Indie DrDungeon's Ultizurk and MADMAN Thread

[DrDungeon]

Nice to see my new avatar up. Thanks guys. Right now I'm working on the in-game manual, which is easy - just a lot of typing. I played through the whole game from scratch and all looks well. I'm expecting maybe 30 to 40 hours gameplay for the average user.

Still a little stuck in the finishing art department. Maybe I don't need characters portraits on par with something like Icewind Dale. Maybe somewhere between, say, Ultima 6 and IceWind Dale? Not sure how to proceed or ask for qualified artists. Is the Codex Workshop my best bet as Infinitron suggested?

In any case, I'm expecting Madman to be released sometime by or before Christmas. Shouldn't be any delays as its basically done. Thanks again all for your support!

Until then I remain yours,
-Dr. Dungeon
- In The Castle of
- The Mach Gryphon

 

[FrancoTAU]

How much do plan on charging?

 

[DrDungeon]

I'm thinking 15 dollars would be reasonable. When I think of the insane amount of work it took to make it, I tend to think its worth like maybe thirty dollars. But I know I have to be realistic. I can brag all day, and indeed I can firmly say Madman is light years ahead of my old stuff. But realistically I know this isn't Never Winter Nights 2, or The Witcher, or Divine Divinity or something. So no matter how proud I am of the accomplishment, I have to be realistic about the price. Any higher than 15 I think its asking a bit much, any lower and I might not see enough to continue with more games. Madman is the ultimate I can do as a one-man basement operation. Even now I'll be needing a little help with finishing art. Future projects will almost certainly require hired help to get done in a reasonable time frame. So putting that all together, I think 15 is about right.

 

[Aeschylus]

I'm thinking 15 dollars would be reasonable. When I think of the insane amount of work it took to make it, I tend to think its worth like maybe thirty dollars. But I know I have to be realistic. I can brag all day, and indeed I can firmly say Madman is light years ahead of my old stuff. But realistically I know this isn't Never Winter Nights 2, or The Witcher, or Divine Divinity or something. So no matter how proud I am of the accomplishment, I have to be realistic about the price. Any higher than 15 I think its asking a bit much, any lower and I might not see enough to continue with more games. Madman is the ultimate I can do as a one-man basement operation. Even now I'll be needing a little help with finishing art. Future projects will almost certainly require hired help to get done in a reasonable time frame. So putting that all together, I think 15 is about right.

All in all, $15 is a pretty realistic price point. I think that, regardless of the game's quality, people tend to have a hard time shelling out more than that for what would be perceived as an 'indie' game. That said, I'm pretty pumped that this is going to be released, as I really enjoyed your games back in the day.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

The good doctor has my support!

 

[norolim]

I'm thinking 15 dollars would be reasonable. When I think of the insane amount of work it took to make it, I tend to think its worth like maybe thirty dollars. But I know I have to be realistic. I can brag all day, and indeed I can firmly say Madman is light years ahead of my old stuff. But realistically I know this isn't Never Winter Nights 2, or The Witcher, or Divine Divinity or something. So no matter how proud I am of the accomplishment, I have to be realistic about the price. Any higher than 15 I think its asking a bit much, any lower and I might not see enough to continue with more games. Madman is the ultimate I can do as a one-man basement operation. Even now I'll be needing a little help with finishing art. Future projects will almost certainly require hired help to get done in a reasonable time frame. So putting that all together, I think 15 is about right.

I'll definitely try at that price point.

 

[PeeWee]

Dr. Dungeon reports about the new "MadMan":
- There will be a quick-save and load feature.
- Dr. Dungeon got the all new title screen up and working.
- Dr. Dungeon finished the Instructions/Manual.

I have sent four new screenshots to Deuce Traveler for uploading. Dr. Dungeon titles them as:
"A deeply dramatic game with just the right amount of campiness."

 

[Deuce Traveler]

And here they are:

I really like that font and background.

 

[Infinitron]

I would have liked to rotate it so I can play in a classic Ultima VII perspective. That faux-isometric thing is kinda weird.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Looks better than Skyrim

 

[DrDungeon]

***** THE DAILY DUNGEON *****
MADMAN undergoing PeeWee Gauntlet! Read all about it!

We of the Wizard's Guild and Dr. Dungeon are pleased to report that Madman has officially reached early beta stage, and is currently being brutally tested by the
mighty PeeWee, official Guildmaster of the Castle of the Mach Gryphon. The wizard's have decreed that for the duration of this test, he shall be given the
temporary promotion to DUNGEON MASTER, playing a real role in the creation of Dr. Dungeon's masterpiece!

Let us all raise a tankard of dwarven ale, or Beowulfian mead in honor of PeeWee, Dr. Dungeon's ultimate henchman.

Who is he really? He is a bit of a mystery even to Dr. Dungeon, living in a faraway land. He has gone through every world Dr. Dungeon ever created, even some that
no one knows about. A mighty fan with a zest for adventure.

But I can say this: he has a great gift - the gift to notice details. Even Sherlock Holmes would
raise an eyebrow at Peewee's skills of observation.

You could think of PeeWee as something like DATA from Star Trek.

Not one error, not one undotted "i" goes unseen by PeeWee, thus the logical choice for the first person on earth to test MadMan.

Let us hear some applause for the mighty Dungeon Master, PeeWee!!!

