Son of a Witch Demon Hunter Update

This MEGA update is a free DLC-sized upgrade to the base Son of a Witch game. The update will be free for existing players, but the game price is likely to go up after this is released.

1. Heroes

• new hero: Lich. Undead, uses health energy to cast spells instead of mana. Can heal with mana gaining items or pets.
• Rogue Hero starts with pickpocket and speed buff effect
• Rogue hero magic key costs 1 mana, and can unlock boss room doors from the outside

2. Levels:

• new level Hell with new music, thrist effect and 26 new room layouts
• special room: minotaur labyrinth, gives access to the Lich hero
• special room: pentagram, needs donation of mana, health rune, gold and king scepter to enter hell
• special room: forest in ice level where you play hide and seek with Amanda
• special room: prison surgeon where you can donate health for gold
• special room: knife avoiding twins challenge in the desert
• special room: treasure challenge with multiple bushidos in the desert
• special room: fishing with bow and arrows in hell
• new object: Crystal Sphere - protects demonic enemies and blocks magic scrolls until destroyed
• new object: Lava Pit - petrifies players standing over it when it spits lava
• new object: Minotaur Statue - teleport to the start of the level
• new object: Bag Statue - players can now transfer gold coins amongst each other
• hell shops have new type of protection and require mana to buy items
• new treasure room in the catacombs and the desert
• required distance for the second jump in the Long Jump quest reduced to 80
• in hard mode the evil princess has become the queen and has strong guard in the throne room

3. Bosses:

• New boss: Demon Legion - big demons spawning unless you kill them all once
• New boss: Matilda - a huge witch that creates traps for players
• New boss. Ghost of Rhadamanthus - shoots many orbs and buffs his minions with random effects
• New boss: Demon Lord - fight in active volcano arena with lava petrifying players
• Ice dragon sometimes shows up on the battlements
• Elephant boss knocks down units when walking across the screen

4. Enemies:

• New: Imp - standard melee warrior, immune to fire and petrification
• New: Familiar - infernal mage can block your mana usage
• New: Fiend - quick with poisoned swordes and abilit to teleport behind your back
• New: Succubuss - shoots orbs and cheers at players with a beer, reversing their controls
• Newy: Efreet - flies around and spits very flammable fireballs
• enemies in the old catacombs no longer have huge HP in hard mode
• Bandits in the dungeon sometimes carry flaming swords

5. Weapons

• new weapon: Spellbinder - shoot orbs and block enemy mana usage
• new weapon: Magic Crossbow - shoots arrows and creates gold arrows using mana
• new weapon: Blacksmith's Hammer - throw at enemies and smelt weapons into shields
• new weapon: Overlord Staff - give random positive effects to self and allies
• new weapon: Blade of Light - triple damage vs undead and demons
• new weapon: Hypnosis Staff - turn non-boss enemies against each other
• new weapon: Brutus Gladius - a sword with high backstab damage
• Increased combo timer for the Barbarian Axe to 3 seconds
• Increased base damage for Ice Bow to 50

6. Items

• new item: Homing orbs - chance for magic orbs to auto-target enemies
• mew item: Magic Ice Bottle - use mana to create ice arrows
• new item: Four-leaf Clover - increased double damage chance
• new item: Holy Grail - Speed UP, Health UP, Magic/melee/archery UP
• new item: Faustian Ring - increase melee/magic/archery for 20 health
• new item: Minotaur Figurine - teleport to avoid death
• new item: Honey Jar - temporary speed up when you get hit
• new item: Stone Cross - double damage vs demons and undead
• new item: Hourglass - speed down, melee/archery/magic increase
• new item: Chili Pepper - enemies burn when they hit you
• new item: Wizard's Amulet - get 1 extra mana when entering new rooms
• new item: Claw Hammer - get coins when barrels break
• new item: Cooper's Ring - get mana when barrels break
• new item: Phylira's Necklace - break barrels to get armor points
• new item: wine - reduced thirst effect
• new item: Lich Ring - full heal after boss fight
• new item: Scales of Balance - increased damage when hungry, thristy or poisoned
• new item: pair of heart-shaped earrings - double healing effects
• reduced mana cost for Rogue's Magic Keyring to 1 so you can sneak around the levels freely
• Silver coin teleport out of old catacombs is now allowed
• Alchemist's Visor now protects from Santa's exploding presents as well

