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.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
New Character Profiles
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.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
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.
- 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.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
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:
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)