Incline Butthurt Dungeon: Thac0's Ultimate Blobber List

[KeighnMcDeath]

Was this already covered?

oh... Idea Factory

Never the fucking mind.

 

[Thac0]

KeighnMcDeath , MeiQ is sometimes mentioned, often mocking it for its remarkably bad dungeon layouts. It is supposed to have adequate and tough ad nails combat tho. If someone has played it and recommends it I will add it with swords.
That said, here are some screenshots, and some of the dungeon layouts don't look that awfull.
https://moegamer.net/2017/05/18/meiq-building-a-better-dungeon/


---

Also something in general:
Presumably tomorrow I will start rounding up the weaklings. The core of the list stands, now I will make a comment full pf games which somewhat lack the criteria to stay. If there is no objection to them they get removed from the list.
That should then serve as enough of a basis to start adding links/pictures.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Some of the other game examplesin that article looked interesting. Dungeon Travellers 2 map looked pretty good and reminded me of old wizardry/goldbox/might & magic

I'm not sure in anyone Mentioned Drakkhen. You blob around but god that Awful combat. It only it was turn-based combat done like phantasie. It would have been much better. Damn missed opportunity.

 

[d1r]

KeighnMcDeath , MeiQ is sometimes mentioned, often mocking it for its remarkably bad dungeon layouts. It is supposed to have adequate and tough ad nails combat tho. If someone has played it and recommends it I will add it with swords.
That said, here are some screenshots, and some of the dungeon layouts don't look that awfull.
https://moegamer.net/2017/05/18/meiq-building-a-better-dungeon/


---

Also something in general:
Presumably tomorrow I will start rounding up the weaklings. The core of the list stands, now I will make a comment full pf games which somewhat lack the criteria to stay. If there is no objection to them they get removed from the list.
That should then serve as enough of a basis to start adding links/pictures.

If that game's dungeon layouts are bad, than what do we call Elminage's map layouts? Borderline unplayable?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Time to boot up a Vita emu i guess.

 

[d1r]

Time to boot up a Vita emu i guess.

H-Haha...

 

[Thac0]

On the list to be culled:

From all categories:
Abandoned Places 2
Bard's Tale IV
Alternate Reality
Vaporum
Labyrinth of Lost Souls

From Tactical:
Drakhen
Disciples of Steel
Betrayal at Krondor
Betrayal at Antara


The above games will get the boot because they are not good enough. The below games will get the boot, because while technically blobbers with tactical combat, the maps are bad. As such they are more tactical games than blobbers, and not really what you would expect from a blobber list.
Any objections?

 

[Malamert]

H-Haha...

Just hang in there! Vita3K will be able to run anything you throw at it. Any moment now... I can feel it. Just a little while longer...

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

If no party and no "blob" movement then cut, IMHO.

Yeah, i like a lot of those games but SP is sp and not PP (party play?). This cuts dungeon hack, slayer, death keep, vaporum (i don't recall a party), alternate realities, elder scrolls series (unless i'm mistaken and there is some party mechanic in there). I'd practically cut the fallout 3-4 since by default its SP but you can get party members.

Question:
If you can't control actuons of but 1 party member snd the rest are CPU controlled, then is it really a blobber or barely one?

I agree on cutting games with tactical grid/hex combat. This would cut WOTES, Order of the griffin, all goldbox games, realmz, goldbox-like, questrons & LOA/LOBS, ultimas,etc.

Seems KISS applies and you have grid blobber (dungeon master, eob, etc), free move blobber (might & magic 6-9), combination or choice (ravenloft - menzo).

Idea factory games and the like leave an odd taste with combat sequence animation but maybe that's just a fancy way of showing text like say in a bard's tale-like format: (ie)

"Kevin launches himself at the sucubus thrusting 8 times penetrating her for 6,666 points of pleasure completely dominating her! Succubus throws in the towel..."

TBH, I don't know how many blobbers use cutscene fight animation. Tacticals like shining force used it a lot but mixed with text.

You can really trim a list by dropping a lot of games that don't stick to party and ONLY first person perspective (FPP) combat.

As to TB, RT, RTWP, or slow real time (some sort of internal counter until you make an action), I guess you could split the categories or put a notation. First time I played MM6 I was really wondering wtf was going on.

 

[octavius]

It would be much easier if the list was limited to the Wizardry-likes and the Dungeon Master-likes, but perhaps mention the "unpure" games in the same series (MM 6-9, Wiz 8).

