Cyclopean News

This is the second update. It's got some cool stuff that you have been asking for. I am focusing on "the fun stuff" for now, but I will begin to address the more technical issues that some of you have mentioned soon too.

[h3]Updated Features[/h3]
Torch Mechanics:
Torches work differently now. Lighting a torch will show it with a "*" like equipped armor and weapons. This torch can no longer be sold or placed in a chest, but it can be discarded (when you are not interfacing with a chest or trader) and that will put the torch out and remove it from your inventory. This is to support the stealth in darkness feature that was added to the last build. This places a natural limit on how many times you can turn the torch on and off.

Allies - Healing:
From the Allies panel, you can examine your allies, and heal them if they are wounded AND you have bandages available.



Allies - Inventory:
You can now trade freely with allies *in your party* and thy basically serve as extra inventory room now.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
Sell Button:
When trading with an NPC the "Sell" button should now appear without having to switch between inventory screens.

Fleeing in the Overworld:
Previously the Flee command, when performed in the overworld, would have your character run to a place behind a big rock. This was set prior to the rock being there (I moved it) and it was intended that you would flee to the starting place in the stone circle of the Zoogs. After you set up a tent, your fleeing place will be the tent. It may still happen if you started your game prior to this update and have not yet found the tent. This is normal, the change will only effect new games.

Fleeing in Dungeons:
A couple players reported fleeing in a dungeon (Ghoul's Crag I believe) led them to a dark place under the level, where they could not escape from. As much as this sounds like a neat feature, I did not intend this. I was unable to reproduce it though, so I am not quite sure what's happening.

Please let me know if anyone experiences this again.

For this first update, and for the early part of Early Access, I am not planning to add a ton of content to the game. I will not say the game is content complete yet, but it's intended to be a small scale RPG.

Instead I am hoping to take what is already here, polishing it and making sure the gameplay is balanced and fun. I already received a lot of great feedback, as well as some time to further expand some of the systems already included in the game.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
Captured Names:
Captured enemies had weird names in the Captives menu. Tentacles, Bats, Spiders and other less mentionable things were not properly represented in the Captives menu, but this has been resolved. You should see the same name when you examine the captive, as you see when actually capturing them, so hopefully there is no more confusion here.

[h3]Updated Features[/h3]
Tools:
Tools can no longer be equipped. Tools like the shovel, compass, net and others are meant to provide a kind of passive effect. It is assumed that when you need them, your character will know what to do, as long as the tools are in your inventory, The equip command is reserved for weapons.

Creature Hostility Reset
Creature hostility will now reset when you leave and re-enter a dungeon. Previously, a creature you fought would remain hostile for any future encounters. Also, enemies that were demotivated, would remain so, even if the player came back after a long time. Now these creatures will basically forget you if you leave a dungeon. This prevents a bug where a newly allied creature might retain hostility from a previous battle, and undo your alliance as a result.

If, however, you save and reload a game without leaving a dungeon, the enemy hostility and demotivation will not reset, but will remain persistent until you leave the dungeon.

Monster Damage
Monster and player damage have been adjusted considerably. I don't know if this is "done" yet, but the enemy critical hits were severely overpowered when compared to the player. Now enemies, players and allies all use the same calculations when attacking. The only difference is that enemies use their STRENGTH ability as their base armor, and the player get that stat from the currently equipped ARMOR. The armor you can wear is determined by your strength, so it works very similarly.

Skill Absorbes Damage
Also, your SKILL has been used to help reduce any damage coming in. Currently is is just included in the "absorbed by armor" category, but I might update the log to show more granularity here. I want the log to really help players understand what's happening in any given turn.

Treasure Adjustment
I have adjusted the way treasure is spawned. Creatures who have items in their inventory will be much more likely to carry supplies like bandages, torches and cups of tea. Contrasting this, treasure chests, whether in dungeons or those found with a treasure map, will be more likely to carry tools, weapons, armor, books and keys. I hope this makes dungeon delving more rewarding.

NOTE: If you have already entered a dungeon, and save the game, all the treasure in that particular dungeon will already exist in the save file. So you may not notice this for places you have already visited.

Betrayal
Former allies that you have betrayed (by killing one of them after forging an alliance) will no longer be removed from the allies list on the character panel. Instead, they will appear with a "-" in front of their name like this: -Zoogs

This should help you remember who your friends are and aren't.

Hello Darkness My Old Friend
I am saving this feature for last. I am kind of excited about it, but I am not sure how it will work with players yet. Also, it is not quite finished yet, so it's still an emerging gameplay mechanic. Here it is ... when you are in a dungeon, away from the entrance, and you do not have an active torch, your ability to perform stealth will greatly improve. It pretty much doubles your ability to sneak, pilfer, capture and even flee from monsters. Darkness also prevents enemies and allies from impacting your wits (up or down). Obviously, darkness is a disadvantage for you as a player trying to navigate a dungeon. But I think the benefits may outweigh the harms if you are going for a stealthy approach to the game.

The related things I am considering are to allow players to toggle their torch. This might make the whole thing too overpowered though. If you can just switch perfect stealth on and off, it would not feel very balanced. Maybe snuffing the torch would remove it from inventory, so you would have a limited number of toggles to use.

Secondly, I am considering some kind of night-vision skill or item. Maybe related to Cats? This would allow some limited visibility, while retaining the darkness bonus. I might even require the night-vision skill to gain full advantage of this darkness modifier. Anyway, try it out and see how you like it!

Cyclopean: The Great Abyss appears to have glorious dungeon graphics but I can't say for sure because I can't get torches to work. I think your character is supposed to kindle them automatically when you venture into a dungeon - at which point the view switches, classic Ultima-style, from top-down into first-person. My character never deigns to light a torch, however. Possibly this is because, no matter how many torches I loot or buy from the underworld's infrequent traders, my character page always tells me I have none. Is my character eating them? Are they too afraid to light them and expose what those dungeons contain? Do I need to read the manual properly? Or is it just a bug?

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Game Update
1. Fixes issue where starting a new game after character death did not work
2. Fixes related issue where starting a new game after character death would inherent previous character's level and experience points.

The Early Access version of Cyclopean: The Great Abyss is now live! I am really looking forward to hearing people's feedback, and polishing up this ... game.

If it's easy for you, just use the Steam Forum to voice your thoughts, questions and suggestions.

If you prefer, you can also log on to my Discord Channel here: https://discord.gg/ZcajMsA4Mt

Finally, you can feel free to email me - [email protected]

I will be working diligently to update the game regularly and incorporate as much feedback as I can, within the limits of the game's overall vision.