Right after Dwarven Depths was released, I downloaded the game and started up a Coliseum game. And immediately spotted a bug. Of course. More proof that you can never do enough testing.
Anyways, I’m here to announce that Dwarven Depths will be getting an brand-spankin’-new update. I’m planning on entering it into the Dream-Build-Play contest in June and I want the game to be as awesome as possible. I plan to fix whatever bugs are found and put in some more content as well. I’m thinking this game should get online multiplayer. I’m also considering a set of ‘challenges’, some set levels and objectives that add something to the single-player experience.
Do you guys have any suggestions? Gripes? Rants? Sound off in the comments.
Keep on digging!
If I do buy this game on Xbox now , how will I get the updated version? Will it auto update or must i redownload? Never thought i would be interested in an indie game and i sure hope im not your first customer!
If you buy the game now, you’ll get the update for free. After the update is up, you’ll be notified of the update next time you start Dwarven Depths and given the option of updating.
I don’t think you’re my first customer, but you’re among the first thousand. You’re all very special to me though :)
I’d like to start by saying that this game is amazing as is, everything feels perfectly balanced so far. Me and my little brother played it for many hours yesterday and I don’t believe we found any bugs of our own during that time. It’s some of the most fun we’ve had in ages, I’d put it up there with games like Bomberman and Worms.
Everything you have planned would be wonderful, I especially like the sound of online play. Would it be local split-screen Live play? What are the odds that online play would allow more than 4 players? If more players are possible then System Link would be great, too; I’d love to download it on our other Xbox so the whole family could play without having strangers in each match.
I don’t have any gripes yet and I only have three suggestions, all of which I’m sure you’ve already thought of and either plan on doing or have decided against…
+ A statistics page.
+ A way to change settings in each gametype. That way we could play Treasure Hunt with only blue treasure, no time limit, extra enemies, and 8,000 points to win, for example.
+ A few different environments? Maybe just the same map at night, perhaps there could be a day / night cycle? Various weather (rain, snow)? I don’t know how complicated that would be to do, so I apologize if that suggestion is a bit too much, I would just love to see a bit of variety.
That’s all I can think of so far, but maybe more things will come to mind with a few more hours of playing. Feel free (but not obligated) to add me (Mr Mad Monkey) and my brother (RubyConstrictor) on XBL if you’d like us to keep you updated. :D
The game would remain split-screen when you play online. I’ve just started to look into some of the architectural changes needed for online play. It looks like System Link support would be pretty easy to add onto after Live multiplayer is up and running. I’m not sure what the practical or technical limits for how many players could be in a game – I have a feeling that 32 players would be pure chaos. But maybe still fun :)
I’ll definitely be adding some form of statistics in. Once challenges are in place, some sort of high score would be very appropriate and more general statistics are easy to add onto that.
I probably won’t be adding new environments. It wouldn’t be too difficult from a coding perspective, but it would require a huge amount of time be spent on new art assets. You might have noticed I have three monster sprites and already recolored two of them :)
I probably will be doing more art assets, but I’ll be doing something much smaller than an entire redrawing of the environment. I’m leaning towards adding another monster type or two right now.
Thanks for your suggestions. I’m glad you and your brother had a good time with the game and I’m hoping I can deliver more fun and awesomeness with the upcoming update :)
I posted a review of Dwarven Depths expressing some of my likes and dislikes about the game at http://www.1uporpoison.com/xblig/dwarven-depths/
Now that you are asking for suggestions, though, let me just roll up my sleeves… Nah, I’m kidding. The game is already a lot of fun, but I do feel like the special abilities are somewhat pointless. At least when playing split-screen, anyway. Item management would be easier if you could cycle through them with the triggers (currently allocated for special abilities) instead of the bumpers. Combat would be more fun if you had a shield, too, because only one character class has the ability to defend himself, and it’s kind of hard to pull off.
I do like the idea of having single-player challenges, though. AI opponents would also be a cool addition, but I know that’s a pain to code.