7. Potions

• New potion: Blood is Magic - lose all HP, get 3 mana
• New potion: Blood donor - turns current HP into gold
• New potion: Ironclad - increased damage scaling with armor
• Extravagance spends coins only when you enter new rooms
• Pickpocket effect now gives coins on room entry
• Bugfix: Dragonfire potion would remove arrow damage multiplying upgrades

8. Magic Scrolls

• New scroll: Summon Demon - all enemies attack it at once
• New scroll: Mark of the Beast - everyone loses 666 HP
• New scroll: Hypnotize Minions - enemies attack each other
• Added more units and bosses to Gamble scroll rotation.
• Duplicating weapons now clones damage, range, arrow speed upgrades as well.

9. Pets:

• New pet: Koala - a free item in every shop
• New pet: Panda - fetches gold coins and food
• New pet: Skunk - sets enemies on fire
• New pet: Sabertooth Tiger - gives +1 shield after every battle
• New pet: Squid - gives random positive effect after every battle
• Whale pet gives you a Kindling upgrade once a campfire stops burning
• Penguin pet no longer tries to attack enemies who have freeze immunity
• Snake pet no longer attacks enemies who have poison immunity

10. Other new features:

• new main menu graphics and music
• 27 new achievements
• You can now hold the drop button to drop the whole stack of items (arrows, keys, etc.)
• tracking win/lose streak for regular game and hard mode.
• allow entering any text as level generator seed (it gets converted into valid seed)
• now you can drop gold to double it with a scroll, or heal via gold diet
• Tar of Akhal picture shown in the final mom dialogue
• show the exact speed increase over speed buff status icon
• added option to reset all controllers to default settings
• allow binding Stomp attack to a separate button
• optional setting to shoot orbs using the regular attack button

11. Fixes:

• Allowed using ranged weapons for the Goliath achievement
• fixed Paladin to do double damage to undead with ranged weapons as well
• fixed a bug where ranged enemies would try to hit the Turtle pet endlessly
• fixed a bug when some monsters would get stuck attacking Turtle pet forever
• fixed a bug where the dialogue would pop up without key/button to continue the talk.
• fixed a bug where Undead Archer was unable to animate other undead sometimes
• fixed a bug with raised undead Archers always shooting arrows to the left
• prevent players getting stuck when hedgehog pet blocks the rolling spiked balls
• Vampire Slayer NPC now says Thank you when her quest is done
• achievement animations keeps working if you go from game into the main menu
• prevent raising petrified undead
• remove Confusion and Peace effect when undead unit dies
• added sound effect when some action fails (no money to buy stuff, etc.)
• imprved camera controls and thus enabled Baseball Quest for players with screens below 1680x900 pixels
• imprved camera controls and thus enabled Hornet Quest for players with 720p screens
• Message text for some actions would be hidden behind player status effects. Moved them above when status effects icon is visible.
• added statue players can use to teleport if they get stuck with dead player in co-op (gold shop, alchemist quest, treasure rooms, etc.)
• The final portal now shows that hell level is beyond instead of ice level
• allow re-binding strong and special attack to the same button
• fixed problem with minimizing game window on macOS in fullscreen mode

Steam version (PC,Mac,Linux) specific changes:

• added Steam leaderboard for the Endless arena
• you can now see the daily challenge rankings for friends only
• when some actions failed for a network guest, the reason would show on network host screen instead
• fixed netcode bug where some actions would fail without any notice text
• just minimize instead of closing the game when opening game's Steam page
• prevent mouse clicks when way outside of menu items in the main menu
• press F1 twice to see the progress for achievement counters

Nintendo Switch specific changes:

• added Daily Challenge for Nintendo Switch port
• enabled CHALLENGER achievement for Switch.
• greately reduced number of undead in endless arena in Switch port for performance reasons

Have fun playing!

How scoring works in Son of a Witch daily challenge

One of the reasons to come back to Son of a Witch every day, is the daily challenge. All players worldwide get the same dungeon layout with the same enemies. Only the weapon/item drops depend on the hero class.

One of the achievements is to win 100000 points in the daily challenge, so I decided to write a short guide how the points are given:

If more players are playing in a co-op game, only points collected by the first play count. So make sure you let this player collect all the gold, use the bombs and keys, etc. Others are just there to make the fight easier, not steal the points.

