Indie Call of Saregnar - a Betrayal at Krondor-inspired RPG

[Rhuantavan]

Hey bros. Just wanted to inform you that I have removed the demo from Steam and Itch.io, because it doesn't reflect the current state of the game. I'll most likely release an updated one for the winter festivities. Cheers!

 

[Abu Antar]

I almost got a stroke. I removed the demo... my vision started to blur. I was expecting the worst.

 

[Rhuantavan]

Sorry about that!

 

[MerchantKing]

So when does this come out?

 

[Rhuantavan]

So when does this come out?

When Dina says so. Everyone knows that.

 

[Haba]

So when does this come out?

This winter.

Hey bros. Just wanted to inform you that I'll release for the winter festivities. Cheers!

 

[Rhuantavan]

So when does this come out?

This winter.

Hey bros. Just wanted to inform you that I'll release for the winter festivities. Cheers!

I was pretty sure MerchantKing's question was aimed at the full game release. Was it not?

 

[PulsatingBrain]

So when does this come out?

This winter.

Hey bros. Just wanted to inform you that I'll release for the winter festivities. Cheers!

I was pretty sure MerchantKing's question was aimed at the full game release. Was it not?

Haba is either fucking around or a damn fool.

Or

both

 

[Haba]

I was pretty sure MerchantKing's question was aimed at the full game release. Was it not?

Yes.

You better start working on it mister.

 

[garren]

I was looking at old screenshots and started wondering about the spell system. If I remember correctly, in the demo you just chose the endurance cost and it would heal/damage for as much as you used endurance for the spell. Just speculating here because I don't know how you've planned the spell system fully, but why would you choose anything other than the maximum allowed endurance cost, if you want to damage an enemy that's unhurt (this bothered me in krondor for example, why choose anything else, unless it's overkill for a weak enemy, or you're low on endurance/hp)? Why choose two turns to cast a damage spell that does ten damage instead of using one turn to cast a twenty damage point spell? Or choose anything but the exact cost to heal an ally fully when he's damaged (again, unless you're low on endurance/hp, or think the enemy might target you therefore saving the points)? If you don't know the enemy's health, then I suppose speculation makes for an interesting decision on how much endurance to use to cast a damage spell for example, so that the enemy would die from the spell, and that's good, but still, I think there should be more pros and cons on how to choose different endurance costs when casting the spells.

Like, perhaps you could spend a small amount of endurance (like up to ten) for a normal costing spell, after that if you want a more a powerful spell the endurance cost would be doubled for an extra damage point or something. So you could choose if you want to be more conservative with your spell costs, or if you want to go all out for a big heal or a damage spell at a critical moment and then having to pay the price for that. If you have endurance potions in the game, those would sure come in handy if you want to go all out on spells. Maybe there could be even quests to please different gods so that they grant you a boon that lowers the cost of that gods spells, or grants you the ability to spend more points on that god's spells. Or gaining levels in spellcasting would lower the cost of the spells slowly as you level up so to speak, and also grant you the ability to spend more points on spells, so the system would scale better for harder enemies later in the game.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I was looking at old screenshots and started wondering about the spell system. If I remember correctly, in the demo you just chose the endurance cost and it would heal/damage for as much as you used endurance for the spell. Just speculating here because I don't know how you've planned the spell system fully, but why would you choose anything other than the maximum allowed endurance cost, if you want to damage an enemy that's unhurt (this bothered me in krondor for example, why choose anything else, unless it's overkill for a weak enemy, or you're low on endurance/hp)? Why choose two turns to cast a damage spell that does ten damage instead of using one turn to cast a twenty damage point spell? Or choose anything but the exact cost to heal an ally fully when he's damaged (again, unless you're low on endurance/hp, or think the enemy might target you therefore saving the points)? If you don't know the enemy's health, then I suppose speculation makes for an interesting decision on how much endurance to use to cast a damage spell for example, so that the enemy would die from the spell, and that's good, but still, I think there should be more pros and cons on how to choose different endurance costs when casting the spells.

Like, perhaps you could spend a small amount of endurance (like up to ten) for a normal costing spell, after that if you want a more a powerful spell the endurance cost would be doubled for an extra damage point or something. So you could choose if you want to be more conservative with your spell costs, or if you want to go all out for a big heal or a damage spell at a critical moment and then having to pay the price for that. If you have endurance potions in the game, those would sure come in handy if you want to go all out on spells. Maybe there could be even quests to please different gods so that they grant you a boon that lowers the cost of that gods spells, or grants you the ability to spend more points on that god's spells. Or gaining levels in spellcasting would lower the cost of the spells slowly as you level up so to speak, and also grant you the ability to spend more points on spells, so the system would scale better for harder enemies later in the game.

You have made some fine points there, particularly regarding gaining levels in spellcasting to lower the spell cost. I might consider doing something along those lines down the line, but we'll see.

