indie game dev

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Imp Zone > indie game dev

mbt: Aug 13, 2012

soliciting imp advice on what kind of jrpg dungeons to go with. i'm got an SMT-style overworld, but there's 4 dungeon aesthetics I'm between atm.
the game is probably going to be closer to suikoden, but you're recruiting demons and gods via combat, dialogue, or other challenges

1. slay the spire icon crawl - extremely easy to make but kind of boring. I'm not sure if this works well with jrpgs
2. SMT2 classic dungeon crawler - I've got something like this working already, but I don't think it's aged particularly well. I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol
3. darkest dungeon - kind of a stretch, but I like drawing DND maps and I think this is an easy way to make a ton of high quality dungeons. I was thinking of doing this but going mildly higher effort with puzzles and traps vs darkest dungeon which is just a combat labyrinth
4. SMT3 3d dungeons - I would have to make them low poly / ps1 textures or else this might take me a million years

# ? Aug 20, 2022 22:01

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 09:21

Lunchmeat Larry: Nov 3, 2012

mbt posted:

soliciting imp advice on what kind of jrpg dungeons to go with. i'm got an SMT-style overworld, but there's 4 dungeon aesthetics I'm between atm.
the game is probably going to be closer to suikoden, but you're recruiting demons and gods via combat, dialogue, or other challenges

1. slay the spire icon crawl - extremely easy to make but kind of boring. I'm not sure if this works well with jrpgs
2. SMT2 classic dungeon crawler - I've got something like this working already, but I don't think it's aged particularly well. I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol
3. darkest dungeon - kind of a stretch, but I like drawing DND maps and I think this is an easy way to make a ton of high quality dungeons. I was thinking of doing this but going mildly higher effort with puzzles and traps vs darkest dungeon which is just a combat labyrinth
4. SMT3 3d dungeons - I would have to make them low poly / ps1 textures or else this might take me a million years

What I'm getting here is that you're making a million games + each other. #2 feels like the most realistic and manageable option even if it's not the most exciting

# ? Aug 20, 2022 22:08

extremebuff: Jun 20, 2010

mbt posted:

soliciting imp advice on what kind of jrpg dungeons to go with. i'm got an SMT-style overworld, but there's 4 dungeon aesthetics I'm between atm.
the game is probably going to be closer to suikoden, but you're recruiting demons and gods via combat, dialogue, or other challenges

1. slay the spire icon crawl - extremely easy to make but kind of boring. I'm not sure if this works well with jrpgs
2. SMT2 classic dungeon crawler - I've got something like this working already, but I don't think it's aged particularly well. I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol
3. darkest dungeon - kind of a stretch, but I like drawing DND maps and I think this is an easy way to make a ton of high quality dungeons. I was thinking of doing this but going mildly higher effort with puzzles and traps vs darkest dungeon which is just a combat labyrinth
4. SMT3 3d dungeons - I would have to make them low poly / ps1 textures or else this might take me a million years

i would go for smt2 for ease lol.

the other day i downloaded rpgmakermv and went nuts tinkering w it. bobquest 3 will be real.

theres a lot of easy stuff you can do to instantly distinguish it from 99% of rpgmaker games (plugins for 3d and more ui customization), fun to mess with

# ? Aug 20, 2022 22:09

herculon: Sep 7, 2018

Go with 3. Give me some high quality dungeons

# ? Aug 20, 2022 22:14

Fungah!: Apr 30, 2011

mbt posted:

soliciting imp advice on what kind of jrpg dungeons to go with. i'm got an SMT-style overworld, but there's 4 dungeon aesthetics I'm between atm.
the game is probably going to be closer to suikoden, but you're recruiting demons and gods via combat, dialogue, or other challenges

1. slay the spire icon crawl - extremely easy to make but kind of boring. I'm not sure if this works well with jrpgs
2. SMT2 classic dungeon crawler - I've got something like this working already, but I don't think it's aged particularly well. I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol
3. darkest dungeon - kind of a stretch, but I like drawing DND maps and I think this is an easy way to make a ton of high quality dungeons. I was thinking of doing this but going mildly higher effort with puzzles and traps vs darkest dungeon which is just a combat labyrinth
4. SMT3 3d dungeons - I would have to make them low poly / ps1 textures or else this might take me a million years

