Update 0.11

Hello everyone!

So this last week ended up being pretty brutal for me. I had been avoiding running characters through Yendor for awhile and I was not prepared for just how broken and primitive the zone felt compared to the rest of the game. It really was an area that was balanced and designed in a different era and it really showed. 

I spent the whole first half of the week coming up with all sorts of ideas for how I'd like this zone to eventually work. I got to implementing a few of these ideas but quickly realized that I just didn't have the time prior to Web-Release to do what I'd really like. So a lot of time this week was spent on stuff that hasn't even made it into this update but rather is now building up in another one of those 'idea files' for later. I feel like this wasn't time wasted as I now have a much better idea of what I'd like this zone to eventually transform into but that left me with the problem of needing to do something for Web-Release.

So for this update I simply started to rework the existing level and tried to incorporate a little bit of my long term vision where possible. This is definitely a compromise in the sense that I'm going to try to get the best set of levels I can for Web-Release but really in the long term this is all likely going to be replaced. A bit frustrating for me as this level reworking took an absurd number of hours but at least the hands on experience will come in handy later.

There are not nearly enough levels as of this update, not even for Web-Release and so I'm intending to try to add a few more each week as I bounce around to the other hundred or so things I need to work on. I'd at least like to get as many as RFIII had, hopefully more. The good thing is I can get some feedback from you guys on how this is all looking before I invest a ton more time into it.

Though I have only begin to scratch the surface my basic vision for Yendor is:

• It should be Separate:
  • Once the player enters the VoY there is no going back. Entering VoY is a distinct event. Take a look at your character because that's what you have going forward.
  • All the stairs in VoY are one-way. Whatever resources exist on the current level and on your character is what you've got.
  • There are no gold drops or item drops (consumables could be fine). Entering VoY means the character building aspect of the game is essentially over. The player can concentrate on winning.
• It should be Different:
  
  • The levels in VoY should not be like the rest of the dungeon i.e. spaces that you explore. Rather each level is a single elaborate challenge vault.
  • The goal when in VoY is simply to reach the next level. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, the player is not really trying to full clear but rather there is a pretty strong pressure to progress by any means possible.
  • Many of the levels will have unique mechanics or gimmicks. This will be the most 'hand crafted' and least proc-gen area of the dungeon. Obviously it will take years to add enough content to keep it varied.
• It should be Brief:
  
  • I do not want the end game to drag on any more than needed. I don't want the game to suddenly grind to a halt right before the finale.
  • Levels are quite a bit smaller than the rest of the dungeon and may even have lower enemy counts. The placement, setup or unique level mechanics will drive the challenge.
  • Really this section of the game should be this mad dash down to Yendor. Various mechanics can be used on specific levels or globally overall to 'push' the player forward. As a simple example something like Yendor starts gating enemies in after you've been on a level for [x] turns.
• It is Yendors Death Gauntlet
  
  • Aesthetically and thematically I'm moving away from the idea that this is Yendors fortress and towards a vision of a series of insane, evil overlord style death contraptions.
  • Each level should be some sort of crazy Rube Goldberg machine with elaborate moving parts, monsters gating in, walls exploding etc.
  • Interestingly the 3 Branch-2 zones provide a lot of theming that can be carried over both in monsters and with environmental stuff. Vault-of-Yendor should combine the mechanical aspects of The-Iron-Forge, with the magical aspects of The-Arcane-Tower with a bunch of skulls and bones sprinkled everywhere for good measure.

I'll admit that I'm a bit frustrated with the lack of time since most of this is going to have to wait until Early-Access to really see the light of day. For now I'll be doing what I can to modernize the existing levels and slip in as much of these newer ideas as possible.

THE VAULT OF YENDOR:

• No item or gold drops.
• Now only 3 Levels + Boss.
  • This may change over time but for now I want to emphasis 'Brief'.  I still need to figure out exactly how long these levels should take. Need to strike a balance between being really tough and interesting without getting grindy.
• Stairs are all one-way
• 19 Levels have been remade and included in this update.
  • This is really the bulk of the update.
  • Feedback here is appreciated as I'll be going on to make a lot more levels like this.

MONSTERS:

• The max HP that enemies are scaling towards at high levels has been reduced by about 20%. This has little or no effect on the early game but is more apparent in the later levels.
  • This was specifically done to make Yendor manageable with the number of enemies I'd like to have.
  • Making the rest of the game easier is not a bad thing as we should be trending in the direction of 'easier' heading towards Web-Release.
  • I prefer to make the game easier by making enemies less bullet spongy. Put the other way: The game should not be hard because enemies take a ton of hits to kill.
• All stationary enemies have had their HP reduced a fair bit (statues, spawners etc.)
  • These things should be quite powerful and so I think the player should be encouraged to rush in and kill them quickly.
  • In the cases where the player simply kites the allies away and returns to finish the turret then having a bunch of HP is pointless and tedious.
• Statues will continue summoning their minions even when out of LoS (its like a super spawner).
• Crystal Golem: now has lower HP and no protection.
  • Thematically he's 'made of glass'.
  • Mechanically it doesn't make sense to have the ultimate range counter also be a walking fridge.
• Hell Gates: Cooldown 5 => 8
• All cloud bolts have had their damage reduced.
• Knight of Yendor has a new NPC-Recovery ability in which he becomes immobile and counts down 3,2,1 before healing.
• Demotaurs now use Lunge and a very short cooldown Shadow Step (there was some discussion in Discord I caught of some alternatives here).
• Skeletons killed in any liquid will no longer leave a corpse.
  • This is a somewhat intuitive interaction that hopefully will help to clue new players into this mechanic.
  • Its also easier to pull off as there is more liquid in the levels. The player also tends to want to have them in liquid anyway for the crits.
• Reduced the range on Revive-Skeleton 5 => 4. 

BUGS AND CRASHES:

• Fixed the weirdness when taking a talent from a Tome-of-Knowledge when you already have a full ability bar.
• Enemies should no longer spawn near poison or flame vents.
• Enemies should no longer wander through poison or flame vents.
• Stairs should no longer spawn near poison or flame vents.
• Fixed weird thing where skeleton corpses were showing Damage values when mousing over.
• Auto explore should now 'mostly' avoid poison gas (still don't have this 100%).