You have played LambdaRogue? Then send me your feedback! It's a very hard task to develop 'into the blue' without knowing which changes are judged positively and which are not. I know there are more than 300 downloads since relase of 1.5, but I don't know if you like it or not. So here are some concrete questions you may answer:
So, if you want to do me a favor, answer these questions -- here or in the forum.
Earlier / Later / Permanent Link
ToXa schrieb am 03.09.2009, 11:05
1. Sure it's good! Though it's a roguelike, but why not using convenient interface, extending the game further while keeping it in the roguelike genre.
2. Yes, I do, that resolution (1024x768) suits me much better!!
3. I think it should be balanced with quests - if they are primitive or short - small dungeons will be alright. But if quests are fundamental and they are the main idea of LambdaRogue (for instance not just hack-n-slashing everything with one mission - getting to the final dungeon level), dungeons must be extended.
4. Don't spend too much time developing quests. It's a roguelike, do remember this fact. Add more abilities to interact with the world, to feel it's reality with lots of small, but valuable additions. Play Dungeon Crawl (and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, if you didn't yet) and you'll understand me.
And... THANK YOU for great game, man!!!!
Krice schrieb am 03.09.2009, 12:54
I like the new smaller levels, but I think it's not about the size itself but the content of levels. If they are just random rooms and corridors then it's boring anyway.
I'm not that aware of the quests or what npcs keep telling me, I just want to play casual. I also like the fact that the gameplay is quite easy (compared to major roguelikes). You can get far without getting killed and escape when you meet tough enemies.
Mario Donick schrieb am 08.09.2009, 11:16
Thanks
I've created issues for enhancement at Google Code for several of your statements, as I did with the ones that appeared at r.g.r.m. Thank you!
Grimwerk schrieb am 22.09.2009, 10:20
Love the music.
1. I pressed u (instead of U) to accept every quest. Turns out I wasn't actually accepting anything, and had to talk to everyone again. I admit to being a lil dumb here, as I played 1.4 for hours.
2. I stepped on a key on the first level. When I picked it up, the spiderweb beneath it appeared, and I am now stuck. Maybe something about being under an item interferes with spiderwebs, as I have been stuck in it for 7000 turns so far. (Some resting, largely holding down a direction key.) This seems excessive.
I'll start over.
Grimwerk schrieb am 22.09.2009, 10:24
Regarding #2 in my last comment:
I quit and continued that last game. Within 50 turns, the spiderwebs around me began to disappear. Now I'm free to walk around again. So it does seem it was a bug of sorts.
Mario schrieb am 22.09.2009, 10:39
Hehe, yeah, keys are case-sensitive. You can redefine them easily, though.
Being stucked for 7k turns in a spiderweb should never happen. I have created a bug-issue for this and will investigate it.
Thx for the feedback.
Grimwerk schrieb am 22.09.2009, 13:38
You respond quickly, mate.
Next up: I bought a lifetime insurance card. I immediately returned to the healer, and he said I couldn't afford healing. Turns out my lifetime insurance card was in my inventory as an unidentified green crystal. Once I identified it (using a potion) the healer would heal me for free.
Mario Donick schrieb am 22.09.2009, 15:09
Yep. This is a known bug.
Grimwerk schrieb am 23.09.2009, 19:29
When you start, one of your items is random. If it is meat, then you will have two separate 1x meat in your inventory. Every time you pick up a meat after that, it will add 1 to each stack. 
Example:
1. meat x1
4. meat x1
When you pick up a piece of meat:
1. meat x2
4. meat x2
Not that I am complaining.
Grimwerk schrieb am 23.09.2009, 19:37
I have a guess about that problem with spiderwebs not disappearing. I'll bet time was frozen. When time freezes, it stays that way until I melee attack enemies a certain number of times (I think). This way, I can explore level after level without fighting. But... if I step into a web, maybe there is no way out.
Grimwerk schrieb am 23.09.2009, 19:45
Yes, I have just confirmed the above comment. If time is frozen, I am stuck in a web until I quit and continue.
Please excuse my many comments.
Mario Donick schrieb am 23.09.2009, 21:36
Hi Grimwerk,
thanks for your additional comments. You pointed out some interesting things, I'll create bug issues for these.
"Every time you pick up a meat after that, it will add 1 to each stack". Hm, okay ... each type of items should only exist in 1 slot. I'll have to edit character generation slightly to prevent this problem.
Thanks also for the spiderweb guess. Actually, there is a way of escaping spider webs without waiting or moving: Praying. Could you test if praying works when time is frozen?
Grimwerk schrieb am 24.09.2009, 00:46
Yes, praying still works when time is frozen.
