GLYPHSCAPE

GEOUUG/GAMES/

Glyphscape is a classic roguelike, set on a procedurally generated continent populated by friendly NPCs and not-so-friendly monsters. Adventurers will find endless randomly-generated dungeons throughout the world, as well as dozens of hand-crafted levels and quests.

Glyphscape was originally designed for mobile platforms, but has since been adapted to be playable on PC, where development is now focused. The game is still presented in its original motif, in the form of a simulated touchscreen device encapsulating the game.

You can download Glyphscape and play for free by heading over to Glyphscape's itch.io page.

A gif showing the main menu screen of Glyphscape. A temple is displayed behind the title.

./GLYPHSCAPE/MECHANICS

HERO SELECTION

Players may choose between four randomly generated heroes, one of each class. There are four classes to choose from in Glyphscape: Champion, Conjurer, Wanderer, and Cutpurse.

Each class provides a unique trait, and a set of starting STATs. The traits are very impactful, and make each class favor a distinct play style.

Each of the four heroes also starts with a Background (in this case 'Mauler' that provides additional perks, and a starting weapon.

MELEE MINIGAMES

Action is resolved in Glyphscape on a turn-based basis. When the player initiates a melee attack, the outcome of the attack will be determined by a real-time minigame. The specific challenge depends on the player's equipped weapon.

These games resemble familiar minigames such as "smash the A button as fast as you can" (timeless) and "smash the A button but only when instructed" (a classic). There are six distinct minigames for resolving combat encounters.

SPELLCRAFTING

Players who do not enjoy minigame combat may instead prefer to play as a magic-user, and avoid physical altercations altogether. Powerful magic spells can be crafted from component Glyphs, which may be learned from experienced Mages.

Glyphs represent different aspects of the crafted spell, such as its primary effect, targeting shape, and modifiers which may augment the effects to extend the spell's duration or increase its power.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION

Nearly every tile can be interacted with in some way. Sometimes interactions are direct: a door can be opened, closed, locked, or smashed open. Other interactions may occur as an indirect result: a door can be opened as a consequence of setting it on fire with a fire spell.

hint: some interactions are secret without the right tool

A screenshot from Glyphscape. A Champion hero stands before a king.

PROGRESSION

The player awakes with amnesia, knowing only their name. They soon learn that they may in fact be a great adventurer, but simply cannot remember what makes them great. They set off to find out.

As experience is gained, the player begins to piece together their past. In the process they discover forgotten abilities and traits from their background. At each level-up, two options are presented to the player, based on factors such as the player's class and current backgrounds.

LIGHT & SHADOW

Glyphscape has a custom lighting engine that simulates the blending of light of an arbitrary number of sources, and the reflection of that light from the base tile color. On the surface, the ambient light color and intensity changes over the course of the day.

The player's view distance is increased when standing in bright light, and is reduced to near-zero when in darkness. Carrying a few torches (or better yet, a lantern) will make it much harder for a monster to sneak up from behind.

./GLYPHSCAPE/WORLD

UNTAMED WILDERNESS

Glyphscape has one of the largest playable areas of any open world game, technically speaking. Each tile approximates one square meter, and an area consists of 128x128 tiles (16384 sq. m). The world map consists of 32x32 areas, and each area sits on top of 50 layers of procedural dungeons, bringing the total game area up to over 830 square kilometers.

There are eight biomes on the surface, each with unique features, monsters, climate, and inhabitants. In the dungeons below, the size, complexity, loot value, and hazard level increase as the player explores deeper and deeper.

HAND-CRAFTED DUNGEONS

While the world of Glyphscape boasts nearly limitless procedural dungeons, the land also contains a variety of locations both above and below ground where every door, chest, enemy, and decoration has been placed by hand. These areas are closely tied to the main questline, and include access to special items and unique enemies.

These areas have intentional critical paths, shortcuts, hidden loot, and many secrets waiting to be discovered.

hint: access to certain areas may require a leap of faith.

TOWNS & TAVERNS

The world of Glyphscape isn't only monsters and mayhem. There are a variety of settlements scattered across the continent, which serve as waystations for the player to purchase supplies, sell their loot, or rest up in a rented room.

Players may also find NPCs who want to play dice, and will happily play a few games, provided the player can ante up.

./GLYPHSCAPE/MISC_INFO

A screenshot from Glyphscape. A Conjurer hero stands in a dark library.

CUSTOM ASCII

Glyphscape is displayed entirely with layers of printed text. The multicolored 'sprites' of Glyphscape are achieved by overlaying multiple ASCII layers of different colors.

The tile set is based on the IBM CGAThin font, with many custom characters created for monsters, weapons, and particle effects. These custom characters overwrite many standard glyphs of non-latin alphabets, which will likely make localization difficult if not impossible. :(

PLATFORM SUPPORT

Glyphscape is supported by PC and Android devices. I plan to support iOS in the future, if there is demand.

The game is entirely playable using only a mouse or touchscreen. For PC users, keyboard or gamepad support is available that may be used in substitution for or in tandem with mouse controls.

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