Mystic Land: The Search for Maphaldo - Old school RPG inspired by W7 and EoB

[mondblut]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

 

[Nikanuur]

Hi, It took me a while, what with the new job and everything, but I’m in on Patreon now too.
Wishing your game turns out even better than you imagined!

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Much appreciated!

Hi, It took me a while, what with the new job and everything, but I’m in on Patreon now too.
Wishing your game turns out even better than you imagined!

 

[Nikanuur]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

I think that such decisions are only for the better.
People will settle for either option according to their tastes, comfortable with being able to choose, and only after that will they even discuss which is better. Like it already happened here.
More discussions = more publicity = more fame and sales.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

I think that such decisions are only for the better.
People will settle for either option according to their tastes, comfortable with being able to choose, and only after that will they even discuss which is better. Like it already happened here.
More discussions = more publicity = more fame and sales.

That's my reasoning as well, yes.
I'm trying a different approach for the past few weeks (just "dabbling" with it a bit - half an hour per day or so). Maybe there's something there, but remains to be seen.

By the way, is it just me or is the Codex totally sluggish today?

 

[The_Sloth_Sleeps]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

I think that such decisions are only for the better.
People will settle for either option according to their tastes, comfortable with being able to choose, and only after that will they even discuss which is better. Like it already happened here.
More discussions = more publicity = more fame and sales.

By the way, is it just me or is the Codex totally sluggish today?

Do you mean the site or the people?

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

I think that such decisions are only for the better.
People will settle for either option according to their tastes, comfortable with being able to choose, and only after that will they even discuss which is better. Like it already happened here.
More discussions = more publicity = more fame and sales.

By the way, is it just me or is the Codex totally sluggish today?

Do you mean the site or the people?

Site, of course
Takes ages to load anything.

 

[The_Sloth_Sleeps]

Screw smooth movement, all it achieves is slowing the game down. It might be less noticeable in a railroaded dungeon crawl like LOL, but a semi open world game with a lot of backtracking like Wiz7 would be rendered unplayable. Imagine going from Nyctalinth back to the New City when every step is delayed by one second.

If I find the way to implement "smooth" movement that is good enough for me to consider adding it to the game (and no, basic zoom-in and pan will not be considered good enough), then I will leave the option of old-school 2d step-by-step movement in the game (the game is based around this kind of gameplay anyway).

I think that such decisions are only for the better.
People will settle for either option according to their tastes, comfortable with being able to choose, and only after that will they even discuss which is better. Like it already happened here.
More discussions = more publicity = more fame and sales.

By the way, is it just me or is the Codex totally sluggish today?

Do you mean the site or the people?

Site, of course
Takes ages to load anything.

I thought it was just me. Maybe they moved to a cheaper tier webserver?

 

[mindx2]

SirBlabsAlot Is there a way to get email alerts from Patreon when you post new stuff? I'm only finding out these things here even though I'm a paying supporter.

 

[Butter]

SirBlabsAlot Is there a way to get email alerts from Patreon when you post new stuff? I'm only finding out these things here even though I'm a paying supporter.

You can go to Settings -> Basics to setup an email address on Patreon, then go to Settings -> Email notifications to make sure everything is turned on. I've been getting email notifications for all these posts.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

It was quite a few weeks for me, but a weekly development update is up on our Patreon site.
And it's quite a substantial one this week.

Short recap for those that can't see posts there:

1. Development progressing, but still suffered due to the takeover of the company I was freelancing for (it got pretty messy). Hoping it will be done this upcoming week.
2. New monster revealed (paid by Patreon funds)
3. Plans about trying to make MegaVision a business, not just a hobby (won't be taking any freelancing contracts for foreseeable future and I also secured some additional funding myself - no publishers or anything)

I'm also, finally, almost done with controller/keyboard support and will showcase this in a public posts on socials (and here) in the following days.

Here's hoping the acquisition mess is over in the next week, so I can finally focus 100% on the game and MegaVision project.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Another Weekly Development Update is available on our Patreon site.

Short recap:

1. Still in take-over hell with no end in sight. Hoping for them to close the deal this week, so I can get the **** out of there and focus on game development.
2. Progress still made. Have additional help available now
3. Real 3d smooth movement (but still grid-based of course) in Mystic Land (like Grimrock)? Maaaaybbeeeeee.... No, really, we are testing one solution and there is also an example of one object on the Patreon site. No promises, but there is definitely a chance for this to happen (as an option of course, 2d will still be default in this case!)
4. Building a small team for MegaVision. Hoping we can work on 2 projects (one main - Mystic Land at this time - and one smaller that would be easier to do and would, hopefully, bring in some funds while we are working on "the big one"). As I can't really fund a team for years to come (all the money, bar the funds from Patreon, is still my own personal investment).

