SilQ Heroes – a new version of SilQ (by me)

[k0rtes]

Hey everybody, new release 0.88.

We have implemented some UIX changes and Steam Deck support (with layouts).
They include new selectable inventory and equipped menu. New logic for controls in use and description.

Windows updates to support fullscreen and different submenus styles.

https://github.com/k0rtesss/Sil-More/releases/tag/v0.88-beta

[k0rtes]

Hey everyone! We’re releasing a big new beta—0.87—for Sil-More: Shining Darkness.
In previous releases, we showed you the dark side of our adventure with Morgoth and curses.
Now we’re focusing on the bright (West) side of the story.

Introducing brand-new quests from the Valar themselves (five to start) and reworked oath logic:

• When you enter a level, there’s a chance the Valar will appear and give you a thematic quest.
• Complete it to earn a reward—usually a nice boost, or even a new special ability.
• Every completed quest unlocks the opportunity to start a new run with an oath (3 old, 2 new).
• You’d better not break an oath—you’ll not only lose your bonuses but also curse your other heroes! Nobody likes oathbreakers, right?
• If you break an oath, you won’t be able to take it again, so sometimes it’s better to die than to break it.
• If you’ve completed a quest, you won’t see that specific quest again in this story run.
• If you miss or ignore a quest during a character run, you won’t get another (the Valar don’t like being ignored), so keep an eye out!

So, dive deep and give us your feedback—we’re really looking forward to it!

https://github.com/k0rtesss/Sil-More/releases/tag/v0.87-beta

P.S. Beta 0.9 will be an SDL release.

[k0rtes]

Hey guys! Finally a big Beta release. This time we have focused on bringing to the table a big Visual update to get you a feeling of really going deep into The Enemy's dungeon.

• We have handcrafted around 50! new visual styles for the level consisting of multiple new tiles for walls, floors and doors to bring a new flavor to your journey, with lore-friendly visuals.
• We have thoroughly debated which style should be applied where and how it affects your progression through the dungeon. It can also apply to different vaults as well!
• Every level is followed by a thematic banner for those who like reading as much as we do.

Also, we have updated the character selection screen to get you straight into the game if you already have the run active.

P.S. Visuals are currently only working on Windows (banners everywhere), but we are working on implementing SDL to use it everywhere.

https://github.com/k0rtesss/Sil-More/releases/tag/v0.8-beta

[k0rtes]

Hey guys, just to keep you updated. I'm working on a new update which includes some visual and storytelling updates. I will really appreciate your feedback on the balance part, so I can finetune it.

[k0rtes]

Oooh I see. That works as intended then, although it could be advertised more clearly. Wouldn't that potentially screw up progression though eg if one started several characters simultaneously and subequently winning? My expectation was that the game would auto-continue the current character.

Also character screen nitpick: maybe replace the affinity/mastery/penalty indicators with +/++/- ? My internet-damaged brain keep reading AF as "as fuck", takes a little something from the overall somber tone. I blame the young.

Hm, you are correct. There is start scumming way. I actually didn't want to restrict players to play different characters at the same time, but what you are saying makes lots of sense. I need to think it over.
For AF I imagined as fuck too I mean guys are melee as fuck, but yeah, doesn't sound good with the tone. Changing it to + is a great idea!

[Infinitum]

Oooh I see. That works as intended then, although it could be advertised more clearly. Wouldn't that potentially screw up progression though eg if one started several characters simultaneously and subequently winning? My expectation was that the game would auto-continue the current character.

Also character screen nitpick: maybe replace the affinity/mastery/penalty indicators with +/++/- ? My internet-damaged brain keep reading AF as "as fuck", takes a little something from the overall somber tone. I blame the young.

[k0rtes]

Might check it out later. Got 3 curses from the Sils as intended, but Fingolfin winning did increase the death counter to 1 (first and only character played). Shows up as a winner in the graveyard though. Haven't tried the latest release, but in 0,72 I couldn't load saved characters? Starting the application always default to character creation, with no way of loading ingame either.

Just select the character and it will load the game. It's strange about deaths, I didn't experience it, I will try to find the bug.

[Infinitum]

Might check it out later. Got 3 curses from the Sils as intended, but Fingolfin winning did increase the death counter to 1 (first and only character played). Shows up as a winner in the graveyard though. Haven't tried the latest release, but in 0,72 I couldn't load saved characters? Starting the application always default to character creation, with no way of loading ingame either.

