Mystiqa

Julian, please write an update it's been about 4 months and I am so hyped for this.
If you need help programming I would be happy to offer my services for free.

Hey I'm confused on how to download this, there doesn't seem to be a file I can download...can you help me?

Been following this project for a long time now and I just played the demo. Here are my immediate thoughts.

Some issues I have so far with the gameplay itself is the spawning system for enemies, they can spawn very close to the room's entrance so when you walk in you are instantly in danger, placing enemies further into the rooms would give you more time to react and would be a welcome change.

You also get no I-frames when entering a room which would be no issue if enemies didn't wait by the entrance after you leave the room. I would highly recommend rather than enemies dying and being deleted from the world you look at the legend of zelda series and instead set them to be invisible, inactive, and back to their starting position and upon reentering a room they are set back to visible and are reactivated. If you want the rooms to be random you could take the isaac approach and handmake many rooms with predetermined enemy and trap locations which can be placed in the world at random.

Slime knockback is also incredibly high and can send you out of the room which is a major annoyance. Slime should also indicate where they wish to jump more clearly and should have a sort of wind up animation. When they split they can also land directly on you and you take unavoidable damage.

Crabs tend to kill themselves with the water which is odd.

When you die you respawn at your current position which lacks any sort of punishment for mistakes, I would recommend going back to the world spawn or having spawnpoints spawn through the world.

Chests should be visible before defeating the enemies to incentivize them to stay and fight rather than to go to the next room.

As for bugs I have experienced a few, one major bug is the shell bug, if you pick up a shell and walk to another room it will float way ahead of you. There seems to be Z-layer issues with enemies in grass or that may be intentional?

I have seen numerous tileset  bugs in the forest area in particular

What I liked, the UI is charming, the graphics are enjoyable. The concept is very interesting and multiplayer would be especially fun.

These criticisms are to improve the game, I want to see this game succeed it just needs work at the moment.

how’s the progress coming? This looks super neat and promising!

will this be moddable?

Sorry if you've answered this somewhere else, but is there a estimated release window?
I'm super excited for this game, I feel it'll scratch that itch I have for a randomly generated Zelda-like game, as well as the modding aspect being really exciting to think about if it's still a thing.
Keep up the great work my man :)

Can't wait for the demo in October!

Hi, i just checked everything you have posted this past couple of month since my last comment and im still realy hype by the game.

I just wanted to know when the demo will be out?

Still checking on the project from time to time.

Cant instal game :( sad

new trailer is sick! now that we can travel by boat does that mean we wont have the map reset gem thing?

Waiting for the next demo!

The wait is making me go CRAZY!!! Please release the game ASAP!!!

Hello Juice! This project has me extremely interested, i am developing an almost identical type of game to what you have here with a small team, maybe we can talk about this a bit more, do you have any contact i can use?

Right so I have a question why is it that I can't  download the game like the download link doesn't show up

I’ve encoutered two problems in the game that made it somewhat uplayable to me

1. After pressing enter in the title screen the top of the screen flickeres black it’s so annoying

2. F for enter, and enter for exit. Why? Just Why??every single PC game on the globe uses the enter button for selecting and accepting chocies except for this one, it’s so frustrating to the point where using menus is a real challenge

BTW I am using the windows version if that can help you find the cause of the first issue

I am looking for the fix of those two problems so I can play this promising game

Can the game be played on a 32bit computer? (I'm using windows (x86), tried opening the game and got an error, saying that I need  64bit :/

Here's the error:
[The version of this file is not compatible with the windows version you are executing, check the system information of the device to see if you need a x86 version or x64 of the program and then get in contact with the supplier]

This has a lot of potential! Im a pixel artist. Feel free to use my free assets and let me know if you need help with any sprites. :) 

Hello ! Actually playing your game, and it's a great game, even though it's a demo. Really looking forward for the full game, great job.

I have a question, will the full game have online multiplayer to play with your friends ? I know Steam has the Remote Play Together feature, but it doesn't work well because of my internet connection...

Thanks !