 

[V_K]

Vaporum

Vaporum has its fair share of annoyances (the main for me being instakill pit traps), but I think it deserves a mention simply for introducing autopause to the RT-blobber formula, making strategies other than two-step dancing viable.

Betrayal at Krondor

This looks fine enough to me:

Drakhen
[...]
The above games will get the boot because they are not good enough. The below games will get the boot, because while technically blobbers with tactical combat, the maps are bad. As such they are more tactical games than blobbers, and not really what you would expect from a blobber list.

There's nothing tactical about Drakkhen combat, it's just a clusterfuck where you only control one character at a time. It belongs on the first list, not on the second.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Damn pity that game. The manual had stunning b/w artwork and the creepy night setting and encounters was cool but fuck that combat. Its beatable if you have patience but could have been super enjoyable if the combat mechanics were changed. I guess SNES made a sequel i hear.

 

[Darth Canoli]

It would be much easier if the list was limited to the Wizardry-likes and the Dungeon Master-likes, but perhaps mention the "unpure" games in the same series (MM 6-9, Wiz 8).

I don't know about the "unpure" but the sullied ones are clearly the late entries for Might & Magic (aka 9 and 10) while Wizardry finally got reincarnated into a phoenix with their late entry, aka Wizardry 8, the greatest of them all, a shame they couldn't release 9 and 10 with that engine, bringing Wiz 7 goodness to the Wiz 8 engine to improve the formula even further with competitive parties, a bigger world and a bit more of great dungeons.

Wizardry 9 with 3x Monastery kind of dungeons and competing parties would be the greatest incline for the blobber genre.

 

[V_K]

Alternate Reality

Also, Alternate Reality: The City is barely a game (there's no winning condition), but according to CRPGAddict Alternate Reality: The Dungeon is pretty good.

 

[sebas]

If we’re not bothered by the lack of a blob to begin with, I’d recommend Vaporum. It has decent build variety, puzzles and exploration and the end boss fight is actually quite fun. And I definitely subscribe to the point about RT with pause, it’s great!

 

[Pink Eye]

By the way. If anyone has played Menzoberranzan. How does it compare to Stone Prophet, or even Strahd's Possession. Apparently it uses the Ravenloft engine.

 

[Jarpie]

Thac0 you are missing a lot of stuff from 90's era a common mistake for young codexers . On amiga, atari ST abandonned places 1-2 , bloodwych , crystal dragon, captive 1-2 as real time blobber. Fate gates of dawn as turn based blobber is misplaced , this one rival wiz 7 and is a lot more autistic, see codex thread ,this is not might and magic level , its wizardry level ,deserves one star enough said . Ambermoon deserves a star now especially with the new release Ambermoon.net , everyone can try it without hassle.

By the way i remember of some blobber similar to ishar or might and magic, this was on a french magazine cdrom amongst other sharewares and i cant possibly remember the title, had some temple with serpents , received a quest from a disfigured prince with a lion mask ... If anyone can help me to remember that ? No classic title , its very obscure.
There's most likely a lot more in the shareware era. Not top tier but worth playing.

Crystal Dragon isn't very memorable and it's very bland, and it's mostly forgotten for a reason. Captive, Liberation: Captive 2 and Knightmare would be better games to play from the 90s Amiga blobbers, and I'd add Hired Guns to that list, it's actually very good with a very nice atmosphere.

 

[Mortmal]

By the way. If anyone has played Menzoberranzan. How does it compare to Stone Prophet, or even Strahd's Possession. Apparently it uses the Ravenloft engine.

It's good, if a bit under stone prophet which has better soundtrack and more atmospheric. No reason to miss it either.

 

[Adenocaulon]

I think Bard's Tale IV is ok, at least it has good artstyle and music, even though the content is scarce for game duration and the limited slots for spells are annoying.

At least is one of the few free movement blobbers, I do not know why it is in miscellaneus because you only see portraits in combat screen, even if you change formation during combat they are still in front and back row.

 

[d1r]

Thac0 you are missing a lot of stuff from 90's era a common mistake for young codexers . On amiga, atari ST abandonned places 1-2 , bloodwych , crystal dragon, captive 1-2 as real time blobber. Fate gates of dawn as turn based blobber is misplaced , this one rival wiz 7 and is a lot more autistic, see codex thread ,this is not might and magic level , its wizardry level ,deserves one star enough said . Ambermoon deserves a star now especially with the new release Ambermoon.net , everyone can try it without hassle.

