Indie Legendary Journeys - a new open world blobber - now available on Early Access

[Kevin French]

aweigh you can use arrow and enter keys to navigate the combat menu. I just use the mouse all the time. I even have partial gamepad support (just not turned on right now). If there are enough players wanting gamepad support, I'll finish the code and turn it on.
If there are enough requests for a hotbar, I'll look into adding that. I saw Fall of the Dungeon Guardian uses that (own that game) and it works pretty well.

Lady Error Damage message is shown right above the party portraits during combat. Hmm, looks like that might not be visible enough. Thanks for the input.

 

[Kevin French]

Be on the lookout for May's newsletter later this week. It will recap March and April's newsletters. I will also lay out the plans for releasing alpha v0.1 this month. It will be rough, buggy, and unfinished. Hopefully, for those that download it, it will give you an idea of where the game is headed and how far along development is. And, don't be afraid to leave feedback! Feedback instructions will also be included in the newsletter (don't worry, this information will be on the website as well)

This week I added injuries and a threat meter. Injuries are sustained upon resurrection (ala Dragon Age: Origins). They remain with the character until healed. That means multiple resurrections can lead to multiple injuries. A character cannot have the same injury more than once. The effects range from lower experience gains to half your maximum hit points lost. Now, your thinking that sucks! Well, yeah, dying is supposed to suck. Good thing though, you have a way to lower your chances of sustaining an injury during the resurrection process. A higher BODY score will lower the chances. Also, seeking a highly skilled shaman or priest will reduce the chances as well. If my calculations were correct, utilizing the best shaman,priest,or cleric (including player characters) and a high body score, you can reduce your chances of an injury all the way to 25% from the initial 95% (normal body score and using Maggie Smokemask (local shaman on the starting island of Nerah's Landing).

The other combat feature that I added was a threat meter. Now, this is highly experimental for the alpha. I wasn't even sure if I wanted it. But, after seeing it in action, it made combat a little more intersting. Currently, I don't have any means of reducing threat(except resting) or increasing threat on a specific member of the party. However, that is planned. For instance, you could increase the threat of your warrior and reduce the rest of the members in your party to get the beasties to target your warrior only. My cleric was using Smite (a divine direct damage spell) which generates a fair amount of threat. I wasn't paying attention and Alendria was the main threat over my warrior, Elrin. Next round, skeletons laid waste to my cleric - caught me off guard which I like.

This feature has been in since the beginning; but, I have not mentioned it yet. Endurance is used for ANY melee attack. Once a character's endurance drops below 25%, there is a chance that charcter will become exhausted. While exhausted, the character cannot attack and defenses are reduced making them a prime target. You can recover by resting (can do this during that character's turn), potion use, or spells (not implemented yet). Still debating if monsters should suffer endurance loss as well. I have one monster type with this active. I'm on the fence.

Finally, I gave another pass at how I want to present the map to the player. Right now, it's just an overview of the zone. As you explore the zone, points of interest, such as a village, dungeon entrance, etc, will be filled in. I don't have that part turned on (currently working though) because, I haven't figured out the best way to save this information when you load a saved game or switch between zones. I may, also, provide a way to see nearby enemies through some sort of spell or class ability. Haven't decided yet (I liked Wizard Eye in the Might and Magic series).

On a side note for those who are following: Do you like large outdoor maps to explore (think Witcher) or smaller maps to explore (EverQuest sizing)? I have 2 zones (Druinport and Druin Hills) as separate, small maps (well, not super small). They were made with EverQuest style zones in mind. For the fun of it, this weekend, I created a large map and combined the two zones into one. This newer version is LARGE. Plenty of areas to explore. The problem - filling up those areas with interesting things to do. One of my complaints about Daggerfall was all of the empty space between towns. I like the looks of the larger zone. I could do a second pass of the smaller zones in the same style of Nerah's Landing (the island screenshots that I have posted). That zone started out in the same style of the aforementioned zones.

Hopefully, these pictures will update with the current version. If not, sorry for the editor screenshots.

 

[aweigh]

As for level sizes I dunno I think you should follow your heart on this one and just try to make each map meaningful, regardless of "size", and hopefully avoid having areas that serve no purpose.

