low-level vendors generally have low-level gear to sell, but occasionally will stock high-end merchandise.

Interface Improvements

Player Status Panel

There was nothing wrong with this in 1.1, but this panel is on-screen most of the time, so I wanted it to be prettier. As a bonus, I found a place to put a Dash indicator light, which disappears and re-appears as dashes are used and refreshed.

Dice Roll Calculations

The information on the dice roll panel in 1.0 was... lacking. Bonuses would be displayed occasionally, but the alignment was usually not very good. The new display provides information about the order of operations of a damage roll:6 rows, one for each damage d6. Each die is modified by the current weather, then modified by elemental resistance or vulnerability. If a critical hit was rolled, a 'CRIT!' indicator will show the added amount, and the subtotal on the right will show the total damage inflicted.

After the damage is totaled, the DEF is subtracted, and then a global 'Resistant'/'Vulnerable' modifier is applied, giving the final total.

Weather effects were previously applied to the total rather than per-die. This has been changed to allow for larger impacts of weather on higher-tier spells.

Character Sheet

The player character sheet in 1.0 was okay, but was not making very good use of the available page, and was missing some important information. The derived stats (carry weight, crit bonus, etc.) have been moved to a more compact format that allows a [base] + [bonus] = total] fill-in field below. This change allowed the current load, AP, MP, and HP to be displayed in a new column.

The lower section for Status Effects was previously a simple list of effects, which would often include duplicate effects (a conjurer is likely wearing a few +INT rings, for example). The new format groups effects by source, and includes a section for the source of each effect: weapon, armor, necklace, rings, or temporary. I realize now that I chose some poor screenshots to highlight this.

Equipment Menu

To accommodate the changes to apparel (and to apply a general layer of polish), this menu received some slight adjustments. The apparel art box was increased in size to support potential 6-tall armor pieces. Additionally, a permanent DEF counter was added, because most apparel items now provide SOME level of protection, even robes and clothes. The Rings section was expanded to allow for the ring material to be displayed above each effect.

Death Screen

This one is pretty self explanatory. Many players reported that they did not know what happened when they first saw this (left) screen. Now it should be clear.

Progression Overhaul

Just about everything related to XP and Leveling has been updated in a meaningful way. The XP curve for each level has been substantially increased, which would be a big deal if not for the fact that the amount of XP received from each monster slain has been overhauled as well. All monsters now have a set Challenge Rating (Level) and a flat XP award determined by that number.

Quests now give substantial XP rewards as well, so even the least-effective combatant will be able to level-up with relative regularity.

Each Level-Up previously granted 2 points to spend on upgrading player STATS. This has been reduced to 1 point at odd levels.

The maximum level cap has been increased from 30 to 40, and the STAT maximum has been increased from 20 to 30.

Achievements

14 Achievements have been added, which can all be achieved in a single playthrough.

Bug Fixes, Etc.

Aside from all of the above changes, 1.1 is also packed with some major bug fixes, balance adjustments, and little things that didn't make it into this announcement. Read the full changelog for more information.

What's Next?

I have a long list of things that I would love to improve. On the immediate horizon are:

• Sound Effects and Music

• Monster Behavior Overhaul

• Even more variety in weapons and apparel

• More side quests

• Prepararing for Localization