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Darklands has aging? Sold.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:06
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There is aging during character creation (in 5 year increments) and during the game. If you make an old, your olds can even die of aging during gameplay. Go to sleep, wake up, the alchemist's dead. EDIT: Darklands guide... last post on the previous page... 
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Mar 24, 2012 21:16
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Oh man, I made so many games with Adventure Construction Set. How many? SO MANY. My friends and I just churned them out, making them as weird/awesome as possible. I also used the gently caress out of Computer Novel Construction Kit, which nobody else in the entire world ever owned, but that's alright because it let you make text adventures using a system that was so incredibly simple yet also allowed for complex interactions (including timers, tracking any number of flags, etc - you could easily make an RPG style game with it). The most amazing thing I remember about it was that it used a grid with the top being "objects" and the side being "verbs", such that you could see instantly if you'd written a result for the interaction or not. Also, since you decided what was a "verb" and what was an "object", you could allow for much more complex commands than you'd think. For examples, I had a game where at one point you had to "crawl south"; all I had to do was define "south" as an Invisible Object that only appeared in one room. You could use more than one word, so you could have a "verb" that was "break lock", go to the intersection it had with "hammer", and voila, you can now "break lock with hammer" (the kit was smart enough to ignore interstitial words unless they'd been defined). The only thing I don't get is why none of the modern text adventure tools are anywhere near as simple as something made in the late 80s...
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Mar 24, 2012 21:19
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Bruteman posted:Any of you who liked Adventure Construction Set would probably enjoy mucking around with Adventure Creation Kit. The guy who made this was a fan of ACS and programmed his version in the '90s; about two years ago he decided to update it somewhat for modern systems. I loving loved ACS on the C64. All over this poo poo.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:24
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rope kid posted:The Destiny Knight hint book was pretty cool in how it was presented, even if the dream story did end with a rape. What? That can't be right. *Digs out cluebook* The Bard's Tale II Cluebook posted:... I am enraged at the liberties he takes with Gethsah while she is unconscious and unable to defend herself... Welp. 
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Mar 24, 2012 21:42
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Bruteman posted:Any of you who liked Adventure Construction Set would probably enjoy mucking around with Adventure Creation Kit. The guy who made this was a fan of ACS and programmed his version in the '90s; about two years ago he decided to update it somewhat for modern systems. Oh my god this is amazing, I'm totally gonna download this, start making a game and never finish it.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:45
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rope kid posted:There is aging during character creation (in 5 year increments) and during the game. If you make an old, your olds can even die of aging during gameplay. Go to sleep, wake up, the alchemist's dead. Thanks for the guide. I forgot a lot about how Darklands works in the last few years.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:47
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Brown Moses posted:Darklands 2 Kickstarter. I'd chip in for that. The premise of Darklands sounds awesome, but ye olde control systems irritate me to no end. Maybe expand the area to include more of Europe?
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Mar 24, 2012 21:50
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Cirosan posted:Daggerfall I still hate TES games because of Daggerfall. Totally sold on a wide-open game world, the promise of real RPG in a CRPG, I ponied up eighty goddamn dollars for this game on release day and ran home to play it. Eighty goddamn dollars. EIGHTY. My lovely bride and I, young and idealistic, sat huddled in front of our cheapo computer and began creating a cool-rear end character. We debated every decision together; it was real bonding. Finally she could understand what I saw in these games! And we fell through a gap in a ramp into a random dungeon, and fell _forever_. And we lost hours and hours of "play" as we loaded from our last save. And it happened again. And my wife never got into PC gaming. And I never bought another Elder Scrolls game, until I bought a console version of Skyrim as a gift for my nephew, who wasn't even born yet when I was so disappointed by Daggerfall. And even then, I was pissed that I did it. loving Daggerfall.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:58
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SnowDog posted:And I never bought another Elder Scrolls game, until I bought a console version of Skyrim as a gift for my nephew, who wasn't even born yet when I was so disappointed by Daggerfall. Sounds like Daggerfall did you a favor and saved you maybe ~150 bucks. 
