I'm making a Wizardry 8 clone

[Alkarl]

I'm in preproduction. Already have a GDD drawn up. Working on the prototype at this time. Still quite early, but someone else might care. 2 person team at this time, will likely stay that way.
Here is my blurb:

"Shadow Work" (Working Title) is a groundbreaking exploration of analog and cosmic horror, meticulously crafted to immerse players in a world of esoteric mysteries and eldritch terrors. At the heart of this experience is a unique blend of gameplay mechanics inspired by the depths of DRPG classics like Wizardry 8, enriched with a dynamic event system reminiscent of the SaGa series. This combination sets the stage for a game where player choices have profound impacts on the unfolding narrative and the world around them.

The game is set against a backdrop inspired by the unsettling ambiance of analog horror pioneers such as Local 58 and Gemini Home Entertainment, with a visual style that pays homage to the iconic polygonal aesthetics of early 2000's era games. This nostalgic yet eerily atmospheric visual approach not only evokes a sense of unease but also complements the game's deep narrative and complex characters, who evolve mentally, spiritually, and physically as they uncover hidden occult machinations in their local area.

Designed for fans of horror, retro gaming, and narrative-driven adventures, "Shadow Work" (Working Title) aims to bridge the gap between classic dungeon crawlers and modern storytelling. Its intricate event system will appeal to players who relish narrative depth and branching paths, akin to experiences found in titles like the Dark Souls series. Moreover, the game's unique aesthetic and thematic choices are poised to stimulate discussion and engagement within the gaming community, further amplifying its reach and appeal.

Prototype should be playable in a few months. I promise not to take 20 years. I'm literally pouring 110% of my free time into this.

Anyway, back to work. Thanks for anyone showing interest.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer as I have time.

 

[Baron Tahn]

Good luck sounds interesting.

 

[Vic]

Good.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

DRPG classics like Wizardry 8

fans of horror

deep narrative and complex characters

narrative depth and branching paths

Good luck with that.

 

[Be Kind Rewind]

The game is set against a backdrop inspired by the unsettling ambiance of analog horror pioneers such as Local 58 and Gemini Home Entertainment, with a visual style that pays homage to the iconic polygonal aesthetics of early 2000's era games. This nostalgic yet eerily atmospheric visual approach not only evokes a sense of unease but also complements the game's deep narrative and complex characters, who evolve mentally, spiritually, and physically as they uncover hidden occult machinations in their local area.

Designed for fans of horror, retro gaming, and narrative-driven adventures, "Shadow Work" (Working Title) aims to bridge the gap between classic dungeon crawlers and modern storytelling. Its intricate event system will appeal to players who relish narrative depth and branching paths, akin to experiences found in titles like the Dark Souls series. Moreover, the game's unique aesthetic and thematic choices are poised to stimulate discussion and engagement within the gaming community, further amplifying its reach and appeal.

Your game blurb being written by AI does not inspire confidence. It's also not realistic to aim for Wizardry 8 without the backing of a publisher and twenty to thirty people on the team, Wizardy 8 was put together by about 26 people, that is not counting all the VAs, composers and sound people, but indie titles can get away without them, and that is also not counting testers, who are important when it comes to complex games like CRPGs. Overmen like D.W. Bradley might have been able to carry Crusaders of the Dark Savant with some artists at his beck and call, and Cleve managed to lift Grimoire like the Atlas he is, but those were not graphically intense games like Wiz8, see my comment on the analog horror genre below for why this is particularly important in this case.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer as I have time.

Unlikelihood of delivering on vision statement aside, the genre of analog horror, derived from "creepypastas" (basically pulp horror written by kids online in the 00's), seems pretty outplayed already, not just on youtube but in the indie game space too. You can find innumerable variations on that theme on itch, most of which suck. So my question is what makes your game stand apart, why you think you can deliver on what most of them could not, and also why you are theming the game around this niche in the first place. Typically analog horror doesn't involve combat and most of what makes the genre is the emphasis on now dated media formats, doesn't seem to be a natural fit at all with Wizardry 8.

 

[Nikanuur]

Salutations, and may the gods of gaming bless your effort with affordable assets and much heavenly inspiration.

PS: Do take care. There is a rumor of a rumor that there is one single-dev kodexxer who may regard your attempts as heretical and an unwanted competition at the same time. Stay hidden, stay out of sight

 

[Vic]

Your game blurb being written by AI does not inspire confidence.

yeah it's funny, for all the hype AI got I didn't see it being useful once outside of upscaling images. if he would've written it himself, even in broken english, it would've come across better than that flaccid drivel

 

[Baron Tahn]

Yes and on that note if you fancy talking to a worldbuilder/writer type Id be keen to help, because if you dont have at least one person working with you on that stuff you're in peril, guv.

 

[mondblut]

modern storytelling

You lost me there.

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

modern storytelling

You lost me there.

Yep, the people who would buy a Wiz 8 clone aren't going to care much about storytelling and narrative.

 

[Strange Fellow]

The title says you're making a wiz 8 clone and then your description sounds nothing like wiz 8, but uh, good luck I guess.

 

[Vic]

Yep, the people who would buy a Wiz 8 clone aren't going to care much about storytelling and narrative.

you know, a game can have a story and gameplay, shocking, I know

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

Yep, the people who would buy a Wiz 8 clone aren't going to care much about storytelling and narrative.

you know, a game can have a story and gameplay, shocking, I know

Too much story gets in the way of fun

 

[Vic]

Yep, the people who would buy a Wiz 8 clone aren't going to care much about storytelling and narrative.

you know, a game can have a story and gameplay, shocking, I know

Too much story gets in the way of fun

oh yeah, I haven't read his description, probably because my eyes glaze over whenever I see AI stuff, "aims to bridge the gap between classic dungeon crawlers and modern storytelling." yeah that sounds like faggotry

 

[mondblut]

Yep, the people who would buy a Wiz 8 clone aren't going to care much about storytelling and narrative.

you know, a game can have a story and gameplay, shocking, I know

 

[anvi]

Cool. I am going to build a skyscraper by myself.

