Depths of Peril - Demo Released!

Dhruin

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Soldak has released the demo for Depths of Peril. Here's the press release and mirror list:
The Depths of Peril demo is now available! You can play all 4 characters in the demo, explore the first part of the world, play through part of the storyline, experience a lot of the dynamic world with consequences, and get a taste for the covenant gameplay and it's less than 70MB, so check it out.
You can download the demo from the following mirrors:
gamershell
GameSpot
WorthPlaying
FanGaming
StrategyInformer
FileShack
Gameguru Mania
Atomic Gamer
File Front
ComputerGames.ro
Here's the actual press release for the demo:
Depths of Peril demo now available!
Dallas, Texas, August 16, 2007 - Soldak Entertainment today announced the availability of the Depths of Peril demo for Windows PCs.
Depths of Peril is a single player action role-playing game (RPG) with strong strategy elements. You play as a faction leader protecting the barbarian city, Jorvik, by destroying threatening monsters and completing quests. At the same time, you compete with rival factions to see who will rule the city. Barbarians choose their leaders by fighting to the death!
As a faction leader, you must deal with rival factions through diplomacy, trade, and in time, war. Between battles and raids against other barbarian factions, you build the most powerful faction possible, to withstand your enemies. Building the power of a faction involves exploring a fantasy world, slaying dangerous monsters, solving quests for the city, avoiding deadly traps, and plundering loot to share within your faction.
But in this world, actions actually have consequences, so take care. Annoying the powerful and aggressive Legion of Fear faction will cause them to declare war and destroy you. Ignored orc uprisings in the Black Forest might lead to attacks on the town or even more trouble. Protect ally covenants that are being raided, because friends are hard to come by.
Unlike many demos, in this demo, you can play all four characters that are available in the full game up to level 7 so there is plenty to try out. The demo is also under 70MB, so there’s no reason not to give it a try :)
You can go to http://www.soldak.com/ for more information about Depths of Peril and Soldak Entertainment.

About Soldak Entertainment, Inc.
Soldak Entertainment, Inc. is a small independent developer, focused on bringing new and unique gameplay to the entertainment industry. Soldak was founded by Steven Peeler. Before embarking on his own in late 2004 to create Depths of Peril, he was Technical Director of Ritual Entertainment.
If you'd like to try an indie hack'n'slash action/RPG with a couple of twists, I think this is worth a look.
More information.
 
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Not totally bad :) . Kinda feels like Diablo meets WoW with Diablo 1 (1996) type of graphics. I'm not much of an action RPG hack'n'slash fan so not sure if it's worth buying for me. I got to almost level 6 in the demo (which is the demo's level limit I believe) and it slowly began to get slightly repetitive. I certainly would not pay more than ~EUR 10.00 - 15.00 for something like this. It's always kind of hard to justify a purchase when you could just as well go and play the even more polished and better looking originals ;) (i.e. WoW and/or Diablo 2).
Haven't gotten too deep into the diplomacy/strategy stuff though (only accepted/rejected a few trade offers) since there didn't appear to be a need for it. Has anyone tried it? Is it worth it? Does it add a lot more to the game?
 
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I have just played this demo extensively. Apart from getting sore fingers as well as a right arm, I liked the demo very much. I just disliked the whole diplomacy and rts stuff. It is annoying in the middle of wacking some zombies that there's a diplomacy knock. The game could use an overhaul in this area, so that the diplomacy phase in the game only happened during the stay in the starting town.

It also lacks the town portals scrolls etc. that Diablo had. And in hack 'n slash games like these, they are very necessary, since the stash & loot you'll find are varied and there's much of it. In short, the inventory is way too small. Also, there is no place to store your loot, like in Diablo. And by that I mean that you won't have access to a stash chest like in Diablo.

But, overall, the game is fun to play. The quests are varied and interested, ranging from the odd rescue mission to escorting someone somewhere as well as featuring the more traditional kill this and that and fetch me his and that quest. I would give it an 8-8.5/10.
 
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Not totally bad :) . Kinda feels like Diablo meets WoW ...*snip*
Haven't gotten too deep into the diplomacy/strategy stuff though (only accepted/rejected a few trade offers) since there didn't appear to be a need for it. Has anyone tried it? Is it worth it? Does it add a lot more to the game?
Well, offhand, it looks like it could possibly be an interest adding factor, since it adds a little competition and another layer of something to do, but I'm pretty much struggling with the demo myself. I somehow didn't click on the right help topic at the right time to decipher the influence/trade screen thingy so I was warred upon and destroyed by the inaptly named Kindred Spirits about thirty minutes into the thing. :)

It's debatable whether the somewhat average rest of the game is enough to get me back into it. The graphics are so ..bright..and cluttered that it's a bit challenging to get oriented at first.