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Mar 24, 2012 22:13
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Attention Horse posted:Oh my god this is amazing, I'm totally gonna download this, start making a game and never finish it. Same here. Serious question, would anyone else be up for a goonproject with this kit? I'm good with dialogue, writing, plot and so forth but have never been great at the gears and bolts side.
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Mar 24, 2012 22:46
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precision posted:Serious question, would anyone else be up for a goonproject with this kit? I'm good with dialogue, writing, plot and so forth but have never been great at the gears and bolts side. I used to create games in GameMaker and RPG Maker so I can try to learn how to make games in ACK too. I have tons of free time so I'll check out the manual today or tomorrow.
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Mar 24, 2012 23:06
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I played around with ACK a little Thing is I could not figure out how to change the battle system - currently it seems like it's stuck at a very primitive real time battle system with cpu partners.
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Mar 24, 2012 23:10
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Douche Bag posted:Where would be a good place to start with these old RPGs? I bought Eschalon on Steam and am loving it so far. I want to see where it's roots are. Planescape caught my eye but people tell me that it's not great for people new to crpgs. So You Want To Play An Old RPG If you want a straightforward old-school IBM RPG, the best game to start with is Might and Magic 4. It's simple and easy, but still good quality. The statistics screens make the game look like it might be complicated, but it isn't. There is an automap and autonote facility in-game sophisticated enough that you don't need paper notes. It's by far the easiest Might and Magic game, which is why I recommend it for people starting out the series. (No game in the series before 6 has much of a plot, so it's not something to worry with games 1-5.) Once you are done with 4, you can transfer to 5, which is harder but still the next easiest game in the series. The major possible problem is this might be too old for your definition of old-school. If that's the case, the original Diablo is very easy to jump into. It's a quality game, but you should not expect any originality or depth out of it. Also, if you've ever played an extended amount of any of Angband, Nethack, or Dungeon Crawl it's not a particularly great improvement in any sense other than graphics. (On the other hand, if you are good at any of those, or ADOM, you can tackle just about any computer RPG anyway.) The two major "new old-school" series, Fallout and Baldur's Gate, both have complications that make them a little on the difficult side for people new to PC RPGs. (Also, I'm not nearly as familiar with them as many other people reading this anyway, so I'm not the person to ask for advice on those games.) It's not a huge deal in either case, though, and for both series I recommend starting with the first game. Planescape does not make a good introduction to RPGs partly because it is a deconstruction of RPGs, and like many deconstructions, it doesn't make full sense unless you understand what is being deconstructed to begin with. It also has gameplay very different from pretty much every other RPG in existence. This is partly what makes it so good, though. So You Want To Play Ultima The best Ultima game to start with is IV. It's been freely downloadable for much of the past 15 years, to start with. There are several unofficial patches to upgrade the graphics, enhance the interface, and add music to the game that other ports had. You do have to take notes, and it has to be done religiously; if you don't like the idea of doing that this game isn't for you. You don't have to do any mapping, though. There's no Big Bad Guy in this game. This was regarded as groundbreaking and original back in 1985. All you have to do is become the Avatar, the living model of virtue. Easier said than done, though. You can transfer your character from 4 to 5, and thence from 5 to 6. So You Want To Play Wizardry If you're reading this at all, it's likely you're not Japanese, who have something of a preference for the fundamental mechanics of Wizardry 1-5. There are literally dozens of Japanese versions of Wizardry, none of which I am familiar with and most of which haven't been translated into English to begin with. Most American gamers who play the Wizardry games prefer the style of Wizardry 6-8 over 1-5. If you haven't played the series before, I recommend starting with 6. I also don't recommend this if you're new to computer RPGs, as it's a complex game. Wizardry 6 essentially is a game of switching classes that makes Final Fantasy 5 seem simple. It's also, in my opinion, a slightly better game than Wizardry 7, which is the game you probably hear most people raving about. Wizardry 6 does require note taking. Mapping helps, but is only really necessary for the Dwarf Mines and the Enchanted Forest. There are many more classes than possible slots in your party and a large number of ways to develop your character, so it's easy to get lost. And like in all eight Wizardry games, it's very easy to get crushed in combat repeatedly. I've written a FAQ that covers character development without giving much away in terms or puzzles or