SHADOWKEEPER: Eye of the Beholder inspired Dungeon Crawler

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by kukulcan, Mar 14, 2012.

  1. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    #1 kukulcan, Mar 14, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2015
    It is the late middle ages in the land of Britain. Our protagonist (or hero in the making), armourer's apprentice Sevrin, is on an errand to the town of Somerbury when he is attacked by a pack of bizarre dark wolves. He barely makes it through the town gate, just to realize everybody is gone - and so is the sun.

    The only ones walking the street are the dead pouring into town through the lychgate. And his only means of survival is something that he was sure belonged in the realm of superstition - Magic!

    [​IMG]

    Help Sevrin in his quest to find the Shadowkeeper's Lair and defeat the darkness. Meet faithful companions on your way and forge them to your likings.

    1. - Grid based gameplay in the tradition of "Dungeon Master" and "Eye of the Beholder"
    2. - Proprietary iDevice optimized engine with realtime lighting/soft shadows, Ambient Occlusion and an impressive particle engine.

    shadow_full.jpg

    1. - Explore a dark medieval world with towns, forests, castles, abbeys, tombs and the dungeons beneath
    2. - 15-20h playtime
    3. - Party of 3 fixed characters - you meet 2 throughout game
    4. - Choose the light and/or dark path for magic spells and weapon upgrades
    5. - 20+ monster types (living dead, creatures of the night and the eerie Shadowkeeper's bestiary)
    6. - Gesture controls and very special thief/assassin skills expand the classic formula
    7. - Gamecenter achievements & leaderboards
    8. - Universal iOS release (runs on all iOS 8 capable devices)
    9. - Not decided if level editor will be released
    10. - Tentatively coming 2016-2017 (Prologue episode late 2016 and full game late 2017, maybe episodic release)
    11. - Premium (no iAP planned but maybe episodes/season pass)

    Here is an early teaser to show off the engine:



    What began as an iOS remake of the original Eye of the Beholder by Andreas Larsson now turned into an original Dungeon Crawler by newly founded Swedish/German/British cooperation Wargbyte

    [​IMG]

    You probably want to know how the game runs on your device. We have 3 detail levels:
    1. LOW - half resolution, hard shadows
    2. MEDIUM - half resolution on most devices, soft shadows
    3. HIGH - full resolution on most devices, soft shadows
    This is not set in stone, but don't worry, the engine is no slouch on any supported device (not supporting iPad 1 and iPhone 4 hurts but should be understandable).

    devices.jpg
     
  2. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
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    So this won't be another 'fake' Dungeon Master like Descent where all the enemies magically drop from the ceiling?
     
  3. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    Nope, just like the original with monsters walking the Dungeons.

    Plan is to change from fake 3D to a real 3D render engine but still using the grid based movement we liked in the classic Dungeon Master clones and which fits touch screen controls quite well.
     
  4. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
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    This game looks amazing, I can't wait to see more. The art design as is looks great. A lot of games cite Dungeon Master but this one really has that retro feel.
     
  5. currymutton

    currymutton Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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  6. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    We would love to include the original like Bard's Tale does but right now there seems little chance to get the rights.

    So it will be a new game with new graphics but we hope to keep the retro touch.
     
  7. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    ^Yep there'll be no chance with Bards Tale as they include it with the remake.

    Love the look of it BUT i would much prefer arrows for the directions (like the original Dungeon Master) as it looks a bit cheap with just the text. Apart from that its looking great
     
  8. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    Not sure if you are kidding, but we would love to include the original EotB not Bard's Tale.

    Running the original like seen in the screenshots is a fan project and proof of concept Andreas made as basis to build our own game - with beautiful arrows of course.
     
  9. macatron

    macatron Well-Known Member

    Sep 12, 2009
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    "And no iOS version would give our Eye of the Beholder remake some breathing room."

    So, is this the same one that's been in development for a while now? I remember seeing something about a remake in another forum, but I thought the project went dead. I don't want to highjack this thread, so if you could please post a link to your game I'd be interested. Thanks!! :)
     
  10. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    The 1:1 remake is mostly done, but it won't happen in that form because we don't have the rights.

    Right now the rendering engine is replaced with real 3D and we will redo all graphics, but hope to keep the feeling of the original. Dungeons, items, monsters and spells will be very much influenced by the original.

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=125722&highlight=beholder
     
  11. macatron

    macatron Well-Known Member

    Sep 12, 2009
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    Yep, this is the same one that I remember. Thanks for the link!! :)
     
  12. macatron

    macatron Well-Known Member

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    So, being that you were unable to secure the rights to the original EotB IP, will you be redoing ALL of the graphics an characters? I was just wondering with regard to a possible release date.
     
  13. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    We are not really thinking release date yet, as yes, everything needs to be modeled and monsters being rigged/animated.

    Would be easier if we could find more ready to use low poly models like this:
    http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/max-dog-canine/654073
     
  14. LazyGamer

    LazyGamer Well-Known Member

    Sep 26, 2011
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    Will keep watching this in case Grimrock won't go iOS.

    Grimrock seems to draw on 'unlimited' resources and to my understand the iPads are powerful but still require a lot more though about optimizing for lower detail and less effects.
     
  15. macatron

    macatron Well-Known Member

    Sep 12, 2009
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    Ah gotcha. Well, if you're looking for help, I'd recommend seeing if Josh, from Crescent Moon Games, could lend you a hand.

    http://crescentmoongames.com/wordpress/contacts/

    Just look at what they did for Galoobeth Games with Aralon. That game's ENTIRE graphics engine got an overhaul, and it came out awesome. :)
     
  16. icepulse

    icepulse Well-Known Member

    Aug 7, 2008
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    They ported this over to the GBA, a few years back, and replaced the FP combat w/ an isometric, grid-based TBS style system. It was pretty good.

    Thoughts?
     
  17. kukulcan

    kukulcan Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2009
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    For me Dungeon Master was the first real 1st Person RPG. Real in the meaning of "everything had a realtime representation on screen". I personally never cared about the 90° movement and Ultima Underworld with it's "pixel cloud monsters" was a step back compared to handrawn graphics, even if it heralded a new era together with Doom.

    So First Person was what made DM and EoB special. An isometric EoB might be a good game but I am not really interested. The jaw dropping experience of a mummy coming at you and being killed by a closing door can't be replaced and not even understood nowadays.
     
  18. icepulse

    icepulse Well-Known Member

    Aug 7, 2008
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    You had me in your corner until the last sentence. "Can't be understood nowadays"? Ever play Skyrim?
     
  19. Captive

    Captive Well-Known Member

    Nov 28, 2011
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    I imagine these real time dungeon games must be very difficult to make as many people seem to want them but they are almost nonexistant on the appstore.I also loved Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder also,and the one i take my name from was my favourite one.
     
  20. Gabrien

    Gabrien Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2009
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    #20 Gabrien, Mar 31, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2012
    Actually, I think you just strengthened his point.
     

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