[k0rtes]

Aight, trying out Haleth next. Still feels stronger than vanilla Noldor since all the affinities represent a lot of virtual xp later on in the game. Being stealthy, evasive and melee AF pays off it would seem.

Are winners supposed to count as dead btw?

I have released the version with difficulty lvls, should increase the challenge.

Stukov81, thank you! Please try it

[Stukov81]

This sounds really great

[k0rtes]

Aight, trying out Haleth next. Still feels stronger than vanilla Noldor since all the affinities represent a lot of virtual xp later on in the game. Being stealthy, evasive and melee AF pays off it would seem.

Are winners supposed to count as dead btw?

Nope, are they? It's a bug I'll fix it. Also, you should have gotten 3 curses from the first run. If you use stuff of self knowledge, there is a chance you can see the effect, and then it's saved in main menu "known curses".

It should be easier than vailla, I think, just cause your death is permanent, and it's easy to stumble. Maybe for really experienced players you need to start like with 3 curses or even more. I think I will add this functionality next. But if you count 15 curses by the end. It should give you roughly -15 stats.

Also, you can experiment with curses through Main menu press c, then a.

EDIT: My og idea about different difficulties was that after you finish the first storyrun you unlock other possible runs with different stories and difficulties. Maybe I add some hack, or prioritize this functionality.
EDIT:Oh, you mean "X" in the menu dead? They are, you can't play them anymore, only once per hero. The death and escape is permanent. They shouldn't count in the death counter of story run though. I will probably add like X in green or smth to show the difference, but it's like that in alpha.

[Infinitum]

Aight, trying out Haleth next. Still feels stronger than vanilla Noldor since all the affinities represent a lot of virtual xp later on in the game. Being stealthy, evasive and melee AF pays off it would seem.

Are winners supposed to count as dead btw?

[k0rtes]

Hey, thank you so much for trying and the feedback!
I was actually thinking about game balance a lot.
First of all, you have tried the most powerful Noldor almost without bad traits. And after that you have picked 3 curses (if it worked correctly). So your next run should be much more difficult. And if you have played other Noldor you have some other caveats as well (no spoilers).

Then, I plan to have more difficulties, where your start your runs already with curses, and whenever you succeed your next run is even more difficult. So, there would be a sort of leader board, how deep in runs you can go, getting every start harder and harder.

Also, I believe that game should be accessable for new players, and they will die even with Fingolfin.

Nevertheless, I definitely need to balance it correctly, so for more hardcore players the really difficult mode comes quicker. I'm myself an ok player, I have some good places on the ladder for SilQ. I tried to play Hador and died at 900ft.

So, I would really really really appreciate if you could play more and give me feedback how other characters play, how curses affected your gameplay, etc.

Thank you again, it's really satisfying to see people try to play your game.
EDIT: Actually, I even have a functionality to add a curse straightaway in the run. Let me enable it and you can try how the game goes with the curses and maybe give me a feedback on where the balance is.
EDIT2: Done. You can press C for Curses in the main menu, and then A for Add curses in the curses menu. And experiment with them

[Infinitum]

Finished a Fingolfin run, and it seems like it saved the endgame choices without crashing so all's good there. You've put a lot of effort in the various vignettes and descriptions and it really shows!

The concept itself isn't my cup of tea though tbh; I prefer the contained coffe break aspect of vanilla. Named Noldor are extremely overpowered, and the run felt very easy even with not running out the clock and utilizing some subpar item slots. And now I have to make another 4 3-Silmaril runs to consider the variant complete?

If you keep developing you might want to tinker with difficulty; spending several hours unlocking medium-hard difficulty seems like a bit of a drag. Perhaps my fault for not going Edain but still. You might also want to rethink the 15-death limit if you keep metaprogression; resetting back to easy mode and having to grind back doesn't seem fun. Maybe allow a player to choose the number of curses that they've unlocked on an attempt as well (with only the maximum prgressing the story of course).

[k0rtes]

Nice poems! Also I really appreciate not having to spend like 5 minutes to enable the UI windows. Will check it out more in depth later.

EDIT: Opening the Esc menu still allows the character to move in the background. Also the menu is difficult to exit due to a) attempting to activate items instead of exiting the menu.

Got it, thank you! I will debug this part, is it Linux?

EDIT: Can you please send log.txt?
EDIT2: Oh, I just thought, that I have Linux on Steam Deck, I can try to debug it there.
EDIT3: I think I found a bug in module I have introduced and fixed it. Please check!