Game News Sword of Fargoal 2: Sequel to 1982 C64 Roguelike Kickstarted

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Jeff McCord; Kickstarter; Sword of Fargoal; Sword of Fargoal 2

Old developers coming out of the woodwork? Here's the most 'oldschool' case so far: a Kickstarter campaign for Sword of Fargoal 2, sequel to a roguelike game released in 1982 for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20, by the original creator. You can have a look at the original Sword of Fargoal at Mobygames. I admit I haven't played it, but it looks pretty good for its time.

The Kickstarter aims to "reimagine" the original game and significantly expand on it.

[A] vocal contingent of Fargoal fans have demanded MORE. A reimagining of the game — with more spells. More monsters. More traps. Better graphics. More music. Animation. New characters types. New quests. A new dungeon-generation system, and much more. Basically to keep the fun and excitement of the original, but reinvent the game for 2012 & 2013, with more depth and rich gameplay; more adventure, exploration, mystery; plus new character classes.

That’s why we’re embarking on this quest to make Sword of Fargoal 2 — all new from the ground up.​

The game is 80% complete, so they're asking for only $50,000 (with more than $10,000 already collected), promising lots of equipment, 4 customizable character classes, and interactive dungeon environments in which "you’ll be able to pick locks, break containers, unlock items, burn items, create chain reaction explosions, ‘tinker’ to make your own traps, and change your environment in other cool ways."

$15 gets you a PC/Mac/Linux copy of the game. $8 gets you an iOs copy. Sword of Fargoal 2's art style is cartoony, and you can see whether it's your thing or not on the Kickstarter page.

Thanks teapot

 

[felipepepe]

No interested, seems like a poor-man's Dungeons of Dredmor, especially being a cellphone game...

The original 1982 game was remade to IOs in 2010, if he didn't get money to make a sequel from that, something is wrong. Also, $15 is abusive, considereing Sword of Fargoal 1 for IOs is available at $2,99... seems more like another bandwagon money-grab than anything else...

 

[Dangersaurus]

A little embarrassing to admit, but we pirated this when it was brand new. It was a load of fun, but I was... 12? 13?

 

[Seboss]

You're not alone. According to my own experience, I have a hard time believing people actually bought games during the 8-bit era.

 

[oldmanpaco]

I gave them $15 just for being pioneers (sort of) back in the day.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Don't lie, I fucking bought Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory !! (and pirated 100+ other games)

 

[Charles-cgr]

No interested, seems like a poor-man's Dungeons of Dredmor, especially being a cellphone game...

The original 1982 game was remade to IOs in 2010, if he didn't get money to make a sequel from that, something is wrong. Also, $15 is abusive, considereing Sword of Fargoal 1 for IOs is available at $2,99... seems more like another bandwagon money-grab than anything else...

I don't think they necessarily need the money but it's a cheap way to get people talking about it. That only works because they are rockstars coming out of retirement though.

 

[felipepepe]

I don't think they necessarily need the money but it's a cheap way to get people talking about it.

I would agree if they were selling the game at low prices for backers, but trying to make a PR stunt AND milk $8 out of fans for what will be priced 2,99 after release is a bit too much greedy...

That only works because they are rockstars coming out of retirement though

Are they?

 

[JrK]

Holy crap I played the original without knowing what it was!

JrK has gained one pylon.

 

[thesheeep]

Why are all the people in the screenshot lying on the floor?...

 

[Metro]

I like the art style~

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I hate the hipster-ironic cartoony shit. Not that the original cover is much better but at least it didn't aim at being shit.

 

[MicoSelva]

I've never played the original even though I've spent 8 years on the C64. Missed it somehow.
Not really interested in the new game. Roguelikes never manage to keep me interested for long, so it would be wasted money.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Holy shit they made their goal by $161. There is $19 I'll never see again.

 

[Misconnected]

You're not alone. According to my own experience, I have a hard time believing people actually bought games during the 8-bit era.

Nobody sold games anywhere near where I lived back then. The only place anyone could get games from, was the owner of one of the shops that sold computers. And like I said, he didn't sell games. He was just a nice old nerd that got loads of pirated & shareware (when shareware meant "here's the full game. If you like it please send $5 to PO#") games from somewhere, and was nice enough to share them with anyone he'd sold a system.

Honestly, I don't think I'd ever bought software until I got a job that reimbursed me for it. And I'm pretty sure the first game I ever bought was the Alien Trilogy PSX game for a boyfriend's birthday :D

Fortunately I'm pretty sue I've never played SoF. But otherwise I've tried to ease my guilty conscience with GOG.

... The lovely little country I live in now has a kind of TV tax. I kind of think it would be a good idea to apply something similar to software. Because on the one fat finger; fuck end-user abuse. On the other; fuck piracy. And on the third; Kult of Free Stuff is a fucking great thing that should be nurtured until it extends to all information.