I'm finally out of school and thus have loads of time to get some much needed work done on Tyras. Yesterday I stayed up pretty much all night and finally got the city of Ravenguard completed and it's huge!

Here are a bunch of screenshots of the various parts of the city:

The city center:


Houses are packed together, making a very dense city:


Entrance to the underground, home of the Assassins:


The governors mansion (still not completely finished):


The blacksmith and the city outskirts:



Now that the first city is done, expect some pixel art development over the next few days as I prepare to work on the woods that surround the city. More to comes soon.

Please give a warm welcome to our new pixel artist, Gol3m. Hopefully with his help Crawle will have a lot more graphical updates including new biomes and new seed types.

The forums have also been updated to the latest version of MyBB (1.6.7), default avatars have been added and the star images for user ranks are now hearts. There've also been a few minor edits to the CSS but those should be unoticable. Any bugs can be reported here.

Ello again. This'll probably be my last Dev post for a while unfortunately.

I haven't done much in terms of visuals, basically just fixes and a few tweaks (two patches have been released to patch the errors that I fixed, you can get them through the updater).

Here's the changelog:
0.3.1 --> 0.3.1a
# FIXES
- Fixed being able to attack at long distance.
- Fixed combat sounds.

0.3.0 --> 0.3.1
# FIXES
- Esc should now close the game when in fullscreen mode.
- Minor world generation fixes and tweaks.
- You will no longer gain energy if you have an energy-based disease.
- Dungeons should now properly render all their walls.
- Fixed changing to fullscreen whilst the game is maximised.
- Worlds should now properly be cleared when deleted.
- Worlds should no longer duplicate when being generated.

# CHANGES
- Your health now drains at under 25% (on any bar, e.g. hunger).

You'll need 0.3.0, you can get it here:
http://sleepystudios.com/showthread.php?tid=448

It isn't really how I wanted to release this patch but unfortunately over the next two months I won't have time to even work on Crawle, so I've released this to try and get something out to make up for my absence. Enjoy!

Changelog below:

0.2.5 --> 0.3.0
# GRAPHICAL CHANGES
- New bars.
- Improved the day-night cycle so it's more realistic.
- NPC names turn red when they become hostile (i.e. at night).
- Added a item description box.
- Added a death menu.
- Added information boxes for world modes.

# FIXES
- Fixed sound and music.
- Fixed sound and music options.
- Fixed the camera system!
- Fixed the merchant not changing to his zombie sprite at night.
- Fixed NPC names not centering.
- Fixed the save button in the options menu not working.
- Fixed inputs not being recognized.
- Fixed action messages (e.g. "Level Up!").
- Fixed pressing esc in menus opening the options window.
- Fixed chests being able to give you multiple portions of EXP.
- Fixed diseases not properly generating.
- Fixed diseases not properly clearing.
- Fixed chests blocking.
- Fixed world border collision.
- Fixed spawning outside dungeons after logging out.
- Fixed tree collision.
- World loading should now be much faster.
- Fixed resizing in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed music in the options menu.
- Fixed action message positioning and fading.
- Fixed item drops jumping about.

