PITVYPR Dev Blog #11: Alpha Released!

Hello!

I have some news that I thought I'd never be able to give:

PITVYPR is out!

Well, it's out in Alpha. But, that's a fantastic milestone for me, as someone who rarely feels able to release things.

I have a ton more work to do on it, and a lot of extra bug-fixing and QOL changes to make now that it is immediately playable (mouse controls need more support over the next few updates), but I'm so happy that the game can finally be played by people.

A small feature list for the uninitiated:

Procedural Generation with 3 different Levels: The Pit, The Copper Chambers, and The Underblood.

1. A set of 16 enemies to interact with.

2. A final-boss styled enemy hiding on floor 3 of The Underblood.

3. ~50 Items with their own Actions, changing how you interact with the world.

This alpha is focused on getting people in and playing, while hopefully finding bugs I've missed, and letting me know their thoughts on the game.

The link to play the game is here: https://berneytd.itch.io/pitvypr

A note for those wanting to play the game, it is recommended that you use either the numpad or vim-control scheme (you can google vim controls, but it uses the h,j,k,ly,u,b,n buttons instead of arrow keys) to ensure you can interact with things diagonally. Though, you can get by with a mixture of the mouse and arrow-keys, as well, just not as well because of the options on weapons sometimes being tied to diagonals. Something I'll need to think about going forwards!

Before we go into the reflection on the Alpha development process, I'd like to give everyone here a big thank you for reading my blog posts. I couldn't have done it without seeing the number go up on my posts, with the acknowledgement that people were interested in the project (I might be a vain person). Your interest means the world.

Additionally, here is a fun gallery of screenshots and GIFs from throughout development showing off some of the cool stuff in the game:

A current-version screenshot from the tutorial, where you learn some Ranged Combat. The UI for this (circular range indicator with a target-line on the cursor) is very much inspired by cogmind. I'm also happy with the Tab-Targeting that is implemented for this system, as it makes ranged combat feel just as fast as melee.

The first implementation of Explosive Damage in the game! In my first, static-tutorial level, I made some secret areas hidden by walls that only explosives could reach (maybe, these are in the new tutorial... wink wink nudge nudge). It was very satisfying seeing my levels get torn down and be destructible. It's still one of my favourite mechanics in the game.

Of course, you've seen this in previous posts, but a big long set of the implemented items in PITVYPR version 0.1! There are 44 implemented (according to my spreadsheet), and more will be coming!

The Rat Warrens - one of the first prefabs I made for my level generation. It's much harder now than was showcased, but the layout has stayed the same. Rats are sort of a roguelike staple, and I'd like to do a lot more with them in my game than them simply being the regular 1-HP enemy you see.

Okay, showcase over. Let's get into the introspective, soppy, emotions and stuff that came and went throughout development:

Reflection

If you go back to post #0 of the PITVYPR dev blog, I say that I want to update this blog weekly, as a way of keeping myself engaged with the project and doing more work than I otherwise would. Then, in a later posts, I immediately give up on this approach.

It would seem from this that the blog had failed in its purpose - or more that I had failed the blog's purpose: unable and unwilling to update it weekly. However, looking at it today, I think the blog is the biggest reason I managed to release something. Many times in development I found myself wanting to finish a feature, or work on it just a bit longer, so that I could write a post about it and feel all proud of myself. This motivation wouldn't have found me if PITVYPR remained a private project that only some of my friends knew about.

The timeline of PITVYPR's development is very different from what I'd had in mind, also: From being a 1-2 month project, ballooning to nearly 2 years of development! It's been fun, but also pretty not-constant, because life gets in the way: I spent 2 summers far away from home, without a computer, and had a number of other projects I was trying out and experimenting with when I was back home. Not to mention that I recently got employed as a full-time Software Developer - meaning PITVYPR development will now be done on the weekends and evenings, instead of simply on the days where I felt motivated.

Being a hobby developer is hard. It's such a wonderfully difficult and enjoyable hobby, but there are a lot of struggles involved in creating something so multi-disciplinary. PITVYPR helped with this by-nature of being a traditional roguelike: ASCII art and no sound design meant that the focus was more on the implementation of mechanics than the expression of them visually/audibly.

I also get pretty nervous regarding the quality of what I release. Every release I've made has some excuse to be imperfect: Game Jam entries were limited by time, my University Project was focused on mechanic design over playability (weird to say but it was true), and now PITVYPR is an Alpha version, with a promise of unimplemented features. Further work has always been unfulfilled in my past games, but I am hopeful that this blog, and kind-enough feedback from people who engage with the game, will help me to keep working on PITVYPR - there are so many more things left to add, to make it something really great!

So, please, if you do play the game, and have any thoughts at all, ranging from "it sucks" to "it's peak" I'd love to hear from you! It's out for Windows systems only, currently, I think (You can probably run it on a VM if it can support .NET windows apps but idk).

And, again, for everyone reading this, or any of the previous posts in the PITVYPR blog, thank you! Expect a ton of feature updates coming, with a load of hotfixes in the next week. And, if you want updates, and I'm not delivering them, scream at me!

Thanks,

Liam (BerneyTD)