Dwarf Quest: casual dungeon crawler

[LazyGamer]

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.

[Defard]

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

[DylanNagel]

Originally Posted by LazyGamer

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Defard

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

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.

[jacketsodaly]

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!












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[DylanNagel]

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!

[LazyGamer]

Originally Posted by DylanNagel

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!

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.

[Marcus70]

Really like the 3-D graphics. Have you thought about expanding to have a control a larger party of maybe two or three?

[DungeonCrawler]

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.

[DylanNagel]

Originally Posted by LazyGamer

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.

Fair feedback, thanks. I'll do my best to get the right amount of cool stuff in there.

Originally Posted by Marcus70

Really like the 3-D graphics. Have you thought about expanding to have a control a larger party of maybe two or three?

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!

Originally Posted by DungeonCrawler

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.

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

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

Ok, back to building the game.

[DylanNagel]

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!