On this day, 10 years ago, I released Shattered Pixel Dungeon v0.1.0. This tiny initial release was my first serious attempt at gamedev and was distributed to maybe 50 people on the Pixel Dungeon subreddit.
Fast forward 10 years and Shattered is my full-time job, with roughly 5 million combined downloads and roughly 150 thousand combined sales over several platforms. Even after all these years, more new people are discovering Shattered now than ever before, and the updates I make are getting bigger and better.
Join me for a quick walk down memory lane, and for a preview of something very exciting that’s yet to come…
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I love the new pixel art. For the most part, it just adds to the flair while still keeping the SPD feel. The items are looking fantastic, and the terrain changes look cool, and oh my goodness, that Sad Ghost animation is great. 3 things, though:
- The new player character models are a little unclear. They’re at such a small size, I think they need a bit more contrast? Not sure honestly, they just don’t read as clearly as the current models. It may be that, with the added detail in their clothing, you have to pull back on the shading detail. I like that they match the splash art.
- The old water drops were very nicely visible by the white outline, but the new ones look so much like water they blend in. Personally, I like how visible they currently are. Maybe add more shines?
- A few of the weapons look… over-blended? I know a few other comments mentioned this, but the shading makes a few of the weapons’ edges unclear, especially in Tier 2.
The yog rework is amazing.
Wow, congratulations on 10 years! And on having the skills to make this your full time job, that’s impressive.
I generally like the new sprites, but I’d caution that more detail and shading does not always improve readability of small sprites. A good example I think is the kunai, while the new graphic is technically more detailed in terms of more colors used in the shading, I think it makes it harder to tell at a glance where the inside “edges” are supposed to be because it’s a smoother gradient now.
Pixel art requires a fair bit of stylization, and sometimes I think that means sacrificing detail to ensure readability.
Others have commented about the succubus sprite. I think it’s the… elbow pads? that really make it hard to tell what she’s supposed to be wearing. Fighter’s signature armor and duelist’s are both a little busy and hard to read as well.
Overall though, I’m loving the new graphics, and looking forward to what you have in store for us over the next stretch of years!
The dirk is too similar to the shortsword imo, the “flat” edge in the old design makes it easier to see which is which.
Love the new T4 T5 designs!
The hilts are quite different, though. A dirk shouldn’t have looked like a hunting knife in the first place. They’re double edged.
Story is on par with bg3
The new art looks absolutely gorgeous and I feel like it’s the perfect next step for this game.
I do think there are a few nitpicks, but I completely understand that this is all just WIP
I can’t tell what the succubus new top is supposed to be 🤔
Also please don’t give rats teeth, the cute design of the rats is just as iconic as some of the characters.
Every time you win the game you have a little rat buddy with you
This was a change I hadn’t realised that we needed - the splash art is amazing but needed tying in to the textures in-game so this is a perfect way to do this. I think the succubus could definitely do with a bit of work but most the other stuff I LOVE! Especially the Yog texture and the goo with teeth. It will take a lot of getting used to and the game will feel very different for a while but I’m already excited!!
The Yog-Dzewa texture and Goo having teeth are 2 out of 3 things I don’t like abt the respeite, lol. Third being Evil Eye.
Awesome stuff! I remember when development stopped on Pixel Dungeon all those years ago, and Shattered stayed on my phone after trying out the myriad of variants (Sprouted anyone?).
If you’d indulge me, I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on a few things:
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Equipment degradation - This being one of the last features that watabou implemented before halting the project always seemed kind of extreme to me. What do you think about the mechanics of it, and do you think it could have been improved upon, if development had not ended? Have you tested with it much in development for Shattered?
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The other projects from watabou have been pretty cool to see. His proc-generative skills have really shone with the TTRPG tools, and I have actually used them in my own campaign, to some extent. Just wondering if you have checked them out.
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Any aspirations of starting something new, or is it SPD from here on?
Thanks for sharing your gift to the world! It’s helped me pass countless hours enjoyably.
Thanks for the kind words! I’ll answer your questions in order:
- It’s interesting that you mention this because you’re already playing with ‘improved degradation’! The changes I made in v0.4.0 with strength scaling, and subsequent adjustments in updates like v0.4.1 and v0.8.0 are sort of my version of the degradation system. I think the goal of the system was good, nerfing the ‘dump every upgrade into the first high-tier weapon and win’ strategy, but there was too much collateral damage. I solved the problem by making it harder to access high-tier gear early, and generally making raw offense with no planning or strategy much less effective.
- I have checked then out! I don’t really have a use for procgen tools myself, but I do keep tabs on what Watabou is doing. Amusingly, a D&D campaign I was in a couple years ago did actually make fairly regular use of Watabou’s medival fantasy city generator.
- I do have some plans, obviously I can’t keep working on Shattered forever, but for the foreseeable future I still have ideas for Shattered and the game is doing way too well for me to consider stopping development.
Thanks for taking the time to answer! I will admit that I often wait way too long to use my SoU’s. Nice balancing act you did there to punish those of us who cling too hard to the old ways.
It’s also really cool to see you using Lemmy!
Anyway, wishing all the continued success to you.
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so it was actually a fun read but i would like to say something since you have asked for feedback, while i really appreciate your attempts at trying to polish the game but that doesn’t look attracting idk how to describe it but those new designs look like they lack the shine the old designs had or in another words i think they look too much overpolished, it might be just a me thing though or my brain being conservative or something but the polish of the new designs just don’t look fitting for this game to me, hope you don’t take my words in a bad way
To contrast this, I like the designs. So it will be very much a question down to individual taste, just like the move to 2.5D of the level designs.
