One of the more exciting recent developments with Idosra has been music. I've been working with composer Nicole Marie T to update the music in the game. All of the current songs in the game were written by her, and either licensed from her royalty free collections, or as Patreon rewards. Now she is composing some original music!

So far there are five new songs: a title sequence, and four looping pieces for level background music. I'm looking forward to sharing them when the game is released, which while I don't have a release date yet, is a time that is coming sooner than later.

I have 49 levels so far, out of about 70. It's worth pointing out that many of the "levels" are alternate paths, so I'm closer to done than 49 out of 70 might seem. Super Mario World may be a good comparison for length and scope. Alternate path levels function a bit like the secret exits in SMW. The number of distinct locations in Idosra is about the same as in SMW.

Since I started working with Nicole, I also started taking a "musical inventory" of the music used across the various levels, and have been thinking about how the music complements the level's place in the game's story. When I'm designing levels, I often have a soundtrack running through my mind--but since I like to watch videos on YouTube while I'm working, the sound of a level I'm imagining might be influenced more by what I'm watching than what makes the most sense.

The level "New Technology" is a good example. This is one of the last levels in Chapter 1 of the game--the chapter I'm intending to release for free as a "90s shareware model style" demo. In the game's story, this is a turning point. When the player is first introduced to Marika, the protagonist and player-character, she is a bit lost and lacks confidence. By the time we get to "New Technology", about 15 levels in, Marika has found new confidence in herself and also a purpose. She is facing the entity that scared her in the opening sequence.

I made a recording of this level, although using a save file where Marika has 49 levels worth of experience--so she is way overpowered. I think that the new song, beginning at around 1:44, conveys a stronger focus on her character development than the original. The original song was a techno piece, which I think places a strong emphasis on the environment. This same techno piece is used in another level.

So far I've found the experience to be a good exercise in thinking about how music emphasizes story. The choice in song can be used to guide the player's focus on a particular aspect of the game: environment, character development, action, etc. Up until recently, I've almost always chosen music to emphasize the environment. Since I've started thinking about how I can use music to emphasize other aspects, I've found ways to strengthen their presentation in the game and, hopefully, better engage the player.



I've been tossing around the idea of re-titling "Rogue of Vallas" for a while now. At this point I haven't yet invested much time in serious marketing efforts, so this would be the time to do it.

One thing I learned about book covers is that they essentially act as "billboards" for the book. The saying don't judge a book by its cover is certainly not true. The cover is the first thing a reader sees when browsing the bookstore.

For a game, the job of the cover is passed on to the title screen and screenshots.

I'm pretty happy with the cover image. I think it conveys exactly what I want: the city in the distance-a sense of adventure, Marika's expression-her character, the storm in the background-impending danger.

The title, on the other hand, falls short. I've been considering a new name: Idorsa: The Electric Renaissance

Idosra. The Electric Renaissance
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Background

First a brief summary of the story. The game takes place about 5,000 years in the future, after an apocalyptic event triggered by a rise in the sea levels. Vallas is the name of the empire that emerged and is uniting city states. One of these city states is Lyrika, which is in a severe economic downturn and is happy to be annexed by Vallas.

The sea levels are falling again, exposing ancient ruins. One of these ruined cities, named Idosra, lies in Lyrika's territory. Lyrikan and Vallan scholars are studying these ruins. They are believed to hold clues of the lost knowledge of electricity generation.

Marika becomes suspicious of the Vallan emperor, Golga, and his intent during an election cycle that includes the election of a governor for the new Lyrikan province. Several prominent scholars have disappeared. Marika's brother, Cata, is a scholar. She worries what may become of him.

Rogue of Vallas

The title Rogue of Vallas would make more sense if Marika was a "rogue". The story has evolved over the years, and "rogue" just doesn't make sense. Marika is a young adult who is trying to find a place in a world that is quickly changing and has already left her behind.

Her adventures lead her to believe Vallas has already uncovered electric artifacts from Idosra and is using them to power strange new technologies--the most prominent of which are "electric eyes" which govern various military devices. This is told at the end of the opening level.

Marika stumbles out of the woods. "The rumors are true?" she asks herself. As she reaches a clearing, she sees more towers peppering the landscape. "How do they fire without the command of man?" she wonders.
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Marika considers whether to investigate the towers in the field, or return to the village.
"Rayda will be interested in this," she thinks. Before heading off, one final thought crosses her mind. "They don't fire at the guard. How do the towers know to discriminate?"
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Idosra. The Electric Renaissance

The title Idosra would link the game to one I designed in 2016 for my entry in "Stencyl Jam 16". This game, Temple of Idosra, defined much of the story in this game's world, even though I wouldn't consider Temple of Idosra canon yet.

The subtitle, The Electric Renaissance, describes the game's backstory much better. It also better ties the background music into the game as well. Most of the BGM songs have a lot of synth and electronic instruments.

I did consider renaming the game to just Vallas. That would solve the problem of "rogue" being misleading. However, it turns out that there is a well-known game series from Japan called "Valis". It was ported to North America on the Super Nintendo--but I grew up with MS-DOS games--so I never played it. Vallas was generated from a random name generator. The similarity may not be a big deal, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of changing the title, I feel I should try to avoid that potential conflict.

