Better precision selecting objects, Comments on suggestions, a new help window and more...

Update: I've uploaded a fix to a bug that crashed the game for many players when you tried to use the new selection feature mentioned below. New Version: v0.2.3.35.



Today's release (v0.2.3.33) brings changes to the game engine and the website:

1. Better precision when selecting items on the map

One frequently mentioned issue had to do with the way you select items that are overlapping each other. The problem was that you wanted to select some loot from the ground, but there was also another object or creature in the way. Before, you wouldn't be able to just select that object. Instead would have to move the creature out of the way first. That would become a big issue, if there were more than 2 or 3 items or creatures over the same spot.

To solve this problem, you can now use the Control key with the Mouse in order to select and cycle through each item overlapping one another. (This works with both Left and Right Control +Left Mouse).

Once you press Control, you will see a little yellow indicator around the mouse, letting you know that you are in select mode. There is a priority built in which determines the type of item that is selected first:

1. Your Units.
2. Enemy Units.
3. Neutral Units. 
4. Objects.

It wasn't so easy to demonstrate,  but the following gif kind of shows how i'm cycling through 2 units and mushrooms that are on the ground, depending if the creature is in the collision rectangle determines if it is going to be selected and cycled. You can also see that I'm pressing Control because of the yellow circle that appears: 

It is also worth mentioning that the selection cycle does remember the items it has selected previously. It does so by storing a reference to each item or creature. This is helpful when an item is at some point in the list but then at another point is not any longer. This can become apparent in the above example when you see a minion walk in and then out of the area where I am trying to select. So what that means is that the order in which the items are selected and cycled through is preserved, even if a minion walks in and out of that selection area. 

2. Comment on suggestions

The built-in feedback system allows players to submit feedback, suggestions, bugs, and more. Today, I am adding the ability to write comments on each post that is submitted. This allows you to discuss with other players each post. Depending on how well this works, I will probably add more functionality in time. Here is a screenshot showing the comments section to the right: 

3. New Help Window

There used to be a help window that explained how to play dungeon colony. This was very old and had outdated information in it. I have updated the help window to use some of the newer features of the engine and included new tips. To access the help window, click on the question mark button in the right menu:

4. Website Updates

The website has also some new updates. The contact page has more information about development and the shopping cart has 4 new ways to buy or support the game. You can now even Give What You Want to send us a contribution to help keep development going. 

Here is a summary of all the changes in version 0.2.3.33:

• Adds ability to comment on any feedback.
• Comments include comment, date, user, and optional response by developer.
• Improves precision of selecting objects and creatures on the map.
• Adds Control +Mouse click to cycle through objects and creatures overlapping each other.
• Improves Input Class.
• Changes Font on most Text Areas to use Currier New.
• Increases the quest description text area size to fit text with the new increased font.
• Reworks the Help windows, showing new tips on how to Play Dungeon Colony.
• Adds new Purchase options to the web-site.
• Updates the Contact web-site. 
• Fixes bug when saving Levels without description.
• Fixes issue with attacking when creatures are already facing each other.
• Fixes issue with Enemies being stuck on map.

Pine Trees add new wood source to Dungeon Colony

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pay What You Want is back: If you haven't reserved your copy of Dungeon Colony yet, you can get a mega deal today for Cyber Monday and buy Dungeon Colony for just $0.79 and save 84% ($4.99 regularly). The Sale allows you to set your own price and pay $0.79 or more if you wish :-).

Get Dungeon Colony Cyber Monday Deal ($0.79)

Also new today is the next release to version 0.2.3.24. The release adds a couple new objects to the engine, namely Pine trees and the Beer Barrel. Here's a screenshot combining the two:

The release also adds new crafting recipes to the objects that were introduced in the last couple of updates a few weeks ago. Here is a screenshot showing a few examples:

Finally, I fixed some of the weights of most objects and show how much anything weighs when it is selected on the map. Weight is important as it impacts how much a minion can carry and how it affects walking speed.

Next, I will probably focus again on the campaign mode, fix some bugs or continue on unit behavior... if you have any comments, please send me your feedback!