Now, I'm on Eris' level and I am still finding bags with two credits in them.
Also, the inventory space is insufficient. I cannot leave quest items anywhere (can I?), and so I have to drop pieces of armor I am wearing. The undying king quest requires (I think) that I hold 5 pieces of paper. Add the Eris key, insurance card, food, penicillin, and letters/crystals from other unfinished quests and I'm naked. And I can forget about buying that book for 2000 credits. I cannot carry any loot to sell, and I'm finding bags with two credits in them.
I've given up on playing standard mode. At the lower levels, I'm wading through a hundred enemies everywhere I go. I can survive as a soldier, but since I have to keep going up and down stairs to complete quests, it gets boring. (Sorry.) I cannot imagine surviving as another class, where the cost per kill seems much more expensive. Also, there is no way for a soldier to avoid killing caveworm mothers. They are aggressive, they are many, and the corridors are narrow.
Easy mode is more reasonable.
Also, fountains. The time freeze is great. I'm on the Eris level at CLV 6. All other effects (except for healing) are basically useless. The fountain sometimes grants me immunity to curses, or something else for about 10 turns. Not enough time for me to even get to the next enemy, so it's no benefit. The fountain area effects barely harm anything. BUT INFINITE TIME FREEZE MAKES UP FOR EVERYTHING.
Oh, and sometimes stairs will appear on part of the map I cannot access, like one of the corners of the map. (I can see the placement on the minimap). It was on a level where digging is impossible.
Apart from that, I'm enjoying the game. The story is really interesting and the music is terrific, but inventory troubles stop me from pursuing the story too far. I just can't carry the items required to complete quests.
Mario Donick schrieb am 24.09.2009, 06:09
Most of the problems you describe seem to have one reason: "INFINITE TIME FREEZE MAKES UP FOR EVERYTHING". This seems to allow you to survive the Forgotten Realm and Eris Halls with CLV 6.
But of course, in CLV 6, you're neither able to wear the good armour and wield good weapons nor does your character development continue, giving you better stats and more money. Thus, you are really not strong enough, and end up accepting quests you're not yet supposed to do.
So the question is: Why is time freeze infinite? It should not be this way; it should last only for about 10 turns, as the other effects. And why do you have time freeze so often at all?
Indeed, the small inventory is a tactical problem. It prohibits you to solve lots of quests at a time and you need to figure out what to do first, what to leave behind etc. This sort-of micromanagement is part of the game, and it's possible.
Try to solve the first part of the main quest (i.e. searching Book of Stars) and the search for Lassa (the crystal thing) first.
Concerning the amount of enemies: In every level, a small percentage (1 to 2%) of the available walkable space is filled with enemies. As some of the deeper levels, esp. the Lost Outpost, the caves and Eris' halls, have wide open areas, the total number of enemies is higher there. However, these are also levels where escaping is rather easy.
However, you can survive the levels when you're strong enough -- but even entering level 10 while still being CLV 6 should be suicide. With time freeze, it apparantly isn't 
Going up and down to solve the quests should be rather easy, as the stairs are marked on the minimap -- should be a question of two or three minutes.
Fountain effects are randomly chosen, thus often useless in a current situation, yes -- but it saved my char's life more than once.
"Oh, and sometimes stairs will appear on part of the map I cannot access, like one of the corners of the map."
Do you have a screenshot or savegame of this? This never occured to me in recent LR versions.
Grimwerk schrieb am 24.09.2009, 20:42
Q1. Why is time freeze infinite?
It actually isn't. It lasts only a few turns. A few attack turns. If I'm not attacking anything, it doesn't stop. Once I attack an enemy a few times, (I attacked Eris at CLV 6) it disappears.
Q2. Why do I have time freeze so often?
I don't. It's just when I do get it, it lasts forever. So it just seems like I'm getting it often.
I don't have a screenshot of the misplaced stairs, sorry. The level had diagonal corners of greenish stone, and the stairs were behind the upper left corner, according to the map.
I've had the same problem with a merchant, once. He was isolated in a half-square at the bottom of the map. I searched for doors, and found none. Fortunately, some of those explosive tanks were nearby and I was able to blow them up, destroying part of the wall.
I'm having more luck with the many monsters on the lower floors, now.
As the writer, you know where the quests are, and exactly what items you can and cannot safely discard. This makes inventory management much simpler for you. I don't.
Please don't make the assumption that I've always been abusing the time freeze. (And therefore increasing my quest item burden beyond normal limits.) I've played several times, on standard mode, achieving the proper level to fight my way down to DLV 12 or so. I am now playing without time freeze, on standard mode, and must carry the Eris key, three parts of a book, the parts required to make the fourth part of the book, ID potions, plus food, health, and gear. I'm sure it's doable, but only by dropping key parts of my gear. Plus, there are those rare element protection armors (that someone suggested I need for the undying king) that I must ignore because I have no means to carry them.
