The Dark Citadel

Inspiration

I wanted to build a D&D style game that would be about exploring and forging your own path. The choices are dynamic and influence your course through the game. For example, you are given a choice with how to deal with a group of treacherous nobles, and your decisions can influence whether or not the city survives and orc invasion.

What it does

It is a dynamic system that includes things like combat, skill checks, decisions, and more. Basically, you follow the progression of the story and then make decisions, and as you do the story changes. In combat you have skills, powers, and actions that can help you deal with your foes after you completely customize your character.

A few notable things:

1) Invasions - You can customize the defenses for your own keep, and then you have the option to invade the keeps of other players. Tear down their defenses and seek out their sweet, sweet loot! What's more, you can find various allies and implements throughout the world that will help protect your keep (like a bear or an endless jug of water that can drown your foes!)

2) Battle Waves - Compete for the highest ranking on various difficulty settings. Each wave is harder than the last until the enemies finally overwhelm you!

3) Raids - Compete in cooperative play with other players to take down insanely powerful foes for unique rewards!

How I built it

I built the choice system first and then gradually expanded upon it with new abilities, powers, combat, and so much more. Now there are thirteen available chapters with more coming soon and tons of playstyles. There are also countless side quests throughout the game that make it replay-able.

Challenges I ran into

Making the story feel dynamic and integrating all of the capabilities I needed with Alexa was the hardest part. My goal was to make Alexa sound as much like a game master as possible which meant focusing on variable responses that will keep her from getting repetitive. This isn't meant to be a simple one-off 'give me information' skill but rather something players can invest time into to create a custom and powerful character!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm proud of the leaderboard and the interface design in HTML so that players can play how they choose. The game is 100% voice first, but having a screen can open up additional information at a glance that can help you play.

What I learned

I learned how to integrate a lot of different systems and logic into the game, including APLA and Web API for Games.

What's next for The Dark Citadel

I'm still writing more chapters and adding new features to the game all the time. My goal is to put out a new chapter about every two to three months.