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KickStarter Chaos Reborn - remake of Julian Gollop classic

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Arcane
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http://www.chaos-reborn.com




https://af.gog.com/game/chaos_reborn?as=1649904300

Steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/319050

-----

After directing Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation for PS Vita :?, Julian Gollop of X-Com fame gone to indie and making a remake of Chaos: The Battle of Wizards.

Developer blog: http://www.gollopgames.com/

'Chaos reborn' is part remake and part sequel. By this I mean that the essence of the original game is preserved, but there will be some new features and some tweaks. In particular, there will be an interesting single-player option.

So here is the high level feature list:

  • Multi-player arena battles
    • Network play
      • Asynchronous turns OR constant connection with timeouts for each players turn.
    • Pass-and-play for mobile devices (allows multiplayer games on one device).
    • 1-8 players
      • Single player vs AI wizards is also an option
    • Multiple arena configurations - based on number of players and battle mode
    • Various battle modes
      • Standard 'death match'
      • Team based mode
      • Co-op vs AI monster wizard
      • Possibly more...
  • Single player 'Kingdoms of Chaos' campaign mode
    • The campaign map is divided into regions, each controlled by an enemy wizard
    • You start with a basic wizard character, and you must journey through regions battling enemy wizards.
    • Your objective is to find and kill the Wizard King
    • However each move on the campaign map, and each battle, will see the Wizard King and his Wizard Lords get slightly stronger. It is a race against time (turn-based time, that is).
    • Enemy wizards have specific spell lists and AI personalities.
    • Each region has a terrain type with various map layouts, wondering monsters, hazards and pickups.
    • Your wizard will gain spells and improve basic stats through defeating enemy wizards and finding artefacts (such as 'magical tomes' which allow you to learn a spell).
    • If you are defeated by a wizard in a region, you can always revisit it at a later date when you are better equipped.
    • The Campaign map, and all regional battle maps, are all randomly generated according to a seed chosen by the player by entering a short text string. This means any other player can play the same campaign by entering the same seed string.
So the big idea with the Kingdoms of Chaos mode is that it is randomly, algorithmically generated. It will need enough elements and variety to keep it interesting, but should have plenty of replay value. There should be an element of strategy and deduction in figuring out which battles to fight and where to go on the campaign map.

I will add more details about creatures and combat, spell casting, law and chaos and terrain in future posts.
 
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Oarfish

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Since when did Julian Gollop go mainstream again?

Briefly before he buggered off to Bulgaria, where you can buy a house and live for potato and don't get taxed into penury like the UK. Pretty sure that is what is allowing him to go solo / indie again.
 

Groof

Educated
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Since when did Julian Gollop go mainstream again?

Briefly before he buggered off to Bulgaria, where you can buy a house and live for potato and don't get taxed into penury like the UK. Pretty sure that is what is allowing him to go solo / indie again.

Yeah, that adds up. Is the "mainstream" period the 5-6 years he worked for Ubisoft's Bulgarian studio?
 

Oarfish

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Since when did Julian Gollop go mainstream again?

Briefly before he buggered off to Bulgaria, where you can buy a house and live for potato and don't get taxed into penury like the UK. Pretty sure that is what is allowing him to go solo / indie again.

Yeah, that adds up. Is the "mainstream" period the 5-6 years he worked for Ubisoft's Bulgarian studio?

Only saw his move to BG mentioned a year or so ago. I need to improve my stalking skills.
 

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Arcane
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Chaos Reborn is playable!

In the last two months my expanded team of programmers have been busy making a playable prototype of the game, and I am proud to announce that Chaos Reborn is born! One thing we decided to do is not worry about graphics and animation, but focus on game play - so everything in this prototype is placeholder only (although I think Felix did rather too good a job on the placeholder graphics!). Testing is underway and a few bugs are being fixed.

The game is currently working in multiplayer online mode or local hotseat mode with up to six players. Spell selection is random. The map layout depends on the number of players and there are five different maps. Here are the spells we have currently implemented:

  • Disbelieve - destroys illusions - the only permanent spell (but can be lost to magical attack!)
  • Summon Elf - has ranged combat with a bow
  • Summon Lion
  • Summon Giant
  • Summon Dwarf
  • Summon Spider
  • Summon Zombie - undead (can only be attacked by magic or other undead)
  • Summon Vampire - undead
  • Summon Skeleton - undead
  • Summon Goblin
  • Summon Red Dragon - flying, flame breath
  • Summon Green Dragon - flying, flame breath
  • Summon Gold Dragon - flying, flame breath
  • Summon Centaur - ranged combat with bow
  • Summon Unicorn - not a mount yet (riding creatures is not implemented yet)
  • Summon Eagle - flying
  • Gooey Blob - spreads, but will die out eventually
  • Tangle Vine - replacement for the wall spell - summons 4 tangle vines - they can be attacked and destroyed
  • Shadow Wood - trees that kill! summons 6 trees.
  • Magic Sword - adds to combat - subsequent magic sword spells boost attack by a further +1
  • Magic Shield - addes to defence - subsequent magic shield spells boost defence by a further +1
  • Magic Bow - gives ranged combat - subsequent magic bow spells boost ranged attack by +1 and range by +1
  • Subversion - take control of an enemy creature - a spell power vs magic resistance check
  • Magic Attack: Decree - a one shot magical attack, law version
  • Magic Attack: Vengeance - a one shot magical attack, chaos version
  • Magic Attack: Justice - three target magical attack, law version
  • Magic Attack: Dark Power - three target magical attack, chaos version
  • Magic Bolt - a powerful missile attack
One major change from the original game is that successful magical attacks on a wizard don't dispel all his creatures, but instead cause two spells to be lost. The disbelieve spell can be lost this way.