spoilers: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564807-wizardry-vi/faqs/63361 Another reason to start with 6 is that you can transfer your party to 7, and then transfer your party from 7 to 8. So You Want To Play The SSI Gold Box Games It can be tempting to start with Pool of Radiance (the first of the Forgotten Realms games), but if you want to tackle these I personally recommend starting with Champions of Krynn and then transferring to Death Knights of Krynn. You can then go on to Dark Queen of Krynn if you wish, or move on to Pool of Radiance. Champions of Krynn is a easier introduction to the series because it doesn't pull nearly as many bastard moves as the Forgotten Realms games, and you don't have to fight regular combats against enormous hordes of monsters. Start with the party I recommended in a previous post: 1 human Knight of Solamnia 1 Silvanesti elf Ranger/Cleric of Kiri-Jolith 1 Qualinesti elf Fighter/White Robe Mage/Cleric of Majere (this is the character to replace with a second human White Robe Mage if you want two of them) 1 Qualinesti elf Fighter/Red Robe Mage (you can triple-class and throw in Cleric of Shinare if you want, particularly if you don't use the above triple-classed F/MU/C) 1 Qualinesti elf Fighter/Red Robe Mage/Thief 1 human White Robe Mage So You Want To Play An Old RPG That Isn't Part of A Huge Series For a simple game, check out the Phantasie games. Start with the first game; II does not exist for IBM/DOS, and III has particularly unforgiving combat early in the game. It's straightforward, short and sweet, and does not require mapping or notetaking. The big gotcha is that your base statistics are far more important in this game than in just about any other RPG; it pays to take a bit to make sure you roll plenty of 15+ statistics when starting out. For a complicated game, I can't say enough about how good Magic Candle is. It does has several sequels; they drop significantly in quality but are still OK games. The original Magic Candle is a game that requires minimal mapping, but does require very extensive notetaking on the level of Ultima IV. It's another game that does not involve a massive fight with the Big Bad Dreax, who is powerful enough to instantly kill your party in a direct confrontation. Dreax starts out trapped in the Magic Candle of the game name, but its maintainers have vanished. It is your job to discover the magical items and the ritual required to repair the candle. That, of course, will take you all over the land and requires talking to everyone. Boldor fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 24, 2012 |
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Mar 24, 2012 23:43
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MadJackMcJack posted:I'd chip in for that. The premise of Darklands sounds awesome, but ye olde control systems irritate me to no end. Maybe expand the area to include more of Europe? For marketability, you'd probably want to set Darklands II in medieval England. But I'd actually kind of like to see it move east into Russia. Huge dark forests, more creepy folklore, some form of winter weather system that forces you to hole up for a month or two now and then...
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Mar 24, 2012 23:45
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MadJackMcJack posted:I'd chip in for that. The premise of Darklands sounds awesome, but ye olde control systems irritate me to no end. Maybe expand the area to include more of Europe? It was awhile back, but a group loosely organized on the Bay12 forums set about trying to at least get things enhanced up in various ways working from the GoG release and whatnot---same deal as many other fan-remake/homage projects. https://bitbucket.org/bmceldowney/nachtlander Seems to have stalled out though, but then again back when it was "active" it was rather intermittent. Otherwise: anybody here ever manage anything great with Deathlord? The game seems to be utterly masochistic by all accounts---I can only imagine the despair it would wreak on a video LPer for instance.
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Mar 24, 2012 23:51
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Boldor posted:Wizardry 6 essentially is a game of switching classes that makes Final Fantasy 5 seem simple. Great write-up for those games but this part is just plain wrong; I've actually never changed class in any playthrough of Wiz 6. It's just a matter of being patient enough with the RNG to start out with the classes you want (the only hard ones to get, really, are Lords and Ninjas, and both are totally optional, as Valkyrie is just a female Lord that doesn't level as slowly and Monk can replace Ninja and be nearly as good).
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Mar 24, 2012 23:56
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Fintilgin posted:For marketability, you'd probably want to set Darklands II in medieval England. But I'd actually kind of like to see it move east into Russia. Huge dark forests, more creepy folklore, some form of winter weather system that forces you to hole up for a month or two now and then... A huge part of the appeal to me for Darklands is how strange and foreign it is. Florins, Raubritters, a bizarre 8 hour clock, etc. Taking that aspect out and putting in Ye Olde England would be pretty tragic. More proof of why Darklands is awesome: its manual contains an extensive bibliography. Will there ever again be another game manual extensive enough to require a freaking bibliography? Or a game to even necessitate it?
