Game News Grimrock devs reform as Ctrl Alt Ninja to create Druidstone, a procedurally generated turn-based RPG

[V_K]

I have yet to see a good procedurally generated dungeons in game.

Word of mouth has it that UnExplored is ridiculously good at it.

 

[Dorateen]

Who were the druids? Did they build the Stonehenge, and why? These were the questions we asked ourselves when we started the design process for this game.​

Spoiler

 

[Shin]

a single-character turn based proc generated game

what could go wrong
i'd rather see them remake the LoG games in a turn based fashion

or maybe they wanted experience in making both a blobber and a turn based game before they start on their wizardry inspired magnum opus?

 

[himmy]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Because a roguelike (and not roguelikelikelite) is going to be more profitable?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Legend of Grimrock 2 sold 375k, which isn't exactly a 0-profit game. Few indie RPGs sell almost 400k. So while it's a lot less than what LoG sold, it's not something to dismiss and start exploring a different genre. They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

 

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[The Bishop]

Isn't Druidstone an officially recognized term for Druid dominated meta of Hearthstone? Blizzard should sue them. Also they should get on with the times. Roguestone is where it's at right now.

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Legend of Grimrock 2 sold 375k, which isn't exactly a 0-profit game. Few indie RPGs sell almost 400k. So while it's a lot less than what LoG sold, it's not something to dismiss and start exploring a different genre. They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

Just out of curiosity, wasn't you arguing against sequels for indie developers just recently? Why shouldn't the same arguments apply in this specific case?

 

[CryptRat]

Legend of Grimrock 2 sold 375k, which isn't exactly a 0-profit game. Few indie RPGs sell almost 400k. So while it's a lot less than what LoG sold, it's not something to dismiss and start exploring a different genre. They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

You're surely right about the lucrative way, but regarding taste I share their preference for not-quest-based pacing.
I would have loved an open-world (or nearly open-world) turn-based blobber in the vein of Dragon Wars and Wasteland or an isometric turn-based game with a journey similar to what you find in these same games or in Ultima 3 or something, more than a LoG with quests.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Legend of Grimrock 2 sold 375k, which isn't exactly a 0-profit game. Few indie RPGs sell almost 400k. So while it's a lot less than what LoG sold, it's not something to dismiss and start exploring a different genre. They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

Just out of curiosity, wasn't you arguing against sequels for indie developers just recently? Why shouldn't the same arguments apply in this specific case?

I was arguing against indie sequels because in most cases a studio's first game won't get enough traction and making a second game hoping that it would do better is almost always a mistake. However, LoG was a spectacular success and even though LoG 2 sold only a third of what LoG did, this third is more than most indies sell combined. Besides, I didn't suggest to do more of the same (which is the main reason sequels do poorly) but introduce key new elements, which would bring LoG3 closer to M&M and Wiz than to Dungeon Master, which was a well done but one dimensional game.

 

[Haba]

Let them do whatever the feel like doing.

They can always go back to making corporate software if they need the money.

 

[Invictus]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Legend of Grimrock 2 sold 375k, which isn't exactly a 0-profit game. Few indie RPGs sell almost 400k. So while it's a lot less than what LoG sold, it's not something to dismiss and start exploring a different genre. They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

Just out of curiosity, wasn't you arguing against sequels for indie developers just recently? Why shouldn't the same arguments apply in this specific case?

I was arguing against indie sequels because in most cases a studio's first game won't get enough traction and making a second game hoping that it would do better is almost always a mistake. However, LoG was a spectacular success and even though LoG 2 sold only a third of what LoG did, this third is more than most indies sell combined. Besides, I didn't suggest to do more of the same (which is the main reason sequels do poorly) but introduce key new elements, which would bring LoG3 closer to M&M and Wiz than to Dungeon Master, which was a well done but one dimensional game.

This
They could have whole turn based combat, do a Might and Magic style gameworld, developed a proper quest based game with towns etc
But noooooo
A Diablo style rogue like with procedurally generated dungeons
It is not as if they wanted to go full Mass Effect retarded but why not stay on their forte? Why not just revive the turn based combat in the way the revived the Dungeon Master style game?

 

[cvv]

If someone told me 5 years ago two Finnish nerds are making a dungeon crawler with the ambition to be better than Dungeon Master I'd have told them to stfu and gtfo, blasphemers. And yet both Grimrocks blew my mind.

As VD said, I wish they developed it further, making a full-blooded grid-based RPG with quests, story and NPC interactions. That said can't blame them for wanting to try something new. Plus two games in it's already clear these guys know what they're doing and I trust them not to fuck it up.

 

[ColCol]

I have yet to see a good procedurally generated dungeons in game.

Word of mouth has it that UnExplored is ridiculously good at it.

It is. It really is. I wish you guys gave that game more love.

 

[Metro]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

When's the last time you actually bought a game?

And VD is right: they should have stuck with Grimrock but expanded on the concept as existing genres in the past expanded on Dungeon Master and EoB. You add towns, npcs, quests, etc. There was some stuff in Grimrock 2 (like a more interesting talent system) that was scrapped. People aren't going to keep buying the same game again and again (okay, ignore Call of Duty and shit like that) unless you push things forward.

 

[Fireblade]

Druidstone is set in a vast procedurally generated forest filled with exciting locations to explore and of course encounters, the meat of every RPG.

Someone forgot to inform inXile.

 

[Valky]

Codex be like: This studio should continue making 0-profit games in a forgotten sub-genre that only a dozen of people will play and even less enjoy until they need to sell their children into slavery, rather than make a game people might actually buy.

Play chicken with a train and lose.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Looks shit.

 

[Bio Force Ape]

Who were the druids? Did they build the Stonehenge, and why? These were the questions we asked ourselves when we started the design process for this game.​

Spoiler

Nobody knows who dey wur or where dey went.

 

[LeStryfe79]

This could be anything. However i have a distrust about game companies with the word ninja in their name due Metroid Other M. Also Annie Mitsoda refers to herself as an ineffectual ninja on her twitter. Wide shouldered women like her tend have a lot of pressure in their gastrointestinal systems due bodyshape so you can hear them take a shit in the bathroom during netflix and chill nights. Its allright though, were all human.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

 

[Repulsive]

looks fun.

 

[Fenix]

Time will tell 9c0

 

[Severian Silk]

Procedurally generated and story-driven don't strike me as two things that will go well together. :/

Gearhead RPG has procedurally generated story.

 

[Aenra]

Looks shit.

Aesthetics-wise, pretty much this. No soul, generic. Plus a UI that could have been ripped off from any number of equally shitty indie games.
The close-up aka tight-framed camera view isn't particularly helpful either in that regard (forces the eye to focus on the details, lose the proverbial forest); and it sure as hell isn't what one thinks of when hearing 'top down'.

Kinda curious about the puzzle/trap aspect of the game. Want to see if they really have a hard on for those, or if they just put them there before because 'blobber'.

edit: Prognosis: Shit. The above + procedurally + the inevitable companion of these for today's market, shitloads of crap + crafting/enhancing of some sort. No thanks.

 

[Shagnak]

They should have developed the concept further and added towns, characters, quests, etc.

This. So much this.

What they're doing now looks and sounds so incredibly uninspired. I would have loved to see them go full latter-day-Wizardy.