Ideas Needed for New Clone

[Tom Hatfield]

Hi. My next game project is going to be a first-person adventure in the nature of Dungeon Master (which is why I post this here). I've played through both DM and its sequel (DM2 is still one of my all-time favorite games --- I started a new game just this morning), though I didn't have the patience for CSB, and I've never played Theron's Quest or Nexus (although I'd certainly like to). So, I've got as much DM experience as anyone.

My engine is 2D, and the messy parts are already finished as I'm currently working on a puzzle game that will be completed very shortly. I'm planning in advance for my next project to keep my motivation high. The engine uses DirectX 8 and takes advantage of 3D acceleration to display the graphics, but otherwise it's designed specifically for 2D. Gamepad support works great, but I still need to throw in sound.

What I need from you good folks is some ideas for the game itself. Dungeon Master has typically been confined to a single world, usually a dungeon but sometimes (in the case of DM2) a small region outside the dungeon. I want to make a huge world, not all at once of course, but a world that can grow enormously over time. Forests, swamps, mountain fortresses, floating cities, fiery caverns, icy tundra --- I want to give the player as vast a world to explore as possible. More importantly, I want the world to be unique.

If you've ever seen any of Hayao Miyazaki's films or read his manga, then you probably know what I'm talking about. His world are tremendously creative, fantastic, and always exciting to see. If you need examples, you ought to watch such films as Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, and my personal favorite, Spirited Away.

Anyway, I want ideas. Places to go, people to meet, quests to complete, things like that. Basically, anything you'd like to see in a game of this type --- the things you wish were in Dungeon Master.

Before you begin spewing ideas, I need to mention that my setting is techno-fantastic, which means it's a cross between fantasy and modern (or futuristic) technology. Things like guns and grenades exist, as do computers and robots. I believe merging these two contrasting themes can make for a very exciting combination (like sweet-and-sour chicken). In general, any idea that applies to one genre can be slightly modified to suit the other. I've got a lot of experience in this department.

Anyway, post those ideas! I appreciate the input.

[Jardice]

Hi Tom,

Are you still working on this clone? It may take some time for more responses from others but I'm pretty much interested in this clone you're making.is there anything you can show us on what you have done?

I have alot of idea to tell you but I want to be totally sure on what the worlds will be like(apart from what you posted) and how it will be played besides the DM format somewhat. Also how realisic can you go on this(assuming that you plan on adding realism to this clone)?

Did this post make any sense at all?

[Tom Hatfield]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I've been trying to decide what I want to say. I'll get back to you later, when my vision is more clear. Here's what I can say for sure (though it will probably sound lame without any backstory): the story begins aboard an exploratory starship. Something happens and the ship is thrown into turmoil. I don't yet know what the antagonist is going to be. It will support up to four players (as a design requirement) working cooperatively. I'll say more when I have more to say.

[Gambit37]

Hi Tom

I'm interested in your clone, especially if it's going to be open and felxible to modifications. You know from the other forum that I'm keen on modifying RTC, but it has some limitations at present.

When you say your game is 2D, is it similar gameplay to DM? Does it have the same kind of movement system as DM or will it more up-to-date with smooth scrolling, etc?

Am very interested!

Gambit(37)

[Tom Hatfield]

This is regarding Gambit's post...

I'd like scrolling to be smooth, but there are limitations to what I can do without making the effect look sloppy. For example, Lands of Lore used a very simple scrolling technique in which the scene was simply panned or scaled very quickly, thereby making it scroll smoothly without giving away the effect. The critical point here was speed --- do it fast so the player doesn't notice how crappy it is.

I've thought about using a similar (or identical) technique, but doing so limits the graphical options at my disposal. For example, I cannot practically use projection maps from the player's point-of-view because they would not scale properly --- the light never moves; only the surroundings move, and to move the light would ruin the effect. First-person games that use 2D graphics generally have these problems.

The other option is the animate the effect with more graphics. Again, this is very iffy because I'm already pushing the envelope when it comes to memory --- I plan to have way more graphics than any DM clones to date --- rendering tween tiles is too much for a typical PC. To make it smooth, you'd need at least eight times as much data, though you could probably get away with four times --- still too much.

Optionally, I could make the tiles and load them only on systems with enough memory to support it --- perhaps even reducing animation quality on systems with less memory but more than enough to handle the jerky one-tile-at-a-time movement of DM --- but that makes things far more complicated than I'd planned, and the last thing I need to do is complicate things.

But recently I've made some design changes that eliminate the hassle of projection maps from the user's pov, which means I can probably get away with the Lands of Lore technique. So, let's assume it'll be like that.

As for modifications, I am planning to keep all the game data external, which means there's no reason you couldn't edit or replace it. It really depends on how robust my editor is. We'll find out in the future.

And forget the spaceship idea. That was stupid. It goes against my original plan, which was to pave the way for a vast fantasy world. I'm still not certain as to how much tech will be involved --- probably not a whole lot --- and I'm open to suggestions regarding any theme.

[Gambit37]

http://www.blitzcoder.com/cgi-bin/showc ... omments=no


The above thread points to a download that shows a true 3d DM environment but limited to step movement (with smooth scrolling). Is that the kind of thing you might be doing?

[FoxBat]

Probably not. All lands of lore does is scale the bitmap of your current view (it gets bigger and somewhat blocky, but as mentioned, doesen't look to bad if it's smooth and fast.), and when you turn, it simply puts the next view "off screen" side by side with the current view, and then you scroll between the current and next. It's all cheap (but effective) 2D tricks.