Information Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon - A Real-time Dungeon Crawler on IndieGoGo

[kanda]

Tags: Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon; Indiegogo

As a big fan of the old first-person real-time dungeon crawler Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back, I wanted to let those of you who don't read our forums know that there is currently a Chaos Strikes Back- (as well Dungeon Master- and Grimrock-) inspired "blobber" Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon seeking €9,000 in funding on IndieGoGo:

Dungeon Kingdom is not just going to dust off the dungeon crawling genre; we also believe it will be a worthy ancestor [sic]. We expect the game to have the following features:

• Modern graphics and powerful dynamic lighting and shadows system.
• Multi-platform: Dungeon Kingdom is designed for and is strongly optimized to run on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices! It has scalable rendering system, to make the most of any device.
• Advanced AI and wide array of creature behaviours. Don't be surprised if some smart creatures sneak up behind you to attack!
• Advanced interactions with the environment: for example, you can set fire to the curtains, as seen in the video.
• Cross platform features: for example, you can save your game on PC and retrieve it on your mobile to carry on playing where you left off.
• Multiple Environments: you won't get bored by the environments in Dungeon Kingdom, and there are lots of surprises to find!
• Strong story background: because a Dungeon Crawler can be more than just fight / kill / get treasure, we have created a solid back-story.
• Realistic Physic engine, allowing for new kind of puzzles and realistic animations.
• Different play modes are available to fit best any player experience.
• Modern, but not invasive, features such as achievements.
• To keep the game immersive, Dungeon Kingdom's world is made of continuous levels, there's no fading or loading between levels, except for major environment changes.

We could go on for ages, and also mention most of the traditional features like heroes, team creation, spell creation and many more...

However, I want to insist on something that will make Dungeon Kingdom stay in your memory when you play it: its level design...! A real-time dungeon crawler is also a matter of ambience, tension and immersion; we spend an immeasurable time on level design! We want to burn in your memory all corridors and pieces that you will explore in Dungeon Kingdom! We want to feed your nightmares! Those who have lost their soul two decades ago in the game "Chaos Strikes Back" and its great level design will love Dungeon Kingdom!​

You can also take a look at this early gameplay video:

​

A real-time dungeon crawler with level design inspired by Chaos Strikes Back with an addition of physics and "advanced AI" is something I can always get behind. Check out the IndieGoGo campaign here. (Warning: flexible funding.)

Crooked Bee:
Thanks so much for the post by the way

 

[jdinatale]

So you basically just mash the attack button to win encounters.

 

[kanda]

Visually looks basically exactly like Grimrock. Games coming out in this genre need to work to differentiate themselves from that game a lot more to not just seem like a shoddy ripoff.

Peter
I agree, need to not look the same. But a wall made of bricks is of course a bit similar. However i invite you to look at both grimrock walls and Dungeon Kingdom ones, you'll see they are far to be the same. Colors, shape of bricks, no foam in DK etc etc. In fact...they are very different (as much as possible i would say).
And secondly, there are other environments. But man, the game is seeking funds, means it's not yet finished, not all levels are built and i need to keep some content to unveil during the campaign...And believe me, you'll be VERY surprised...And some are probably totally unexpected !

 

[kanda]

So you basically just mash the attack button to win encounters.

i wonder if you ever played Dungeon Master before to say such a thing ?

Of course it's much more than that ! Avoiding, using environment (bashing the creature under a door, as an example...), casting right spells according the creature you are attacking and many more things to care about !

 

[kanda]

Hmm, I dunno, real time dancing again, meh. Needs good dungeon and puzzle design for me to get interested, and the option to set difficulty to easy so the combat won't be that annoying anymore.
But kanda sounds like the team really is into this project so well. And I'm also not sure if it's such a great idea to make the game exactly look like Grimrock, most people on steam will see it as a ripoff, no matter how often you explain them that it's not inspired by it.
But I wish the project the best, every indie rpg that gets released is a good thing. Just... gimme a turn based crawler now and then

Actually this is part of the features, and planned form the begining: you have several levels of difficulty, so you you don't so much time in fighting, just select the levels that fit best to you, and enjoy the puzzles more.

