iPhone Dwarf Quest: casual dungeon crawler

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by DylanNagel, Jan 13, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    #1 DylanNagel, Jan 13, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2012




    Original post:

    Hi everyone!

    My name is Dylan, I'm an indie game developer. Currently I'm working on a dungeon crawler called 'Dwarf Quest'. A few screenshots:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It's still in early stages (most of the art is placeholder), but I'd love to get some feedback from you guys to find out in which direction I should be headed.

    So far there's exploration, finding treasure chests with gold, simple monster combat and proceeding to the next dungeon level. It would be great to reach a nice look and feel reminiscent of board games such as HeroQuest and keep it accessible. In that respect I was quite impressed with Deep Deep Dungeon.

    Maybe you can help me out! What I'd like to know especially is the following:

    1. Controls: point and click, swipe or virtual joystick?
    As the game is tile-based, the 'click where you want to go' approach works pretty well at the moment. Still, I know a lot of us appreciate a virtual joystick too.

    2. Combat: real-time or turn-based?
    This will be at the heart of the game, so it better be good! At the moment I'm envisioning a system with various skills that you can unlock and improve. Still, it should stay as simple as the special skill buttons in Battlehearts, I'd say. Of course, monsters should have a few skills too, so that you need to use a healthy combo of dexterity and tactics.

    3. Scope: one big game or expansion packs?
    Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but this one's been puzzling me for a while. I've been reading a lot about free games that offer In-App Purchases to unlock extra content such as levels and characters. To me personally, this sounds great, but generally speaking, a lot of the Touch Arcade forum members seem to object to it. I'd hate to get this one wrong.

    Thanks a lot in advance for taking the time to read all this. I do hope you'll share your thoughts, and maybe even sign up for the TestFlight list. Cheers!

    Dylan
     
  2. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    Looks nice already, has a 'Cadaver'ish look.

    1. Point & Click for me

    2. Turn based. Tap a tile 3 units away and 3 rounds pass. Click a monster, get options to go there or attack by ranged weapon. When fighting, just give some nice quickmenus for next action or tap a door to run. If you do not act, nothing happens, or maybe some automated fight option you can stop at any time.

    3. With all the (bad) freemium stuff around IAP has a bad name, but if you make it clear what is to pay, why not? But it must be clear that the paid parts really offer something (new dungeons, new monsters, new items, new story).

    If you want to avoid IAP, maybe make it episodic and use Cloud to carry over characters to new episodes (if that is possible).
     
  3. Dave in the basement

    Dave in the basement Well-Known Member

    Jul 29, 2011
    197
    0
    0
    Indiana
    This looks interesting and I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for posting!

    Dave
     
  4. slewis7

    slewis7 Well-Known Member

    Apr 6, 2011
    3,775
    41
    48
    Male
    Retired!
    Houston, TX
    LazyGamer: thanks for mentioning Cadaver. As soon as I saw the screen shot I knew it reminded me of a beloved Amiga game, but I could not remember the title.

    This game looks very cool. I hope I get selected for the beta.
     
  5. Gaz

    Gaz Member

    Jan 11, 2012
    6
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    If touch based movement works, I'd rather use that over a virtual joystick.

    Tough one, both work well and appeal to different players. For games that have a lot more strategy or tactics about them though I like turn based play.

    I think it's worth doing for expansion packs. If you're selling the game and have IAP though, I'd make sure what you sell stands on its own as a good game and the IAP can come later as additional material.

    IAP just has a bit of a bad rep at the moment because of "free" games that require boat loads of cash be spent on buying pots of gold (and other named variations) to really play the game.

    However, expansion packs really sounds like an ideal use of the system.
     
  6. venasque

    venasque Well-Known Member

    Jan 1, 2010
    142
    0
    16
    I just wanted to say that if you're going for a HeroQuest art style you totally succeeded. That is exactly what I thought of when I looked at your screenshots before reading your post.

    I have to admit that after being reminded of HeroQuest I was kinda hoping the game might play out in a similar fashion. Explore a dungeon, "seeing" more and more of it as you do so. Taking an adventure card, playing out the encounter, things like that. HeroQuest was a lot of fun with a lot of light RPG "quests" to accomplish. But nowadays you can have the computer be your DM and have more interesting goals while still maintaining a boardgame feel.

    Anyway I'm just dreaming outloud and I'll go back to your questions.

    1) Point and click (tap).

    2) Turn based

    3) Not a big fan of IAP. Like others they have a bad rep and people sort of get their backs up right away. You end up having to talk them off the ledge each time.
     
  7. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    Wow, thanks a lot for your replies, guys! Great stuff indeed.

    I hadn't seen that game before, but it is a fantastic reference with loads of gameplay ideas. Thanks for mentioning it.

    Nice, I like those suggestions.

    That makes sense, and good to hear there's room for such an approach. I'll give it some more thought.


    Thank you for your interest, Dave!


    Cheers, and I just added you on TestFlight. I expect to send a new version out this weekend.


    Excellent points, I'll take all of that into consideration.


    That's really great to hear! As a matter of fact, when I started working on the game in December, I was reminded of HeroQuest so much that I called up a bunch of friends to play it again. So yes, definitely a source of inspiration.


    Even though I'd love to have HeroQuest on my iPad too, I do want to create something original. Then again, my current ideas on combat might actually come close to 'playing out the encounter'. I'll definitely think about having adventure / treasure cards, because that's always a lot of fun. In that respect I'm a big fan of the upgrade system in Solomon's Keep: super easy, and highly randomized. You never know what you're going to get but it always feels like a reward.


    Thanks again for all your input, gents! I will post updates in this thread as the game progresses.
     