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Mar 25, 2012 00:01
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Fintilgin posted:For marketability, you'd probably want to set Darklands II in medieval England. But I'd actually kind of like to see it move east into Russia. Huge dark forests, more creepy folklore, some form of winter weather system that forces you to hole up for a month or two now and then... Or keep it in Germany and get one of those batshit insane German companies to make it. Germans love hard-as-gently caress RPGs, and opening up the map to the east would include groups like the Polish and Russians, who also prefer their RPGs ball-bustingly hard. Although Germans also love their control systems as obtuse as possible... 
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Mar 25, 2012 00:07
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Fintilgin posted:For marketability, you'd probably want to set Darklands II in medieval England. The HRE/"Greater Germany" actually expanded well beyond the boundaries of what we understand as late-20th century Germany. There's so much crazy stuff going on in those areas in the 15th and 16th centuries it would be great to revisit and then expand upon as the original design of Darklands suggested. Or maybe I just think that because my history degree focused on witch-hunting in the HRE. rope kid fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Mar 25, 2012 |
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Mar 25, 2012 00:41
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I'm reading the manual to Darklands right now and it's making me pumped to play this game. There's a broad overview of the conditions of 15th century Europe to help you understand where the game world is coming from. Awesome.
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Mar 25, 2012 00:52
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rope kid posted:Screw marketability and the Medieval period. This is the dawning of an era of premium small games, where modest teams can aspire to make games with florins and canonical hours in early modern Europe and probably have plenty of folks to make it profitable. You're such a loving tease
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Mar 25, 2012 01:18
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Boldor posted:Wizardry If you want some modern party based first person dungeon crawlers you have a bunch of options. If you want to play a Wizardry game, I recommend Tales of the Forsaken on the ps2. It's pretty easy, and it makes some pretty good change-ups to the wizardry formula imo. There was also a wizardry game released last year on the psn for like $15 that's more in-line gameplay wise with the main series. If you have a DS your options really open up with things like the Etrian Odyssey series which is a bunch of hard as gently caress dungeon crawlers. The dark Spire is another good one that's such a old school style crawler it even has the option of wire frame dungeon graphics. [e] Wizardy 8 has also aged well, but good luck finding a copy DrManiac fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Mar 25, 2012 |
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Mar 25, 2012 01:37
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DrManiac posted:... on the ps2. I think you want the general RPG thread.
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Mar 25, 2012 01:44
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This thread inspired me to give Darklands a try, and so far I'm really enjoying it, except holy god that's a terrible font. I'm also curious how much it was influenced by (or was an influence of) the tabletop Warhammer Fantasy RPG, which has a pretty similar Germanic low fantasy vibe.
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Mar 25, 2012 02:02
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rope kid posted:Screw marketability and the Medieval period. This is the dawning of an era of premium small games, where modest teams can aspire to make games with florins and canonical hours in early modern Europe and probably have plenty of folks to make it profitable.  In for $50.
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Mar 25, 2012 02:36
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rope kid posted:Screw marketability and the Medieval period. This is the dawning of an era of premium small games, where modest teams can aspire to make games with florins and canonical hours in early modern Europe and probably have plenty of folks to make it profitable. I hope if Avellone/Obsidian is still considering a Kickstarter project, it will be at least partially inspired by Darklands. I would pledge so much money.
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Mar 25, 2012 02:56
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rope kid's and Boldor's latest contributions have been added to the OP, and Darklands has been added to my GOG account. I hope you're happy 
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Mar 25, 2012 03:07
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:I think you want the general RPG thread. The Dark Spire at least is definitely an honorary PC RPG in my mind. Obviously things like that shouldn't be the focus of the thread, but I don't think there's anything wrong with mentioning something that isn't PC only if it's similar to classic PC RPGs.