# CHANGES
- New random generation.
- Reduced Merchant spawn rate.
- Increased disease rate.
- Going below 50% hunger or thirst will drain your health.
- Dungeons are no longer saved in the world file.
- All worlds except Unforgiving worlds are now based on 'death chances':
- Die once: sent back to respawn point.
- Die twice: lose items, exp, etc.
- Die three times: like Unforgiving mode, your world is deleted.
- Hard mode only has two chances: lose items, exp, etc and permadeath.
- Reverted dungeons back to old maze format, temporarily.
- Even more code cleaning!
- NPCs now respawn every 30 seconds.
- Improved NPC AI to comply with the new collision system.
- Folder cleaning.
- Added more NPCs to dungeons.
- Time is now saved in the world data folder.
- Removed F to unlock FPS.
- Randomised the spawn point.
- Added a border around the world.
- Increased the energy regen rate.
- Sound engine no longer loads if music or sound isn't enabled.
- Chests now open (visually) after being used.
- Attacking is now based off energy and health.
- Balanced disease rate a bit more.
- Randomised the Merchant spawn point.
- The Merchant will now leave if you enter a dungeon.
- You can now delete multiple worlds.
- NPCs now drop loot. Stays on the ground for 30 seconds.
- NPCs' attack hits are now based off their health.
- All inventory items are now dropped on your 2nd death.
- Attached the inventory to the player files.
- Items now drop to the ground (and are pickup-able).
- Earthquakes!
- Changed the position of returning from a dungeon to stop holes bugging out.
- Rewrote the village system.
- Made the amount of villagers dependent on the amount of houses.
- Changed baskets to follow chest logic.
- Dungeons are now saved in the world file.
- Dungeons now have a randomised spawn area.
- Animals no longer become 'evil' animals at night. Realism, etc.
- Bunnies now have a 70% chance to run away from you.
- Faster intro sequence.
- Balanced out the animal's damage.
- Animals' damage are now based on the type of animal they are.
- NPC AI tweaks.
- The intro can now be skipped using Space.
- Folder structure and name changes.
- Chests, baskets and pots now give you items instead of EXP.
- You now need at least 14 energy to run now.
- You lose 10 energy for not sleeping at night.
- Villagers now spawn outside their specific houses.
- Villagers now spawn with a random direction.
- Villagers' names are now saved.
- Combat is now click-to-attack instead of walk-into-to-attack.
- Easy mode no longer has permadeath.

# ADDITIONS
- Health bar.
- Holes now teleport you to dungeons.
- Collisions.
- EXP bar.
- You now gain 15 EXP per day and 30 EXP per week.
- Very minimal and temporary combat system.
- NPC health bars.
- Dungeon portals to teleport you back home.
- Escape to exit to the main menu whilst not in-game.
- F to hide/show the GUI.
- M to hide/show world info.
- Added action messages.
- Proper inventory system.
- More NPC names.
- Biomes.
- New seed type: long grass.
- New seed type: cactus.
- New seed type: dead weed.
- New seed type: sandstone.
- Improved the world generator to be more realistic.
- Cut down on world generation time significantly.
- Dungeon themes.
- Chickens!
- Dungeon pots.
- Added back running.
- You can now enter houses!
- GUI scaling for the world info.
- Language support for the new strings.
- Hit and impact sounds.
- 'Miss', 'Dodge' and 'Parry' luck rates.
- N to return to the menu (while in-game).
- Right-clicking the 'world mode' button will not cycle it backwards.

Download:
http://www.downloads.sleepystudios.com/c...taller.rar

It's been a while hasn't it! I've done quite a lot on Crawle since I last made a development post and here are some of these changes:

NPCs now spawn right outside their houses and face a random direction! Doesn't get any better than that. Their names are also saved now.

In terms of combat, it's click-to-attack instead of walk-into-to-attack. The range checks aren't in place but I'll add those... soon.

Easy mode no longer has permadeath and right-clicking the 'world mode' button will not cycle it backwards.

Finally, I've updated some graphics:




Crawle 0.3.0 has also been released! Final changelog:

0.2.5 --> 0.3.0
# GRAPHICAL CHANGES
- New bars.
- Improved the day-night cycle so it's more realistic.
- NPC names turn red when they become hostile (i.e. at night).
- Added a item description box.
- Added a death menu.
- Added information boxes for world modes.