As for the reason for picking the lower power of a certain spell, it is as you observed. Endurance can quickly become a scarce commodity in combat and you might not want to spend it all if you think an enemy is close to death etc.

 

[garren]

Thanks for the reply. Another question, what other game engine will you be switching to? Unreal, Godot, something else..?

In all seriousness, wtf Unity..

 

[Rhuantavan]

While I hate the situation with Unity and hope they back down, I don't feel it will significantly impact my (niche, but not exactly bargain bin) game.

 

[Konjad]

While I hate the situation with Unity and hope they back down, I don't feel it will significantly impact my (niche, but not exactly bargain bin) game.

CEO sold a lot of stocks before this decision, they won't back down. It's all planned to lose a lot of value.

 

[RPK]

While I hate the situation with Unity and hope they back down, I don't feel it will significantly impact my (niche, but not exactly bargain bin) game.

CEO sold a lot of stocks before this decision, they won't back down. It's all planned to lose a lot of value.

I am pissed about Unity's breach of trust too, but this is really not much of a story. He's sold 50k shares at various points in the last year. He owns millions of shares. The timing makes for a bad look, but he's been selling regularly for a long time.

What that says about his confidence in the company may be another point, but from what I've read, selling portions of stock rewards like this is not uncommon.

That being said, I think John Riccitiello is a horrible person to be running any company. He's already turned EA into the most hated company in America and he's now doing the same to Unity.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Konjad]

release date this christmas?

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[HoboForEternity]

release date this christmas?

Ffs never release your game on holiday season unless you really, really really have to

 

[GhostCow]

Both look good to me, but I'm anti-pixelshit in general so I'll call it an upgrade.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Falksi]

I like both, but think the right side defo looks better and more sellable too.

 

[garren]

I actually prefer the first screenshot from an aesthetic standpoint, it fits the most to the pixelated look of the game. The pure black background is easier on the eyes though, but I don't like the big screen wide black bars on the bottom and the top of the screen, it looks almost too clean and makes the scene more "cinematic", therefore taking you out of the more casual style of dialogue if that makes sense. Was there something wrong with the old style? Changing the border of the cinematic black dialogue bars to the old style could maybe break some of that clean look. Why not just make the old style background fully black? Maybe you'll get used to the new style while playing if it stays but right now I think it looks worse.

About the font, yeah the pixelated font does tire your eyes in the long term. If you can find a nice clean font to read that would be great. The one in the screenshots right now looks too much overly stylized I think. Maybe have an option to switch between the pixelated font and a new clean font which would be the default?

 

[Rhuantavan]

I actually prefer the first screenshot from an aesthetic standpoint, it fits the most to the pixelated look of the game. The pure black background is easier on the eyes though, but I don't like the big screen wide black bars on the bottom and the top of the screen, it looks almost too clean and makes the scene more "cinematic", therefore taking you out of the more casual style of dialogue if that makes sense. Was there something wrong with the old style? Changing the border of the cinematic black dialogue bars to the old style could maybe break some of that clean look. Why not just make the old style background fully black? Maybe you'll get used to the new style while playing if it stays but right now I think it looks worse.

About the font, yeah the pixelated font does tire your eyes in the long term. If you can find a nice clean font to read that would be great. The one in the screenshots right now looks too much overly stylized I think. Maybe have an option to switch between the pixelated font and a new clean font which would be the default?

Once you see it in action, I think you'll agree the new presentation is better, but then again, it is all subjective.

I will definitely offer a choice of font, so everyone should be happy. The one I posted is just a variant, perhaps even overly stylized in my opinion as well.

 

[agris]

I actually prefer the first screenshot from an aesthetic standpoint, it fits the most to the pixelated look of the game. The pure black background is easier on the eyes though, but I don't like the big screen wide black bars on the bottom and the top of the screen, it looks almost too clean and makes the scene more "cinematic", therefore taking you out of the more casual style of dialogue if that makes sense. Was there something wrong with the old style? Changing the border of the cinematic black dialogue bars to the old style could maybe break some of that clean look. Why not just make the old style background fully black? Maybe you'll get used to the new style while playing if it stays but right now I think it looks worse.

About the font, yeah the pixelated font does tire your eyes in the long term. If you can find a nice clean font to read that would be great. The one in the screenshots right now looks too much overly stylized I think. Maybe have an option to switch between the pixelated font and a new clean font which would be the default?

I think the second screenshot looks the best, the font is more readable and appears to suit the existing graphic style.

While I like the black bars, I do think you could accomplish a similar framing device by replacing the black with illustrated UI panels. I'm not sure what your other UI elements look like, but if you're going for anything approaching skeuomorphic then (1) you have good taste and (2) should have some assets that could be easily adapted into this. If you're going modern, minimalist UI, then the existing black bars are actually better.