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KickStarter Monomyth - A first person action RPG/dungeon crawler - now available on Early Access
- Thread starter RatTower
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 99,687
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/836367155/monomyth/posts/3259912
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/836367155/monomyth/posts/3260200
OK, now we can do a fundraiser.
Looks like it's already hit the first stretch goal too.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,202
There's a codex fundraiser, if you care.
RatTower
Arcane
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2017
- Messages
- 476
Good morning codex,
Thank you all for your support!
Since the game is now over 100% funded I can properly plan out the rest of the development.
I'll try to be very conservative with the design for the moment. The goal is to have a basic core game around the end of the year.
Given the current design that should be manageable and even if it turns out trickier, it leaves me with enough time to optimize the scope.
I think that is a good way to go about it because it guarantees that there will be a full, functional dungeon-crawler at the core of this project very soon.
Even if the environments may still miss detail passes and some character assets are still place-holders - that's okay. That can be fixed easily in the following months then.
The focus is on providing something that can be played from beginning to end.
All that additional fun stuff like further utility items and immersive microfeatures and new areas and whatnot - all that stuff can be stacked on top of that foundation very nicely.
In fact, that's exactly how the demo level was created.
I will not let that funding raise my enthusiasm to a point where it would result in feature creep. In fact, I will target the exact opposite and secure it quite radically.
Once the campaign is over, I will take a part of the money and spend it as wisely and conservatively as possible on a basic, well-defined set of core elements that can be compiled into a full dungeon-crawling experience using the established assets, workflows, systems, and tools.
That is why, until this "MVP" is done, there will be an absolute ban on ANY feature scripting (unless of course, it concerns fixes of existing features, part of which you have already seen in the demo).
Afterward, I will add on top of that. Like a cherry on top of a pie. The focus is now on the pie. Or even the pie crust.
I have seen projects, both in game development and academia, that would not abide by such strict planning right away and they would pay dearly for it.
It will be my primary goal to avoid this.
I'll go through your feedback in more detail in the coming days.
best wishes!
Thank you all for your support!
Since the game is now over 100% funded I can properly plan out the rest of the development.
I'll try to be very conservative with the design for the moment. The goal is to have a basic core game around the end of the year.
Given the current design that should be manageable and even if it turns out trickier, it leaves me with enough time to optimize the scope.
I think that is a good way to go about it because it guarantees that there will be a full, functional dungeon-crawler at the core of this project very soon.
Even if the environments may still miss detail passes and some character assets are still place-holders - that's okay. That can be fixed easily in the following months then.
The focus is on providing something that can be played from beginning to end.
All that additional fun stuff like further utility items and immersive microfeatures and new areas and whatnot - all that stuff can be stacked on top of that foundation very nicely.
In fact, that's exactly how the demo level was created.
I will not let that funding raise my enthusiasm to a point where it would result in feature creep. In fact, I will target the exact opposite and secure it quite radically.
Once the campaign is over, I will take a part of the money and spend it as wisely and conservatively as possible on a basic, well-defined set of core elements that can be compiled into a full dungeon-crawling experience using the established assets, workflows, systems, and tools.
That is why, until this "MVP" is done, there will be an absolute ban on ANY feature scripting (unless of course, it concerns fixes of existing features, part of which you have already seen in the demo).
Afterward, I will add on top of that. Like a cherry on top of a pie. The focus is now on the pie. Or even the pie crust.
I have seen projects, both in game development and academia, that would not abide by such strict planning right away and they would pay dearly for it.
It will be my primary goal to avoid this.
I'll go through your feedback in more detail in the coming days.
best wishes!
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2014
- Messages
- 1,229
Do these introduce microissues?
RatTower
Arcane
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2017
- Messages
- 476
Star Citizen
Learned
Has an annoying af delay lawl
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2004
- Messages
- 6,927
This is what you get when someone who has been through a rigorous education takes game development seriously, not a humanities or literature major who likes to pew pew on their downtime from spending $100,000 of their parents money on a vanity degree.
ThewDev
Novice
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
- Messages
- 15
Sounds like a great plan. The game is already very solid for an alpha.
I'm curious about the environmental scope. The kickstarter mentions that the world is made up of 5 "zones." Are these zones planned to be roughly the size of the alpha area? Larger? I think it's really great when game worlds are densely packed with content and not empty Skyrim tundra. The demo did this very well.
V_K
Arcane
This has more to do with doing a doctorate per se than the discipline. Anyone with a PhD has learned how to do project management, and usually the hard way.
Wulfric Pinewood
Prophet
Please shoot this beauty on Steam EA.
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Just get the demo from the Kickstarter page.
Gargaune
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2020
- Messages
- 3,640
Was just curious. I've still gotta finish Thief 2 this weekend, so I expect to check out the demo in the next few days.