 

[Grauken]

Wholeheartedly agree. Map design is one of those things you can't really pin down to stuff like large or small, that said not a big fan of large, mostly empty maps, in that case I would prefer smaller maps where I can get through fast and fight a few enemies

For example, as much as I like Wiz7, there were a lot of areas on the world map where I was expecting to find something, even if just a chest with some loot, and it was just empty wilderness.

 

[Doktor Best]

I really like the mapping system in Dark Spire. It maps the floor automatically but only shows your position if you cast a spell. This way you still have to keep looking for orientation points and can get "lost" inside a level, especially in dark areas or areas with teleport.

 

[aweigh]

Yep, to me it's the ideal auto-mapping system. Dark Spire also iterated and improved on Wiz6's attacking options (like I mentioned in a previous post here) and expanded it to include spell casting. I also rather liked the cryptic dialog as well, and the atmosphere and visuals. And sound.

 

[V_K]

This week I added injuries and a threat meter. Injuries are sustained upon resurrection (ala Dragon Age: Origins). They remain with the character until healed.

It would be also nice if characters could sustain injuries without dying. In Drakensang, for example, if an attacker rolled an attack score higher than the defendant's constitution, the defendant would get an injury irrespective of his hit points.

On a side note for those who are following: Do you like large outdoor maps to explore (think Witcher) or smaller maps to explore (EverQuest sizing)?

Depends on the progression. If it's an open world and there are at least 2-3 possible exits from each map, then small maps are fine. If you're progressing linearly from one area to another, then the areas themselves better be large and non-linear (think D.W.Bradley's Wizards&Warriors).

I really like the mapping system in Dark Spire. It maps the floor automatically but only shows your position if you cast a spell. This way you still have to keep looking for orientation points and can get "lost" inside a level, especially in dark areas or areas with teleport.

I could see myself not hating this, as long as you're allowed to make notes on the map.

 

[Kevin French]

shows your position if you cast a spell

I like this idea. I might play around with this later.

V_K: I have some monsters providing effects if they "roll" high enough. For instance, rats cause a nasty little disease, skeletons can cause bone rot etc. I had thought about injuries through this method as well. I might add one to a monster for the alpha and see how it goes.

Thanks for the input regarding map sizes everyone. I'm going to stick with my original design plans of smaller maps to help alleviate those large empty expanses as much as possible.

 

[Kevin French]

The alpha demo is ready. Well, as ready as it can be. One thing to note, combat is pretty generic right now. The Skeletons are using the threat system. Please be assured, combat development is NOT complete
This is a WINDOWS only version.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/legend...f-baal/downloads/legendary-journeys-alpha-v01

Instructions

Once you have downloaded the file, double-click the file to extract the game contents to a directory of your choice. To play the game, double-click on the LEGENDARY.exe file

The core mechanics of the game are in place. The alpha consists of 3 overland zones and 1 dungeon. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is an alpha. And, as such, it will contain bugs, unfinished items,
unpolished look, etc. IF you expect a game, at this stage, to be release day perfect, I wouldn't advise playing. However, if you can overlook the unfinished state and want to provide feedback, please,
download the game. I hope enjoy what is there so far.

If you find any bugs or just want to provide feedback,
send an email to <a href="mailto:support@blindmonkeygames.com">Blind Monkey Games Support</a>.
or you can just post here.

• Bugs: if you are reporting a bug, if possible, please provide steps to reproduce the issue, as much detail about the error as possible.
• Feedback: if you are going to provide feedback, please make it constructive. "This Sucks" doesn't help me make a better game. Tell me why it sucked; and, maybe, I can correct the issues.
• Finally, if you feel comfortable in doing so, please provide your system configuration.

I cast stoneskin; so, I'm ready for you guys!

 

[Kevin French]

Here are some Keyboard shortcuts

I - Inventory
J - Journal
E - Equipment
C - Crafting
K - Skills
R - Rest
T - Time
M - Map


---These can be remapped in the small dialog window: THIS will be different in the future.
W - Forward
S - Back
A - Left
D - Right

Hold RIGHT mouse button for mouse look
Holding the LEFT Mouse Button over a mob will show you the group make-up and estimated strength versus the party.