By the way, I decided to include the daily challenge in Switch version as well. Since it doesn't have online competition, the rankings will show your best runs with corresponding dates instead.

Generator Puzzle - Seeders Puzzle Reboot

There's a generator that powers all the teleports on level 5. Seeder robots are using the teleports to invade other planets.

To stop them, you need to shut down the generator. It's done by rotating the symbols on the dial until they go from 0 to 11 clockwise. Seeders are using a 4-digit number system:

So, the final position on the dial should look like this:

Puzzle mechanics:

The trick to this puzzle is to use the middle section to set up the pieces on the opposite sides and then slide them into their position. Here's an example how to set pieces 0 and 6 (i.e. and ) together.

Once two pieces are in place, set up the next pair (1 and 7) and slide them into their position (next slot clockwise). Repeat until the last pair to complete the puzzle.

The Demons are coming

The time for next BIG update to Son of a Witch is getting close. This will be the biggest update so far, with new level (Hell), new enemy faction (Demons), new unlockable heroes, new weapons and items, new pets and dozens of other changes.

The plan is for Hell to be an alternate path you can take through the game and reach an alternative ending where you destroy the Tar of Akhal forever.

The beta test version should be ready for translators by the end of January 2021.

The Game is ON graphics

Here's an example of a solved puzzle, so you can see how it works:

By solving the puzzles, you get jigsaw pieces. Collect enough pieces to unlock extra levels. You can also get jigsaw pieces by solving the puzzles in least possible moves and by finding pieces hidden in levels.

Some are hidden behind other objects or produced after you manipulate buttons or other things on the screen.

More details on the Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1386280/

The Game is ON

I'm making a new game. It's features cool pixel graphics and wacky puzzles where you move stuff around until you discover a common phrase or idiom from English language:

The Game is On

The game will be available on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Check the Steam store page for details and wishlist it now:

Dark World Update for Windmill Kings

Here's some new content for Windmill Kings:

This is the continuation of the main game story. After you deal with the black wizard and restore the order in the kingdom, you may think that everything is done.

But no. There are more black wizards in the cult and they decided to strike back. They captured all your allies and cast a spell on you that made you forget all the magic spells. Your friends are kept in dungeons and fortresses deep inside the underworld.

Explore the Dark World, rescue your allies and re-learn the secrets of magic before you take on hordes of new enemy types.

The black wizards have somewhat different minions. They are slightly stronger than your army and don't require special buildings to upgrade. The battles in this mode will test every ounce of strategy you can muster.

The Steam version of the game will launch in January 2020 with this update included. Nintendo Switch version will be updated in the meantime, I hope mid-December if all goes well.

Windmill Kings

Here's a project I have been working on for some time. It's a real time strategy game for 1 or 2 players focusing on quick battles.

The Story

Once upon a time, there was a king. After a glitched teleport spell created a clone, there were two kings. The evil black wizard betrayed the real king and the clone took over the throne. Help the real king rally the troops and get his castle back.

Single Player Campaign

The game has two modes. In campaign mode, you play as the real king who starts with a small amount of gold and an army of knights. You roam around the map and fight different enemies to convince them to join your forces: Archers, Healers, Ninjas, Champions, etc. You can also conquer windmills to get more gold to finance your army; and mage schools which provide you with useful spells like Meteor Shower, Freeze Enemies, Earthquake and Summon Giants. The campaign ends with an epic battle where you use all your forces and magic to defeat the clone king and recapture the castle.

2-player versus game

In versus mode, two players play a battle with all the units and magic unlocked. You can pick the size of the battle, starting with a small skirmish with just two towers and ending with a total war with two castles on each side. You can also play this mode single player versus computer.

Gameplay

The battles happen in real time. You pick which troops to create and send them to destroy the enemy fortress while defending your own.

The game offers a variety of tactics: Send knights and champions to attack the enemies in close combat. Archers are weak, but attack from distance, so you put archers and marksmen behind the knights. Afterwards you can recruit healers and clerics who can fight, but also heal other units. And you can add spies and ninjas who sneak past enemy lines and demolish their buildings. And finally there are giants who are hard to stop, but you can use some magic to make it easier. All units have an upgraded variant that requires that you construct a building during battle. You can also demolish enemy buildings to prevent them from recruiting upgraded armies.

The computer AI is completely transparent - you can see how much gold and magic points it has and what exactly is it doing. This makes every battle feel fair.

