Tile based movement vs free movement style

[Ixnatifual]

As a developer I like tiles better because it's so fun and fast to build the levels. As a player I'm with Antti et al.

Yeah, that's one of the things I'm looking forward to when the editor comes out. I've done a good amount of modding for Doom and even with its "fake" 3d engine, making reasonably detailed levels for that game is a slow process.

[Sol_HSA]

For LoG, I definitely prefer the tile based movement.

I was actually expecting that in addition to turn-based gameplay, but was pleasantly surprised to still get the feel of it; feels like a fast-paced turn-based gameplay, :>.

What most people don't realize is that all games are turn based.. A turn might take 10ms, though

[Komag]

oh yeah, har har!

[lowzei]

Might sound boring but i also agree with antti on this one.

Free movement also is about exploring a world like in Ultima IX. Tile based movement works perfectly fine for a with puzzles and monsters filled dungeon but i don't like it for open areas as things feel more unnatural then. It might be interesting trying to combine both and see if it works or more feels artificial when you're moving freely on the surface which connects several dungeon areas and tile based once you're inside those dungeons.

[Ixnatifual]

I think Ishar's open worlds worked well with the tile structure, actually. But yeah I don't think it would have worked well with the later Ultimas. Never actually got around to play IX, but the 7s remain my top RPGs ever.

[Greco]

Might sound boring but i also agree with antti on this one.

Free movement also is about exploring a world like in Ultima IX. Tile based movement works perfectly fine for a with puzzles and monsters filled dungeon but i don't like it for open areas as things feel more unnatural then. It might be interesting trying to combine both and see if it works or more feels artificial when you're moving freely on the surface which connects several dungeon areas and tile based once you're inside those dungeons.

I works perfectly for open areas as well. Have you ever played Might & Magic III or IV, or V. They are old, they are classic and they are tile-movement based, and they have vast exploration in open areas. And the most important they were awesome. I think that puzzle construction is on plus for tile-movement, but its most important characteristic is that it can be really fast and accurate, you can move your character where you want really fast and do the actions you want very fast and accurate.

[lowzei]

No, i never was interested in Might & Magic but i played many of those Dungeon Master like games and whenever you could walk around in a free open world it just didn't feel right anymore. I guess that if done really well, you can tweak it to a certain degree though.

[Rya.Reisender]

Yeah, especially in Might&Magic I clearly can say: The moment they switched to free movement was when I stopped liking the series.

[mclang]

For some reason Betrayal at Krondor popped into my mind...

That was really GREAT game back then! Too bad the graphics are nowadays big turn off for me, otherwise I would definitely dive in Midkemia after current Grimrock playthrough.

But was it tile based or free, I can't remember.

[Ixnatifual]

Betrayal at Krondor had free movement, although you could toggle to "stick" onto the roads. In combat it was tiles.