The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost - Available on October 14

HiddenX

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2016 is the year of dungeon crawlers - Steve Jarman will launch The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost on Oktober 14th:



The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost is a first-person, dungeon crawling RPG, with traditional grid-based movement, and active turn-based combat. Players explore a vast labyrinth filled with dangerous creatures, and hidden treasures, to unravel an ancient mystery and deliver their city from harm’s way.

Featuring rich, 3D environments with an old-school, retro feel, this huge adventure pays a modernised homage to classic 80’s and 90’s dungeon crawlers, such as Dungeon Master and Lands Of Lore.
More information.
 
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Looky good!

What does "active" turn-based mean?

From the developer Steve:
I call it "active turn-based" but I don't know how accurately that applies. You can see how it works in the gameplay video - essentially if ANY party member acts, then movement for the party is locked down for the turn duration (in other words, they commit to combat for at least 1 turn). After an attack, the party member must "cool down" to complete their turn. If no one is in a state of cooling down, then movement becomes an option again (i.e. you can run away if you want to). What you can't do it just kite enemies to cheat-fight them :)

Oh, and in the meantime, the enemy is moving/attacking the party using it's own turn system, not in sync with the party's turns - i.e. the enemy will keep attacking you even if you're just standing there.
 
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Wow lots of these being made. This looks better than most. Will keep my eye on it.
 
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@Hidden
Thanks for finding the quote. In the vid it looked like real turn-based to me. Don't really see, why enemies should use their own turn-system. Seems to be only to generate fake pressure. I prefer true turn-based with maybe a initiative system (But not like in Lords of Xulima where speed determined how often you could attack, which made it the most important stat for ALL classes).
 
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Yeah, I notice quite a few of these "Legend of Grimrock"-type games coming out. Did the Legend of Grimrock people open-source or license their engine?

(P.S. - Yes, I know Grimrock itself is inspired by older games like Eye of the Beholder, Stonekeep...)
 
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@elkston
I wouldn't mind some more games in the (art) style of Grimrock, although I couldn't play the first Grimrock for more than an hour before I got sick of the "real-time dancing." At least this is not the case with Deep Paths.
 
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This does look pretty cool. I love the power 80s theme that turns medieval and I'm very happy that games like this are being made.

My only "issue" with games like this is the somewhat repetitive tiles on the walls, floor, etc. I know that's an old-school thing but I liked Elminage Gothic a lot because each dungeon you went to had a unique look. Even if the tiles repeated for that entire dungeon, each dungeon was still different looking. Not to mention that each dungeon was its own "puzzle", had a unique layout and unique dungeon-specific quirks (an ice dungeon where you slide on the floor, a dungeon full of wind tunnels that transport you to different levels, etc.).

All in all it's not a big deal to me as I love any type of first-person party-based dungeon crawlers. As a side note, the original Wizardry trilogy updated on the PS1 is a good version to check out.
 
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Looks quite entertaining and polished; will keep an eye on this one for sure. I quite like the touch of being able to utilise the pit trap on the monster at the end of the video; this was certainly a feature I wanted to see more of in Grimrock as desperately cracking monsters with closing doors when you're low on health was always great in fun in Dungeon Master. :)
 
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The game looks quite interesting. Wishlisted :)
 
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I know that's an old-school thing but I liked Elminage Gothic a lot because each dungeon you went to had a unique look. Even if the tiles repeated for that entire dungeon, each dungeon was still different looking. Not to mention that each dungeon was its own "puzzle", had a unique layout and unique dungeon-specific quirks (an ice dungeon where you slide on the floor, a dungeon full of wind tunnels that transport you to different levels, etc.).
That sounds really cool. I feel like there's a lot more that could be done with the genre but right now everyone's making Grimrock clones. I probably would've finished Grimrock except I'm crap at puzzles.
 
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That sounds really cool. I feel like there's a lot more that could be done with the genre but right now everyone's making Grimrock clones. I probably would've finished Grimrock except I'm crap at puzzles.

Yeah, Grimrock is heavily cloned right now since that was the most successful rebooted dungeon crawler so far. Elminage Gothic is more "hardcore" and obscure but it's really great, imo.

Elminage Gothic has turn-based party combat, old-school D&D type mechanics (even uses THAC0) and just a bunch of fun, creative ways to play the game and build your party. Apparently it's modeled after the original Wizardry trilogy (which again, the PS1 reboot of that trilogy is excellent and quite reminiscent of Elminage Gothic in many ways). Not only does EG have many unique levels but most of them are really expansive and deep, with sometimes several unique tricks in each dungeon (hidden doors, hidden NPCs, secret bosses and wandering super-bosses, etc. etc.). There are tons of weird and unique enemies (unique to say the least, most of them are flat out bizarre, sometimes creepy) and tons of unique and creative loot to find (there are over 500 unique pieces). Another thing I like about the weapons and armor is that some of them are really different and will have you make interesting decisions. For example, a mace that only a Thief could use (so your Thief would have to be moved to the front line). It hits for decent damage but it has a high Attack Rate, thus it has a good chance of hitting several times in one turn. There's lots of different, interesting things in the game like that. I love the game.
 
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