About comparing to grimrock, we can't avoid it for sure. But the games are very different, both on content (level design, type of environments...) and game systems.

 

[Decado]

Dude, calm the fuck down. You don't have to answer every post. You will run out of steam and/or have a meltdown.

The best revenge is putting out a good game. Listen to feedback, of course, but learn how to separate feedback from internet bullshitting.

 

[Abelian]

Though I'd prefer turn-based gameplay as well, I won't hold it against the game. I particularly enjoyed seeing screenshots documenting the progress over the years.

Bonne chance.

 

[mastroego]

Dude, calm the fuck down. You don't have to answer every post. You will run out of steam and/or have a meltdown.

The best revenge is putting out a good game. Listen to feedback, of course, but learn how to separate feedback from internet bullshitting.

I agree with Decado!
kanda, if it's good, the good word will spread.
And it looks really good to me.
(though I admit the name "Dungeon Kingdom" still doesn't convince me, not sure what it means).

Anyway, I'm glad I backed it, looking forward to the release!
Also, those portraits are super-awesome, you should release them in hi res too (assuming they're original art and not some placeholder)

 

[Eyeball]

Tip for aspiring first-person dungeon crawl developers: take a good, long, hard look at Grimrock's combat. Now DO NOT DO COPY THAT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM BECAUSE IT WAS FUCKING AWFUL!

 

[HiddenX]

Backed the game, too. Looks good. Kanda, give us a status update now and then, here and over at the Watch. Thanks in advance!

 

[kanda]

Dude, calm the fuck down. You don't have to answer every post. You will run out of steam and/or have a meltdown.
The best revenge is putting out a good game. Listen to feedback, of course, but learn how to separate feedback from internet bullshitting.

Well, such a campaing (indiegogo or a kickstarter) is a real combat. We dont have a famous name like peter molyneux or John Carmark. So we have be to perfectly clear and prove anytime that we are serious and that we have the skills to finish the project, we need to convince any single player to help funding the game. As you mentioned, there are internet bullshitting, but at the same time, some of the questions are interesting, it highlights some questions that may arises from players/funders. So i thought it's important to be more clear

 

[kanda]

@[URL='http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?members/mastroego.16565/']mastroego :[/URL] thanks. Yes the portraits are oringal art. I will release many content on a regulary basis, to keep some traffics on the indiegogo page. So stay tuned

Many Thanks to all funders and for your kind words.

 

[kanda]

Though I'd prefer turn-based gameplay as well, I won't hold it against the game. I particularly enjoyed seeing screenshots documenting the progress over the years.
Bonne chance.

Thanks so much
It took me a bit of time to prepare and choose as i have hundred of screens, but i think it is interesting to show the history. You just give an idea, i will probably reuse this to make a new article on indieDb to get more traffic

 

[Peter]

I agree, need to not look the same. But a wall made of bricks is of course a bit similar. However i invite you to look at both grimrock walls and Dungeon Kingdom ones, you'll see they are far to be the same. Colors, shape of bricks, no foam in DK etc etc. In fact...they are very different (as much as possible i would say).
And secondly, there are other environments. But man, the game is seeking funds, means it's not yet finished, not all levels are built and i need to keep some content to unveil during the campaign...And believe me, you'll be VERY surprised...And some are probably totally unexpected !

A brick wall is, of course, a brick wall, but simple things like a slightly different lighting and colour scheme, or more wooden elements, or slightly different colours/materials for walls/floors/ceilings, or whatever, would already go a long way in making your game seem more unique. It's difficult of course, since the level of fidelity is similar to that in Grimrock, and because that game handled the atmosphere and audiovisual stuff so well that it would be ridiculous not to take lessons from it. But in its current form, as Scrooge said, I'm afraid people on Steam who are not as invested in the genre as you are will just look at this and think "Oh, a Grimrock copycat".

You seem to know what you're doing, and the game does look nice, you just need to find and really sell what makes your game special, so that people would give a fuck. We see a lot of these passionate devs with good RPGs here on the 'Dex who are too defensive about their projects and don't garner much success in the long run simply because they underestimate the importance of presentation (and marketing), which is extremely disheartening. Take a step back and understand that saying "but the bricks in Grimrock are much smaller!" is a ludicrous argument, and really try to find a way for your game to avoid that comparison as much as possible.

