Alternate Reality X - Release 0.72 Update & Quests

If only I had a suitable key?

Work continues on Alternate Reality X - now moving towards release 0.72. So far this release contains several bug fixes, new Dragon and Skeleton artwork and a number of improvements to encounters to really make encounters and combat in the game feel a lot more authentic to the original Alternate Reality. I still have a lengthy list of additional changes which I plan to add to the encounters for this release.

A mysterious tomb

There is a significant change in 0.72 relating to encounters. JPST made a great point on the ARX forums here about not been able to make use of "Charm" and "Trick" against evil lifeforms, therefore compromising your alignment as you were only able to use these on good lifeforms. In turn this meant you couldn't obtain the Intelligence and Charisma bonuses that are possibly (after many, many successful Charm / Trick actions). This is one of those issues due to me creating a "hybrid" AR encounter system with features from both the City and the Dungeon encounter systems. I really wanted to have "Charm" and "Trick" in ARX. In release 0.72 you can now gain access to the "Transact" menu to attempt a Trick or Charm against Neutral and Evil characters. This makes sense as I want to be able to add more "Offer" options for some encounters as an alternative to combat as in the the original Dungeon.

Run the Devourer!

I'm also modifying a lot of code under the hood to make the source code a lot more readable and maintainable and as I complete this work it makes adding new features much simpler and quicker. The use of OpenGL for ARX has reared it's head as a frustration though as I recently switched to Windows 8.1 and now my graphics card doesn't support OpenGL properly (a Radeon HD 4350 I think). Plays Dragon Age Origins and Fallout 3 just fine and I'm fine with Windows 8.1 itself so not changing back. I have the same issue with the Mac port of ARX - it also suffers due to OpenGL driver issues. It makes ARX testing slow though...

Danger in the City at night

I've also been working on adding some more of the Dungeon quests as you can see from the screenshots here. Whilst I quite like to jump around during ARX development and work on different things to keep things fresh and interesting, I'm now reaching the point where I'll be homing in on specific features and areas to fill in the remaining blanks, whether it's adding the remaining features to the City, adding all the special locations to level 1 of the Dungeon map or finishing off work on treasure types. I'll then be able to draw a clear line as to which sections of the game are 100% complete.

I really want release 0.72 to add a lot so it will be a bit longer before it's released. Thanks for your support.

CRPG Dev - Now on Patreon

I've now set up a Patreon page for CRPG Dev. My page is at:

http://www.patreon.com/crpgdev

My game releases will continue to be free to download and play just in case anyone thought otherwise.

Unlike Kickstarter or Indiegogo, Patreon is an ongoing form of crowdfunding where you can pledge an amount of money to help support projects or content creation that you are interested in on a monthly or per item of content basis. You specify how much you want to pay to suit your budget, what you think  the content is worth or the value you place on the effort that went into creating it. Patreon campaigns tend to focus on multiple items - videos, games, songs - rather than just one big project such as a single game.

As a Patron you can choose which level of pledge suits you and this in turn gives you access to different levels of reward. This could for example be early access to content, your name in a game, extra updates or additional content. There are lots of different rewards that content creators are offering to their Patrons.

Patreon also provides an advertisement free, online community where Patrons can read about new CRPG Dev developments, discuss topics of interest and gain advance access to game releases directly from within the site. There is also the opportunity to contribute more directly to the development of the games through Skype or Google Hang Out type events or through invitations to submit characters, items or quests for inclusion in the games.

The CRPG Dev Patreon page has been set up for a single monthly amount rather than an amount per game release / per piece of content model. I thought this was the most straightforward and sensible model for CRPG Dev. If you later decide you no longer want to be a Patron then you can easily remove your pledge.

Personally I've been really inpressed with Patreon and I think it offers a great alternative to Kickstarter or Indiegogo. I'm supporting a couple of people on it and I like the way it works with sneak peaks at upcoming content, chat on the forums and extras

Anyway please take a look at the page and let me know what you think, what you would like to see via Patreon or any other thoughts you might have. Thanks.