Dungeon Lords is literally virtually absolutely the Wizardry 9 we didn't get.

[Nikanuur]

Seeing the commotion here and all, I reinstalled and tried to set the Widescreen as usual: https://www.wsgf.org/dr/dungeon-lords
It took me a while to remember that there are actually several of those strings and only one of them is correct. Changing others messes up the file.
I am sure I am changing the correct string, I can even load the game, but every time I try to load a save game, the game crashes.
I even had to reinstall the game even though I kept a clean copy of the .exe file O.o
I don't know what's wrong, but then again, I used to play in 1650x1080 some time ago. Never tried 1920x1080 before and it doesn't seem to work.
Have any of you managed to run the game in 1920x1080 ?

 

[Nikanuur]

How do I put things in Quick Slots?

Clicking on potions just uses them.

Drag with right click iirc.

Doesn't work, right click just brings up window. If I click on a quickslot the cursor lights up, but left click uses pot or readies scroll, and right click just brings up window.

Cursor on the potion/scroll/spell and press 1-8 on the keyboard. However, it's pretty weird that I tried to start a Thief and I couldn't assign anything to a potion. Then I started an Adept, and I easilly assigned Cure Poison, Healing Potion, Heal spell...

 

[Nikanuur]

FYI: I found a pretty nasty bug. At least in my version CE 1.5:

If I change the resolution after I have already started and saved a game in the previous resolution, I can't load that save EVEN IF I REVERT TO THE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION. Game crashes.
I wonder if reinstalling the game helps, but still, this is kinda jaw dropping.

 

[Butter]

Sounds like we've got another Prelude to Darkness on our hands.

 

[Desiderius]

Hover over plus pressing number key works.

Nice Bradleyesque dynamics under the hood but plenty of clunkiness.

Reminding me of Might and Magic 9

 

[Nikanuur]

What do you know? After 10 years of knowing this game, I've only now discovered that raising STR beyond 26 gives +1 damage. With the STR 28, I now have +3 damage. That's insane! The initial, regular, light-to-medium weapons don't usually go beyond 4-7 dmg, and there is usually little-to-no means to raise the melee dmg for many gameplay hours. Except, perhaps, for some time-limited spells.

 

[Nikanuur]

Unfortunately, the STR bonus didn't seem to be a flat increment after all. I went to search for some more guides, but all I found were rather vague about specifics to anything, much less about exact values of skill increments, etc. I decided to do some extensive, empirical testing on the wretched thieves in the Slums (best spawning grounds in the whole town). As an Elf Adept, equipped with an Elven Spear, 2-7 damage, I can say that:

1. With no damage bonus from STR, I had a hard time killing even one thief. The damage numbers were like 2-4, sometimes a 5, rarely a 6, and probably never 7. I had to run around the corners, use some tactics, and spend a lot of healing potions—the thieves were rather overpowering.
2. Later on, with the +3 bonus from STR, things got weird. I would say I still saw pretty similar damage numbers, with the exception of an occasional 7, and twice out of like a hundred, I saw an 8. Number-wise, it felt almost the same; however, the reality was different. I realized I was moving down groups of 3–5 thieves without much running away.
3. Presently, I have a +8 bonus from STR. I still fairly often see a 2, although numbers 7 and 8 have a steady appearance too. I don't think I have seen a 9. At one time, I killed one thief in two quick hits (yayyyy). Groups of thieves now pose little to no threat, if I mind to block and dodge sometimes.
4. Now for the strangest part. When I used the Baal blade buff with no prior STR bonus, I was hitting far more often, and the numbers were around 7-8. However, when I use the same spell now, I usually deal around 12–17 damage, and one time I even saw a 19.

All things considered, it's safe to say that raising strength, even somewhat early in the game, has an impact on damage. I hope to see a 9 before I get a better weapon. That is, sometimes after 10 more hours of game play

 

[Desiderius]

Lol I'm getting filtered by Theater fight.

Can't get Gobs to follow me into side hallways, get owned in main area.

 

[Nikanuur]

Lol I'm getting filtered by Theater fight.

Can't get Gobs to follow me into side hallways, get owned in main area.

I think it's by design, I never managed that either.
Btw, besides using a bow to chip, chip, chip their HP bars away ;D — don't forget that by now you should have quite an assortment of magic scrolls, spells, or maybe even some Nether Kataals. I believe you can use most of those without any skills.

