this looks cool, how's it going? is it turn-based? realtime combat turned me off the Aeons of Sand and i still think about that game
Thanks. Yes, I'm still working on it. It has changed a lot since I published that video. The combat is turned based and now it has a more of a Wizardry 6 look and feel rather than the original Bard's Tale/Dragon Wars. But it is still moving along. I'd like to get it completed by the end of this year.
wow it's a whole new look!
what flavours / kinds of pixel are feel best for you? Do you have any public devlogs / community outlets?
I googled Wizardry 6, it has a pretty distinctive look to it, though i'm not very fluent in pixel art of 20th century and can't tell if it ever looked like the other games.
Visually, i love Curious Expedition, Into the Breach, Caves of Qud and DCSS and adore Aeons of Sand. From these 5 only Aeons of Sand went for the look of older gen games instead of using pixel art as just a tool, and it was the only game that wasn't a hit. Though DCSS is FOSS has a long history and was retiled afaik.
Telwynium by Powerhoof games here on itch also went for a retro look, though, unlike CoQ, DCSS, AoS or Duskbringer it's not a dungeon crawler.
I don't have a dev log yet. I probably should put one up.
I'm sure the purest pixel artists out there will quickly say that my stuff is not technically pixel art. I tend to mix in low resolution digital painting for the backgrounds and use pixel art for characters and some interface elements. I find it gives it a nice combination.
I grew up on games like SSI's AD&D series, Bard's tale, Ultima Underground, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore and some early versions of Wizardry 6/7 and Might and Magic 3-5. Some of the early ones only had art in 16 colours similar to Telwynium. Monitors couldn't display more than that in those days. But I liked the 256 colour era that came shortly after that. That's when EOB and M&M appeared. The artwork for those was a hybrid of the cartoonish 16 colours and a more realistic style and it gave them a certain charm. That's what I'm aiming for. :)
I searched for the games you mention and i love how visually striking they are! And also readable and somehow balanced.
So you have been around for the 80s dungeon crawlers and rpgs and now are making one of them or a modern take? I bet there are people who would like to hear your story, and maybe even take part in it.
And please don't be intimidated by the devlogs, these doesn't necessarily have to be a works of literary art and R&D like the ones Lucas Pope does for the Mars after Midnight.
https://dukope.itch.io/mars-after-midnight/devlog
Devlogs might as well be just a facetimes exploring a specific topic devs themselves really want to revise. Here's one where Dave from Powerhoof talks about their schedule for a half an hour. He apologises for the how boring this subject seems about 3 times during the video and once in the description, but then he talked about all the subjects I personally struggled with, so this video was a godsend to me.
Talking about people coming together to share a story, are you, by any chance, into the open source scene? I am fascinated by the decades of the communities around playing and developing games like Nethack, DCSS and CD:DA that are cultivated by the very nature of these games. Lifespans of these games are unprecedented.
It's interesting to see some people embracing the the idea of letting go of the complete creative control and exploring the pitfalls and joys of collaboration and possibility of their projects evolving into something they couldn't imagine and accomplish alone.
I wish you the best luck with the game ) Seeing other people reacting even to the mockup screenshots page i believe more people will dig it over time
230 days ago(+1)
Thanks. I very much appreciate the input on the dev logs. That is something I haven't tackled before but I'll try to post regular updates and issues as I go along. Feedback and input is always appreciated.