Son of a Witch: Devlog and general discussion

[Jubal]

Nice, I ought to get a copy of that and test it. Looking forward to seeing what new SoaW stuff is coming

[bigosaur]

Nice, I ought to get a copy of that and test it. Looking forward to seeing what new SoaW stuff is coming

Wait, didn't I send you one via e-mail? .... Whoops. Sending it now. I'm looking forward to read your thoughts about my narrative in the first tutorial world. 

[bigosaur]

I started working on Son of a Witch again. For start, I'm fixing minor bugs and I'm changing the Bronze Glove to allow summoning mercenaries into boss fights as well, except for the final boss fight. I also have plans for new pets, items, weapons and potion effects. More details on those later.

I plan for 3 new game modes: first is the RPG mode where players respawn at the start of the level when they die, but enemies also respawn if you venture away from a room too far away. Heroes gain stats by killing enemies. This should make the game easier and more interesting to the casual players, so they can "grind" out a level until they get strong enough to go forward. To spice things up, I might add some new quests and achievements for this mode.

The second mode is Endless Tower. Basically, it will be an arena with waves of enemies. After every 5-10 waves there will be a boss fight and you will be able to go into adjacent rooms to by stuff from shops. The goal will be to reach wave 100 or something like that for an achievement.

I plan to introduce some new heroes, first one being an Alchemist. He or she will start with the Alchemy Ring and the Retort. I'm trying to think of some interesting starting weapon for this hero? Any ideas?

[Jubal]

Nice

> You said three modes - RPG and Endless Tower you mentioned, but not the third?
> I wonder if the alchemist should have something that changes potions to a random other type - maybe a low damage staff that has that as a 1 mana ability, or even a hand weapon with it as a rage power since randomising it generally shouldn't be that powerful I think.
> I vote strongly for the alchemist being a she if possible - I think only having the chanter as female-presented and the knight, druid, barbarian, archer, and rogue all as male-presented feels like it could do with some rebalancing.

[bigosaur]

> You said three modes - RPG and Endless Tower you mentioned, but not the third?

Ah, yes. The 3rd one is the alternate storyline I mentioned before.

I wonder if the alchemist should have something that changes potions to a random other type - maybe a low damage staff that has that as a 1 mana ability, or even a hand weapon with it as a rage power since randomising it generally shouldn't be that powerful I think.

That is interesting effect, but I'm looking for something with stronger effect. Something really game changing. Alchemists are known to turn metals into gold. Maybe something along those lines?

I think I will make her a melee character, so mana is really used to create potions, at least in the early game.

Or maybe, this hero should rarely fight on her own, but rather summon powerful guardians to fight for her. Something like 50/40/60 starting stats and the weapon has ability to summon golems or animate statues. I'm not sure if this would be too easy. Maybe require full rage for summon or something like that.

[Jubal]

Summoning golems with rage would be good and would make for a very new game dynamic I think as no other class gets allies early on - I think the trouble with turning stuff to gold is that you already have the portable foundry and I'm not sure the game needs more ways to get rich. I think the golems would have to not be too tough, though maybe if they had a shield so they could be good at slowing down the enemy that'd be good - similar to the goblin shield-warrior but with a slightly slower attack perhaps.

[bigosaur]

Summoning golems with rage would be good and would make for a very new game dynamic I think as no other class gets allies early on

I made a couple of prototypes with this using Bushido and Yeti Baby as possible summons to see what it would look like. Bushido is OP, but Yeti is quite fine, esp. when you remove the freezing effect. It works so good, I will probably just reskin the Yeti and keep the same attack animations and possibly HP/damage. I have to modify the AI to have better obstacle avoidance because ice levels have very tightly packed layout and the Golem will be used in all levels.

Here's the plan: hero will have a melee weapon and low-ish stats, most probably 60/60/60. Rage attack summons a golem, and you can only have one at a time. If he dies, you can summon a new one when the rage is full.

Now comes the fun part: the golem never attacks the enemies until you order it, and you do so by hitting them with that very same sword. So, you pick a target by hitting it and the golem will keep attacking that target until either one of them dies. The target stays as long as the enemy is alive, so you can go around and attack other enemies if you want. This makes for a really fun strategy as you can control who to attack and you can surround enemies and fight them together. Or you can just mark a tough enemy and run away to deal with weaker ones until the golem takes care of the business.