ThewDev
Novice
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
- Messages
- 15
My understanding is that it's kind of like a reputation reset. If you accidentally damage a non-hostile NPC, they will attack you, but if you atone they will return to being neutral. I only found one friendly NPC in the demo though, so I imagine it will be much more significant in the full release.
RatTower
Arcane
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2017
- Messages
- 476
That's a good question. On itch.io the demo has around 1000 downloads and a bit more than twice the page views. On IndieDB (where the demo was released yesterday) the demo was downloaded roughly a hundred times.
What's really interesting though is the conversion rate of Kickstarter project followers, which is currently sitting at 28%.
That is actually quite a lot. From what I heard the average conversion rate is around 10%.
The zone right behind the gate is slightly larger than the demo.
All zones roughly conform to the level design principles of Ultima Underworld, which means four thematically different quarters forming a map, with a "hallway" connecting them.
In the demo, this isn't as noticeable because the "hallway" is less obvious (since it's the beginning of the game and supposed to be a more linear introduction to the features), but the quarters are there:
Lower Bastion, Upper Bastion, Trading Post (including the cliffs and the bridge) as well as the caves.
The connecting elements are the valley, the tower, and the elevator. Given the right skill, you can basically go to any quarter right in the beginning.
There is a (very rough) animation set for great swords but it is currently unused. This would be one of those things that could be re-activated once the core game is done. I kinda regret not doing a "Combat Update" stretch goal with crossbows and polearms.
That's because you caught the demo in the limbo between being approved and being released :D
I'll release it later with a KS update.
If you attack a neutral character (Shylo) you can atone for your sins and they'll forgive you.
Star Citizen
Learned
Any plans to add anymore instruments? A pipe organ or some shit would be so dope!
Finish the demo in one sitting, I got a lot of dark souls vibes, more than an ultima underworld, which I was actually expecting. I never played King's field, but from videos I've seen, the combat seems to look a lot like those games. I missed some secret areas, and I must say I tried to find everything. I couldn't get to the room next to the fireball trap, the ice-shielded door up the tower, the forcefield cave, and one room next the barracks behind a poticulis and metal door.
There's one thing I don't know how it will work: In dark souls, when you die or save, enemies respawn. Here we have a similar save system, but the enemies do not respawn. If you manage to not recover your memories, how can you get back the experience points lost if there's no enemies to fight? I guess it's still a wip situation.
Level design is great. The demo is a small section but with lots of alternative routes, and unlockable shortcuts. It feels very complete and it's visually pleasing. I feel the geometry is a little simple, like it would work in a grid-based blob, reminds me a lot of legends of grimrock.
Combat gameplay and interaction with NPCs is the main flaw of the demo. Stealth is not really implemented, AI is very rudimentary. The zombies won't attack you if you are in defense stance - with a minimum stamina, if it's zero they won't forgive - which you can abuse to recover stamina. if you release right mouse button, and press it again, you open you guard for a split second and the zombie attacks, but you still have a long window to deflect and attack.
Also, using Items like lockpick, barrel bombs are somewhat unintuitive. It may require some work.
Walk speed is a little slow, and you can run even with 0 stamina, which was a blessing, since the level is big and wandering around takes time. and you have to backtrack a lot.
There's one thing I don't know how it will work: In dark souls, when you die or save, enemies respawn. Here we have a similar save system, but the enemies do not respawn. If you manage to not recover your memories, how can you get back the experience points lost if there's no enemies to fight? I guess it's still a wip situation.
Level design is great. The demo is a small section but with lots of alternative routes, and unlockable shortcuts. It feels very complete and it's visually pleasing. I feel the geometry is a little simple, like it would work in a grid-based blob, reminds me a lot of legends of grimrock.
Combat gameplay and interaction with NPCs is the main flaw of the demo. Stealth is not really implemented, AI is very rudimentary. The zombies won't attack you if you are in defense stance - with a minimum stamina, if it's zero they won't forgive - which you can abuse to recover stamina. if you release right mouse button, and press it again, you open you guard for a split second and the zombie attacks, but you still have a long window to deflect and attack.
Also, using Items like lockpick, barrel bombs are somewhat unintuitive. It may require some work.
Walk speed is a little slow, and you can run even with 0 stamina, which was a blessing, since the level is big and wandering around takes time. and you have to backtrack a lot.
fork
Guest
I really hope for respawning enemies to solve that problem. Dark Souls' continuous saving with respawning mobs and the need to pick up the lost XP is by far the best system for games like this, because it solves the most problems without creating any major new ones in return. It saves constantly, thus letting you save and quit, it prevents save scumming, it makes difficulty settings unnecessary because plebs can grind xp, and it punishes death while making recollecting the lost xp tense and fun.
It's a no-brainer to implement an exact copy of Dark Souls' saving system, especially since it's almost there already.
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