# FIXES
- Fixed sound and music.
- Fixed sound and music options.
- Fixed the camera system!
- Fixed the merchant not changing to his zombie sprite at night.
- Fixed NPC names not centering.
- Fixed the save button in the options menu not working.
- Fixed inputs not being recognized.
- Fixed action messages (e.g. "Level Up!").
- Fixed pressing esc in menus opening the options window.
- Fixed chests being able to give you multiple portions of EXP.
- Fixed diseases not properly generating.
- Fixed diseases not properly clearing.
- Fixed chests blocking.
- Fixed world border collision.
- Fixed spawning outside dungeons after logging out.
- Fixed tree collision.
- World loading should now be much faster.
- Fixed resizing in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed music in the options menu.
- Fixed action message positioning and fading.
- Fixed item drops jumping about.

# CHANGES
- New random generation.
- Reduced Merchant spawn rate.
- Increased disease rate.
- Going below 50% hunger or thirst will drain your health.
- Dungeons are no longer saved in the world file.
- All worlds except Unforgiving worlds are now based on 'death chances':
- Die once: sent back to respawn point.
- Die twice: lose items, exp, etc.
- Die three times: like Unforgiving mode, your world is deleted.
- Hard mode only has two chances: lose items, exp, etc and permadeath.
- Reverted dungeons back to old maze format, temporarily.
- Even more code cleaning!
- NPCs now respawn every 30 seconds.
- Improved NPC AI to comply with the new collision system.
- Folder cleaning.
- Added more NPCs to dungeons.
- Time is now saved in the world data folder.
- Removed F to unlock FPS.
- Randomised the spawn point.
- Added a border around the world.
- Increased the energy regen rate.
- Sound engine no longer loads if music or sound isn't enabled.
- Chests now open (visually) after being used.
- Attacking is now based off energy and health.
- Balanced disease rate a bit more.
- Randomised the Merchant spawn point.
- The Merchant will now leave if you enter a dungeon.
- You can now delete multiple worlds.
- NPCs now drop loot. Stays on the ground for 30 seconds.
- NPCs' attack hits are now based off their health.
- All inventory items are now dropped on your 2nd death.
- Attached the inventory to the player files.
- Items now drop to the ground (and are pickup-able).
- Earthquakes!
- Changed the position of returning from a dungeon to stop holes bugging out.
- Rewrote the village system.
- Made the amount of villagers dependent on the amount of houses.
- Changed baskets to follow chest logic.
- Dungeons are now saved in the world file.
- Dungeons now have a randomised spawn area.
- Animals no longer become 'evil' animals at night. Realism, etc.
- Bunnies now have a 70% chance to run away from you.
- Faster intro sequence.
- Balanced out the animal's damage.
- Animals' damage are now based on the type of animal they are.
- NPC AI tweaks.
- The intro can now be skipped using Space.
- Folder structure and name changes.
- Chests, baskets and pots now give you items instead of EXP.
- You now need at least 14 energy to run now.
- You lose 10 energy for not sleeping at night.
- Villagers now spawn outside their specific houses.
- Villagers now spawn with a random direction.
- Villagers' names are now saved.
- Combat is now click-to-attack instead of walk-into-to-attack.
- Easy mode no longer has permadeath.

# ADDITIONS
- Health bar.
- Holes now teleport you to dungeons.
- Collisions.
- EXP bar.
- You now gain 15 EXP per day and 30 EXP per week.
- Very minimal and temporary combat system.
- NPC health bars.
- Dungeon portals to teleport you back home.
- Escape to exit to the main menu whilst not in-game.
- F to hide/show the GUI.
- M to hide/show world info.
- Added action messages.
- Proper inventory system.
- More NPC names.
- Biomes.
- New seed type: long grass.
- New seed type: cactus.
- New seed type: dead weed.
- New seed type: sandstone.
- Improved the world generator to be more realistic.
- Cut down on world generation time significantly.
- Dungeon themes.
- Chickens!
- Dungeon pots.
- Added back running.
- You can now enter houses!
- GUI scaling for the world info.
- Language support for the new strings.
- Hit and impact sounds.
- 'Miss', 'Dodge' and 'Parry' luck rates.
- N to return to the menu (while in-game).
- Right-clicking the 'world mode' button will not cycle it backwards.

