Dungeon Tanken Extended tests

Hi! I'm currently developing this "extended" version of Dungeon Tanken, because I felt like it lacked a lot of things it should have. I plan to have a final boss, have ways to increase your HP and SP, and a bit more, but right now the beginnings are modified and I'm unsure of how I want to progress this. This is where you guys come in. I wish for some feedback on my modifications thus far, to see what needs tweaking and what can stay. If you guys want to help me out, the download code is below. I'm not going to upload it to submissions yet, because I want to make sure I get everything good before I release a "true" version, but the moment that I feel confident in releasing it properly, it'll go on submissions and I'll make a new thread to discuss that one.

• Test 1:K2CXC23V
• Test 2:CB3VX3N4
• Test 3 date TBD.

To enable the primitive debug mode, the variable DBG on line 166 is set to 0. Change it to 1 if you want to deal with the very primitive debug mode that demonstrates all the options. At the current moment, there are 3 6 items, of which only one is three of which are fully functional(H. Herbs, which functions almost identically to the original Herbs but only heals a maximum of 30 instead of 60 HP, S. Herbs which can refill your precious stamina points, and UP. Herbs, which increase your maximums in HP and SP), functional armor(although you currently cannot find it in dungeons, you must use debug mode for it), and the UI has been redesigned quite a bit, and probably will be further. Amongst other changes, you can now have a maximum of 6 items, escape rates have been changed, and the minimap is annoyingly two characters shorter width wise but I forgot which values changed it so now I can't change the height a tad bit smaller, the walls overwriting the textbox now. Changelog(This changelog mostly covers gameplay differences and does not cover changes to the debug menu or things that are not used in their version)

Spoiler

Base

• Base game, doesn't have any changes

Test 1

• Radically changed the UI
• Pressing X allows you to use an item out of battle *
• Enemy escape rates have been changed so that it gets a boost from what level you are on.
• Added my Nintendo username on the credits.
• Renamed herbs and lowered how good they actually were.
• Added stamina points to work with magical actions.
• Changed the layout of Level 1 to use a bit of unused space in version Base.

* Whenever an item is used, the item will repeat it's use flavor text twice. This has been fixed in test 2. Test 1.5 Unofficially released, undocumented. Test 2

• Changed the UI to add "Dialog" as a label for the red text box.
• All fully functional items are obtainable now.
• Maximum stats now increase each floor you go on. *
• Added some debug output to test two different new features, even with debug mode off.
• Chests have been radically changed, allowing for a more flexible set of drops.
• Armor is now obtainable.
• Experimenting with changing the music.
• A new level system was introduced, making it far easier to add new levels in the future.
• Modified all maps to use the new chest system, also making minor changes to the map itself here and there.

* There is a glitch with this version introduced with the new stat increase system.At the moment, it increases your HPMAX by HPMAX+10 like it should, and then thanks to a typo changes your HPMAX to SPMAX+10. This glitch makes armor a necessity and UP. Herbs(which increase your SPMAX,) especially in the later level. ** Thanks to a currently unused feature, there was a second glitch introduced in this version, which allows you to get infinite items with ease by simply backing into a chest. The cause is currently unknown and is being investigated for a patch in test 2.5/3. Test 2.5 or test 3 Currently in development.

Test 2 may be coming tomorrow, so I definitely need that feedback. To list a few of the changes, I've gotten around to tidying up some of the code. Firstly, you can now randomly get one of the three(now fully functional) items, with the groundwork for 3 more to be easily added in already in place. I can't say much about it, but right now my proudest achievement is overhealing the map system. Here's the code in the base Dungeon Tanken 1.53.

'Read map
IF LEVEL==0 THEN RESTORE @MAP1
IF LEVEL==1 THEN RESTORE @MAP2
IF LEVEL==2 THEN RESTORE @MAP3
IF LEVEL==3 THEN BREAK

This system works if you have only 3 maps, but I have plans for upwards of 6 maps, not to mention the two or more debug rooms I'm going to need to test everything. To give you an idea of what that looks like, here's T1's map handling.

'Read map
IF LEVEL==-1 THEN RESTORE @DMAP1
IF LEVEL==0 THEN RESTORE @MAP1
IF LEVEL==1 THEN RESTORE @MAP2
IF LEVEL==2 THEN RESTORE @MAP3
IF LEVEL==3 THEN BREAK
IF LEVEL==3 THEN RESTORE @MAP4
IF LEVEL==4 THEN RESTORE @MAP6
IF LEVEL==5 THEN BREAK

Ignoring how bad that code actually is for a moment, let's take a look at some of the flaws. It's time consuming, wastes unnecessary lines, and gets really ugly to read quick. I wanted a quick, and elegant solution, and then I had a brainwave. The code isn't structured like it would be read only once, it is structured like it's called numerous times throughout the code. This is what led me to my current code after some trial and error to get it to cover all possible level combinations.

'Read map
IF LEVEL <= -1 THEN A$="@DMAP"+STR$(LEVEL*-1):RESTORE A$
IF LEVEL >= 0 THEN A$="@MAP"+STR$(LEVEL+1):RESTORE A$
IF LEVEL >= 3 THEN BREAK

Look at that. 3 lines of code to do what would've taken almost 10 lines of code with the old system. This may be the greatest improvement to the engine that I could possibly have made, given that the graphics system needs a serious upgrade but I lack the expertise for that. I'm extremely proud of it, if you can't tell.

Thas cool

Glad you think so random_god. If you've downloaded, have you constructive criticisms on how to improve my extended version of Dungeon Tanken?

Nothing really, except that it isn't much more than the original. Can't wait for more stuff!

Test 2 is uploaded and complete... Well, I know it's incomplete, but I don't know what's missing other than the levels and boss which will take some time to develop. There's something that is screaming in my face but I don't know what it wants. If someone could help me figure it out, that'd be great. I've done so many things with this build that it'll take a while for me to list out those changes, so I'll do that tomorrow. Test 3 is definitely not going to follow the same development path as test 2. Whereas test 2 basically had minimalistic to no problems in development, trying to figure out the graphics side of this game so that I can properly implement a feature I've added in test 2 is going to take a lot of time to do, and may even force me to ditch the feature I added into this version. (Bonus points to whoever can figure out how to use the feature I'm vaguely referring to here.) As a result, I may just release a test 2.5, a version with mostly test 2 features, sprinkled in with new 3 features that I could get properly working beforehand. This would probably include the boss level, potions(which already semi-work in test 2, but lack a core fundamental of their inner workings other than being 2x as good as herbs, and also lack a name right now), and reworked enemy encounter rates.