We will be testing madman like crazy for several weeks. When both The Dungeon Master and Dr. Dungeon approve that all is well, we will likely begin an official
beta test, likely drawing from the members of this excellent group, who encouraged me on toward the completion of this project.

Whosoever would then dare challenge the world of the MadMan, speak ye now or forever hold thy peace!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

You know, I'm sure you could get a few folks here at the Codex to do some game testing for you. First, we obviously have too much free time, as you can see if you ever visit the GD forums. And we like free stuff, even if the swag in question is a beta version of a game.

 

[Jashiin]

I would have liked to rotate it so I can play in a classic Ultima VII perspective. That faux-isometric thing is kinda weird.

I would pay money for someone to rotate ultima VII so it looks like this. I want to love VII but it makes my head hurt.

 

[Luzur]

GET IT OUT.

NOW.

 

[m_s0]

There's tons of games coming out in 2014 so wrapping MadMan up this year wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm pretty excited to play this myself, actually.

 

[DrDungeon]

Trouble at the castle! PeeWee hasn't been heard from in over 5 days. Unlike him. He was busily testing MadMan for about a week, sending reports but my follow-up emails haven't been answered and no explanation. Hope everything is alright, I'm a little concerned. If anyone hears from him, please let me know. -Dr. D.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Nothing on my side. It's been awhile since he sent me an e-mail, but he usually only does so when it is time for an update.

 

[DrDungeon]

Ok - all is well. He just got busy. Got a full report and all is well! It seems there's no bugs in madman! Just a couple tweaks to make. Its very likely I'll be releasing a bug-free game!

 

[iZerw]

It seems there's no bugs in madman! Just a couple tweaks to make. Its very likely I'll be releasing a bug-free game!

Don't make Cleve's mistake. Spread the beta among some codexers for the final beta-test.

 

[Stabwound]

Looking forward to this. This has been a pretty great thread considering what came of it.

You should really consider getting a website up. Something like http://wordpress.com/ is really easy to use, and it wouldn't be hard to get a decent-looking site up with the screenshots and game information.

 

[DrDungeon]

PeeWee is STILL testing Madman! He got up to level 20 somehow and has been playing almost 40 hours. This is not your father's Madman! Its bigger than I thought. We've tweaked a couple things here and there, fixed some misspellings, etc. and all seems well. Shortly, a fellow Indy friend of mine will enter the whacky world of the madman. When those two give it two thumbs up, we'll see if some codexers want to take on the challenge in a final beta test.
Things are very busy here at the castle now with finishing touches, etc. It won't be long until Madman is unleashed unto the world!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

He got up to level 20 somehow

Is that difficult?

 

[m_s0]

GET IT OUT.

NOW.

 

[DrDungeon]

Not quite ready for Christmas. It is still going through the PeeWee gauntlet but he's nearly done. We made a lot of tweaks and fixed a few minor errors but mostly all seems well. Its pretty much sitting here on my hard drive waiting on PeeWee. When he's done, I'll be passing Beta 2 to him as well as a fellow indy developer. These two are likely to bring it to an almost ready to release state. I'm real happy how it has all turned out. In one way or another its been in development for years, and especially these last two years making this new engine.

Maybe the neatest thing about Madman is neither me nor PeeWee found any real bugs. It never crashed. So that's a good thing.

Its hard to put a time frame on finalizing everything. Its a little like getting the Saturn V ready for launch when the rocket itself is ready.

A few weeks maybe? This seems plausible. It will be worth the wait, I can assure all. Thanks again for everything. -Rob aka. Dr. Dungeon

 

[PeeWee]

Dear gentlemen and ladies,

Among other things, Dr. Dungeon has completed the quest of getting the lost / missing page for the spellbook.

Dr. Dungeon already informed you that I got up to level 20 "somehow". ERYFKRAD asked: "Is that difficult?" Yes, that is difficult and it takes a very long time, but you do not need to do so to win the game.

I have completed the new "MadMan" twice. I did this in 2 different versions.

I have completed all quests, including:
- getting the lost / missing page for the spellbook
- reuniting the Water Witch and the Fire Witch
- saving Dennis’ farm from the curse
- powering up the City of Gold and White

I have used lockpicks for the following:
- picking locks of doors
- picking locks of chests
- disarming floor traps / trapped floors

I have done many things, including:
- picking elderberries from the land
- picking cotton berries from the land
- using a fishing pole to catch a fish
- using a shovel to dig at a loose dirt pile
- picking an ear of corn from the land
- picking cotton from the land
- getting wool from a sheep
- making a cloth from cotton
- making another cloth with a different colour from cotton
- making a coat from wool
- using a pickaxe on a pile of rock(s) to get slingstones
- using a pickaxe on a stalagmite to get slingstones
- using a pickaxe to get iron ore
- using a pickaxe to get copper ore
- making a dagger of iron ore
- making a short sword of iron ore
- making a longsword of copper ore
- making a 2-handed sword of copper ore
- using elderberries and an empty bottle to get a bottle of elderberry wine
- making popcorn from an ear of corn
- baking bread
- making a Green Potion
- making a Red Potion
- making a Golden Potion
- making a Purple Potion
- making a Blue Potion
- making a Potion of Speed
- smoking one of Ol’ Killer Jack-Bill’s cigars
- eating / licking one of Ol’ Killer Jack-Bill’s lollipops
- drinking / taking a sip from some of Ol’ Killer Jack-Bills’ lemonade

Thank you, if read all this.