Indie DrDungeon's Ultizurk and MADMAN Thread

[hello friend]

You seem like a cool guy, Dr. D - and all the respect for making these games. But would you mind terribly writing in the same font size as everyone else? It reads a bit like you're shouting all the time.

 

[Jaesun]

He should be shouting, compared to the shit games Publishers release out today labeled as cRPG's.

 

[DrDungeon]

Thanks for the note on the font. In my resolution here its a little small, so I hit the font size. Duh! Me!! I'm a programmer??? All I had to do was hit the page size on my Safari toolbar. I guess I'm going crazy. Perfect when writing a game called "MadMan", I guess!

Ok - did a little research. Apparently Apple is doing all sorts of mayhem with .mac, mobile me, etc., forcing me to eventually upgrade to OS X Lion and iCloud! So not sure if this will work, but if it does, you should see a picture of a madman character - Bonnie the herbalist in Cliffside. Here goes!

 

[DrDungeon]

ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

 

[Aeschylus]

It seems the system you're using for the site is very finicky.

Here you go. The image hosting site I uploaded them to is imgur.com by the way.

 

[EmoBunny]

Just wanted to say I'm playing Ultizurk 1 and it's a fantastic piece of history and quite fun to pass the time with. I'm looking forward to more from you, and I must say that it is quite fabulous how the Codex can bring such wondrous things to pass. cheers

 

[DrDungeon]

ULTIZURK II: The Shadow Master, is now up on the site! This one had a few improvements over UZ1. Its quite a bit larger and has more of a Sci-Fi flavor to it. You're in a king of contest to prove who is more worthy, you, or the Shadow Master?
http://web.me.com/drdungeon/Site/MAIN.html

This game was almost lost and almost impossible to find on the net! Now here it is, alive and well!

 

[JarlFrank]

I tried some of the Ultizurk games and the interface is too archaic for me to enjoy them, but I'll have to and you for your efforts and for re-uploading the impossible to find second game of the series.

 

[Infinitron]

I'm currently answering the call of duty of my glorious nation. Will update OP when I return.

 

[fax_]

Hi Dr. Dungeon,

I don't have much of a post history on the Codex as a long-time lurker (only recent member). I have a number of real-life bothers presently that are absorbing my time, but since these sorts of projects don't get as much support as they deserve, I just wanted to add my encouragement in saying that I was excited to hear about the Ultizurk games and look forward to playing them when I have a proper moment to appreciate them (although in a test run I've noticed some difficulties because my laptop doesn't have a numpad and the movement actions are mapped to the number keys). They look well made and plenty of fun.

Noticed you put up a new screenshot for the revamped Madman - just as a constructive comment: the portrait border doesn't really match with the rest of the GUI and doesn't seem positioned very appropriately (shouldn't the GUI borders line up somewhat?). I think it might be more appealing if the portrait is shown in the top right hand corner (where the selected item stats are currently shown), with gaps between its own edges and the edges of the inventory reflecting the same size of gap between inventory/ragdoll and the main viewing window. Having said that, I guess currently the graphical juxtapositioning isn't the priority - as long as the gameplay and engine are working fine (and I'm sure given your work on the previous engines that they will) I await purchasing the final product (and Ultizurk 4) with anticipation!

Thank you again for all your work and generosity!

 

[DrDungeon]

First and foremost! How do I do the salute emoticon and brofist thing? I want to do both for Infinitron! If duty calls, I assume he means military duty. And its guys like him that insure we have the freedom to post stuff on message boards, go to baseball games, yell and holler if we want, laugh and play, or make and distribute crazy games like Ultizurk!

Way to go, Infinitron, you definitely rock and have my full support!!

I can relate to the frustration about the keypad. Well, actually....its another ME <-- DUH! moment. All I had to do was program in the W,A,S,D keys. Re-map the S for Save as another key. Very simple. Of course, I forgot to do that and likewise no longer have the code for UZ1. This was just the sort of thing I had to learn and improve as the games went on. Maybe you could hang on to it and try it on another computer. Its a fairly short game.

its funny you took the thoughts right out of my head! I knew the portrait didn't look right there, but not sure why. The spacing! I'm really picky about the look of the game board. I think my plan here is that when the inventory panels are up, its not really necessary to have the portrait up. When the inventories are off, I'll have the minimap and portrait displayed with the character stats nearby.

