Game News Dragon Ruins hits Prime Time

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Dragon Ruins; Graverobber Foundation

Our boy zwanzig_zwoelf has a new game up on Steam, just released today. Dragon Ruins looks to be a fairly old school blobber. So, if you're looking for a modern take on the games we used to play in the late 1980s, here's your chance! You can pick it up on the cheap, since it's normally around $5US, but it's 10% off that for the next two weeks. Here's the general idea:

• Assemble a party of 4 heroes from 8 available classes
• Explore the ancient ruins
• Fight through automatic battles where you decide whether to fight or run away
• Grow stronger via level-ups and equipment enhancement
• Purchase medicine to revive fallen party members
• Use teleporter scrolls for a quick trip to town and back
• Challenge your party with an NG+ mode, where monsters attack in higher groups and the final boss gets stronger

​

Well, there won't be any bitching about the use of Unity Assets in this one, that's for sure. It's pretty neat that it supports the XBox Controller for you SteamDeckers out there. And me. Embrace the controller. You know you want to.

Thanks, Sukhavati!

 

[AndrewCC]

What's modern about it? That it runs on current machines? I guess I should be thankfull it doesn't make me get pen and paper and draw my own map, at least.

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

The portraits look good. Kinda like the old Japanese remakes of Wizardry

 

[Diggfinger]

Here to support our boy zwanzig_zwoelf

good luck with this Grimwahh killer!

 

[lukaszek]

zwanzig_zwoelf awaiting graphix upgrade

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

What's modern about it? That it runs on current machines?

And controller support. And town portals. Believe it or not, that was a fairly newest concept when Diablo made them popular. Good luck finding a game that looks like this one that has it.

 

[luj1]

Cool 2D art

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

 

[Grokalibre]

I think it's time to update the genre with companions relationships and romances.

 

[luj1]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

I always wanted to make a crawler that has an OS-like interface, such as this. How do I do that?

 

[Mortmal]

What's modern about it? That it runs on current machines? I guess I should be thankfull it doesn't make me get pen and paper and draw my own map, at least.

"Fight through automatic battles where you decide whether to fight or run away" You are then watching the game playing itself i guess it''s modern , there's no companions relationship and romance but the game is masturbating.

 

[Catacombs]

Congratulations on the release!

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

It's such a shame that the game doesn't run on 64-bit systems.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

It's such a shame that the game doesn't run on 64-bit systems.

Here you go. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

 

[covr]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

It's such a shame that the game doesn't run on 64-bit systems.

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

It's such a shame that the game doesn't run on 64-bit systems.

I think that latest version runs on everything. But you have to get it from decklinsdemise page. He is also remastering Mordor in Demise engine

 

[Late Bloomer]

Few things

Thanks for including flac as part of the soundtrack
Would it be possible to have an option to slow the combat down?
Is it possible to name the party members?

 

[Zeriel]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Which is a shame -- I spent weeks grinding in it as a teen and got my friends addicted to it. I wondered if this kind of game was "too niche" for dungeon crawler fans, but it looks like most people were unaware of its existence, especially in Japan.

So making a spiritual successor with a microscopic scope to measure player interest seemed like the right thing to do.

I always wanted to make a crawler that has an OS-like interface, such as this. How do I do that?

It was made in Visual Basic afair, a windows-based app tool that used to be popular for office applications in the 90s. Used to be really easy to obtain and fairly easy to learn--it's funny you're describing the aesthetic as desirable, since at the time it was considered kind of gauche to release a non-business application made with it because it was so "generic".

What's modern about it? That it runs on current machines? I guess I should be thankfull it doesn't make me get pen and paper and draw my own map, at least.

"Fight through automatic battles where you decide whether to fight or run away" You are then watching the game playing itself i guess it''s modern , there's no companions relationship and romance but the game is masturbating.

It's not for everyone and I know people will mock me for saying this, but when the difficulty is tuned around it, automatic combat can have a challenge and intrigue of its own. Some games that aren't considered casual bait did this intentionally, like Majesty. Lots of browser games with lots of depth used this method too (though largely I'd say for technical reasons back then), like Archmage. The idea is you have a "strategy" or orders that are setup, and then you see how that works out in combat. I think FF12 did something similar with the strategems system, though I may be using the wrong word to describe what they did. It's basically coding your own bot as a game mechanic.

 

[iguana_trader]

Bought!
Do not know when I shall play it but the art and music are very enticing.
Congratulations on delivering a game.
PS. Is it made on the Godot engine?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Demise is probably my favorite blobber of all time, but I haven't played Mordor. I purchased the game, but haven't tried it yet. I might have to give it a shot earlier than intended if it comes close to David Allen's games.

 

[Grokalibre]

Game looks decent but I'll wait for the raytracing and VR patch to see how it runs on my 4090.

 

[luj1]

it's funny you're describing the aesthetic as desirable, since at the time it was considered kind of gauche to release a non-business application made with it because it was so "generic"

Idk, I like the OS interface with movable windows for crawlers. Like in Llylgamyn Saga and Pathways to Darkness

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Few things

Thanks for including flac as part of the soundtrack
Would it be possible to have an option to slow the combat down?
Is it possible to name the party members?

The combat is intentionally fast and depends on the speed of each character (think FF-style ATB bars running in the background). I'm not entirely sure how to make it adjustable on the player side without breaking the intended pace.
As for naming -- I decided against it to keep things simple.

PS. Is it made on the Godot engine?

Unity.

 

[Zeriel]

As stated in the FAQ on Steam, the main inspiration came from Mordor, which only has 1 well-known successor (Demise).

Demise is probably my favorite blobber of all time, but I haven't played Mordor. I purchased the game, but haven't tried it yet. I might have to give it a shot earlier than intended if it comes close to David Allen's games.

Mordor was made by David Allen when he was still working in the business sector making stuff in Vbasic; that's how he got into games. Made Mordor with the same tool he was using to make business apps. I'd say it's just a more rudimentary version of Demise/Mordor II. Mordor II is a really interesting early version of Demise that illustrates how it evolved from there, I'd recommend trying out that early beta if you haven't, it's fascinating.

 

[Machocruz]

Who is the illustrator? The portraits are skillful and tasteful.

 

[PanDupa]

I'm not the biggest fan of blobbers but the soundtrack and art style bought me over, bought the game and I'll give it a go