Hello everyone.
Quite some time has passed since the release of the Irsen 0.43 demo. Over the past weeks, I gathered the new work I had done and prepared the next public version: 0.451.
In today’s devblog, I want to go through the changes included in this version.
Loot and Gene Extraction.
Genes no longer drop randomly from enemies. Starting with version 0.451, the player extracts genes directly from the bodies of defeated opponents. For each enemy in battle, the player receives two gene extraction attempts. After combat, you can select any defeated enemy and check which gene archetypes can be extracted from its body, and with what probability.
Then, by pressing the gene extraction button, the player spends one attempt. If the extraction succeeds, the resulting gene will have the desired archetype with the listed probability. This allows the player to intentionally try to obtain genes of specific archetypes for building their character. Chests still remain the only way to guaranteedly obtain a gene of a specific archetype.
Mobs and Bosses.
The core gameplay systems are now stable and developed enough that I can spend more time not only on invisible internal systems, but also on filling the game world with more content.
Version 0.43 had five enemy types. As I mentioned in earlier devblogs, enemy group size progresses depending on the current floor.
In practice, this meant that starting from floor 4, enemy group composition became too predictable: all five enemy types were already expected to appear in the squad.
In version 0.451, I added two more enemies: the Crusher Golem and the Gene Engineer. On floor 4, this already creates 9 random group variations.
The Crusher Golem is an enemy that deals damage with a two-handed weapon and tries to take a position in the front row. Unlike other damage dealers, it cannot apply damage-over-time effects and instead spends all of its turns dealing direct physical damage.
The Gene Engineer is an enemy that fills the buffer role in enemy groups. During battle, it tries to stay in the back row, protected by allies. From there, it applies buffs to allies, increasing their attack power and psionic power.
In addition, a second boss has been added to the game: the Synthetic Golem.
World Map and Battle Map.
The previous version of the map mostly consisted of empty gray tiles.
I started filling the map with new materials and details. This is the first step in visual polishing for the maps. Walls, floors, and rocks now have textures. I also added river and bridge generation to the map generator. These rivers can be toxic sludge, lava, or ordinary water.
World Objects.
I started adding world objects that can be encountered while exploring the dungeon. These objects can be interacted with. At the current stage, they provide the player with a reward chosen from a random pool. The player can receive a useful resource, healing, corruption reduction, or map scouting. In the future, I will continue filling the world map with more content.
Global Interface Systems.
I added two systems that improve game usability.
The first one is the Bio Scanner. It is located to the right of the player panel. It can report summary information about the character, such as broken gene chains, disconnected implants, or a full inventory.
The second one is the Field Dosimeter. It is located to the left of the player panel. It measures and displays the current background radiation. I may describe these two systems in more detail in one of the later devblogs.
Implants.
I will write a separate devblog about implants themselves later. But starting with version 0.451, I added the ability to physically observe implants in battle as objects. On the battlefield, they are represented as small drones hovering over the cells behind the player.
Now the player can see when an implant activates and which target it chooses. I also added a visual effect for this. An implant that has already spent all of its charges during combat will automatically shut down and land on the ground. In the previous version, all of these actions could only be seen in the combat log.
AOE Attacks.
I completed the transition from pseudo-parallel AOE attacks to truly parallel strikes. Previously, after pressing the attack button, the character performed attacks against each affected enemy one by one. Now the attack is executed against all targets simultaneously. This both speeds up the flow of combat and improves these effects visually.
Combat and Visual Effects.
First, the slow combat mode has been removed. Now there are only fast and normal modes. In the next version of the game, I plan to speed up both modes by another 20–25%.
Second, I reworked enemy positioning in combat and environment generation. Rocks should no longer generate in the lower part of the battlefield and block the player’s view, while enemies should now be placed more spread out across the field.
I added many visual effects for melee attacks, AOE attacks, and charged attacks.
I also added visual presentation for the tank’s Taunt. Now, while the tank has taunt effects active, it stands in front of the whole group and holds a raised shield in front of itself.
Melee attacks are now performed from a position in front of the target. Units first move into position for the strike, and then perform the attack.
Version 0.451 will soon become available for download. For me, this is not a final point, but the next public development slice: the game has become faster, clearer, and visually richer. And I am already continuing work on the next version.