Andranor

Andranor - Dungeons of Auk'Danok
Pre-Alpha Game
Developer	Tobias Sjöndin ([Tsjondin])
Theme	High-Fantasy
Influences	Roguelike elements from classics and semi-roguelikes such as Dungeons of Dredmore, RPG elements from Zelda and some others.
Released	Unreleased
Updated	2013-03-18
Licensing	Open-Source
P. Language	JavaScript
Platforms	Browserbased
Interface	Graphical-tiles, ASCII-tiles
Game Length	Unknown, medium - very long
[no-website-yet]

An RPG with many roguelike elements, but not some, making me cautious about calling it one. It draws inspiration from older 16-bit linear RPG's such as zelda but with more complex mechanics and free-roaming randomness of roguelike games.

Screenshots are coming as soon as I take them.

Introduction

Auk'Danok, prison of the lost, an endless hell on earth for those no longer fit for it. Banishment in these forsaken ruins is what awaits those such as me, an outcast, murderer and thief, but I will show them that my true potential is far from fulfilled...

Roguelike?

Turn-based - No

This may be the nail in the coffin against it, this is the first point the game will not fullfill in the roguelike genre (per Berlin Interpretation).

Time is of the essence though, as all action take time and are heavily bound to other battle-mechanics such as the stamina/focus system, this goes for both monsters and player.

Random descending levels of a dungeon - Yes

All levels are randomly generated from the first levels of 6x6 (36) blocks (a block can be a room or a corridor) to the lowest ones of 16x16 (256) blocks. If two room blocks spawn next to eachother they merge and become one room.

Random items - Yes

Identification need - Yes

Items are randomly generated from archetypes, subtypes and prefix, with increasing power based on dungeon level. Special properties are hidden until revealed in combat or by other forms of identification.

• Weapons - are not the main factor when it comes to calculating damage but they are tightly bound to the stamina/focus system. I just wanted it clear that the switch between a regular +2 sword isn't going to differ much to the new +4 sword, it wont give you 100% or even 50% more damage.

• All items can however have additional effect like granting abilities, buffs and attributes, making them vital to improving your character.

NOTE: No unidentified effect will instantly kill you, though poisons at low health may have the same implication.

• Revealed by combat - The effects are visible by attacking or being attacked such as the double-edge effect, which increases melee damage by damaging yourself. It becomes visible from the first attack which will log something similar to "The attack struck with force but I feel weaker by its power.". The items tooltip will also be updated to reflect the magical property of it.
• However, items may have powerful curses over them, effectively deafeating you when you attempt to use it without knowledge. An item with a Curse of Damnation will reduce all your attributes by 1 every time you use it, it will be revealed on the first attack but you can easily throw away three attacks before noticing the log stating the effect of the, item leaving your severely weakened until you can exorcise the curse in some manner.
  • Revealed by impression - Equipping an item may show its properties, such as equipping a ring which grants intellect will effectively increase your intellect and be revealed. However, equipping an item without knowing it carries risks, such as equipping a ring wich grants poisonous attacks will inflict the poison on you, effectively identifying it, but may cost you your life. This will only happen when the item is not identified, so only ones per item.
  • Revealed by identification - There are skills that help you identify items and their properties.
    • Smithing - Helps you identify weapons and armor. Takes time and requires you to be at a Forge.
    • Alchemy - Helps you identify potions and elixirs. Takes time and requires you to be at an Alchemy Table.
    • Enchanting - Helps you identify rings, amulets and gems. Takes time and requires you to be at an Enchanting Circle.
  • All identification processes requires that you have a parchment, each identification consumes the parchment.
    • If successfull the parchment will become a note of the hidden properties of the item aswell as identifying it.
    • If failed the parchment will become a note of the scribbles and the item will remain unidentified.

Random monsters - Yes

Monsters are random within a certain scope, you won't meet a goblin sprite claiming to be a dragon, you wont counter a common bat in the lower levels just because its been generated as level 30.

Monsters handle as player characters but with an AI, stats and other mechanics are use by them as they are by the player.

Each level has monster tables, or rather, the monster data defines which levels they may spawn on and;

• which sprites they may use.
• which names they may use.
• what attribute base they use. (might, mind or body since I don't want any brawny mages in my dungeon.)

An equally named monster at the same level may also differ from the next by a small amount. Two different monsters at separate levels may have the same stats.

Leveling Player-character - Yes

Attributes (stats) - are the core when calculating damage, spellpower, stamina, focus, speed and much, much more. Making the game very attribute-centric.

• Skills - varying levels in a skill will grant you different abilities and/or bonuses.

Permadeath - Yes

When you're dead you start over.

There are certain possibilities in avoiding death, such as great favor with your god (which is removed upon resurrection).

Very rare items may also help you avoid death, just as an example, the artifact "Grand-Aegis of Raphael" has one charge of Divine Intervention, granting the player immortality upon death for a few seconds with greatly increased regenerations.

Gridbased - Yes

• Graphical tiles - Yes
• Grid-based Movement - No, this is the second point the game will not fullfill in the roguelike genre (per Berlin Interpretation).

Movement is pixel-exact, correlating with not being turn-based, ASCII will be possible, it will not be true ASCII, only ASCII like tiles and sprites. This also enforces monospace fonts and some other graphical styles.

