Vapourware Basilisk Games (Eschalon) working on a first-person sci-fi RPG

[LESS T_T]

An update from September 2nd: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13172&start=15#p63370

A couple people have asked for an update, so here's your Labor Day news:

August testing went well. Lots of issues discussed and improvements to be made, but overall I feel like we've got a really great RPG here. Our tester really enjoyed what he saw, and I think It will be worth the wait for everyone. Unfortunately, it's such a huge task to make everything in 3D versus the old isometric tileset of Eschalon, so we still have some significant work ahead of us. We still have a lot of content to create, and some additional ruleset programming to tighten up the gameplay.

All is going very well, work continues daily, and thanks for having patience!

 

[Tigranes]

"Our tester really enjoyed what he saw,"

Sigh

 

[Serus]

"Our tester really enjoyed what he saw,"

Sigh

Tester as in ONE tester? That's some crazy testing going on.

 

[Gord]

Yeah, one (1) tester. Apparently he first asked for some volunteers on his forums, then decided to just ask one guy who had done some testing on Eschalon already.

Given the development speed he showed with the Eschalon games and the talk about how slow work on 3D content is, I'm afraid it will be another 2 years - at the very least - until we see the game.

 

[Viata]

Is this guy creating some game to the army for all that secret?

 

[Baron Dupek]

Paranoia is one helluva drug

 

[Mortmal]

Is this guy creating some game to the army for all that secret?

The world is not ready for yet another uninspiring boring and banal indie rpg like eschalon, better keep the secret for a while.

 

[Big Wrangle]

Can't go against the potentional competition known as Colony Ship.

 

[Viata]

Can't go against the potentional competition known as Colony Ship.

Makes you wonder given that Vault Dweller pretty much shows the whole game to us. At least one knows how to keep the hype.

 

[Grauken]

Pretty much this, I'm really hyped for Colony Ship, whereupon I have no idea what Basilisk is even doing apart from it being some 3d scifi game. Utter failure of communication

 

[LESS T_T]

He dropped first-person perspective and full 3D graphics in favor of isometric perspective, because "it became painfully obvious that it would take much, much longer to finish than I had scheduled": http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13172&start=15#p63509

Really, after three years of development? (Also cancel summoning aweigh.)

Thanks for asking! It went very well. I had pages of suggestions to implement and technical issues to address. The game concept was very well received and everyone is excited to see the game move forward.

There is a problem, however. TRC as a full 3D game is, unfortunately, too much for Basilisk Games. I largely work by myself, except for when I am able to hire people to help with the creation of elements (music, characters, etc.). Upon reviewing my progress at the start of October, it became painfully obvious that it would take much, much longer to finish than I had scheduled. Doing every detail in full 3D honestly requires a full team, which I do not have. On my own, it could easily take another five years to finish.

So I've spent most of October considering converting TRC into an isometric engine, which is a much more manageable engine for a small studio. Luckily, Unity has tools to do this and using Eschalon's tile set, I was able to get a nice little isometric engine running fairly quickly. By the way, Eschalon running in fullscreen 1920 x 1200 at like 160 fps is crazy awesome. Don't freak out, this was just a basic graphic engine using Eschalon's tile set, so there was no "guts" to it; it just looked like High-Def Eschalon Remastered.

So yeah, everything is going great and I am excited at the idea of converting TRC over to an isometric engine. I'd say I get to keep 80% of all the work I've already done, so this won't set me too far back, and it gives be the opportunity to re-imagine the game from a new perspective.

In other news, does anyone remember several years ago I talked about possibly working with other indie developers to publish games through Basilisk Games? I am speaking with a developer now that is working on a game (it's a nice little casual game with a "spooky" theme) and he doesn't have the resources to publish/support the game himself. So we are discussing the possibility of Basilisk publishing it for him. That means I'd prep it for iOS, Android, and Steam, and I'll oversee some finishing touches to make sure it looks and sounds its best. If that happens, you guys may see a Basilisk Games casual game next spring, but it won't take any significant time away from TRC. Obviously, the extra income at this point would be very helpful, so I am hopeful we can reach an agreement.