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Mar 25, 2012 03:14
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h_double posted:I'm also curious how much it was influenced by (or was an influence of) the tabletop Warhammer Fantasy RPG, which has a pretty similar Germanic low fantasy vibe. At the end of the manual they talk about sequels and what could have been. I'll take a screenshot of the manual PDF from GOG.  An RPG set in Central Asia/Persia/bits of India whilst Tamerlane is conquering the poo poo out of everything would have been the best thing ever.
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Mar 25, 2012 03:14
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This thread has me wanting to try some first person dungeon crawlers! Can anyone recommend some with smaller parties? Wizardry looks excellent, but managing six dudes sounds confusing, maybe 4 or something would be sweet.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:21
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field balm posted:This thread has me wanting to try some first person dungeon crawlers! Can anyone recommend some with smaller parties? Wizardry looks excellent, but managing six dudes sounds confusing, maybe 4 or something would be sweet. Try M&M3 or 4/5. The way battles progress in those games is actually extremely slick, you won't get bogged down by having the two extra guys at all.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:24
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Update: playing wizardry... the only character to make it through the first combat was my novelty 18 luck hobbit.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:34
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rope kid posted:There is aging during character creation (in 5 year increments) and during the game. If you make an old, your olds can even die of aging during gameplay. Go to sleep, wake up, the alchemist's dead. If a party member dies (of natural causes or otherwise) can you replace them with a new one? Thinking of picking Darklands up since its on sale on GoG.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:40
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Galaga Galaxian posted:If a party member dies (of natural causes or otherwise) can you replace them with a new one? Thinking of picking Darklands up since its on sale on GoG. I'm pretty sure you can make new party members at any time at an inn, but it's been years since I played it. I vaguely recall some kind of exploit related to it. Maybe it was making super old people and then stripping them of gear and replacing them with new characters.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:46
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precision posted:Great write-up for those games but this part is just plain wrong; I've actually never changed class in any playthrough of Wiz 6. It's just a matter of being patient enough with the RNG to start out with the classes you want (the only hard ones to get, really, are Lords and Ninjas, and both are totally optional, as Valkyrie is just a female Lord that doesn't level as slowly and Monk can replace Ninja and be nearly as good). You can do that, true, but it's a lot harder, and even one or two class changes go a long way. It's pretty much like saying you played Final Fantasy 5 without class changes, or saying you played Final Fantasy 7 without materia. It's not actually that hard to do without, but it's still harder, and it's still part of what makes gameplay distinctive. Class changing is a specific feature that's distinctive in just about all Wizardry games, American or Japanese. Lords also get significantly more hit points than Valkyries, even with the slower leveling, although the difference is more obvious in Wizardry 7.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:57
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field balm posted:Update: playing wizardry... the only character to make it through the first combat was my novelty 18 luck hobbit. -Every problem is solved with more Mages. -Every problem is solved with more buffs and debuffs. -Every problem is solved with more grinding. -Keep one throwaway Priest in town. Rather than rest all of your characters into old age to heal them, just rest that Priest and have him cast heal spells on your party. Those seemed to work well for me.
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Mar 25, 2012 05:23
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Sankis posted:I'm pretty sure you can make new party members at any time at an inn, but it's been years since I played it. I vaguely recall some kind of exploit related to it. Maybe it was making super old people and then stripping them of gear and replacing them with new characters. Yeah, rope kid mentioned it briefly. Alchemists with lots of time studying alchemy have lots of formulas and one potion for each formula (I think?). Repeatedly make and replace them to super cheese the system (don't do this) You can make new characters at any time, but can only ever have 4 in your party. Go to any Inn to retire/hire/swap characters.
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Mar 25, 2012 05:24
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field balm posted:This thread has me wanting to try some first person dungeon crawlers! Can anyone recommend some with smaller parties? Wizardry looks excellent, but managing six dudes sounds confusing, maybe 4 or something would be sweet. Wait a couple weeks and try Legend of Grimrock! http://www.grimrock.net/ http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3433093&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 It's pretty much a modern take on Dungeon Keeper/Eye of the Beholder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep97ba_uWXM 
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Mar 25, 2012 05:44
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:You can make new characters at any time, but can only ever have 4 in your party.
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Mar 25, 2012 07:19
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