 

[V_K]

Ok, gave it a spin, but not a very long one. The reason for that is optimization. I know my laptop is a toaster, but it runs Grimrock 2 or Dishonored - however, I can only run your game at the lowest settings, and even then I get a bit of a lag. Maybe you should limit the viewing distance or something - I seriously doubt anyone would be playing your game for beautiful vistas
Another issue I had is with controls. Either make keyboard shortcuts for turning right and left (and seriously, who on earth needs strafing in a turn-based game?), or make mouselook button a toggle. Having to hold the rmb all the time gets annoying fast.
What little I've seen in ~20 minutes looks very MM6-8-ish, except for the hordes of enemies. Whether it's good or bad depends on what your goal was.

 

[Kevin French]

V_K hey, thanks for taking the time to check the game out and comment.
Optimization is definitely needed. One of the reasons to put the alpha out now was to see how it ran on other setups. I have 2 laptops and my dev/gaming rig. One laptop is too old to run it. The other, same as you, need to run on lower settings. Fingers crossed, I can make this run better as time goes on. I'll be honest - not my strong suit.

I'll add right/left turning keys. Again, I play these games a certain way and tailored it as such. Needed more players to see what was needed One of the next things to go in will be a more robust options menu including key rebinding, view distance, resolutions, etc.

Good- I was going for that MM6/everquest- ish feel. Since I didn't have the real-time aspect, I didn't put in hordes of enemies like we saw in MM6-8. Sounds like I captured that feeling. Now, the important part - if people find it FUN to play.

 

[Kevin French]

It's been a while since I posted. Well, day job got in the way (crunch and post-release); then family vacation,
getting the kids ready to go back to school, excuse, excuse, excuse.
Hehe, yeah, real life got in the way. During the time of slow development, I was working on world planning, some design ideas,
anything I could work on paper. I realized, during this time period, my original game size was just TOO BIG!
So, I re-worked my main quest to fit within a 7 overland zones and 13 dungeons (some are side dungeons).
I still have 3 overland maps to create. I have most of the dungeons left to create. I'm re-working a few which I had created early on
(some new art assets helped here). You can see some new screenshots http://www.blindmonkeygames.com/baal/media.html
So, it's back to work on the game! Right now, working on dungeon layouts.

Look for a new alpha demo (v0.2) within the next few weeks!

 

[aweigh]

awesome

 

[Kevin French]

LORE SKILL

This is a passive skill which allows a character to examine an item and determine what it was, does, etc. For instance, the party may come upon an ancient obelisk. A party member with a high lore skill would be able to examine the object and determine what it was and its functionality (if any).

Finally got the lore skill working the way I wanted to work which allows me to add items (obelisks, items, etc) to the game that requires Lore knowledge to figure out. An item that needs identified will have a difficulty checked assigned to it. I will, also, determine if Expert or Master level is required to even begin to understand the object.
A dialog will appear asking which party member will examine the object. If no one has the Lore skill, the MIND score is used. A behind the scenes percentile dice roll is made against the DC. Success results in that party member describing to the rest of the party the object and its use. In some cases, if the party member has Expert or Master level, the examination will result in automatic success.
Once I figured out the best way of saving an object that had already been identified, I knew I was going to use this skill in game. It will include artifacts and magic items as well; not the mundane magic items. Those are pretty easy to figure out (Enchanted Longsword is mundane magic).

TAMARASIANS

The city of Tamaras was home to the First Ones. The ancient race of Tamaras were the first race upon Farmoor; created by Aten, Mother of all and Hecate, Father of all, out of love. They prospered and flourished in the paradise city. For their loyality and obedience to their parents, Aten gifted the Tamarasians with magic. For a time, the Tamarasians wielded their new gift with wisdom. But, as with any power and the affects of time, that wisdom waned.
During the Age of Enlightenment, the Tamarasians had become concieted. They believe they where more powerful than the gods who created them. And with that, the Tamarasians turned their back on the gods of the world. Enraged, Hecate wanted to destory the ungrateful children. Aten, being the caring mother that she is, intervened. She asked that Hecate give their children a chance to redeem themselves. He agreed. He allowed them to live and gave them rules to follow. The Tamarasians rejected Hecate for they believe they were gods themselves.
Magul, god of the underworld, found a young Tamarasian girl, Pyrophia, to be most desirable and thought of a way to create his own children. One night, he took the form of a man and visited Pyrophia. This continued for several weeks. After Pyrophia had become pregnant, he revealed his true form and informed her that she will birth him a child. Abhorred by Magul’s grotesque appearance and hurt by the deceit, she requested immortal life be granted to her for birthing the child of a god. Hecate asked the Tamarasians to kill Pyrophia to prevent what Magul was attempting to birth; as a test of their obedience. Once again, they refused to obey. They told Hecate it was his problem.
Magul did not have the ability to grant true immortality that was within Hecate’s rule, but agreed to do so anyways. She gave birth to Baazetu. Magul kept his promise by granting her a life of undeath and enslaved her as his concubine. She is the mother of all undead and other foul denizens of Farmoor. As a result of this “immortality”, Pyrophia has become bitter to all life and seeks to destroy it so they, too, can share in her misery.

