7DRL Success: Mosaic

[Grey]

Wahoo, success! And I have done nasty nasty things with the T-Engine in the process :D

Mosaic is a roguelike in which your movements change the map, laying down colourful mosaic tiles wherever you go. If you trace out an outline then it fills in the whole area with tiles. This is the only way to kill enemies. It’s also rather pretty! And has procedurally generated music based on the map structure! You can download it here:

http://gamesofgrey.com/games/mosaic-win.zip
http://gamesofgrey.com/games/mosaic-osx.zip
http://gamesofgrey.com/games/mosaic-linux64.zip
http://gamesofgrey.com/games/mosaic-mod.zip (module file only)

[chezzo]

Dude, amazing concept and execution!

I love it, man. The graphics, the monsters, the MUSIC, everything.

You can beat the first five levels looping around the map edge. Then you get to the Es. Where is the wiki for this thing? Ooh, I just found the spoilers by hitting ESC.

I'm off to beat me some Es.

[darkgod]

Very nice indeed! Congrats!

[Grey]

Here's a video for those too lazy to play:

http://7drl.roguetemple.com/

Where are all the other entrants?! Surely I'm not the only T-Engine based success?

[Grey]

And now for the post-7DRL version:

http://te4.org/games/mosaic
http://www.gamesofgrey.com/blog/?p=292

Many tweaks to balance and monster behaviour, and made the music engine less painful to people with taste in music (silly fussy people). Ratings on the TE4 site appreciated :) But better yet is feedback, as I may be making further updates in future depending on how people find the balance.

[lukep]

The T-Engine version does not show up unless you select "show incompatible" because it is version 1.1.0 instead of 1.0.1.

[Grey]

Oops, it was because it was engine version 1.0.0 - I was reusing the Mac files instead of the Windows files. Updated now - thanks for spotting!

[Grey]

Ooh, and someone sent me a donation through my games site! First time that's ever happened :D $5, so not quite on DarkGod levels, but still pretty cool. I'm gonna get me some chocolate to celebrate ;)

[Velorien]

Just tried it out. Really nice work!

I'm probably not the most helpful person to comment, as music isn't really something I'm interested in, but I admire the elegance and simplicity of it. Also, although this is probably a minor point for this particular game, your writing style is top-notch as ever.

[Grey]

Heh, thanks. But what writing...? You mean the help text?

[Velorien]

Heh, thanks. But what writing...? You mean the help text?

That and the basic description on mouseover in the bottom left-hand corner. It probably doesn't make a difference to some people, but to me that sort of thing is a big deal in terms of immersion.

[Grey]

Heh, thanks - that sort of text is quite important I think. Many games are pretty bland with their instructions.

I've made a new version to fix a memory and CPU leak that was slowing down the game for many. All the links above now go to the latest build. (Stupid particle effects...)

[Grey]

New version out, along with some details about how I put together the procedural music in Mosaic:

http://www.gamesofgrey.com/blog/?p=413

I'm planning to submit this to IndieCade next week, so any feedback this weekend would be hugely appreciated.

Some things I plan to improve:
- Add a particle effect trail when moving and building up a sequence
- Make the @ symbol bigger on the tile (so it overlaps the one above - not sure how to do this though)
- Add some bits of text here and there
- A bit more structure to enemy spawning

[Grey]

Well in time for the new module contest, Mosaic has had an update! I can't remember all of the changes - many were in the background, or to do with the procedurally generated music. In particular it should have less sound juttering in the early game on slower computers, as the audio is now all pre-loaded. AI behaviour is improved, with the Es in particular being less nasty.

It can still be hard, and in particular a bit random in how hard it is, sometimes being easy. It's supposed to be quick to play and balanced across many replays though. Best level achieved I've seen is 13 - I'd be delighted to hear if you can do better!

You can download the team file here:

http://te4.org/games/mosaic

Voting for the module contest is here:

http://te4.org/contest/vote/2013

Honest votes are greatly appreciated. If there are ways I can improve the game I want to know!

[Reyn]

Thanks for making this fun game.

In regards to volume, the only way to increase/decrease is to go back to main menu. Possible to do it from the module itself?

I've managed to bug the game on level 3 or 4. Right when I occupied the last tile, a "D" popped up and he wouldn't disappear, no matter how many times I encased him, along with the sounds stopping, and the teleporter for the next level not showing up.