God of Change

By Adam Gatt

God of Change is a game where monsters change in ability over time. What might initially be an unchallenging species of monster might end up learning the ability to shoot lightning, or be resistant to damage, or be more aggressive, or gain bonuses by having comrades around. You must find the portal to finish each dungeon, but beware: spend too long and the monsters may mutate out of control. Yet if you race to the finish you may miss out on items and weapons sorely needed to stay alive. In the fifth dungeon awaits a boss fight that will require all of your skill and resources. Do you have what it takes to remain stable when nothing around you remains the same?

God of Change is a Roguelike game and was made in seven days for the 7-day Roguelike Challenge 2011.

Features

• Monsters that evolve over time to develop new capabilites such as Fire-breathing, Undead, Web-spinning or Hive Mind
• An antagonistic God of Change that taunts you, makes monsters more dangerous with each new ability, and physically changes the map around you
• Well-defined behaviours for each monster that influence how they interact with you and each other
• Randomly generated, twisting dungeons with branching paths
• Fully implemented pathfinding and Field of Vision algorithms that allow creatures to overpower you with their intelligence, using abilities such as Telepathy, Stealthy or Teleporting
• A challenging and overwhelming boss fight. Will you be able to get to grips with this confusing enemy?
• Weapons, armour and magic items that allow the player to survive in an unstable and ever-changing world

Screenshots

Story

"You have come to your death, adventurer!", announces a booming voice in your head. "Remember those Kobolds you encountered earlier? You better hope you don't meet any more of those, because I've decided they should breathe fire now! Oh, and they leave trails of corrosive acid as well. Also, I've given them a hive mind, why not? Have fun, adventurer!"

The God of Change. He goes by many names; The Wheel of Fortune, Lady Luck, The Fickle Hand of Fate. Worshipped by some and despised by others, he is responsible for all the unpredictable things that have happened in your life, good as well as bad. But sometimes the bad outweighs the good by so much that you can't stand it, and you want to take revenge. Others have cursed the God of Change but were unable to take any real action, but you are different. Because you know about the dungeon that holds his Inner Sanctum, and inside it is the nexus of the God of Change, through which he channels all of his power.

Already a mighty adventurer and accomplished wizard, you took up your sword and leather armour, and began the long journey. Now that you have arrived, you find that the dungeons are full of wild monsters, but also powerful weapons and artifacts that will help you in your task. But this task won't be easy. The God of Change knows why you have come, and he is focused on stopping you, and now you won't be able to take anything for granted for very long.

Controls

Numpad/arrow keys/vim keys (hjkl) - Move around

SPACE or NUMPAD_5 - Wait one timestep

qwer - Use the corresponding wand, provided it is recharged

1-5 - Use the corresponding scroll, provided you have at least one

F5 (Linux only) - Toggle fullscreen

Monsters and species

Each dungeon is populated by several species of monsters, usually localised in communities. Each monster belongs to a clearly defined species, and each species has specific traits will apply to every monster that belongs to it. Initially a species begins with only a single trait of its behaviour type (e.g. Aggressive, Friendly or Territorial) that indicates how the monsters will interact with you. Over the course of the game, a species may accumulate more traits, and these new traits will apply to every monster in that species immediately. Species may also change in behaviour or have old traits replaced with new traits. The Bestiary on the right of the screen displays every species in the dungeon and all traits that belong to those species.

Inventory

Your character is an accomplished adventurer, as proficient in fighting as in magic. You can expect to find weapons, armour, wands and scrolls as you explore the dungeons. All items are picked up simply by walking over them.

Weapons, ), and Armour, [, upgrade your damage and resistance to enemy damage. Each new weapon and armour is strictly superior to the one before it, and so you are always equipped with the best weapon and armour that you have.

Wands, ¥, come in four varieties, each with different ranges and recharge times. A wand can be used an unlimited amount of time, but after each use it becomes unavailable until it has recharged.

Scrolls, ¶, can be found around the dungeon and carried by the player. There is no limit to the number of scrolls you can carry. Using a scroll will exhaust it permanently.

Some wands or scrolls require you to select a target. A targeting system will be triggered, and the cursor will be placed on the closest monster (friend or foe). You can use the movement keys to change the targeted location. Press SPACE to confirm the location, or BACKSPACE to cancel.

Special thanks to Jice and Mingos for their excellent libtcod library that allows one to bypass time-consuming engine code and get right to implementing their main ideas in 7 days. http://doryen.eptalys.net/libtcod/