Game News Ashes announced

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Ashes: Two Worlds Collide

<A href="http://ashes.lalista.org/">Ashes: Two Worlds Collide</a> has been <A href="http://ashes.lalista.org/press/announcement.html">officially announced</a>. Here's the email for us:
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<blockquote>Good day to you kind codex folk!
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Just to let you know that we've "officially announced" Ashes:
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/Ashes : Two Worlds Collide is a single player cRPG built on the
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philosophy of old classics, yet featuring more modern 3d graphics.
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Ashes is strongly inspired by three milestones of RPG history: Ultima
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VII, Drakkhen and Demon's Winter: we're trying to replicate the
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exploration, atmosphere and compelling plots of such classics while
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adding some brand new ingredients to form our own unique game.
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Ashes is *NOT* a hack-and-slash rpg and neither is it arcade oriented
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like games such as zelda. Ashes tries to be a complete rpg experience
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through the following features...
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/Read the rest and new screens:
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<a href="http://ashes.lalista.org/press/announcement.html">http://ashes.lalista.org/press/announcement.html</a></blockquote>
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Damn, not hack & slash? What a disappointment. Everyone knows people here only like <A href="http://www.blizzard.com/diablo">Diablo</a> clones!
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[Shagnak]

Wow. Sounds ambitious.
The list of features seems almost CodexApproved(tm)

They're even implementing something that certain other RPGs did badly and thus many here bemoan, but they're actually thinking about how to make it have a point in their game:

* Buy buildings :: You will be able to buy a house, a tower, a little shack - and owning a place to rest and store things will play a key role in the plot.

 

[Deacdo]

I'm a little concerned about the Random NPCs/Quests/Dialogue...sounds like a recipe for disaster. That, and it sounds as though there won't be mulitple solutions for those quests.

 

[Shagnak]

I'm a little concerned about the Random NPCs/Quests/Dialogue...sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Well, I don't think so. This is in addition to the "premade" variety.
Also, I don't see anything about "random quests" (possibly easy to slot into "random dialogue"?), but if that was supplied to a certain extent I wouldn't mind - it adds game value to those that want to play "sandbox" a little.

That, and it sounds as though there won't be mulitple solutions for those quests.

Yeah, they don't mention that. I don't know if that means that none of the quests will, though.

Someone do a "proper" interview with these fellas!

 

[Naked_Lunch]

I've been following this game for a while and this totally kick ass. Unlike most other promising indie games, this looks like it has it all together and may actually get done sometime this decade.

 

[Screaming_life]

I'm a little concerned about the Random NPCs/Quests/Dialogue...sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Well, I don't think so. This is in addition to the "premade" variety.
Also, I don't see anything about "random quests" (possibly easy to slot into "random dialogue"?), but if that was supplied to a certain extent I wouldn't mind - it adds game value to those that want to play "sandbox" a little.

Yeah exactly, there'll obviously be the normal NPC's with predefined character and dialogue etc. it's essential for the plot afterall!

That, and it sounds as though there won't be mulitple solutions for those quests.

Yeah, they don't mention that. I don't know if that means that none of the quests will, though.

Thats true! we didn't mention anything about that... i can't imagine any RPG being designed without multiple quest solutions... no good one anyway!

 

[Shagnak]

Thats true! we didn't mention anything about that... i can't imagine any RPG being designed without multiple quest solutions... no good one anyway!

Well, that sounds like I can put a big tick beside "multiple solutions" on my hardkore roleplyer checklist then...

The game is sounding promising, and I'm certainly looking forward to this:

In the near future we hope to release some gameplay movie snippets and we're constantly working towards a tech demo

 

[Jora]

A very promising project. I would be interested in knowing how exactly this works:

for each member you'll also choose a social attitude (Valiant leader, cynical wrangler, shy intellectual, eccentric weirdo) which will play a very important role in the game!

 

[Claw]

I hope it's more than "buy/steal/kill the owner of the quest item" too.

 

[Screaming_life]

A very promising project. I would be interested in knowing how exactly this works:

for each member you'll also choose a social attitude (Valiant leader, cynical wrangler, shy intellectual, eccentric weirdo) which will play a very important role in the game!

If resle pops by tomorrow, he can tell you... i can't quite remember...

I hope it's more than "buy/steal/kill the owner of the quest item" too.

whoa! are you suggesting there might be more than 3 possibilities? :shock:

oh of course, what was i thinking... obviously we'll have the mage option!

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

"kind codex folks" does such a thing exist?
The game sounds interesting, the feature list is very COD(s)EXy. The graphics look fine, although I think the "hand drawn" look is overdone. I hope it will see the light of day.

On am unrelated note: what is it with RPG's and funky Epitaphs??? Gothic, Baldur's Gate, Krondor, now this...
http://ashes.lalista.org/show.php?l=&pi ... stem_2.jpg

 

[Shagnak]

On am unrelated note: what is it with RPG's and funky Epitaphs??? Gothic, Baldur's Gate, Krondor, now this...
http://ashes.lalista.org/show.php?l=&pi ... stem_2.jpg

Well, to be fair, that kinda thing started in the early rogue-likes AFAIK.
Though they were more of the "the player killed <this many> creatures" kind etc etc

I kinda like it.

 

[Elwro]

Well, to be fair, that kinda thing started in the early rogue-likes AFAIK..

Yeah, they're a fine feature of games like ADOM; they can contain some useful info and of course a nice description of the type of death your char has died.

 

[resle]

Hi, let's answer some questions and thanks you for the comments and interest..

I'm a little concerned about the Random NPCs/Quests/Dialogue...sounds like a recipe for disaster. That, and it sounds as though there won't be mulitple solutions for those quests.

