Lips of Suna 0.6.0 is finally out. Just like nature intended, it took whole nine months to get the seeds of the release to develop into a kicking and screaming package. It was a long and difficult process, but we pulled it off thanks to primal instincts.
Grab the downloads and view screenshots in our website. An updated video of the game will be released a bit later, once I get my recording setup fixed. Feedback and discussion related to the release or the game in general is possible in our forums.
This release has substantial changes over the previous version. We have migrated to Ogre3D in order to reduce the work required by developing the graphics engine, as well as to get access to new features, such as rendering heightmaps, skyboxes, drop shadows and more dynamic particle effects. Large parts of the gameplay and the underlying code have also been revisited in hopes of improving the user experience and making it easier to add new content and features. The most important changes are listed below.
- New graphics engine based on Ogre.
- New keyboard-friendly user interface.
- Added an overworld map area.
- Added primitive labyrinth dungeons.
- Added landmark objects that are visible from distance.
- Added several new spells, skills and monsters.
- Spells and skills can be unlocked by completing quests.
- More responsive controls and better hit checking for attacks.
- Several improvements to the AI.
- Added random item fetching and NPC killing quests.
- Added unique attacks and strategies for certain monsters.
- Added cel-shading and outline rendering.
- Added some new character creation settings.
- Added an object specification browser to the editor.
- Large rewrites to make adding and maintaining content easier.
Despite the progress, there is still a lot of work to be done. Many of the new features are half-baked, some of the old features are partially broken, and important features are still missing. We have a strong desire to improve the game and listen to feedback and opinions, but we could be doing even better if more people were involved to development.
If you would like to help the game develop faster, take a look at our wiki, particularly the tips to contributors.