[Blog Post] Upcoming WP8 / W8 RPG - Demon's Bane

[WaveLightGames]

Added a new level and introduced a new faction ... the goblins. Also, managed to get a level where there are 3 separate factions in play at once. The Ratmen, Goblins and player's faction ... 3 on 3 action.

Also, one of the artists I partner with produced an awesome Samurai model so I'm going to shuffle things around to include him. I'm going to drop the "Air / Lightning mage" and just give the Air / Lightning abilities to the Priestess and make her a healer / buffer / lightning thrower. The Samurai will probably be a lighter armoured but very fast / rapidly attacking melee fighter / archer. He'll have abilities that bless his sword strikes and arrow strikes. Probably the most all rounded character as he could be effective at range with his bow, can take a reasonable amount of punishment due to his armour and can dish out death in melee with his twin swords. Should be fun to develop.

 

[Banh Mi]

Nice work sir, keep up a good work! i'm behind you.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Thanks! Sorry for the delay in updates. Have been working a lot on the game .... so much that I've been too busy to post an update. Some details:

- Added another couple of levels that feature some of the nasty goblin allies / monsters such as the mighty ogres.
- Explored some optimization tricks to reduce number of draw calls so the game shouldn't heat up the phone as quickly as it does.
- Completely redid the GUI in an fantastic new green / emerald glass sceme that I absolutely love.
- Added portraits for all 18 character classes.
- Added new abilities to many of the existing classes.

Here's a screenshot of the new character selection screen that shows the new GUI graphics and the portraits:



Will post some pics soon and perhaps a video once I get it running on my Lumia 925.

 

[WaveLightGames]

A picture of the goblin raiding party with ogres on level 8. Here you can see the new GUI / HUD in action for the main gameplay level.



Here is a picture of the Elf Archer's new abilitye called Phoenix Arrow ... which basically launches a whole slew of burning arrows at a wide area. The arrows explode in really nice fiery explosion.

 

[WaveLightGames]

By the way, anyone else think the elf archer is super hot? Maybe I've been working on this game too long ... probably need some fresh air and family time, I think.

Will release an update middle of next week. I want to finish changes to the GUI and fix some bugs before sending out a new version for playtesting.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Forgot to show this one ... this is the new story screen that will explain what's going on to the player at the beginning of each level:

 

[WaveLightGames]

Also, I think I might have found a way to make this work on 512 MB RAM devices without having to maintain two separate games. I'm going to try coding it so that if the device running the game is low memory, it will skip the player select screen that currently causes it to crash. Instead, the levels will play with 3 characters pre-set characters and I will make those characters stronger and enemies weaker so that it is still playable with only 3 characters rather than a full compliment of 6. I should then be able to leave the rest of the game the same. I'll still have to build it and test it but I suspect it should be enough to get it working.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hi guys, sorry for the delay. I shifted gears briefly to port Gun Frenzy on Android. (check it out here)

Working back on this game now. There is a new Microsoft contest out that I'm going to submit this game for. The deadline is pretty tight though so I'll need to either work through and try and finish this game OR work on the smaller 512MB version of this game and submit that for the contest. The smaller game would be the same game except:

1 - Limited to 3 or 4 characters only (probably a dwarf warrior, elf archer, fire mage and perhaps a female healer or some type of warrior class).

2 - 20 to 30 levels only with a different story line.

3 - Level Up and Inventory may or may not be there. This is just because I'm not sure I'll be able to finish everything in time for the contest deadline. Inventory should be okay but not sure about leveling characters up. I will try to include it.

Otherwise, the game should be very similar and a good, solid RPG experience. The other option would be to work on finishing this larger game and have it released only on 1GB devices and just have the first chapter released for this contest. So finish all 18 character classes and just have something 3 or 4 major quests ... which would be around 24 levels in total and then have chapters 2 and 3 as expansions to be added later? Let me know what you guys think would be the better option.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hi guys,

Sorry for the delay in updates. I set myself a very aggressive goal with this game and am trying to have the 512MB version available within 2 weeks. So I've had my head down and have been plowing through fixing bugs, finishing menus and just trying to get as much done as possible. Things are looking good. I've added a lot more content (including a fearsome dwarf warrior as a new character class) and I've fixed the inventory screens and am working on the leveling up / experience points system now. Should have that done soon and then will work on the shop system and then will churn out another dozen or so levels and hopefully release the smaller version of this game. That will be a free download with ads for revenue ... similar to Gun Frenzy. Will probably add in-app purchases to allow players to buy game gold for real money later on after the initial release.

Once the smaller game is out, I'll work on the larger version which will be more suited for higher end tablets, mobiles and PC / Mac. It'll have the full repetoir of 20 character classes and a much larger campaign / story.

 

[Banh Mi]

A picture of the goblin raiding party with ogres on level 8. Here you can see the new GUI / HUD in action for the main gameplay level.

View attachment 80773

Here is a picture of the Elf Archer's new abilitye called Phoenix Arrow ... which basically launches a whole slew of burning arrows at a wide area. The arrows explode in really nice fiery explosion.

View attachment 80774

Wow! the Elf skill look cool.