So that's about it on this end!

Well, it's been a concern for a while that a full 3D game was "biting off more than I could chew" and so, yeah, it's been a consideration. I was probably wanting to gauge fan reaction but then decided I wasn't ready to confirm a switch to isometric until after the tests.

Some of the tester comments were "Why can't I explore that area?" and I was thinking to myself "because that would be another 3 months of work for me just to give you 10 minutes of additional exploration!"

Will the change to isometric affect this uniqueness? A pity that you didn't go the Kickstarter route since you have a working demo and from what you've posted it was received positively from your inner circle.

Not at all. The uniqueness of TRC is in the RPG rule set and character building mechanics. As a game, it's going to probably feel as much of a standard RPG as any, however, we're not dealing with Elves and magic and enchanted objects. When you see it, you'll understand right away.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for understanding. I know it has been a looooong time since Book III and you're all wondering what the hell is happening over here. Between needing time off from development after Book III, learning an entirely new development system (from BlitzMax + 3D Studio to Unity + Blender), all the while inventing a new RPG system and even tinkering with other ideas (Zodiac, etc).....yeah, it's been a long road. But I'm still here every day, full time, doing my thing.

Well I guess 'party-based' is still intact.

 

[Viata]

He dropped first-person perspective and full 3D graphics in favor of isometric perspective

whereupon I have no idea what Basilisk is even doing apart from it being some 3d scifi game

I guess you don't know anything now.

 

[Gord]

I don't mind him switching back to an iso-perspective in the slightest, but it yet again shows that his project management (and general development speed) is pretty lackluster.
Well, it's the results that matter. When the game comes out - I estimate around the early years of the next century - we'll see whether it was worth the wait.

 

[Ibbz]

Was it his own custom engine? Or was he doing in it Unity with a free roam / unrestricted camera, and has now just decided to lock the camera positioning?

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Hmm. I completely forgot about this. Escalon I and II soundtrack were great.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/vie...a3c622009bb52be7ae5e5a0b9270a&start=30#p63526

I'd love to see a screenshot of that high-def isometric with Eschalon's textures, just so I have some eye candy to drool over.

Unfortunately I don't have that running anymore (guess I should have grabbed a screenshot). But do you guys want to see what the game used to look like when it was in 3D? Here's a shot from a small area I was working on. Sadly, this version of TRC will never see the light of day, but hopefully the isometric version will be just as cool.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13327

The State of the Basilisk 2018: A Year in Review

It's that time of year again, where I get to sit back and reflect on what Basilisk has done and what we have coming up n the next year.

This year I am disappointed that we are not talking about release dates, and sharing cool screenshots and a game trailer. Our big Sci-Fi RPG, code named "TRC", is languishing in development limbo, currently in shambles between two engines.

I've mentioned this several times, and it is worth mentioning it again: the original concept for TRC was for it to be a free-roaming 3D world. Unfortunately, Basilisk Games is just a small studio and we do not have the resources to make such an ambitious game, which I came to realize when I missed goal after goal during the first 18 months of development. I even asked for help (via a front page post for 3D character designers) but hiring people costs a lot money, and I finally made the decision to not spend that money continuing on a design paradigm that might never reach completion.

And so, a few months ago I made the hard decision to abandon the 3D game concept and go back to an isometric design, which is far more achievable in the long run, but that change in direction forced us to reset everything. A "hard reset", as they say, back to nearly phase 1 of the design process. We do get to keep a lot of the inventory code and rule set functions, but the game engine and many graphic elements all have to be redone.

