Equin 2: The Warren Peace / Beta Testers Sign Up-O-Rama
Good afternoon!
Today I'm going to try something a bit different. I'm holding a contest / sign-up for those who'd like to become Equin 2 beta testers! If this doesn't sound like fun, you need not apply of course!
As I'm fast approaching an entire year with the project I can safely say that while it's got tons of cooking left to do I'm getting happier and happier with what I have every day I work on it. Even though I playtest the crap out of my games a lot I believe that in order for me to deliver the best overall product in the end I'd need help to fully test things and probably more importantly get early feedback from you guys so that this can happen.
I've been a long-standing supporter of NO EARLY ACCESS, and while maybe other devs would take what I currently have and try to sell it to make some easy money that's not what I'm going to do. I figure this way I can get the help and feedback I need and some of you can get a free game out of the deal and hopefully a lot of fun, too!
Equin 2: The Warren Peace is my 2nd roguelike game, and the sequel to Equin: The Lantern. It follows the traditional roguelike structure for the most part and has randomized dungeons / permadeath / turn-based, tile-based movement. The biggest thing that separates my games from those however is the inclusion of a first-person battle system akin to the Dragon Warrior (or Pokemon) games. Depending on what items you have equipped in your hands will determine what battle actions your character can perform.
Unlike almost every other roguelike I've ever tried, this game purposely has easy-to-learn controls. Arrows move you around, "I" is for inventory, "W" waits a turn, "S" shows you your Special combat skills and special effects, "ESC" lets you quit and save for next time, and "H" is a small Help section if you need it. Most importantly though is the Space Bar. Pressing Space Bar while you're on or near something you'd like to interact with will bring up a small context menu and let you choose what to do next. This ranges from opening a chest to closing a door to entering a building. So don't forget the space bar!
The game's controls are also always shown on the right bottom of the screen so you can't forget.
There are four playable character classes, each with their own good and bad points. You begin with a set combat skill at level 1, and upon reaching levels 3 and 6 you'll be able to choose one of two other combat skills as well. This differs with the first game as you only had 3 total skills that were always the same. So while it's not Final Fantasy Tactics levels of depth, it does make for more interesting gameplay.
The inventory screen came out really well!
As of this writing, there are 198 total weapons, armor, and other items in the game. Almost all of these can be found upgraded (rarely) or upgraded yourself through use of the amazingly-named "Upgrade Dust". These can also be found in sacks or chests, won as rewards or purchased at shops. Upgrading your gear can really make you more powerful, and unlike some games it's not always going to be "+1 damage, +2 damage, hurr durr". Equipped items also show on your character this time around! I've really put a lot of thought into this game's itemization and I hope it shows through.
Item categories (from worst to best): Common / Rare / Unique / Heroic. Additionally there's "Enemy Drop" which are items that can only be found by killing enemies and getting them from a dropped sack. Very often enemy drops are excellent- rivaling the best rares or even some uniques! To balance them, they will never drop pre-upgraded. That doesn't mean you can't use an Upgrade Dust to upgrade them yourself later, of course! Heroic items are very rare and can't be upgraded at all since they are already pretty damn powerful as-is. Don't fret if you aren't finding many powerful items right away- I'm designing the game so that a player can succeed with a full stack of common gear too!
The game's water generation is a billion times better than ETL's. Sometimes you can get huge lakes like this!
Overall there are less treasure chests in this game than the first one, but that's by design. However, every chest will hold an item in it 100% of the time. Gold pieces are also harder to come by, but for the most part shop item prices have been lowered over the first game's too. Money is acquired through a few ways: 1) Find it in barrels / crates / pots. 2) Scrap an unwanted item for a small amount of cash. 3) Enemies can sometimes drop sacks which contain gold pieces.
Currently, I have 3 dungeon areas more or less complete (Temple / Desert / Crypt) with 2 more planned. Upon reaching the end of the Crypt area you'll be taken to the "end of content" screen.
---
I only have a handful of beta keys, so these probably won't last too long. If it's something you'd like to participate in please comment below saying as much and we'll friend request and all that fun stuff afterwards.
Thank you for hearing me out and let's make a good game, dammit!
Today I'm going to try something a bit different. I'm holding a contest / sign-up for those who'd like to become Equin 2 beta testers! If this doesn't sound like fun, you need not apply of course!
As I'm fast approaching an entire year with the project I can safely say that while it's got tons of cooking left to do I'm getting happier and happier with what I have every day I work on it. Even though I playtest the crap out of my games a lot I believe that in order for me to deliver the best overall product in the end I'd need help to fully test things and probably more importantly get early feedback from you guys so that this can happen.
