Legends of Amberland - oldschool open world blobber

[Dorateen]

This is quickly becoming one of the top two computer role-playing games I am most anticipating. More so than Bard's Tale IV.

Please deliver! No pressure.

What's the other top two title?

Realms Beyond

 

[RNGsus]

"I'm a beautiful princess Bronhild. I order you to go to the sage and bring me the Beauty Enhancer."

 

[V_K]

I'm still experimenting with the style but it's unlikely. The existing resolution is distinctive and, well, I kind of like it :D

Alternatively, you could downscale the portraits.

 

[Luka-boy]

I took the liberty of improving the UI with art by one of our most prolific artists.

 

[Lady_Error]

You could use the less cartoony public domain sprite sets or edit them (eg. smaller heads):

https://opengameart.org/content/roguelike-tiles-large-collection
http://pousse.rapiere.free.fr/

 

[Chris Koźmik]

This is quickly becoming one of the top two computer role-playing games I am most anticipating. More so than Bard's Tale IV.

Please deliver! No pressure.

Can you elaborate what exactly you find so appealing? I will need to make some promotional materials soon, so I would like to know what parts to flesh out/focus on in the game's description.

BTW, so far I have something along those lines (rough version of the short description):
1) Classic, 90 degree rotation, FPP, turn-based, party based, grid movement RPG.
2) Light, fairytale like fantasy where the party of heroes is on an epic quest.
3) Fast paced, no grind, quick combat & travel.

 

[Dorateen]

This is quickly becoming one of the top two computer role-playing games I am most anticipating. More so than Bard's Tale IV.

Please deliver! No pressure.

Can you elaborate what exactly you find so appealing? I will need to make some promotional materials soon, so I would like to know what parts to flesh out/focus on in the game's description.


1) Classic, 90 degree rotation, FPP, turn-based, party based, grid movement RPG.

The important thing to me is the party based nature of your game. Specifically, you've got full party creation, up to seven characters (that's fantastic!). And no messing around with make just one character and assemble the rest over the course of the game. Genuine classic design.

Then there is the exploration aspect. Legends of Amberland evokes a strong sense of Might & Magic III-V in its presentation. Watching the preview clip makes me want to get in there and explore the whole world; uncovering secrets, killing monsters and hunting for treasure. The tone and direction of the adventure seems perfect.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

"I'm a beautiful princess Bronhild. I order you to go to the sage and bring me the Beauty Enhancer."

Well, actually those were just quick testing quests But I think I will leave some like that one, lighter and humorous ones, so the mood of the game is not super serious.

 

[RNGsus]

Well, actually those were just quick testing quests But I think I will leave some like that one, lighter and humorous ones, so the mood of the game is not super serious.

Yeah, levity is great used sparringly. M'lady mustn't spam the beauty enhancer, or she may make the gods jealous!

 

[Dorateen]

I too was looking forward to finding the Beauty Enhancer. Not for the sake of Princess Bronhild, but for the pleasure of questing, the thrill of adventure. To delve into impossible dungeons and slay monsters, wrestling from their hoards fabled treasures. I love racking up seemingly meaningless quests Might & Magic style, then checking off their completion one by one. Few aspects of computer role-playing games can match that primal satisfaction.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

In some odd chance anyone here will attend PixelConnect (Warsaw, Poland) I'm showcasing the prototype there.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Werdna's Revenge]

This is looking like what BTIV should have been.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

After a long, long deliberation on the art style I decided to switch to 32px assets (higher resolution). Here is an example (note that only the monster was changed in this screenshot, the environment is still low res so it might look inconsistent).

 

[V_K]

note that only the monster was changed in this screenshot, the environment is still low res so it might look inconsistent

Looking at UI, I don't think it's something you should worry about

 

[Dorateen]

How did it go at PixelConnect? Wasn't that last weekend?

 

[Chris Koźmik]

How did it go at PixelConnect? Wasn't that last weekend?

Peaceful and quiet It's a small conference for GameDev & media only, so there were no hordes of visitors and the hours were reasonably limited (the core of the event is the afterparty I think :D). So, it's quite relaxing showcasing a game there and I like that event. I gathered some interesting feedback (mostly about UI), showed it to some media and so on. Overall, I'm pleased with the results, it was worth going there.

Here is the photo of my stand:
https://twitter.com/SilverLemur/status/1006529854748184576

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Update: I'm gathering the new 32x32 assets from artists now. It's going slowly but steadily I hope to be able to show you screens in the new style soon.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Most of the assets upped from 16px to 32px.

 

[Snorkack]

good decision. Looks damn nice!

 

[Major Seven]

Most of the assets upped from 16px to 32px.

Looks really fantastic!

 

[Darth Canoli]

Looks better already, the UI could be improved a bit too, did you play / replay MM3, 4, 5 ?
Could be a good source of inspiration, except for the inventory, please make a huge / infinite one with a different tab for quest items (like in MM4 / 5 ).

Also, you could remove the character button on the right side and replace it with quick combat, for example (from might and magic too ) and access character menu by clicking their portraits ?

I'm replaying those might and magic (3 to 5) and that really looks familiar (and good too ).
Party based blobbers are too scarce.

 

[norolim]

Yes, that's much better. Before, this game was giving a new meaning to the word "blobber".

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Looks better already, the UI could be improved a bit too, did you play / replay MM3, 4, 5 ?
Could be a good source of inspiration, except for the inventory, please make a huge / infinite one with a different tab for quest items (like in MM4 / 5 ).

Also, you could remove the character button on the right side and replace it with quick combat, for example (from might and magic too ) and access character menu by clicking their portraits ?

I'm replaying those might and magic (3 to 5) and that really looks familiar (and good too ).
Party based blobbers are too scarce.

I did, but I don't know, it was not so great in the retrospection (like the top option to kick out a party member and other almost never used commands). But I agree it had some nice things. Anyway, I keep track on various old games and try to incorporate the good parts while replacing the bad ones with modern alternatives.

As for inventory, it *DEFINITELY* won't be like in the old games, it was a nightmare Instead there is an unlimited "Magic Bag of Carrying" shared with all party members (with auto stacked items) + individual equipment. There was a screnshot somewhere on the first page of this topic.

"access character menu by clicking their portraits" - it works that way. There is a redundancy in the UI (can click the character portrait, the option button, a hotkey) also 1234567 keys to qucikly go to a specific charcater (option+character selection).

BTW, there might be additional screens on my twitter:
https://twitter.com/SilverLemur/status/1021294931112022016

 

[Cadmus]

This looks like fucking vomit. No way I'd ever touch it.
Bet you'll be real successful with the local retards though.