Flippin’ The Script

If I had a nickel for every time I did a 180 on plans for this game, I’d have a good chunk of change. In a previous blog post I talked about my plans for the so-called Cave Update for Turk’s Crawling Dungeon. My vision for the game has changed considerably since then, and I’m excited to share what that entails!

I Re-Did The Whole Thing

Yeah: I made a new project file in Unity and coded the game all over again, basically from scratch. “Why?”, you might ask. “Why, Noah, why would you ever do that?” The answer is simple: my old code was a giant stinkin’ mess. In my efforts to refactor code from a year ago, I basically broke everything. I mean almost every system was borked completely by my brutish attempts to force growth. Woops!

I decided it would be best to start from a blank slate and build this project properly with the knowledge I’d gained from months of hands-on experience. I would do it better this time: systems would be modular and highly extensible; data would be softcoded; level generation would be truly random. Programming everything would be faster the second time around, anyhow, so why not?

What’s Changed

Pictured above: A dungeon generated using the new system.

Level generation is now completely random; no more prefabricated spaces. Inspired by traditional roguelikes, I put a considerable amount of thought into the new level generator code. When it’s complete, I hope that it will be capable of generating robust and interesting environments for players to explore! The level generation parameters have also been extracted from the source code, allowing players to modify their values and generate their own unique dungeons.

Object definitions have been softcoded and no longer use Unity’s prefab system. Before, every item, every decoration, every enemy, was a “prefab” asset built in Unity. Now, all objects are defined using XML, allowing for players (and myself) to edit their values/parts with ease.

Audio is no longer embedded in the Unity project and is open for modification, as are sprites.

Note that in the upcoming release, some features present in the original prototype version will be missing until they can be reimplemented in the future. Some cut features include crafting and injuries/health conditions. Combat is still a work in progress and might not fully make it into this upcoming version. I think these sacrifices are worthwhile for the improvements I’ve made while rebooting the project, and these features are only gone temporarily; I fully intend to revisit these systems in the future.

What’s Next

Pictured above: A dungeon chamber.

In the coming weeks I plan to release the new version of Turk’s Crawling Dungeon to itch. This version will feature all the improvements previously mentioned and more! Additionally, the new source code will be available on Github for any curious developers looking to poke around. Yay! 

All in all, I am very satisfied with the progress that I’ve made, not only with this project, but as a developer and game designer on the whole. In an upcoming blog post I’ll go into more detail regarding the improvements I’ve made and new systems that are in the works. Thank you so much for reading, and for following me on this journey. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support this project has received. 

*Mwah!*