20 New Objects Added to Dungeon Colony

Hello Dungeon Masters!

The release from yesterday, November 23 adds an array of new objects to the game. You can find these objects in the editor and create your own levels to place them. Some of these objects can be crafted, and the crafting recipes will be made available soon.

The new objects include:

A wooden bench, wooden chair, small wooden table, large wooden table, round wooden table, buffet, 3 books, a scroll, a plate, a diamond, spider venom, 2 tomb stones, a stone cross, an anvil, a candle stand, and a stone crypt:

The next screenshot puts some of these objects into perspective showing them in a dungeon setting (click to enlarge):

What's next ? ... a bit more art I think. I have some new trees to add to the engine.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.3.10

Hi Dungeon Masters, 

Dungeon Colony (v.0.2.3.10) is out. This release includes a few new things that I've been working on last, random things mostly. E.g. you will find that I reorganized the tool box icons and put them in their own window frame. 

I also added a new set of fonts and will start implementing them throughout the engine. 

The TextArea controls include the new font capability (see Main Menu Screen). Additionally, TextAreas also have a new look as well as new scroll-bars that disappear. 

Besides the UI changes, I have also started on two other game concepts. One, is improved minion behavior, I am going to upgrade how minions use their resources and how their basic needs are met. For one, if a minion isn't doing anything, then the food and stamina bars are not going to be affected. This will prevent drainage and only consume resources if the minion is actually doing something. The second feature I've been working with is 'rooms'. This is still a proof of concept, but the goal is to give creatures rooms that they own instead of having them sleep anywhere on the ground. While I'm still working on the design of these features, I will probably side step and begin adding new craft-able objects and blue prints. 

Until next time...

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.3.0

Today's release updates Dungeon Colony to 0.2.3.x. The release is a major milestone as it includes all of the features that I initially set out to accomplish for this game. This is quite a long time ago, so a lot of new goals have been added since then. I'm also releasing a new Map Editor to the game. With the first version of the editor completed, I am excited to move back into game design. There are a lot of game elements that have been waiting to be completed. You can also expect new content in the next major release.

Summary of updates in 0.2.3.0 include:
1. Updating usernames.
2. Newsletter opt-in.
3. New: In-Game Map Editor.

1. Some Dungeon Colony usernames are currently set to the email address. Many account holders have requested the ability to change usernames. This feature is available and can be accessed here:

http://dungeoncolony.com/MyAccount

Upcoming features in Dungeon Colony will allow you to interact with other players. To protect your email address, any user account that still uses the email address as the username will not be able to use these features until the username is changed.

Additionally, you can also do the following on your account page:

• Change your email address.
• Change your account password.
• Change your username.
• Set your newsletter preferences.
• Access your game passcode.

2. I am launching a news-letter to send you development updates. In order to sign up and receive it I created an easy way for you to to opt-in: simply log into the game and check mark the Dev-Updates Newsletter button in the Main Menu. That’s it! You can also opt-in/out from the website listed above. If you would like to continue receiving email updates, please sign up for my news letter. (NOTE: This email is not a news-letter type email and you will not receive anymore email communication from Dungeon Colony in the future unless you sign up for news-letters. If you have opted-out you may still receive important emails regarding your account with us)

3. A few months ago I created a game editor that allows you to draw maps, add quest, configure properties of objects and creatures, include/exclude enemy waves, and add specific level winning and loosing conditions (... and much much more).

Today, I am releasing the editor to the public. The editor is still in a rough shape around the edges, nonetheless, if you haven’t already, you can try out the first level I created using the editor. On the campaign map, this level is called “First Arrival”. I am very interested in hearing your feedback, suggestions or wishes regarding the editor.

What's next? I am going to start adding new content including new craft-able objects and I am also starting to upgrade an existing game feature. Stay tuned for more updates.

Feedback & Voting System - Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.2.14

It's been almost 2 weeks since I've had a larger sale where you were able to set your own price and buy Dungeon Colony for as little as $0.01, yes one cent. The reason for the sale was the completion of version 0.2.1.x - Game Audio. I love these kinds of sales as they give everyone a chance to get the game and play it during alpha development. This can be a really good thing if you need to get a bit more feedback from actual players. And so it did: The response was great and the demand crippled my server. Moreover, I received an influx of emails which took an eternity to respond to. To overcome all of these issues I created a new way for players to communicate with me which I'm releasing today in version 0.2.2.14 (Try it now here free). 