Best of luck with the project.

 

[kanda]

I agree, need to not look the same. But a wall made of bricks is of course a bit similar. However i invite you to look at both grimrock walls and Dungeon Kingdom ones, you'll see they are far to be the same. Colors, shape of bricks, no foam in DK etc etc. In fact...they are very different (as much as possible i would say).
And secondly, there are other environments. But man, the game is seeking funds, means it's not yet finished, not all levels are built and i need to keep some content to unveil during the campaign...And believe me, you'll be VERY surprised...And some are probably totally unexpected !

A brick wall is, of course, a brick wall, but simple things like a slightly different lighting and colour scheme, or more wooden elements, or slightly different colours/materials for walls/floors/ceilings, or whatever, would already go a long way in making your game seem more unique. It's difficult of course, since the level of fidelity is similar to that in Grimrock, and because that game handled the atmosphere and audiovisual stuff so well that it would be ridiculous not to take lessons from it. But in its current form, as Scrooge said, I'm afraid people on Steam who are not as invested in the genre as you are will just look at this and think "Oh, a Grimrock copycat".
You seem to know what you're doing, and the game does look nice, you just need to find and really sell what makes your game special, so that people would give a fuck. We see a lot of these passionate devs with good RPGs here on the 'Dex who are too defensive about their projects and don't garner much success in the long run simply because they underestimate the importance of presentation (and marketing), which is extremely disheartening. Take a step back and understand that saying "but the bricks in Grimrock are much smaller!" is a ludicrous argument, and really try to find a way for your game to avoid that comparison as much as possible.
Best of luck with the project.

Peter
I agree we are probably so bad on the marketing side. About the lighting, really, we have a very different setup, perhaps difficult to see on the screens, i admit. But we have no cliping, fog, different use of post fx, and you'll see when playing it the lighting is different. BUT, sadly it seems not enough from the screenshots and i am sorry for it. what you said about using wood is true...(as an example). Especially i have many furnitures and stuffs to to add variety and i should use some for the screenshots. This is probably a mistake, but the screenshots are taken from the test bed level, so i didn't spent lot of time on this level to add decoration or details, as the purpose was to test gameplay features, not to get the best visuals. And as a fan of the gen, i was too happy (and hurry) to share the video (and captures) , thinking the gameplay will remain the most important in such a game. I am wrong, nowadays, everybody care so much about the visual (firstly i mean). And we have also totally different shapes :

Anyway, we probably launched the campaign a bit too early and we should have spent more time to prepare better screenshots, but as a player, still playing Dungeon Master even nowadays, i made the mistake to think graphics will not be so important to catch attention
We have one month to win this combat
Thanks for your support, i really appreciate!

 

[t]

Ok so this project has more than enough red flags ranging from suspiciously low costs to being a long-running vapourware (screenshots from 14 years ago?). Will gladly buy it if it comes out and has positive reviews, but definitely will not back this.

 

[mastroego]

Ok so this project has more than enough red flags ranging from suspiciously low costs to being a long-running vapourware (screenshots from 14 years ago?). Will gladly buy it if it comes out and has positive reviews, but definitely will not back this.

If anything those screenshots reassure me that it's been worked on a proper amount of time, and that it isn't, in fact, a quick grab on the wave of Grimrock's success.

Also, he's only started the campaign AFTER having worked for years on this, unlike that Cleave guy with the bug counter in the other thread (and who will start ANOTHER campaign at the end of said counter!).
Also, heck, it's 10-15$.

 

[t]

Also, he's only started the campaign AFTER having worked for years on this, unlike that Cleave

Cleave allegedly worked on Grimoire for 16 years before he engaged in the indiegogo scam 2 years ago.

Also, heck, it's 10-15$.

Which I will gladly pay after the release.

 

[MicoSelva]

Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon is a much better title than the originally proposed Dungeons Kingdom. The funding goal is not very high, so I think you should make it, kanda. Good luck!

