New Olde-Skool, Turn-based RPG in the skunk-Works!

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Growler
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Post by Growler »

Trying to develop a good list of essential magic-users..
Any good ones to add?

Magic-Users
Conjurer
Mage
Magician
Seer
Sorcerer / Sorceress
Summoner
Warlock
Witch
Wizard

Spiritual/Healers
Cleric
Druid
Healer
Monk / Nun
Priestess
Shaman

Have all these mostly fleshed out, but will only implement a few in 1st game-scenario.. those that seem lowest, most entry-level: 2 or 3 magic-users and 2 or 3 typical 'cleric/healer' types.
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Post by Growler »

Been too long..keep meaning to post re progress. :oops:

Well, things have been moving forward. if slowly--but development (esp coding) should pick up soon & through the summer while my programmer's out of school.

We're roughly 60% done with the creative content for Chapter I, and perhaps 20% of the coding.

Dragonbait, btw, has been a Great help with excellent ideas/suggestions, feedback, encouragement. :D

How do you guys feel about Wands being used?

I'm thinking of incorporating them not for casting specific spells, but rather as spell-cast Enhancers.. improving the Focus (thus boosting success/impact) &/or Range (ie, add an extra 10' ~ 30' to ) of spells.

Also working on battle-attack equations so most everyone will have some (if slight) chance of a Critical Hit. Rangers, Hunters, Rogues, Thieves & the like (incl Warrior types) will of course get bonuses to greatly improve their chances--tho still aiming to have random (as opposed to Skill-related) Crit-Hits be the exception.

Like the idea that even a lowly Farmer or Wench has at least some slight chance of striking a vital nerve center, organ, throat-slit or such during routine combat--esp if they are much higher lev than the monsters. ;)
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dragonbait
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worms, evil trees, and wands

Post by dragonbait »

Hi,

Here is my follow up to a couple of monsters that we previously talked about, and also my response concerning wands...

Monsters...

Name: Grunt Worm
ID# ?
Level 2
Picname: gworm
#inGroup: 1~4
AC: 6
Hitpoints: 15
Str: 10
Dex: 6
Twitch: 8
Con: 7
Intel: 4
Luck: 5
ToHit: 2
Damage: 6-8
Flee: 8
MagicSpell/Skill: x
Gold Drop: 0-2
Exp Pts: 18
%Odds o'Loot: 5
Loot Drop: ?
TypeAttack: whacks, chomps
Magic Resistance: 10
Description: The Grunt Worm's instinct is to fight first, brain reasoning will always come second. It will fight anything in its path and is always hungry.
---------------
Name: Nightmare Tree
ID#
Level 7
Picname: ntree
#inGroup: 1~6
AC: -3
Hitpoints: 48
Str: 17
Dex: 14
Twitch: 15
Con: 12
Intel: 14
Luck: 12
ToHit: 2
Damage: 30-40
Flee: 8
MagicSpell/Skill: insanity?
Gold Drop: 0-20
Exp Pts: 60
%Odds o'Loot: 20
Loot Drop: ?
TypeAttack: whacks, pounds
Magic Resistance: 20
Description: The nightmare tree feeds upon the party's fears and creates chaos in the minds of its victims often forcing them to fight amongst themselves.

----------------

In regards to wands, I think they should be few and far to come by, but I like the idea of having them be an assistance to spellcasting (instead or perhaps in addition to wands that cast specific spells).
It might be easiest to assort wand types by color or by type. For example...
Maroon wand: = +bonus to healing spells
Crimson wand = +bonus to fire based spells
Marble wand = %+increase to range for spells
Ivory wand = %+increase to raise dead/resurrect spells
Ebony wand = %+increase to kill spells
Transparent wand = %+increase to distance in trap dispel
+ wands that cast specific spells
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Post by Growler »

Thanks, Dragonbait!
Just added/incorporated those 2 monsters to the Monsters list 8)

Cool ideas for the wands--will try to integrate once I've set up a solid 'wand-item' category..still thinking thru how simple~complex to make magic/items for Chapter I.

Will likely incl wood-type as well as color for wands, so one aspect could determine the type of wand (what spell/magic it enhances), and the other aspect could represent its power-level.
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Meanwhile
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Post by Meanwhile »

////Post redirected from another post/////
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 6:06 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Hey, what are your suggestions for improved inventory management?

I'm developing an old-school RPG (along lines of early Wizardry, BT's, & DW), so appreciate any suggestions for easier interface function. Very Happy
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PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2012 11:05 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, you've got all kinds of ways to improve an interface while keeping that older feel... for most RPGs it's hard to go wrong with a drag-and-drop paperdoll interface for inventory and equipment. If expendable/usable items aren't an issue then you could also consider a shared party inventory to cut down on "ok, WHICH guy had that...?", not to mention the annoyance of "Piles of loot! Oops, Player 1 can't carry any more! Player 2 can't carry any more!", etc. ...
Regardless, mouse support is a plus in any interface.

Of course, any kind of streamlined system is going to be harder to code than menus! Laughing
But that's the trade-off-- What are the activities you want your game to focus on? The player's time and attention should be mostly going to those things. For example, if towns are supposed to be safe places that the heroes don't need to explore, then I wouldn't make them fully navigable like in Might and Magic-- I'd go for simplified like in Wizardry. You trade a little bit of immersion, but if your city really is nothing more than a place for the player to dump loot and resupply/rest, then why treat it as anything more? I, as a player, want to get back to the real action as soon as possible! Wink
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Meanwhile
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:24 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
Hey all, suprised to see so much action on these forums. Has someone raised the dead?