Not 1x1 tile per object, larger objects and creatures occupy more tiles.

Non-modal - Yes

Because there are no neutral zones you will always need to be ready for action and can always perform any action you have.

Resource Management - Yes

There is no hunger, I don't like it, I don't want it.

Health and spirita (mana) are scarce, but spirita is more long-lived than common, stamina/focus is core in combat rather than health/spirita.

Disease, poisons, curses and other horrendous things are plentiful in the dungeon, making the finding and management of antidote and first-aid a priority.

Stamina/Focus are used in combat and learning how and when to utilize the most of them are key to survival. They do however regenerate quickly out of combat.

The inventory is small and tetris-like to enforce some form of realism in how much you can carry. The full inventory is a grid of 8x8

Some examples of sizes are:

• Heavy armors take 5x5 space, you can carry 1
• Leather armors take 4x5 space, you can carry 2
• Cloth (robes etc) take 4x4 space, you can carry 4 but nothing else
• Swords, Axes, Bows, Axes and Crossbows take 3x5 space, you can carry 2
• Shields take 3x5 space, you can carry 2
• Polearms take 3x8 space, you can carry 2
• Potions take 1x2 space
• Rings, Amulets, Gems and other trinkets only take 1x1 space (these items are situational and may become necessary to keep, and so they are low-space additionally to that they are, realistically, kinda small)

Gold is not stored as a number somewhere in the interface but as a stack in your inventory which grows in size and count as it accumulates, when there is no inventory room to store it in you've reached your limit.

• 1-20 Gold take 1x1
• 20-50 Gold take 2x1
• 50-120 Gold take 2x2
• 100-180 Gold take 3x2
• 180-255 Gold take 3x3

Maximum of one stack, a new stack is started if possible. So maximum possible gold carried is 1740 (4 * 3x3, 6 * 2x2). Gold is less valuable than good items but useful in some situations.

Artificial Intelligence

The AI of monsters is *feel* driven and *feelings* incorporated are Anger, Drive, Fear and a special Synergy, so that it works with others.

The feeling also affect the player character but will not control him, they impact the players effectiveness in combat, altering focus and stamina recovery and usage, making the behaviour of the AI according to feelings likely actions to take.

A short explanation of this system is

• An angry-driven monster is very likely to attack, pursue and will be more focused
• An angry-fearful monster is likely to attack in an unfocused manner
• A fearful-driven monster is likely to defend
• A fearful monster is likely to cower or retreat
• Synergy plays in as this
  • The more allies the monster have around them the less fear and more drive.
  • Retribution - If a monster is initiated, gets fearful and then finds a comrade, the fear will turn to anger and drive.

These feelings are based on health, spirita and combat events. Lower health and spirita increases fear, higher health and spirita increases drive.

• If the monster attacks and misses it gains fear and anger
• If the monster attacks and hits it gains drive
• If the monster is attacked and hit it gains fear
• If the monster is attacked and missed it gains drive and anger, and decreases its fear
• Retreating from combat will reduce fear and increase drive until such time as they are killed or re-engage.

These mechanics result in some intresting scenarios, such as:

• Engaging monsters in group is far harder than one-by-one, not only because they have double the stats to take down or cause double the damage, but because they have less fear and more drive and as such retain more focus.
• Taking a pair down by attempting to range-kill one, will increase the fear and anger of both and lowering their drive, making them less focused when engaging, causing less damage with their attacks.
• If ranged attacks are not viable then one should initiate combat by attempting to defend, as successfull defends will increase the monsters fear and anger, resulting in the same unfocused behaviour.
• Attacking retreating monster will only increase their fear making them less likely to re-engage and running further, possibly luring more monsters closer. Retreating monsters should be taken down with ranged attacks or by waiting for them to re-engage. Though them just running a little may pull additional monsters making attacking the only viable option, so it's a gamble.
• Missing a cowering monster (high fear-low drive) will likely result in it attacking you, spotting an oppurtunity if its drive got high enough from the miss.
• If it would have hit but not killed the drive would likely be depleted and fear increased, resulting in the monster retreating.
• Those were the general behaviours of monsters, there are some flags monsters may have that alter these actions though.
  • NO_FEAR, The unit has no fear and as such will not flee, cower or defend. This flag is currently only set for undead monsters.
  • NO_DRIVE, The unit will not take any action based on drive, it does not have any needs, only reactions, neutral-like creatures have this flag, only attacking when attacked, they will not engage as they don't have any drive.

Exploration and discovery - Yes (hopefully)

Connected to random levels.

Crafting locations are randomly generated into the levels. Used to craft garnered materials to items and improving owned items by adding runes, gems and/or enchantments.

All item-recipes are unknown, you need not know the recipe to craft the item but they can get quite complex and are randomized to some extent.

Recipes can be looted and are no different to other books or scrolls read. They are pure text.

Some scrolls and books found are in foreign languages which require translation, translation can be done if you have the linguism skill or a reference (which can also be looted).

Don't fill up your inventory with foreign recipes thinking they must be good since they cannot be clearly read. They may aswell just be a recipe for "Moma Gobs Homemade Chickenstew".

Altars are randomly generated into the levels. Use to gain favor with gods and perform some other actions.

Secret rooms can be randomly generated and often relate to some switch system, be it a hidden button, the use of an item or death of specific if not all enemies.