Axesome work, really good, i have finish the game (and try the ng+), really like it, keep the good job

Rating : 5 / 5

Is there some kind of bugtracker somewhere? I tried to start the 0.8-linux demo and I was able to see a loading screen but after that it crashed  to desktop with the following error:

Unhandled Exception:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at Mystiqa.MapState.Render () [0x0071e] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0   at Mystiqa.Master.Draw (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameTime gameTime) [0x00000] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.DoDraw (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameTime gameTime) [0x0001c] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Tick () [0x00239] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.SdlGamePlatform.RunLoop () [0x00021] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameRunBehavior runBehavior) [0x00082] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run () [0x0000c] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Mystiqa.Program.Main () [0x0000c] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0 [ERROR] FATAL UNHANDLED EXCEPTION: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at Mystiqa.MapState.Render () [0x0071e] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0   at Mystiqa.Master.Draw (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameTime gameTime) [0x00000] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.DoDraw (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameTime gameTime) [0x0001c] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Tick () [0x00239] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.SdlGamePlatform.RunLoop () [0x00021] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run (Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameRunBehavior runBehavior) [0x00082] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run () [0x0000c] in <7df0491f78b541c48c6807e478b54930>:0   at Mystiqa.Program.Main () [0x0000c] in <cc43de19fd054eae806186ce72cd45e6>:0

Absolutely loving this game so far :)

Been following on reddit and twitter, finally got to play on mac.

Some notes: The fact that the town was a sub area inside of the forrest made me really confused for a while. If you didn't realize that it sort of breaks your understanding of the space.

Game crashed when I tried to forge something the first time. Now it doesn't crash but it only shows items that I already have in my inventory, and crafting them doesn't actually make it (but still costs gold and ore)

Im assuming the demo is only limitted to the starting area since I can't actually move to another area (invis walls) but was not able to find confirmation of this on this page or anywhere, might just be blind.

Keep it up!

Sometimes when i go upstairs in a dungeons the game crashes anyway to fix that?

Ok So I finished what I think is an entire run and here are the things I noticed/suggestions:

-teleport portals sometime appear over spike traps...not sure if this is purposeful but its a bit annoying. They are still sort of usable but not with losing 50% health.

-Spike traps should probably be more randomized as the levels increase. Different timing or just being always on.

-Fire breathing statues in the dungeons or arrow traps would be a fun addition to the dungeons.

-some torches are not lightable because they are in from of pits or other things. I suggest either fixing this or purhaps allowing fire magic or fire swords to light them from a distance

-Forests still need more distinguishing features that help players tell if they are different and more dangerous if there are going to be more than one per world (which there should be in my opinion especially if the infinite mode is eventually made). I suggest different color/shades of the trees bushes, forest traps (venus fly traps for example?) or road blocks (vines or magic vines for example) that require certain items,  and progressively harder enemies (not just harder slimes or mushrooms and they should if they are, they should probably be a noticably different  shades or colors). Some notification of the level of forest would be helpful too but as we talked about before, its not necessary if done right.

-the bosses still seem to have the same attack patterns  at any level. In the games current from, they should probably add attacks based on level rather than just have them all on the first level and also perhaps have different colors or shades based on level.  For example, Liches probably shouldn't get the big fireball attack at level one or be able to spawn any enemies and then get faster and spawn more enemies at higher levels. You could also do a zelda 1 thing and have weaker versions of big bosses as mini bosses to get keys or items. 

-More doors and keys in the dungeons would be nice.  Different color schemes in different dungeons of the same type would be nice too.

-sometimes if you are killed while lit on fire, you will still be lit on fire when you respawn

-I still miss the big world map option and sailing but I've already talked about this on twitter.  I'm hoping it can be used as a quick travel or something at some point to make the world seem alot bigger than it is. It could work by just showing the islands or contentants and the various climate types on each one.  When they walk to that climate area, the player could even potentially start at the same place on the climates overworld map kind of like they do currently with villages...even if that is a bit weird but its not a big deal.

-if there is a way to burn bushes/trees to reveal a secret, I still haven't figured out what it is besides just burning the normal grass to reveal a chest sometimes. I've used fire swords and spells to burn the bushes and trees to no avail. 

-after I finished everything on all the maps, there was no notification of anything else to do so I went back to the title screen and started a new map...and while my Screen name was still there, all my earned items are now gone?!...is that intentional? I suppose it makes sense from a Zelda 1 second quest standpoint but I thought the point of saving a character was to not lose  hard earned/made items.

-the spells are pretty cool so far. Looking forward to the implementation of other element spells

-...I still hold out hope that you can someday implement that Mutt Boss idea from one of my previous posts here :D Its like the ultimate in boss randmonization!...anyways.