The In-Game Feedback System with Votes:

In order to organize all the bugs, comments, questions and feature requests in one place, I've long been wanting to use a forum of some sort where players can post such things. One solution had been to use an existing forum that's on some website, but there are forums just about everywhere: There is a forum on steam, indiedb, tigsource etc. And players have submitted bugs on all those platforms before, which leaves me with the problem that bugs are scattered around the web making it difficult for me to track them.

As a result I'm releasing a new experimental system where players can send me feedback from within the game.This system can be accessed from the Main Menu (see 'Feedback' button), but you have to be a registered user in order to send me something. Demo users do not have access to this.

The following screenshot is the Feedback List page. It shows all of the currently open bugs, suggestions, questions and feedback:

Any feedback that is submitted will not be shown immediately on the list page. I will first review it to make sure it is relevant and not spammy.

Vote Count, Up-votes, and Yes/No Votes:

Every player who as purchased an account gains access to the voting system. There are 4 categories of requests:

• Bugs
• Suggestions
• Questions
• Feedback

Users can vote on each of these categories, however, for bugs and suggestions each player gets only a total of 2 votes to distribute. For example, if a player likes a particular feature request she can vote for it. That leaves her with another vote to be used on another feature request or another bug. Votes cannot be undone. So be careful what you vote on. However, once a bug or suggestion has been completed, the vote is recycled back to the player, which she can use again on another item.

On the other hand, votes for Questions and Feedback are unlimited and help reveal the more interesting questions or feedback submissions.

Bugs, questions and feedback can only be up-voted, which causes the most voted item to appear at the top of the list. Suggestions on the other-hand have a YES or NO vote. This should help me determine the sentiment of the community over each feature request and whether I will end up creating it or not. Suggestions are merely for smaller feature requests and I will generally not take any larger game design requests.

The above screenshot shows how a request is submitted. 

Username Changes Now Possible

Many players have asked if they could change their username. Until now this wasn't possible, but I have just added this function on the Dungeon Colony Website:

After you login, you will see a link next to the username field with the label '(change)'.

Usernames must be between 8-20 characters long and be alphanumeric as well as may contain the '_' character.

Additionally, if you couldn't reset your password, the Forgot Password page is now fixed.

Ambients vs Background Music

Ambient & Music 

In Dungeon Colony music and sound has been on the side lines for much of development. This is not always a good idea, as sound can not only tremendously increase immersion into the game, but also can have ties to game mechanics.

Nonetheless, as a developer, you may find yourself in the same situation as I have been: little experience in sound design and no budget to buy music when your idea is still young and fresh. Of course, you can always use free samples available on the net or find other means to get free audio and use that as a placeholder until you can figure out what actual sound effects and musical tunes will be in the final version. I don't like using placeholders because they create an atmosphere that isn't what you really want, and if you don't want it, there is no reason to use them in the first place and confuse the player (given that you are programming with early access).

dSonic

A few months ago, after GDC, I met with a sound design studio which shared a lot of the values that I find important in game audio: Instead of playing distracting music tunes in the background over and over, I believe that ambient sounds are far more outreaching and immerse. I don't think that eliminating all music from a game-play is good either, but it can be used to indicate changes or events rather than being non functional. For example a short set of battle tunes inform the player that a fight is about to break out or happening somewhere on the map; or a soft musical short can indicate a change in time of day, etc.

The studio that has made the first set of audio for Dungeon Colony is dSonic. This studio has actually made audio for larger titles such as Bioshock and Eve Online. However, those guys working at dSonic are very much engaged in the indie community and offer their services for indies with a special licencing deal. Since releasing Dungeon Colony for public early access, I've been able to generate enough dough to hire dSonic and I'm happy to have finished this first set of sound and music.

