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I discovered Crypt Lord during Steam's Next Fest, and was shocked to see zero threads or coverage on it. It is a Morrowind / King's Field-like game that blew me away made by a single developer. It has a playable demo and captures the feeling of Morrowind or King's Field IV.
It is a Morrowind / King's Field-like game that blew me away made by a single developer. It has a playable demo and captures the feeling of Morrowind or King's Field IV.
Seems to be firmly in the Underworld-like subgenre that includes the first two Elder Scrolls games and the four King's Field games, whereas Morrowind is in the Open World RPG subgenre.
Hey everyone, was recommended to post my game here by one of your members.
Crypt Lord is an open first-person action RPG designed to give you a quick dose of dungeon crawling adventure, inspired by the Elder Scrolls and King's field franchises.
I have been working on this game for over 5 years now. The game is in an early state, and I have a lot I want to add in before final release. It basically turned into many games during this time, at one point basically being a Daggerfall Clone, before settling on what it is today. Got a lot of good reception from Steam Next fest, about 700 wishlists and from what I was reading of other developers experience during other Next Fests, I was expecting 300 to 400.
The game is inspired by games such as Morrowind, King's field and Arx Fatalis. The demo is currently up on Steam and Itch.io if you would like to try it out.
Key Features
Sacrifice System - A unique take on leveling up, you can sacrifice loot you find in dungeons to your ancestors who can then grant you skill increases. Better ties leveling up directly into exploration.
Slot-able Runes - Mix & Match dozens of Runes you find into your equipment to give them unique effects and craft your own Play Style
World Map - Instead of a traditional overworld, you find & enter the dungeons at your leisure via the World Map, allowing you to quickly get into the experience.
Other Links
Discord - Best place to stay up to date. Offer ideas & suggestions and give input on how the game will develop.
Hi all, i'm the developer of Crypt Lord. Yeah it's just me working on the game lol, made in Unity.
As to Zed Duke yeah, it's a little hard to categorize. It's not a traditional open world with an overworld you explore in the first person, but instead go to different locations via travelling around on the world map. So it is similar to older dungeon crawlers, but also, you're not locked to a linear path; you can explore any dungeon at any time.
Hi all, i'm the developer of Crypt Lord. Yeah it's just me working on the game lol, made in Unity.
As to Zed Duke yeah, it's a little hard to categorize. It's not a traditional open world with an overworld you explore in the first person, but instead go to different locations via travelling around on the world map. So it is similar to older dungeon crawlers, but also, you're not locked to a linear path; you can explore any dungeon at any time.
I'm away from my work PC rn but you can see the world map at 40 seconds in the trailer grimace posted above.
There are NPCs, I am currently working on a more traditional town with longer quest lines too.
I took trading out for the demo along with some other things as they needed more work and polish and was rushing to meet the deadline, but it will be back in later.
Everything looks overexposed. Not enough contrast and the colors are too washed out. I installed reshade and made a comparison. Vanilla on the left, with reshade on the right. Nothing fancy, just small adjustments in w/ lightroom. Some other thoughts:
- Some of the object lighting/reflections are way too aggressive. The wicker bin on the right starts looking even more like smooth glass depending on your angle.
- Not a fan of rim lighting in general. Makes everything look plastic-wrapped. I'd either tone it way down or remove it completely.
- Nights are too bright. Distant objects during night are too bright as well. Could just be the rim lighting.
- Skies look good, but the night sky suffers from banding issues.
I want to say more based on what I saw in the trailer, but I'll have to give the demo a proper playthrough first.
Everything looks overexposed. Not enough contrast and the colors are too washed out. I installed reshade and made a comparison. Vanilla on the left, with reshade on the right. Nothing fancy, just small adjustments in w/ lightroom. Some other thoughts:
- Some of the object lighting/reflections are way too aggressive. The wicker bin on the right starts looking even more like smooth glass depending on your angle.
- Not a fan of rim lighting in general. Makes everything look plastic-wrapped. I'd either tone it way down or remove it completely.
- Nights are too bright. Distant objects are too bright as well. Could just be the rim lighting.