But it's got some potential--if I had the manual, I'd probably figure it out and play a bit more. I'm with you, though, on a bargain bin kind of price, unless I'm missing something.

@aries I think there's a portal stone in the inventory that works like the town portal scroll. Also there's a stash chest in your covenenant house you can use, but I think you have to put items in bags you buy at one of the vendors--and the cp sp whatever currency thing is confusing as hell to me so good luck ;)
 
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@aries I think there's a portal stone in the inventory that works like the town portal scroll.

That... and don't forget to activate all the teleporters that you come across by clicking on them :) . There are quite a few so you can get back to town very quickly and easily from just about anywhere.

...so I was warred upon and destroyed by the inaptly named Kindred Spirits about thirty minutes into the thing.

Ah, good to know that this can actually happen :) . I didn't care much for the pop-up messages at all and only clicked on "accept" a few times when a deal seemed OK. Then I recruited two NPCs for my covenant and I somehow became the strongest covenant. Weird. You'd think you'd actually have to put a little more effort into the economic/diplomatic stuff to get to the top. That's why I don't really get what it's good for other than maybe trading much wanted items (possibly set items later in the game). Confusing indeed and I think I also managed to close the wrong help topic at the wrong time :) .
 
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Instant portal available anywhere, anytime. ;)

Bear in mind this is a highly randomised game - you might be easily king of the hill one game and smashed in another; the factions are randomised and have different behaviours. Also, being in the lead in the early game doesn't mean a lot - did you try a Raid on another faction? Things can change quickly. ;) You might take out one only to find some of the others seize the opportunity to rush you while you are distracted.

That's where some diplomacy over the hours of gameplay can help, so you really won't see the whole picture until you get into raiding.

Magerette, I'd recommend giving it another go, doing the tutorial quests and then as many quests as you can for the town. It will fall into place after a while.
 
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Ah I see. Must have had some random beginner's luck then :) . Thanks for the explanations!
 
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Thanks for the info Dhruin. I'll give it another try when my brain cells are caffeined up to full power tomorrow. I need to do a little background reading on it too--I'm a read-the-manual learner. :)
 
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Look, it's an unusual indie action/RPG so it just won't appeal to lots of people. I quite enjoy the occasional action romp but I get bored pretty quickly. Since a game of DoP doesn't last that long (can be 2 to ~15 hours in my limited experience -- you're meant to replay rather than treat it as a one-time story game), I find it a nice "let's play a round of DoP for a break" game.

I don't think our readers are going to put aside Fallout for this but it's generally pretty good at what it sets out to do.
 
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It also lacks the town portals scrolls etc. that Diablo had. And in hack 'n slash games like these, they are very necessary, since the stash & loot you'll find are varied and there's much of it.

I believe someone answered this already, but you do start with a teleport stone (the round green thing). Right click on that and it creates a gate back to your house in town. Even better is add it to the hotkey bar so you can have hotkey access to it if you get into trouble.

In short, the inventory is way too small. Also, there is no place to store your loot, like in Diablo. And by that I mean that you won't have access to a stash chest like in Diablo.

Your inventory does get larger and larger as the game progresses as you find larger bags.

You also do have two stashes in your house over on the left side. One is your character's personal stash and the other is shared between all of your characters on your computer. You do need to put bags into them first to start using them.

and the cp sp whatever currency thing is confusing as hell to me so good luck ;)

The conversion for all the money is 100.
100 cp (copper) = 1 sp (silver)
100 sp = 1 gp (gold)

Then I recruited two NPCs for my covenant and I somehow became the strongest covenant. Weird. You'd think you'd actually have to put a little more effort into the economic/diplomatic stuff to get to the top.

Well when you start at level 1 no one has any recruits, so grabbing 2 recruits before anyone else has any is a big deal. Who do you think is going to win a raid, the covenant that has 3 people already or the covenant that still only has 1 person? :) Basically at low levels grabbing recruits can sway the power numbers a lot. At higher levels it doesn't fluctuate quite as much like this.

I need to do a little background reading on it too--I'm a read-the-manual learner. :)

We've tried to put all the manual type information straight into the game. Anything in particular we are missing?
 
