KickStarter Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy - BG1-inspired low fantasy RPG from the ATOM TEAM - now available on Early Access

[PlayerEmers]

I feel like there is something off about the looks of the game.
It reminds me of:

Spoiler

And this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CompanyOfHeroes/comments/vxx28h/art_problem_of_coh_3/

And also this:

I'm no expert and I'm not even sure what feels off on the screenshots of Swordhaven, but I have the gut feeling that it was something to do with the balance of 4 axis: colors/contrast/saturation/brightness. Its something worth of discussion within the atom team and here on the codex.

 

[ArchAngel]

I hate doing "epic" shit in RPGs. Way tired of saving the world again and again. Just give me simple stuff. Getting into some dungeon to get some gold, someone heard this old house is haunted, maybe we should go see if it's really haunted, etc. No save the world bullshit, just a bunch of niggas doing some fun adventure, wasting all that gold in some tavern drinking til kingdom come.

Most fun parts of BG1 was just roaming its many maps, clearing fog of war while looking at nice green and listening to calming sounds and looking what kind of new trouble you can get yourself into.
As soon as I had to continue the main quest game got more boring.

 

[std::namespace]

I feel like there is something off about the looks of the game.

its just stylistically high contrast, high saturation and low values
a more neutral rule of thumb for pictures is that the value of directly lit vs in shadow is about 2/1, so if lit is 40% to white, in shadow is 20%
but we have here a higher contrast and saturation in colors than you would expect
also minimal reflected soft light, everything is hard lit

 

[PlayerEmers]

its just stylistically high contrast, high saturation and low values
a more neutral rule of thumb for pictures is that the value of directly lit vs in shadow is about 2/1, so if lit is 40% to white, in shadow is 20%
but we have here a higher contrast and saturation in colors than you would expect
also minimal reflected soft light, everything is hard lit

I see... hm... Maybe in-game things will feel different than still images. We will see.

 

[Cvilidreta]

selection circles are nearly invisible, viewing angle is too flat so targetting will be difficult, the centre part of ui takes too much space... so much for being inspired by BG/IWD. Curious why developpers insist on using unity instead of trying something else say blender/python (which is for free) ?

 

[agris]

Curious why developpers insist on using unity instead of trying something else say blender/python

Blender is 3D modeling software and python is a high level of abstraction programming language.

What you’re saying is analogous to “curious why these home builders insist on using stick frame construction instead of trying something else say a nail gun/shipping container”

 

[Cvilidreta]

python is integrated into blender and there's been a been a good amount of games released with pygame, all free software and python is easier than c which is afaik used in unity, hence my honest question about that.

 

[Viata]

Blender used to have a game engine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_Game_Engine), but it's dead. Now, you are having some problem understanding things here, mate. I can make all my 3D models on Blender (since that is what Blender is used for) and then import them on Unity/Unreal. Blender is not used for the very reason Unity and Unreal are used for: a 3D game engine. Python is integrated in Blender to help with modelling (you can write scripts and whatnot), but it will not do the same job as C# does in Unity or C in Unreal, because, after all, they are very different kind of software.
Pygame is nice for 2D games and, imo, it's extremely fast to prototype some video game ideas you have (which I always do when I want to check if some concept is as good as I imagined it was), but it's not good to release the kind of game you would use Unity/Unreal instead (a 3D game, mostly). Obviously, you could do a 3D game on pygame (using pyopengl and god know what else), but the very reason stuff like Unity/Unreal is so that you don't need to write a whole 3D engine from scratch.Honestly, if you are going to write a 3D engine from scratch, python is not the language you should use and at that point, you should wonder if the goal is to make a 3D game or to write your own 3D game engine (which is not a problem in itself, but it's good to know that writing a 3D game engine is not required to make 3D game).

 

[Viata]

python is easier than c

Skill issue, btw.

 

[Mortmal]

What is the Conan way?

1000% offense. Occasionally position your back to a wall.

When you are at it, sometimes running with a half-naked hot chic over the shoulder:

I don't think anyone would have the balls to create something faithfull to the Conan books. That would be a great setting, very different from generic fantasy, but no, we must settle for uninspired generic fantasy , especially from indies.

 

[Viata]

People making fantasy games don't read conan, they read generic fantasy books that is exactly like all the fantasy games they have played.

 

[Cvilidreta]

Viata, thanks for your explanation. I've read that the Black Geyser devs who used unity had to do some scripting to "adapt" the engine for their game which is one of the reasons it took them quite a long time to release it. On the other hand, afaik the infinity engine was written by Bioware and used for their rpgs so i was wondering why not go something along these lines rather than paying for unity. As far as scripting goes, say i download idle from python and write >>> print('Hi there'), to get the same result in c i would need to write something like #include <stdio.h> int main(void) { printf("Hi there\n"); return 0; } .
Perhaps i'm wrong, but to me it seems python is less time consuming.

