Legends of Amberland - oldschool open world blobber

[Grauken]

Unlike with the global retards like Cadmus

 

[howlingFantods]

In your initial post you referred to encumbrance as a modern addition, but I think you'd find it interesting to know that The Game of Dungeons (1975) was the first CRPG to implement an encumbrance system. It's pretty involved too; check it out if you're interested:

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2011/12/game-68-dungeonpedit5-1975.html

 

[thesheeep]

This looks like fucking vomit. No way I'd ever touch it.
Bet you'll be real successful with the local retards though.

That's what I said, too, when I first met your mother.
But a few bottles of booze and years of regret later, well... here you are, being the shithead that you were destined to be.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Here is a draft of the game's announcemnt. If you have comments, post.
I plan to make the official announcement around Monday.


================
Personal thoughts
A long time ago I was making a lot of RPGs. Started on Amiga, then moved to DOS, next was Windows. I was making those like half of my life. And you know what? I never actually finished a single one. At first I was too young and didn't know yet how to finish games, then I was trying to catch up with technology and made a series of games that were constantly outdated technically and had to be abandoned, then I got other priorities (like making strategy games). It was kind of annoying

So, finally, after all those years I'm making an RPG. Again It seems I finally got all the pieces in place, the know how, methodology, technology, reliable & talented contractors, budget, time, etc.

Most of you know me from making strategy games like Lords or Stellar Monarch. So you might think it's a detour. But it is not Actually, if I were to count the time total I was making RPGs like x3 time longer than strategies. Not to mention the time I was a Game Master and was making pen and paper systems. So, in short, I feel quite comfortable making RPGs. And I can't wait to actually make one

What the game is about?
Do you remember the old RPGs in late 80s and 90s? Dungeon Master, Eye of The Beholder 2, Might & Magic 3-5, Crystals of Arborea (a not so well known prequel to Ishar series), GoldBox series (Champions of Krynn, Dark Queen of Krynn, etc). I want to make a game that will bring back memories I had while playing those. A turn-based, 90 degree rotation, FPP, tile movement system. Party made of several characters. A rich open world to explore without forcing you to go in a specific direction. Small funny side quests and NPCs not related to the main storyline. In short, something like those old games but made nowadays.

What are the core design decisions?
- 90 degree rotation, turn-based, tile movement, 3D FPP
- 7 party characters
- fairytale (no zombies!), epic, heroic, light, slightly humorous scenario
- an open world to explore with very few locked areas
- interesting handcrafted items (not a single item is generated)
- modern interface with and old-school feel
- overworld being the center of the gameplay (not a dungeon crawler)

What's the current state of the game?
Well, actually, it's quite complete in a technical sense. Around 80-90% of the code was written (it uses the same engine Stellar Monarch does so it's well tested and bug free). The hardest part of the art assets (which was deciding with artists how to draw those things so they look good in 3D view) is ready also base assets were propared. I would say 25-30% of art assests are done, but it was the hardest part and since we got the style forged the remaining assets can be done quite fast (and what's more important without much of my intervention since the rest can be done by artists without my further feedback and coordination which frees a lot of my time).
In short, what's ready is a bare bone sort of "RPG engine" with basic assets and mechanics and now I will be focusing on the content. I would say half of the game is done.

If you want to follow the project I suggest to follow my Twitter account where I drop new screens and the like quite frequently.

================

 

[thesheeep]

Here is a draft of the game's announcemnt. If you have comments, post.
I plan to make the official announcement around Monday.


================
Personal thoughts
A long time ago I was making a lot of RPGs. Started on Amiga, then moved to DOS, next was Windows. I was making those like half of my life. And you know what? I never actually finished a single one. At first I was too young and didn't know yet how to finish games, then I was trying to catch up with technology and made a series of games that were constantly outdated technically and had to be abandoned, then I got other priorities (like making strategy games). It was kind of annoying

So, finally, after all those years I'm making an RPG. Again It seems I finally got all the pieces in place, the know how, methodology, technology, reliable & talented contractors, budget, time, etc.