  8. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    Impressive if you pull this off with enough content to make it diverse enough.
     
  9. Defard

    Defard Well-Known Member

    May 25, 2011
    321
    15
    18
    UK
    Wow hero quest...that takes me back! Touch & turn based is my preference.

    I buy a lot of apps and when I see iap think it's going to be mafia wars type rubbish so I stay away. I suggest expansion packs / new monster / character types as a way to generate extra revenue!
     
  10. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    Thanks for your vote, Defard.

    In the past few days I've been working on the game, and I have another question for you guys.

    Q: Action bar like in World of WarCraft or context sensitive icons close to their target?

    [​IMG]

    A seperate action bar keeps the rest of the screen clear. However, you'll have to move around your fingers between the bar and the center of the screen to walk around and selecting monster.

    The drawback of context sensitive of course is that the buttons could obscure all the action. Might be difficult to see the monsters and click on the floor to walk around.

    Thanks in advance for your input!
     
  11. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    With stick control the actions would obviously fit in the lower right corner, which makes it feel more like an action game.

    When moving by clicking floor tiles the context menus would make sense. Just obviously put them below our hero or the monster so your fingers obscure less of the screen.

    Option B for me.
     
  12. Defard

    Defard Well-Known Member

    May 25, 2011
    321
    15
    18
    UK
    It depends on whether its turn-based or not. If I can see the monster it can be nice to touch the attack icon and your warrior automatically walks up to the monster and attacks it. If I have to push up five times to get to his square then push the attack button it can be a pain in the backside! Fine for the days of the zx spectrum...not fine today lol
     
  13. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    I'll play around with the exact spot of the action buttons. Key will indeed be to obscure as little of the screen as possible.

    I agree, it would be a pain when you have to click so many times. I'm trying to get a feel for how many presses would be ok. It would be a shame if you only have to click on a monster and you can / have to sit back and wait for everything to finish.

    Even though Dwarf Quest will be a casual / elegant dungeon crawler, I aim for at least a minimum level of tactics. :)
     
  14. jacketsodaly

    jacketsodaly New Member

    Feb 1, 2012
    3
    0
    0
    It's still in early stages (most of the art is placeholder), but I'd love to get some feedback from you guys to find out in which direction I should be headed.

    So far there's exploration, finding treasure chests with gold, simple monster combat and proceeding to the next dungeon level. It would be great to reach a nice look and feel reminiscent of board games such as HeroQuest and keep it accessible. In that respect I was quite impressed with Deep Deep Dungeon.
    I agree with you, thanks!












    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    party dresses|homecoming dresses|flower girl dresses
     
  15. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    Hey everyone, just wanted to give an update on Dwarf Quest.

    Gameplay and interface are progressing nicely. Dungeon exploration is fast point and click. As soon as you enter a room with monsters, the game switches to turn-based. Walking, fighting, defensive stand and drinking a healing potion all cost action points. After you end your turn, all monsters take their actions, etc. When everyone is defeated, the game changes back to free movement.

    I'm working on auto-save everywhere, but maybe I'll restrict it to empty rooms. If anyone has input on what kind of save game features you'd like to see, please let me know.

    Currently all assets are placeholder, but fresh concept art as well as fully animated character models are being made as I type this. Also, the game will feature a custom title track as well as an ambient level track.

    Performance is great on iPad 1 and 2. Haven't tested much on iPhone / iPod touch just yet, as Dwarf Quest will launch on iPad only. I'm definitely considering Universal soon afterwards.

    The alpha testing phase starts at the end of next week, so if you want in on an early version, be sure to join the project on Test Flight.

    I plan to submit v1.0 in the second half of March, so hopefully the game will be available by the end of Q1... that's a pretty tight schedule, but I'm serious about this! :)
     
  16. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
    290
    0
    0
    Kiel, Germany
    Yes, very tight, that sounds like you wont be implement much of a story or puzzles in that time.

    Another Rogue like is nice too, but there isn't really a lack of those.
     
  17. Marcus70

    Marcus70 Well-Known Member

    Dec 7, 2010
    950
    0
    0
    Really like the 3-D graphics. Have you thought about expanding to have a control a larger party of maybe two or three?
     
  18. DungeonCrawler

    Aug 26, 2011
    5
    0
    0
    Great looking game... Some thoughts

    I know you said you were going for originality, and I think you are headed in the right direction. You might want to chek out this old game from the 90's. It's called four crystals of trazere. It might help guide you in mechanics and what's been done already. Personally, I'd like to see something similar but updated in graphics. It's probably hard to find the game anymore but you might find it on abadonware if you needed to see more.

    Here's the wiki link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(1992_video_game).

    You tube...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YATIoN9_RuA

    It's got puzzles, a spell system, less about fighting (real time), great story, etc.
     
  19. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    Fair feedback, thanks. I'll do my best to get the right amount of cool stuff in there.

    I definitely considered it! Would most likely increase the tactical aspect of the game, which would be good. However, for now I'll stick to just the one character. Maybe a 'Dwarf Squad' sequel! :)

    Thanks for sharing that reference, lots of great mechanics indeed!

    Ok, back to building the game. :)
     
  20. DylanNagel

    DylanNagel Well-Known Member

    Aug 22, 2009
    68
    0
    0
    Freelance game producer at Wild Card
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    Tonight I sent an alpha version of the game to the testers group, which includes some of the people in this thread. Already received great feedback too, thanks folks!

    From here on I'll be creating about 10-15 levels for the full game. I'll also implement fresh 3D character models as they come in, as well as sound and music.

    It's such a joy to work on your own game. We live in a great age! :)
     

Share This Page