I am wondering if Evan is considering a toggle to enable old designs as well, e.g. you can select between classic and modern design. But this would of course bring problems downstream with further new content where he now has to implement two different design styles, so probably won’t happen.
Afraid I’m not ever going to add toggles to turn off new content added in updates, although I do want the new visuals to satisfy as many people as possible.
Not at all, thanks for the feedback! I appreciate that the new visuals are a change no matter what. and it’ll feel a bit weird to imagine only some new visuals in the game mixed in with the old ones. In the future I might be able to show an example of a game screen with 100% new graphics.
ohhh, now that you say that, the mixed visuals might be the reason of why i feel them being not fitting,true a game screen with all the new graphics might change the perception i have
I’m kind of iffy about most of these. The simpler textures are better imo, all the extra colors on the new ones make them feel too complicated (and round, if that makes sense)
Goo with teeth looks great, but doesn’t really fit from a lore perspective. Maybe change it so the teeth are made from broken rock? Seems like that would fit better thematically
A few that stuck out to me; corruption wand feels top-heavy, crystal chest is a bit too transparent, rings look like spaghetti-o’s. Gnoll scouts look like wax figures, and monks look too similar to senior monks imo. The bright orange is the easiest tell. Seeds and dewdrops, please just don’t. Massive downgrade for both
Evil eyes just look traumatized lol. Would be cool for april fools
DM-300 and mimic redesigns are both great. I’d love to see more like that
Finally, Yog-Dzewa. That sprite is absolutely phenomenal and I cannot wait to plunge an arrow directly in the pupil!
yuh i agree with these suggestions. esp evil eyes and seeds+dew drops
In the journal log “The Thief’s guild” it says that they were working together with the thief’s I guess it’d be cool to see that in the game maybe the rouge can somehow make them friendly or add a quest you can get from one thief.
If you go with a scary mimic you gotta change the laugh to something more sinister! Maybe just a deeper pitch, but that’s what ebony mimic has. It really needs an freakish laugh for such a grisly graphic.
BTW, I’ve always thought that the mimic should not laugh if you directly hit it from far away with a ranged weapon or wand. He should groan out an “Ohh”, instead. 😄
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While you do have to pick up the pace in the Demon Halls due to the spawn rate (especially floor 24, dear god) you can’t just skip them. You need to explore for… reasons. And not just for the 3 upgrade scrolls and 2 potions of strength.
As for Evil Eyes
- You get 2 turns once they start charging, sometimes more if they are chilled. Only fight them when you are near cover and can duck around a wall.
- They have enormous damage reduction while charging. Don’t bother trying to hit them when they’re charging unless you only need one turn to reach cover, in which case a couple damage is a couple damage, I guess. Setting them on fire or using a Wand of Corrosion on them before you seek cover is good.
- Their laser destroys doors, but the door provides cover.
- If you can blind then on the first turn they charge up and then step perpendicular to their line of site, they’ll shoot and miss without you needing cover.
- If you freeze or paralyze them while charging, they will still blast you when they can move again.
- It does suck to get blasted from the shadows. Buy all the torches you can.
Make sure you don’t let a ripper demon jump right on you. The bleeding causes so much damage! Other than that, they are pretty squishy. Even if they are in the shadows, the game warns you they are about to leap and flashes a little target on the floor for a second. Try to step away from the target. They always target their jump in the direction you just stepped (assuming you weren’t standing still). Sometimes you can cheese them into jumping into a pit, but it’s really tricky.
The succubus will teleport to you and get a free attack (it has a cooldown, though), but if there is only a single tile between you, she will just step toward you. So if you’re kiting her with a Ring of Haste or she’s chilled, don’t get too far away. And if you have primarily ranged attacks and she’s sleeping, you’re often be better off walking up to her until you are only one tile away from her before attacking with your ranged weapon. You only get one unanswered attack in that case (if you don’t have haste), but that’s actually better than being attacked the instant you wake her. She also has a max range, so if you can attack from very far away, that’s better than everything I said, but that always seems rare.
Save Scrolls of Magic Mapping for the demon halls. They are super good there.
I’m guessing you’re talking about the evil eye things that shoot lasers. I HATE those things. The good news is that they take 2-3 turns to charge up, and the laser doesn’t pass through doors or walls so you have time to get away.
Getting that far is really good for just starting
Charges in turns 1 and 2, shoots in 3.
This is the furthest I’ve gotten as mage. Had good on lock with horn of plenty and warlock kit. Thought I finally had it and got wiped seconds after getting to that level.
whew, this is gonna be a fun read
My two cents:
- new dagger ressemble too much new sword. Same with fishing spear and middle spear
- (personal taste) hammerhead is too big.
- big shield red I find a bit too dim.
- golden and Cristal mirmics have centered locks!
- artefacts timer and eye could be viewed 1 pixel more from the front to reduce size of sides.
- I’m in love with the bland fruit
- Top of walls seem slightly too bright
- great sewers (and loved the last update on level gen)
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mirmic, succubus and also robot have too many details
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goo has a mouth, not my style
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robot seems out of theme. Too harsh and steely. Maybe use a bit of bronze ?
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New yog is top!
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older necromancer could find a place as ghost invocation necromancer.
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new
characterhero blend too much on background - also bad for people with sight issues.
yesss new heroes defs blend too much