1 imo doesnt work for this kind of game unless you design the aesthetic around it, 4 would be an knsane amount of work for one dude. I think it depends on how much you want traversal to matter, if you wnt to make resource management/gathering a big part of game systems go 3 (or check out dungeon encounters for a good example of doing that style of game without resource mechanics), otherwise go with 2. ultimately you need to decide if you want combat systems or traversal systems to be the most important part of the game though

# ? Aug 20, 2022 23:19

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

What about FF style overhead maps? Or is this just not a good fit for the style you want?

# ? Aug 20, 2022 23:25

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

Walk around like pokemon or dragon quest or whatever.

# ? Aug 20, 2022 23:26

mbt: Aug 13, 2012

Leadthumb posted:

What about FF style overhead maps? Or is this just not a good fit for the style you want?

yeah its a style thing and I think that's well-worn territory for jpgs. my strength is definitely not art, so doing what you've seen a million times but it looks worse would be a harder sell imo.
it's my backup plan if 3 and 2 don't work out just because of how dead simple it is

Fungah! posted:

1 imo doesnt work for this kind of game unless you design the aesthetic around it, 4 would be an knsane amount of work for one dude. I think it depends on how much you want traversal to matter, if you wnt to make resource management/gathering a big part of game systems go 3 (or check out dungeon encounters for a good example of doing that style of game without resource mechanics), otherwise go with 2. ultimately you need to decide if you want combat systems or traversal systems to be the most important part of the game though

I need to play dungeon encounters because it sounds like a similar philosophy.

I think 2 (smt2 style) works great as a strict retroclone but I'm not sure that exact style is something I would want to emulate. i think the mazes were the worst part of strange journey tbh.

# ? Aug 20, 2022 23:50

insane anime: Aug 5, 2018

daggerfall., SMT Style but U can use WASD on that mother fugge.r

# ? Aug 20, 2022 23:53

That Little Demon: Dec 3, 2020

proc gen SMT sounds loving insane but incredible lol

# ? Aug 21, 2022 00:54

Fungah!: Apr 30, 2011

mbt posted:

yeah its a style thing and I think that's well-worn territory for jpgs. my strength is definitely not art, so doing what you've seen a million times but it looks worse would be a harder sell imo.
it's my backup plan if 3 and 2 don't work out just because of how dead simple it is

I need to play dungeon encounters because it sounds like a similar philosophy.

I think 2 (smt2 style) works great as a strict retroclone but I'm not sure that exact style is something I would want to emulate. i think the mazes were the worst part of strange journey tbh.

yeah dungeon encounters is insanely good for a like ten buck game and its the best example i can think of about the 3 style of game that doesnt go hard on resource management. again though, depends on what the hook you want is, if its combat and not exploration/traversal 2 might be a better fit

# ? Aug 21, 2022 01:00

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

mbt posted:

yeah its a style thing and I think that's well-worn territory for jpgs. my strength is definitely not art, so doing what you've seen a million times but it looks worse would be a harder sell imo.
it's my backup plan if 3 and 2 don't work out just because of how dead simple it is

I know you were half joking here,

mbt posted:

I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol

,but you could style it like option 2 but with different size rooms instead of being stuck on a grid, monsters could catch you etc. to make it more interesting.
I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's gotta be some games like that out there you could research and sorta pick out the do's and don'ts.

