Crypt Lord is a King's Field / Morrowind-like game with a playable demo

[Spike]

This looks amazing. I'm happy someone posted about it, I'll be downloading this ASAP.

Agreed! Loving everything about the look and aesthetics. Looks like it plays well, too. Wishlisted and will move to top 10.

EDIT: Steam throws a tantrum when I try to move something (I do have over 1k games WL'd though like a psycho) on my WL so for now it sits at the bottom but I will be moving it to top when Steam stops peeing all over itself.

 

[Leinhart]

I looks decent but honestly in recent years I have been avoiding any "non fully released" games more and more.

I just don´t trust Devs and I rather avoid any kind of disappointment with an unfinished game.

 

[agris]

tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

 

[ind33d]

cool concept. might be a good idea to go the opposite way and instead of making the graphics better do low poly but more style like Ocarina of Time and just hide the bad graphics with better lighting like SOTFS

 

[skylar1146]

I looks decent but honestly in recent years I have been avoiding any "non fully released" games more and more.

I just don´t trust Devs and I rather avoid any kind of disappointment with an unfinished game.

Fair enough, I completely get that.

I will say it's a free demo so the only thing you're investing is your time.

I have been working on the game for 5 years, lost relationships, friends, and basically me entire adult life to work on it, so I'm very invested and committed to its eventual full release.

 

[skylar1146]

cool concept. might be a good idea to go the opposite way and instead of making the graphics better do low poly but more style like Ocarina of Time and just hide the bad graphics with better lighting like SOTFS

Has been a consideration. My community is divided on it. I have honestly had a hard time getting traction opposed to similar games but with a more enticing art style. Once everyone is actually through the door and playing it, they have nothing but praise, but I do see how the art style can prevent people from ever going through the door.

 

[udm]

Hmm I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The trailer made this game seem like Unity shovelware and it's only the comments from other posters in this thread that made me decide to give it a go.

So far I managed to clear the first dungeon and two others, and at Level 7, I think I've gotten a pretty good feel for the game's mechanics. I'll just put down my thoughts in bullet points:

• Exploration is fun. I find myself wondering what I'll pick up at every turn. There's a lot to loot. In fact the game really brings out my inner hoarder. I've got so much food stashed in the temple, it's not even funny. And I find myself constantly going back to pick up every plate and mug to maximise my reverence. I can imagine this getting tedious later on when reverance requirements go into the 1000s.
• Combat is... eh, serviceable I guess. It's very clunky and I found myself not bothering with the shield and spell runes (eg Heal) at all. With movement speed runes, it's pretty easy to juke enemies. Hit, sidestep, repeat. I mean, that routine is kinda fun in its own way, but I can't see myself doing this for the next 20 hours. I think there needs to be more variety here, make other combat options more viable AND a necessity. Only time I switched out of melee and go ranged was when there were other ranged enemies.
• Someone said this is Monomyth in the Everquest engine and I'm inclined to agree, in the sense that it's both a positive and negative: positive because I can see a lot of potential to interact with the environment (more than just cooking and placing the occasional item on a floor panel), negative because right now it's very barebones. Give us more Arx Fatalis and Ultima Underworld elements!
• There's only one stat that matters: Stamina. There are so many healing items available that there's just no reason to increase HP. I didn't feel compelled to play with spell runes, so I can't comment on Prayer.
• I can imagine the overworld layer being super cool with lots to explore, but right now it doesn't have much to offer other than dungeons with varying degrees of difficulty. It would be nice to have random encounters (other than bandits), maybe even text-based ones that offer side-quests.

TLDR: I like the basic ideas behind this game. However, I think much, much more refinement is needed to increase the game's long-term appeal and improve its basic mechanics.

Also, this prosperian abomination is going to give me nightmares for the next few days.

Spoiler

 

[skylar1146]

Hmm I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The trailer made this game seem like Unity shovelware and it's only the comments from other posters in this thread that made me decide to give it a go.

So far I managed to clear the first dungeon and two others, and at Level 7, I think I've gotten a pretty good feel for the game's mechanics. I'll just put down my thoughts in bullet points:

• Exploration is fun. I find myself wondering what I'll pick up at every turn. There's a lot to loot. In fact the game really brings out my inner hoarder. I've got so much food stashed in the temple, it's not even funny. And I find myself constantly going back to pick up every plate and mug to maximise my reverence. I can imagine this getting tedious later on when reverance requirements go into the 1000s.
• Combat is... eh, serviceable I guess. It's very clunky and I found myself not bothering with the shield and spell runes (eg Heal) at all. With movement speed runes, it's pretty easy to juke enemies. Hit, sidestep, repeat. I mean, that routine is kinda fun in its own way, but I can't see myself doing this for the next 20 hours. I think there needs to be more variety here, make other combat options more viable AND a necessity. Only time I switched out of melee and go ranged was when there were other ranged enemies.
• Someone said this is Monomyth in the Everquest engine and I'm inclined to agree, in the sense that it's both a positive and negative: positive because I can see a lot of potential to interact with the environment (more than just cooking and placing the occasional item on a floor panel), negative because right now it's very barebones. Give us more Arx Fatalis and Ultima Underworld elements!
• There's only one stat that matters: Stamina. There are so many healing items available that there's just no reason to increase HP. I didn't feel compelled to play with spell runes, so I can't comment on Prayer.
• I can imagine the overworld layer being super cool with lots to explore, but right now it doesn't have much to offer other than dungeons with varying degrees of difficulty. It would be nice to have random encounters (other than bandits), maybe even text-based ones that offer side-quests.

TLDR: I like the basic ideas behind this game. However, I think much, much more refinement is needed to increase the game's long-term appeal and improve its basic mechanics.

Also, this prosperian abomination is going to give me nightmares for the next few days.

Spoiler

Thanks for trying it out, I really appreciate you taking time to leave feedback as well.

-There is definitely some balance needing done for the item economy in regards to food and healing potential.
-Totally valid points on the combat. It's my highest priority right now to improve it and add variety a better base-line enjoyment.
-I actually had text based random events lol but had to turn them off last minute for the demo as there was a few bugs I wasn't able to fix in time

 

[udm]

Ah shame the text-based events didn't make it.

What's the plan on physics and emergent gameplay? Will we see more UU and Arx-type of simulation mechanics?

 

[skylar1146]

Ah shame the text-based events didn't make it.

What's the plan on physics and emergent gameplay? Will we see more UU and Arx-type of simulation mechanics?

What exactly were you thinking?

 

[udm]

Cooking and weighted panels are a nice touch, but I was wondering if there'd be further additions like movable objects, environmental physics (fire, cold, grease, web, water, electricity), and other forms of emergent gameplay (special skills that affect how the player relates to the environment) depending on the vision you have for Crypt Lord.

Let's say the following as examples:
- shrinking oneself to go into a barred area or shooting at a switch to remove the barrier itself
- fighting a tough monster head on or moving heavy objects to momentarily block its path or luring it to oil to set it on fire

Stuff like that.