 

[Kevin French]

In case anyone is interested: alpha v0.2 has been uploaded. You can grab it at indieDB

https://www.indiedb.com/games/legen...-baal/downloads/legendary-journeys-a2-install

I opened up more maps (they were there just not accessible). Added 3 dungeons. Added more items, mobs and a few new trainers.
Also, I added abilities that are accessible when a weapon is equipped (except crappy ones like rusty weapons) based on the character's skill rank and level. Currently, only daggers have this added. Still working on the other weapon skill abilities.
As always, any feedback is helpful!

 

[Kevin French]

Hi to those that are following this progress. Still around and working on the game.

Haven’t had much to post about. I’ve been, mostly, doing some design work and acquiring new UI art. I’ve been updated icons and portraits; trying to get a more cohesive look. I may be a nobody in the Video Game world; but, I want the finished product to look somewhat professional.


I’ve been working key rebinding within game, finally. I may end up, using a 3rd party product vs. writing the code myself (waaaay faster).


I’m in the planning stages of adding playable races (not just human). I have most of it in place. However, I don’t have any portraits to coincide with the new races (one of the reasons I originally went with just human). I missed choosing a race when creating my party
Besides the usual statistical benefits and penalties, I hope to incorporate NPC reaction through dialog and possibly action - such as not allowing the party to stay at an inn due to a dwarf being in the party. Not sure how much fun that brings to the game - we’ll see. You can see the list of races at the bottom of this post. Note: still a work in progress. So, the attributes with no amounts are because I haven’t decided on the bonus/penalty


Weapon abilities are going to be added. I only added them to daggers as a test. I like having them for use; plus, it gives incentive to increase the rank (Novice, Expert, Master) of the melee skills. They provide special attacks for the skilled combatant. For instance, the Daze ability (blunt weapons), when successful, moves the target down one in the turn order.


Now, this one may not be liked, I felt it necessary: Spells have been broken down into NOVICE, EXPERT, and MASTER categories. So, in order to learn a spell, the character must have the appropriate rank for the needed magic skill. A skill’s RANK represents the character’s knowledge within the skill whereas the level represents the character’s adeptness in using the skill. I didn’t want a novice in fire magic to have the ability to cast Meteor Storm which I see as a very powerful spell. It made more sense to require a Master skill rank in order to learn it. The ability to use it would be tied to the level of the skill. The character may be adept at using fire magic (level 50); but, they lack the deep knowledge to learn how to wield such a powerful spell


One more area I’ve started reviewing, monster Battle AI. Right now, most of the mobs are using a basic AI. Nothing really challenging or interesting for that matter. I have a few that pose some challenges (such as a group of Kobolds with a shaman among them; and, if you find him, Willard the wererat king - I’ve died way too many times to him).


Finally, I’m starting to outline a manual. It’ll be in PDF format. Old fashion - still like them

I’m toying with the idea of having 2 versions of the game available: Digital (of course) and a physical copy (which would include access to digital version). Physical copy would include a printed manual and maybe a world map. Thoughts on this from those who are following?

Shooting for another alpha release at the end of December.
==============================

Proposed Playable Races

==============================


Human

Natural ability to learn: Start with 10 SPs to spend

5 to all elemental resistances

All Classes


Dwarf

+3 Strength

+5 Body

+5 Attack

+30 Endurance

-5 Mind

+30 To Hit

+15 Crit

Starts will Axes skill at Expert rank

Weakness to magic (-20% magic resistance)

Warrior, Cleric, Paladin, Thief


Elf

-3 Strength

+Dexterity

+Reflexes

Starts with Bows at Expert rank

Starts with Nature Magic skill at Expert rank

Magic Resistance +20%

Warrior, Cleric, Magic, Druid, Paladin, Bard

Half-Orc

+5 Strength

-Mind

+Endurance

+50% Poison Resist

+50% Disease Resist

Warrior, Cleric, Shadow Knight, Necromancer, Mage, Thief


Half-Elf

+Reflexes

Start with Bows at Expert rank

All Classes


Khoth

(dragon blood infused humans - descendants from the ancient practice of Infusion)

