Party-based roguelike (open-source strategy-RPG game).
Major changes from Beta 21:
Fix 1: temporary workaround for #354.
[Before using this version, please read the disclaimer in the previous release.]
This release uses fmedia to play sounds on all platforms. I've noticed that world generation (starting a new game) is very often stalling, crashing or taking a lot longer than it should - so that'll be something to look into later on but, for now, closing the game and restarting it a few times will let you get through the process.
Fix 1: updated district guide and fixed issue learning new summon spells. Fix 2: resampling sound files, #286, #287 and #288. Fix 3: fixes #290 and #293. Fix 4: Removing Urban Events that spontaneously swing reputation Fix 5: fixes #302, #300, (hopefully) #298, #295 and added more debug info for #297. Fix 6 (not yet released), contains fixes for #284 and #301.
[This is a pre-release with "alpha" levels of testing! The wall of text is a progress report for those interested - if you're just stumbling here, don't mistake it for an "official" release!]
This is an unstable release requested by SpiralRazor on Discord but I'll use this opportunity to go over what I've been working on from late 2019 to early 2021. Besides the usual playtesting and minor improvements and some noteworthy developments listed later, the major highlights are Rune Gear, dungeon Branches, Planes and a lot of love going into making each dungeon feel unique.
Let's start with Branches and Planes. This is a complex system that will be the basis for the eventual end-game for Javelin. Speaking plainly, this is an affix-based system where a Dungeon or Wilderness may occasionally branch out into procedurally-generated thematic levels - for example, while exploring a wilderness you may come across an entrance to a Dense forest of evil or a Windy rugged hill. Each branch can create even more branches inside itself, while inheriting characteristics from the areas it spawned from, so be prepared to venture into some deep, dangerous, deranged areas!
Although somewhat basic for the moment, each Branch has been designed with the potential to have anything from unique rewards, to mutated enemies, custom fight mechanics and a whole lot more. This will be a major avenue to adding new content to the game moving forward and with two affixes interacting with each other per instance, each new Branch type added will create dozens of possible scenarios when applied to other branches, map and dungeon types, etc.
Dungeons have gained a lot of personality, with changes that aim to affect not only gameplay but also adding cosmetic-only "hints" meant to give players just enough food-for-thought to spark their imagination. Dungeon decorations (including but not limited to chests, crates and fountains) make each dungeon visually unique - with 7 different decoration categories and almost 400 individual images which the game tries to sensibly mix-and-match to subtly give each dungeon its own particular flavor. The goal here is to give just enough visual feedback to trigger the player imagination, while having some minor gameplay effects such as hosting hidden traps or treasure!
Dungeon lore is an entirely new system that allows players to discover details about dungeons before even entering them - this includes anything from the monsters that inhabit them, to common or rare features to be found inside and even individual items contained in chests! This creates plenty of opportunity for short- and long-term planning - for example:
Speaking of loot, specialized dungeon chests now provide thematic rewards for Dungeon exploration. For example, one of the 8 types of chests is the Bookcase, which can only contain Scrolls - which means magic-heavy parties would want to thoroughly clear a dungeon containing many Bookcases and, conversely if your party has no magic-users, you want to go find more rewarding places to explore elsewhere.
Some of these new types of chests will reward you with Rune Gear which is a major new type of equipment that contains up to two enchantments in it: one is passive and will grant a unit bonuses as soon as its equipped, while the other is active, in the form of a spell that the wearer can now cast once per day - allowing even pure warriors to have access to a strong spell or two and for mages to expand further their versatility and power! There are 20 types of Rune Gear to be found and used, with over 500 individual items already in the game!
With Rune Gear comes also Rune crafting! Build your own Rune Gear by finding or shopping for the 50 runes that empower them. With up to 2 enchantments per piece of gear, there's ample opportunity to tailor your equipment to the needs of your party in each playthrough, no matter how weird or unique your build turns out! You can even give those old items you've found 10 levels back a tune-up by replacing their less impressive enchantments with stronger ones!
Javelin now also has an item identification system, which is a staple of RPGs and the roguelike genre in particular. This only applies to consumable items, giving players the option to use unidentified items even if they're not really sure what's about to happen... which may help them in a desperate situation or force them to adapt on-the-fly to make the most out of an unexpected outcome! Items can be identified either through the Spellcraft skill or by using the Identify spell.
Again: this is an unstable release and while all of these new features are already in the game, many of them aren't polished to the degree I'd want them to be for a full release. There are also more noteworthy changes than the ones discussed so far, check the full list below!
Lots of code changes related to attacks of all types, screens/rendering, etc. Sorry for any issues that might come up, playtesting on this has been fairly minimal - please report any bugs if you're willing to help test this one out!
