Development Info Chaos Chronicles Developer Blog Launched

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Chaos Chronicles; Coreplay

Coreplay, the team behind the freshly announced Chaos Chronicles (a D&D inspired tactical turn-based game), started their own developer blog, where they shed some light on their inspirations and design approaches. Here's the latest entry on the world map they're implementing.

There is this another pen&paper roleplaying system beside D&D most of us at Coreplay spent time with in the 90s: Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) which most gamers outside of Germany may actually know mostly for the computer games based on it. The first trilogy of DSA computer games (that were heavily influenced by the Gold Box games from SSI) were released as Realms of Arkania in English. The first of them called Blade of Destiny (Die Schicksalsklinge) was first released in 1992 (and then in the US in 1993) for Amiga and PC. One thing that might be worth noting for you CRPG addicts is that the game was designed by Guido Henkel who also produced probably one of the best CRPGs of all time: Planescape: Torment.

What was cool about the game was that it was also very open in its design. You had to find a legendary sword and to find that sword you had to put together a map that would reveal its location on the world map. The map pieces were randomized so you might find one trading with a merchant on the road or as a reward for solving a quest that might otherwise only reward you with some gold. This design didn’t only give the game a lot of replay value it also made travelling the world a big part of the game. Quests would often lead you form one city to another and you would have to travel for several days and set up camp for the night on your journey.

Most of the other games we mentioned before have similar elements. We did highlight Ultima for the exploration of Britannia alone, remember? And our fondest memories of Phantasie include the random encounters that would make each journey an adventure. And remember that first time in Pool of Radiance you started moving that little horse around? Suddenly everything seemed possible!

 

[SuicideBunny]

the image on their blog reminded me instantly of da2.... *shudders*

ok, that does sound rather sexy. interest++

 

[agentorange]

I played that Drakensang game, which was based on The Dark eye, but everything about it was so fucking bland. Hopefully this has some more atmosphere/personality.

 

[flabbyjack]

The developers have confirmed there will be two games modes: hardcore and insanely hardcore. Coreplay is going for a niche audience but wants this audience to be challenged to the point of breaking. In harcore mode, if one of your party members is lethaly wounded you can carry him to the nearest town to heal. In case he dies, there is still a chance he can be revived by taking his ashes to the nearest town. By invested gold and having a bit of luck the character can be resurrected. In what the developers called “insanely hardcore” you will not be able to resurrect squad members. But it goes further than that, the developer plan to only allow save point in towns. So no saving during dungeon, which will greatly increase the challenge to possible extreme levels.

Wowee!

 

[HobGoblin42]

We added our first entry about the Combat System and we would appreciate your feedback.

 

[felipepepe]

And despite the fact that almost all CRPGs of the last ten years have used some kind of realtime combat, there has been a relevant turn-based game called The Temple of Elemental Evil developed by the magnificent development studio Troika Games (you are being missed)

Regarding the combat system, ToEE shall be our paradigm.

Now we are talking! RPG Codex GOTY 9998!

Oh, by the way, I see that you fixed the release date to "In the course of the Year 2013" and we have a new screenshot:

Looking good!

 

[kaizoku]

Turn-Based

ToEE

 

[Cosmo]

Jagged Alliance: Back in Action was supposed to be realtime based in order to appeal to a larger audience. Fortunately there was some backlash (i.e. shitstorm) to that decision and that gave us a very strong argument to implement a turn-based combat system for Chaos Chronicles.

Why do you keep telling me what i want to hear ?
Now i'll have no other choice but to care, and wait eagerly for your project.

By the way, as much as i think you couldn't be more right about ToEE's combat, what do you think of the game's shortcomings (story- and roleplay-wise) ?

 

[catfood]

Take two simmilar games:

TOEE
BG2

The first has a brilliant combat system but shit encounter design, which resulted in the game not being as fun as it could have been.
The second has a kinda average combat system but good encounter design. Despite it's iffy combat, this one ended up being much more playable because the challenges that the player faced were varied and kept him on his toes.

So a much better discussion would be: what's the best way to combine both worlds? What makes a good,memorable combat encounter? Would be interesting to see you guy's thoughts on the matter on a future blog post.

 

[DwarvenFood]

DAT SCREENSHOT

 

[hoverdog]

Take two simmilar games:

TOEE
BG2

The first has a brilliant combat system but shit encounter design, which resulted in the game not being as fun as it could have been.
The second has a kinda average combat system but good encounter design. Despite it's iffy combat, this one ended up being much more playable because the challenges that the player faced were varied and kept him on his toes.

