What's next for Epic Dungeon?
First off, thanks to everybody that has played Epic Dungeon! I've really enjoyed hearing your comments and feedback.
My first big action item for Epic Dungeon is to convert it from the XNA 3.1 framework to XNA 4.0, since there is a cutoff looming that requires all Xbox Indie games to use XNA 4.0.
This is going to require a fair amount of effort, because there are some rather significant changes to the API. I have a lot of reading and head scratching ahead. But, on the upside, once complete, I'll be able to continue development on Epic Dungeon.
I'm hoping to get this done by the end of the year, but with what I'm looking at right now, it's hard to tell. Fingers crossed!
On to more interesting topics, here are some of the things that I'd like to start working on after Epic Dungeon is converted to XNA 4.0.
1. Multiple difficulty levels. I'm really happy with the default difficulty, but I know that permanent-death can be a turn-off for some people, so I'm considering adding an easy mode. Also, I'd like to an add an Epic difficulty level for those that have conquered Epic Dungeon.
2. Some kind of medal/reward system. There are a lot of opportunities for adding interesting gameplay variations, and let's face it, everybody loves unlocking these. :)
3. More map layouts, more items, more encounters, more, more more... Maybe even boss battles in the long term. There are a lot of things that can still be done.
4. Online high score boards. To be honest, I don't ever look at these, but definitely a frequently requested feature. My main issue is that I want to add more content to Epic Dungeon which will have an effect on the length of the game and the difficulty level, and I'll feel locked in one competitive boards are in place... Anyway...
5. More game modes. Another frequently requested enhancement is an infinite mode. I really wanted to have a goal (survive 50 levels) for the initial release, but I definitely see the draw of an infinite mode. Technically, this isn't too hard, but it will require me to do some thinking about how I want to handle encounters, and it will require a lot of testing to get a good balance.
Things that will have to wait for a sequel...
1. Multiplayer. I'd love to have co-op, but currently, I think it's going to require some pretty major changes, so that is going to have to wait.
2. More classes/separate skill trees. I'm toying with a few ideas for the skill tree, but I think I'm going to hold off on completely separate skill trees for a sequel, because this will require a lot of work and balancing.
Ok, this is turning into a wall of text, so I'll stop here.
Thanks again for playing Epic Dungeon, and I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions!
My first big action item for Epic Dungeon is to convert it from the XNA 3.1 framework to XNA 4.0, since there is a cutoff looming that requires all Xbox Indie games to use XNA 4.0.
This is going to require a fair amount of effort, because there are some rather significant changes to the API. I have a lot of reading and head scratching ahead. But, on the upside, once complete, I'll be able to continue development on Epic Dungeon.
I'm hoping to get this done by the end of the year, but with what I'm looking at right now, it's hard to tell. Fingers crossed!
On to more interesting topics, here are some of the things that I'd like to start working on after Epic Dungeon is converted to XNA 4.0.
1. Multiple difficulty levels. I'm really happy with the default difficulty, but I know that permanent-death can be a turn-off for some people, so I'm considering adding an easy mode. Also, I'd like to an add an Epic difficulty level for those that have conquered Epic Dungeon.
2. Some kind of medal/reward system. There are a lot of opportunities for adding interesting gameplay variations, and let's face it, everybody loves unlocking these. :)
3. More map layouts, more items, more encounters, more, more more... Maybe even boss battles in the long term. There are a lot of things that can still be done.
4. Online high score boards. To be honest, I don't ever look at these, but definitely a frequently requested feature. My main issue is that I want to add more content to Epic Dungeon which will have an effect on the length of the game and the difficulty level, and I'll feel locked in one competitive boards are in place... Anyway...
5. More game modes. Another frequently requested enhancement is an infinite mode. I really wanted to have a goal (survive 50 levels) for the initial release, but I definitely see the draw of an infinite mode. Technically, this isn't too hard, but it will require me to do some thinking about how I want to handle encounters, and it will require a lot of testing to get a good balance.
Things that will have to wait for a sequel...
1. Multiplayer. I'd love to have co-op, but currently, I think it's going to require some pretty major changes, so that is going to have to wait.
2. More classes/separate skill trees. I'm toying with a few ideas for the skill tree, but I think I'm going to hold off on completely separate skill trees for a sequel, because this will require a lot of work and balancing.
Ok, this is turning into a wall of text, so I'll stop here.
Thanks again for playing Epic Dungeon, and I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions!
posted by eyehook @ 4:19 PM
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