I've been a long-standing supporter of NO EARLY ACCESS, and while maybe other devs would take what I currently have and try to sell it to make some easy money that's not what I'm going to do. I figure this way I can get the help and feedback I need and some of you can get a free game out of the deal and hopefully a lot of fun, too!
The Gist
Equin 2: The Warren Peace is my 2nd roguelike game, and the sequel to Equin: The Lantern. It follows the traditional roguelike structure for the most part and has randomized dungeons / permadeath / turn-based, tile-based movement. The biggest thing that separates my games from those however is the inclusion of a first-person battle system akin to the Dragon Warrior (or Pokemon) games. Depending on what items you have equipped in your hands will determine what battle actions your character can perform.
Unlike almost every other roguelike I've ever tried, this game purposely has easy-to-learn controls. Arrows move you around, "I" is for inventory, "W" waits a turn, "S" shows you your Special combat skills and special effects, "ESC" lets you quit and save for next time, and "H" is a small Help section if you need it. Most importantly though is the Space Bar. Pressing Space Bar while you're on or near something you'd like to interact with will bring up a small context menu and let you choose what to do next. This ranges from opening a chest to closing a door to entering a building. So don't forget the space bar!
The game's controls are also always shown on the right bottom of the screen so you can't forget.There are four playable character classes, each with their own good and bad points. You begin with a set combat skill at level 1, and upon reaching levels 3 and 6 you'll be able to choose one of two other combat skills as well. This differs with the first game as you only had 3 total skills that were always the same. So while it's not Final Fantasy Tactics levels of depth, it does make for more interesting gameplay.
The inventory screen came out really well!As of this writing, there are 198 total weapons, armor, and other items in the game. Almost all of these can be found upgraded (rarely) or upgraded yourself through use of the amazingly-named "Upgrade Dust". These can also be found in sacks or chests, won as rewards or purchased at shops. Upgrading your gear can really make you more powerful, and unlike some games it's not always going to be "+1 damage, +2 damage, hurr durr". Equipped items also show on your character this time around! I've really put a lot of thought into this game's itemization and I hope it shows through.
Item categories (from worst to best): Common / Rare / Unique / Heroic. Additionally there's "Enemy Drop" which are items that can only be found by killing enemies and getting them from a dropped sack. Very often enemy drops are excellent- rivaling the best rares or even some uniques! To balance them, they will never drop pre-upgraded. That doesn't mean you can't use an Upgrade Dust to upgrade them yourself later, of course! Heroic items are very rare and can't be upgraded at all since they are already pretty damn powerful as-is. Don't fret if you aren't finding many powerful items right away- I'm designing the game so that a player can succeed with a full stack of common gear too!
The game's water generation is a billion times better than ETL's. Sometimes you can get huge lakes like this!Overall there are less treasure chests in this game than the first one, but that's by design. However, every chest will hold an item in it 100% of the time. Gold pieces are also harder to come by, but for the most part shop item prices have been lowered over the first game's too. Money is acquired through a few ways: 1) Find it in barrels / crates / pots. 2) Scrap an unwanted item for a small amount of cash. 3) Enemies can sometimes drop sacks which contain gold pieces.
Currently, I have 3 dungeon areas more or less complete (Temple / Desert / Crypt) with 2 more planned. Upon reaching the end of the Crypt area you'll be taken to the "end of content" screen.
If you would like to apply, please note
- This is a very unfinished / unpolished game, and will only improve over time. Many of the battle effects and etc. for example are really rough-looking.
- It's only me making all aspects of this, but I do work on it when I'm able to and will absolutely finish it bar an asteroid falling on me or some other godly event.
- Your feedback will be kind of greatly necessary to me in order to make this the best game possible for everyone in the end. Think a weapon is too weak? Say so! Think that font looks like ass? Let's hear you! Can't get past the desert area and ready to pull your hair out? Let me know!
Requirements
- I'm looking specifically for those who have extensive knowledge of the first game, Equin: The Lantern. I figure this is the best way to go about it, since I'm trying to improve upon it.
- If you can't really put the time to play more than a few minutes of this here and there, please let someone else give it a shot. I only asked for a small amount of beta keys from Valve and want to give those who really want to do this a chance.
---
I only have a handful of beta keys, so these probably won't last too long. If it's something you'd like to participate in please comment below saying as much and we'll friend request and all that fun stuff afterwards.
Thank you for hearing me out and let's make a good game, dammit!