Archquest Arena - tactical RPG with tabletop rules

[ERYFKRAD]

By the way am I the only one who finds the outdoor view and the indoor one to clash somewhat? I can't quite put my finger on it but it seems like the indoor one has the cel shaded somewhat cartoon like surface while the outdoor one does not.

Might be because you can see the black outlines of objects more clearly in the indoor view animation, in the outdoor view image the black outlines still seem to be there, but are hard to make out since all visible objects are so far away (look at the bucket and well, the carriage or the fence for example).

That could well be it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

is this from the same guys that made The Quest?

 

[lukaszek]

is this from the same guys that made The Quest?

that would be redshift. THose guys are too slow to take anything else on

 

[Tavernking]

The demo was great, this could be the start of something really special.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

When does it come out?

 

[The Avatar]

Archquest isn't dead but it is still a while away. I've had to go back and refactor a lot of the code for various changes which took several months to implement. Most notable changes from the old demo:

• Ditched the idea of race-as-a-class. The reason is that there wasn't a whole lot of strategic choice in character building with it, and this system is really all about throwing choices at the player. Archquest now has a proper Ancestry/Class system and is quite similar to Pathfinder 2e.
• Removed the low-res 3d pixel aesthetic and redid the UI. Too many weird rendering artifacts and limitations with the old system.
• By popular demand, switched from grid-based to free-move exploration. Kinda feels like Wizardry 8 but with tactical third person combat.

Here's a screenshot of the new character creation UI

 

[rusty_shackleford]

 

[Nortar]

Yeah, the game had some cozy old-school feel to it.
But now it seems to be going to be a cheaper version of Archaelund.
Or Solasta, by the look of that char model.
The only welcome change is the class selection for races, so I will be able to roll a dwarf cleric.

 

[The Avatar]

The pixel look is really just rendering at a lower resolution with integer upscaling, and no anti-aliasing. It would be possible to have this as a mode or option to turn on or off. Otherwise, there is no change in models- they are made in an old school way with baked-in lighting and no normal maps.

 

[AdolfSatan]

They probably refer not to the character but to the MMO/mobile game look of the UI, which does look rather garish and uninspired tbh.
Also, your right-arrow buttons are facing left. There are some other issues with it, but that's probably what's making it look like a quickly put together jest.

I don't really mind it, still looking forward to your game.
Dunno where the popular demand was nor who the dumbfucks in favour of it were, but my vote always goes for grid-based movement, and when the day of reckoning comes, all those who voiced the wrong choice will pay their dues.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

I am curious to know what lead you to remove the grid movement and pixel look? The only complaints I found was the transition effect could be a little disorienting but that could be remedied via smoother movement.

 

[The Avatar]

I am curious to know what lead you to remove the grid movement and pixel look? The only complaints I found was the transition effect could be a little disorienting but that could be remedied via smoother movement.

Free move was just something a few people have requested. The big downside with this is that it captures the mouse cursor, so there is no way to interact with the UI normally. Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

 

[Darth Canoli]

By popular demand, switched from grid-based to free-move exploration. Kinda feels like Wizardry 8 but with tactical third person combat.

Dunno where the popular demand was nor who the dumbfucks in favour of it were, but my vote always goes for grid-based movement, and when the day of reckoning comes, all those who voiced the wrong choice will pay their dues.

Listening to a bunch of dumbfucks from twitter will not get you far, I can tell you that.
The reason they ask you this is because they don't know anything else, they're used to walking simulators with free movement and they want nothing else.

Genderless hero with purple dangerhair when?
I was looking forward to this but less and less. This and the UI, any more decline and you're ripe to go working for Bethesda.
The problem is they have a marketing budget to sell their garbage while your only weapons are quality and word to mouth.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I'm fine with the race/class change, doesn't matter to me in the least.
UI looked way better before. This is my biggest gripe. Pls go back. The UI/font was perfect.
I also prefer the grid movement. It's not really a deal breaker for me. Bard's Tale 4 offered both free movement and grid-based movement. Would it be possible to offer both?

 

[Tavernking]

I'm fine with the race/class change, doesn't matter to me in the least.
UI looked way better before. This is my biggest gripe. Pls go back. The UI/font was perfect.
I also prefer the grid movement. It's not really a deal breaker for me. Bard's Tale 4 offered both free movement and grid-based movement. Would it be possible to offer both?