Most of you know me from making strategy games like Lords or Stellar Monarch. So you might think it's a detour. But it is not Actually, if I were to count the time total I was making RPGs like x3 time longer than strategies. Not to mention the time I was a Game Master and was making pen and paper systems. So, in short, I feel quite comfortable making RPGs. And I can't wait to actually make one

What the game is about?
Do you remember the old RPGs in late 80s and 90s? Dungeon Master, Eye of The Beholder 2, Might & Magic 3-5, Crystals of Arborea (a not so well known prequel to Ishar series), GoldBox series (Champions of Krynn, Dark Queen of Krynn, etc). I want to make a game that will bring back memories I had while playing those. A turn-based, 90 degree rotation, FPP, tile movement system. Party made of several characters. A rich open world to explore without forcing you to go in a specific direction. Small funny side quests and NPCs not related to the main storyline. In short, something like those old games but made nowadays.

What are the core design decisions?
- 90 degree rotation, turn-based, tile movement, 3D FPP
- 7 party characters
- fairytale (no zombies!), epic, heroic, light, slightly humorous scenario
- an open world to explore with very few locked areas
- interesting handcrafted items (not a single item is generated)
- modern interface with and old-school feel
- overworld being the center of the gameplay (not a dungeon crawler)

What's the current state of the game?
Well, actually, it's quite complete in a technical sense. Around 80-90% of the code was written (it uses the same engine Stellar Monarch does so it's well tested and bug free). The hardest part of the art assets (which was deciding with artists how to draw those things so they look good in 3D view) is ready also base assets were propared. I would say 25-30% of art assests are done, but it was the hardest part and since we got the style forged the remaining assets can be done quite fast (and what's more important without much of my intervention since the rest can be done by artists without my further feedback and coordination which frees a lot of my time).
In short, what's ready is a bare bone sort of "RPG engine" with basic assets and mechanics and now I will be focusing on the content. I would say half of the game is done.

If you want to follow the project I suggest to follow my Twitter account where I drop new screens and the like quite frequently.

================

1. Ditch the "Personal thoughts" part, or put it in some blog post and link to that at the end of the announcement. If you're not some kind of celebrity, almost nobody wants to know that, and certainly not as the first thing.

2. If this is supposed to sound official, remove all "filler" text like "Well, actually", "sort of". Everything that makes it sound vague should be removed (except if vague on purpose, like some story detail).

Try to mimic the structure of (successful) Kickstarter campaign sites.

 

[Darth Canoli]

LordArchibald Don't mind the Oblivion fans, the graphic part is tough if you're not a graphic designer, you're doing well.

I agree those old games didn't do everything well, still, looking back, improvements were scarce in the last 20 years.

Also, i hope the loot is interesting ("interesting handcrafted items" seems to cover it but diversity and numbers are also the key), it's probably one of the key of M&M success (and not just M&M, even action look-alike RPG like diablo or Path of Exile and so many other games )

About your announcement :
I think i'd put the personal thought last and maybe change it to "background" or "personal background"
Personal thought makes it like you're talking to "your dear diary" if you know what i mean ;-)

Sounds good to me, otherwise.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Here is a draft of the game's announcemnt. If you have comments, post.
I plan to make the official announcement around Monday.

I know your heart's in the right place, but this pitch is quite terrible. There are several grammatical errors, and it comes across as wholly unprofessional over-all.
Coupled with the lack of hinting about the world-building and developmental aspects of the story (even if non-linear, I reckon something is to be happening as we progress across the game) we're supposed to be involved in, this makes me suspicious about the final quality of the game outside its mechanical aspects. Not to mention you're forgetting to tell us whether there is, or will ever be, any general editor for the written portions of the game!

 

[Chris Koźmik]

I see your point. I tried to write it like a sort of blog but I suppose I should make a separate "dev blog" or something for such things and just stick to the official stuff on the website.

About the story, I have not mentioned it because I was doing the "mechanical" part only till now and I'm just starting the content. Besides, it would be a spoiler if I wrote about the story too much?

 

[ArchAngel]

This seems like a nice mobile game..

 

[AdolfSatan]

About the story, I have not mentioned it because I was doing the "mechanical" part only till now and I'm just starting the content. Besides, it would be a spoiler if I wrote about the story too much?

No need to go overboard, just give us the basics about the story. Who are we? Where are we? Why are we doing... whatever it is we are doing?
And you can expand as much as you want on the lore without spoiling anything about the main campaign.

 

[Doktor Best]

Normally i would urge you not to trust the advice of someone called AdolfSatan, but he is giving some genuinely good advice.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

No need to go overboard, just give us the basics about the story. Who are we? Where are we? Why are we doing... whatever it is we are doing?
And you can expand as much as you want on the lore without spoiling anything about the main campaign.

World and Storyline:
Storyline is a fairy tale, mythical heroic fantasy. You are the good guys on a quest to fight the forces of evil (no moral choices). The world is non linear, with very few locked areas. You basically can go anywhere and do things in different order. In addition you can choose a different set of quests to finish the game (but those are not mutually exclusive, so you can finish all quests if you like). It's more like a world driven than a story driven. The priority was to make the world feel alive and let you explore it as you wish than follow a linear list of quests.

The game starts when the royal wizard finds out about an old crown that belonged to the royal family since generations. Yet, strangely no one ever heard about the crown and there was just a single mention of it in the royal annals. Upon further study he discovered that there has been cast a powerful spell of forgetfulness of unknown origin which caused everyone in the whole land to forget the crown ever existed. Without knowing who or why went into such trouble to conceal the existence of the crown he decided to investigate it. He summoned a party of noble heroes and tasked them with finding whereabouts of the mysterious crown and the origin of the spell.

 

[Dorateen]

Love it. No Watcher, no bhaalspawn, no pre-fixed protagonist with a personal story. Just a band of adventurers commissioned by some enigmatic sorcerer to delve into secret plots and intriguing conspiracies.

The memory clouding is a nice touch, and it sparks the imagination as to the identity and motives behind such measures.

Also look forward to plenty of exploring, killing monsters and taking their stuff.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Official announcement:
https://twitter.com/SilverLemur/status/1024354932164579328

 

[Chris Koźmik]

First video (after transition to 32x32 tileset):


More screens on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilverLemur

 

[Darth Canoli]

You really have to work on your sales pitch, if you don't look contagiously exited about your own game, nobody else will.
Remove the "hum", write something before and you can even stop talking if/when something is happening in-game but don't fill the blanks with "hum hem well"

Assuming you want a successful start you want to show it's going to be.

 

[Dorateen]

I am contagiously excited about this game.

 

[Lady_Error]

Good work on the visual and UI side. It all fits together well and has the right "feel" to it.

Please make sure that the puzzles, NPC's and dungeons are also interesting and numerous enough, so that it isn't mostly a hack'n slash. And the itemization, eg. unique weapons, is also quite important. But I guess you probably are aware of all that.

 

[AdolfSatan]

What Darth Canoli said. The game looks great, but your presentation is awful.
I know the idea is to give a sense of movement, but the constant bobbing up and down of the sprites looks awkward. Either make a proper breathing/idle animation or keep'em still.

Also, "and no one makes such games anymore"
Except they still do. In any case, you shouldn't be pitching your game by comparing it against what others do or don't, that's trashy.

 

[Lady_Error]

The bobbing animation of monsters and NPC's is fine. If it wasn't there, they would look like a piece of furniture.

And of course you can compare your game to other games - it is done all the time, though it's probably better to point out which games inspired it, eg. earlier Might & Magic.

 

[Valky]

This looks very cool. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Regarding the "presentation quality", well, I meant it more like a dev blog of sort, not an official intro or announcement video. Maybe I should rename it to something like "Dev Blog: Legends of Amberland - first preview"?
I think I will make one with just music and name it "Legends of Amberland - in development" or something...

To people who objected the "no one makes those game anymore". Well, it's not that I want to argue and I agree that's it's not the best thing to mention in an official presentation.
But as a gamer I would like to uphold my statement that no one makes such games anymore. I mean which game is FPP (not isometic veiw or top down view), with a huge overworld (not a dungeon crawler) and an old-school feel? I coud not trace even a single one. I really feel, as a gamer, that no one makes such games anymore.
Again, only as a gamer, as a game designer I will stop mentioning this.


Thanks for all the comments! It's soooo much more pleasant to work on a game people wait for :D Really.

 

[Dorateen]

"no one makes those game anymore"

And I agree with your statement as well. The only computer role-playing game that fits the style you are going for is Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar. And that is made in the image of Wizardry 7, while you are showing something with the look and feel of Xeen/Terra Might & Magic. There is certainly a need to be filled in this realm of party-based, turn based dungeon crawlers, and Legends of Amberland will be a a welcome addition.

One thing I would caution, is to be wary of casual players who might feign a passing interest in your project. Remember your audience, the old school players who grew up with these kinds of computer role-playing games. And never compromise your vision.

 

[Luzur]

Hi!

I'm Chris and I'm an indie game developer. I'm making a classic FPP, 90 degree rotation, grid movement RPG and since I came across this group by a random chance I thought it might fit to post about it here.

The game is called "Legends of Amberland" and it's a classic PC title inspired by the old games from the 90s era.

More about the game: http://www.silverlemurgames.com/categ…/legends-of-amberland/

Inspiration:
The game is a classic western RPG inspired by the games from the 90s. Basically, it’s the kind of game I personally find missing nowadays. Light, fairy tale, epic, heroic and slightly humorous. One that does not take tons of hours to complete or require endless grind to progress. Something that caters to players like me who don’t have 40 hours to beat one game but still like to play and have a sort of nostalgia for the way games were made in the old days.

It was inspired by Dungeon Master, Eye of The Beholder 2, Might & Magic 3-5, Crystals of Arborea (a not so well known prequel to Ishar series), GoldBox series (Champions of Krynn, Dark Queen of Krynn, etc).

Core design choices:
1) Classic, 90 degree rotation, FPP, turn-based, tile movement RPG.
2) Party-based (7 party members assembled upon start).
3) Open world with a big overworld to explore.
4) Fast paced combat. Quick travel. Easy inventory management. No grind.
5) Light, fairy tale like fantasy, epic story about heroes on a noble quest.

Mechanics:
Mechanically it’s 100% turn based (so you can go and make tea in the middle of a fight) with grid movement and 90 degree rotation. All this very fast paced, both combat and travel is really fast. The goal was to cut down the boring parts and flesh out the fun parts. Also, there is no loading screen when changing locations or other slowdowns

Overall, the mechanics are pretty traditional and straightforward with modern additions like equipment encumbrance system.

World and Storyline:
Storyline is a fairy tale, mythical heroic fantasy. You are the good guys on a quest to fight the forces of evil (no moral choices). The world is non linear, with very few locked areas. You basically can go anywhere and do things in different order. In addition you can choose a different set of quests to finish the game (but those are not mutually exclusive, so you can finish all quests if you like). It’s more like a world driven than a story driven. The priority was to make the world feel alive and let you explore it as you wish than follow a linear list of quests.

The game starts when the royal wizard finds out about an old crown that belonged to the royal family since generations. Yet, strangely no one ever heard about the crown and there was just a single mention of it in the royal annals. Upon further study he discovered that there has been cast a powerful spell of forgetfulness of unknown origin which caused everyone in the whole land to forget the crown ever existed. Without knowing who or why went into such trouble to conceal the existence of the crown he decided to investigate it. He summoned a party of noble heroes and tasked them with finding whereabouts of the mysterious crown and the origin of the spell.

Release date:
The game is planned to be released around 2018 – 2019.

 

[I ASK INANE QUESTIONS]

Almonds status: activated