One more thing! What about the wooden frame on the portrait? Do you think it would be better if I outlined it in the same lighter stone edges of the rest of the screen?

We gotta get this right! Thanks for the tip! -Rob

 

[Aeschylus]

I got a few minutes to play UZ1 this weekend. It was a pretty fun blast from the past, though those PC speaker sounds make my brain hurt. There's something charming about the retro-ness of it, though 3 is my favorite in the series.

And to do the emoticon thingy, click on the little smilies button above and scroll down a bit. Brofisting on this particular subforum isn't allowed for the likes of us newbies.

 

[fax_]

I believe Bro-fisting (...) is disabled for new users to avoid abuse (from people creating alternative accounts under the pseudonym 'drog'), unfortunately. The salute emoticon can be found in the drop-down menu obtained by clicking the yellow smiley-face in the toolbar at the top of the box in which you are writing a reply (although I'd brace yourself before opening it, lest the terrors of the Codex emoticon archive consume you).

Personally I'd say be consistent and make the portrait borders the same as the rest of the interface. Not sure about having the portrait disappear while the inventory is open - after all, there's a lot of space on the screen for the inventory and rag-doll (etc) already, and players might like to keep the inventory grid open while they play, in order to keep track of the items they are carrying. If the inventory grid 'closes' and is replaced by the portrait, then either the portrait is going to be huge (which might look a bit silly), or you are going to have a lot of empty space on the right hand side of the screen.

The original Madman had a very pleasant interface, so assuming you leave the interface 'space' on the right-hand-side as large as it is, then you could try something like:

where the box with the 'eye' symbol provides information on whichever inventory item you hover over, or possibly a description of the current environment, or a response for an item you have used (in the case of reading a note in the game)

However this still looks a bit cluttered - I think because there is simply so much on screen at the same time.

If you are able to reduce the size of the GUI, then switching between windows would look ok. Something along the lines of:

switching to

(depending on which buttons you select from the bottom right of the GUI) [obviously you would scale the GUI bar correctly, here I've squashed it too much, and can't be bothered to fix it]

These are just rough mockups (obviously, my rushed image editing is atrocious) and not totally thought through. For the latter two pictures it is impossible to fit the ragdoll, inventory grid and 'description box' (the one with the 'eye' symbol) in at the same time, which might be irritating... the best solution, I think, would be to have a hovering box pop-up next to the cursor when you hover the cursor over an item in the grid or ragdoll diagram for longer than 1 second, let's say (however, this would make the constant description box superfluous - you could replace it with the ragdoll or a minimap [if the game has a minimap(?)], perhaps).

Not sure what the stats are, looks like hit-points and mana, so that's why they're coloured as they are. Again, it's just a very rough mockup.

Also, I will certainly play once I have access to a suitable computer. When I have some time I should be able to remap my laptop keys as well.

Edit: looks like Aeschylus got there with the emoticon/brofist explanation before I did.

Edit2: on second thoughts (and looking at those pictures), the big GUI might work with the switching (between portrait and inventory) if the portrait is lined up in proportion (as in the latter 2 pictures) with all the other 'boxes' along the left hand edge of the right-hand-side bar. I think my concern is that the portrait and any other window of unequal width should not be present at the same time in the right-hand-side bar, since they'll end up looking out of kilter with one another.

 

[fax_]

The first ('big' GUI mockup) might be more appealing if the position of the description box and the ragdoll are swapped (but appropriately scaled with the upper row) so the colourful parts of the GUI are all on the same side of the screen. Might be worth redoing the ragdoll graphic, on that note, with the same stone background as the rest of the 'dull part' of the interface, so the portrait stands out as the main subject. The swap would also make more sense, since the description of inventory items would appear in the box right underneath the inventory grid.

