Oh! Also, I'm going to swap out the images in the original post every so often with fresh ones, so check back on that first page occasionally for something new to look at.
major eWood if this is universal and/or there's an ipad version. would love to get me some remake action of the bard's tales from yore, with a modern coat of paint. i tend to agree that the character portraits seemed to be a little off in terms of matching the art direction of the rest of the screenshots. might want to 'gritty' them up a bit. actually something in between the ones you show on the front page and the ones you were originally working with on page 2. The page2 ones seems to have lines that are too bold, the page1 ones seem too clean. add some scars/missing teeth/etc i kid of course, but some gritty would be nice, for me anyway. next some remade goldbox titles please!
This looks very cool. I'm a huge fan of the old Wizardry / Might and Magic style of RPG, so I hope you find success with your first title and continue developing them. On a related note, I've heard that a new Wizardry title (Labyrinth of Lost Souls) was released on the iPhone in Japan last month, so you might want to see if you can pick up a copy of that to see what features and UI they went with. One of the features I particularly liked in the later Wizardries (6 - 8), was the addition of more tactical options for melee types rather than just 'hit A for attack' every round. While their particular implementation wasn't perfect, I liked that they at least offered different styles of attack (slash, thrust, bash, etc.) that offered various bonuses and penalty mixes for to-hit, damage, defense and penetration. The Temple of Elemental Evil (TOEE), while a totally different style of RPG, really delivered on this front, giving fighter types a ton of different tactical options that involved various tradeoffs. It's just a thought for future games. Especially if you only have 2-character parties, it would be a shame to have players just hiting the same sword button every round. Oh, and I also loved how the old-school RPGs had complex mazes, puzzles and riddles!
I wouldn't give into his incessant demands. He's trying to continue to support his original argument despite you giving a very legitimate response a few posts back. Don't let one badgering forum goer get you down! Keep up the awesome work and design the game YOU want to. I won't lie - the idea a neat Etrian Odyssey type of game on the iOS intrigues me. Have fun and keep us all posted!
Oh man, I've been looking forward to another Dungeon Crawl on the iPhone for a long time. I know you don't want to discuss stats, etc (which is peachy), but can you say what the "feel" of the game is some more? Is it quite explorey or linear level based or what? i.e. is it more Ultima Underworld or more Doom RPG?
I should have mentioned that in the original post. This one with iPhone/iPod Touch. If it's any consolation, the next game that I'm planning out is very likely to be iPad and MacOS only.
That's a shame. I was so hoping that this was an iPad/Universal game. This is one of the reasons I don't play undercroft as much anymore. I like the larger screen of the iPad. But this is a game I could still play, despite the 3rd rate Disney character art.
I can't figure out how to use multi-post so I'm just going to post individual responses. I'm pretty dumb sometimes Labyrinth of Lost Souls is supposedly on PSN too in the US. We don't have it here in Australia though unfortunately. I heard it was a bit disappointing, but I would have played the hell out of it anyway. Wizardry is AWESOME. TOEE was D&D though... which leads me to something interesting. I've been looking into the Open Game License and possibly using Pathfinder as a rule system in a future first-person RPG title. That would be really cool. The use of a two-character party in Descend was more of a plot requirement than anything else. I was hoping to make the player feel a bit isolated and "lonely". It's a buddy-cop movie in a tiny RPG. I'd definitely like to do a 4-6 party system in future.
The game is reasonably linear in that you move from level to level, always Descending. You may re-visit previous levels to have another crack at a chest, or pick up some food that you couldn't carry, but for the most part you'll be moving forward. The levels themselves take some exploring. You'll generally need to have a pretty good look around, seeking out keys, levers, etc in a similar style to most of the Dungeon Master requirements for "getting through that next door". There's plenty of hidden places to find though which I think adds a great deal to the exploration element, and a few more story elements than in something like Dungeon Master. I terms of this whole "stats" thing, I'll give you guys a basic overview. The game uses a system of Brawn, Agility, Intellect as character attributes. The characters also have HP and MP (very innovative!) and EN (endurance, but here it really equates to "hunger"), and offensive and defensive bonuses determined by their equipment. Enemies have similar stats. Magic in the game is quite simple. Essentially, in terms of "spells" there would only be four - Fire, Water, Earth, Air. The use of elemental magic was originally in place simply for the "Barrier" game mechanic (you can see a barrier or two in the Goblin screenshot). Elements need to be used to break down barriers to certain areas. Originally, I didn't plan on having combat magic at all, but then included the elemental magic, and introduced weaknesses on certain enemies to certain elements. It all works fairly nicely I think. Umm... that's all I can think of for now.
Thank you for your response. On the OGL topic, have you tried the Knights of the Chalice game? If not, and you're considering using the OGL for a future title, you should at least download the demo. It's an indie commercial game that is based off the OGL D20 system. http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/Screenshots.htm
Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check that out. The OGL is apparently quite difficult to properly apply to a video game, so it's something that's going to take a bit of research I think.
The first three party-based first-person RPGs on iOS devices were: Sorcerer 1 (2009) Sorcerer 2 (2009) Undercroft (2010)
Sorry I forgot dragon bane ii that came out in 2008. The ones I mentioned in post 75 are all free though.
I was really excited about Dragons Bane II when I first heard about it but I ended up a bit disappointed It was reminiscent of the Bard's Tale games though, and that can only ever be a good thing!
Yes, I TOTALLY agree! I started playing the Wizardry series at Bane of the Cosmic Forge (Wizardry 6), and I have yet to find another series quite like it. Oh, and thanks for the heads up on Labyrinth of Lost Souls because that's the first I have heard about it. Hopefully it makes it to the US. As for the dev, you had mentioned earlier that your game will be party based, so I hope that a lot of the tactics that made Wizardry so great can make it into your final build. Other than that, keep up the great work, and I can't wait to play your game!! :-D
