The visibility range is something I wonder about.
Visibility was an obvious skill choice. But as a skill, players need to start at a lower visibility, so that they can invest skill points to increase their visibility.
I could increase the starting visibility a little bit. I could also make the characters start out with a single skill point in visibility. I got used to the lowest visibility, so I can play through the game without getting caught with 0 skill points in visibility.
Please let me know what you think. I'll make adjustments where needed.
I can finish the game (with initial skills), but I try to finish the levels with the bonus objectives.
But, You can force the player to increase that skill through an unskippable tutorial (by entering that menu and increasing it).
I have my modified text level, I can show it to you or wait for the visual level editor and create it myself.
I hope I explained myself well
Oh yeah, bonus objectives do make the game much more difficult. But they're optional at least. There's also the hidden 100% gold bonus objective. I've hidden it so it's not a frustrating bonus objective, but just something to reward the player if they do go through all that trouble.
I prefer not to force the player to do anything. I'd rather give the player as much freedom as possible and giving the player more options over time.
Here's my current progress with the level editor:
It is just a graphical front for the text level. Feel free to share your text level, and I'll post a play-through of it here again, so you can either tweak it or if you're happy with it, I'll add it to the next update if you like.
I will try to release the next version with the completed level editor this weekend. So you can also wait for that update if you prefer. Although the level won't be playable through the level editor yet. I want to save that feature for the full version. I'll release the full version alpha within a few weeks. I'll send you a key for it ^^
I have improved the way the game fills the level with objects. Each level tile represent 2x2 tiles in-game. Each of the 4 tiles has a 50% chance of object placement with multiple objects allowed. Except for statues and readables, because there are more unique objects.
For the level editor, we can still choose between the current simplified level editor or a full level editor.
I currently use a simplified level editor where each tile is actually 2x2 tiles in-game. This allows for smaller shareable text levels. It can also fit larger levels on a single screen with clear tiles without scrolling. So it's quick and easy to design a level and keep an overview of the entire level on-screen.
Alternatively, I could also revert to a full level editor where each tile is exactly 1 tile in-game. This means that either I have to make the level tiles twice as small, or allow for scrolling in the level editor. So either the level tiles are less clear, or we no longer have an overview of the entire level on a single screen because of scrolling. Also the text levels will be twice as large, which means they are less convenient to share.
Hopefully I made the right choice for a simplified level editor. I know it's an unusual choice. If it doesn't work well, I can always revert to a normal 1:1 level editor. Please let me know what you think.
I've released the next version of the game with the in-game level editor. The initial player sight is also increased by 15%.
Also, I have manually typed in your level based on your text level image. I think the best way to find out if something works, is just to try it out and see what happens ^^
I do see a lot of problems in this level, but that's because of the way the levels work now. With these 2x2 tiles, as a level designer you just don't have enough room to properly place the decorations in nice places. The duplication I'm using doesn't quite look right. And the guards get stuck because of the object duplication.
So thanks your level, I've made up my mind. I will change the level editor to use a normal 1:1 tile scale. So every tile will be exactly 1 tile in-game, and you'll have full control over everything inside the level. This will allow you to create nice filled room decorations.
Please wait with your level. I'll need a week to improve the level editor, along with a few more bug fixes. I will convert the previous levels as well.