That's it.
As always, if you can afford it and are interested in what we do, you are invited to our Patreon. I really try to keep things interesting there with some old Mystic Land materials (from 30+ years ago), monster showcases, insider info and, of course, access to alpha versions of the demo (and later the early access version for the game). Every bit helps, especially now.

 

[Lagi]

Real 3d smooth movement

dude, I hear you were sick or some shit. and suddenly you have time to "explore 3d" to get so venerate by fans smooth movement in bloopers?
Codex-retards are saying shit about me that i want more decoration in dungeons to improve navigation. Suddenly now you think you appeal to them by neat 90 degree turns?

do you have team of 100 trans-gender programmers to help you work on your project?

and where is the next demo?

vaporware

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Real 3d smooth movement

dude, I hear you were sick or some shit. and suddenly you have time to "explore 3d" to get so venerate by fans smooth movement in bloopers?
Codex-retards are saying shit about me that i want more decoration in dungeons to improve navigation. Suddenly now you think you appeal to them by neat 90 degree turns?

do you have team of 100 trans-gender programmers to help you work on your project?

and where is the next demo?

vaporware

No secret that I have a chronic long term illness - I'm a bit better for the past few months as we are trying some experimental stuff on me (no cure for what I have I'm afraid, but I shouldn't die from it - I just feel terrible from time to time).

Look, the engine can handle this 3d stuff just fine - I would have a few more weeks of extra work, but that's it (as I already tested a few things myself). It's more on the 3d artist to get the same feeling as in 2d - otherwise, I won't do it anyway.
I don't have 100 programmers, no, but I did get some help into the group (as mentioned in the post).

I know that I can never please everyone, but I try to be as transparent as I can, and all I try is to make Mystic Land as good as I can (within reasonable budget that won't bankrupt me).

The game won't be vaporware, I promise you that. You played alpha demo, so you know the game exists. And I'm not considering stoping the development of Mystic Land anytime soon

Edit: I will also have a bit more time for the game after the take-over nightmare is done because I won't be taking any new freelance jobs - I will try to focus on game development and make the game development my job instead.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

One more thing - if any of you that are supporting us on Patreon are feeling that I'm not going in direction you were hoping for, drop me a DM and I'll give you full refund from Patreon. No questions asked and no hard feelings at all (at least from me).

As I mentioned - I try to be as transparent as I can, but I will still develop Mystic Land the way I imagined it (with input and suggestions from you guys taken into consideration, of course).
I knew that Patreon (or KS or any crowdfunding) comes with the burden of expectations, but I decided that in the end I won't let this influence my decisions for the game and the way I do things.

But I also don't want anyone to feel like I only wanted to take money from them. Because this is not the case.
So, my DM is open for any such requests. Again - no questions asked.

I'll post this on Patreon this week as well.

 

[Lagi]

Look, the engine can handle this 3d stuff just fine... It's more on the 3d artist to get the same feeling as in 2d ....

3d render of below wall, will not have the same feeling as 2d drawing. It would rather make the game looks more artificial and more soul less. like 100x of other copy paste games.
Is it worth to appoint 3d artists to redone again the work done by 2d?

Im glad i was able to support this chap that draw this amazing animated 2d creatures and whole environment. Truly, he sold this game to me and many others - its gorgeous, and is was a pleasure to look at.

 

[SirBlabsAlot]

Look, the engine can handle this 3d stuff just fine... It's more on the 3d artist to get the same feeling as in 2d ....

3d render of below wall, will not have the same feeling as 2d drawing. It would rather make the game looks more artificial and more soul less. like 100x of other copy paste games.
Is it worth to appoint 3d artists to redone again the work done by 2d?

Im glad i was able to support this chap that draw this amazing animated 2d creatures and whole environment. Truly, he sold this game to me and many others - its gorgeous, and is was a pleasure to look at.

It is worth it, if that bring a lot of players that are put off by the 2d step-by-step movement
You wouldn't believe how many requests we got from those that follow Mystic Land, to include this feature.

And, I repeat, this would be totally optional and 2d would be the default renderer.