# ? Aug 21, 2022 01:04

Larry Parrish: Jul 9, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

is smt2 like ultima underworld sort of thing. that's my suggestion. weird grid-based movement. this lets you have exploration and 'overworld' puzzles and stuff while keeping the jrpg encounter mechanics simple

# ? Aug 21, 2022 09:04

mbt: Aug 13, 2012

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1011135338976124969/2022-08-22_00-50-08-1.webm

i messed around with option 3 a bit. you would navigate from room to room on the right using arrow keys / left stick

Larry Parrish posted:

is smt2 like ultima underworld sort of thing. that's my suggestion. weird grid-based movement. this lets you have exploration and 'overworld' puzzles and stuff while keeping the jrpg encounter mechanics simple

yeah. i'm just thinking of what I can do to alleviate my hatred of mazes

# ? Aug 22, 2022 05:53

Bolverkur: Aug 9, 2012

Sub-Actuality posted:

the only game I've ever "finished" making was this buggy Newgrounds-y HTML5 + JS game that I put together as part of a class, it was my first Javascript project too. Incredibly simple "find and click the objects" type of thing that only really works on desktops. the music is obviously unauthorized and only works like half the time too lol

https://impzone.club/spy/

had a lot of fun playing this!

Leadthumb posted:

battle animation tests

walking animations

some enemies

Leadthumb posted:

Been looking for this forever. Man I should have repaired these drives forever ago.

this doesn't just kick rear end because you are great at making sprites, you also have a real skill for design. so many of these just jump out at you and become instantly memorable. that's why I think you should pursue this further. lots of people can draw nice things. not all of them can do this. go forth, imp.

# ? Aug 22, 2022 23:46

Bolverkur: Aug 9, 2012

mbt posted:

soliciting imp advice on what kind of jrpg dungeons to go with. i'm got an SMT-style overworld, but there's 4 dungeon aesthetics I'm between atm.
the game is probably going to be closer to suikoden, but you're recruiting demons and gods via combat, dialogue, or other challenges

1. slay the spire icon crawl - extremely easy to make but kind of boring. I'm not sure if this works well with jrpgs
2. SMT2 classic dungeon crawler - I've got something like this working already, but I don't think it's aged particularly well. I could unlock the movement and have it like wolfenstein 3d I guess lol
3. darkest dungeon - kind of a stretch, but I like drawing DND maps and I think this is an easy way to make a ton of high quality dungeons. I was thinking of doing this but going mildly higher effort with puzzles and traps vs darkest dungeon which is just a combat labyrinth
4. SMT3 3d dungeons - I would have to make them low poly / ps1 textures or else this might take me a million years

5. in the style of loving's Field IV

# ? Aug 22, 2022 23:47

Bolverkur: Aug 9, 2012

years ago I had an idea with a friend to make an rpg in the style of Link's Awakening on GBC where you were a skeleton in the monster underworld/dark world like in Dragon Quest and Link to the Past. never got anywhere with it and struggled to make even the most basic poo poo, having no artistic skills whatsoever. but drawing pixels is fun and messing around with unity was cool. i've also dreamed about taking the same premise and making a Harvest Moon game. this thread has too much good poo poo in it so here is some stuff from the skeleton village.

it was called Skeleton's Quests

# ? Aug 23, 2022 00:04

extremebuff: Jun 20, 2010

Bolverkur posted:

years ago I had an idea with a friend to make an rpg in the style of Link's Awakening on GBC where you were a skeleton in the monster underworld/dark world like in Dragon Quest and Link to the Past. never got anywhere with it and struggled to make even the most basic poo poo, having no artistic skills whatsoever. but drawing pixels is fun and messing around with unity was cool. i've also dreamed about taking the same premise and making a Harvest Moon game. this thread has too much good poo poo in it so here is some stuff from the skeleton village.

it was called Skeleton's Quests

the first thing you learn about gamedev is that art is the hardest part and also 98% of a game. the skelly homes and graves are cute

# ? Aug 23, 2022 00:06

Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

Bolverkur posted:

years ago I had an idea with a friend to make an rpg in the style of Link's Awakening on GBC where you were a skeleton in the monster underworld/dark world like in Dragon Quest and Link to the Past. never got anywhere with it and struggled to make even the most basic poo poo, having no artistic skills whatsoever. but drawing pixels is fun and messing around with unity was cool. i've also dreamed about taking the same premise and making a Harvest Moon game. this thread has too much good poo poo in it so here is some stuff from the skeleton village.

it was called Skeleton's Quests

Lol cool. Very cute

# ? Aug 23, 2022 00:06

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

Bolverkur posted:

years ago I had an idea with a friend to make an rpg in the style of Link's Awakening on GBC where you were a skeleton in the monster underworld/dark world like in Dragon Quest and Link to the Past. never got anywhere with it and struggled to make even the most basic poo poo, having no artistic skills whatsoever. but drawing pixels is fun and messing around with unity was cool. i've also dreamed about taking the same premise and making a Harvest Moon game. this thread has too much good poo poo in it so here is some stuff from the skeleton village.

it was called Skeleton's Quests

I looooove the cata-comb club and the smiling house!