Yes, it may be a recipe for disaster indeed... if ALL the npcs would be randomly generated. But only some "filler npcs" will be created that way. And there won't be random quests, too. Think of the random npcs as something you can avoid at all, or just give a shot at to pass some time or to see if you're lucky and you can get something unexpected from one of them.

A very promising project. I would be interested in knowing how exactly this works:

Feature list wrote:
for each member you'll also choose a social attitude (Valiant leader, cynical wrangler, shy intellectual, eccentric weirdo) which will play a very important role in the game!

It's simple yet effective: for example when you enter a tavern, there may be some NPCs the wrangler knows, he will insult them and the combat begins. The funny thing is that the character you marked as "the wrangler" could be a woman, a tiny weak mage, whatever. The ultima serie had those NPCs (Shamino, Dupre, Iolo, etc....) interacting now and then with other npcs or saying something witty now and then: it was nice, but it wasn't you creating them. On the other side, in other games you get to create all the characters of your party, but they're silent dolls with no personality. Think of this as a little mixture of the two things.

On am unrelated note: what is it with RPG's and funky Epitaphs??? Gothic, Baldur's Gate, Krondor, now this...
http://ashes.lalista.org/show.php?l=&pi ... stem_2.jpg

Making fun of death is SO trendy..

 

[Twinfalls]

This game is looking superb - keep up the (hopefully) good work, Resle.

Edit: anyone notice this shot

Looks like an interesting depth to magic, with detrimental effects to the user....

 

[Claw]

Why, yes I did.


Now what is really funny about the game are the names:
Supreme Sacred Solar Bishop Radagast
archmage Hell Vegas
people of Damocles
dark lands of Daemonia

:D

 

[Neverwhere]

It is interesting that someone would mention Drakkhen. Exploration in that game was indeed interesting, though what most impressed me was the 70- or so page background story that came with the game. I hope they don't take it as an inspiration for their NPCs, though.

 

[spacemoose]

Anyone else think the screens look like they're using the 2D->3D engine for ultima VII?

Edit: Their page states that the engine was written in pascal, and that making the game involves editing non-documented files. I am suspecting that they ARE using that engine, at least for the environment

 

[Pegultagol]

The graphics are kind of similar to those of Ultima Online: Ages of Shadows.

 

[resle]

Anyone else think the screens look like they're using the 2D->3D engine for ultima VII?

Edit: Their page states that the engine was written in pascal, and that making the game involves editing non-documented files. I am suspecting that they ARE using that engine, at least for the environment

We're not. The engine was written from scratch and has nothing to do with Exult or Exult 3d, although the coders here helped me a lot, expecially with pathfinding and world structure.

"making the game involves editing non-documented files" it's something you...ahem...made up almost completely, or at least misunderstood. Ashes' data files are completely open and human readable (notepad stuff! ), the point is that there's little or no official documentation for them. But they're quite intuitive and I bet someone could modify objects, world, etc. without knowing anything and just throwing random guesses.

This is a classic example of an Ashes item definition:

[MAIN]
ID = 301
KIND = 1
MASKED = 0
PRIORITY=0
OUTLINE=1
MOVEABLE=1
EQUIP=1

[FIXED]
OBJECT = ham.geom

[TEXTURES]
CLAMP=0
#0=ham_01

[SOUND]
USE=EAT
DROP=SOFTDROP

[SCALE]
SCALETO = 0,6|0,4|0,4

[PATCH]

[EVENT]
ONUSE=Eat(That hit the spot!); Feed(5); ReplaceItem(bone)

 

[OverrideB1]

I like the look of this very much - and the list of features certainly marks many of the checkboxes I look for in an RPG. Looking forward to hearing much more about this as the project develops

 

[Naked_Lunch]

The game files looks pretty moddable, do you think that sometime in the future you'd release modding documentation or such?

 

[resle]

The game files looks pretty moddable, do you think that sometime in the future you'd release modding documentation or such?

For sure. But right now it would be a terrible pain. Just think that often we forget our own formats.. More than once I went developing something that was already there. Also, some formats are text based but a little less readable. Check this for instance: can you recognize a book in this puddle of text?

[MAIN]
GUMP=gump_book
[PAGE 0]
BLOCK 0=IMAGE%199%194%bookbase%decoration1%0|0|0%()
BLOCK 1=TEXT%126%192%gamebase%Our Body%0|0|0%()
BLOCK 2=TEXT%114%307%bookbase%This is an anatomy book which#also covers the description of#some major patologies and the#recation of the human body to#the use of magic and magic#items. The author seems to be#convinced that even "good"#spells have dangerous long#term effects on the human body%0|0|0%()
BLOCK 3=IMAGE%444%293%bookbase%anatomy2%0|0|0%()
BLOCK 4=TEXT%357%452%bookbase%Marcuus Hath, mage and war#hero, died at the age of 108#despite his well known problems#with alcohol%0|0|0%()

 

[Whipporowill]

Just noted that the screenies was up as Gamespot's "must-see screenshots" for pc games. Not that I think the screenshots are supbar in any way, but that sort of suprised me - I always got the indie vibe from the Ultimaish screens. Maybe someone at Gamespot really liked that almost cell-shaded style and decided it was a gimmick?

 

[Screaming_life]

Just noted that the screenies was up as Gamespot's "must-see screenshots" for pc games. Not that I think the screenshots are supbar in any way, but that sort of suprised me - I always got the indie vibe from the Ultimaish screens. Maybe someone at Gamespot really liked that almost cell-shaded style and decided it was a gimmick?

Surprising indeed... it's probably just some automated script... grab the screens from the latest "screens" news or something.

Shows how cheap the internet is!