Author Archives: Andrew Ellem

Heroes of a Broken Land 2 Announcement

Heroes of a Broken Land 2 is a procedural epic RPG, combining exploration and dungeon crawling with town building and multiple party management.

It will be available in a “early access” state later in 2019 with a full release planned for sometime in 2020.

Heroes of a Broken Land 2 will feature a procedural world that’s highly customizable.  The final version will contain:

  • Over 30 classes, hundreds of skills and 3 playable races
  • Build and customize you own town, dozens of buildings and additions
  • Dozens and dozens of unique quests and adventures that are seamlessly woven into a procedural world
  • Much much more!

Join the discussion here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch here for more updates!

Heroes of a Broken Land Version 1.10

A new version of Heroes of a Broken Land is available!

hobl_serpent_110_960Version 1.10 brings a bunch of new content, with over 20 new monsters to fight, plus some new Steam achievements and the usual round of fixes.

hobl_zombie_110_960Version 1.10

  • Bears, Serpents, Zombies and more! 20 new monsters added.
  • Monster information is now per-Wizard, not per-Game
  • Monster quantity added to game customization options
  • Retroactively add core class skills (fixes skill changes to classes in previous updates)
  • New Steam Achievement, some achievement targets have been reduced
  • Add message when waiting/passing in a dungeon
  • Fix issue where battle can hang after merging parties
  • Fix arrow directions on descending dungeons

Heroes of a Broken Land version 1.9

Heroes of a Broken Land version 1.9 has been released.

This release includes a number of improvements and content. There is now a equipment screen accessable from any town.  This screen should make it easier to manage your heroes’ equipment.

Party Equip Screen

Party Equip Screen

Some new objects will now be availalbe in new worlds.  The Weaponsmith and Armorsmith will sell a random selection of equipment, which will refresh overtime.  The Inn will allow you to recruit wandering heroes, and will also allow you to quickly heal your party, for a fee.

Armor and Weapon stores on the world map

Armor and Weapon stores on the world map

Here’s the full list of changes:

  • Add a Equip Hero screen to manage all hero equipment (Equip icon in Town)
  • Lizard and Adventurers now get a Detect Secret (doors) skill at later levels
  • Add Armorsmith and Weaponsmiths to the World, selling random items (new game only)
  • Add Inns to the world, recruit random heroes and rest your party, rest and heal for $$$
  • Fixed trap, altar and fountain outcomes, prevent re-loading to retry (optional, new game only)
  • Tweak accessory loot drop chance
  • Show weapon specialization (yellow icon & hover text) in equip screen
  • Hide non-equppable items in equip screen
  • Enforce unique town names
  • Quick load (F9) works from combat
  • Fix some quick load issues when in the world map
  • Fix monster stats no resetting on new games
  • Clarify class skill lists a bit
  • Tweak spell filter button layout
  • Handful of UI, typos and various tweaks

Heroes of a Broken Land Has Been Updated

Version 1.8a just went live today.  It’s mostly a bug fix release but also includes a number of usability improvements.  Here’s the full list of changes:

Version 1.8a

  •  Fix issue loading games with custom difficulty settings

Version 1.8

  • Add Auto Heal with Heal spell option
  • Add resolution setting to setup menu
  • Add combat speed slider
  • Can now swap heroes between parties on the world map
  • Tiny and Small worlds only require 2 and 3 parties to win (new games only)
  • Fix mouse wheel support, should be more consistent for everyone
  • Status icon tip now shows status effect
  • Trigger key press on release, fixes issues with keyboard repeat in some cases
  • Can access settings menu from combat (Load, etc.)
  • Add key to move only current party on world map (M by default)
  • Add keys to select next party on world map (N by default)
  • Add custom difficulty setting for staring hero and recruited hero quality
  • Reduce counter attack chance each after counter, preventing unending counters
  • Fix hang when combat occurs on a tombstone
  • Fix bug where saving in boss monster dungeons would not load properly, properly prevent saving
  • Fix level up skill screen not displaying properly
  • Fix Artificer town Steam Achievement
  • Fix enemy flame shields from going crazy
  • Fix Fae Blast message

Heroes of a Broken Land on Steam

Heroes of a Broken Land is coming to Steam!