By the way i remember of some blobber similar to ishar or might and magic, this was on a french magazine cdrom amongst other sharewares and i cant possibly remember the title, had some temple with serpents , received a quest from a disfigured prince with a lion mask ... If anyone can help me to remember that ? No classic title , its very obscure.
There's most likely a lot more in the shareware era. Not top tier but worth playing.

Crystal Dragon isn't very memorable and it's very bland, and it's mostly forgotten for a reason. Captive, Liberation: Captive 2 and Knightmare would be better games to play from the 90s Amiga blobbers, and I'd add Hired Guns to that list, it's actually very good with a very nice atmosphere.

Hired Guns looks pretty dope. I might actually try this one out.

 

[Jason Liang]

Thac0 you are missing a lot of stuff from 90's era a common mistake for young codexers . On amiga, atari ST abandonned places 1-2 , bloodwych , crystal dragon, captive 1-2 as real time blobber. Fate gates of dawn as turn based blobber is misplaced , this one rival wiz 7 and is a lot more autistic, see codex thread ,this is not might and magic level , its wizardry level ,deserves one star enough said . Ambermoon deserves a star now especially with the new release Ambermoon.net , everyone can try it without hassle.

By the way i remember of some blobber similar to ishar or might and magic, this was on a french magazine cdrom amongst other sharewares and i cant possibly remember the title, had some temple with serpents , received a quest from a disfigured prince with a lion mask ... If anyone can help me to remember that ? No classic title , its very obscure.
There's most likely a lot more in the shareware era. Not top tier but worth playing.

Crystal Dragon isn't very memorable and it's very bland, and it's mostly forgotten for a reason. Captive, Liberation: Captive 2 and Knightmare would be better games to play from the 90s Amiga blobbers, and I'd add Hired Guns to that list, it's actually very good with a very nice atmosphere.

Hired Guns looks pretty dope. I might actually try this one out.

Lilura's favorite

 

[agris]

On the list to be culled:

From all categories:
Abandoned Places 2
Bard's Tale IV
Alternate Reality
Vaporum
Labyrinth of Lost Souls

From Tactical:
Drakhen
Disciples of Steel
Betrayal at Krondor
Betrayal at Antara


The above games will get the boot because they are not good enough. The below games will get the boot, because while technically blobbers with tactical combat, the maps are bad. As such they are more tactical games than blobbers, and not really what you would expect from a blobber list.
Any objections?

What is going on with this list that you want to remove Krondor while simultaneously keeping any game as long as “someone” has played it and liked it.

You need to be cutting with prejudice if this a curated list… but to cut Krondor? Smdh

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

This is THAC0's Ultimate Blobber list with lots of extra butthurt so he can slather it with funions and doritos. As me tioned earlier, there is a link to a document for another blobber list. Not everyone will agree. Use both or all blobber lists and manufactor one that is more agreeable to personal tastes. The genre mixing and game pacing can be confusing. I'm guessing there are even VN dungeon blobbers. I already mentioned on hybrid Text adventure blobber (Realms of Darkness). Its a fun one and short.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I think Bard's Tale IV is ok, at least it has good artstyle and music, even though the content is scarce for game duration and the limited slots for spells are annoying.


At least is one of the few free movement blobbers, I do not know why it is in miscellaneus because you only see portraits in combat screen, even if you change formation during combat they are still in front and back row.

The Bard's Tale IV should be excluded from a list of blobbers due to having non-blobber combat, where characters must be moved between rows & columns in order to hit enemies that are similarly arranged on a grid. However, you are correct that it is generally a decent game, just one that is unlike the original Bard's Tale trilogy (and really not particularly like anything else) and was unable to find an audience upon its release.

Though it perhaps deserves special notice for its rendition of the classic AD&D spell Bigby's Fiery Pimp Slap:

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal
Game is amazing and if you are a fan of the genre like me, worth buying a dead console like the Vita for, i know i did. Most people on this site are repelled by the art style but not let it deceive you, game throws anti-magic zones and dark zones at you like it's nothing, probably my favourite nip dungeon craweler, even better that Etrian Odyssey.

Spoiler

It also made me learn nip to play it's sequel, but my nip is still lacking to play it properly.