 

[agris]

Viata, thanks for your explanation. I've read that the Black Geyser devs who used unity had to do some scripting to "adapt" the engine for their game which is one of the reasons it took them quite a long time to release it. On the other hand, afaik the infinity engine was written by Bioware and used for their rpgs so i was wondering why not go something along these lines rather than paying for unity. As far as scripting goes, say i download idle from python and write >>> print('Hi there'), to get the same result in c i would need to write something like #include <stdio.h> int main(void) { printf("Hi there\n"); return 0; } .
Perhaps i'm wrong, but to me it seems python is less time consuming.

Sorry I was so hard on you, I didn’t know blender used to incorporate a wysiwyg-type game engine.

What Viata is saying more clearly than my teasing did is that: blender is a modeling tool, python is a language, neither are engines. Sounds like pygame - not python - is a cobbled together set of packages that can make 2d games, but Swordhaven isn’t a 2d game.

In all earnestness, you just sound naive on the topic and if interested should try to read more. Stack exchange is a good resource if you aren’t aware of it.

 

[Viata]

As far as scripting goes

C is not a scripting language.

 

[Cvilidreta]

ok, programming language

 

[Lhynn]

People making fantasy games don't read conan, they read generic fantasy books that is exactly like all the fantasy games they have played.

Dick Popov is pretty fun though.

 

[ds]

As far as scripting goes

C is not a scripting language.

Tell that to CERN: https://root.cern/cling/ (C++ but close enough)

 

[Viata]

Still not C. However, having an interpreter doesn't make it a scripting language. Also, C has a lot of interpreters btw, for example: http://www.softintegration.com/products/chprofessional/
Edit: TCC for example can execute C scripts:

C script supported : just add '#!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run' at the first line of your C source, and execute it directly from the command line.

 

[Vger]

Just signed up to say this looks great. Keep doing what your doing and don't listen to anything anyone here says otherwise you will end up going bankrupt like the makers of Colony Ship.

 

[Jeskis]

Or better copy the current success formula by having a romanceable female companion named something like Twilighteyes, a metrosexual wizard and some tasteful bestiality.

 

[Alienman]

Just signed up to say this looks great. Keep doing what your doing and don't listen to anything anyone here says otherwise you will end up going bankrupt like the makers of Colony Ship.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I hate doing "epic" shit in RPGs. Way tired of saving the world again and again. Just give me simple stuff. Getting into some dungeon to get some gold, someone heard this old house is haunted, maybe we should go see if it's really haunted, etc. No save the world bullshit, just a bunch of niggas doing some fun adventure, wasting all that gold in some tavern drinking til kingdom come.

seriously, nothing makes me stop playing a RPG faster than when 'EPIC" shit starts happening...I hate high level adventures, and I hate 'Epic'..unfortunately all designers think people just want more and more epic shit and magic items everywhere, its so boring.

 

[Shin]

I hate doing "epic" shit in RPGs. Way tired of saving the world again and again. Just give me simple stuff. Getting into some dungeon to get some gold, someone heard this old house is haunted, maybe we should go see if it's really haunted, etc. No save the world bullshit, just a bunch of niggas doing some fun adventure, wasting all that gold in some tavern drinking til kingdom come.

seriously, nothing makes me stop playing a RPG faster than when 'EPIC" shit starts happening...I hate high level adventures, and I hate 'Epic'..unfortunately all designers think people just want more and more epic shit and magic items everywhere, its so boring.

it's because general (and/or younger) audiences want to feel like special snowflakes
you start off as a farmboy who gets bullied by bulky (and/or rich) kids who hit on your love interest who isn't really into them, then the village gets attacked and by special circumstances you escape the carnage. you make your way into the woods where a powerful but quirky mentor-like character reveals details about the evil plot, involving a prophecy, aimed at destroying the (order in the ) world. you make your way to the next location where it is foreshadowed that you might be part of said prophecy. in the next act it is revealed you are the chosen one and you embark with your group of diverse friends on an epic journey to stop the ultimate evil. in the course of the story you hook up with your love interest, get to prove your moral and physical supremacy over the bullies in your village and eventually find and use the magic macguffin to defeat the forces of evil.

epic shit

 

[Vulpes]

Some of the best CRPG campaigns are "high-level adventures", like Heroes of the Underdark and Mask of the Betrayer. Sure, the Chosen One trope is boring, but low-level grinds are even more so. There is only so much you can do with wolves, goblins and oversized rodents before fighting them gets boring.

 

[Moink]

Or better copy the current success formula by having a romanceable female companion named something like Twilighteyes

Confirmed?