The official release date is August 7th.  Check out the store page.

If you’ve purchased the game directly from me you will have early access to the Steam version of Heroes of a Broken Land – check your email!  The key you receive will work right now.  Everyone else will have to wait until the game is officially launched.

If you’ve purchased the game from another site you should be receiving keys through that site.

If you have any issues or questions just drop me a line: andrew@wingedpixel.com

Version 1.7 has Released

In other news, an updated version with some critical fixes has just been released.

  • Fix status icons on Unknown Monsters
  • Fix enchanted item from reciving duplicate powers
  • Fix ice storm adding frost effect each round
  • Fix music missing from some monster dungeons
  • Fix Pillar of Water issue where it required multi-party
  • Added many new of item enchantments

Heroes of a Broken Land 1.6

hobl_pegasus

A new update to Heroes of a Broken Land has just been released.  You can auto-patch right now, and It should start appearing on the various store downloads shortly.

Version 1.6 finally provides the Pegasus mounts that the Stables have always claimed to provide.  A fully upgraded Stable will now remove all terrain penalities, as you now fly over the world.

The complete list of changes is:

  • Added status icon to monster info
  • Level 3 Stables now provides proper pegasus mounts
  • Level 3 Stables now remove terrain penalities
  • Possible fix for “Dungeon Clear” dialog not going away
  • Ice Storm should have a delayed effect
  • Fix Storm (and other repeated spells) from being cast on certain characters
  • Fix {Creature} text in draining spells
  • Fix issue with enchanter adding duplicate enchantments
  • Fix world trainer/store scrollbars
  • Auto move can now properly move through teleporters
  • Can now deselect equipment by clicking on item stats

Enjoy!

Harmonia

harmonia_cover

This past weekend I participated in TOJam, a 3 day game jam based in Toronto.  It was a hectic weekend, but a lot of fun.  I had already decided to expand on my last game jam idea about echo location: Echo Chamber.  This time I was determined to make sound and music the core game interface, and I think I’ve succeded in Harmonia.

If you find the screen shots confusing, it’s because they probaby are.  You really need to see the game in motion, preferably via the Oculus Rift, to really get a sense of what the game is like.

Screen Shot 2014-05-01 at 3.51.36 PMScreen Shot 2014-05-01 at 3.49.44 PM

Harmonia was designed to be used with the Oculus Rift, but is now playable without VR equipment.  However the game does require a Mic to play.

The basic premise is very simple: you interact with the world using sound, your voice, a musical instrument or just by blowing on the Mic.  Harmonia is an exploration focused experience, with two playable levels.

You can grab Harmonia from itch.io: http://wingedpixel.itch.io/harmonia

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TOJam games!

Controls:

  • VR Mode: Mouse will turn your around and the left Mouse button to moves forward
  • Non-VR Mode: Mouse will look and turn, the left Mouse button to moves forward (WASD also works)

Sound & Microphone:

  • The game is hardcoded to use the first Mic in your system, so will hopefully “Just work” for most people.  It works best if you have a hand-held or movable mic, since it helps to shout/blow into the microphone at times.
  • Your only input other than movement is sound.  You’ll need to be able to hit certain pitches/notes to succeed. You’ll need to sing, whistle or hum from time to time,  so it helps to have a musical instrument near by if you have trouble.  I used a cheap electric keyboard when developing, but any instrument should work.
  • It can be hard to play if your environment isn’t quiet, or you’re unable to make a bit of noise.