SenorOcho wrote:
mouse support is a plus in any interface.

The Devil Whiskey has mouse support, but I found using the keyboard is much faster and easier.

A drag+drop paperdoll interface is OK. Eye of the beholder was great, and I played the heck out of it back in the day, but we don't really need graphics for every armor and item do we? Lots of games try to shnazzy it up with graphics, but I prefer a text based inventory system. Text is just simpler and to the point. I think the gold-box inventory and encumbrance system works well and better than the bards tale inventory system of just limiting number of items.

Plus this...
SenorOcho wrote:
Of course, any kind of streamlined system is going to be harder to code than menus!


I definitely agree on this...
SenorOcho wrote:
If towns are supposed to be safe places that the heroes don't need to explore, then I wouldn't make them fully navigable like in Might and Magic-- I'd go for simplified like in Wizardry. You trade a little bit of immersion, but if your city really is nothing more than a place for the player to dump loot and resupply/rest, then why treat it as anything more? I, as a player, want to get back to the real action as soon as possible! Wink

It sucks to have to walk around endlessly just to find a shop to sell items in a place void of monsters.

Not to keep bringing up the gold box games but I particularly liked Curse of the Azure Bonds use of towns in which some towns either were simple in that the had basic text based Inn/Temple/Training Hall/Bar options, or they had an area to explore and fight battles.
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:37 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Meanwhile, good to have ye back!
Yeah, there's been a mini-revival in the DW hood.

Much appreciate both your ideas & suggestions, SenorOcho & Meanwhile! Razz
Very helpful..esp since I've not played that many.

Like the idea & functionality of a drag'n'drop inventory system, but as you both said, it'll be harder to code, so may have to go with simpler keybd/menu system for most stuff in first game chapter. Then will upgrade features & functionality with each new chapter release.

If you guys each want to private-message me with an email address, I'll keep you posted on developments.. will also be looking for alpha/beta-testers down the road. Cool

Interesting re towns.. I had already decided to forgo towns (at least for 1st chapter), and focus on developing a good dungeon to start in.. then will build out from there in terms of wilderness, towns, etc.

Hadn't thought about a 'shared party inventory' .. that does seem worth considering.. could simplify both development & game-play.. any more thoughts along those lines?
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PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2012 5:20 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Meanwhile wrote:
It sucks to have to walk around endlessly just to find a shop to sell items in a place void of monsters.


Of course, it's even worse if your "main base" has meaningless random encounters-- another gripe I've got with DW... returning from a dungeon to sell junk, rest, level up, refill SP... you've got to go hit a shop, the inn, the training halls, the mana recharge place, which are all far enough apart you'll have butchered half a town's population worth of random encounters! Razz


Meanwhile wrote:
A drag+drop paperdoll interface is OK. Eye of the beholder was great, and I played the heck out of it back in the day, but we don't really need graphics for every armor and item do we? Lots of games try to shnazzy it up with graphics, but I prefer a text based inventory system. Text is just simpler and to the point.


It's not about fancy graphics, it's about a more accessible interface! After all, you've got to put a description of your items somewhere for the player to look at so they can decide if the weapon they picked up is worth using over the one they've got.. Do you want to force them to navigate multiple menus to do that? Have them consult an external guide? I'd rather they just mouse over the item's icon and get a nice little popup showing the item's stats.
A mouse-over is a good way to highlight item/armor/other inventory details. It can also be easily added keyboard style with moving the down-arrow until the item chosen is highlighted, then setting up key action to click (d) for (d)escription, or (d)etail, which can then view the item's extended property descriptions, and hitting Esc. can escape back to the inventory list.

For simplification sake, you may want to use keyboard initially for first release and then make mouse pointers for a later release.

/////

A party inventory system is a great idea. Hadn't even thought of that until Seocho mentioned it, but if a 1 click of (i) for (i)nventory could bring up a screen containing a spreadsheet of sorts containing all items that each character has and you were able to modify what each character has equipped and switch items to and from, that would be a karuelin kuel.
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Post by Growler »

Thanks, Meanwhile, for shifting the discussion over here--meant to do that.

I like the idea of using mouse-over to get a quick item-stat/description.. but yeah, will probably have to go straight keybd initially, then expand to mouse support later.. sooo much to do just to get the basics in place first.

Working on this project has made me Much more appreciate all the effort of the DW devs & others.. (not so much those massive games where they've got literally millions of $$'s & scores of developers, fancy studios, etc ;)

Speaking of item stats.. must admit I kinda like not knowing too much about items early on (other than very basic description), but then learning more as you level higher, get help from Rogue or Shop-keeper types, or even pay to get extended descriptions & full stats.. sooo, along those lines I was even planning to have the most extensive descripts/stats in a small, nice-quality booklet--likely pdf-style that could be downloaded..possibly free or for a modest fee to help cover development costs. Does that sound cool?

(btw, basic & medium-level descripts+stats would be available in-game, with medium-level info requiring higher levels &/or Rogue-skills, etc)

Planning little booklets for other aspects as well.. char-types, monsters, spells, skills, hint/clue/maps, etc. Dragonbait had a great idea for making the clue book a story.. whereby you read/follow along with a crew as they work thru the game. Throw in some map illustrations & voila! 8)
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