Version 2.0 launch!

NO TIME TO DUNGEON V.2 IS HERE!

After several rewrites and playtesting I finally feel comfortable enough with the new changes of NTTD to release version 2 into the wild. I have been extremely encouraged by the feedback and excitement for the game that I've read so far and this really has made me put in the extra effort into getting this new version out. So, what's new, what's old and what's gone? Here's a quick list of things you'll find in NTTD v.2.

• New cover and new art
  As in my previous update I have said that I really wanted to get rid of the AI generated art that was present in NTTD for several reasons. One major factor is that it just didn't look good and was highly inconsistent. While this game is a fairly minimalist game, I wanted the few pieces of art to exude a certain hand-crafted texture. Then I rediscovered that Jason Glover of Grey Gnome Games has generously released some of his art assets for commercial use. If you don't know him already, Jason Glover has designed the very popular Iron Helm and several other titles. I have always been a big fan of his art and those that I chose to include in NTTD really fit the mood of the game.
• Balance changes
  I'm sure books have been written on balancing games and it can be an extremely time-consuming thing to get right. I always wanted NTTD to feel like a big boss can jump you at any time, or that there might be long stretches of quiet followed by a string of bad luck and monster encounters. On the other hand, I also wanted to stick to my goal of making this game playable in a lunch break. So, I have changed the frequency of encounters somewhat, and made the final boss monster appear more consistently.
  Additionally, I have adjusted several tables to make for a more fun experience, while keeping the danger intact. One such change is how great weapons work. In the past, great weapons allowed you to roll 2D6 and pick the higher number. Now, a hero equipped with a great weapon allows the player to reroll the dice when attacking, but must keep the second result. While this seems like a small change, it actually has a big impact on the otherwise minimalist combat system.
  Rolling the exact level of the monster attack now recovers 1 stamina. This is a change that I tweaks the balance of the game slightly in the favor of the player, but also negates those "nothing happened" rounds of combat. 
  Resting now allows the player to choose between recovering 1 stamin or 1 HP. More decisions for the player to consider while and making the game a little more survivable.
• Talents
  When creating a character you now roll on a random talent table. I have tried to be very mindful to not turn this game into a full RPG with different stats, skills and talents. However, in an effort to add a bit more variety to the game, talents felt like a good thing to add. These talents are very situational and don't completely break the balance of the game, but makes each character feel just a little more unique.
• New dungeon generation
  The pre-version 2 dungeon generation wasn't very intuitive and dungeons came out looking quite odd in my opinion. I looked at several different dungeon drawing games such as Four Against Darkness, NoteQuest, 2D6 Dungeon as well as Advanced HeroQuest for some ideas of how to fix this. Ultimately, I decided to use something closer to how Advanced HeroQuest creates its dungeons. I've always like how dungeons in AHQ creates several long hallways with doors to different rooms and I have decided to rewrite the dungeon generation of NTTD to work in a similar way.
• Formatting changes
  Ugh, formatting. I hate it. I have made a lot of changes but I will never truly be satisfied with the layout. At least it all looks a little cleaner now.
• Gone are dungeon complications
  I have removed dungeon complications. They were initially a placeholder idea to add a bit more variety to the dungeons. However, once I started adding thematic dungeons, that need disappeared.
• Thematic dungeons
  Players of NTTD might remember that there was a monster table for each of the 4 different kinds of dungeons. However, they were all essentially the same monsters only with different names! I really wanted to do something unique for each dungeon type, so I created mechanics unique for of the 4 different dungeons as well as a thematic description of each to add a bit of flavor. Having said that, I still wanted there to be basic dungeon type with no special rules. The crypt is that dungeon. It has no special mechanics other than table modifiers for large and small rooms. 
• New town locations
  In one of my previous updates I added the tavern and item shop to the game. Now, in addition to these locations the hero may visit the alchemist who can identify your potions for you or the mystic who can read you your fortune. 
• New items
  Lockpicks help you pick a lock without rolling on the Pick Lock table, and the Amulet of Life will save you from dying once and then shatter into pieces.