Update Posted!

See the Downloads page for full details.

I don't have anything to go over for this update, since I already mentioned them in the pre-update post.

Let me know what you think!
 If you are reporting a 'stuck' transformation, please include the exact description of the form you were in when it happened in your report.

I apologize for this update taking so long, but the two major system overhauls took a long time to get done. I also really wanted a new transformation, and it took some time to get a submission.
 All my own writing attempts didn't work out.

 Also, if you can do a better job at the new creatures graphic please contact me (at hodsubmission@gmail.com) because I feel the graphic could be quite a bit better.

Crediting

 I'm going to be adding a little line at each Game Over that lets people know who wrote that Transformation, so that I can give some credit to the writers.
 If you've already submitted content, please send me an email ( same as the submission email ) in regards to what name you'd like to be credited under, or if you want to remain anonymous.

 If I don't hear from anyone before the next update they will be credited as anonymous until I hear from them. I figure this is safer then using any names attached to emails.

 I'll also need you to send this email from the same address you submitted it so that I can be sure it's you. If you submitted it via a PM on TFgamessite, send a PM there again.

Still Alive ... still

 I'm still around and still working on Halls of Degeneration.
 I haven't been posting here much because I like to surprise my players with new content, especially new transformations.

 I've done a few things though.
 I'll discuss them here just to give the blog a bit of life.

 Nerfed all Gear
I have halved the base stat gains from all gear (rounded up). That means if it gave 12, it gives 6.
The percentages however, are the exact same.
Why? Because rare gear was absurdly overpowered early on.
 Rare equipment would allow the player to trudge through the first few floors without any difficulty or risk, one shotting most enemies with ease.
 I still want powerful equipment to matter, but not make the early game a pushover.

 Chaos Mode
I added a new mode, that causes all enemies to appear on all floors, removing all restrictions and exclusions. This games the game quite hard, but also allows appearances of enemies to be less predictable and lets you see all transformations right off the bat.
 I am considering making it unlocked upon reaching a certain floor, but right now it's an option right from the start.

Patch Posted

It was minor, just some QOL changes and bug fixes and typo corrections.

The new Rat transformation is also in game now.

Called it 0.15.5 because if I went to 0.2 I think I wouldn't have enough numbers left before 1.0.

Writer's Aid - The new Rat Transformation

I've rewritten the entire Rat Transformation to be FAR more detailed, and I hope, interesting.

It is also far darker and possibly more disturbing.
I am hoping it will set the tone for future transformations, as well as add some 'staying power' for new players so they give the game enough of a chance to reach lower floors.

However I don't want them all to be THIS dark. Ones like the Rag Doll and alike are all fantastic as well. It needs to have that sort of variety.


But the big news here is that I am sharing it as an example.

Click Here to get it. (Warning: Contains Spoilers! I suggest playing the game first.)

It's a good example of how submissions should be formatted, and will hopefully make it easier for content creators to submit their ideas and writings.



Yes I have been in a mood for strange, dark, transformations recently. It's a think that happens.
This is why I need other writers, because if I do it alone the game will only have strange creepy things that scare more players off.
 Fortunately the Slime on Floor 1 is nice and tame.

New Update! Version 0.15

A new creature, and a new transformation come with this version.
It is a very odd (maybe scary for some people) one that was written by me.
I also drew the creature graphic, much to my own surprise.
Only the one major mechanic to discuss.

Every 5th Floor
So in this version your "maximum depth" is only recorded every 5 floors. Meaning you can't start on any floor higher than 1 until you reach 5. This is so that a Game Over is more impactful, and so that players can not load the game, start of their best floor, and grab the stairs down right away to increase it.
 In the future I will be making this more restricting even. I plan to have No Hunger and Pushover combat lock floor unlocks entirely, but not just yet.

New Update Posted! Version 0.1

 Uploaded Version 0.1 one just now, with some niffty features.

 As with every update, I shall now go into detail.

 Creature Loot
This was a long time coming, and I finally saw an efficent way to go about it.
It opened up a great opportunity to introduce new rarer items.
While not every creature currently drops loot, a good majority of them do, and all but one are unique new items.
 I feel this could lead to some interesting mechanics later down the line, and in the mean time make the dungeon crawl just a little more fun.

 Inanimate
I am a big fan of inanimate transformations, so I felt bad my game was unable to support them.
I've changed that now, so hurray, more progress twords  the game being as good as it can!
Break Out felt like a natural choice, since you're attempting to 'break out' of a transformation.
I'm not sure about how I handled the humanity loss when you miss though, as it's just random and does not depend on any variables.
 I may change that in the future.

 Poisons
Pre-update did you ever get turned into either of the trap transformations?
No? I thought not.
The decision to make them into poisons was discussed and well received, so it had to go in.
I've also changed the Frog poison icon to be less telling, as I prefer an air of mystery to what the player is transforming into.
 All three poisons have the same icon, but all three have a different tooltip that gives hints. (Did you know you can mouse over status icons for detailed info? I bet many people miss that.)

Player Icon
I mentioned earlier that I dislike icons and logos appearing in game. 
The transformative nature of the player in this game made it difficult to have them as anything but.
However I feel the cloak is a good way to go about it. It could cover up most changes without complaint.
The addition of icons for each ending will also aleviate the static nature of the player.
In the future I want to add a full graphic for the player that changes with them so people have an image of themselves as well, however this requires money and artistic talent I don't have.

