LESS T_T
Arcane
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2012
- Messages
- 13,582
I accidentally visited Steam community for Darklands and saw a thread made by Arnold Hendrick himself @_@: http://steamcommunity.com/app/327930/discussions/0/343788552550787364/
On the possibility for Darklands sequel:
What he would have done differently with Darklands:
Go to the thread if you want to see more (or maybe to ask your questions.)
Apparently he's currently semi-retired and playing games he wanted to play: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022734065
He's very active at CK2 Steam forum, heh: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022734065/posthistory/
(Also he owns Dungeon Rats, but not AoD, and played few hours of HoniePop. )
Ask the original designer why...
Over 20 years ago, I almost bankrupted MicroProse by designing Darklands and leading the team that built it. I will do my best to answer design questions in this thread.
There are some caveats:
- I do not have any legal rights to the game or its code, so I can't promise any improvements or follow-ons.
- I am unfamiliar with the code adjustments made to produce this version. I can't help you with bugs.
- I'm a designer and producer, not an artist or programmer, so I can't help you mod the graphics or decompile the code.
- I don't have 10+ million of dollars to invest in making a new version. If somebody were to offer me a decent budget,I could do it. I've built and led teams many times in the game industry. However, I don't think that's going to happen for Darklands in what's left of my natural lifespan.
Nevertheless, for those seeking insights into the mind of a designer/producer, I'm available.
On the possibility for Darklands sequel:
I've always been a fan of RPGs, going back to the paper and pencil era. It took all my political clout and influence at MicroProse to get the project started. I'm also an academically trained historian, which helped inspire the topic and the approach to it. You can see echoes of Traveller and Runequest in the Darklands design, although the setting was totally original.
The problem with making a modern sequel is money. A decent-looking and playing RPG is NOT cheap. The amount of content for RPGs is staggeringly expensive (lots of art time for world building, character creation, animation, etc.), not to mention all the game data and game logic. If you want it playable online (an MMORPG), that roughly doubles the game programming cost, and adds a whole business-software layer to handle monetization (whether subs or F2P style cash shops). As a producer with solo game and MMO experience, I know the level of effort needed. The classic indie mistake is underestimating the work required, but not realizing it until you've burned through your money and are only half done, at best.
People I know have tried crowdfunding game projects. With a few rare exceptions, most projects can only pull in 0.5 to 1.5 million dollars, assuming they even succeed to that degree. I calculate that I'd need at least 10 million to staff a team for 2 years to build the a Darklands sequel. Therefore, for a modern version, I'd have to find a "white knight" who was willing to invest multiple millions in a core team. That team builds some early demos to attract most of the remaining funding. Crowdfunding helps validate the project (or help us find how to change it) and provide additional money for marketing and reserves. Steam Early Access might play a role in the final phase of testing and financing near release.
It is possible that such a "white knight" investor might be a game publisher. Unfortunately, I don't know of any publishers who would be interested. Even in the heyday of MMORPGs, publishers were very leary of projects that didn't have a big license to generate nice sales estimates from the marketing department.
What he would have done differently with Darklands:
What would I have done differently? Oh, thousands of things.
* First off, the up-front planning and week-by-week management of the game development was terrible. I've learned a lot in 25 years, and so has the game development business in general. Using modern project management (such as scrum), engines, tools and "extreme programming" techniques (which are no longer so extreme), development would have been smoother and more predictable.
* Second, the entire UI needs a complete overhaul. Mouse control was in its infancy on the PC (virtually nobody was using Windows when Darklands was released). Twenty years of Windows releases and mouse-based gaming provides a rich "shelf" of tools that a designer can use to make a game easier to learn and play.
Speaking of UI, a much better UI for character creation is needed. Players should be navigating along a tree to see a character's past career and future choices, benefits and risks of each decision, and a side-box showing how character stats have changed. Right now you're "flying blind" unless you squint almost endlessly at the hint book. Character "backstory" created during generation should be available throughout the game in more detail.
* Third, an "early quests" tutorial mechanism should be present to teach players the game in easy stages, with programmed-in rewards along the way. There are WAY better ways of learning to swim (or play games) than just tossing the player into the deep end and calling out "good luck" as they trash and drown. The game should also have a library of pre-generated adventurers for building a party, which achievements for keeping weaker adventurers alive!
* Fourth, the game needs better table and data-driven encounters, with more variety in the maps, opponents, and goals. This should include more non-combat encounters, mini-quests, and quests that require characters with political, intellectual and/or religious skills for a better "flavor of the times." There should also be some not-so-life-and-death combat encounters.
The quest/encounter system needs a better way of providing more challenge to advanced parties. Raubritters and other opponents, if left alone, should sometimes remain in place and become stronger, rather than eventually disappearing. Similarly, quests should include pointers and hints to other quests, making the world itself seem interactive. There should be more "warning" encounters to players who try too hard a quest too soon. It's too easy to get in over your head.
Data-driven design was in its infancy then (the term hadn't even been coined). The game is heavily table-driven, but I now have vastly more experience in setting up data in multiple interlocking tables to drive gameplay. A great deal MORE could be done.
* Fifth, while invisible to players, the in-game text needs to be isolated and made much easier for a translator to handle. I remember the German translator staying on site for months, working with the lead programmer, to create the German version. We made a TON of decisions that made translation a nightmare.
* Sixth, of course the game needs character and battle graphics overhaul with a decent 3D engine and modern graphics (and resolution). The regional (strategic) map could be redone in a painterly way, with the current party leader becoming the party icon on that map. The map should also have cairns marking past encounters and adventures, directional pointers toward new quests, each with a popup window for additional details. Finally, every city visited should have an informational dialog with helpful information about what's there, your reputation, quests taken and ignored, etc.
* Seventh, I'd like a first rate soundtrack full of appropriate orchestral music. Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Carl Orff come to mind, since I doubt I could afford a custom-composed orchestral sound track from my favorite modern composer (Philip Glass).
* Eighth, I'd make the graphics in pngs or jpgs as much as possible, while game logic and data was in CSV, XML and/or JSON format (again as much as possible). The 3D components should be in 3ds Max and well documented. The goal would be to allow players to create additional art for characters and terrain, and open the data systems to additional encounter writing and character creation. Indeed, modders should have the ability to create an entirely new game uising the core system, if they wished. All this connected to the Steam workshop so modders could really enjoy themselves too. This means the game needs a mod-manager for deciding what to run, once you've downloaded it from Steam.
** NOTE: I haven't figured out how many tens of millions of dollars would be needed. Realistically, I would want the engineering, art and production leads working with me to provide a sound estimate. I figure $20 to $30 million, and at least 2 1/2 years, plus however long it takes to assemble the core development team (maybe another half year?). With less money, I'd have the scale down the wish list, but at less than half that, the trade-offs become so great that neither you nor I would be happy with the result.
Go to the thread if you want to see more (or maybe to ask your questions.)
Apparently he's currently semi-retired and playing games he wanted to play: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022734065
Semi-retired 33 year veteran of the computer game industry as game designer and producer of simulation, strategy, action and role-playing games at everything from struggling start-ups to global publishers. Now finally (!!) has a chance to dig into all the games he could only dabble with in the past.
He's very active at CK2 Steam forum, heh: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022734065/posthistory/
(Also he owns Dungeon Rats, but not AoD, and played few hours of HoniePop. )