TRC is a dream of mine, in many aspects predating Eschalon with design notes going back to the late 1990s. I will keep working on it so long as there is breath in my lungs and at least a few dollars in my bank account. It's just going to take some time. Meanwhile, as all game developers do, I have inspiration from day to day on other RPGs....an Eschalon prequel using this new engine? A dungeon-crawler in the spirit of the old Might & Magic / Wizardry games? There's a lot of fun little demos floating around the office right now, any one of them may be a seed to a new project.

In a previous post, I mentioned that Basilisk Games might be helping a smaller local developer publish a mobile game. This deal has reached an agreement, and I am spending the remainder of 2018 getting this game prepped for release on Android and iOS. It's described as a "tower-building trivia game", and although it's not something any of you would think would have come from Basilisk Games (remember, we're just the publisher), it is a fun little game, very family friendly, and it could provide us with a bit of helpful cash flow. I'll let you know when it's released, and every download will help us tremendously. The game will be free, driven by ads, as many mobile games are.

Another thing on the 2019 schedule: a website redesign. I think it's time to get away from the front-page blog style website that we've had since 2007 and modernize the look a bit.

So that's about about it. Another year gone, another year without an RPG to show you, but we're still here doing our thing. Will 2019 be the year we finally get to properly announce our sci-fi RPG? Maybe a new RPG altogether? Will Basilisk Games evolve into being just a publisher for mobile games?? Will we throw in the towel and go get "real jobs in the real world"?? Stay tuned, it's going to be an interesting year!

 

[Xeon]

Yeah, so I am not sure what was he expecting by suddenly going 3D.

I am glad he decided to go back to isometric, tho I hope he doesn't make another fantasy but something else, maybe a sci-fi one to practice on for their TRC title or something might be cool.

 

[Viata]

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Not sure how to think about this.

 

[Big Wrangle]

Expecting the "real jobs in the real world" scenario at this rate.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Ooh, this is exciting news, but it's a long way away so I'll just forget I heard this now.

 

[tindrli]

i wonder, why the fuck he didnt try to employ someone from balkans to do the job..with a little luck i bet they would do it just for fame

 

[LESS T_T]

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13327&start=15#p63568

can't you use the Zodiac engine to throw together like, uh, a space tower defense game or something for a quick cash grab?

The funny thing is, Zodiac was supposed to be a quick "cash grab" in terms of a short development cycle. The problem was that I couldn't cut corners; every time I playtested it I knew that there needed to be more. From a simple shooter to having basic missions, from basic missions to a having a real storyline, and from a deeper storyline there is a need for more content (ships, upgrades, etc). It became a dangerous, slippery slope that I blindly fell into and lost nearly a year of development to it, and still wasn't anywhere near being finished.

I still have it, it's still here, and I even jump in and drop a few lines of code from time to time. I think it will see the light of day, one day. And no, it's really easy to just transform it all into a space tower defense game. The process just doesn't work that way.

Things are moving fast and furious here in the studio. Daily coding, several projects moving forward in one way or another, and negotiations continuing to be had with other developers. Stay tuned!

 

[LESS T_T]

Blog update, for a change: http://basiliskgames.com/over-a-year-since-our-last-update/

Over a YEAR since our last update??

Where has the time gone?

Yes, we are still here doing our thing: making games! If you’ve followed us over the past year, you’ll know that we’ve been working on a sci-fi RPG but decided to change the engine on it after 18+ months of work. I don’t want to repeat myself, but sometimes a game’s design just doesn’t work out and a hard reset is needed. The project is still actively being worked on.

So really, at this point, we actually have three major projects that we’ve been developing for a few years. Only one of our these projects is a true role-playing game, which I feel reflects our desire to not just be considered an exclusive RPG developer. I really can’t say which one of these projects might reach beta stage first, which is generally when I feel comfortable announcing them. We jumped the gun on the Zodiac project a couple years ago (and yes, Zodiac is still one of the projects in development).

Later in 2019 we should have a website redesign, and our accountant would very much like to see us announce a game this year, so…we’ll see. Until then, game on!