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Archquest Arena - tactical RPG with tabletop rules

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Pseudodragon Studios
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http://www.pseudodragonstudios.com





I have been posting various screenshots over in the Codexian Gamedev thread, but now it's time to announce my game with it's own thread. Archquest is an RPG that combines immersive first-person exploration with tactical combat based on tabletop rules. The idea for this game came about while I was replaying some old Gold Box games and I thought that there aren't a whole lot of games these days that do it this way. First-person is ideal for exploration, but not so great for party-based combat. For that, the best way to do it is turn-based. So, why not combine both, just like Gold Box did?

I have been developing this game for about a year and a half and made quite a lot of progress. Here are some of the features I have done:

-Character creation with Race-as-a-class
-Inventory and paper doll system
-Turn based combat system based on PF2 RPG
-Vancian magic system with spell memorization mechanics
-Custom branching dialog system

Alpha demo now available!
https://pseudodragon-studios.itch.io/archquest-alpha-demo
 
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Dorateen

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Agree, more of this please!

The Realms of Arkania series included race as a class, and used the first person exploration transition to top down combat method, too. Would you consider those games (Blade of Destiny, Star Trail) an inspiration as well?
 

Ninjerk

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I quite like the visual identity of your game as far as the overhead battle camera goes. We will follow your career with great interest.
 

Hag

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Those graphics, and the transition between first and third person view, are really neat. Same for the interface. I'm not usually a big fan of blobbers' graphics but I like what I'm seeing here.
My only gripe, for what it's worth, it's that on third person view fighting the opponents seem to be really close to your character, but hard to know more on a short video.
 

AdolfSatan

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Looks great! Blobber exploration + tactical combat is the best combination of all.
 

nlfortier

Esturia Games
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I love the visual style. I really like the transition animation when going from first person to the battle screen. It makes it much less jarring than the old Gold Box Games.
 

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Pseudodragon Studios
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The Realms of Arkania series included race as a class, and used the first person exploration transition to top down combat method, too. Would you consider those games (Blade of Destiny, Star Trail) an inspiration as well?

To an extent, yes. Those games had a lot of potential, but I never got very far, either because it was too hard or I didn't know what to do.
 

ERYFKRAD

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Agree, more of this please!

The Realms of Arkania series included race as a class, and used the first person exploration transition to top down combat method, too. Would you consider those games (Blade of Destiny, Star Trail) an inspiration as well?
Wonder what's happening to DavidBVal 's Archaelund in the meantime?
 

DavidBVal

4 Dimension Games
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Agree, more of this please!

The Realms of Arkania series included race as a class, and used the first person exploration transition to top down combat method, too. Would you consider those games (Blade of Destiny, Star Trail) an inspiration as well?
Wonder what's happening to DavidBVal 's Archaelund in the meantime?

We keep working and progressing, I've wanted to replace the trailer and screenshots for a while but I never found the time, hopefully soon we'll make announcements. Anyways, not my thread!
 

WhiteShark

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Looks great! How do you plan to handle saving? I'm of the opinion that save-anywhere only makes sense if every encounter is hand-crafted and a deadly threat. Otherwise I think saving (aside from suspend-saves for when you have to leave suddenly) should be more restricted.
 

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Pseudodragon Studios
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Looks great! How do you plan to handle saving? I'm of the opinion that save-anywhere only makes sense if every encounter is hand-crafted and a deadly threat. Otherwise I think saving (aside from suspend-saves for when you have to leave suddenly) should be more restricted.

Right now it's save anywhere except in combat, which is pretty standard for games in general but might be fun to experiment with. The bigger question is what to do with resting. If players can rest anywhere, that kind of defeats the point of spell memorization. On the other hand, spellcasters are kind of weak in PF2, so maybe that would be okay.
 

WhiteShark

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Looks great! How do you plan to handle saving? I'm of the opinion that save-anywhere only makes sense if every encounter is hand-crafted and a deadly threat. Otherwise I think saving (aside from suspend-saves for when you have to leave suddenly) should be more restricted.

Right now it's save anywhere except in combat, which is pretty standard for games in general but might be fun to experiment with. The bigger question is what to do with resting. If players can rest anywhere, that kind of defeats the point of spell memorization. On the other hand, spellcasters are kind of weak in PF2, so maybe that would be okay.
Well you have a choice to make there, and I think it's relevant to the save question too. You can either focus solely on the tactical layer, in which case you allow save-anywhere and unlimited resting, no carry weight limit, etc; in this case the game is mainly about each individual fight and they should be designed with that in mind. Or, you can have both a tactical layer and a strategic layer, in which case you limit resting, possibly limit carry weight, possibly limit saves, don't allow easy teleport escapes from the dungeon, etc; in this case the player must plan ahead for a whole delve, not just the next fight. Most games these days seem to trend towards the former, which is decline imo, but either way your game looks cool.
 

Galdred

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It looks good indeed. For some reason, I didn't see the thread here before, and there is a definitive shortage of games using 1st person exploration with turn based party combat.
 

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Pseudodragon Studios
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Just testing out some spells. In PF2, the sleep spell no longer has any Hit-die limitations, but enemies no longer fall prone. The spells are all kinda bad compared to PF1, but I will be making them better.

sleep.gif
 

Ninjerk

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Looks great! How do you plan to handle saving? I'm of the opinion that save-anywhere only makes sense if every encounter is hand-crafted and a deadly threat. Otherwise I think saving (aside from suspend-saves for when you have to leave suddenly) should be more restricted.

Right now it's save anywhere except in combat, which is pretty standard for games in general but might be fun to experiment with. The bigger question is what to do with resting. If players can rest anywhere, that kind of defeats the point of spell memorization. On the other hand, spellcasters are kind of weak in PF2, so maybe that would be okay.
Not sure what your race->class breakdown is, but you could further differentiate them (if you're going to go with an in-depth strategic layer) by how exactly they can make resting a safer (if not completely safe) proposition. The caster-type class can magically ward a door at the cost of a low-level spell slot, maybe a dwarf could bar a single door, a rogue type could make a lock inoperable/conceal the party, etc.
 

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Pseudodragon Studios
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Not sure what your race->class breakdown is, but you could further differentiate them (if you're going to go with an in-depth strategic layer) by how exactly they can make resting a safer (if not completely safe) proposition. The caster-type class can magically ward a door at the cost of a low-level spell slot, maybe a dwarf could bar a single door, a rogue type could make a lock inoperable/conceal the party, etc.

Pathfinder:Kingmaker has something similar where Octavia can cast an Alarm spell. Resting isn't really dangerous in that game though. I do like the idea of doing different things at resting time. PF2 has non-magical healing through the medicine skill, so that's another option for character to do things when resting.
 

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