Vagante (DCSS inspired rogue-lite in open alpha)

[Steel Neuron]

There's a free open alpha for a game called Vagante that I've found really interesting.

It's a 2d sidescrolled "metroidvania" game, but I thought it was interesting because it's inspired in DCSS (admitted in the developer's website). There are some elements that remind me of DCSS such as the potion system (pretty much identical) and how stats work (low numbers, meaningful "brands"). It's looking like a really unforgiving mix of Spelunky, Dark Souls and DCSS, which I like a lot.

Here are a couple videos going over it. Unfortunately it's still on a very early phase, but despite the limited content it's looking very polished already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op-o_Tza3Qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjM9sqcq_Dc

Whaddya think?

[KittenInMyCerealz]

Looks cool.
I'll probably try it out and keep an eye on it, for a while at least.

[twelwe]

This was a lot of fun, beat it on my third character though. Ends when you defeat all the bosses. The frost bolt pretty much wrecks everything, along with the jetpack boots. There were lots of negative resistances on items that seemed absolutely meaningless - think the only elemental I was ever hit with was fire from the dragon. Lots of item swapping. The only thing I saw it took from DCSS was unidentified potions, and I don't see any spelunky influence whatsoever.

[Steel Neuron]

This was a lot of fun, beat it on my third character though. Ends when you defeat all the bosses. The frost bolt pretty much wrecks everything, along with the jetpack boots. There were lots of negative resistances on items that seemed absolutely meaningless - think the only elemental I was ever hit with was fire from the dragon. Lots of item swapping. The only thing I saw it took from DCSS was unidentified potions, and I don't see any spelunky influence whatsoever.

Well, it's a very early pre-alpha, so we must assume it has only the most basic, proof-of-concept content.

The spelunky influence IMO is on the shop mechanics (you can also attack the shopkeeper) and some platforming elements.

[tasonir]

The spelunky influence IMO is on the shop mechanics (you can also attack the shopkeeper).

Totally a nethack core mechanic!

[KittenInMyCerealz]

The spelunky influence IMO is on the shop mechanics (you can also attack the shopkeeper) and some platforming elements.

I think those platforming elements have been around since the 90's

[Patashu]

Spoiler alert: You can be influenced by something even if the something is in itself heavily derivative of previous work

[twelwe]

Alpha 5 is out. I like this game a lot.

[tasonir]

Spoiler alert: You can be influenced by something even if the something is in itself heavily derivative of previous work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3xXlXSOKk&feature=kp

[cerebovssquire]

I also downloaded and enjoy the game, though I really suck at it. What character/skilling combination would be most beginner-suitable? I have been mostly trying the sword character with Holy so far but maybe there's an easier way. I tend to not die to individual mistakes but just attrition where I lose a few HP per monster and run out.

[twelwe]

I also downloaded and enjoy the game, though I really suck at it. What character/skilling combination would be most beginner-suitable? I have been mostly trying the sword character with Holy so far but maybe there's an easier way.

There is no good beginning. Your outcome (win or die) will depend on the loot, which is something the developers are going to have to concede as problematic. The best item in the game right now is the book of frost bolt. On the rogue I got +22% attack speed with items and could stab anything to death before they got a hit in. I suppose the rogue is a good starter because of the high mana pool.

More fun item egos I found were endless jumping, phasing (through floors and walls, though dont try them on map edges) life stealing, and I also had some boots that turned coins into health. the spiked boots were useless. Healing is very rare in this game so, just liek in teleglitch, you need to learn how to time attacks perfectly to have any chance.

[rosstin]

Awesome! I'm gonna post here again once I've had a chance to play it. :-3

[cerebovssquire]

I've beaten it now... I used the sword character on my winning attempt (with Holy, where the 2nd and 3rd powers are excellent), I think I just had enough practice killing monsters with the sword without taking damage at that point, which I was finding much harder with the rogue (due to dagger range and slow speed of the bow). Holy 3, the reincarnation power, effectively means that you get more than 100 HP for free, so it compensates nicely for a lack of healing items. Copper sword + lasers from Holy 2 was sufficient for offense.
I'm looking forward to the later versions, great game!

[twelwe]

the next update should be coming any day now

[twelwe]

Kickstarter is up: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nukenine/vagante

new alpha is out also http://vagantegame.com/

[twelwe]

This is out on steam now!

[twelwe]

I just want to take some time to recommend this again to everyone. I have 176 hours in it, a bit less than my 28 days of playtime in crawl, and continue to play it every week. The devs push out a major patch every two weeks along with hotfixes when necessary, which from my limited experience with Early Access games (this is my only one) appears to be way above average for the scene. I`ve personally made over three dozen bug reports and feature requests and almost all of those bugs have been resolved. Try it!