So a much better discussion would be: what's the best way to combine both worlds? What makes a good,memorable combat encounter? Would be interesting to see you guy's thoughts on the matter on a future blog post.

Indeed.
Baldur's Gate (especially the second part) had some really cool encounters, like the hidden rune guys in the bridge quarter, Kangaxx, suspicious house in temple district, and most magical battles. The dragon fights were also good. Shame RTwP made them clusterfucks.
Knights of the Chalice combines turn-based fights with good, if a bit biased for the poor player, encounter designs - but unfortunately has shitty character development, nonexistant plot, and poor graphics (in terms of style more than substance). HobGoblin42, be sure to check out that little gem.

 

[zeitgeist]

I'm impressed. So many oldschool PC and Amiga-related references, so much apparent love for the RPG genre, such a deep understanding of turn-based combat systems, and catering to the hardcore audience too!

I wish there was an alternate universe in which a team of developers this motivated, knowledgeable, honest and inspired was put in charge of a JA2 remake.

 

[Sitra Achara]

If you seek reaffirmation for choosing ToEE as your system template, you have definitely found it

While there's an obvious rise in urge to fap, I will remain and point out another one of ToEE's shortcomings - AI. ToEE's AI system was painfully crude, and more complex behavior was only enabled through laborious scripting workarounds. Knights of the Chalice is a good example of a game with AI done right - its AI was brutal, with enemies that constantly try to pin down and disable you via bullrushing, grappling, spells, etc. Basically taking advantage of the system almost as if it were a real player.

So please don't leave AI as an afterthought - it's integral to the hardcore experience.

 

[Stabwound]

This and Wasteland 2 have something in common: the devs are saying all the right things and pushing all the right Codex buttons. This game is either going to be one of the best games or biggest letdowns of the past 10 years. Much like Wasteland 2.

Funny enough, Chaos Chronicles, Wasteland 2, and Divinity: Original Sin are the only 3 games I'm looking forward to. All 3 of them seem to be at least striving for the type of game we haven't seen in forever. Actually, Chaos Chronicles is sitting at #1 on my list of most anticipated games now.

 

[Cosmo]

It's true that, if you want good tactical combat, i've never seen better AI than in KotC...

 

[HobGoblin42]

Knights of the Chalice combines turn-based fights with good, if a bit biased for the poor player, encounter designs - but unfortunately has shitty character development, nonexistant plot, and poor graphics (in terms of style more than substance). HobGoblin42, be sure to check out that little gem.

Since we aligned our combat system with D&D 3.5e (OGL) ,ToEE and Knights of the Chalice became our main references. I really like the combat in KotC, but the interface definitely needs some improvement (and the font made my eyes bleed). In contrast to ToEE (Troika had to use D&D rules accurately) KotC made a couple of smart changes to the D&D 3.5 system.

 

[felipepepe]

They played KoTC? And will mix it with ToEE? Help, my monitor is suddenly coverred in cum, I can't see a thing!

 

[hoverdog]

Knights of the Chalice combines turn-based fights with good, if a bit biased for the poor player, encounter designs - but unfortunately has shitty character development, nonexistant plot, and poor graphics (in terms of style more than substance). HobGoblin42, be sure to check out that little gem.

Since we aligned our combat system with D&D 3.5e (OGL) ,ToEE and Knights of the Chalice became our main references. I really like the combat in KotC, but the interface definitely needs some improvement (and the font made my eyes bleed). In contrast to ToEE (Troika had to use D&D rules accurately) KotC made a couple of smart changes to the D&D 3.5 system.

 

[kaizoku]

Since we aligned our combat system with D&D 3.5e (OGL) ,ToEE and Knights of the Chalice became our main references. I really like the combat in KotC, but the interface definitely needs some improvement (and the font made my eyes bleed). In contrast to ToEE (Troika had to use D&D rules accurately) KotC made a couple of smart changes to the D&D 3.5 system.

Add an interesting plot, locations and characters, and this game may end up becoming a gold standard.

They played KoTC? And will mix it with ToEE? Help, my monitor is suddenly coverred in cum, I can't see a thing!

You should have alerted The Brazilian Slaughter.

oh wait... that was plain wrong :-/

 

[DwarvenFood]

They played KoTC? And will mix it with ToEE? Help, my monitor is suddenly coverred in cum, I can't see a thing!

Is Jaesun there with you ?