The game is a tribute to older DRPGs like Might and Magic and Lands of Lore. I'm not sure what's different/new in this version yet, although vlzvl says he's been completely reworking several of the systems. (Personally, I think he could benefit from some project management help. I think he has a perfectionist streak and has been making small graphics updates that might not be the best use of time right now.)
Video with game updates
https://vlzvl.itch.io/the-darkness-below
PATCH v1.2
added: characters now get 2 skills from Weapon,Armor or Magic skills and 1 skill from Misc skills when they start randomly (balance).
added: dungeon items which are placed on same quad are now sorted by depth in intuitive way i.e. armor above sword, boots above cloth (better look).
added: when an item is bound to mouse and the inventory screen is shown, the eligible slot(s) for the bound item are highlighted on character's equipping slots.
added: increased maximum spell number to 280, 40 spells per element, 8 spells per expertise per element. Hopefully, the majority of them implemented in the final game.
added: 18 initial spells, equally shared between initial casting professions, clerics & wizards.
added: new type of spell: directional ray-like, useful for laser-like spells that extends from caster to target for a small duration of time, like D&Ds ray of frost.
added: ability to cause damage against all targets, instead of only a single target (previously), for some spells (party) and actions (monsters).
added: new town textures and multifloor capability, allowing a bigger variety on town levels.
added: new NPCs and portraits, more to be added as the content keeps built.
added: different foot walking sound effects per terrain type (hard, grass, snow), increasing the immersion.
added: showing different color filters on character portraits having a condition i.e. a poisoned character will show a greenish portrait, along with poison symbol.
added: variant sound effects for weapon when they hit/miss, increasing the immersion.
added: improved editing in custom tile editor, as the only editing was done directly in XML files. Much required for content production.
added: shows a full body, animated NPC in center of an event, if there's a portrait associated with the event, improving the immersion and interaction overall, together with event background (inspired from ROA - Star Trail).
added: in events, buttons like 'back' or 'exit' to be differently colored (red), effectively making them distinct to other available options.
added: implemented all shop types, fully tiered (4 levels), with a matching soundtrack per shop, as well their associated owner(s). Buy and sell is implemented, as well as shops dealing with specific item types i.e. weapons only.
added: three (3) new spells for higher expertise (adept, master & grandmaster) to further develop the shop/vendor feature.
added: weapon slash effect to all weapons, similar to spell effects, increasing the immersion.
added: magic effect on staff when a spell is prepared
added: a lit candle in the 'character generation' page, increasing the immersion.
added: removed the old, featureless planes of existence and added 8 inspired ones, with enough lore and purpose in the game. More to come. Check the Rulebook for more details.
added: character generation step by step, adding to previous 'prebuilt characters' mode.
added: minor improvements in all gui buttons
added: all initial shops / vendors, 10 in number, have been fully implemented.
added: implemented 'special' and usually more powerful actions to monsters that can be used sparringly by chance. Think of those 'recharge' actions on D&D, which allows the bosses to kick butts more efficiently.
added: completed the game's introduction sequence, which shows when the player clicks the 'Start the Game' button from title screen.
added: rumor tables have been implemented, on per-area basis. Those rumors are shown as available options on regular buildings, providing information, directions and hooks, in the same way used on pen & paper RPGs.
added: fully implemented skill masters, from teaching the skill to advancing to 'Grandmaster' level. Skill masters can be found about anywhere but mostly in civilized regions and their number varies to population.
added: fully implemented NPCs to hire. They are usually wander around civilized areas (villages, towns etc.) and provide their services (weapons, spells or skills) for one-time payment and daily wage. They can be dismissed anytime.
added: monsters and NPCs are now shown appropriately on map. Monsters are only shown on minimap, based on visibility. This will help when battling numerous monsters. Showing all NPCs will also help when you're in need of one.
fixed: bow arrow animation was not shown up, either in battle or not, by both characters and monsters. Now all spell-like animations triggered by item use are shown properly.
fixed: spell sound hit effect not working on all spells and when the caster is a monster.
fixed: allowing ranged items such as bow/crossbow to throw arrows graphically, even when there are uses left
fixed: allowing cure spell to be used on a dead character
fixed: revamped floor textures and reduced repetitiveness
fixed: crash when the party tried to move beyond normal boundaries of a map. Usually borders on map are covered by obstacles i.e. trees, but this was still a bug.
fixed: the system was heavily refactored once again to reduce technical debt and making it more flexible & performant
fixed: cursor changes incorrectly when there's a doortown in game window. Now it changes when the cursor hovers the doortown rect.
fixed: potions are now fully targetable items i.e. the user may select a character target, other than him. For example, a character can use a 'Potion of Cure Paralysis' on another paralysed character.
fixed: implemented a better fps mechanism, which guarantees a stable ~60 fps across all supported systems by game's engine (Jolt3D!).
fixed: multiple orientation levers couldn't be placed on same square on tile editor i.e. not possible to place a northern and a southern lever on same wall square.
fixed: removed music volume toggling between map and buildings/shops, given compatibility and overall quality degradation over multiple sounds heard. Now a single 'background' audio plays always on full volume, set on options.
fixed: greatly improvement of performance, in-game and engine.
fixed: clerics are not able to use bows anymore
fixed: a nasty crushing bug in combat system
fixed: massive improvement to spell system. Now all spell attack types are fully pseudo-3D and not 2D, giving space for bigger sprites and increased immersion.
fixed: reach mechanics is now working for all items, weapons, spells and monster actions. A short-reach weapon (i.e. dagger) won't be able to reach a back-row monster; however, a long-reach halberd, a bow or a spell will.
fixed: entrances and exits to dungeons are now more immersive. Specifically, exits are now showing a part of the "outside" i.e. some forest or similar, in the likes of Lands of Lore.
fixed: added active skill checks, along with the passive ones. On active checks, a roll is made and skill expertise bonuses are applied against the challenge expertise difficulty, making the final outputs a lot more random than passive checks.