Apologies for the double-post. Editing time ran out.

 

[fax_]

Ugh, I need to read properly before I launch into things. Forget what I said, drdungeon, I think what you said (re minimap, stats display etc) makes sense. If a mod could delete my comments?

 

[Bruma Hobo]

I'm playing the first Zurk right now How old is it?

 

[DrDungeon]

Wow! Impressive! That's exactly the sort of aesthetic I was looking for! I've been working hard all day to upgrade the GUI taking these suggestions into account. You should be making games yourself! How did you draw those cool icons? Mine (not in the pics yet) - are OK, but not as fancy. I'm looking to fancy-ize this as much as I can! Thanks!

Unorus - Do you mean the very first ZURK - the TRS-80 text one? Wow! The very first full text game I ever made, 23 years ago!
ULTIZURK I was the first graphic one, about 20 years ago. Whew! Hard to believe! -Rob

 

[thesoup]

You're endless enthusiasm reminds me of Stan from Monkey Island for some reason, Dr Dungeon (in a good way).
Best of luck to you, my good sir.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Yes, I'm playing the TRS-80 Zurk... Did you consider to sell a "Zurk 1 to 8" pack on websites like GOG.com?

 

[Mortmal]

I played them a bit, its true the interfaces are archaic now , but you have to put things into context,they were shareware games published years ago(late 90's) alongside titles like:
Excelsior
)

Stonemist:
(
yendorian tales book 1 and a few i forgot names...its comparable to those no more no less. I have to say the last ones are getting closer to titles like ultima 6, i really appreciate the fact its highly interactive and you can harvest crops and such. Its missing a party sadly,a stronger plot and strategic options but you are on the way there , I'll certainly check Ultizurk 4 as well.

 

[Infinitron]

I played them a bit, its true the interfaces are archaic now , but you have to put things into context,they were shareware games published years ago(late 90's)

Actually, the first Ultizurks are from the early 90's.

In other news, I've returned from the desert and updated OP

 

[dextermorgan]

Another thread that makes me feel all warm inside. Anyway, we need a veteran LPer to share the joys of adventuring through good Doctor's games, do we not?

Edit: Perhaps a small article and a rundown of these games for the news section?

 

[Radisshu]

I love these weird Codex occurrences.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I started Ultizurk I last week and look forward to continued play. The graphics are pretty simplistic, but I like them for the most part since they are good enough to differentiate between people, items, rooms and so forth. There are some things that don't work, graphically, however. For instance, a small tile of rocky ground is labelled as a mountain when I use the LOOK command, even though the tile is the same size as the player character. The player character looks like a walking skeleton, which is something that I actually do like since I imagine him as an undead warrior trying to do good. His back story is all in my mind. That's my perverse imagination, I suppose. There is a cyclops or some other giant creature west of the King's throne room, but I can't seem to talk with him and he isn't hostile, so I have to wonder what's going on there.

I love the world so far, even though I have yet to leave the initial town/city. The game forces you to take notes and pay attention, such as when the king talks about an isle southeast of the capital with an important center of knowledge, a dungeon somewhere to the north, and broken teleportation tiles to the southwest that need restoration. And the automated bridges that are activated via levers actually sound cool. This is the nice thing about lower end graphics. Your imagination can make lever-activated bridges seem awesome in a way that today's animation would handle too awkwardly. I also now have a sea-grappler that's supposed to be used for sea salvage and some coordinates to find one particular quest item. Despite the size that this thing must have, it takes up only one inventory box. Very cool.

I am ready to explore the surrounding area and I see some monsters to take on, but when I try to ready my equipment looted from nearby boxes, I seem only to be able to ready one item at a time. So I can ready my sword, but not my shield and vice versa. Has anyone found a way to ready multiple items?

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I played them a bit, its true the interfaces are archaic now , but you have to put things into context,they were shareware games published years ago(late 90's) alongside titles like:
Excelsior
)

I like graphics in this one.