 

[kanda]

Ok so this project has more than enough red flags ranging from suspiciously low costs to being a long-running vapourware (screenshots from 14 years ago?). Will gladly buy it if it comes out and has positive reviews, but definitely will not back this.

Well vapourware ? What are you talking about ? The game never been anounced before. It was initially an exercise of style as a developer. And then, only once i could find the right guys to work on the final game, we decided to create a full game. We first spend some time to make sure it was feasible, particularly on so many different platforms. Which is pretty smart, don't you think ? What would you say if i had started an Indiegogo with no early tests or even never worked on a Dungeon Crawler ? What kind of complains would i get from you ? For anything i will reply, you will always disagree! You keep on demonstrating it with all your posts.
If all players were following your idea, nobody would help to fund the game and we wouldn't make it as great as we wish, and then you will complain it's a bad game. You will ALWAYS complain... its ok dude, it's your right, you can stay sitting, eat your peanuts, and wait to see what will happen to the game.

 

[kanda]

MicoSelva : thanks a lot ! I hope you are right

 

[t]

Ok so this project has more than enough red flags ranging from suspiciously low costs to being a long-running vapourware (screenshots from 14 years ago?). Will gladly buy it if it comes out and has positive reviews, but definitely will not back this.

Well vapourware ? What are you talking about ? The game never been anounced before. It was initially an exercise of style as a developer. And then, only once i could find the right guys to work on the final game, we decided to create a full game. We first spend some time to make sure it was feasible, particularly on so many different platforms. Which is pretty smart, don't you think ? What would you say if i had started an Indiegogo with no early tests or even never worked on a Dungeon Crawler ? What kind of complains would i get from you ? For anything i will reply, you will always disagree! You keep on demonstrating it with all your posts.
If all players were following your idea, nobody would help to fund the game and we wouldn't make it as great as we wish, and then you will complain it's a bad game. You will ALWAYS complain... its ok dude, it's your right, you can stay sitting, eat your peanuts, and wait to see what will happen to the game.

I understand why you can feel wronged in this situation, but you have to take into account that we can only judge the project on what it shows us at this point. There are plenty of kickstarter games that had even a 100 times higher budget and were ok-ish to mediocre, so I think people should generally stay on the safe side. Unless you have so much disposable income, that you would not blink twice if the game actually failed to materialize, you shouldn't be backing small projects that seem as if they have a big risk of failing.

That said, if there's a codex fundraiser (Crooked Bee ?) I will definitely throw in a couple of bucks just for the badge

 

[kanda]

I understand why you can feel wronged in this situation, but you have to take into account that we can only judge the project on what it shows us at this point. There are plenty of kickstarter games that had even a 100 times higher budget and were ok-ish to mediocre, so I think people should generally stay on the safe side. Unless you have so much disposable income, that you would not blink twice if the game actually failed to materialize, you shouldn't back small projects that seem as if they have a big risk of failing.
That said, if there's a codex fundraiser (Crooked Bee ?) I will definitely throw in a couple of bucks just for the badge

Well i agree "there are plenty of kickstarter games that had even a 100 times higher budget and were ok-ish to mediocre" as you said, but then why not fund a game with a not so high goal with almost no risk of failure ? The game is already running well on desktop+mobiles, we are exprienced game developers, and we are creating this game with lot of passion. If we failed with these great conditions, who will sucess ? That's said, i can understand perfectly that the game's genre can be disliked by some people and of course they won't be interested in funding. But for the lovers of Dungeon Master and other real time dungeon crawler, there no reason to worry, it can't fail. They can only help make it better, as it's already working....[/QUOTE]

 

[Nyast]

One thing I'm a bit confused is, how advanced is the project ? Release date is stated as jan 2015, that's only 4 months from now, which implies that the game is basically almost finished ? But you said that not all levels are built and that it's still missing a lot of content... can you really finish everything in 4 months, including debugging/testing/QA ?

Another question that I have is, how big/long is the game ? How many hours of gameplay can we expect ?

In any case I'll either pledge, or at the very least buy the final game, as I'm a big fan of old-school Dungeon-crawlers. Good luck !

 

[Abelian]

We dont have a famous name like peter molyneux

Thank God for that. The last thing you need is someone to build up hype for features that will never be implemented.