 

[Tim Heskith]

Wow this looks amazing, are you planning to add Xbox Live support. Or is it hard to get xbox live added.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Lots of updates have been made. Unfortunately, I got delayed because I'm trying to port Gun Frenzy, my first game, to iOS and that is very difficult. Anyway, that's almost done so I should be able to get back onto this game very soon. For the 512MB version, I'm about 50% completed. I have the skills for the dwarf fighter done as well as the Pyromancer (fire mage) and Storm Seer (Air / Lightning Mage). The Archer still needs her skills finished and them I'm going to test whether the RAM limit will allow me to add another character or not. If so, I'll add the Barbarian / Half Giant, whose skills are already complete.

10 levels completed to date for the 512 MB RAM version. Inventory is done as is the Shop / Vendor system and credits screen ... though there are still bugs to work out in the Vendor system. The 512 MB RAM version is still on track for a late November release. It will either be free with ads or a paid app for $1.99 or something like that. I may release both an ad-supported version and a free version or have an ad-supported version where players can remove ads with an in-app purchase. The larger version will have the full suite of 20 characters and a different campaign but that will be released in the early 2015. That version will be pushing the limits of smartphones / tablets and almost be better suited for PC's but should still run on high end smart phone and tablets well.

Sorry I don't have media to share but I just want to let you know that I'm still working on it actively.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Regarding Xbox Live support, I have no idea what is involved in getting this setup so I don't think I'll be able to do that. I have limited resources and I don't want to add any further complications that might delay a November release. Sorry about that.

 

[Banh Mi]

Hello again sir, any new on this project? Cant wait to play another beta update version. Send me to : x357159x@live.com .

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hey guys ... sorry for the lack of updates. I've actually just been working on the game (and updating Gun Frenzy) like crazy and have had no time for posting updates. Anyway, here goes ....

Current status of Demon's Bane is that chapter one is done. That's 20 complete levels with a wide assortment of enemies such as ratmen, goblins, ogres, undead and demons. Looking really good and I'm going through the tweaking / bug fixing phase. I should be able to submit for certification around the end of next week. I have a week off from my day job so should have enough time to clean up the game enough for an initial release.

I've done some testing and managed to get a version of the game with only 6 characters working smoothly on an iPad mini, iPhone 4s and iPad 2 .... all of which are 512 MB RAM devices. I'm hoping this means that the 6 character version will also work smoothly on windows phones with 512 MB of RAM. I may submit the game as a 1GB only on launch if I don't have sufficient time to test on 512MB RAM devices but will work on updates to make it compatible with such devices after launch.

Other changes include the development of a new character. He's the Elven Paladin and is a knight with magic powers. Also turned the existing wich character into a full necromancer and she can summon skeletons and other undead to do her bidding. Most characters that will be ready for launch have their full quota of abilities available. Will post screen shots shortly ... I just haven't had time to take any lately.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hi guys,

Some new screenshots ... working on trailer now. Then I'll be updating the code to try to yet again make it work on 512MB RAM devices. Will be sending out versions to playtesters then.

The following are the main title screens and team selection screens:

Here is the updated player selection screen. Players choose 6 characters for each play through out of a current roster of 20 character classes. Character classes include some interesting classes such as Elven Paladins, Vampires, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Orc Berserkers as well as the usual suspects found in RPG's. Each class has a specific play style and special abilities so a play through with a different party will be a very different experience ... hopefully adding to the game's replay value.

Gameplay is tactical and the AI is smart as it leverages cover and focuses on trying to kill wounded player characters. Combat rules are based on some pretty complex RPG mechanics but all the calculations are done by the system and then just presented to the player as % chance to hit or get a critical hit and so on. Before making an attack on an enemy, this information is presented to the player in a small info box, as shown below:

Here you can see an example of a zoomed in action cam shot.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hi guys, here's today's progress report. I've fixed a few bugs and have finalized the High Elf Archer's abilities and beginning statline and character description. Here's the character's summary from the player select screen:

High Elf Archer by raj_dhillon, on Flickr

High Elf Archer 2 by raj_dhillon, on Flickr

She's a dedicated archer and probably the character most focused purely on doing damage at range and avoiding melee combat. She can buff her own shooting skills, shoot powerful elemental arrows (ice, fire, etc.) and even summon a Spirit Wolf companion to tie up her enemies in melee while she continues to shoot at them.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[Banh Mi]

Hi guys, here's today's progress report. I've fixed a few bugs and have finalized the High Elf Archer's abilities and beginning statline and character description. Here's the character's summary from the player select screen:

[url]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7482/15288571323_83701a2812.jpg[/url]High Elf Archer by raj_dhillon, on Flickr

[url]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7466/15882423086_1a5714b3da.jpg[/url]High Elf Archer 2 by raj_dhillon, on Flickr

She's a dedicated archer and probably the character most focused purely on doing damage at range and avoiding melee combat. She can buff her own shooting skills, shoot powerful elemental arrows (ice, fire, etc.) and even summon a Spirit Wolf companion to tie up her enemies in melee while she continues to shoot at them.

http://youtu.be/YYo337zn2KU

Please let me know what you think.

please send us a beta version.

 

[DreadVenom]

Hi WaveLightGames, just wondering if updates are still happening for this game. I haven't been able to access my forum account for a while so haven't been able to ask this question.

Thanks again.

 

[WaveLightGames]

hi guys,

Sorry for the lack of updates. The game is on track for a release this coming June. I've been tied up with the iOS version lately but the work done on iOS is easily transferable to Windows Phone. Will keep you posted. I may do a quick round of beta testing in June again.