Underlair - A co-op, party-based, dungeon crawler

Hello everyone. I've wanted to post here for some time now since RPGWatch announced my project some months ago. So, this is me finally doing it.

Underlair is a dungeon crawler that I started creating last August. It draws inspiration from many games like Wizards & Warriors 2000 and Wizardry 8 but with deep roots in classics like Dungeon Master and Eye of Beholder.





Check its website for more information, videos, screenshots, and development news; I post every week.
Website
Twitter
Youtube

Let me know your thoughts. Cheers!

Ups, the website's URL is wrong as it contains the word hello by mistake. Since I can't edit it. I'm leaving the right one here:
https://underlair.blogspot.com/

Just out of curiosity, posts can't be edited at this forum or it has criteria?
Thanks.

Nice-looking art.

FYI: The link to the website doesn't seem to be working.

JDR13 said:

Nice-looking art.

FYI: The link to the website doesn't seem to be working.

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Yeah, I've noticed. Unfortunately, I'm unable to edit the post and it seems my previous post stating the right address is pending for approval or removed for some reason.

Thanks for pointing it out.

The correct address is here.

I'm assuming it's grid-based? I don't do those but I wish you well. Movement that is restricted with the types of CPUs we have today just hurts my inner IT-geek. It's why I play Skyrim instead of Zork. Times move on.

Ularis Badler said:

Hello everyone. I've wanted to post here for some time now since RPGWatch announced my project some months ago. So, this is me finally doing it.

Underlair is a dungeon crawler that I started creating last August. It draws inspiration from many games like Wizards & Warriors 2000 and Wizardry 8 but with deep roots in classics like Dungeon Master and Eye of Beholder.

Check its website for more information, videos, screenshots, and development news; I post every week.
Website
Twitter

Let me know your thoughts. Cheers!

Click to expand...

Though I liked the screenshots you shared, I confess I don't play co-op. Can your game be played fully solo? Do you think it will detract from the gaming experience? Nice work, keep it up!!

I'm another that's not a fan of co-op, yet if this game could be played solo, I'd likely look into it as this genre appeals to me. And even though certain aspects may not appeal to me, nice work on the game and thanks for keeping us informed.

crpgnut said:

I'm assuming it's grid-based? I don't do those but I wish you well. Movement that is restricted with the types of CPUs we have today just hurts my inner IT-geek. It's why I play Skyrim instead of Zork. Times move on.

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Hey, no problem. I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea, no game is. Anyway, thanks for letting me know about your condition.

Carnifex said:

I'm another that's not a fan of co-op, yet if this game could be played solo, I'd likely look into it as this genre appeals to me. And even though certain aspects may not appeal to me, nice work on the game and thanks for keeping us informed.

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The game's co-op feature is built on top of its single-player counterpart. In other words, it's a single-player game with co-op capability. Thank you for your kind words!

henriquejr said:

Though I liked the screenshots you shared, I confess I don't play co-op. Can your game be played fully solo? Do you think it will detract from the gaming experience? Nice work, keep it up!!

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Yes, the game is primarily single-player. The co-op component doesn't change the game's premise in any regard. The co-op feature splits the party that is normally controlled by a single player, and that's about it. Thank you for you praise

Quick update, the rogue classes are unveiled:


In Underlair, you can train all specialization classes based on the character's base class but you will never become a god-like character.

looks cool, ill keep an eye on it

Ohhh very nice, I have a fondness for rogues!

Thank you, guys. Next week, I will unveil the Psycaster classes - these are like wizards that focus on psychic abilities to manipulate matter.

This game is definitely up my alley. Looks good so far.

Ularis Badler said:

Hello everyone. I've wanted to post here for some time now since RPGWatch announced my project some months ago. So, this is me finally doing it.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the Watch, Ularis - glad you could make it! You have come to the right place. You'll find this is a place of quiet appreciation and civilised if sometimes somewhat restrained discussion on what we all love.

Underlair is really an impressive effort and I love not just the concept but also the way you let us follow your development and your thoughts on your website (the link for which appears to be working fine, now, btw)!

crpgnut said:

I'm assuming it's grid-based? I don't do those but I wish you well. Movement that is restricted with the types of CPUs we have today just hurts my inner IT-geek. It's why I play Skyrim instead of Zork. Times move on.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I, on the other hand, believe in the concept that aesthetic and functional constraints actually drive the creative process towards a higher level of (artistic) accomplishment. If this applied to games as much as any other medium, couldn't we expect a more worthwhile experience as a consequence?

Moorkh said:

Welcome to the Watch, Ularis - glad you could make it! You have come to the right place. You'll find this is a place of quiet appreciation and civilised if sometimes somewhat restrained discussion on what we all love.

Underlair is really an impressive effort and I love not just the concept but also the way you let us follow your development and your thoughts on your website (the link for which appears to be working fine, now, btw)!

Click to expand...

Hey! Thank you for your kind words and for the warm welcome. Your constant follow-up really motivates me to press forward. Yes, I fixed the broken URL address.
Cheers!

This looks quite intriguing and I can't even say why. Must be the whole package.

Pitch dark dungeons is a plus for me, as is the optional Co-Op.

Arhu said:

This looks quite intriguing and I can't even say why. Must be the whole package.

Pitch dark dungeons is a plus for me, as is the optional Co-Op.

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Thanks for showing interest.

I've actually have been receiving some mixed feelings regarding having a realistic approach for light during dungeon exploration. Light will be extremely important for dungeon exploration and has been boosted a bit since the video showing it was first released.

Definitely very interested in this game!

Always wanted to play a co-op blobber similar to Wizardry where you're nervous about pushing deeper into the dungeon because you might not have enough spells to make it back out again.

I think only being able to save in town or on exit is how you get this tension. Save scumming is cheating. Many here will tell you they like being able to save anywhere and why not let them play their own way? Let the ironmen apply their own save rules and have the willpower to follow them. But how does the conversation go back at the forums? You'll have most casuals scumming through and making out like the game was easy while the ironmans feat gets ignored!

Anyway, I've kind of just gone straight into a rant that might not really be applicable. Something to keep in mind, though.

I forget what I said in the thread where this game was first mentioned but it was something about a torch lighting simulator. Is it fun or a chore, does it just get in the way of the fun part? I don't think anyone wants to have to run back to town for more torch lighting items. I think you could just light up the tiles as you enter them to help with exploration. Sort of like revealing the fog-of-war in other games like Baldurs Gate. That will help people not miss something but also not have much of an impact on navigating the labyrinth on the way back out.

To comment on the screenshots, I think the graphics are good but the new game setup looks a little verbose. I don't really like having that many options because I tend to feel like im cheating by tailoring the game settings too much. I'd prefer to have some simple pre-sets like Normal, Hard, etc. Something where I can say "I beat the game on hard!" and not "I beat the game on custom map with [full page of options]". But it is great to have custom map "advanced" settings like that available!

I do love a good roguelike but really random maps don't do much for me. I prefer the rogues with auto-explore so I can just get to the encounters. Finding prefabricated special areas is much more exciting than the random map part. You'll find in the old blobbers its full of random encounters but also set encounters like maybe a boss fight but the map design is a lot of the genius. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a proper campaign AND have random maps for replay value.

What other details do we know, so far? Will there be any character persistence between games? Any roguelite style persistance? How long will a game take to play through?