Pay What You Want

As a result, I am going to offer Dungeon Colony again for a reduced pre-beta cost of "Pay What You Want" =)... my favorite way of paying for games. So please, if you like Dungeon Colony, tell your friends about it, share it on facebook, follow me on twitter and help me get the word out, so that I can bring Dungeon Colony into beta stage.

New Character Profiles

Please vote for Dungeon Colony on Steam

Dungeon Colony - Beta is coming closer and closer!! Ever since I started working on this game I've always worked on all parts simultaneously: Game Engine, Features, Art, Audio, Web, etc... adding bit by bit, similarly to how I would work on a paining.
Continuing this trend, I've recently added new character profiles for each creature that is currently or will soon be available in the game. For the Beta release, the following characters will be included:

• The spiders live in dungeons. They like darkness to prey on their victims.
• The Dungeon Master and his minion are the creatures you control (center column). 
• The boar is the only friendly NPC which roams the grasslands.
• To the right are the Hero creatures which will raid your dungeon for all your treasures.
• Skeletons are new creatures which will be available in the game soon. 

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.1.0

Hello!

It has been a few weeks since my last post. Not only have we been really busy, but we have also made great progress. Today's release (v0.2.1.0) moves Dungeon Colony once again closer to Beta stage and reaches two major milestones: new Audio and new Levels.

But first, please check out Dungeon Colony on the indie game store: itch.io.

The addition of audio has significantly improved the feeling of playing the alpha. It finally adds that missing feedback and allows you to immerse yourself more into the world. I am working with an amazing Studio which not only has worked on AAA titles such as Bioshock, Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion or Eve Online but also gives Indies like me a chance for quality audio.

Also new is a full Level which makes use of the latest version of the built-in Level Editor. Here is a a screenshot:

This level is the first level for the new Campaign game mode. It introduces the player to the main game mechanics, such has creature control (move, fight), resource collection, crafting and enemy waves.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.96

Hello Minions,

I've taken a small detour from my regular game development objectives to concentrate on improving the game controls to respond to a lot of requests to make them less confusing. It's quite insane that the controls have been almost the same since development began, at least when it comes to the mouse  button designations for most of the primary commands.

Get Dungeon Colony Early Access Now!  Version 0.2.0.96

The old commands used to select units and object with the left mouse and command them using the right mouse. This also applied to items in an inventory: You would select left and move (in or out of inventory) using the right mouse. This wasn't very intuitive given the difference between units and objects that can be selected on the map.

The new controls are mostly completely left click: Please give it a try and let me know if there is anything you would change.

If you are already familiar with the old controls or like the controls just the way they were then you can go back and switch between them in the updated Settings menu:

On the left is a new column for "Custom Controls". Here you can switch between the left/right mouse control settings. Any future customizations will be added to this area.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.80

Today's release (v0.2.0.80) improves existing features, fixes various game crashing bugs caught by the exception handler and continues on the Audio implementation.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixes bug when loading level from server.
• Fixes Nullpointer exception due to when copying entities.
• Fixes bug when some resolutions caused mouse input to crash the game.

Feature Improvements:

• Completes Shader implementation in Level Editor. (FOW & Borders).
• Prevents Spiders from stealing from or attacking objects.
• Begins with integration of first Sound effects and a new Audio Engine.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.67

Today's version (v0.2.0.67) continues adding features to the Campaign Map. The first thing we've added is the new art-work for the campaign map, which includes the map itself and a range of icons to represent different levels and quests.

Here is a screenshot of the map and some of the prototype icons:

This map will be used for the campaign game mode, which is one of the 3 modes available (Tutorial, Campaign, and Sandbox). If you have an early access account, you can navigate to the new map, but there isn't much you can do yet. Visit the Road-To-Beta ToDo List to find out more about the progress on the campaign map and other features we are currently working on.

Summary of changes for this release:

• Adds new Campaign Map Prototype.
• Adds new Campaign Map Icons.
• Adds new Campaign Map Level Info Frame.
• Adds backend features to store player completed levels.
• Adds new ground tiles to Level Editor.
• Fixes DropDownList bug.
• Fixes various Bugs in Level Editor.
• Fixes Shader Issues with Mountain Borders.
• Fixes Issues with frame borders.
  
