Gandalf? Mordor, is it left or right?

#1 Very awesome, would love to see this style of game in TGB :)

#2 Ahh flashback's of the Bard's Tale. =) Looks nice.

#3 Looks really good, looking forward to seeing where it goes.

#4

#5 @James, nice mock up -- mind if I email you?

#6 Thanks everyone for the encouragement! This style of game has always been my favourite and you will see lots of influences from Bard's Tale, Lands of Lore, Eye of the Beholder, and many others that were my most often played games from that era.

@David: Go for it! My addy's in my profile. :)

#7 Used to play a lot of the games in the style, Eye of the Beholder Series, Pool of Radiance and Might and Magic.

#8 I was thinking of doing a game of this style too. But mine was going to have a random dungeon creation element. Like at this link

http://www.aarg.net/~minam/dungeon.cgi

This is the site he used to get algorithms for his app.

http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth.htm

the TV show Survivor used the program Daedalus 2.1 to create some of there mazes.

#9 @Mario: I have the exact same code with the same idea in mind. ;) But that would only be for the first version. Dungeon Hack use to be like that but I got bored with it pretty quick because it had no story.

So after the first version, I'd probably sit down and design the world and make the game more than just a hack and slack concept -- either by enhancing the random generator or by make a completely static world with interactive NPCs. However, that tool would most likely be useful for getting started.

#10 Eye Of The Beholder! I just started replaying them all again in DosBox (got them of an abandonware site).

Strangely enough they are still just as much fun as in yesteryear.

I was reading a post yesterday of someone who took a quick stab at this kind of engine, just can't remember
where it is... ;d

#11 @Neo: It's probably this one: www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=59094 . David Higgins is working wonders with the idea. :)

#12 Ah yes, thats the one, I actually searched for it using Davids name but no cigar... then started to doubt my memory ;p

#13 *chuckle* Welcome to my everyday life. ;)

#14 The GUI doesnt look too appealing for a casual game, imho. But the two characters in the upper row just rock.
I think casual RPG would be awesome. There have been couple of tries (Aveyond and Cute Knight come in mind) and, from what I hear, theyre doing quite well, so there is an audience for that kind of thing too.

#15 @Nauris, I don't actually see a "GUI" ... I see a place to place the GUI -- Cute Knight is definately within this 'genre', however, Aveyond has more of a Final Fantasy/Secret of Mana gameplay ...

@James, again, absolutely stunning ... can't wait to see what you do with it ...

@Neo, CRS is a common ailment of mine too ... ;)

#16 Hey! Cool to see someone else trying this. Good luck with that project. :) Making the art look right can get very frustrating for this type of game.

#17 @Nauris: Could you be more specific by what you mean? Is the interface too complex, too detailed or just too gritty? I haven't designed for a casual game before but I know RPGs by their nature, are hard to make into a casual game. To me, a casual game is a game that you can play for a few days and come back a week later and not have to worry about where you were at or a game that has a short play time and high replay value.

Aveyond and Cute Knight did do well. I was speaking with Amanda about Aveyond and I also spoke with Big Fish Games about Cute Knight. And there is definite appeal to their audience in these types of games.

@Oliver: Yeah, I'm still juggling the art around. I haven't decided which direction is best: semi-realistic like most of AD&D games or "sort of" Anime like I have the characters above. I want the interiors to be semi-realistic and I always like the idea of toonish characters fighting realistic monsters for some reason. :) However, I wonder what most people prefer. Does anyone have a suggestion?

#18

Quote:I'm no artist

Not so sure about that mate! Looks pretty good to me ;0)

#19 Well, personally, I dont really think there is some formulaic "casual look" one could apply to about anything, but there are some general guidelines that can prolly help. Example above seems too gritty and the texture is kind of.. too busy. I`d also go for something with a wee bit more color, perhaps.
Did a quickie mockup since it probably illustrates the idea better than thousands words anyway.


I totally dig the heroes though. They seem cute, yet not in the silly "awwww" kind of cute. Those can stand for themselves and are ready to go into that dark dungeon if need be. And that is whats all this about, innit? :)

#20 The general rule of thumb for "casual" games is to know the audience for which your intend your game to be played by -- to reach a broader audience, I believe you need to take a large amount of care into things such as the interface, as well as the graphics used ...

From looking at various casual game portals, it appears that the cartoony, bright colored, shiny art style tends to draw more attention then the 'realistic' style does ...

I definitely like @Nauris's remake of the previously posted screenshot, looks more "casual" ... though, I like them both just as equally, i'm not much for 'casual' and am a big RPG fan ... so I like the grittiness that James approach brings ...