It's my first post; and I apologise for keeping you lovely people waiting!

Here is a preview of the Crawle main theme "Venture", as it stands.

Obviously, this is subject to change, but I'd love some feedback! Give me your thoughts.

Been a while but a while ago I decided to change things slightly. Instead of playing as either Jensen or Jack, you just play as Jack since I don't particularly want to collide with Deus Ex 4's (it's happening, trust me) story.

And apart from that chapter two is finished, you can grab it here:
http://www.downloads.sleepystudios.com/dxdrchapter2.rar

Alright so surprisingly I've actually managed to do a few things.

So a while ago I put action messages in. Now I've made them smooth and random:



As you can see, they scroll upwards and placed randomly. Oh and you can all see that I've added a Dodge, Parry and Miss system.

Also the item system is now about 90% done: chests, baskets and pots will now drop actual items (usually random). Just gotta finish the item description box and then it'll be done!



Changelog for this week:

# FIXES
- Fixed action message positioning and fading.

# CHANGES
- Chests, baskets and pots now give you items instead of EXP.

Just managed to squeeze in a few things before I go off for my exams. Basically just a few fixes and fairly minor additions.

First off, I've added a death menu:



The graphics are obviously placeholders but its a fairly simple system that makes death actually look like something fairly serious (or will do when the graphics are done).

The other things aren't really worth mentioning so here's a changelog of what I've done this week:

# GRAPHICAL CHANGES
- Added a death menu.

# FIXES
- Fixed resizing in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed music in the options menu.

# CHANGES
- The intro can now be skipped using Space.
- Folder structure and name changes.

# ADDITIONS
- GUI scaling for the world info.
- Language support for the new strings.
- Hit and impact sounds.
- 'Miss', 'Dodge' and 'Parry' luck rates.
- N to return to the menu (while in-game).

I don't know how many things I'll add over the next week but hopefully I can release a new public PTV fairly soon.

Okay so lets start off with something I've said before: delays. A while ago I said I'd be taking a short hiatus. Unfortunately that's not possible for me since this game wouldn't even get worked on if I left it. So, I'm trying my best to work on it from time to time, getting a few things added here and there, making little tweaks. Therefore, 0.3.0 will be delayed. 0.3.0 will also be a bit different the next time you see it but we'll save that for later.

Alright so a few of the things I've done are balance related. Animals' damage is now based off their type (e.g. a bear hits harder than a chicken) and like before their health.

Earthquakes have been reduced to a 1 in 1000 chance (down from 1 in a million) because frankly, content restrictions are plain silly. Also, the Merchant spawn rate has been bumped down (a lot) and diseases have been bumped up again.

I've added another "dimension" as it were, houses (which I've mentioned before). There houses are mainly to shelter you from the night but we do have zombie invasion plans (so that they break in and murder you while you hide ;]).

The game is a lot more optimised now: worlds render and generate faster and use up a lot less memory as does the game in general. Currently I'm working on fixing a leak coming from the text rendering system that takes your FPS down by about 10.

A big thing for me to finish for 0.3.0 is world generation. Currently, I'm working on my biome system and now I've finally got round to reducing the chance of things spawning in awkward places (not quite there yet, but I have yet another idea) and having empty land. In the screenshot below you'll see that most of the world is covered up by things:



And finally here's a changelog of all the changes from this week:

# FIXES
- Fixed tree collision.
- World loading should now be much faster.

# CHANGES
- Faster intro sequence.
- Balanced out the animal's damage (and based it off what type of animal they are).
- NPC AI tweaks.

# ADDITIONS
- GUI scaling for the world info.
- Language support for the new strings.
- Added hit and impact sounds.

P.S. I think I did mention that we're on Twitter now, I'll be posting links to news there so it's a pretty damn good way to keep up to date. Also people who would like to 'beta test' new releases (not public ones) can still PM me.