 

[Desiderius]

Haven't really figured out how to effectively cast spells yet. I've tried to cast some from balcony but can't tell if railing is blocking? Ballista guy hits me up there anyway.

Casting from side doors I just get swarmed.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

Dungeon Turds was the most horribly unfinished and buggy piece of disappointment I have ever played, I still have nightmares about it. Might&Magic 9 looks polished in comparison.

 

[Nikanuur]

Haven't really figured out how to effectively cast spells yet. I've tried to cast some from balcony but can't tell if railing is blocking? Ballista guy hits me up there anyway.

Casting from side doors I just get swarmed.

1. Yeah, railing isn't a best friend for spells, I concur. Shooting, however, often works in the most unbelievable angles.

2. I usualy cheez such combats like this: I stand at the side of an entrance and start casting. About half-way through the casting's animation, I side-step into the entrance, the spell goes through in an instant, and then I immediately side-step back. Shooters/casters get it because their first reaction is usually also a ranged attack instead of moving/dodging. But theirs take a little time whereas mine was a 'cheezy-instant'. Bam.

3. Casting spells/scrolls/prepared nethers, etc. is rather counter-intuitive. It took me a while too.
There are scrolls, mostly buffs/defenses/healings, which go off when you click on them in the inventory.
The attack scrolls are different. When you select one, it gets you back in the combat in a 'ready to cast' mode. Also note, that the quick-spell menu appears to the bottom-right.
Now you cast it by normal attacking (left-click). You can either continue casting until you have charges (all the while moving, dodging, etc.), or you get the tzdt-tzdt sound when you have spent all. When that happens, you cannot do anything unless you close the 'quick-spell menu'. That can lead to quite a few frustrating moments in the heat of the battle... You can close the menu by its own shortcut, or by the 'change weapon' shortcut.

Casting a spell from a quickslot is similar, it's just that you enter the 'ready to cast' mode immediately after pressing a shortuct. After that, it's the same story (charges, unable to attack, tzdt-tzdt sounds, frustration, dying in frustration, throwing monitor out of the window...)

Fyi.: Opening the inventory stops real-time. Enemies stand still, no attacking (be wary though, an already incoming spell/attack/dot still proc). Also, idk if it's a bug or not, but by opening the inventory you can waitout some debuffs (most notably, paralysis). Built-in cheating, eheh.

 

[Nikanuur]

Dungeon Turds was the most horribly unfinished and buggy piece of disappointment I have ever played, I still have nightmares about it. Might&Magic 9 looks polished in comparison.

I don't deny that
I still love it though. There were charms to experience under all that frustration.
But I wonder if you played the 'normal' version. That one was really horrible. The CE gradually obliterated the majority of bugs.
Except for CTDs of course, but that's a problem of the modern OSs and not of the game itself.

 

[Nikanuur]

Uff, I am farther than in other runs before, around 40 hours, and I must admit that I am becoming somewhat disillusioned after all. I saw the signs early and clearly enough, but I wanted to bear with it. Still hanging in there because I really like some stuff—most importantly, the inventive situations and riddles for which Bradley should be forever praised. But I don't know if I will finish it. It's possible that I'll have too much and likely install Wizards and Warriors again. Those are packed with much more of the same goodness, and are much more considerate, as in, not wasting the player's time over insanely long fights with bosses, or trecking across vast, open spaces with little stuff to discover.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

Dungeon Turds was the most horribly unfinished and buggy piece of disappointment I have ever played, I still have nightmares about it. Might&Magic 9 looks polished in comparison.

I don't deny that
I still love it though. There were charms to experience under all that frustration.
But I wonder if you played the 'normal' version. That one was really horrible. The CE gradually obliterated the majority of bugs.
Except for CTDs of course, but that's a problem of the modern OSs and not of the game itself.

I don't know which version I have played, but there was a lot of hype and then there was the, uh, play which felt like pre-alpha footage, with clearly unfinished areas, bugged quests and Todd-level amount of unfinished promises. It has scarred me.

 

[Spike]

Yes, I'm triple posting, what are you going to do about it?

For people that either want to go back to the game, like Desiderius, or new players I just want to say that the key to getting the most of this game is to go into it as if it was made in 1992, and keep in mind that you need to invest into level five into many skills for you to unlock more moves and combos, as well as that the game isn't a barely interactive movie or a life sim, it's in the name, you're going into this game because you're going to become a dungeon lord, you're going to master the dungeons, the OP as fuck monsters that will tear you a new one when you first encounter them, best the puzzles and challenges, and be an adventurer. It doesn't matter that the gameplay is the hack and slash that you really needs LAN friends to get the full experience with, it's no longer turn based, it's no longer a blobber, but it's the same game and adventure beneath the surface.