That's probably enough for now. I already feel like I"m forgetting something but I'll post again if I remember. Overall it was a fun experience but it will definitely be held back by no saving feature since few people have time to do an entire run through without stopping or leaving it open on their computer.

Ok I Played it for a few hours and here are my initial questions and observations and suggestions so far:

-The new features and minor classes are great from what I can tell.

-level 1 grave dungeons & Lich are WAY TO HARD! He 1 hit killed me with level 2 and 3 gear with that one attack! Needs more difficulty scaling unless I just chose hard one but it was way too close to the starting village.  Ghosts should be 1 or 2 hit kill at first. Grave yard dungeons are also a bit too common so far. 

-could use more smaller secrets. So far every secret Ive found is a full dungeon of some sort. Could use stuff like secret shops, camps, or kooky old men who give advice, or want to trade items,  give quests, or just say "get out!" Lol

-the gray mountain/cave rocks should be much more common and perhaps make up larger sections of the forests. It will make bombing to find a cave a bit more difficult (less obvious), offer more visual variety and you can even make bombable rocks that block paths.

-Different forests could use slightly different color schemes like shades of green or other fall or dead colors.

-Yay Zelda 1 overworld! Glad you went this direction!...but is the world map gone? Haven't run into it or found the option for it yet.
-mushroom enemy jumps too far for level 1 area in my opinion
-spike traps kill followers too easily...timing issue mainly. It would be nice if they were a bit smarter about that.

-have you implemented burning bushes yet?  If so, how do you burn them? Sorry I haven't played around with this much yet and haven't read the changelog if there is one

More to come once I play it more

I would like to see the source code. I also use LibGDX and im curious about how the game is made.

As promised, in regards to your thoughts about an end boss here’s some ideas/possibilities to consider:

-When you beat the end boss, he says something like “you think you’ve won, but I’ll be back stronger” or maybe something less cliché but something to let the players know they can keep playing for a second quest. There could a 3 months later message following it saying the boss has come back and perhaps did something different like steal a bunch of princesses, friends, important items, or biome specific items or whatever to make it a bit different than however the main quest will turn out. You also just make it so the end boss flees to another far off land without having to do another main quest.

-You could simply make the end boss harder with health each time the player plays through the game or after each series of collecting something or rescuing someone. This might be a tad boring after a while but players might still play through a few times

-You could add more enemies to fight each time you fight the end boss as well including other boss characters.

-You could make a variety of end boss attack possibilities and choose a different combination each playthrough or just borrow from other bosses. The combinations should probably become more complex each time

-Similar to the last one, Each biome could have its own major boss with its own biome based attacks and the end boss could choose a combo of those on top of its own major attacks. Each playthrough the end boss gets one or two more attack possibilities based on these.

-You could make several combinations of boss parts (arms, legs, robes, head, attacks, etc.) and make a randomly generated “Mutt” main boss based on these parts for each main quest…heck you could potentially do this for more bosses if the code/engine will allow it…might be a lot of work but it would be pretty cool and in the spirit of a random generation game.

-You could make it so the end boss and perhaps other bosses in the 2^nd+ quests change main attack if it senses you have been not taking much damage on whatever its current attack is.

-One plot line idea that might be simple to implement but emotionally effective in driving the player to complete the quest or 2^nd+ quests would involve finding characters (or even princesses) to help you fight in your quest on occasion and then be captured or even killed by a boss or end boss and make the quest about saving that person or revenge or even resurrecting that person.

- One final note is you might also want to make updates to this game friendly to players that already have saved games once saved games is implemented so the players can save their items.

Well, theres some stuff to give you some ideas and the decisions are yours to make 😊 Hope this helps

I have a couple of bugs to report:

-My game crashed again just as I was about to picking up a few items out of a chest (including a really nice high level spear :'(  ). I might have pressed F too many times but it crashed the game and once again I lost everything. Really look forward to the monogame save function! ;p

-In a cave secret room I just bombed that had the locked chest in it, I got blocked by a rock and a pit so I couldn't even get to activate the teleporter (see screenshot) 

-There appears to be a bug associated with room borders where enemies and especially bosses can get stuck if they go too far off the screen. They appear to get stuck in an inbetween screens state where I ccan sometimes hit them through the side of the screen or trick them into jumping back on the screen but other times I can't and I have to abandon the area (see screenshots)

The above screenshots where  taken just as the screen was shifting to the next screen.

Anyways, Hope that helps

How to run the game?