There are two difficulty settings: Easy mode for casual players and kids, and Normal mode for players who are experienced with real time strategy games.

Seeders Puzzle Reboot

It's been 4 years since I released my first Steam game: Seeders. I took a hard look at it and from this point of view, I was able to see all the shortcomings and problems it had. There was no character animation, and graphics lacked detail. Although the puzzles are good, the visual looks were poor. But even some puzzles, although they had good ideas behind them, were executed poorly. Players had to spend too much time actually doing the thing once they figured it out.

I decided to give a major revamp to the game. Big enough to set it up as a separate product. This time, it would be the game I really wish I made in the first place, but I just didn't have enough experience at the time. The new version is called Seeders Puzzle Reboot. Here are all the changes compared to the original Seeders Classic game:

Improved graphics. Some of the graphics used to look really plain and boring. If you played on a 1080p screen or larger, you could even see the textures repeat. At the time I made the original game, I was impressed by simple graphics of games like VVVVVV and Thomas Was Alone. What I learned since is that although consistency is more important than graphics fidelity, the original Seeders had consistently poor looking graphics. It actually took less effort than I anticipated to bring the graphics into good shape. Too bad I didn't see this as a problem in the original game.

Character animation. The old game had almost no character animation. Our main hero would look stiff and it would make the gameplay look stiff and boring as well. As I gained a lot of experience animating Son of a Witch, I put that to use. The gameplay now feels fluid and the main protagonist feels alive. There was a lot of work to be done, because there are 16 wearable hats in the game, and each one was drawn separately, so I had to make that work with animations.

No ambiguous puzzles anymore. For some of the puzzles seemed hard or impossible to execute, because the puzzle setup would lead the player into thinking that some of the solutions is possible because you might barely be there. It seemed like you could solve it in some trivial way only if you were precise down to the pixel. Based on discussion I had with some players on Steam, there were even some puzzles that could be cheesed that way. I redesigned all those puzzles to make sure it's obvious that the easy/wrong way is not possible, and players have to think of something else.

Hardest puzzles are optional. Some of the puzzles were really hard to solve (for example, the machine that moves parts of the level in level 3) or execute (falling through the laser-protected hole while a beryillium pipe is falling at the same time protecting you). And for some, it took a lot of time to repeat if you made an error (like those 4 alien robots at the start of level 5). All those puzzles are now optional, you can do them to get more wearable hats. Because of these changes I had to draw more hats, so there are 17 in the game now (default + Jason's + 15 to collect).

More Co-op puzzles. While the co-op mode in the original game is fully playable, it felt like some of the puzzles were really lacking co-op support. Now, many of the puzzles are still the same as in single player, but you have to solve them in different ways to enable two players to go through. This is especially visible with lasers in level 5, where you have to pass the vehicles to each other, or carry the other player on top of the spaceship, etc. But I also added more co-op only puzzles (i.e. you won't get to see those in single player) and some of the existing puzzles were redesigned for co-op by removing some pieces which made them trivially easy or adding some pieces that made them more interesting. I also left some of the tricky puzzles from the original mode to be available only in co-op mode, as I expect two players to be smarter collectively.

Music improvements. The main menu music was just too intense. It's a catchy tune, but I really started to cringe every time I launched the game - and I had to do that hundreds of times during testing. I replaced it with a nice, relaxing tune that sets a nice atmosphere, but never gets boring nor annoying. I also migrated my audio mixer code from Son of a Witch, so now all the songs have normalized volume. It was all over the place in the original game and you usually had to adjust the music volume between levels.

Added missing sound effects. One of the reasons the game felt stiff and boring was because there were next to zero sound effects. You would push a rock or a metal piece and they would feel like paper cutouts instead. You would jump on top of a spaceship and there was no sound. I have added over a dozen missing sound effects and coupled with music volume fixes I wrote about above, playing the game now feels like you are really there and your actions have an impact.

General polish. There are a lot of small things that make the game look and feel nice. Simplest things like menu transitions, subtle animations when you select menu items, etc. I built these systems for Son of a Witch and now I migrated them back to the Seeders engine as well.

Seeders Puzzle Reboot is that great puzzle adventure game that the original Seeders was supposed to be from the very start. I just wasn't experienced enough at the time to make it this good. Seeders Puzzle Reboot will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch for now.