# ? Aug 23, 2022 00:31

Sub-Actuality: Apr 17, 2007

Bolverkur posted:

years ago I had an idea with a friend to make an rpg in the style of Link's Awakening on GBC where you were a skeleton in the monster underworld/dark world like in Dragon Quest and Link to the Past. never got anywhere with it and struggled to make even the most basic poo poo, having no artistic skills whatsoever. but drawing pixels is fun and messing around with unity was cool. i've also dreamed about taking the same premise and making a Harvest Moon game. this thread has too much good poo poo in it so here is some stuff from the skeleton village.

it was called Skeleton's Quests

lol cool that is a rad skeleton sprite

# ? Aug 23, 2022 01:15

Sub-Actuality: Apr 17, 2007

I really like this little dude lol

# ? Aug 23, 2022 01:23

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

Sub-Actuality posted:

I really like this little dude lol

a friend

# ? Aug 23, 2022 01:53

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

Bolverkur posted:

had a lot of fun playing this!

this doesn't just kick rear end because you are great at making sprites, you also have a real skill for design. so many of these just jump out at you and become instantly memorable. that's why I think you should pursue this further. lots of people can draw nice things. not all of them can do this. go forth, imp.

# ? Aug 23, 2022 04:08

Bolverkur: Aug 9, 2012

Sub-Actuality posted:

I really like this little dude lol

hahah!

# ? Aug 23, 2022 12:06

mbt: Aug 13, 2012

Sub-Actuality posted:

I really like this little dude lol

# ? Aug 23, 2022 14:19

Fungah!: Apr 30, 2011

Sub-Actuality posted:

I really like this little dude lol

lol yeah

# ? Aug 23, 2022 14:21

Lunchmeat Larry: Nov 3, 2012

Sub-Actuality posted:

I really like this little dude lol

here comes a special boy!

# ? Aug 23, 2022 17:07

copy: Jul 26, 2007

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

lol

# ? Aug 23, 2022 19:44

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

Lol

# ? Aug 24, 2022 02:02

Punished Chuck: Dec 27, 2010

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:06

Sub-Actuality: Apr 17, 2007

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:10

Fungah!: Apr 30, 2011

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:14

Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

here comes a special boy!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 13:59

mbt: Aug 13, 2012

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

# ? Aug 29, 2022 02:54

Leadthumb: Mar 24, 2006

mbt posted:

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

GJ! Keep it up!

# ? Aug 29, 2022 02:58

Sub-Actuality: Apr 17, 2007

mbt posted:

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

hell yeah this looks cool

# ? Aug 29, 2022 05:37

Lunchmeat Larry: Nov 3, 2012

mbt posted:

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

woah that's really cool

# ? Aug 29, 2022 15:09

Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

mbt posted:

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

Awesome

# ? Aug 29, 2022 15:11

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 09:21

Fungah!: Apr 30, 2011

mbt posted:

I think i've found a happy medium.

building 3d levels is usually pretty miserable, but there's a few games where regular people make maps pretty easily, and fast

someone wrote code to pull in trenchbroom / wads into godot lol. i can just make a bunch of levels in this. I would have dungeon crawling through doom/quake-ish levels, complete with keys and puzzles and stuff. this also allows for very easy first-strike combat, and opens the door for powerups in that aspect (bfg that just immediately vaporizes enemies)

this is what it looks like
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321492877324713984/1013625678383566908/2022-08-28_21-45-22-1.webm

hell yeah, that's cool

# ? Aug 29, 2022 15:35

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