Echoes of Myth Development Blog

One of the core challenges in game narrative design is ludonarrative dissonance —a fancy way of saying that what the game tells the player through its story doesn't always match what its gameplay mechanics imply. You know the classics: The noble hero on a quest to save the kingdom… while shamelessly looting every peasant’s home for spare change and healing potions. The urgent mission to prevent imminent catastrophe… which politely waits for the player to finish helping Old Man Gregory find his lost chickens. Lara Croft, shaken to her core after her first kill in a cutscene… and then casually mowing down an entire mercenary army five minutes later. "I hate killing people… unless they are in my general direction." Some of the best games avoid this disconnect entirely by making gameplay and narrative work in perfect sync. Hades nails this with its roguelike structure fitting the protagonist’s eternal struggle, while Dark Souls reinforces its themes of decay and repetition ...

Another example of how changing one system ripples through others: treasure chests. With various pivots, the role of these seemingly straightforward loot containers has shifted dramatically. In the original, more narrative-driven ARPG with a bespoke Metroidvania-style world, chests played a traditional role—rewards for exploration in hand-picked spots with fixed rewards. But once I had to drop the hand-crafted, interconnected levels, they became more typical randomized loot dispensers. That system held until the roguelite pivot reached its conclusion, and I ultimately removed randomly generated items altogether. At that point, I momentarily had no idea what to do with treasure chests. I still envisioned them as mini-exploration rewards, but their primary purpose had been almost guaranteed chances at normal or even exceptional random loot. Always giving out only gold felt boring. So I settled on a compromise: treasure chests would be the exclusive source of rare, randomized items. Whil...

I’ve talked about the constant need to focus scope and pivot ( Game Development is Iteration - Pivot, Pivot and Pivot Again ) and the sheer number of activities required to release a commercial game ( Solo Game Dev: Juggling a Hundred Hats and a Thousand Tasks ). As a solo developer, this is something I think about all the time. Echoes of Myth is an ambitious first game, but the only reason it’s feasible is my relentless focus on efficiency-first decision-making . Efficiency-First Thinking Game development requires countless decisions , both big and small. The initial vision can be ambitious, but execution demands the opposite mindset. A producer’s role in a game studio is to enforce focus , cut unnecessary scope , and push the project to completion , even if it means painful sacrifices. "Perfect is the enemy of good." Perfectionism leads to development timelines measured in eternities . I’ve personally struggled with perfectionism and analysis paralysis . But a solo game ...

Why don’t roguelikes feature Diablo-style loot systems or loot optimization? ARPGs like Diablo revolve around extensive loot mechanics, where optimizing gear takes time and effort. Losing that progress feels bad—and while hardcore modes exist, they’re not for most players. I initially experimented with a Diablo-esque randomized loot system as the primary way to gain power in Echoes of Myth , but it quickly became apparent that constantly comparing gear wasn’t fun. A high volume of loot quickly turned into a chore, and when you finally found something powerful, you could lose it by dying in the next level—forcing you to start from scratch. Another major issue was player agency . Randomized item stats made progression feel almost linear despite the variety of different modifiers. Instead of meaningful choices, the system led to a dull power curve. The Roguelike Approach to Loot Roguelikes typically focus on a small number of impactful items , chosen from a limited but randomized pool. W...

I covered the various development activities in my previous blog post Solo Game Dev: Juggling a Hundred Hats and a Thousand Tasks . One briefly mentioned aspect was the wide range of systems that make up a game like Echoes of Myth . This post serves as a living document, outlining the various systems I’ve developed for the game—most actively in use, while some remain inactive for now. I’ll likely update this over time as the game evolves. Systems Listing For now without detailing descriptions. Category System lvl 1 System lvl 2 System lvl 1 Gameplay Map Randomized Atlas paths Gameplay Map Randomized map rewards Gameplay Roguelike iteration system Gameplay Eternalize item Gameplay Purchaseable Permanent powers Gameplay Fork of fate Gameplay Healing Potion Gameplay Healing Potion Healing upgrades Gameplay Healing Potion Quantity upgrades Gameplay Character classes Gameplay Loot Permament currency Gameplay Loot In-iteration currency Gameplay Abilities Grapple Gameplay Weapons Melee weapon...

When it comes to software development, there’s so much more than meets the eye. The amount of detail and work involved can be mind-boggling, even for seemingly simple games and systems. I thought it might be interesting to document what kinds of development and related activities there are—and what a solo developer like me has to juggle. All of this is highly iterative, as outlined in another blog post  Game Development is Iteration - Pivot, Pivot and Pivot Again . Work on individual parts is constantly followed by evaluating the big picture—assessing whether major pivots or hard decisions are necessary, which in turn can cause cascading changes. This also answers a common question: "Why use licensed assets instead of doing everything yourself if you're solo developing?" Because even when leveraging external assets, the workload remains enormous. This list is also one of my key personal motivations. When most hobbyists think of game development they often think only of v...

In Why Roguelite and Not Roguelike?  I touched on difficulty curves and player progression, but I wanted to explore in more detail how I plan for difficulty to evolve alongside player progression. Two Levels of Power Progression in Roguelites Roguelites have two distinct l ayers of power progression : In-iteration power – Progression within a single run , based on skill, itemization, and moment-to-moment decisions. Meta-power progression – Permanent upgrades that persist across runs, allowing the player to improve over time. For Echoes of Myth , my high-level progression goals are structured as follows: Strength of enemies scales exponentially in Act 3 and the finale. Player power scales linearly via base stat increases and somewhat exponentially through talent choices. Early on, this is sufficient, but the enemy power curve will outpace the player’s unless they acquire strong Divine Treasures and Remnant Echo buffs—especially those that fit their build. These provide momentary...

The core combat in Echoes of Myth draws inspiration from many different games and genres. The top-down perspective and ARPG foundation naturally invite comparisons to Diablo , Path of Exile , and other looter ARPGs. However, significant influences also come from the Dark Souls series and Hades . Combat Aims, Principles, and Influences Deliberate and fair – Combat features Soulslike longer attack animations, with hits directly tied to those animations. A skillful player can theoretically avoid all attacks simply by paying attention ( i.e., hitless runs are possible ). One-shot enemy attacks are rare, occurring only if the player is deliberately under-leveled or if the attack is highly telegraphed . When the player dies, it should always feel like they could have done something differently, with a clear reason behind their failure. Additionally a Soulslike dodgeroll is available with invulnerability frames and attack cancel though limited by cooldown-tied charges instead of stamin...