 

[Alkarl]

The game is set against a backdrop inspired by the unsettling ambiance of analog horror pioneers such as Local 58 and Gemini Home Entertainment, with a visual style that pays homage to the iconic polygonal aesthetics of early 2000's era games. This nostalgic yet eerily atmospheric visual approach not only evokes a sense of unease but also complements the game's deep narrative and complex characters, who evolve mentally, spiritually, and physically as they uncover hidden occult machinations in their local area.

Designed for fans of horror, retro gaming, and narrative-driven adventures, "Shadow Work" (Working Title) aims to bridge the gap between classic dungeon crawlers and modern storytelling. Its intricate event system will appeal to players who relish narrative depth and branching paths, akin to experiences found in titles like the Dark Souls series. Moreover, the game's unique aesthetic and thematic choices are poised to stimulate discussion and engagement within the gaming community, further amplifying its reach and appeal.

Your game blurb being written by AI does not inspire confidence. It's also not realistic to aim for Wizardry 8 without the backing of a publisher and twenty to thirty people on the team, Wizardy 8 was put together by about 26 people, that is not counting all the VAs, composers and sound people, but indie titles can get away without them, and that is also not counting testers, who are important when it comes to complex games like CRPGs. Overmen like D.W. Bradley might have been able to carry Crusaders of the Dark Savant with some artists at his beck and call, and Cleve managed to lift Grimoire like the Atlas he is, but those were not graphically intense games like Wiz8, see my comment on the analog horror genre below for why this is particularly important in this case.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer as I have time.

Unlikelihood of delivering on vision statement aside, the genre of analog horror, derived from "creepypastas" (basically pulp horror written by kids online in the 00's), seems pretty outplayed already, not just on youtube but in the indie game space too. You can find innumerable variations on that theme on itch, most of which suck. So my question is what makes your game stand apart, why you think you can deliver on what most of them could not, and also why you are theming the game around this niche in the first place. Typically analog horror doesn't involve combat and most of what makes the genre is the emphasis on now dated media formats, doesn't seem to be a natural fit at all with Wizardry 8.

Yes, I used ai mostly for structure of my blurb, I don't think AI would have thrown these concepts together even during peak hallucination.

Wizardry 8 was built by a large team of professionals at a time when folks had to write their own engines, too. I'd wager some of them were purely engineers coding stuff modern Indies don't even have to worry about. Your point is your opinion regarding the rest here. D.W. Bradley was certainly something, and Cleve's accomplishment should not be understated.
I'm also not making a straight copy of Wizardry 8, so no voice acting. But the position based, blobber combat, free-roam movement, character dialogue/interactions, etc I am definitely aping.

Niche is kind of the way to go these days. If you make something for everyone, then you have to compete with companies with much deeper pockets. My inspirations come from analog horror, this does not mean to expect this kind of ARG situation. I guess what I like about it is it's cosmic horror elements and roots. I'm a horror fan and a drpg fan, so I'm trying to marry them. Yes.

What will make my game worth playing is the strange aesthetic, the horror elements, the engaging combat, and the branching character narratives. No tutorials, no pigeon holed storyline to follow. I'll let my players experience the game on their terms.
Does this mean a lot of work? Yes. I've done quite a lot already.
I appreciate the challenge, btw, and hope, as things progress, that it becomes more clear and less muddy what direction we're taking.

 

[deama]

What about adding the new AIs into the game? Like I mean actually using a local model, something like mixtral or llama 3 8B.
Or maybe poking one of the free models via tokens (asking player to put that in before game start).

No one's done that so far, outside of mods at least. And it'd be an interesting challenge pushing the current frontier.

 

[Alkarl]

Character Creation Alpha Nearly Finished

I'm taking a different approach to character creation than you typically see in a Wiz-Clone. Instead of rolling for points like we see in the classics, or the straight point buy system in 8, my goal is to create more organic feeling characters that won't take 12 life-times to roll.
In addition to a characters job, blood type, and gender for deciding initial character parameters, I'm also employing an 8 spread tarot draw from the entire 78 card deck. Each draw is accompanied with a question and 2 of the 8 questions have negative outcomes. Random chance could still bone you if any of the other cards are drawn in reverse though, that is, upside down.

Oh, and no. The answer is no. You won't necessarily know the direct outcomes of character creation until it's over. At least, I've decided as such at present. I don't really want folks to game this system. I'm not even sure.. I think the most optimal outcomes might be counterintuitive anyway with how character progression plays out.

The only parts left to implement here are a roster view and detail view, along with adding functionality to change portrait/name or perform character deletion. These are really quite minor functions though.

Thanks for reading!

 

[luj1]

If you have free 3D movement please include verticality in dungeon design

 

[Alkarl]

If you have free 3D movement please include verticality in dungeon design

We do, and this is something I'm really interested in actually! I'm considering adding old-school float and fly abilities as well.

In general though, I think having different terrain heights factor in can be interesting. Inclines, roofs, elevated outcroppings. Increases tactical depth, even slightly.

 

[luj1]

Hand placed statics go very well with verticality (Morrowind, Arcane Dimensions Quake mod, etc.)

 

[Crispy]

Pre-alpha screenshot leaked!!!

 

[anvi]

That looks quite slick compared to a lot of jank.

 

[Silvanus]

If you have free 3D movement please include verticality in dungeon design

A (literal) incline.