Friday, February 12, 2010

Ighalsk - Thanks for the Downloads

This short post is mostly to say, thanks for the downloads. I've said before how I struggle with motivation when working on my own projects, and knowing that there are people out there downloading Ighalsk releases every month does make a difference.

Thanks even more to everyone who's given feedback, both on this blog and in email. It all helps make Ighalsk better one way or another.

Onwards to version 1.0!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Ighalsk - The Nature of a Hero

I claimed recently in an online conversation that I was taking a slightly different slant on the Hero in Ighalsk. I was asked for more details, and gave the following response (slightly edited for blog format and where I felt the need for improvement):

I'm imagining the Hero as someone more than mortal, with extraordinary gifts and abilities. They are called to fight evil and complete quests. So far this is just expressed in the game as a series of speeches by the Queen who needs the Hero's help, by the replacement of "the dungeon" with a choice of quest dungeons, and by the extra powers that a Hero has that normal warriors (for example) don't have. (As opposed to say Angband, where my Priest might meet a Novice Priest in the dungeon and think hmmm, that priest is almost the same as me ...)

The end of this post has got my take on the different types of Hero, though this text isn't in the game yet.

At some stage I'd like to link in the history of other Heroes who tried and failed to complete all the quests: to have the Queen refer to them, to have their entries in the high score table, to be able to find the weapons or armour they owned and maybe even their journals.

I'd also like the game to show the reactions of townsfolk to the Hero, and to have these reactions change as the Hero grows in power ...

This is something that I'm still struggling with and would like to express more clearly in the game. A roguelike in its usual form doesn't offer a lot of opportunities for roleplaying, but there is all the freedom of text (as seen in interactive fiction games) - so I aim to take advantage of that.