Mario Donick schrieb am 24.09.2009, 21:18
According to your descriptions, the level with the misplaced stairs and traders seems to be the Lost Outpost. I'll see where the problem is.
"Eris key, three parts of a book, the parts required to make the fourth part of the book, ID potions, plus food, health, and gear"
Eris' key: 1 slot; 3 parts of a book: 3 slots (assuming we're speaking of the Minor Books of Yron); parts required to make the 4th part: 1 to 2 slots; ID potions: 1 slot; Food: 1 to 2 slots;Penicillin: 1 slot; Health Insurance: 1 slot
This makes a maximum of 11 slots, still leaving 5 slots for inventory. It's difficult, but doable, esp. as you learn. You don't need to obtain Eris' Key in the beginning, for example. Killing Eris does not solve the game.
HOWEVER ... perhaps you felt better if you knew that I've introduced separate slots for current equipment some weeks ago. So LR 1.6 will have 5 more inventory slots
Thx for all the time you put into these reports.
Grimwerk schrieb am 25.09.2009, 02:01
Thanks, mate. You're a good sport, even when I feel like I'm complaining too much.
Good to hear about LR1.6.
While I am here...
1. I found it weird that I could not drop my aspirin unless it was a full pack. Luckily, I was able to sell it.
2. Usually, I cannot drop items on top of other items. This makes sense. Altars are the exception. I think I can keep dropping runes without picking up the potions. When I do finally pick up the potions, there is only one there.
3. Dark areas. When I walk over a crypt in a light area, I get a message saying whether it is open or not. When I walk over a crypt in darkness, there is no message. (As I expect.) When I walk over a crypt in a "darkness" area but I carry a lantern, there is still no message. (But I can still see and interact with the crypt.)
These are just little points, though. I'm happy so far.
Mario Donick schrieb am 25.09.2009, 08:18
1. This is indeed weird, but I have not yet found another solution for this problem. If I would allow you to drop a, say half-empty, "package of"-item, you would be able to pick up a FULL package afterwards, because the number of units in the package is not stored in the dungeon structure (only the existence of an item with the name "package of ...." is stored). This could be solved by changing the item- and dungeon-structure, but this is a very low priority for me.
2. Good hint, issue created.
3. dito.
Doban schrieb am 21.05.2010, 02:04
Issues
Graphics - the netbook mode doesn't work on my netbook since the window doesnt fit in my screen - you forget that you have title bars etc. even if I remove toolbars and hide the taskbar, still doesnt quite fit, and you dont allow window resizing..
Inventory - the inventory limit is such a pain that I'm giving up. I got a dungeon key early on that I dont need yet, then some scraps of paper which I have no idea if I'll ever need or not (totally unfair to the player to give him that unless he has unlimited storage and can store the junk until he knows if its junk or a quest item), the I need food, cola, bow, arrows, sword (for when arrows run out), another key i'm unlikely to need for 10 levels etc. So I go into the dungeon, i only have 2 spare slots. So in 2 minutes I find 2 items of loot to sell, run out of space, and have go back up to trader via endless shoot-direction shoot-direction keypresses, sell, then back down again, find 2 more items, back up. This gets boring very quickly.
And arrows - having to stand and talk to the trader 25 times (even if you rest in between) to stock up on arrows and cola enough for a dungeon clearing session is such a boring pain. Either that, or the boring up-down-up-down every 3 minutes.
Mario Donick schrieb am 21.05.2010, 08:09
Thanks for your honest feedback, Doban. It's highly appreciated.
"Graphics - the netbook mode doesn't work on my netbook since the window doesnt fit in my screen - you forget that you have title bars etc. even if I remove toolbars and hide the taskbar, still doesnt quite fit, and you dont allow window resizing."
The netbook mode is somewhat restricted and probably only works on XP systems with an Intel GMA driver, 'cause that driver allows 1024x768 resolution even on Netbooks whose displays can only show 1024x600. You also should use fullscreen, but once I switched to Windows 7, I noticed that the game will crash.
"So I go into the dungeon, i only have 2 spare slots."
Perhaps you have read the blog entry for the 1.5.4 patch, in which at least the equipment you're using is not stored in your inventory anymore, so you'll be able to store up to 6 more different items.
However, there are ways to get along with the current inventory limit. You just need to think and take a risk of not storing everything you can. If you don't think you'll need dungeon key, paper, etc. well, sell it.
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