 What's Next?
I have a few ideas in my head still that I didn't feel I needed to delay the update for.
I will be giving them an attempt over the coming days.
Of course there are fixing any possible reported bugs as well.
Hopefully I will get a few submissions and have to spend some time implementing those as well.
But what I REALLY want to do is advertise the game a little.

Next Version Soon

Wow everyone got all quiet after that last post!
Did I frighten all my fans off?

Anyways, version 0.1 is in the pipes, just doing some final testing.
It's not as big as last update, but has some neat stuff still.

As per request I've started using version numbers, so it's a little easier to keep track.
I felt 0.1 was a good starting point since I don't consider the game nearly done.

All about Anthros - Content Submissions explination

Remember: This rule is flexible. If you are quite happy with your work, submit it regardless and I will discuss with you ways to make it interesting if it is not. This page is simply to highlight one reason I may not accept certain works.

I wanted to address the 'rule' in the content submission page about anthropomorphic characters.

 I'll start by saying I have no contempt twords furries. Zero.
 My only issue with anthro submissions is that I feel that many of them would be too 'tame' to work.

 For example a humanoid dog, that wears human clothing, acts human, and even speaks English (or anything but barks) is unacceptable because it is too tame and, frankly, boring.
 Even with behavioral changes written in there, they would have to be extremely severe for anything like that to ever work.
 I don't want the character to be turned into a creature that could be a playable race you pick at the start of the game (if such an option existed).

 The key word I feel is: Contrast.
 The bigger the contrast the better.

 Many anthropomorphic animals would still be accepted, should they have unique, ideally humiliating or debilitating, afflictions.
 One example I gave elsewhere:

 Declined: "On no I have turned into a Raccoon Girl! I have the body shape of a female human, a big fluffy tail, and a raccoon face!"

 Accepted: "Oh no I have turned into a Tanuki Girl! I have the body shape of a female human, a bit fluffy tail, a raccoon face, a tiny cock, and a large pair of testicles that sway between my legs when I try to move!"

 (If anyone wants to write that in detail it is available by the way. *nudge nudge*)

 One is unique, kinky, humiliating and interesting.
 One is something that could be in a children's cartoon (if they were to put on some clothing)

 It's not a hard and fast rule. It's flexible if the transformation is interesting enough.

 One last important note:

You can change 'parts' of the character multiple times!
This means that you could have them mostly turn antro, then the last two stages turn them feral.
 For example in stage 2:
"Your legs are covered in coarse fur, and end in cloven hooves."
 Then later, in Stag 5:
 "Your legs are covered in coarse fur, and end in cloven hooves. You no longer stand on them alone, as they have shifted to become hind legs."

 Of course that is just a quick example, but I hope it helps people who want to write something but were worried by this rule.

Trap Proposition

 In an effort to make trap transformations more common, I have come up with the following plan.
The idea is to make them as common as other transformations. Right now, I find it's rare to get changed once let alone enough times for a full change.

 Here is the plan:
-> Frog, Chicken, and Doll are all Poisons
-> Being reduced to 0 Stamina/Life from a trap applies a random poison if one is not already applied
-> Being reduced to 0 Stamina/Life while a poison is already active reduces the number of turns between each change, much like drinking multiple poisons currently does
-> There is a small minimum turns, like there is already
-> Chicken and Doll may receive potions that cause the poison as well

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Update Posted!

Check out the new update on the Downloads page!

Lots of new features, changes, and tweaks.
I can't even remember them all, so a few may be missing from the patch notes.

I'm going to explain the changes again.

 New Lock Picking:
 I am very happy with the way this one worked out.
 The general idea is to move the pick into the holes in the plates, and then drag them to the nxt hole, resulting in a clear line of plates so you can cut the rope at the end, before the two mechanisms on the side click into place.
 I find this one far better then the last minigame, for a few reasons.
 Firstly, it looks far better. Instead of a ugly rope and giant green triangle, there is fluff and flavor to the appearance, making it look and feel like lock picking. The turning gears and spinning chains I am happy with.
 Secondly, and more importantly, it's proactive rather than reactive. This means that the fast you are, the fast it ends. This was a problem simply because waiting for the ropes to fall in the old game was tedious and unenjoyable, and was (I hope) the reason most people would have rather not had the minigame.
 The new one is also quicker, because again you're not waiting for ropes.

 The Trap minigame is often the first thing people see, and it's old, cheap, appearance may have turned a good few people off. I hope that will not be an issue from here on.

Critical Strikes:

The idea here was to make Perception an appealing stat, and I thought the best way to do it was to add an old RPG staple. I'm watching this closely because it makes perception FAR stronger, and possibly too strong.
 It does make combat a little less predictable.

 Mushroom Spores:
 You won't know what I mean until you've checked it out, but Spore Sluts will inflict you with a status effect now. They have a chance to every time they inflict any number of damage to you.
 This is just a start. I'd like to have interesting status effects spread out to a variety of enemies. With the current enemy count I feel that 1 is enough. When there's more, I'll add more. Hopefully it will be as obvious as what the Sporesluts do.
 (Also, before you accuse me of favoritism with the Spore Sluts... you're absolutely right. They're my favorite creature still. Since I wrote them myself and they are creative.)

 Numbers and Random:
 The idea to add the numbers that popup to tell you how much damage was done was actually an offshoot of critical strikes. The random varience in numbers was likewise possible because of the changes I made that allow critical strikes.
 I'm hoping these make it a little less 'cut and dry', where you can know you do 5 damage, see an enemy with 10 health, and hit him twice every time.
 It does add a random luck element to otherwise skill-based combat, but I don't consider this a problem as it is minor.