Ok so I've played for several hours now and its a great game so far but I have a list here of issues/suggestions as I promised on Twitter:

-torches required in every dungeon is not very beginner friendly and a bit frustrating for even zelda vets. I suggest making oil torches on walls of rooms that dont go out once lit. In early dungeons and many later dungeons they should already be lit. But they start being not lit or not present in later dungeons rooms.

-going to stair well restores life without seemingly changing damaged health of enemies. Makes end bosses alot easier which is ok if its intentional but there should probably be a penalty of some kind like partially or fully restored health of the room enemies.

-I thought I remember a bow and arrow in the game before but haven't seen it so far. Would be very helpful against fire breathing bats/little dragons when they go over pits.

-more or some item drops from enemies or at least some reason to kill non-boss enemies.  Since the orb of ascension is the way to level up and no experience points appear to be in the game, non-boss enemies seem best avoided besides annoyance factor.

-it would be nice to be able to visit every map land section to look for secrets (hidden caves reveled by bombs, chests under bushes, etc) and use the overworld as more of a quick travel. Over the water might be an exception unless you want to make a fishing or octopus fight options from the ship. 

-what is the point of the clearings? I have visited many of them and it just one map square with no enemies or secrets that I can find.

-Villagers so far only say "nice to meet you". They should probably have a more diverse vocabulary for immersion purposes even if their village quests haven't been implemented.

-give certain enemies or items and item switching abilities/different attack types at higher levels.

-could use more environment, building, enemy, and boss diversity but I know that will come in time so I'm not really worried about that ;)

Thats all I can think of at the moment. So far its alot of fun and the dungeons are pretty decent as far as secrets and progression even if they are somewhat linear at first. Great effort and keep it up! :D

Been following on Twitter, love the update vids!

When trying to run on mac I get: 

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError

at org.lwjgl.glfw.GLFW.glfwCreateWindow(GLFW.java:1384)

at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Application.createGlfwWindow(Lwjgl3Application.java:425)

at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Application.createWindow(Lwjgl3Application.java:372)

at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Application.<init>(Lwjgl3Application.java:107)

at mystiqa.game.desktop.DesktopLauncher.main(DesktopLauncher.java:16)

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: GLFW windows may only be created on the main thread and that thread must be the first thread in the process. Please run the JVM with -XstartOnFirstThread. For offscreen rendering, make sure another window toolkit (e.g. AWT or JavaFX) is initialized before GLFW.

at org.lwjgl.glfw.EventLoop$OffScreen.<clinit>(EventLoop.java:38)

... 5 more

AL lib: (EE) alc_cleanup: 1 device not closed

I was able to run it myself with -XstartOnFirstThread, but it only black screens :(

Running on Windows  10 with java version "1.8.0_221" I get a crash a moment after a black screen appears:

```

Controllers: added manager for application, 1 managers active
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
        at mystiqa.game.state.GameState.update(GameState.java:85)
        at mystiqa.game.state.world.WorldState.update(WorldState.java:98)
        at mystiqa.game.Game.render(Game.java:74)
        at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Window.update(Lwjgl3Window.java:386)
        at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Application.loop(Lwjgl3Application.java:136)
        at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Application.<init>(Lwjgl3Application.java:110)
        at mystiqa.game.desktop.DesktopLauncher.main(DesktopLauncher.java:16)

```

It crashes immediately. I tried v.0.1 and v.0.1.1 on two linux machines, Intel gfx, openjdk-8 and openjdk-11 

`Exception in thread "LWJGL Application"

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: no uniform with name 'cx' in shader`

Its really good, i think there is lots of potential in it but i think some tweaks here and there could improve it a lot

-increase font height by one pixel (most minor detail not really necesary but i really don't see it breaking anything there is plenty of space left on the screen)

-increase overworld move speed (i dunno if it is that slow due to generation times if it isn't i think the character moving faster would make traveling more pleasant)

-add some way for the player to be able to tell which room borders lead to another room, while on a cave i was constantly getting to borders and they would lead nowhere which was kinda frustrating since the character moves quite slow

-the game crashed while i was raiding a orc camp

Very interesting project! Very similar to my favorite old games!

Another demo, yay!

Looking cool! I like how the graphics are made, the animations fit well in the resolution. The enemies are something hard to defeat but it's interesting to apply some of technique to defeat enemies instead of recklessly trying to hit them, I like that.

Looking for more progress here :)

Cant wait for the full version of this game, it looks great!!