I think the trouble with turning stuff to gold is that you already have the portable foundry and I'm not sure the game needs more ways to get rich.

Yes, I have given up on the gold idea. Too many ways to get gold, and it would probably make this class too powerful as well. This hero also starts with the alchemist kit and ring which is a huge bonus, but lack of bombs/keys can be a problem early on, so I think 100 HP will be the good choice for starting health.

We will see if the HP / damage of Golem needs to be tweaked later.

Now, I need to do all the animations for the new hero from scratch, so it may take some time before I have a demo version for testing...

[Jubal]

I played a game of SoaW yesterday. It was not good news :/ my ongoing wrist/arm injury has knocked a good 20-25% of my ability with the game out, plus adapting to a new keyboard. I still managed to complete a regular game, but I doubt I'd manage any of the harder modes any more. I just hope it gets better soon, but I doubt it since I keep having to do desk work which makes it worse again.

One realisation I did come to - it would be nice for keyboard users to be able to have multiple keys/a secondary key attached to the same action. This would mean than if I was getting uncomfortable mid-battle with my hand positioning, I could have a pre-defined second hand position to shift round into which would stop a single muscle/position getting so overworked and reduce the risk of wrist strain whilst playing.

[bigosaur]

I played a game of SoaW yesterday. It was not good news

Forget about games, health is more important!

Now, did you consider buying a controller? I find it much more relaxing to play any game. It's not just wrist and fingers, the whole arm is relaxed when the controller is sitting in your lap.

I doubt I'd manage any of the harder modes any more

Well, the new version will have two new modes: RPG mode will definitely be easier, and you can afford to die at any time because it only means restarting the current level. OTOH, the Endless Arena is actually meant to be harder than regular game...

I just hope it gets better soon, but I doubt it since I keep having to do desk work which makes it worse again.

Is it an injury, strain or just tension? Something like RSI? There are things you can do, equipment you can use to lessen the stress. For example, Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard, trackpad instead of mouse, etc.

[Jubal]

It's RSI, probably tendonitis rather than carpal tunnel form, but it's taking a long time to heal. I have got a new ergonomic keyboard and wrist rest, and a new upright mouse, as well as various savles and a wrist brace and things, so I'm doing everything I can for it I may get a controller at some point but I just spent quite a bit of money on the new keyboard & mouse setup so it can't be the highest priority at the moment.

[bigosaur]

It's RSI, probably tendonitis rather than carpal tunnel form, but it's taking a long time to heal. I have got a new ergonomic keyboard and wrist rest, and a new upright mouse, as well as various savles and a wrist brace and things, so I'm doing everything I can for it

Great. If you work for longer periods of time, I also suggest you install Workrave:

http://www.workrave.org/

It's a free program that forces you to take breaks at regular intervals (fully customizable). It helped me save my eyesight from staring into screen but it works well for RSI too. I had this problem with everything getting hazy after working for hours without breaks.

I may get a controller at some point but I just spent quite a bit of money on the new keyboard & mouse setup so it can't be the highest priority at the moment.

Once you do, I recommend wired XBox360 Controller for Windows. It's very durable (I've got one for 5+ years) and it's big enough so your hands never get tired when using it. For comparison, I always feel some strain when using PS4 controller or Switch Joycon for longer time.

[bigosaur]

The Paladin update is now in beta testing branch on Steam. The full release is scheduled for March 21st.



New features:

       
• new RPG game mode where you keep all gear and restart the current level when you die
• new Endless Arena mode where you fight waves of enemies
• new hero: Paladin, who has divine shield and does double damage to undead
• new hero: Alchemist, who has a Golem companion, and prepares potions
• 8 pets with new effects (details below)
• 3 new random potion effects (details below)
• 6 new special effect items (details below)
• 10 new weapons (details below)
• 6 new achievements
• 2 new allied troop summons: Baby Yeti, Stone Golem
• added a new blocked challenge room in the forest
• added a new challenge room with baby dragons
• added a new challenge room in the ice level (it's a surprise)
• added a quest room in the ice level to unlock the Alchemist hero

New pets:

• Crocodile - creates slime puddles that slow down enemies
• Mouse - drastically increases your poison damage
• Ladybug - buzzes around one enemy giving it a confusion effect
• Monkey - disables floor traps
• Whale - extinguished campfires
• Cow - increases rage attack damage
• Bee - gives you max rage when you get hit
• Cat - saves you from sudden death blows: a hit that would kill you when you have more than 1HP just lowers your HP to one.

