KickStarter Guido Henkel's Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore - CANCELLED

[Jasede]

I actually liked that. I'm sure they did it on purpose so you can make your P&P charactes 1 on 1. In P&P you also can't know if you'll need, say, horse-riding for this adventure. But maybe you put points into it, just in case you would. This never bothered me.

Besides, in all the 3 games, very few of the skills were never used. Off-hand I can only think of the spell that summons chimeras, Convert, Geography, Train Animals and Drive. And also Witch's Eye and Calm the Storm (not sure about Calm the Storm).

Fake edit: I just checked a list of skills and I'm 99% sure those are the only skills that were never checked for in the course of all thee games. Even obscure spells, like banish ghosts or summon ghosts, have their uses.

 

[MicoSelva]

Guido Henkel ‏@GuidoHenkel46s
Just for the record, attuned/binding items in #DEATHFIRE will be EXTREMELY RARE! There may be one or two in the entire game. That's it!

I see he is backing out of this stupid idea. Good. Now if only he also got rid of the equally stupid level requirements for items.

 

[Zed]

Henkel isn't very humble when it comes to community feedback. His response is like "but this is POPULAR in MMOGs! what.. you guys don't like POPULAR design? r00fles!"
If people wanted to play single-player MMOGs, there's already Two Worlds II and SWTOR

 

[Lady_Error]

Somebody suggested to him on Twitter that the whole bind-on-equip is the same thing as Dakkon's sword in PS:T and that he should use that example to explain it.

 

[Zed]

Somebody suggested to him on Twitter that the whole bind-on-equip is the same thing as Dakkon's sword in PS:T and that he should use that example to explain it.

You mean, make the item a character-specific story element?
ehhhh. Dakkon's sword is bound from the start, too.

 

[Infinitron]

Somebody suggested to him on Twitter that the whole bind-on-equip is the same thing as Dakkon's sword in PS:T and that he should use that example to explain it.

It's not that simple though. Guido specifically described how choosing whether or not to bind an item to a character would be a strategic decision the player would have to make. There is no such decision to be made with Dakkon's blade - it's bound to him from the beginning.

 

[Lady_Error]

That's true, but the mechanics are pretty much the same. The strategic choice will be new, of course, with the couple of items that will have bind-on-equip in Deathfire.

 

[Jasede]

This could have been avoided- just call it a cursed item. BAM!
Blew your mind, didn't I?

A powerful weapon you can choose to equip but never unequip because it binds to your soul, giving you various stat penalties in exchange for wielding a badass weapon.

 

[Lady_Error]

It's similar to cursed items, but different in that you CAN unequip the item, but you cannot give it away or sell. With a cursed item, it's the other way round. And the item can be both cursed and bind-on-equip. Removing the cursed item can be usually done by magic in most games. Bind-on-equip may or may not be truly irreversible.

 

[Jasede]

I understand that, but I mean, change plans and make them cursed items instead. Bind only makes sense in an MMORPG and only for meta-game reasons; it has no place in a traditional RPG.

Unless you invest tons of hours into making the bound item something extremely special, such as a sentient artifact weapon with dialogue that plays a role in the plot.

 

[Lady_Error]

I think that is what he is planning to do now, at least as far as only a few very special items having bind-on-equip.

 

[almondblight]

Think of it like a tome in Baldur's Gate. It wouldn't be as challenging if you could simply move the stat bonus around like a ring.

 

[Blaine]

Somebody suggested to him on Twitter that the whole bind-on-equip is the same thing as Dakkon's sword in PS:T and that he should use that example to explain it.

Dak'kon's karach blade has a substantial backstory tied to his cultural identity as a githzerai, and to his role as a zerth. It undergoes narrated changes at various points in the story.

This smells more like fishing for an excuse to justify shoehorning BoE into the game than an actual legitimate need for such a mechanic.

 

[AbounI]

new update today concerning the user interface
http://guidohenkel.com/2013/05/a-first-look-at-the-user-interface/

this one looks fine for me, but it also depends on how the whole GUI will be designed too, so who knows if it fits well in the futur game.

Further than that, he's aware that it's not definitive

For now… because who knows? Once will begin actually playing the game in earnest, we may find that our assumptions were wrong and that have to re-design the boxes once more, but such is the life of a game developer. It is the nature of the beast. Game development is an evolution, even after doing it for the umpteenth time.

 

[Lady_Error]

Actually, that is not the version he will go with for now, this one is:

With all that in mind, we decided that we really just wanted to display the portrait, and the health and mana bars at all times, along with the hero’s name and a small digit that represents the character’s level. Character states, such as poison, paralyzation, etc can be easily color-coded into the portrait, or displayed as mini-icons alongside, and damage markers can be painted right over the portrait.

There was a lot of stuff in those original character boxes that we didn’t really need. At least not all the time. So we thought that maybe we could create boxes the display the minimum of information and when the player moves the mouse over them, each respective box will expand to its full size, allowing access to the full set of features.

Also, this is new information about the party-size:

Deathfire will have a party that consists of four heroes. In addition to that, the player can recruit two additional NPCs at any given time

 

[AbounI]

I was thinking the final displayed portrait was just shown without the weapons slots, as it appears to be the same in the screen I was showing.And, the status icons alongside the "panel" still fits with this:

Character states, such as poison, paralyzation, etc can be easily color-coded into the portrait, or displayed as mini-icons alongside

Am i wrong if I think the lonely displayed portait is just a part of the whole panel?

 

[Lady_Error]

When you move your mouse over the portrait, the bigger box will slide out and display weapons, spells, etc. Otherwise it will be only the portrait with the HP and MP stats, character level and name:

With all that in mind, we decided that we really just wanted to display the portrait, and the health and mana bars at all times, along with the hero’s name and a small digit that represents the character’s level.

 

[AbounI]

When you move your mouse over the portrait, the bigger box will slide out and display weapons, spells, etc. Otherwise it will be only the portrait with the HP and MP stats, character level and name:

With all that in mind, we decided that we really just wanted to display the portrait, and the health and mana bars at all times, along with the hero’s name and a small digit that represents the character’s level.

Thanks, it's clear now with your explanation.

 

[Rhuantavan]

"Lady Berserker" sounds like the ROA gendered archetypes: Hunter/Huntress, Rogue/She-Rogue etc.

That is supposed to be the name of the character.

 

[Dorateen]

Four heroes plus 2 NPCs is not incline, it's the status quo.

 

[Lady_Error]

Four heroes plus 2 NPCs is not incline, it's the status quo.

Not in Grimrock, which as you know has no NPC's whatsoever. And Deathfire is one of the Grimrock-inspired games currently in development.

 

[HobGoblin42]

Not in Grimrock, which as you know has no NPC's whatsoever. And Deathfire is one of the Grimrock-inspired games currently in development.

I really doubt that Guido has been significantly inspired by Grimrock (maybe by its commercial success). He already developed CRPGs by himself when the original Dungeon Master had been released

I think after three decades of CRPGs, he is now looking for a game that combines the best elements of different classics in this genre. A very similar approach like us.

 

[Lady_Error]

Yeah, you're right. (That's a sentence you do not hear too often on the Codex)

Here is what Guido said himself:

It will be as gripping as Dungeon Master – or Grimrock if you’re not old enough to have played the original Dungeon Master upon which it was based – but it will have the depth of a real role-playing game, putting it more in line with the Wizardy games, perhaps.

 

[theSavant]

I have inclined hope in this title.

 

[Infinitron]

Guido Henkel is looking for volunteers: http://guidohenkel.com/2013/06/volunteers-for-a-deathfire-focus-group-anyone/