D.W. Bradley made a game for you, the gamer that still plays video games for the gameplay and overcoming challenges and not as a walking sims where you "take in the sights" or a barely interactive movie. It was the bridge between Wizardry 7 and Demon's Souls/Dark Souls/Elden Ring, less casual and more of an RPG, but with online and LAN multiplayer and real-time action oriented combat. It was the one time an ARPG earned the genre name.

This entire poost should be on the back of the box. I have never been so hyped to start an adventure and you completely sold me to start this after I finish Stranger of Paradise. Maybe even sooner...

 

[thesheeep]

Dungeon Lords is one of my guilty pleasures.

Let's face it, the game is bad, objectively.
The mechanics are some of the most wildly unbalanced nonsense I have seen in my many gaming years, some classes are basically unusable due to their inane spellcasting requirements, the bugs are plenty, the game is basically 90% empty because the game is basically 90% unfinished.
It's like a prototype of what could have been a good game, maybe.

And yet... they somehow managed to create an incredibly dense atmosphere with their art style, lighting and soundscape. Plus, somehow, the combat feels more fluid than you'd expect from a game that unfinished.
The game really has a very "dungeon delving" feeling to it.

So every now and again, like an annual (or every two years) ritual, I fire up the game and soak in the atmosphere, until the broken mess that is the rest of the game invariably grinds my gears so much I stop.

 

[Desiderius]

It's funny. I did just give it up.

I take my kids to the local arcade and take a couple spins at Gyruss or Rolling Thunder (games I flipped back in the day) and now I just give up after a couple wipes.

I have become the pussy.

 

[Ladonna]

If you want an unfinished game to play, try Pirates of the Western Seas.

 

[Be Kind Rewind]

Crossposting this here for purposes of people searching for it.

 

[DaveO]

Dungeon Lords is one of my guilty pleasures.

Let's face it, the game is bad, objectively.
The mechanics are some of the most wildly unbalanced nonsense I have seen in my many gaming years, some classes are basically unusable due to their inane spellcasting requirements, the bugs are plenty, the game is basically 90% empty because the game is basically 90% unfinished.
It's like a prototype of what could have been a good game, maybe.

And yet... they somehow managed to create an incredibly dense atmosphere with their art style, lighting and soundscape. Plus, somehow, the combat feels more fluid than you'd expect from a game that unfinished.
The game really has a very "dungeon delving" feeling to it.

So every now and again, like an annual (or every two years) ritual, I fire up the game and soak in the atmosphere, until the broken mess that is the rest of the game invariably grinds my gears so much I stop.

I got the MMXII edition and ordered the Collector's Edition to do a side-by-side comparison to. It will be streamed after Memorial Day break.

P.S.
Wow, I did not realize how cut down the character customization is for Dungeon Lords MMXII. It's like taking a high performance vehicle and turning it into a beater.

 

[DaveO]

Oh, by the way Descent to Undermountain stream will start the day after July 4th.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dungeon Lords is one of my guilty pleasures.

Let's face it, the game is bad, objectively.
The mechanics are some of the most wildly unbalanced nonsense I have seen in my many gaming years, some classes are basically unusable due to their inane spellcasting requirements, the bugs are plenty, the game is basically 90% empty because the game is basically 90% unfinished.
It's like a prototype of what could have been a good game, maybe.

And yet... they somehow managed to create an incredibly dense atmosphere with their art style, lighting and soundscape. Plus, somehow, the combat feels more fluid than you'd expect from a game that unfinished.
The game really has a very "dungeon delving" feeling to it.

So every now and again, like an annual (or every two years) ritual, I fire up the game and soak in the atmosphere, until the broken mess that is the rest of the game invariably grinds my gears so much I stop.

I got the MMXII edition and ordered the Collector's Edition to do a side-by-side comparison to. It will be streamed after Memorial Day break.

P.S.
Wow, I did not realize how cut down the character customization is for Dungeon Lords MMXII. It's like taking a high performance vehicle and turning it into a beater.

Wow, I gotta get my nautical tools and check this out for myself.

 

[Odoryuk]

I remember playing it when I was a kid and the inability to get multiple copies of a single item in inventory felt so weird and wrong I had to stop playing. Just let me collect shit in peace.