New potion effects:

       
• Cold blood - enemies get frozen when they hit you
• Veteran Elixir - every potion you drink increases you melee skill
• Astral Projection - separates your soul and body so you can walk through obstacles as a ghost. The effect lasts for a short time and when it expires you are returned to the body. While in ghost form you can still attack and take damage. The only difference is ability to walk through walls, rocks, trees, etc.

New items:

       
• Ghost orb - lowers your damage but you can shoot through obstacles. It applies to orbs, arrows and thrown weapons
• Critic's Shield - get 100% critical hit chance until the end of battle if you get hit (does not stack)
• Paladin Shield - immunity to muscle spasmsl
• Alchemist's Visor - immunity to explosions
• Halo -  removes all negative effects and increases co-op death timer in hard mode
• Ancient Voodoo Doll - mark all enemies in the room (4 mana cost)

New weapons:

       
• General Sword - rage attack gives 100% critical chance to all allies until the end of battle
• Cripling Katana - hits slow down enemies
• Executioner's Sword - adds 300 damage to stomp and smash attacks. For melee heroes, every time the enemies are on the ground the smash attack would be used (usually it's only done for the last enemy on the screen)
• Dark Slayer - triple damage vs bosses
• Splitting Axe - rage attack halves enemy's HP
• Paladin Sword - rage buff gives you Divine Shield - a short term invulnerability to hits and 30% damage increase. Does not protect feet, so you can get hurt by floor spikes and burned by walking on campfires
• Alchemist Sword - rage attack summons and heals the Golem companion. Only one Golem per hero is allowed at a time. Only usable by Alchemist class.
• King Cobra Staff - poison weapons of all allies
• Snow Tiger's Paw - summon a baby yeti familiar for 4 mana. One yeti per hero allowed at a time
• Steady Shot Bow - slower arrow shooting time (like archers use to work before) but increased damage (95 bow damage)

General improvements and gameplay balancing:
   

       
• allowed summoning mercenaries into boss fights (except the final boss)
• removed slowdown effect from Heavy Boots
• Retort no longer creates mana potions
• only one Retort shows for sale in shops
• removed poison immunity for the final boss
• significantly increased Poison Cloud spell damage
• Poison Cloud effect scales with enemy size
• improved AI for Snail, Ram and Snake pets
• using teleport staff twice returns you to the starting point
• fixed runestone drops in various barbarian challenges

Bugfixes:
   

       
• Ethereal bow now shoots through barrels and boxes
• Dog pet doesn't take mercenary's beer in the tavern
• Foundry doesn't melt mercenary's beer anynore
• Thief and Ringleader don't jump on allies when confused
• fixed bug with item drops when Yeti Elder and Earth Golem roll
• fixed network bug for Racoon pet bombs
• fixed network bug when pets would jump too much
• fixed drawing position when Barbarian is mounted
• fixed rare sound effect bug with Yeti babies
• fixed position for some of the teleportation animations
• fixed text showing last level seed instead of control hint after player dies
• fixed rare crash when closing game from the main menu
• fixed occasional crash on MacOSX

[Jubal]

I look forward to testing it some time when my arms are hurting less... the injury is improving a bit, but it's slow, especially as I can't wholly avoid a lot of the actions that were causing the original damage.

[bigosaur]

I look forward to testing it some time when my arms are hurting less... the injury is improving a bit, but it's slow, especially as I can't wholly avoid a lot of the actions that were causing the original damage.

Man I feel so bad about this, you're too young to have these kinds of problems. 

Have you talked to a doctor? There are possibly some exercises you can do to make it recover faster. My wife had these problems with a shoulder due to working with a mouse a lot and she got some workout routine that helped her a lot.

[Jubal]

I am using exercises It's just going to take time. I'm feeling quite optimistic about it, I think I'll be fully recovered in another month or so. Nerve damage just takes a particularly long time to heal.

Query - is it possible to lose in RPG mode? Or do you always get to unlock the Paladin just so long as you play for long enough to complete it.