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DKMR2: Interest Thread

 
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Moogle1
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:05 am    Post subject: DKMR2: Interest Thread Reply with quote

Talking strategy about Darkmoor Dungeon with TwinHamster reminded me what I love so much about the game. I've been toying with the idea of writing a sequel to the game, which would almost definitely be my last solo OHR project. I'm thinking of changing some things about the game -- it will have a similar style, but it will play differently and won't just be an expansion pack to the first.

I am looking for some input from all of you people! Here are some questions that you can answer to help me get ideas for a sequel. If you don't want to answer them all but have some discussion on one or two, that's fine, too.

1. What did you like about DD?

2. What did you dislike?

3. Your thoughts on character classes. Who was too powerful? Who wasn't powerful enough? (This really depends on how you use them, by the way, since almost all of them can be abused in some way.)

4. Create your own character class. Who is it and what abilities does he use generally? (Don't write an entire spell list unless you really think it's necessary.)

5. Create a battle. Forget about the limits of the battle engine. If you had full battlescripting, what would happen in your battle? (Bear in mind that I can probably do it anyway, which was half the fun in the original.)

6. Any other comments you'd like to make.
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TwinHamster
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For starters, I'd like to see some attack animations.

I've noticed a definite lack of Archers in OHR games. With this lack of archers, I'm not really sure how it would be different from a ninja.

The game would probably be better if you could implement a double-row battle setup.
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Iblis
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
1. What did you like about DD?


The thought put into it, it was nice to see battles that weren't just slapped together. It was also interesting to see all the stuff you could do with the default battle engine, I was really impressed by some of it.

Quote:
2. What did you dislike?


I know this sounds strange but what stands out most in my memory is how you changed the palette without regard for how it disfigured the menu colors. The multicolored menus were just ugly, but what was really a problem was in the skill menus, attacks you couldn't use were just slightly lighter than normal. It was annoying to try and read the menu like this.

Despite the fact that the battles were carefully crafted, I honestly just never got into the game. I think part of the reason for this is the combined effects of the pre-battle textboxes and the battles you had talked about means that just about nothing in the game surprised me. I might have enjoyed that Son of Sun-esque battle if I didn't already know that it was like the Son of Sun battle. It just seemed like there was nothing left to discover in battle, because either you talked about it or the textbox told me. It's better to let the player discover some things for themselves.

Furthermore, far too many battles could be won just by having everyone use their most powerful multi-target skills.

I also wasn't a big fan of the makeshift turn-based battle system. I don't think it worked very well.
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Moogle1
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
etc etc It's better to let the player discover some things for themselves.


Hmm, I hadn't really thought about that, but you make a compelling point. Let the player die a few times! I wonder how little information is too little, though. I'd like the player to be able to tell which battles are which if he's playing for the second time, an effect which I guess can be produced simply by making custom walkabouts for each battle, though that's a lot of trouble. Maybe the intro box should just include the enemies' names and difficulty/tokens earned.

Quote:
Furthermore, far too many battles could be won just by having everyone use their most powerful multi-target skills.


Unfortunate but true! This is also true of most commercial RPGs, though -- not that it's any excuse. I've got some ideas rolling around in my head to correct this in the sequel already.

Quote:
I also wasn't a big fan of the makeshift turn-based battle system. I don't think it worked very well.


Care to elaborate? I didn't intend it to be "turn-based." I made it pause on all menus so that you didn't have to rush to choose your battle action. Would you have preferred having to decide quickly? I think this can trivialize the strategy element of an RPG and cause players to make mistakes.

Thanks, this is useful input.
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Iblis
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Care to elaborate? I didn't intend it to be "turn-based." I made it pause on all menus so that you didn't have to rush to choose your battle action. Would you have preferred having to decide quickly? I think this can trivialize the strategy element of an RPG and cause players to make mistakes.


I just assumed it was supposed to be turn-based since that's what everyone was talking about when this feature was first added.

It may give the player more chance to strategize, but it breaks up the action and makes waiting for an attack to execute or another character's turn to come up a pain. Having to hold esc sometimes is hardly a horribly difficult thing to have to do, but still, as the player I just get annoyed that it's necessary.

It was a little too fast for my tastes, as well. I know faster battles are all the rage but they just don't do it for me. I'd probably enjoy it more if it only paused on sub-menus and the characters were slightly slower. But here we're leaving issues of quality and getting into issues of preference.
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pharo212




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PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Care to elaborate? I didn't intend it to be "turn-based." I made it pause on all menus so that you didn't have to rush to choose your battle action. Would you have preferred having to decide quickly? I think this can trivialize the strategy element of an RPG and cause players to make mistakes.


I agree with you. Dieing while selecting an attack isn't really fun "Darn! If only I had attacked faster, I would have won!" How do you do that, anyway?
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