Post-Mortem

Being a game jam game, the scope of Harmonia is of course quite limited.  There were a lot of features, designs, tricks and techniques I wanted to try out but simply didn’t have the time.  Also in the journey of creating a game like this – where even the basic inputs are new, with no existing preconeptions or best practices to follow – you learn a lot along the way.  So there’s a lot of room for improvement both in execution and design.

However I’m quite happy with the final result, I think as a proof of concept it works quite well, and just about everyone who tried Harmonia was able to expereince something novel.

Heroes of a Broken Land 1.5

A new version of Heroes of a Broken Land has been released!

Lots of fixes and improvements this time most notibly a minor change to how status effects are handled, where now the most powerful effect will take precidence (cast Poison and the Decay, the Decay effect will take priority).  Plus, there is now an icon for Haste, Chill and Burn statuses.  Also a lot of fixes and adjustments to Golem character building.

Here’s the full changlist for 1.5:

  • Add icons for Haste, Chill and Burn statuses
  • Healing spells now ignore resistance
  • Status inflicting skills now inflict the stronger version (Decay will override Poison)
  • Added more messages to battles
  • Golem could not learn Shock Proof
  • Golem stat cost increased
  • Golem skill level requirements increased
  • Golem stat adjustment UI improved (hold mouse down)
  • Fix bug where Golem could learn skills by adjusting level up and down
  • Added message to clarify Golem is delivered to home town
  • Added icon to show purified dungeons
  • Elemental lord messages updated, spawn near pillars
  • Rebalance monster types found in dungeons
  • Fix classes found in Jail cells
  • Reduce the amount of Adventurer recruits (new heroes only change class once)
  • Clairfy Gladiator class description
  • Clarify Storm spell descriptions
  • Fix incorrect wording in Trade Dispute event
  • Fix Void shrine giving XP to all parties
  • Thieves guild UI tweak
  • Tweak Ghost Rat stats
  • Improve slowdown on really large dungeon logs
  • Fix issues where objects would not fade properly during battle
  • Fix Frostbite being learned during battle
  • Fix upgraded skills remaining in Favorites list
  • Added self-patching to Linux versions (will take affect in future updates)
  • Change Sliver Slime to Silver Slime

Heroes of a Broken Land version 1.4

Version 1.4 is now out, addressing some important issues that have popped up since 1.3.  It also includes a few minor UI improvements such as showing if a door is open or not in your automap:

hobl_newmaps

Here’s the full list of changes:

  • Fix issues when exiting the Crystal Tower
  • Fix flanking issues and monster facing issues
  • Fix Level Up screen not accounting for Wizard powers
  • Fix Fae Queen skill not being learned
  • Fix dungeon generation bug with bad teleporters
  • Make recruiting UI a bit more easy to understand
  • Fix world interaction with multiple parties and none selected
  • Open and closed doors now show on map differently
  • Neutral damage resistance gives a chance to resist Stun
  • Fix tool tip in help menu
  • Reduce  Might Cleave  MP cost
  • Tweak Ghost Rat difficulty again
  • Make magic fountiains more common in the final dungeon
  • Reduce tool tip time
  • Fix more spelling mistakes

Heroes of a Broken Land 1.3 Released

Better late than never, since 1.3’s already been out a few days, but here’s the list of changes:

  • Allow any Human class to become an Adventurer
  • Mofify intro tutorial a bit, now build alchemist before entering hall
  • Slightly improve Wizard ATK and DEF bonuses
  • Adjust monster XP for new/hard creatures
  • Adjust Ghost Rat difficutly (no more Hive rats, less duplication)
  • Fix issue with certain custom difficulty games not saving properly
  • Fix Wizard skill table, can now get level V Affinity/Focus
  • Fix incorrect equipment stats adjustments
  • Fix Explosion skill
  • Fix building icons in help menu
  • Upgraded Unity3D version, if strange stuff happens, this is the cause
  • Misc type/spelling fixes

No new screen shots or anything this time, just fixes and tweaks!