Monday Screenshot 3/2

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In addition to being fully 3D, the new Keep engine is capable of both more complex rooms (stairs, ups and downs, cliffs, bridges) and better lighting.  I had a lot of complains about the dungeon not being interesting or varied enough, and I plan to address those complaints in the new version.  In addition to the Keep itself and ramparts, some part of the journey upwards will have you clinging to the cliff outside the castle, as well as side forays into the various caves Solomon has dug back into Mt. Awful to conduct his infernal experiments.

Comments

  • I look forward to loot every nook and cranny in this new game :D

    That chessboard floor looks neat. Are those tiles with skulls traps? You know, seeing the game with beefed up graphics and so much content makes me sort of "worried" that the game won't have the charming feel of the simple yet clean and addictive classic version of Keep. But I guess what the hell right? Technology advances to be used :p

    Btw the warrior really doesn't stand out much in this shot.
  • It's still going to be small and clean.  It'll just have more visual variety, BUT, I have played a lot of modern RPGs and I see that they are getting too cluttered, causing it to be difficult to distinguish what can and can't be interacted with, and I am going to avoid that kind of mess.  So it'll be complex made simple.  But boy, I had a lot of complaints about how spare the dungeons of the original Keep were.

    As I said elsewhere, the intent is the game is winnable in an hour (still going to have that Annalist challenge!) but that if you want to explore every single side path and side quest, it'll take longer to do so.

    The biggest style change is moving to 3D, which means reduced polygons, and it means things won't quite have that "tabletop figurine" look that I was going for with Dark.  But, since it's my personal art style, things won't change *too* much, just things will be a little more angular.  The move to 3D gives me a lot more freedom because instead of rendering all the rotations for each creature, I can rotate dynamically, which gives me a LOT of extra texture space.  This means more monster variety, more spells, more unique looking items in inventory, etc...

    For things standing out, there's a final pass render that I will code in in the end to make sure players themselves stand out.

    But of note to the complaints about the darkness and grimness-- this was always my intention for the Solomon games.  The games are supposed to look utterly serious and humorless while at the same time having ridiculous things going on.  The graphics, music, etc, are supposed to evoke an epic desperate struggle of good vs evil while you're on the ridiculous quest to rescue the town's head cheerleader from Solomon's "Chick Crusher."  I seek a tremendous disconnect between the subject matter and the look.


  • So long as dungeons and monster layout randomize, it should be just like keep (better, if bosses randomize!)
  • And yeah, this game will be "Solomon's Keep, only more-so."  I'm not going all Diablo3 here. :D
  • Oh, and Windslayer, no, the skulls aren't traps.  The extra texture space just allows me to emphasize Solomon's lousy taste in interior decorating more.
  • Traps could be an option though, no?
  • edited March 2015
    Yeah, there's traps-- even in iPhone1 Keep there were the "lock you in a room with the bad guys" traps.  But since I'm not coding for iPhone1 any more, there's room for more variety.  Only the rogue character will have a skill to actually detect them though.
  • What phone are you coding for? 
  • I'm more concerned about what he is *not* coding for.

    "The games are supposed to look utterly serious and humorless while at the same time having ridiculous things going on. The graphics, music, etc, are supposed to evoke an epic desperate struggle of good vs evil while you're on the ridiculous quest to rescue the town's head cheerleader from Solomon's "Chick Crusher."

    That's a pretty awesome description there ;) btw is the music still made by whoever composed for Keep and Boneyard? It's really, how to say, quest-y!
  • Yes, same musician!  He's really good, and I can't imagine anyone else doing it.

    Basically, any phone that runs iOS7.  Possibly iPad2's might be left out, or I might put in some settings for people to dial back the effects.  Android will be supported this time too.  As with Dark, testing will first happen on PC and Mac.  When I have a full playable demo all going, top to bottom, with the Paladin character, I will attempt a steam Greenlight.
  • Good to know! Sigh, my good ol' iPad2... I'm gonna need a secondhand 5C ;)
  • It looks beautiful, skeletons too. Fortunately not so much as Solomon Dark, where those chibi skeletons were verging on disturbing. XD

    Also I fully support the dark atmosphere.
  • Well, I learned a lot about the limits of the iPad2 from doing Cubic Castles.  Most of Solomon actually has a lot fewer polygons that Cubic Castles (even though it looks like more, that's all tricks).  So it IS possible iPad2 will be fully supported.  I imagine it would stutter sometimes, or maybe even only play at 30 FPS, but I am aiming for the iPad2 memory-wise, so it WILL play, it just might not be as smooth as a newer device.
  • Once you announce the greenlight, I will get as many people to support as I can muster!
  • Thanks-- I will need the help with Greenlight.  I've been out of the loop on Steam, have no real idea how the whole thing works.  The cynics say you can only get greenlit by spending more time making youtube vids and other advertising than you spent making the game itself.  The optimists say you can just submit and it's all good. :)
  • Android! Please! I know you're planning it, but there are those of us who have been waiting a very, very long time to see your games on Android.  And while I love Solomon, I'm not about to jump ship to IOS to play it :)
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