> FATAL ERROR: [program exited] "cannot subtract nil and let-go.lang.Int", :data {:trace ("game-loop (<unknown>)" "game-loop (<unknown>)" "update-world (<unknown>)" "run-until-player-turn (<unknown>)" "creature-turn (<unknown>)" "update-ai-state (<unknown>)" "distance (<unknown>)")}}
A fatal error indeed!
What I think is interesting is that this game computes the entire world state each tick and does so efficiently thanks to persistent data structures.
To anyone who dared to fire it up: thank you for playing, I'm curious what you think!
When I found a spear, I kind of expected to be able to throw it, but I didn't find a throw option anywhere. I think that makes the short sword better in every case, but maybe I missed something.
Overall, I love the execution. Quality retro fun with a really nice interface.
I'm interested in building something similar, any tips besides looking at what you've done and Brogue?
Tbh the whole channel is a gold mine of inspiration. Also check: https://discord.gg/bgd2GrhR
"The visuals are interesting.... oh I died."
Good feedback though, I'll add it. Thanks to your 15 year old!
Questions:
1. How do I learn the magic/rune system? I can inscribe them on weapons & armour. Some are verbs and some are adjectives. I am yet to see obvious effects (edit: except for 'arc'), so I wonder if they always do things or often do nothing unless specific combinations are used (like subject-verb-object requirements of a sentence or certain weapon/armour+spell combo validity)?
2. What does "magic" mean when I try to inscribe more than one rune on a thing? Does this mean one rune is free but multiple require magic and are detrimental if you have none?
3. How do I interpret the weapon stats? Eg "Current: 3-5 -> 2-4"
Notes:
1. The game is much easier if I set my gamma up (xgamma -gamma 1.5). Most of the levels are very dark (10% of RGB values dark) so I easily miss items and routes to check otherwise.
2. There are a lot more keybinds than shown onscreen. 'x' to autoexplore, 'r' for a runes page I'm trying to work out. Shift+Z to autorest/heal. '>' will fasttravel you to the stairs down if you have already found them. Shift+direction will autowalk.
3. Don't press 'q'. There is no confirmatin prompt. There are no saves. Aieee :D
1/2. There are no docs, in fact, the system is not really fleshed out yet. The core idea is that these runes really stand for lispy threading macro that gets evaluated by the game engine. So for instance `(magic-> fire)` sets the default target (enemy you hit, coordinates you shoot with the bow etc.) of action on fire, `(magic-> (area 2) fire)` is the same but here, the area rune expands the target into a circular zone. `(magic-> (damage 2) self (heal 2))` would damage the target, reset the target to yourself and heal you. The entire world state is chained through these expressions so it should enable some insane spells to be made: travel back in time, swap minds with a door, modify creatures ai etc.
Try looking at the runic weapons you find, they show the spell syntax in the inventory.
3. These are damage ranges.
re gamma, key binds and q: thanks for the feedback, I'll look into improving these.
> Interactive input unavailable (no cross-origin isolation).
> Deploy coi-serviceworker-js alongside this file.
in Safari on 26.4
─── Messages ───
Old man shuts the gate behind you. You hear him mutter "every time, I swear..."
You must retrieve the Amulet of Lost Semicolons.
You kill the rat! (sneak attack!)
The rat squeals and dies!
You wait. (x10) ᛜ
ᚢ You kill the rat! (sneak attack!) ᛉ
The rat squeals and dies!
You hear muttering. ᛋ
You hear muttering.
You hear muttering.
You hear a distant creak. ᛖ ᛃ
The runestone crumbles as you touch it. You learn: ᛟ means "ice"! ᛚ
You hear a distant creak.
The goblin misses you. (x3)
The goblin hits you for 4.
The goblin hits you for 3. ᛏ
The goblin hits you for 4.
The goblin hits you for 3.
The goblin misses you. ᛚ
The goblin hits you for 4.
The goblin hits you for 2.
The goblin hits you for 4.
The goblin misses you.
The goblin hits you for 2.
The goblin misses you. (x2)
The goblin hits you for 2.
The goblin kills you!
You die...
Or did I miss the attribution?
* Edit: I’m not looking for the downvotes or to stir things up. I’m simply calling out that this is a small niche community we notice these things, we’re very free with our code, and copy is a compliment, but so is attribution.
The author wasn’t so much inspired the by Brogue style, but copied it directly down to the animations and ASCII.
In the age of LLMs the "author" might not even know where the art direction and inspiration came from!
I took things I like from Brogue and added my own spin on it.
I'll link to Brogue in the README :)
If you call it “Mario-like” then I would say most people would understand where the inspiration comes from.
Brouge isn't the only rouge-like with LoS mechanics.
Brogue looks like this: https://syltefar.com/screenshot/?id=624
No idea what you think you are arguing. Are you in the wrong thread?
I said I don't get why people keep posting essentially vibe coded game clones... I get bored checking out GitHub projects on HN that are doing absolutely nothing new and are essentially baby projects made by Claude on a weekend, and terribly architected to boot. Cluttering the feed.