  

March Update

Hi everyone,


It's been some days since I've posted news so let me share a bit more about what's happening in the realms of Dungeon Colony. For one, I took a break to recharge inspirational batteries. Some of this happened during GDC and there was a lot of good that came again from this year's conference: I am seriously looking into adding audio to Dungeon Colony!!

Finding Audio has been much more difficult than visual art. I have a much clearer idea in my head of how I want Dungeon Colony to look like, but when it comes to audio it's a different story. I can see several styles, but haven't focused in on the right one yet. All I know is that ambiance is super important to me. I have found a professional studio which works with AAA titles, but who also works with indies. This is all I want to share for now, since everything is in its infancy. But I'm excited =)

Of course, I found some time to code, so I continued a bit on the Beta-Road-Map-ToDo-List. I am currently working on the Level Editor. While its functional, there are soo many loose ends that I still need to fix.

At the same time, another item from the to-do list is the Campaign Map. The campaign map will allow the player to choose and play levels or side quests. The art for the map is almost done and it looks great. I will write a post in the coming days and show the final version of the map, so stay tuned...


There are only a few days left for the Early Access March Discount, support us by getting an account. Thank you!

Beta Progress Log

Last Sunday (3/16), my wonderful business partner and I sat down in our favorite café and discussed the plans to move Dungeon Colony to Beta. We came up with the following list of high level items.

As I have done before, I will use this blog post to keep track of progress on each of these items. If you want to find out about the progress, come back and revisit this post. There are many sub-tasks involved in each ToDo list item which I'll start adding as we work on them.

Orange = Pending
Blue = Work In Progress
Green = Complete

Last Updated: 04/13/2014

The Alpha-to-Beta ToDo list:

• Music/Sound
• Found and contracted production team for sound/music.
• First set of sound assets are in production & implrementation. 
• Adding new audio engine to configure sound effects and control playback based on map locations. 
• Campaign Map (Pre-Requisite: New Art)
• Creating new game frame for Campaign Map.
• Adding new placeholder for campaign world map.
• Adding Location Buttons that load a level.
• Adding Level Chain for Campaign.
• Adding support to the campaign map to show completed levels & next playable level and hide remaining uncompleted levels. 
• Storing completed level info with user data on server.
• New Art completed (new World Map + new Map Icons). 
• Adding new window for processing world map levels. 
• Adding additional world-map-icon functionality.  
• Level Editor fully functional
• Fixing DropDownLists in Quest Creator.
• Adding Tab-Focus to various controls to Editor Settings frame
• Adding Tab-Focus functionality to DropDownList
• Fixes border shadow when placing granite.  
• Adding Ground tiles to editor tool box.
• Adding close buttons to various tool frames in editor.
• Campaign Levels
• Game Player Profiles
• Creature Character Window for Equipment and Skill Management (To replace the current skill frame)

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.46

In this version (v0.2.0.46), I  added the next toolbox for wall building to the side menu. When selected, it allows the player to choose between Dirt, Rock and Stone walls. It works just like the flooring tool where you to place new ground tiles. Once you choose a destination for the wall, your minions will try to find the necessary resources stored in any of your containers and then proceed to construction. Each requires 4 raw material of it's type. The resource count is subject to balancing.

Along the way, I improved how all 5 tools are deselected. Now you can simply right click to deselect the tool. Before, it was more like an annoying guessing game.

This new wall tool replaces the former way of building new walls. Previously, you had to craft stone blocks in the workbench before you could place them on the ground to make a wall. It was taking too long to get walls build and took much of the fun of dungeon building away. Now, if you have the resources stored, building walls is only one click away.

Here is a short gif animation showing how much simpler wall building has become:

Summary of Improvements in this version:

• Adds new Wall building toolbox. 
• Removes old wall block crafting recipes.
• Adds right-click toolbox deselect capability.
• Removes Email from Login screen. If you username is your email, then that'll work. 
• Fixes issue with username on website
• Fixes bug that caused the selection frame to remain on the screen, even after the object was removed from the game.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.42

Grunt!