Patreon money is currently still going only to 2d artist (for monsters). The environment stuff is done by another artist (that is actually a lady, not a chap ).
I'm glad you like it a lot - as do I
But I need to start looking at this as a potential business, if I want to survive while working on games full-time - and if smooth movement brings a lot of players to the game, then I will, of course, consider it - but, and this is a BIG BUT - only if I find the way that won't take too much of additional development time (I think I have) and if it looks good enough.

 

[The_Sloth_Sleeps]

3d turns gives me a headache to look at. I actually like when its a fade out fade in effect. Or a pixel crumble in out effect.
I think I need something to give me orientation thats centralized in the view.

 

[newtmonkey]

SirBlabsAlot
You are dealing with someone who is mentally ill. There is absolutely no need to explain yourself to him. Your game looks awesome, keep it up!

 

[Nikanuur]

3d turns gives me a headache to look at. I actually like when its a fade out fade in effect. Or a pixel crumble in out effect.
I think I need something to give me orientation thats centralized in the view.

I think that it's been almost decided by now, that if there's going to be a fluid movement, there'll also be an option to turn it off/on.

 

[Grauken]

But I need to start looking at this as a potential business, if I want to survive while working on games full-time - and if smooth movement brings a lot of players to the game, then I will, of course, consider it

Dungeon crawlers have been a niche for a long time, whether you have smooth movement or not, the change in audience will be miniscule.

 

[Nikanuur]

But I need to start looking at this as a potential business, if I want to survive while working on games full-time - and if smooth movement brings a lot of players to the game, then I will, of course, consider it

Dungeon crawlers have been a niche for a long time, whether you have smooth movement or not, the change in audience will be miniscule.

I take that as a personal offense. Lo, there I see Grimoire, Grimrock II many Total Conversions, Ruzar: The Life Stone, Heroes of Monkey Tavern, The Seven Mages, Operencia, The Quest, Vaporum I+II, The Fall of Dungeon Guardians, Tower of Mask, Dungeon of Dragon Knight, Islands of Caliph, Aeon of Sands, StarCrawlers + Chimera, Dungeon Kingdom (probably won't ever leave EA, but it's like 99% finished, just not optimized 100%), Legends of Amberland I+II, Heroes X, and now even Mystic Land joining the fabled queue, bidding welcome to many a player with outstretched hands!

 

[Grauken]

But I need to start looking at this as a potential business, if I want to survive while working on games full-time - and if smooth movement brings a lot of players to the game, then I will, of course, consider it

Dungeon crawlers have been a niche for a long time, whether you have smooth movement or not, the change in audience will be miniscule.

I take that as a personal offense. Lo, there I see Grimoire, Grimrock II many Total Conversions, Ruzar: The Life Stone, Heroes of Monkey Tavern, The Seven Mages, Operencia, The Quest, Vaporum I+II, The Fall of Dungeon Guardians, Tower of Mask, Dungeon of Dragon Knight, Islands of Caliph, Aeon of Sands, StarCrawlers + Chimera, Dungeon Kingdom (probably won't ever leave EA, but it's like 99% finished, just not optimized 100%), Legends of Amberland I+II, Heroes X, and now even Mystic Land joining the fabled queue, bidding welcome to many a player with outstretched hands!

And if you knew their sales numbers you would weep

 

[Nikanuur]

But I need to start looking at this as a potential business, if I want to survive while working on games full-time - and if smooth movement brings a lot of players to the game, then I will, of course, consider it

Dungeon crawlers have been a niche for a long time, whether you have smooth movement or not, the change in audience will be miniscule.

I take that as a personal offense. Lo, there I see Grimoire, Grimrock II many Total Conversions, Ruzar: The Life Stone, Heroes of Monkey Tavern, The Seven Mages, Operencia, The Quest, Vaporum I+II, The Fall of Dungeon Guardians, Tower of Mask, Dungeon of Dragon Knight, Islands of Caliph, Aeon of Sands, StarCrawlers + Chimera, Dungeon Kingdom (probably won't ever leave EA, but it's like 99% finished, just not optimized 100%), Legends of Amberland I+II, Heroes X, and now even Mystic Land joining the fabled queue, bidding welcome to many a player with outstretched hands!

And if you knew their sales numbers you would weep

I might be misunderstanding the term niche here. Though, sales numbers themselves don't equal success. Numbers per the scope of a particular project is what matters. In that regard, many of these titles did fine. And two, quite a few have received a sequel. Which would be hardly possible if sales or reception by the market were inadequate.