New Homebrew Halls of Zoor

[retrogeek]

 

That's right; I have finally started on my first homebrew for the ST line of computers. Halls of Zoor is a dungeon romp where the player traverses the ancient Halls of Zoor in search of treasure. Adventurers prior have ventured into these halls and have perished in seek of riches. As the main character (a knight) you are pitted against traps, creatures, and puzzle solving.

 

Some puzzles include switch traps, color arrangement, and item retrieval to open certain areas.

 

I already have the first few levels mapped out and programming has already begun on the game. I'm still undecided on how many levels will be available to the player or whether there will be upgradeable weapons and armor.

 

I've been debating on how the battle sequences should work. At first I considered more of a Zelda action approach, but I may settle on more of a turn-based system when a creature encounter occurs. I have designed a separate battle screen when a creature attacks; the idea is to have the creature on one end and the player on the other, selecting attacks from a menu and casting potions and magic. I'm programming this title for fellow Atarians to enjoy so give me SOME input on how this should play.

 

A demo will eventually be available on my website which can be found in my sig. Once the game is completed, it will be available for download at the same web address. A manual in PDF format will also accompany the game. Any updates to this title will also be there for download. I hope this garners some interest! I'm having a blast designing / drawing/ programming it!

 

Some screens:

 

 

Edited May 13, 2008 by retrogeek

[retrogeek]

I just added a poll asking some questions about the way Halls should play; your input is appreciated!

[Pixelboy]

Here's a quick idea: How about letting the player start as a generic character, and the class of that character would develop based on the player's actions. For example, if the player tends to equip heavy armor and swords, his stats will develop along a warrior's alignment. If he likes to use a lot of magic in combat, his stats will develop along a magician's alignment, and if he tends to travel light and use long-range weapons, his stats will follow a thief's alignment. Of course, the player could also work towards keeping a balance of stats, in which case his stats will evolve along an adventurer's alignment. You could build your entire game (puzzles, storyline, relations with NPCs, etc.) around this feature.

 

Just a suggestion.

[retrogeek]

Here's a quick idea: How about letting the player start as a generic character, and the class of that character would develop based on the player's actions. For example, if the player tends to equip heavy armor and swords, his stats will develop along a warrior's alignment. If he likes to use a lot of magic in combat, his stats will develop along a magician's alignment, and if he tends to travel light and use long-range weapons, his stats will follow a thief's alignment. Of course, the player could also work towards keeping a balance of stats, in which case his stats will evolve along an adventurer's alignment. You could build your entire game (puzzles, storyline, relations with NPCs, etc.) around this feature.

 

Just a suggestion.

 

Good idea! If I may add a scenario using your suggestions: someone who travels light would be given a different set of challenges, like disarming chests or deactivating a trap with a special tool. A person with warrior stats may have to pull a series of levers to continue on, while someone that uses magic could cast a spell to make passing the trap easier.

 

I love the suggestions! Keep them coming!

Edited May 13, 2008 by retrogeek

[nathanallan]

I like the idea of an encounter screen with menu driven commands. As for me, I like the main character to be more "cartoony" and less realistic, like youhave him pictured. Just mho. Though I like the classes, and if you choose a character in the beginning you stay with that class. Could there be other team members that are controlled by you? Or can you also "meet" others in the dungeon that are on their own missions, that tag along for a while then leave? Or meet a bad guy and turn against you, that would be a neat twist.

 

The only thing I would beg for is a character to pay homage to Terry Pratchett, Cohen the Barbarian, complete with diamond teeth (din chewers).

 

Nathan

[+remowilliams]

The only thing I would beg for is a character to pay homage to Terry Pratchett, Cohen the Barbarian, complete with diamond teeth (din chewers).

Cohen is a good suggestion, but I'd go with the luggage as a chest.

 

Anyhow - excellent retrogeek, keep on with the work.

 

I still lament losing the source/last build of my 95% complete Dark Tower ST game.

[retrogeek]

Here is a screenshot to give everyone an idea of how the turn-based combat system works:

 

Edited May 14, 2008 by retrogeek

[retrogeek]

I like the idea of an encounter screen with menu driven commands. As for me, I like the main character to be more "cartoony" and less realistic, like youhave him pictured. Just mho. Though I like the classes, and if you choose a character in the beginning you stay with that class. Could there be other team members that are controlled by you? Or can you also "meet" others in the dungeon that are on their own missions, that tag along for a while then leave? Or meet a bad guy and turn against you, that would be a neat twist.

