Crits, ideas and general input on rpg'ish game

[Oneway]

Hi all!

I've been working on a new little game the past few days to hone my skills in javascript programming.
It has some rpg and some adventure elements in it. It compares somewhat to the early Zelda games, only without the animation (yet).
There is no set storyline yet, as this little demo is mostly to display the game mechanics. Most of wich is already implemented(combat, xp, gold, monster movement).

The fun thing about a javascript based game is that you only have to load the page once and from then on everything is done dynamically, except maybe for some new tiles (about 2Kb each).

Please don't mind the tileset or leveldesign yet. This has been low priority until now so they are all mostly placeholders for some real artwork (although i quite like 'Gnawler' in all his 2 color greatness  ). In all honesty, i could use some help with that, so let me know if you're interested.

Anyway, go play already!
Controls are all handled by the numpad part of your keyboard (make sure num-lock is on).
This game will not work in Opera 8 (dont' know about other versions) as opera reserves the numpad for other functionalities. IE and FF users should be fine.

This game was inspired by Krakox the barbarian (IE only)

[ace monkey]

i'm really not sure wat to do 

[Oneway]

As said, move around with the 9 number keys on the numpad (with numlock on).
walk into enemies, items and switches to attack/interact

use the 5 key to wait. (handy for gaining combat initiative).

[ace monkey]

oh so i just walk into enimies to attack them? ok

[pslim]

This is a pretty neat start. Reminds me a lot of Roguelike games, except without the staggering number of options and items and classes and the DOS interface.

I think you could do a lot with it, especially with a storyline and adventure-like puzzles.

[BlueGlowingSword]

Use Java applets. Javascript isn't made for games. And with Java applet you could do inventory and all that stuff. And then you can compile a stand-alone version of your game. And then you can compile a mobile version of your game. (With a LOT of tweaking)

Anyway, don't use the traditional monsters in your game (like dragons) use those that everyone has heard of, but which seem still so weird that they haven't been used. Check out IVAN

If you wan't to go with the Krakox the barbarian style, then go. But take my advice - use Java Applets.

EDIT: In fact, I might code you the base engine. And btw forgot to mention, you can make a complicated AI too for your monsters, and you can make the rooms scroll with Java Applet.

[SinSin]

nice attempt but i really did not like it, it lacks originality

[Oneway]

Pslim: Thanks. Not being a D&D player myself i tried to keep character stats as simple as possible. In my experience they only distract from the gameplay itself if you're not going for realism of event handling.
There's still a lot of directions this game can go. Depending on the tileset and storyline everyingthing is still open, although i have begun to start putting in some color and some better looking monsters and stuff. It helps me develop a little story and puzzle if it becomes a bit more graphical.

BlueGlowingSword: I realise i'd have a lot more options when i would have used java. But the challenge for me in part was to see if i could work with the limitations of javascript and still produce a functioning game.
Thanks for the offer, but i'm happy with the language of my choice. I'm still not sure what kind of storyline and or monsters will be in it. But indeed i wouldn't really like to have the standard monsters in it.
An inventory is still to be coded and unlike you think, i think it is very well possible in javascript. If not, i'll come crawling back to you for the engine .
A really sophisticated AI isn't something i'm going for. A check if the player character is withing their sight radius and if not a x% chance of a random movement is enough for me.

SinSin: That's okay, i thought exactly the same about your reply.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Keep it civil, people.  I think it looks pretty neat, reminds me of Kingdom of Loathing for some reason.  I'd like to see you make it more involving than Krakox, since that game is highly linear and simplistic in design-- ie, move map to map, find weapon/armor in preset location, kill things, move on.  Hopefully you will have the maps randomly generated or something

[pslim]

Pslim: Thanks. Not being a D&D player myself i tried to keep character stats as simple as possible.

I actually wasn't talking about D&D.    I meant Rogue, the classic 1980s ASCII dungeon hack game for the PC, such as can be found in a java incarnation here. Since the original there have been a bazillion different variations, some with full color graphics and a point-and-click interface, and I would be tempted to count Krakox the Barbarian among them. The main difference between your game (and Krakox) and Roguelike games (as variations of Rogue are called) is that Rogue had a huge variety of classes, items, and possible activities.

As for whether that's a good or bad thing, I think it's entirely a matter of taste. Giving the player some choices wouldn't hurt, though, I think. Some people have pronounced preferences about what types of characters they like to play in dungeon hack games, and allowing for different people to approach the game in different ways might improve the possibility of pleasing random gamers.

[Babar]

I want more! Gimme, gimme, gimme!

[BlueGlowingSword]

Ok, use JavaScript but remember to check then that the game works with Firefox, Opera and other browsers too. Otherwise I think you'll get critic like this: http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=2384 No, really!

[Mad-Hatter]

awww......  :'(


I got killed by Gnawler (in all it's 2 colored greatness)....




Excuse me if I seem a bit inexperienced, but why must the monsters only move when you press a button?
Can't you make it to where they move all on their own?