1.7 is getting closer with each beta! I'm looking forward to further improving the campaign mode and making it the only game mode once again (while making sure all the playstyles found on other modes and minigames are still there). In particular, a change to how Haunts work is in order (with 10 new haunts to be included!) and also to how the end-game works (although this very last part will probably have to wait for 1.8)...
Since this release is coming out only a week after the last beta, which turned out to suffer from performance issues, you may also want to read the changes from that version too :) have fun on your adventures!
Oof, this was a toughie, had to look back as far as 2017 to make sure the changelog was correct :P
Of note is that Javelin now has in-battle game sounds - however, Java sound is... not great. If you're having trouble (especially on Linux), check out the extra option at preferences.properties for a quick fix. If you know of similar fixes for Mac or Windows, please let me know!
Have fun and thanks for helping test the first Javelin beta since 2018!
EDIT: if there seem to be too many Dungeons in the campaign mode, it's because I'm planning on replacing half of them soon with a new type of world location (Wildernesses #237).
(Always keep your Java up-to-date, Javelin won't run on older versions!)
This latest beta includes several (but not all) of the suggestions made in the past few days. It also includes a ton of changes big and small since the last beta back in May. This one is being put out more so that everyone can take a look at the current state of the game rather than actually being a solid/stable/feature-complete release - it may be a little rough around the edges (yes, even for a beta), even though I made sure to clean up all of the more blatant issues I was aware of.
The biggest changes here have been regarding scenarios and mini-games. At this point I have removed as many scenarios and game modes as I have created new ones, since Javelin 1.6 (seriously). During all of this, I'm mostly trying out new ideas, tweaking and balancing them, seeing what works, what doesn't and what really deserves to be an independent game mode or just be integrated into the main game instead somehow. As such, the new modes and mini-games found in this release are definitely works-in-progress: I expect testers will come across bugs, balance issues, gameplay issues, etc. Thanks in advance for being patient - any feedback and help testing and evaluating the new content will be much appreciated :)
Here's a run-down of the current modes and mini-games:
The main game mode (Campaign) has received some love as well and my next short-term goals (besides playtesting and improving the other scenarios and mini-games) are all related to it. Right now I have two main objectives for the Campaign mode:
Described below are the main Campaign features that I'll be working on next, keeping those two major goals in mind. Hopefully when all of them are completed, the new mini-games and scenarios will be more stable as well and that would be a great time to make a proper release of Javelin 1.7!
Wilderness events: special locations around the World map that activate positive, negative or neutral events - explore them at your own peril! They might range from finding a wandering merchant who's willing to sell you some items, to a storm suddenly coming up unexpected or finding some hard-to-access treasure that requires you to have an appropriate skill in order to reach it. Some of these events are immediate, others will stay on the map so you can come back to them later on. These events may be particular to a specific time of the day, terrain, season, weather, etc - but they all should give you an immediate, interesting, strategic choice regardless of your power level.
City events: Towns in the Javelin campaign already have a life of their own - hosting festivals, working on projects and developing cultural traits (either on their own or while being guided by the player). Urban events will breathe even more life into a Town and will happen even if the player isn't there to witness them! A Criminal city might have a notorious heist happen while a Religious village might hold powerful rituals from time to time. Each event will affect the town, the player or the world around it in some meaningful fashion - bringing a whole new layer of unpredictability and dynamics to a Campaign game. Events may be specific to certain town sizes, traits, region... adding even more variety and personality to each town!
Town quests: Once you have freed a hostile Town, they will start offering you quests periodically. The types of quests will be varied, some involving battles and some being peaceful - most of them being tailored to a Town's particular traits and size. All quests are timed, so players must balance between focusing on quests or exploring and reacting to the world around them. Completing a quest successfully will grant you a gold reward and political power!
Diplomacy: periodic events in which you can "trade" your reputation and political capital to earn favors or influence the Towns in the game map - even hostile ones! You could establish alliances with other Towns, force them to grant you safe passage to certain locations, convince caravans to settle across kingdoms, etc. This feature is not meant to be anywhere as complex as traditional diplomacy found in games like Civilization, Stellaris or Master of Magic but it will add a whole new layer of politics and agency to Javelin campaigns!
Natural resources will be fully redesigned along the way to better complement these new features.
Now that we've made a recap of major recent changes and the next major set of changes, let's take a look at some of the minor features implemented since the last beta:
Thanks to everyone who's been active and providing game feedback! Not all of your input has made it into this beta quite yet but hopefully this new release will allow everyone to see how the game's coming along! The final stretch of the road to 1.7 is lying clear ahead and surely many of your pending suggestions and ideas will make it into the next major release! Keep them coming!
Thanks to everyone for your efforts and support. I hope you enjoy this release!
This is the internal beta for the new Dungeon World mode. A public beta will be made shortly after a period of testing and as soon as a few more dungeon Features are added. Testers welcome!
Change highlights:
This is a very work-in-progress beta, released for bug-hunting purposes. Highlights:
Many changes since the previous beta, including: