Retro Dungeon Crawler Kit (Unit Asset)

[Fhiz]

Uhm, okay Im new here - I hope it's okay to advertise this little pet project of mine: The Retro Dungeon Crawler Kit (RDCK)

Im not a big company, not even a indie-company, Im merely a single, part-time developer who has been working hard on a somewhat DM/EOB/Wizardry/Might and Magic kind editing toolset/framework over the last 12 months. It uses the Unity 3d engine and will be available as an asset later this year on the official unity 3d asset store.

Now, RDCK has a lot of DM/EOB but its more like Wizardry/Might & Magic when it comes to things like Encounters and Combat. it might still be interesting to a few of you out there (although im not here to sell anything to you).

you can check out the official website here, it contains a lot of information, documentation and screenshot.

http://dungeoncrawler.net

Also feel free to ask me any questions right here, Im willing to answer them ASAP. Im also open to suggestions as I plan to add new features based on community votes.

Thanks a ton for tolerating my shameless plug!

-Fhiz

[Saumun]

Very interesting. I’ll definitely check this out.

[Magica]

I am a big fan of Might and Magic too!

Great to combine those great games in your project

Keep up!

[Fhiz]

thanks for the kind words guys!

Im currently working on a WebGL demo, I'll tell you when its done.

[Ernisius]

I am watching with interest.

Why did you choose to go with 2D?. I am currently working on a clone mainly based on the game Captive, but I found Unity works better with 3D.

You could also add it as an option, 2D or 3D,

[Fhiz]

You can exchange almost every 2d sprite with a real 3d model if you want. the whole system is based on prefabs.

The reason is that 2d art is much easier to acquire and integrate compared to 3d models - thats what my testers say as well. For a 3d model you need the model, textures, it must be rigged and animated. Now imagine games like Wizardry had about 90 monsters. Thats a epic task to organize and integrate so much content. With 2d art its rather easy: Grab a monster artwork pack from the asset store (or any stock art store on the web) and add them to the project: Done!

Update: We are still on it. We plan to replace the artwork with a more lighthearted "Dragon Quest" style before the release. The style of this editor stays the same (im almost done with the features).

[Fhiz]

The last sentence was a bit confusing (why can't I edit my posts?). What I meant was:

The "purpose" of the asset stays as it was (creating games like Wizardry) - no matter how it will finally look like (more Dragon Quest like).

[Chaos-Shaman]

I like what I see with much interest

[boyflea]

Dammit, this looks great! I've just seem a big hole open up in my future that may have to include this...
[...although I really must finish my own project first!]

I want to build things in your world, and being puzzle-mad, wondered what sort of complexity you can achieve: can you recreate, say, Dungeon Master puzzles, with your engine - for example?

Like the vibe, and 2D art is a really good thing in my book. I like the refrerence pages too, I really must play those Wizardry games I have sitting on Steam... I think I have 6 & 7 craving my attention.

it all looks great and I wish you the very best of luck promoting it.

[Fhiz]

thanks for your words @buyflea !

Its not as complex as DM (yet), especially not in terms of putting stuff on pressure plates etc. I always admire how many features they put into good old Dungeon Master, a true masterpiece. My Kit is for oldschool Dungeon Crawlers anyway and not a exact DM clone. But you can do quite some stuff already: visible/invisible triggers, levers, open/close doors, teleporters, stairs, combat, loot, requring items to activate certain triggers etc. - enough to build a fun game around.

its developing quite nicely, but as stated in the opening post: this will take until winter at least

[boyflea]

That all sound's cool to me: I think you can do a whole lot with the options listed there - best of luck: persevere and will love to see what you have!

[Fhiz]

[boyflea]

This looks amazing .

[Fhiz]

@boyflea Thank you for the kind words!

So, I plan to release the Beta this autumn.

This being said, I have to address a few shortcomings the Asset still has compared to games
like Dungeon Master or Wizardry. These games feature a enormous complexity, too much for a
spare time programmer. My asset is a generic dungeon crawler kit after all and not a exact
clone of DM or Wizardry:

1. There is no real character creation yet as there is in the Wizardry titles. You can
start with any kind/number of pre-generated characters, its also possible to hire new characters
at the tavern. Plus it is possible to do a character selection like Mirrors in Dungeon Master.
But no real creation with class, race selection etc.

2. The environment is more "static" compared todungeon master. This means you cannot put heavy
items on pressure plates in order to trigger something. You also wont be able to bunker
items in the dungeon for later etc. But there are more than enough options to build
interesting dungeon levels.

3. Combat is "static" as well. This means the monsters to not walk around in the dungeon
and combat is turn-based. Monster encounters are either random (good old random encounters)
or there are static monster encounters on specific map spaces. Combat representation itself
is rather simple but the system already has a ton of features (like distance, elements,
resistances, combat stances, crits, dodge, various targeting options etc. etc.)

thats all for, thanks for being with me!
-Fhiz

[Fhiz]

Hey guys,
It took longer than expected and my Retro Dungeon Crawler Kit is still not fully finished. But im happy to announce that a very first "Early Bird" version is available at a greatly reduced price on my online shop.

There might still be a few minor bugs left, but the Kit is already full to the brim with features. Map Editor, Parties, Savegames, Tons of Options and Settings, Spells, Buffs, Equipment and so on!

Please note this is a Unity 3d asset and requires a bit of Unity knowledge to use!

https://www.dungeoncrawler.net