Heroes of the Monkey Tavern - baby's first Grimrock

[Infinitron]

https://www.heroesofthemonkeytavern.com




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

Spoiler

Coming September 23:

Hey,

I am Cédric Maussion, an indie game dev who will release Heroes of the Monkey Tavern on Steam for 8$ the 22nd of September.

Heroes of the Monkey Tavern is a dungeon exploration game in the pure classical Dungeon Crawler kind.
It is a younger brother of Legend of Grimrock, for people who are new to this kind of game it is a great experience for its easiness to play, you can even play the hole game with a gamepad.

The game is based on discoveries, events and atmosphere.

It will be available on XBOX One and Playstation 4 on January 2017.

Here is the website :
http://www.heroesofthemonkeytavern.com/

The presskit :
http://www.heroesofthemonkeytavern.com/Presskit/

 

[Valky]

There's no way they didn't outright rip assets from Grimrock. That looks like the exact same engine.

 

[Jaesun]

Real-time, meh.

 

[Metro]

I get that most dungeon crawlers will feel similar but the engine and art assets here bear an uncanny resemblance.

 

[Valky]

I get that most dungeon crawlers will feel similar but the engine and art assets here bear an uncanny resemblance.

Merely a coincidence.

 

[V_K]

Grimrock has much better art direction. This is kinda like WoW goes grid-based.

you can even play the hole game

Thanks, but I'd rather not.

 

[Yeesh]

I get that most dungeon crawlers will feel similar but the engine and art assets here bear an uncanny resemblance.

They might have just filmed it in the same castle's basement. That's still legit.

 

[Nyast]

For 8$ it's not exactly expensive, I'm definitely gonna get it when it unlocks.

 

[Metro]

Here the dev says it's Unity (I'm guessing that's what Grimrock uses) and most of the textures are 'substances' whatever that means. Solo project so I'm sure he ripped most of the stuff.

 

[Infinitron]

Nah, Grimrock uses an in-house engine.

 

[Metro]

Ah well. Still looks remarkably similar. Also, where's my review copy?

 

[Naraya]

Would probably buy it but Steam is no buy for me.

edit: come on, Dumb suits here better than Butthurt!

 

[Bester]

and most of the textures are 'substances' whatever that means.

Made in Substance Painter or Substance Designer. The former provides a set of procedurally generated maps that look ok, the latter allows the user to make his own procedurally generated maps with a node editor. It's inferior to Quixel which specializes in scanned textures - they recently released mega scans, i.e. they scanned stones, grass, trees, etc with some custom built scanners and provide normal and ambient occlusion maps along with albedo. They look more realistic. Substance and Quixel are the two major roads to making textures for your 3d models.

 

[IndieCed]

Hey,

Developper here

There's no way they didn't outright rip assets from Grimrock. That looks like the exact same engine.

Nooooooo, I understand it could look the same because in a dungeon most of the time you meet the same kind of enemy but having played LoG recently it is not really the same kind of bestiary.

I get that most dungeon crawlers will feel similar but the engine and art assets here bear an uncanny resemblance.

The engine I used is Unity, today 7 / 10 games are made with, Almost Human are awesome enough to have made their own engine

Grimrock has much better art direction. This is kinda like WoW goes grid-based.
you can even play the hole game
Thanks, but I'd rather not.

Mmmm Grimrock is exceptional for sure, these guys are very talentued, about WoW I never saw it this way, surely because of the werewolf, he is one of the few to be such ... fantasy.
hole => You made me laugh ;-)
My mistake, thanks to you it is now corrected

For 8$ it's not exactly expensive, I'm definitely gonna get it when it unlocks.

Thanks buddy, always had in mind to bring fun for the player who will discover it, I hope you will feel it

Here the dev says it's Unity (I'm guessing that's what Grimrock uses) and most of the textures are 'substances' whatever that means. Solo project so I'm sure he ripped most of the stuff.

No I did not rip anything, I bought most of my stuff from the asset store or from other 3d model store. The problem is I don t have unique asset, I saw only one in another game, I hope it will last this way ;-)

Would probably buy it but Steam is no buy for me.

edit: come on, Dumb suits here better than Butthurt!

I was in contact with GoG and they were interested, I was very proud because they are exactly how I see games, No DRM (the game don t have one on Steam), a selection from a known team, back to the old good days, etc...
I even delayed my game to let them the time to test it, and after two weeks waiting they don t answer to my mail asking for status... so... I won t be able to work with them :-(

I know there are other places to sell games, do you have one in mind that would suit better how you see things?

Have a good day guys, you take care

 

[Cosmo]

No I did not rip anything, I bought most of my stuff from the asset store or from other 3d model store.

Then maybe change the environment textures a bit : too samey, too greyish and too grimrocky.
You could at least tint them, not every type of stone is light grey. I mean, look at EotB :

I mean, you don't have to make it that saturated, but see what it could look like in your engine :

 

[Naraya]

I was in contact with GoG and they were interested, I was very proud because they are exactly how I see games, No DRM (the game don t have one on Steam), a selection from a known team, back to the old good days, etc...
I even delayed my game to let them the time to test it, and after two weeks waiting they don t answer to my mail asking for status... so... I won t be able to work with them :-(
I know there are other places to sell games, do you have one in mind that would suit better how you see things?

Thanks for your reply! It's sad that GOG apparently stopped caring for small/independent games...
I am OK with buying games from any DRM-free source, or directly from the developer. Usually I do it via GOG though...

 

[Whisper]

Looks cool, will play.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Great name! Has inconsistent art (unavoidable with stock art assets). Shows obvious signs of needing polish ~which is a tell for also needing polish in other areas.
For example:

Nothing a week spent learning Blender couldn't fix; and doing that could also enable personal tweaks and improvements of your entire asset library; make them your own.
Polish can make all the difference in the world... Lack of it can make a 95% complete game look far less complete than it is; and the reverse is true as well.

You might let a few friends play the game, and tell them that some of its assets are incomplete; ask them if they can spot what's unfinished... They will point out the rough edges with fresh eyes.


Is it a puzzle game ~with monsters, or a monster game with puzzles? IE. Which of the two is foremost (if either), and which is in the way of finding the other. Also: Is each (more or less) equally satisfying to interact with, or is one the obvious focus, and the other [essentially] afterthought?

 

[IndieCed]

Hey, the game has been tested for two months but noone noticed it, me the first.
I will work on it tomorrow.
And trust me all I want is my game to be polished, and the players to feel it
Thank you to take the time to write it

About the game.... It is an interesting question ;-)
I would say both... but there are more monsters than puzzles so...
Even if normally they re all part of a plan ;-)

You take care

 

[DemonKing]

For $8 that doesn't look half bad. If it's less puzzle heavy than Grimrock my oldest son might enjoy it.

 

[Jaesun]

If you are a true Father, have your kid play Chaos Stikes Back instead.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

If you are a true Father, have your kid play Chaos Stikes Back instead.

If he were a true father, he'd give his son the option of a turn based blobber as well and then stand by with a whip in case he made the wrong decision. It's better to know early than to live in false hope.

 

[mondblut]

I mean, you don't have to make it that saturated, but see what it could look like in your engine :

What... sorcery... is that?!

 

[Cosmo]

What... sorcery... is that?!

A EotB remake mod for Grimrock. I don't think it'll ever be complete.

 

[Nyast]

So, is it unlocking today ?