- Skies look good, but the night sky suffers from banding issues.
I want to say something more based on what I saw in the trailer, but I'll have to give the demo a proper playthrough first.
Thank you, very good points! I have been wanting to do a whole lighting / shading rework but was waiting until after the Next Fest, as it was clear there was work to be done.
Hi all, i'm the developer of Crypt Lord. Yeah it's just me working on the game lol, made in Unity.
As to Zed Duke yeah, it's a little hard to categorize. It's not a traditional open world with an overworld you explore in the first person, but instead go to different locations via travelling around on the world map. So it is similar to older dungeon crawlers, but also, you're not locked to a linear path; you can explore any dungeon at any time.
I'm away from my work PC rn but you can see the world map at 40 seconds in the trailer grimace posted above.
There are NPCs, I am currently working on a more traditional town with longer quest lines too.
I took trading out for the demo along with some other things as they needed more work and polish and was rushing to meet the deadline, but it will be back in later.
Regarding the world map, have you considered scrapping your 3D variant and going with stylized 2D presentation of the overworld? You can achieve the exact same functionality we see in the video (representing terrain, showing settlements and structures, highlighting and pop-ups) with significantly less resources than a 3D overworld requires.
And, not to be harsh, the current 3D map looks really bland and unappealing. Unlike the feedback above, I don't think this is something to be addressed with lighting and shaders. I don't know if you're using heavily LOD'd assets of map objects in conjunction with terrain maps to generate it, but to make it look good in 3D is going to require a lot more assets/time/$$$ than 2D.
Whereas I think your classic, low-ish resolution dungeon 3D art is evocative and stylistic, it doesn't work for the world map. Looks like a poor man's Wasteland 2, which already wasn't setting any bars off the ground.
edit: if you aren't familiar with how this can look in practice, here are some classic cRPG maps that use 2D overworld and represent structures/settlements and include mouse-over information
I'm away from my work PC rn but you can see the world map at 40 seconds in the trailer grimace posted above.
There are NPCs, I am currently working on a more traditional town with longer quest lines too.
I took trading out for the demo along with some other things as they needed more work and polish and was rushing to meet the deadline, but it will be back in later.
Regarding the world map, have you considered scrapping your 3D variant and going with stylized 2D presentation of the overworld? You can achieve the exact same functionality we see in the video (representing terrain, showing settlements and structures, highlighting and pop-ups) with significantly less resources than a 3D overworld requires.
And, not to be harsh, the current 3D map looks really bland and unappealing. Unlike the feedback above, I don't think this is something to be addressed with lighting and shaders. I don't know if you're using heavily LOD'd assets of map objects in conjunction with terrain maps to generate it, but to make it look good in 3D is going to require a lot more assets/time/$$$ than 2D.
Whereas I think your classic, low-ish resolution dungeon 3D art is evocative and stylistic, it doesn't work for the world map. Looks like a poor man's Wasteland 2, which already wasn't setting any bars off the ground.
edit: if you aren't familiar with how this can look in practice, here are some classic cRPG maps that use 2D overworld and represent structures/settlements and include mouse-over information
I used to have a 2d World map, but honestly 3D is easier to iterate and create assets for. The 2D map just felt like a glorified UI, whereas I want the world map to retain the in-world feeling. I do agree I can work to make the world map more visually appealing and match it better to the look and feel of the dungeon.
I've been playing this and have had a bit of fun. Cleared the starter dungeon and the one right next to it. I expected the demo to only be that starter dungeon but it looks like I've got almost 10 more to clear before it is over, so quite generous in terms of content. Once I've finished it all up I'll come back with something a bit more substantial, but so far I'd recommend the demo to anyone who wants a bit of dungeon crawling fun.
I've been playing this and have had a bit of fun. Cleared the starter dungeon and the one right next to it. I expected the demo to only be that starter dungeon but it looks like I've got almost 10 more to clear before it is over, so quite generous in terms of content. Once I've finished it all up I'll come back with something a bit more substantial, but so far I'd recommend the demo to anyone who wants a bit of dungeon crawling fun.