Here is a screenshot of a game in progress, showing Shadow Wood, Tangle Vine, and assorted creatures. The Spider is selected, and his possible actions are clearly highlighted by the interface. The orange circles indicate spaces that it can move to and still do combat. The green circles show spaces that can be moved to, but without combat. The red circles highlight possible enemy targets, with the percentage chance of killing that target displayed.

Screen+Shot+2013-06-28+at+10.57.48.png


:cool:
 

Jarpie

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I don't like the graphics.

Same here, should've gone with the style of Lords of Chaos C64 or Amiga, preferably using 2D but I guess 3D is easier to do. I wonder if this is test-run or something for a bigger game.
 
In My Safe Space
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Same here, should've gone with the style of Lords of Chaos C64 or Amiga, preferably using 2D but I guess 3D is easier to do. I wonder if this is test-run or something for a bigger game.
Exactly.

I think that it's more a question of them not seeing the appeal of the harsh style of his old games than a question of technical stuff. Remember that Laser Squad Nemesis had 2D graphics but they were still rather bland when compared to Laser Squad.
 

Jarpie

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Same here, should've gone with the style of Lords of Chaos C64 or Amiga, preferably using 2D but I guess 3D is easier to do. I wonder if this is test-run or something for a bigger game.
Exactly.

I think that it's more a question of them not seeing the appeal of the harsh style of his old games than a question of technical stuff. Remember that Laser Squad Nemesis had 2D graphics but they were still rather bland when compared to Laser Squad.

Which version of Laser Squad? C64 and Amiga-versions were pretty minimalistic but PC-conversion had colourful VGA-graphics.
 

Berekän

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Hm, are you sure those are the final graphics? They look like placeholders to me
 

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Arcane
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Hm, are you sure those are the final graphics? They look like placeholders to me

Yeah, they are all placeholders.

Julian Gollop said:
One thing we decided to do is not worry about graphics and animation, but focus on game play - so everything in this prototype is placeholder only (although I think Felix did rather too good a job on the placeholder graphics!).
 

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Arcane
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Can I play it?

Maybe some time later.

Julian Gollop June 29, 2013 at 1:13 AM

Thanks for the comments. I am pleasantly surprised that people like the look of the game. Actually it looks better in action because there is a fair amount of animation and effects. Maybe I should post a video.

We are some way off making the prototype publicly available, largely because the lobby system and server are not robust enough yet, but I hope to make it available as soon as possible.
 

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Arcane
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:necro:

Who wants to bet how long till Gollop Kickstarts?

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Kickstarter for Chaos Reborn

It's nigh time for an update on Chaos Reborn developments. After some discussions with several publishers, I have decided to go for a Kickstarter campaign early next year. I will be attempting to raise funds for a downloadable, DRM free, PC/Mac/Linux version of the game - everything included (no free-to-play or in-app-purchases). If I raise extra funds then I will consider other platforms, but the initial version will be PC focussed.

I have expanded my team and I have a small, but highly talented group of developers here in Sofia ready to go full time, funds permitting. We are busy preparing materials for the Kickstarter campaign, so watch this space for further updates.

http://www.gollopgames.com/2013/11/kickstarter-for-chaos-reborn.html
 

Oarfish

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Lords of Chaos was Laser Squad with gooey blobs, the original had a boardgame's purity and was great to play hotseat.
 

Dehumanizer

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Link. About $12K (out of $180K) in a few hours.

Preview on RPS (focusing on the multiplayer arena mode, though the game will also have "a Huge Single Player Campaign") here. Apparently it will play a lot like the 1985 ZX Spectrum original (including the illusion / disbelieve mechanic, and the "arena becomes more lawful/chaotic so spells of that type are easier to cast" thing).
 

Dehumanizer

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From what I can tell, the new game will have both Chaos-like arena multiplayer, and Lords of Chaos-like singleplayer.
 

Duckard

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From what I can tell, the new game will have both Chaos-like arena multiplayer, and Lords of Chaos-like singleplayer.

Any game design questions for Julian Gollop? I think I'll get a chance to talk to him for a bit on Sunday.
 

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