Druidstone - Dev Update #2

Silver

Spaceman
Staff Member
Joined
February 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
Druidstone has a new update on its progress which brings the news that the game will be split into acts, the GUI has been overhauled and cinematic cameras introduced for dramatic effect.

Dev update #2

Hullo fellow druidsters! It's time for another Dev update. As always, we've been busy with the game getting a lot of stuff done. We're giving a last push before the well earned summer vacation time, so it will be a bit more quiet in the Druidstone's forest during July.

In the last Dev update, we told that we started working the game synopsis into a script and that we also split the game into acts. The acts will help pacing the game, but they can also help the development: We can focus on them one at a time as they are sort of isolated entities and each has its own theme going on. We'll do a pass on all of them to get the basic structure of the game complete with the story and gameplay elements blocked in. After that it's an iteration after iteration until the game is done. Past couple of weeks we've been working on Act 1 and it's pretty much playable right through. Of course it still needs a lot of polishing and balancing but it's already really fun to play. We get to meet new party members, monsters and at the end explore the smoke scented Blimmur cave.

We've also done a major overhaul to GUI (that's the Graphical User Interface) to make it work with the newly introduced party concept. The coders have been also hard at work making the GUI scalable and functional in every way. The GUI most probably will go through many changes and iterations in the future, but that's business as usual. We've also tweaked the main character/s quite a bit. Well, number one: we've done two more main characters alongside our Druid. And two: As we added "cinematic" cameras to the game (a zoom or pan to frame a character that is doing something interesting), the characters need to hold up the closeups, so they needed an extra layer of detail as they were initially designed to be only looked at from top down perspective. Though it was a lot of work, it really helps bring the party members alive and show their different characteristics. Don't worry, we'll introduce the new party members in some other post.

Like stated on the last Dev update, the new party concept spawned various issues related to the dying mechanism and reincarnation concept, so there's been a lot of thought and work put on them. Most of the problems concerned characters involved in story elements, but we're drawing close to a solution that we're happy with. We'll cover that in a later post in more detail as it's still work in progress and too big subject to discuss here in detail.

That highlights some of the things we've been up to lately. We're off to summer vacation, see you back in August! Cheers!
More information.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
Keeping an eye on this one, being developed by some of the team behind Grimrock (Almost Human) has the potential to be good…..
 
Joined
Dec 20, 2016
Messages
437
Location
UK
I have not heard of this project but I will keep an eye on it now. Looks interesting and I like the premise.
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Messages
2,839
Location
Wolf Light Woods
Keeping an eye on this one, being developed by some of the team behind Grimrock

It also re-uses the same 3D assets from Grimrock, only with perspective changed to isometric, and added hearts from Zelda as HP meter.

Looks like some mobile game tbh, not impressed. They are after $ with this one.
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Messages
2,714
It also re-uses the same 3D assets from Grimrock, only with perspective changed to isometric, and added hearts from Zelda as HP meter.
Looks like some mobile game tbh, not impressed. They are after $ with this one.

Pfft! All assets are completely new. They only look similar because the same guy, Juho Salila, our very own art director of Grimrock games and Druidstone made them. He has his own style which I happen to really like.

We are taking a huge risk 100% self-funding this game in this day and age where even quality titles are drowning because of zillions of games released every year. We are working very hard, putting our heart and soul into our games because we love creating games, especially RPGs.

As for the hearts, they are great because they are countable. Compared to health meter, you can with a quick glance see how many HP you have left.

Petri Häkkinen
 
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
2
I'll be buying it, Petri!

Loved the Grimrock games! I think Grimrock2 is one of the best RPGS ever. I love how the puzzles and secrets feel like the same thing.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
2,976
Location
Australia
I hope it all goes well for you Petri, From what I've seen so far I will be definitely buying this one.
I know you didn't want to get pinned down on dates, but are we likely to see it 2017 or is it more likely 2018..........
 
Joined
Dec 20, 2016
Messages
437
Location
UK
Grimrock 1 and 2 are great games so I'm hopeful about this (whilst still being a bit disapointed that it doesn't bode well for Grimrock 3 :)).
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
1,901
Location
UK
Intrigued... but most likely enthusiasm will vanish by the time they are ready to release it....
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
489
Pfft! All assets are completely new.

:rolleyes:

As for the hearts, they are great because they are countable.

and because it reminds people of Minecraft and Zelda. :) It could have been of some other shape and still countable, just saying…

We are taking a huge risk 100% self-funding this game…

… We are working very hard, putting our heart and soul into our games…

just like any indie studio. What a heart-ripping story :rolleyes: .. you just got free fellatios at RPGWatch, congrats
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Messages
2,714
I have no problem with hearts, they serve the same function as health points but are just represented in a different way. The fact that it reminds some random people of Zelda doesn't seem like a good reason to use a different shape.
 
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
2,163
Grimrock 1 and 2 are great games so I'm hopeful about this (whilst still being a bit disapointed that it doesn't bode well for Grimrock 3 :)).

Oh I wouldn't worry if I were you Pongo. Maybe they got fed up or w/e but they were working on something prior to splitting off. Also targeting a younger/wider audience with Druidstone + mobile version should earn them enough $$$ to help. I mean this is far easier to push than a niche game like Grimrock.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Messages
2,714
I'm generally quite positive about this but agree with luj1 about the hearts. Minor point though.

@luj1 whatever it takes for Grimrock 3. Whatever it takes!
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
1,901
Location
UK
No need to roll your eyes. I really do mean it. Every texture, model, animation etc. is made from scratch for this game.

It could have been of some other shape and still countable, just saying…
We thought about using dicks first, but in the end we went with hearts, dunno, maybe because they are, like, universally recorgnized symbol of health?

just like any indie studio. What a heart-ripping story :rolleyes: .. you just got free fellatios at RPGWatch, congrats

Every indie game ever made is a heart-ripping story. And like most indies we are not making games just to make money. There are far, far easier ways in this world to make money than making games.

Also I don't get where you get the idea this is targeted for mobiles. Like our previous games, Druidstone is targeted primarily for old-school PC gamers. We like the bigger screen, proper audio, keyboard & mouse input and the generally longer attention span of gamers on the PC. Besides, the chances of making a successful mobile game these days is close to zero.

@skally_wag, Pongo, SirJames & others: thanks for the support! Really appreciate it!

Re: release date. There is none, but it's a safe bet that it won't be happening this year.
 
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
2
You seem to know an awful lot about this game. Instead of beating around the brush why don't you give us complete details.

Why be so spiteful of something of which you have no real knowledge ?

Oh I wouldn't worry if I were you Pongo. Maybe they got fed up or w/e but they were working on something prior to splitting off. Also targeting a younger/wider audience with Druidstone + mobile version should earn them enough $$$ to help. I mean this is far easier to push than a niche game like Grimrock.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
7,758
Location
usa - no longer boston
We thought about using dicks first, but in the end we went with hearts, dunno, maybe because they are, like, universally recorgnized symbol of health?

I'd pay $0.99 for a dick DLC.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,201
Back
Top Bottom