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Steven Peeler wrote:
We've tried to put all the manual type information straight into the game. Anything in particular we are missing?

Just knowing sp means silver point(piece?), not spell point helped a lot. I was trying to figure how on earth spell points could provide purchasing power. ;) But I was imagining them combined with currency in buying your skills and that sort of made sense...(That may have been a stupid conclusion to jump to on my part, but sp is an old abbreviation in the genre that my brain just auto-translated.)

I appreciate the ingame help, but not being able to re-access it after it once pops up is my problem. Is there some way to do this? There's a lot going on in your game structurally, which is quite cool, but it's also a bit hectic, since most of it is undefined except for that quick popup. I didn't notice any tool tips or the like, no readme, etc--did I miss any of that? This may be something you plan on addressing later.

It's nice to see some different approaches, tho. I give you guys a lot of credit for not just duplicating what's already out there.
 
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Just knowing sp means silver point(piece?), not spell point helped a lot.

Sorry about that. cp = copper piece, sp = silver piece, gp = gold piece

I appreciate the ingame help, but not being able to re-access it after it once pops up is my problem. Is there some way to do this?

You can reset the help so it will start over. Just go to options, then game options, and hit the Reset All Help Topics button. I need to make this more clear in the game that you can do this.

I didn't notice any tool tips or the like, no readme, etc--did I miss any of that? This may be something you plan on addressing later.

No, there's not a readme. There is basically just the help topics, the tutorial, and many things give you text when you highlight them. I try to add more help topics and highlight text here and there when I find specific things that people miss.
 
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Thanks for the reply. Making a game sounds like pretty anal stuff, eh? Not all just rampant creative genius ;) Appreciate the input very much.
 
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The conversion for all the money is 100.
100 cp (copper) = 1 sp (silver)
100 sp = 1 gp (gold)

I remember that from the old D&D days!

Daniel.
 
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"It's always kind of hard to justify a purchase when you could just as well go and play the even more polished and better looking originals (i.e. WoW and/or Diablo 2)."

This is what gets to me. If you further this thinking you'd only have four games to play in total. Why play Two Worlds when you can play Gothic? Diablo instead of DS, BG instead of NWN 2. Is Two Worlds only worth $10-15? What you are saying is that you feel games without today's graphics will never be worth the same amount of money as other games, so you value graphics over game play. Your pricing has nothing to do with gameplay, and everything to do with presentation. Which is fine, to each their own and all that, but at least realize that games will never be fixed if this is how people will continue to think and value games.
 
Great game, it's worth the money more than Two Worlds crazyness.
But it's indie, and players think like all the people around the world "big ad big game"...
 
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After playing the demo for two days, I really have to revise my initial "meh" reaction. Once you get past the learning curve(which did take me awhile) this game has a lot to offer. The structure is perfect for almost unlimited replay, as Drhuin said, for when you want a quick-fix gaming diversion, but it's also addictive enough to play for hours. The covenant AI is bloodthirsty and rapacious, but not in a broken way--and makes for a motivating factor in the normal round of fed-ex quests. Quite a reasonable amount of strategy needed to survive and prosper.

While it combines some inspirations from a lot of diverse games(like the trade routes which remind me of the treaties in MOO2) it does so without being a mirror image of any of them. This is definitely a game I will buy.
 
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Thanks for the reply. Making a game sounds like pretty anal stuff, eh? Not all just rampant creative genius ;) Appreciate the input very much.

Making games is very much like most jobs in some ways. There is a lot of tedious, grunt work that must be done and a lot of creative work which is usually more fun.

I remember that from the old D&D days!

Yes D&D and many other games have used a similar scheme. This is definitely not one of our unique parts.

After playing the demo for two days, I really have to revise my initial "meh" reaction. Once you get past the learning curve(which did take me awhile) this game has a lot to offer.

Cool, I'm happy that you are enjoying the game more. It doesn't surprise me much that it took a little time though. We have tried to make Depths of Peril a much deeper game than a typical action RPG, but unfortunately that tends to make things more complicated. So there is more of a ramp up time than usual, but I think it's worth it in the long run (I'm completely biased of course).

While it combines some inspirations from a lot of diverse games(like the trade routes which remind me of the treaties in MOO2) it does so without being a mirror image of any of them. This is definitely a game I will buy.

I'm a big fan of both the Master of Orion and Civilization series :)
 
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