As with every year since... 2010? I entered the Seven Day Roguelike Challenge. I thought I had enough old code lying around and enough free time to punch out something playable, but decided to pull the plug on day 5.5.
Since then, the idea has really stuck in my head and it's a great excuse to kick some of the rust off of my lackluster coding abilities. I've written this one in TypeScript, which is a joy to use along with the VS Code IDE. It makes coding for short periods of time actually possible since it takes almost no time to get back into the "flow". And of course as per usual I am using the amazing ROT.js library.
In any event, here's what the game looks like so far:
I have a few design principals for this game, called "hardpointe":
1. Tactical combat built from fun mechanics
2. Interesting enemies, with behaviors that match their abilities
3. No numbers over 3
4. Minimal buttons/input keys (4b: playable with a gamepad)
The main idea is to have the player build up a small set of powers across a restricted (3-4) number of "systems", which can be activated with limited resources. Think Mega Man but with less recharging. As close to a "one hit point" system as I can manage. Right now 3 health feels right. Enemies have 1 or 2 health. The goal will be to destroy as many as possible without getting hit by chaining together attacks, abilities, and escape mechanics.
Right now all I have is a wall-smash, which I find very satisfying. Enemies have 2 health, and the player typically does 1 damage. But, if you attack "into" a wall you will deal 2 damage and can use this tactic to take enemies out before they have a chance to scratch you.
More to come. Meanwhile go and play my favorite 2017 7DRL so far: Woozoolike.