+Armor Class

+2 Strength


-Reflexes

-Dexterity

Natural magic abilites (choose dragon or random?) - no MPs to use. Cooldown based

1 Magic based skill at Expert level

1 Elemental Resist start at 50%

Low Magic Resist start at -50%

Warrior, Mage, Necromancer, Shadow Knight, Bard, Druid

Eyes are reptilian

Eye color denotes the infused dragon

Small chance PC is of double-infusion???? (like 3%)

 

[Kevin French]

Well, it's 2019; so, Happy New Year to all!

I promised a new alpha version by year's end. I was off by 1 day. I uploaded the latest version yesterday. You can grab the latest version from indieDB
https://www.indiedb.com/games/legen...of-baal/downloads/legendaryjourneys-alpha-v30

Races for Party Creation
I've added races to party creation! The following are available:

• Human
• Dwarf
• Elf
• Half Elf
• Half Orc
• Khoth

For the benefits of each, hover the mouse of the race select button. Most are standard fantasy races. Khoth, however, are not. So, I will explain them a bit.

See below for a description of the Khoth and Infusion practices.

Khoth look like most humans with the exception of their eyes. The Khoth's eyes tend to glow the color of their donor dragon (not represented in portraits I'm afraid).
Khoth exhibit the elemental immunity of their donor dragon. And, they posses the dragon's conic breath weapon as magical spell which emulates the breath weapon from the Khoth's hand. As the Khoth's level increase; so does the power of their cone weapon. The cone weapon has a percentage chance of "firing" increasing as the Khoth levels (originally had it firing 100% which resulted in a very powerful group). The weapon uses no stamina or mana as it is an innate ability. It does have a 5 round cooldown (subject to change). They have a weakness towards magical damage.

NOTE: I am going to experiment with weakness based on the dragon selected in the next version. For example, choosing a black dragon gives the Khoth immunity to Disease based damage. Besides the magic damage weakness, the black dragon would have a weakness to Poison based damage. Red dragon would have a weakness to cold based damage, etc.

That's the brief description of the Khoth.

Mini-Map
This version sees a new Mini-Map. I got rid of the old map that I had. I figured Might and Magic 6-8 used one, why not me. Right now, you can see all enemies within the view. That will change to requiring a spell. It doesn't work in dungeons at the moment. I need to do some work there for it to function properly.

Key Binding
Key binding has been added, finally! Just select the CONTROLS option from the in-game menu. I've moved the EXAMINE button from the left-mouse button to the 'F' button. Holding the button and hovering the mouse over an interactive object will show the name of the object. Doing the same over a mob group will display the groups makeup and approximate difficulty.


Infusion and Khoth
This ancient practice was observed by the followers of Thrymm (the Dragon Lord). Ranking members of the order would infuse dragon blood into their own bodies in hopes of gaining that dragon’s power one day. The dragon cults were banned by many societies. Once the practice of infusion was discovered, those same societies often hunted and killed the followers. Infusion and the worshiping of Thrymm was banned in the lands of Farmoor.

After several centuries had passed and those once in power were no more, Thrymm worshiping had resumed. Infusion had disappeared due to many dragons being killed during the Draconic Wars. Though, no longer practiced, descendants of the original practitioners benefited. Those humans whose ancestors practiced the art are known as the Khoth. The Khoth did inherit some of those dragon powers. Khoth blend well into human societies. The main difference, their eyes. Their eyes appear snake-like with the whites tinted with the dragon’s color which their ancestors infused. Thus, a Khoth of green dragon blood would show a green tint in the whites of their eyes.

Khoth are welcomed and un-welcomed in human societies. Human’s tolerance and intolerance for their own kind (and outsiders) show the same level of tolerance for the Khoth. It just depends where you are in the world.
Elves see the Khoth as an abomination to nature. Therefore, Khoth are often hated by most Elven societies. There are a few individuals that have overcome the ancient ancestral bigotry though.

The rest of the world are rather neutral toward the Khoth. Most view them as humans with snake eyes. Of course, it comes down to the individuals, towns and villages’ tolerances.

 

[ManaJunkie]

I wish you much success for your work. Looks very well so far.

 

[Dorateen]

Races for Party Creation
I've added races to party creation! The following are available:

• Dwarf

 

[Kevin French]

January's build includes a new class - the NECROMANCER. The necromancer is the only class that can master the Death Magic skill. Three death magic spells have been added to the game as well. The following races may choose the necromancer class:

• Human
• Half Elf
• Half Orc
• Khoth

Melee abilities have been introduced. The abilities are governed by their skill. Trying to use the ability without the appropriate weapon will result in a nice warning message. The abilities get more powerful as your character's grow in rank.

Invigorate spell has been added. It is part of the Healing Magic skill line. It works like a heal spell except it recovers lost endurance.

During my play testing ran across a bug with the Exhausted state effect. It wouldn't go away when it was supposed to. This is now fixed. Also, it no longer causes a character to lose their turn. The exhausted character can use potions allowing them to recover from their exhaustion quicker.

Your party no longer starts with abilities. Melee abilities and spells will need to be learned from the appropriate book. Look for them in your inventory.

Fixed some odd pricing choices. Things make a little more sense now

Floating damage and the health numbers have been removed. If you want to see a mob's current health while in combat, press the EXAMINE key (F by default) and hover the mouse over the mob. A window will appear with the mob's health. In a future version, more info will be displayed such as status effects and stats.

I'm targeting another update in two weeks. If I miss that deadline, definitely by the end of February. That will include some more bug fixes, fixing some oddities that I discovered through my play through of the current build (didn't want to hold up release as they are not game breaking bugs), and the DRUID class addition (already in the works)

You can grab the latest build here
https://www.indiedb.com/games/legen...of-baal/downloads/legendaryjourneys-alpha-v40

 

[Contagium]

Hi all,

My name is Kevin developer of Legendary Journeys; a new blobber for those who like them and those who have never played one.

I don't have any AAA background; nor, have I been developing games since 1994 (Jeff from Spiderweb). What I do have is a long history with being a dungeon master and running D&D campaigns. As such, this game is inspired by some of my favorites: Baulder's Gate, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and Everquest. I'm a software engineer by day and game developer by night. This is my first major game that I wanted to share with the RPG community. When you get to play it, if you like it, GREAT! And, if you don't, well, that's fine too.

Legendary Journeys lets you take a party of adventurers (that you create) into the world of Farmoor. You'll be able to perform simple tasks for the locals for some quick coin; get involved in some more interesting issues; and, piece together an (I think so, at least) interesting story through your adventurers. I can tell you this: your party is not out to save the world. This game is heavy on exploration. Please, don't go in expecting heavy BioWare dialogs. It would take WAAAY to much time to write in that style.

Some Features:

• Turn Based Combat
• Free Movement (no grids)
• Crafting - weapons, armors, enchanted items
• Class System - with some sway in the skills your characters can learn
• Overworld and Dungeon zones for your party to explore
• Obligatory loot and monsters to slay

Some Screenshots (expand to view)

Spoiler

Early Pre-Alpha Footage (this video is a bit old - working on a new one)


If you made it this far, maybe you are interested in this style of game. I'm working toward a Steam EA release by August 2018. And for those who don't use Steam, I'll have a download link available as well. I have been posting updates on at http://www.blindmonkeygames.com weekly since the site went live a few weeks ago. And, you can sign up for the monthly newsletter as well.

Thanks for reading this far. Please, let me know what you think.

http://www.blindmonkeygames.com

I checked out your web page, and the screenshots brought me back to when you first enter the beach in Wizardy 8 and fight the crabs .Nostalgia is a bitch, but I'm thoroughly excited to play your game.

The page also says a release for April 2019...is that still realistic? Also, when will the Steam page be up?

 

[Kevin French]

Contagium thanks for the interest!

April for a fully completed game - no. That's no longer a valid target date. It is a good target date for Steam Early Access, though.
All of the mechanics are in game now. I reached that point when the races were added to the game in December. What's left to do for me to consider the game fully complete? Content, optimization and polish.

I have a couple of dungeons that need to be re-worked (they are my first attempt with the cave art that I have; it wasn't pretty). I still have some zones that I need to add for the main quest line. Part 1 of the main quest line is in; there are 3 remaining.

The game will run on today's hardware with no problems. I have a target minimum specs on medium graphics setting. I haven't started working on that yet.

As far as polish goes, most of the monsters have no sound, some of the existing spells have no casting effects or sound. Things like that.

I can't, in good conscious, say the game is complete without the above things being taken care of. I'm not setting out to make this a full time business or in it for money. So, if it takes a while to get the game in an acceptable completed state, I'm fine with that. I hope the few followers can appreciate that as well. With all of that said, I'm still targeting a completed game this year.

 

[Kevin French]

Thought I would make a short post. No alpha build for February. Sorry to anyone looking forward to a new build. Sorry to anyone looking forward to a new build.
I didn't get what I wanted completed for the next build before the end of February. So, those will roll into March's build. Expect the next build within the next week or two. Here is what has been added so far:

Druid class has been added. In conjunction, I have added new Nature Magic spells.
New Thieving and Battle Tactics skills have been added.
With the new thieving skill, Pickpockets has been revised. Pickpockets now relies on the character's Reflexes, Dexterity, and Thieving skill. If a target has been set for pickpocketing, you can now lift an item or their coin. Right now, you can use it in battle since I don't have an NPC ready for pickpocketing yet.
Battle Tactics will have a few abilities which are beneficial to the party. Haven't got these in game yet.

• Taunt - increases threat level of the user
• Battle Cry - encourages the party adding to their Armor Class and refreshes endurance to 100%

I want to add two more abilities. I haven't figured out their name nor exactly what they will do.
I have finally started updating some of the battle AIs. I started with the goblins. Hopefully, they are a bit more challenging now.
A BIG addition (which took me the longest) is the new OPTIONS menu. I have added basic video, audio, and key rebinds to this new window. Video options include the following:

• Resolution
• Graphics Quality
• Camera Draw Distance

I plan on adding more advanced options (terrain detail, shadows on/off, etc). I just need to figure out how to do that with the Unity engine. It's a start!
A new dungeon has been added. The Temple of Solaris. That beast you see, his name is Singe. A small fire elemental.I had this planned a long time ago. Never had the art to pull it off. You'll need to visit this temple to complete the quest that lets you fix Captain Bligh's ship. The dungeon has been populate and itemized. Itemization is about 80% done.

So, that's what is in there now. The options menu and the new dungeon is what held me back from a February build. For the March build, I don't plan on adding any new features. I plan on finishing up my battle AI updates.
April's build (estimating that to be done by April 30th) will be the final demo build. If all goes well, I will have all mechanics complete. A handful of quests to complete, 6 of the 10 classes implemented, my starting maps complete, etc. I'm test the crap out of that build as that will be the demo available (think old shareware games).Right now, I am contemplating an Early Access release on Steam at around $5. I'm still going back and forth on this. The launch price - $10.

Now, with that said,I have even been contemplating just releasing this for free to all who want to play the game. I NEVER started this game with hopes of starting a game studio and making a living off of it. It was always a passion project. I started creating board games in my youth; this was a natural progression since I'm a developer by day anyways I still haven't made up my mind yet. Those around me (friends, co-workers, family) say sell it. Regardless of price, I plan on supporting the released product for as long as it is reasonable.

Wow, these images are large. I'll see if I can resize these suckers next time

 

[Kevin French]

March Build is now available. https://www.indiedb.com/games/legen...of-baal/downloads/legendaryjourneys-alpha-v05

This build, we see the DRUID class. Druids are the master of nature magic. Calling upon the beasts and plants of Farmoor to aid in their adventures.

I have added a new options menu. Within the menu you will be able to adjust Graphics, Audio, and Controls.

Video settings are pretty basic right now. You can adjust Graphic quality, resolution, camera draw distance, and full/windowed mode. Right now, the option settings are stored within the registry. I'll be moving these to a file in the next build. I plan on adding more advanced graphic settings in the future such as terrain quality, AA settings, shadow quality (or turn them off), etc.

Battle AI has been adjusted. Let me know if you think it has gotten too hard. I had a few battles, in my testing, that I was able to mow through in the past. Now, I really had to think about what I was doing.

One that you will notice, the character with highest threat meter will be targeted more frequently. Until I add abilities, you can only remove threat by resting.

Temple of Solaris has been added. It is a new dungeon on the starting island of Nerah's Landing. Yes, you will need to visit this dungeon to get off of the island.