Leowald

[myroidtc]

After releasing Zeran's Folly (SFML forum thread here) last year and finishing the last updates, I am now working on a sequel called Leowald! Like all my previous games, this one is another iteration on the formula and bigger and better than the last one.

General game stuff: It's 20 years later after the events of Zeran's Folly and you play as Lone and Abby's firstborn on their first big solo adventure. From the Big Chest Adventurers' Guild in Leowald Kingdom, you'll set out and deal with things from mole sky pirates to hard-drinking dorfen kings to strawberry-obsessed necromancers. There are eight weapons in total, each with their own unique moveset.

SFML and technical stuff: I use all pieces of SFML except for the Networking module. RenderTextures and shaders are used extensively to generate the level art, using input from a custom level editor I made. The other major libraries and tools I use are Spine for animations, Box2D for collision tests (not simulation), GLM for some math functions, and SDL but just for the controller rumble functionality. (I like controllers... a lot)

I like SFML because it's simple and fast. It's even right there in the name! It's simple enough in that it gives you the building blocks to do whatever you need. Can't recommend it enough and the team behind it is great.

Some random musings on the sequel: A recurring thing in my games has been multiple playable characters. The problem is, it's tough to reconcile it with the story since you control only one at a time. Where is everyone else at the time? You're exploring alone and when it's cutscene time suddenly everyone is there? Kinda weird.

Instead of playing as one of multiple characters that coexist like in Zeran's Folly, you choose the sex of your character in Leowald at the start and that's it. It has all the benefits of multiple characters with none of the oddities. Still get to choose a character, still get to have different interactions. Win-win. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. It's better than choosing one of two distinct people because then what happens to the person you didn't pick? In Leowald, the character is still the same entity, you just get to choose what they were born as. Here's the New Game sequence:



The mechanic of multiple characters in Zeran's Folly has been replaced by weapons in Leowald. There are eight total weapons with their own movesets. A lot of them are based on the movesets of characters in Zeran's Folly but some are new, like the Golem Meteor which is a ball and chain:



Character talents are now Weapon Runes which work the same way. However, a few of the runes have been reworked to make them weapon-specific instead of a general effect exclusive to that weapon. For example, Penelope in Zeran's Folly had the talent "Revenge" which made enemies take damage when they hit her. In Leowald, this effect has been rolled into a new equippable ring and the associated weapon has a new replacement rune.

Speaking of weapons, they can level up. Each weapon starts at Lv. 1 and you level them up by, what else, killing enemies. Focus Attacks unlock at level 3 and Rune Slots (for equipping weapon runes) unlock every five levels. Max level is 30 (for six rune slots).

Most enemies take 1-2 normal hits to defeat and I want to preserve that as long as your weapons are comparable level. So, damage works in 5-level tiers. If your weapon is within five levels of the enemy, it will do normal damage. Five levels above and it does 2x damage, five levels below it does 1/2 damage, and so on for each five levels after. It's a nice way to keep a feeling of progression without messing with the 1-2 hits feel of combat.

Another thing I'd like to do with Leowald compared to Zeran's Folly is have more interconnected character arcs. A guy you help out with one quest will reappear later to help you with yours, stuff like that. A lot of the characters in Zeran's Folly were one-and-done; once you saw them, that was it. There's still a little bit of that in Leowald but I want to keep the members of the adventurers' guild involved in your adventure from start to finish.

Here are some music pieces I already made for the game:





Self-promotion stuff:
Twitter: @myroidtc
YouTube Channel: Myroid-Type Comics
Discord: Myroid-Type Comics Server

[Ironbell]

This is totally amazing. Zeran's Folly was one of the most polished, content-rich and cool SFML games ever and still is my personal favorite. And everything was made by a single person! Leowald is coming along nicely, I like the new concepts and changes compared to ZF.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted about updates. Can't wait to play the game!

Edit: And, OMG, Cendric's there too! What an SFML crossover episode.

[myroidtc]

The Paladin Shield:



One of 8 weapons in the game. It's kind of a melee/ranged hybrid of a kit with melee normal attacks and ranged Focus attacks. The attacks aren't that powerful compared to the other weapons--the Buzzflies were given one hit of HP so it would look cooler. Once there are levels to go through, it will be easier to balance it.

Observations about weapon switching: When I watched streams of Zeran's Folly, people usually didn't swap characters that much, opting instead to play the same one for a long time then switching if one part was too hard for that character, then playing as the new one for a long time.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad. A bunch of reviews said some characters were better suited for some situations versus others, which is good. I also don't want to force people to switch all the time, that isn't fun either. However, I think with the new levelling system and some clever level design, there will be natural incentive to switch weapons more often than just sticking to one forever.

I also want the weapons to be fun and useful outside of any "requires this weapon" mechanics. There aren't any gates or interactables that require a certain weapon yet, but still.

[myroidtc]

New enemies:



One of the common complaints about Zeran's Folly was that the enemy variety was lacking. So, in Leowald I'm making it a rule to have at least 3 new enemy types per explorable area. The video shows these six:

Totenwald: Crow, Portobello, Phantasm
Van Agren Manor: Skeleton Knight Thing, Frenzy Demon, Hornet



In Zeran's Folly there were 21 recurring enemy types. Those will return in Leowald along with 33+ new ones for over 50 total normal enemy types.

There will be fewer (required) bosses though. ZF had almost 30 bosses in the critical path whereas Leowald will have about 18 or so. 7 of those will be weapon bosses. It's like Mega Man in that you get to see the weapon in action before you brutalize them and take it for yourself.


(No, this isn't in the game)

The only other major complaint is that the sense of humor is a little... off for some. Bad news for them--it's not going anywhere. There are headpats though:

[myroidtc]

After almost a year of no updates, Leowald is releasing August 9!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1024210/Leowald/