All around, I think the new title would do a better job selling the game for what it is. This is the most important factor (from a marketing perspective) that I can think of. Misrepresentation almost always leads to bad reviews. The trick is connecting with the right audience.



One thing I learned from the Alpha 0.0.3 release of Rogue of Vallas is that the new player experience is rougher around the edges than I'd like. The notion that the first level should teach the player how to play the game is well known, but the theory can be hard to put into practice.

Case in point: the tower in the opening screenshot is designed to let the player practice climbing down ledges. To do this, the player should face right, press the down button, then the z (jump) button. I've seen a couple of videos posted to YouTube, and neither figured it out.

A common trend in old Flash games I remember seeing is having instructional signs posted in the level itself (like on the platform), but I think this move is too complicated to communicate in this way.

There's a fine line to avoid crossing regarding annoying the player with too many interruptions. Constant tutorial pop-up messages disrupt the narrative flow that the opening cutscene worked to hard to establish. On the other hand, there is an educational aspect to level design. If the first level doesn't adequately teach the new player what they need to know to succeed, they will likely get frustrated, and possibly give up playing, after successive failures.

To smooth out the new player experience, I took a close look at the opening level's design, something I haven't done since 2020. The look of the level has evolved plenty since then, but its layout is still much the same.

The Opening Level (Run Away)

Let's take a closer look at the opening level, Run Away.

Map of the entire first level Full size image

Going off of the recordings I've seen, it takes new players about 8 minutes to complete it. I'd prefer to have that down to around 5 minutes, but 8 isn't bad. There are plenty of checkpoints, so if the player dies then they won't lose too much progress.

There's a lot crammed into those 8 minutes, though. By the end of this level, the player will have learned to:

  • Move (run, jump)
  • Climb (up and down)
  • Gain EXP
  • Read books to gain skills
  • Defend against a guard unarmed
  • Collect money for use in town
  • Use the axe
  • Use elixirs
  • Defend against automated turrets
  • and more

That's a lot to take in at once. The level's linear design also means there's almost no room for exploration.

I think a better design would be to add a couple of new rooms, then split the level into two halves, as shown below.

Map of the entire first level, revised Full size image

The first half doesn't reduce the number of new encounters by much. It does, however, lower the degree to which new abilities need to be mastered. For example, in the original opening level, if the player didn't learn to conserve their axes, then they would be defenseless against the turrets. In the new version, once the player finds the first axe, there aren't enough regular guards to use them all up before the first turret is encountered.

Since the turret is a new threat, this design gives the player a better chance to study how it works and react accordingly. In the original version, the first two turrets are encountered in pairs. The next few are placed near pits. If the player character (Marika) is hit by a turret's fire, then she'll let go of the ledge and fall into the pit--instant death! So this situation is best avoided for the first level.

Placing just a single turret at the last scene of the opening level also allows for a bit of narrative flow improvement. The new first level will close with a cutscene. Marika just encountered something new to her world, so we get a nice cliffhanger.

Next Steps

When a new game is started, the player is immediately dropped into the first level. Upon its completion, the player is taken to the level selection map. The player exits Level 1-1, and only the village is available next.

Level selection map

When Marika enters the village, she can talk to her mentor and unlock the next level (2-1: Conquered Lands) and two mini-levels. Conquered Lands is a tough level, and must be completed before any new levels are unlocked.

Conquered Lands will likely be split as well. For now we can focus on the notion that splitting the first level will give the player a meaningful option: play the second half to build up some additional EXP and equipment, or try the new first half of Conquered Lands early for a tougher challenge. The second half of Conquered Lands can be put off a bit more until the player gains additional power.

Conquered Lands will first need its own in-depth analysis, but that is a topic for next time.

A power guard!



I've been looking for a new home for my gamedev thoughts for a while. Since I use Stencyl frequently, I had been posting on the community forums. Sadly, web forums seem to be on their way out--but I like the idea of reaching out to a broader community.

I like to make games in my spare time. It's a good creative outlet that combines my technical side and artistic side.

My current project is "Rogue of Vallas", an action-adventure platformer with RPG elements that pays tribute to 90s era games--particularly MS-DOS games such as Prince of Persia and Jill of the Jungle.

Screenshot from Rogue of Vallas

The project started as a way to pass some time during the COVID-19 lockdown in North Carolina. It has really pushed my artistic and level design abilities, which were never as strong as my programming abilities. But it's always good to learn new things!

It's strange looking at old screenshots now, such as this one from later in 2020...

Old screenshot from Rogue of Vallas

... and compare it to more recent screenshots.

More recent screenshot from Rogue of Vallas

It's harder to see improvements in level design, though. It doesn't take long to look at a piece of art and form a quick opinion on it. Like reading a book or watching a movie, playing through a level takes a greater investment of time. This makes it harder to experience enough of it to form an opinion. I like to think the levels I've created recently are better than those I first designed, but there's also the possibility that I only think they're better because I've adapted to my own designs.

Difficulty inflation is a concern. I test my code and level design by regularly playing the game. Since practice makes perfect, I'm regularly adapting to my own designs, which means I need to make the levels harder to feel a challenge. I don't want to squeeze every topic I have a thought on into one post, but this would be a good topic to return to later.

If nothing else, this has been a learning experience.

A final screenshot from Rogue of Vallas