Indie Lurking - Inspired by Ultima 3 (released)

[oklabsoft]

If you wouldn't mind sharing to help a dev out, how did you find the Itch.io's 'pay whatever you want' method of selling your game? Were paying downloaders a tiny minority or were you pleasantly surprised? And would you do the same for Lurking II?

I am probably not the best person to ask because Lurking spent about a year as a free download on itch. Only about a month ago I changed to pay what you want. I can tell you that there have been about 35 downloads in that time but none of those included a donation. Lurking II is slated to be a paid download. We feel it is worth at least the cost of a good pint. Good luck!

 

[Tavernking]

I finally gave this shot and played for a few hours, I didn't get very far. I didn't even finish the king's first quest, or any quests. I made the mistake of playing with two wizards even though I didn't have any magic. I couldn't figure out the barrows password either, and this game isn't popular enough to google walkthroughs... I guess this is what it felt like to play Ultima in the pre-internet days :D

The mini map actually helped the most, which I didn't realise existed for a while. It was fun to play but got far too grindy, I ended up just fleeing enemies because I was too bored to fight them.

I also almost killed a Basilisk with four level 2 characters and one level 1 character, so I hope that's impressive.

 

[oklabsoft]

I finally gave this shot and played for a few hours, I didn't get very far. I didn't even finish the king's first quest, or any quests. I made the mistake of playing with two wizards even though I didn't have any magic. I couldn't figure out the barrows password either, and this game isn't popular enough to google walkthroughs... I guess this is what it felt like to play Ultima in the pre-internet days :D

The mini map actually helped the most, which I didn't realise existed for a while. It was fun to play but got far too grindy, I ended up just fleeing enemies because I was too bored to fight them.

I also almost killed a Basilisk with four level 2 characters and one level 1 character, so I hope that's impressive.

Thanks for checking it out and the feedback as well. Good luck with your project and keep us posted on it.

 

[oklabsoft]

ULTIMACODEX:
Vote For Your Favourite Fan Project of 2017!

http://ultimacodex.com/2018/01/vote-for-your-favourite-fan-project-of-2017/

 

[Wayward Son]

I voted for Lurking and Shadow Over Moonglow.

 

[oklabsoft]

I voted for Lurking and Shadow Over Moonglow.

Thanks for the vote! I think like two more stupid months and I can just brofist.

 

[oklabsoft]

Lurking I: Immortui has been updated on itch.io

The new release has been designated v2.0 and here are the major changes:
1. The monster movement mechanic outside of battle has been changed. It is now possible to (at least try) to avoid unwanted encounters with the denizens.
2. The overall beastie spawn rate has been reduced by 25%.
3. Any non-original music that had remained in the game is now replaced with original music. (Hairless Heart will ever make me think of Lurking I forever though)
4. Keyboard shortcuts have been added to spell and song books to speed the song playing and spell casting processes.
5. Remade the 'hills' tile.

If you have never played, hope you will check it out.

https://oklabsoft.itch.io/lurking

 

[oklabsoft]

New larger display layout with old tile set...

And with new tile set...

Would like to get some work done with bettering combat but not sure I should sit on this change.

 

[oklabsoft]

 

[Jack Dandy]

This might sound weird, but I think a font change would do the game really well. Something a tiny bit more pixely. How hard is that to implement?

 

[oklabsoft]

This might sound weird, but I think a font change would do the game really well. Something a tiny bit more pixely. How hard is that to implement?

Easy. Change one line. Caveat is L1 uses windows fonts so would have to pick a standard one that most have on system... Or have user install it like the original 'eye cancer' font. It is too deeply embedded in design to change to graphical font like L2 at this point.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Ah I thought these new screens you showed were for L2 as well. My bad!

 

[oklabsoft]

Ah I thought these new screens you showed were for L2 as well. My bad!

That's fine. I will never go down the L1 road again but trying to enhance it creatively is fun.

 

[oklabsoft]

Btw, one definite change I am making to L1 combat is what I did in L2 and that is a high chance of failing to get a shot off with mf weapon if there is a foe next to character. Hopefully this will quell mf spamming a bit and force some alternate strategy. Since I am working on this I would welcome any suggestions from those who have played (or haven't).

 

[oklabsoft]

Posted v2.1 to itch. Bad monster file load is fixed. Sorry.

 

[oklabsoft]

The update to L1 with larger display and new tile set (as seen above) is now available on itch.io

https://oklabsoft.itch.io/lurking

 

[Leitz]

Just lurking.

 

[oklabsoft]

A free demo of Lurking II is now available on itch. Check it out!

https://oklabsoft.itch.io/lurking-ii-a-madness

 

[oklabsoft]

 

[oklabsoft]

Congrats to Treefrog78 for completing L1 (even without boobies).

 

[oklabsoft]

A little competition open to new players. Be one of the first five players to post a screenshot demonstrating win of Lurking I: Immortui on the oklabsoft discord (link on oklabsoft website) and win $10 delivered via PayPal.

https://oklabsoft.itch.io/lurking

 

[oklabsoft]

It's been a while but Lurking I: Immortui actually got an update today. Mostly it has been done for a LONG time and includes an animation for missile fire attack during combat similar to Ultima III as well as adding a backpack icon (for equip) to the character view which I neglected to add way back in the last update. The reason I finally posted the update was that I got an email about a bug when you enter combat exactly at dawn. So... i do believe that is fixed and I added a new title page for good measure. Lurking I: Immortui v3.2 should be good to go.

https://oklabsoft.itch.io/lurking

 

[oklabsoft]

I just finished recoding the VB6 version of L1 in C. Took me about 10 weeks which was definitely more than I bargained for. I took the opportunity to greatly improve (IMO) combat and made later game combat more challenging as well. I have already confirmed the ability to do a Linux build and working on MACOS. Still needs a complete round of testing before release.

 

[oklabsoft]

I am intending to release v4.0 August 1st-ish on itch.io. Some presentation updates but most importantly vastly improved combat and LINUX and MACOS builds will be available. 100% new code so I am sure a few bugs will present but if all goes well, might be finally presentable for steam.

 

[ADL]

Try and approach GOG while you're at it. Their curation policies are bullshit but this is a great game that deserves to get past their curation policies for sure.