Free-Like

Free-Like
7DRL
Developer	Joshua Sigona (sigonasr2)
Theme	Fantasy
Influences	Friends, Golden Sun, 7DRL
Released	March 12, 2011
Updated	March 14, 2011
Licensing	Public Domain
P. Language	C
Platforms	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux with Nintendo DS Emulators
Interface	Nintendo DS Gamepad + Buttons (Emulators: Keyboard)
Game Length	Medium
Official site of Free-Like

Free-Like is a successful entry for the 7DRL Contest 2011, being a roguelike that has large "Free-Like" dungeons to explore. The game can be found at the official site.

Free-Like was developed with the devkitARM toolchain using PALib for libraries that utilize Nintendo DS Hardware. While it is recommended you buy a homebrew flash cartridge for the Nintendo DS and use the Nintendo DS Hardware directly to play the game, it is also possible to play the game using one of the following Nintendo DS Emulators:

Desmume (Windows + Mac): http://desmume.org/download/

NO$GBA(Windows): http://www.nogba.com/no$gba-download.htm

iDeaS(Windows+Linux): http://ideasemu.biz/downloads.htm

Because the game loads all of the levels on startup, there will be a loading time before the game actually starts. The following loading times were reported after numerous testings of the game on the following emulators:

Desmume (5.4 seconds)

NO$GBA (1.9 seconds)

iDeasS (5.2 seconds)

Nintendo DS (1.7 seconds)

Expect a slight delay when starting the game on an emulator.

Gameplay

The game requires you to defeat Tropicass, a dictator across the land who does not play games when it comes to battles. You must find him and destroy him in order to end his reign of chaos throughout the country.

You start out with nothing, but soon find yourself defeating basic Fire Heads and collecting various items and equipment! This game has lots to explore and decipher, while at the same time very simple at its core.

The controls are as follows:

A is used for climbing up/down ladders and making selections in the menus.

B is used for picking up items off the ground along with returning to a previous screen in the menus.

Start is used for pulling up the inventory/cast skill menus. You can equip and use items in the inventory and cast skills in the cast skill menu. You can press Start again to leave the menu at any given time.

While not not much is revealed about gameplay elements, as that is for you to figure out, here are two you should know about:

-Skills have to be researched through experience and other means in order to identify them in the first place. While you may feel the effects of skills, you may not necessarily sense them or have visible sight of them until you master that element.

-You have 6 various equipment slots. Head, Arms, Body, Weapon, Ring, and Feet are all the different equipment types. You may use one of each type of armor to create a cumulative Defense with them.

Updates

The author decided to update the game on March 14th, 2011, 2 days after submission with an update for the game. The game play is perfectly preserved since initial release, so it is considered to be a 7DRL still. The current version to the original version can be found on the website also. The changes were:

-Saving / Loading Files using the FAT system on the Nintendo DS so DS users can save and play again.

-Restart the Game without Hard Resetting.

-Getting Stuck at "Loading ... Bestiary" screen fixed.

Note that emulator players still must use the "Save State" features of their emulators. The FAT file saving system allows DS Flash Cartridge users to save their current game and resume it in a later session.

Features

-Large "Free-Like" Dungeons to explore.

-Various Items to find and learn about.

-Equipment Combinations, find the best combination!

-Skills that you must first learn in order to sense them and utilize them.

-Enemies from the easily skirmished to the godly untouchable beasts.

-Simple Gameplay.

Wishfuls

If there was more time, this is what the author would have included. This information is useful for displaying what is not in the game:

-More Detailed explanations, more descriptions, more bestiary of course. Expanding the game is always a wish.

-Gods. Never ended up adding spirits that affected the game over time, would have been nice.

-Music. Pretty quiet this game here…

-Better management of gameplay elements. (In other words, cleaner programming.)

-FOV

Known Issues

There was an issue with the loading screen that displayed "Loading ... Bestiary" and the game then froze. This issue has been resolved in the update. There are no current issues.