We are finally on Steam Greenlight! Please vote and get Early Access at DungeonColony.com!

New in 0.2.0.42:

The dungeon needs air again, that is, if there is an entrance to the dungeon and if the level has enemies trying to enter the dungeon from outside. As a player, you can close the dungeon off by placing a wall at the entrance. Anyone trapped inside will start loosing air-points. Once depleted, life points will drop.

The air algorithm has always been part of the game engine. I turned it off a while ago when working on the tile map. The Alpha testers found out quickly about it and thus it was time to turn it back on.

As a result, I also made significant improvements to the enemy AI: Since dungeon layout and design is left to the player's imagination, the AI has to make somewhat realistic choices when faced with multiple directions. For example, if an enemy walks down a corridor with a room to the right, should he walk on or enter the room ?

The new algorithm helps the enemy make those decisions. While this is the foundation for enemy movement, I've been long working on an 'actual' AI based algorithm (one that learns as opposed to one that's just decision tree based). It's not done yet, but the progress looks promising.

I also created a new mining smoke/particle gif animation :

Summary:

New:

• Adds new Animation when a wall is destroyed (see gif).

Improvements:

• Re-introduces air need. Prevents player from closing off the dungeon with a wall.
• Improves Enemy AI navigation. 
• Improved order-cancelling logic when minions cannot perform a command for any reason. 
• Fixes bug that crashed the game when placing ground tiles. 
 

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.38

Today's version (v0.2.0.38) fixes a few bugs discovered by alpha tester (thanks Matt & Rob!!). Additionally, I've also added some new animations when the boar eats grass. In the past few weeks, I've worked a lot on game engine features. Most of my time went on improving Path-finding and Minion AI. I made significant progress in both areas, but I'm releasing only the advances in Minion AI. The Path-finding Improvements need a bit more maturity.

There was a bigger bug that kept freezing your minions in certain situations. This had to do with a loop when a path couldn't be found. It would have been simple to patch this bug up, but instead I reworked how command assignment is managed and made significant improvements to the command game engine. I still have some other features that I want to add to the improved AI system, but I'll work on those in a few weeks. For now, I need to make sure that the new system works flawlessly. So please help me test this version and let me know if you encounter any strange behavior in your minions. Thanks =).

Summary of this release:

Improvements:

• Improves Minion Command AI. 

New Artwork:

• Adds new Boar eat-grass animation.

Game Balancing:

• Reduces the visibility of Archers

Bug Fixes:

• Fixes bug that prevented the close button from working on certain frames.
• Fixes bug that displayed the object's rotate button when the object couldn't rotate.
• Fixes issue with Level Up indicator.
• Fixes bug that prevented the leg-trap quest from being completed in Sandbox Mode.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.25

Get Early Access @: DungeonColony.com

Today's release (v0.2.0.25) adds a new feature to the game that I've been waiting for a long time: Custom Ground Tiles. Now, the player is able to place these tiles and change the look and feel  of the dungeon. This also lays the foundation for a future feature: rooms (TBA). Check out the following video to see digging dirt and laying tiles in action:

The following is a screenshot shows all of the different tile types available:

Also new in this release (v0.2.0.25):

•  New Flooring Frame allows you to choose between the 3 new tile sets but also allows you to put dirt back on the ground. 
• Adds new AI Behavior allowing Minions to find the necessary resources to build ground tiles.

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.19

Hello,
Welcome back, but if this is your first time on this blog, please go to DungeonColony.com and get your Early-Access account to play the game as it is being developed. Right now you can get the game for only $5. This helps pay our bills such as server costs, business costs, new content costs and much much more. Without your help Dungeon Colony cannot exist. So Thank You!
The newest addition to the game is digging. Yes, your minions just got a shovel and can dig up dirt from the ground. Digging up dirt provides one dirt resource. You can dig up dirt inside and outside of the world. This new feature lays the foundation for an upcoming related feature, ground tiles. Soon your minions will be able to decorate your dungeon with different tile types. The prerequisite was therefore to give your minions the ability to clean up any dirt in order to have an even and clean space to place beautiful tiles. So now that I revealed this little secret, you can expect tiles in a soon to be released feature update.