 

The only thing I would beg for is a character to pay homage to Terry Pratchett, Cohen the Barbarian, complete with diamond teeth (din chewers).

 

Nathan

 

Cohen the Barbarian, eh? That's an idea! He's a cool character.

 

Having party members isn't out of the question so keep your eyes open for updates! I'm really looking forward to releasing my first demo; I can't wait!

[retrogeek]

The only thing I would beg for is a character to pay homage to Terry Pratchett, Cohen the Barbarian, complete with diamond teeth (din chewers).

Cohen is a good suggestion, but I'd go with the luggage as a chest.

 

Anyhow - excellent retrogeek, keep on with the work.

 

I still lament losing the source/last build of my 95% complete Dark Tower ST game.

 

Thanks, Remo! I already have a few similiar ideas for chests -- how do random attacking chests sound? There will be random chests throughout the dungeon that will spring to life with big, nashing teeth, and the hero will have to kill them to get to the contents inside.

Edited May 14, 2008 by retrogeek

[StickHead]

Nice one, Retrogeek! Love to see people still making games on the ST. The encounter screen looks cool. I like the ideas so far, especially sapient pearwood chests and an rpg with hiscore table! One small suggestion: Regarding the main play screen, the sprites are a different perspective to the background. The sprites are pretty much side on, and the walls look almost top-down. If you can match the perspectives, they will look like they 'belong' a bit more.

 

What language are you using for development?

[retrogeek]

Nice one, Retrogeek! Love to see people still making games on the ST. The encounter screen looks cool. I like the ideas so far, especially sapient pearwood chests and an rpg with hiscore table! One small suggestion: Regarding the main play screen, the sprites are a different perspective to the background. The sprites are pretty much side on, and the walls look almost top-down. If you can match the perspectives, they will look like they 'belong' a bit more.

 

What language are you using for development?

 

I love the ST! There will be more games after this one. I wanted the encounter screen to be simple and not crowded so I went for a basic look with just the sprites to keep things clean. I tried adding walls, etc., but it looks too busy for my tastes.

 

Good point on the sprites; I've been debating on changing the sprites' perspectives since I started the project. Initially I was going for that abstract Japanese RPG look (some earlier Japanese RPGs used this strange perspective with the sprites and walls) but I'll experiment and see what I come up with. I'm sure changing the perspective will make them fit better as you said.

 

Edit: I've decided to redraw the sprites to fit the environment better. I'll post new screenshots soon when I am done!

Edited May 15, 2008 by retrogeek

[Christos]

It's nice for concept art. Not sure how well it would play out on an ST environment.

About the RPG thing.. I don't like RPG's (except Ishar) so I can't really comment.

[retrogeek]

It's nice for concept art. Not sure how well it would play out on an ST environment.

About the RPG thing.. I don't like RPG's (except Ishar) so I can't really comment.

 

Hey Christos! Thank you for responding to the thread. The backgrounds are being drawn in Deluxe Paint and the sprites are being drawn using ST Sprite Factory. I hope to have a demo up soon.

 

It's still early to tell how this will play out on the ST but I will keep everyone updated as the game moves along.

[retrogeek]

Plus, I finally have the Dev blog ready (it can be found in my sig). Here's a link anyway: Halls of Zoor Dev Blog

Edited May 15, 2008 by retrogeek

[Christos]

I can see 3-4 problems already.

First it's STOS. Unless you are making a puzzler or a turn based strategy it's quite inefficient. The second one is that you are planning to do something that has sideways scrolling (from the concept art). Not a very good idea when we are talking about the ST. Still it can be somewhat overcomed with a lot of effort and for an RPG where fast paced action isn't a requirement. Then I understand you want to use sampled music? Again not a very good idea, even for STE. Try to limit samples to the minimum. Also try to keep in mind that your target group is a 1040ST user without hard drive and it's very easy to break the limit and not realise it (I know). That's about it.

[retrogeek]

I can see 3-4 problems already.

First it's STOS. Unless you are making a puzzler or a turn based strategy it's quite inefficient. The second one is that you are planning to do something that has sideways scrolling (from the concept art). Not a very good idea when we are talking about the ST. Still it can be somewhat overcomed with a lot of effort and for an RPG where fast paced action isn't a requirement. Then I understand you want to use sampled music? Again not a very good idea, even for STE. Try to limit samples to the minimum. Also try to keep in mind that your target group is a 1040ST user without hard drive and it's very easy to break the limit and not realise it (I know). That's about it.