We've only seen one pic of the new UI, let's see how it looks like in game.

I'm one of those guys that prefer free movement, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me either. A lot of dungeon crawler lovers enjoy grid-based movement... so I think it was a mistake to change. Offering both would be the best outcome.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Free move was just something a few people have requested. The big downside with this is that it captures the mouse cursor, so there is no way to interact with the UI normally. Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

You could remedy the mouse cursor problem by taking the Arx Fatalis approach and implementing a button the toggles the cursor when needed. Additionally keyboard shortcuts can help.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

What's a Champion? Is that just a discount paladin?

 

[The Avatar]

What's a Champion? Is that just a discount paladin?

Champion is a class. Paladins are the Lawful Good version of Champions.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=4

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

So a discount paladin with all the pathfinder ruleset feature bloat.

 

[The Avatar]

So a discount paladin with all the pathfinder ruleset feature bloat.

Champion is anti-bloat because it combines Paladin, Anti-paladin, and others into a single class instead of having a separate class for each of them.

It sounds like you're thinking of Pathfinder 1e which has the rules bloat reputation. This is a very different ruleset, which most people are not familiar with because there hasn't been a video game based on it yet. IMHO, PF2e is a nice balance between the bloat of PF1e and the overly simplistic rules and lack of character development in D&D5e.

 

[flushfire]

Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

Free movement is fine. I asked this very same question here back in the MMX news thread and the only answer I got was that it was easier for cartography. Someone claimed that it was only catering to nostalgia, a few posters went after the guy but still the question remained unanswered. It comes as no surprise that no one has answered the question here as well.

To be fair to the codex though, in other discussion about the topic actual advantages that I remember mentioned are: 1. it is much faster to travel with grid-based and 2. it is more accurate when used in combat (kiting, square dance). 1 IMO is only true when backtracking or already knowing the map layout. Both are easy to replicate with something like a haste spell anyway. And square dance is retarded.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

Free movement is fine. I asked this very same question here back in the MMX news thread and the only answer I got was that it was easier for cartography. Someone claimed that it was only catering to nostalgia, a few posters went after the guy but still the question remained unanswered. It comes as no surprise that no one has answered the question here as well.

To be fair to the codex though, in other discussion about the topic actual advantages that I remember mentioned are: 1. it is much faster to travel with grid-based and 2. it is more accurate when used in combat (kiting, square dance). 1 IMO is only true when backtracking or already knowing the map layout. Both are easy to replicate with something like a haste spell anyway. And square dance is retarded.

I think you pretty much need to be grid based if you're going to have any sort of mapping challenge unless you're catering exclusively to artistic players and telling everyone else where to go.

 

[Bad Sector]

Free move was just something a few people have requested. The big downside with this is that it captures the mouse cursor, so there is no way to interact with the UI normally. Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

You can have a toggle for the mouse cursor.

In any case, at least personally i prefer free movement in general. However the thing is you can't just take movement style in isolation, it really depends on the rest of the game's design since having grid movement is better for some things and free movement is better for others. For example personally i'd be way more likely to put random encounters (in their own screen, etc) in a grid movement game and i'd be way more likely to put an emphasis on exploring spaces (dungeons or whatever) in a free movement game.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Free move was just something a few people have requested. The big downside with this is that it captures the mouse cursor, so there is no way to interact with the UI normally. Is there any other advantage to grid-based movement?

There aren't any real advantages to either method in a game like yours, but grid movement is consistent with the game's design (i.e. grid, turn-based combat).
If part of your design goals happens to be emulating the PnP experience in the tradition of old-school RPGs, grid has always been there because it echoes back to the days of drawing maps in grid sheets. But it's still an aesthetic choice and won't make any difference mechanically.

That's why it's not a dealbreaker, but it's little inconsistencies like this, or a modern tick-box in a chiseled stone UI that add up to a janky, unprofessional look.

And on a purely personal level, I prefer grid because it feels crunchy, it's more satisfying.

 

[Darth Canoli]

The only other similar grid-less game I can think of is the Age of Fear franchise and really, the grid-less movement isn't its best feature, it makes the game clunkier, if anything.

It'd work better for games mostly based on ranged attacks and guns.

Knowing if you can hit an enemy or not before moving is simply a requirement.
Grid based movement makes it just simpler and easier to handle.