Check out the following screenshot where my minions are cleaning up the dungeon dirt:

Summary for release 0.2.0.19:
- Ability for minions to dig up grass and dirt tiles. (Dirt provides one dirt resource.)
- Fixes bug that didn't allow non-US Keyboards to input certain characters. Thanks Eletrusith!
- Other fixes and adjustments. 

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.11

This version adds some new graphic content and balances the game in a few areas. Big thanks goes to StmpwrdBear for helping with the balancing and finding bugs for this version. 

Summon Animation

I've added a new animation that plays when you summon a minion from a Shrine. The shrine requires a red gem stone to power it up. With the red gem in place, the shrine generates mana power. When the Shrine is charged, you can summon a minion which will consume the red gem. Check out the following video to view the new animation:

Other Changes

In addition to the new animation, I also updated a the placeholder coin used in the header row (the bottom is the new one) :

I also re-balanced some game elements, reducing the number of spiders that spawn. Now it's a function of the game difficulty times a constant.

Additionally, most game objects' life-points have been increased. It was way too easy for bandits to destroy your dungeon-furniture:

Object	LP Before	LP After
StockPiles	60	300
Wood Chest	100	150
Crate	100	150
Dining Table	50	300
Workbench	50	300
Iron Door	250	400
Wood Door	150	200
Barrel	30	75
Clay Pot	5	30
Alchemy bar	400	300
Book Shelf	100	200
Book Stand	50	100
Fire Bowl	200	400
Furnace	400	500

Finally I changed the life-bar that is shown when a creature is hit from red to green. So much better =)

Dungeon Colony Version 0.2.0.1

Yesterday, I released a new version (v0.2.0.1) which includes a range of new improvements and features. As a result, we posted the game on Steam Greenlight Concepts to increase it's visibility and we also moved development from 'pre-alpha' into just 'alpha' since the game engine contains most of the high level requirements. We shift our focus to mid-level game features such as creature development, mid level game logic, new objects and creatures, creature and resource management... to name a few.

The most significant change of this release is the completion of the Level Editor and the first set of Tutorial levels made using this editor. The are 5 new levels which explain how to:

1. Move Creatures
2. Move Objects
3. Collect Resources
4. Activate Objects
5. Craft Objects. 

With the new Level Editor,  I've also created new Level and Level-Chain Classes that keep track of level winning/losing conditions and connect the levels with each other, in order to load the proper levels once the player completes one.

Levels are stored on the server so that whenever we complete a new level or make changes to an existing level, the player will automatically have the latest sets of level.

The following screenshot is from the level "Activate Objects" and it shows a new 'Quest Completed' popup, which informs the player about quest progress:

Here is a Summary of the remaining changes in this release:

New Features:

• New Tutorial Level window with 5 new tutorial levels. Check back for more soon!
• New Save/Load window with map preview.
• Improved UI window with improved navigation.
• New Quest completed notification.
• New Level class that shows level won/lost notifications.
• New Level Chains that allow levels to be loaded once it's parent level was completed.
• Improves Mini Map with creatures proportional to the size on map.
• Improves creature AI.
• Improves Level Editor.
• Upgrades Web-Server.
• Recreates game-save storage methods on server.
• Combines all logins into one login screen at startup.
• Updates the website.

Bug Fixes:

• Path finding improvements
• Fixes bugs with shadows
• Fixes various bugs that crashed the game.

Dungeon Colony First Early Access Trailer

Greetings Dungeon Masters!

We hope you had a nice winter break; we sure did! But we've been hard at work in the past weeks of this new year to bring new updates to Dungeon Colony. And we have a lot of news and things to show. Starting off, I would like to share is our new trailer to Dungeon Colony. It shows off what the engine can do, and what game play will be like:



We've done a lot of changes to the infrastructure of the game by upgrading the server, and optimizing how server calls are made. We've got more room for online game saves and have laid the foundation to future online game options. We have also made changes to the website by removing pages that were out-dated and took way too much time to maintain.

The next blog post will introduce the changes made to the new release 0.2.0.1. Get access to this new version right now at DungeonColony.com/Download.