 

 

Hi Christos,

 

Halls will be turn-based (please read blog) so I am not too concerned. The turn-based fighting takes place on a static background with 1-3 sprites so there is very little memory being used. Each adventure screen is static and doesn't actually scroll (you walk to the exit on one end and it loads the next screen). Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

 

There's digitized sound but we're talking small files that loop and nothing more.

 

Edit: Sprite handling is also set to a minimum since it’s targeting a stock 1040ST system. Who knows, maybe the game will need higher requirements as it develops; we shall see.

Edited May 17, 2008 by retrogeek

[Christos]

Screen flipping.. yeah not bad idea. That also means that your graphics need to be well designed so all doors and corridors will need to be put with in the 320x200 st screen. I can advice you to take a look at gauntlet and gauntlet II and the solutions used there (though it is more action based). Not trying to be a party spoiler, just to give my insight.

[retrogeek]

Screen flipping.. yeah not bad idea. That also means that your graphics need to be well designed so all doors and corridors will need to be put with in the 320x200 st screen. I can advice you to take a look at gauntlet and gauntlet II and the solutions used there (though it is more action based). Not trying to be a party spoiler, just to give my insight.

 

You're not a party spoiler, I really appreciate the advice you're offering me. Your advice has already helped!

[Silence The Fallen]

I have to hand it to you Retrogeek! This looks really nice.

 

Although I have dreams of one day playing a Zelda style Action RPG on my ST, im sure its much easier to program a turn based RPG than an action RPG. Besides, you have to start somewhere.

 

That dungeon screenshot reminds me of EPYX's Temple of Aphsai games. I loved that series as a kid. I also like the battle screen. It really reminds me of Sega's Shining Force games on the genesis. Which ever route you decide to go with the game, it looks like it will be a quality title.

 

I have a suggestion however. If the game is going to be a dungeon romp, then I suggest having some of the items be randomly placed. Maybe some treasure chests have set items but others give random items. This way while the levels might be the same, each time I play there will be a bit of freshness.

 

Regardless, i'm excited about this project! Keep up the good work.

[retrogeek]

I have a suggestion however. If the game is going to be a dungeon romp, then I suggest having some of the items be randomly placed. Maybe some treasure chests have set items but others give random items. This way while the levels might be the same, each time I play there will be a bit of freshness.

 

Good suggestion! I was wondering how I could keep the game fresh once someone completes it.

 

I'm still working on dungeon design so more pictures will follow shortly!

 

Thank you for compliments!

[nathanallan]

One of my favorite games of all time is Dungeon Crawl. The gameplay is obsessive, the levels are randomly generated and it leaves a lot to the imagination. It's a Rogue-like, and it is fun. I only suggest it to give you an idea. Hope it helps!

 

Nathan

[TwiliteZoner]

I have a suggestion however. If the game is going to be a dungeon romp, then I suggest having some of the items be randomly placed. Maybe some treasure chests have set items but others give random items. This way while the levels might be the same, each time I play there will be a bit of freshness.

 

Good suggestion! I was wondering how I could keep the game fresh once someone completes it.

 

I'm still working on dungeon design so more pictures will follow shortly!

 

Thank you for compliments!

 

The game looks great retrogeek. I am looking forward to playing this.

[retrogeek]

I have a suggestion however. If the game is going to be a dungeon romp, then I suggest having some of the items be randomly placed. Maybe some treasure chests have set items but others give random items. This way while the levels might be the same, each time I play there will be a bit of freshness.

 

Good suggestion! I was wondering how I could keep the game fresh once someone completes it.

 

I'm still working on dungeon design so more pictures will follow shortly!

 

Thank you for compliments!

 

The game looks great retrogeek. I am looking forward to playing this.

 

 

I appreciate the praise! I've been busy working on the game and also tending to a bad back (ouch). I'm still around.. I've just been busy!

[retrogeek]

One of my favorite games of all time is Dungeon Crawl. The gameplay is obsessive, the levels are randomly generated and it leaves a lot to the imagination. It's a Rogue-like, and it is fun. I only suggest it to give you an idea. Hope it helps!

 

Nathan

 

 

I remember Dungeon Crawl! It's a great game!

[Atari060]

Hi,

 

Game looks VERY nice! Why not add Multiplayer for it? Best would be networking support? Just a thought. If it is turn based, even the STE should be able to handle data stream.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris