Gryptic Version 0.031: Bottomless Dungeons and RPG Mechanics

Its finally time to release the next big update to the public prototype of Gryptic: Bottomless Dungeons and RPG Mechanics!

Gryptic Prototype Version 0.031

This update combines the two most-recent releases from the private prototype, along with some bug fixes and improvements. While we are still in the early stages of development, Gryptic Prototype Version 0.031 represents a big step towards the game I'm trying to make.

The two main features introduced in the update are as follows:

Bottomless Dungeons

With each new run, the dungeon is made anew.

I've added a rough procedural generation system to Gryptic. The entrance is always the same, but at the start of a new game, the first few floors of the interior ruins are procedurally generated from a small pool of flexible hand-crafted rooms. Each dungeon "Region" is set up to have its own pools of stuff, its own lighting and fog settings, and to some extent its own rules for how it is built. For now there are only two regions, and they share most of their parts: the Inner Ruins, which makes up the first 3 floors of the dungeon, and Infinity, which makes up the rest in repeating 3 floor segments.

The "Infinity" region is simply a way to test new content without having to wait until I've designed a whole new biome, and its essentially the same region, with randomized fog and lighting settings, and some rules that change based on dungeon depth to reduce access to food and water as you go deeper. Later in development, actually distinct regions will be added to this system, and the "Infinity" region will fill-in any gaps until it is eventually phased out in favor of a new game plus type system. For now though, you can explore an early version of the Inner Ruins, and a very similar randomized bottomless dungeon.

RPG Mechanics

To grow and learn is a privilege of the living, but it is not a right. Power must be earned.

I've also added an early version of some of Gryptic's RPG mechanics to the latest build. During your adventure you'll find Level Tokens, either as whole tokens or as fragments of a token.

These tokens can be spent at a safe room to gain a level, which increases your max HP slightly, and allows you to select a skill upgrade from a randomized selection. You can spend money you've collected in-game to re-roll the skill upgrades that are offered, and each level-up offers a new randomized selection as well. There is another twist: skill upgrades can be offered at higher tiers, and can be as impactful as multiple level-ups.

This system should provide some variation between runs, and an interesting risk vs reward proposition for re-rolling the selection. Would it be best to take an option from the initial selection, or risk re-rolling for something that suits your build better? Should you take a lower tier upgrade for a skill that you need on the next floor, or are you tempted to take a higher tier upgrade for a skill that you might want to invest in later? I think this will be more fun than just adding one point to the skill of your choice on each level-up.

Other Additions

There are also some new weapons and interactions in this update. The player can finally re-fill their water flask at the cauldrons in safe rooms, and there are ways to attack enemies from a safe distance. There is a lot of room for improvement in future patches in terms of variety and content, and many of the new actions are missing sounds and visual feedback, but the bigger features of the update were the higher priority. Expect to see more variety soon.

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback on the latest build. If you like what you see and can't wait to try the next round of content updates before they go public, consider joining at the Patron + tier. Supporters at Patron + tier and above have access to the Gryptic Private Prototype, which gets content updates each month, and their next update coming December 5th is focused on adding new items, rooms, and possibly new monsters into the mix. You can join my patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/trashwizz