Hey everyone. Getting very close to being done with the next build, so I thought I’d share a bit more about what to expect.

The next build’s been focused on two sets of improvements: putting in and testing out Geminimax’s awesome character sprites, and improving the negotiation mechanic considerably. This post is going to focus on the negotiation goodies.

Previously, I’d mentioned that the negotiation interface had received a few UI improvements: an approval indicator and mouse support chief among them. So now, let’s talk about the new content that was added. With the help of a special Goblin and a special Slime (i.e.: Just because Goblins and Slimes ask for this stuff here doesn’t mean they will in the build ), here’s a set screenshots of the some of new demands that you might see during a negotiation.

The goals of the new demand types are:
* To give demons a bit more personality and variance in the sort of things they ask for.
* Bring back the feeling of mutual dislike some demons have for each other, but in a fuzzy fashion rather than the absolute “cannot recruit X while you have Y” method used long ago. (This is reflected in the ‘get rid of X ability/demon’ demands: refusing these demands doesn’t necessarily auto-fail, but having them in the deck and not being willing to give up what’s asked will make negotiations trickier.)
* To add some ‘awareness’ of recent events into negotiation (ex: the ones where the Slime is upset you damaged it, or where the Goblin is annoyed you killed one of its friends)
* To add in more demands that ask the player to take on tactical risks, rather than just hand over items and resources (ex: the “unsummon allies” demand)

In honesty I… may have spent a little longer on this than I should have, since negotiation is all in all a relatively minor part of the game. But, on the other hand, capture mechanics are one of Demon’s major unique draws, so it may still have been good investment. We’ll see what you all think soon.

Next up in the build following this: a similar (and hopefully much quicker per mechanic) review of the other capture mechanics. Most especially up for review here is the “slay (large) X in (large) Y turns” capture type: these will be getting upgraded to allow them to change floors with you, and I will also be adding ways to detect enemy locations (whether or not this is tied to the capture mechanic or something else I haven’t decided yet.)

The next build should enter testing soon: the wait for the new sprites and negotiation goodies is almost over. Until then, good luck in the tower.

2500 total games of Demon have been reported to the server since I started tracking around 5 months ago. (For those keeping score, the 1000 mark was reached about 6 weeks ago.)

The overall plays/day has been relatively consistent as an average since the 1000 mark, with about 30ish plays/day being the average, though this has included some spikes of 100+/day and some lower points (usually just before releases, I’ve noticed). I suppose it is normal people would wait for a release when they know one is really close.

I hope everyone continues to have fun playing Demon. I’ve barely started this current year of full time development, and already a lot of nice stuff has gotten in: automapping, an options menu, the infamous stairs change, and plenty of UI upgrades. Plenty more goodies are on the way too.

Anyway, time to get back to work. Good luck in the tower, and thanks for playing!

This week, I’ve been working on planning out and implementing various forms of polish for Demon’s capture mechanics.

A fair bit of this effort will be centered on Negotiation initially. The first major piece of this is already done: a UI pass on the negotiation interface itself. It now:

• Shows your current progress towards success, and the amount needed with the Approval meter.
• Allows you to use the mouse to select responses.
• Gives more direct messaging about the results of your choices.

You can see these in the screenshots below.

Next up for Negotiation will be adding more ‘demand’ types to help keep negotiation encounters interesting and varied. Stay tuned for more information on this soon.

However…

There is also something else that has been in the works for about two months now that I’ve been keeping a lid on. But, I’m getting *very* close to being ready to reveal it. What is it? Well, I don’t want to say exactly what it is just yet… but I will very soon. Shortly after that, you’ll be able to see it for yourself in a build.

All sorts of UI/player friendliness goodies coming up in this one. I’ve already shown you the options screen and what it will have to offer in terms of customizing your experience, but now it’s time to talk about the rest of the features. I’ll let the screenshots do most of the talking.

The one major non-UI change in this build is a revamp of how stairs work in the tower. Freely going back levels is no longer possible: the only portals in the main Tower are either one way portals going to the next floor, or portals going to side dungeons. Side dungeon portals close after being used: once you return from a side dungeon (whether you completed it or not), you cannot return to it. Also: side dungeons (for now) have a 100% chance to spawn, since there aren’t many of them. Later when there is more side dungeon content, I will have a certain number drawn from a larger pool appear each game.

Modifiers now provide some information about themselves when mousing over them during use of a Silver or Gold Matrix. Additionally, you can right-click them in the selection list to see a full list of the possible bonus abilities they provide.

Player allies now look distinct from the player, thanks to a different shape of faction indicator being used for them:

Basic attack information is now available on the traits page of character sheets, allowing you to see what damage type each character’s basic attack deals. This can be important when dealing with enemies that are resistant or weak to specific physical damage types.

That covers most of the major updates, though of course there are also some bug fixes and tweaks. I hope to release the next build within a few days. See you again soon.