Game News SKALD: Against the Black Priory releasing on May 30th

[The Jester]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Looks fun. Have they announced the price point?

 

[mindx2]

Looks fun. Have they announced the price point?

I would imagine since this is an indie with a publisher it will be between $25-$30 with some first week or so discount.

 

[ShaggyMoose]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

Wasn't that always the case?

 

[Rincewind]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

Wasn't that always the case?

I think he's referring to the fact that they introduced a shader-based lighting system, so effectively they have diverged from the C64 aesthetics somewhat.

I was a bit annoyed by that, but to me this still looks like C64 as fuck, so it's all good. This still very much looks like the authentic 16-colour PAL C64 palette. But yeah, I'd prefer to have the lighting system completely gone.

 

[Darkozric]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

It's called autism, they can't remain faithful to their initial vision. It's the same shit with Call of Saregnar, game looked perfect and now he's messing up with the fucking trees and shit.

 

[Rincewind]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

It's called autism, they can't remain faithful to their initial vision. It's the same shit with Call of Saregnar, game looked perfect and now he's messing up with the fucking trees and shit.

Referring to these videos?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5cQAo7UI-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMz52Y_Fvc

I think the game looks fantastic, a very good balance between oldschool and pleasant-looking.

 

[Kiste]

Referring to these videos?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5cQAo7UI-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMz52Y_Fvc

I think the game looks fantastic, a very good balance between oldschool and pleasant-looking.

Looks a lot like Betrayal at Krondor.

 

[Darkozric]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

It's called autism, they can't remain faithful to their initial vision. It's the same shit with Call of Saregnar, game looked perfect and now he's messing up with the fucking trees and shit.

Referring to these videos?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5cQAo7UI-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMz52Y_Fvc

I think the game looks fantastic, a very good balance between oldschool and pleasant-looking.

Good for you if you like it , but for me it looses the retro Krondor look as the time goes by, changes in the trees, changes in the lightning effects..

I much preferred the 2d trees than the "modern" 3d ones, anyway, I'm kinda of fed up with all of those indie devs at this point.

 

[Rincewind]

WHAT THE FUCK happened to this game's art style? why did the developer turn it into pixel indie game #1556864651?

It's called autism, they can't remain faithful to their initial vision. It's the same shit with Call of Saregnar, game looked perfect and now he's messing up with the fucking trees and shit.

Referring to these videos?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5cQAo7UI-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMz52Y_Fvc

I think the game looks fantastic, a very good balance between oldschool and pleasant-looking.

Good for you if you like it , but for me it looses the retro Krondor look as the time goes by, changes in the trees, changes in the lightning effects..

I much preferred the 2d trees than the "modern" 3d ones, anyway, I'm kinda of fed up with all of those indie devs at this point.

Maybe the trees could be a *little* bit less modern, yeah. The lighting seems a bit too much for a retro game, agreed.

I get your point; the danger is that it will stop looking like an early 90s DOS-inspired retro game after too many "improvements", and more like an early accelerated Windows game which is not a look I'm nostalgic for.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The commercial was cool, game still looks like a trip to an 8 bit gay bar though. Hopefully the game play is cool and the aesthetic and "bopping" animations aren't too offputting / can be tweaked in options.

 

[Tweed]

Presumably the first patch will add pronouns, after no one can refund the game anymore.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Presumably the first patch will add pronouns, after no one can refund the game anymore.

Rumor has it that every game with spoken or written text uses pronouns.

 

[Tweed]

Presumably the first patch will add pronouns, after no one can refund the game anymore.

Rumor has it that every game with spoken or written text uses pronouns.

Bad pronouns, not good ones.

 

[Rincewind]

Hopefully the game play is cool and the aesthetic and "bopping" animations aren't too offputting / can be tweaked in options.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of every sprite jumping up and down all the time during combat. What's wrong with static sprites like in Gold Box?

Turning off the shaders would be nice, but unlikely it will happen as that might necessitate doing certain graphics elements twice. I wish they stuck with sane "modern C64 limits', so 320x200, 16-colour C64 palette, but any pixel can be any colour, unlike on the C64 (without tricks). This went a fews steps too much into the "modern" direction, no doubt.

Watching the trailer, the music is also a big missed opportunity. My understanding is that it was composed by a codexer, and it's not bad in general, but not great either if we're talking about C64 inspired music.

The music of Times of Lore is great, I love track 9:
https://youtu.be/G33RX9vVd70?si=pcDykM2iNDAEbRdp&t=870

Then how about atmospheric masterpieces like the Total Eclipse music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvQAz-VRGPs

So yeah, I would've preferred true SID music, or something much closer to SID.

Heh, aren't we a picky bunch.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Hopefully the game play is cool and the aesthetic and "bopping" animations aren't too offputting / can be tweaked in options.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of every sprite jumping up and down all the time during combat. What's wrong with static sprites like in Gold Box?

I even like animated sprites like in early Ultimas, e.g. Ultima IV, but in this thing, between the colour scheme and the way they all bop in sync, they look like they're at a rave.

 

[Tweed]

Watching the trailer, the music is also a big missed opportunity. My understanding is that it was composed by a codexer, and it's not bad in general, but not great either if we're talking about C64 inspired music.

zwanzig_zwoelf did the score, I thought the stuff I heard in the OG demo was p.gud thought it might have benefited from being more SID in nature.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Dang, this actually looks legit

(Siege Perilous guy on suicide watch)

 

[Gandalf]

I enjoyed the commercial. Hmm, maybe the game will not be as bad as I thought it will be in the first place.

 

[adamantyr]

Dang, this actually looks legit

(Siege Perilous guy on suicide watch)

He didn't react well.

 

[Rincewind]

I can't parse this post, but probably I should be happy I'm oblivious of the drama.

 

[Tweed]

I can't parse this post, but probably I should be happy I'm oblivious of the drama.

Moron pitches C64 Ultima clone with some nice fake trailers.
People get overly excited and throw money everywhere.
Years pass, no game appears.
Developer makes tons of excuses and moves halfway across the country.
People get angry.
Developer stops making excuses and starts antagonizing donors while not doing any actual work.

 

[Grauken]

I can't parse this post, but probably I should be happy I'm oblivious of the drama.

Moron pitches C64 Ultima clone with some nice fake trailers.
People get overly excited and throw money everywhere.
Years pass, no game appears.
Developer makes tons of excuses and moves halfway across the country.
People get angry.
Developer stops making excuses and starts antagonizing donors while not doing any actual work.

Sounds like he has the work ethic of a Kobold

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

That trailer looks cooler than the game tbh. The game itself looks OK-ish, but the moment I saw that skill tree screen I was like "yeah, of course...".

 

[Crispy]

Shouldn't it be, "Steel thineself"?