Grimrock

I posted this suggestion thread on the game's Steam Forum, but i thought it'll be appropriate to post on here too.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... ?t=2826634

Hi all,
I really love this game and in my review, i thought that the game was brilliant with only a couple of flaws.
I really hope that Grimrock 1 will sell well enough for the developers to warrant making a sequel.

If there is a sequel, here are my suggestions and features which I hope can be looked at by the developers.
I apologize in advance as this will be a lengthy read.

Before reading tho, PLEASE bring back the guy who did the main music theme.
It has a very very nice epic RPG feel and i am humming the tune all day at work
Would love to see more of his work, and maybe a sad emotional version of the main theme?

1) Expand on the Game's Universe, let us explore the outside environment instead of just sticking to another dungeon.
=====================================================================================================
What is the name of this world? Who are the important people? What are the names of the towns and villages? Can we have more backstory
to the background of the different races in the games? Now that Grimrock is destroyed, give us an opportunity to explore the outside world,
let us visit towns and villages, make this a living breathing world populated with NPCs who can give you quests, trade with you, and even hire
them as mercenaries. Make it feel more like a RPG.

2) Magic System Overhaul
========================
Yes, i personally disliked the current magic system implemented as i felt it was overly complicated. For this, may i suggest a simpler method of just right-clicking
on the mage's hand, select the spell you want, and just left-click to cast it. If the same spell needs to recast, you just need to left click on his hand.

3) Make the UI layout customizable.
===================================
Although I didn't mind the default main layout, I think it would be nice if players can drag the character portraits around
so i can for example lay them all at a straight line at the bottom screen instead of having all 4 cluster at the bottom right.

4) Implement Hotkeys for attacking / spell casting
===========================================
Instead of having players right click all the time, why not have a hotkey available? In addition, you can also
implement a hotkey such as "ALL ATTACK" where everyone attacks/cast spells at the same time.

5) Why no "Healing Class" in the game?
======================================
Was quite surprised to not find any cleric/priest class in the character selection.
IMO i think it would be nice to have a dedicated healer with their own unique spells to help the party.

6) The Rogues don't feel like Rogues.
====================================
IMO, Rogues should be masters of lockpicking. Rogues in the current game feel more like "ranged melees" rather then doing signature rogue stuffs.
Why not have special doors that can only be lockpicked by a rogue? Or having doors that instead of having keys, a skilled rogue can just lockpick it
via a minigame. Why not also let the rogue have abilities such as setting traps or pickpocketing?


7) Make the player characters interact with each other.
================================================== =====
Instead of just having 4 silent faces as your party, make the characters engage in small talk (ala Wizardry 8) let us
give voices to our created characters, give them a personality. Make them squeal in combat, let the mages give insightful clues.

8) Let us be able to write notes on the auto map.
================================================
Ultima Underworld's Automap did this very well, where the game would automap for you, and you can literally write anything at anywhere you want on the map, instead of the Grimlock's current system of writing only at the icon you set. Also, i think it would be cool to just bring up a "Note Screen" while exploring to immediately write a note, instead of having to firstly go to the automap, click and then enter notes.

9) Implement the ability to split the party.
============================================
Just thought that this might be quite interesting to be able to split up the party, and can maybe present more puzzle challenges.
Eg: you can set the member who will stay behind while the rest of the team moves forward. You can of course switch back to that member at any time to do other things.

10) A Co-op mode?
=================
This may be very difficult to implement, but i thought it would be cool to have a co-op mode with a friend
to explore and solve puzzle together. Puzzles can also take on a whole new co-op level challenge

11) The ability to re-stat our ability points.
=============================================
Just putting this out as an option for people who wish to re-stat.

12) More exciting loot please and also... Weapon Crafting?
================================================== ========
The current loot selection in Grimrock 1 is sparse. Not exciting at all. Is it possible to increase the types of loot we obtain? Or even better do crafting and weapon customizations?

13) Provide an option for both Turn-Based Combat AND Real-Time Combat
================================================== ===================
I think it would be cool if Grimrock 2 could borrow the idea from Might and Magic 7 which was a mix of real time and turn based combat. Basically, the game is
played in real time, but when enemies are encountered, the player can effectively just press a button and the game will shift to turn based combat instantly.

14) Old-School Hardcore mode is not Hardcore enough
================================================== =
For real hardcore connoiseurs only. Having a TRUE hardcore mode that consists of:
a) Automapping is not available
b) Poisons and Diseases that needs to be treated instead of just resting. Make them cause high damage ticks and very dangerous if not healed soon.
c) Implement limbs fracture whereby if a character suffers too much damage, they will actually continuously lose hp due to a fractured limb. Pitfalls are actually dangerous now.
d) Having spells fizzle and explode on the party if spell level is not high enough.
e) Unable to rest unless hunger level is satisfied.
f) Actually needed to cook food to improve the amount of HP healed.
g) Implement blindness where if not treated, the whole screen will go black
h) Have enemy mages cast immobilizing spells such as Stone, Paralyze or Insanity where the affected party member can randomly attack their own party members.

15) Why limit swords and other weapons to Fighters only?
================================================== =======
Why not have all weapons available to all classes so players can customize exactly how they want their own character to feel like.
Example: If the player wants to have a Heavy Armor totally OP Mage that wields Maces and cast fireballs, go ahead and give that choice. (Of course the player must be prepared to spend ALOT more ability points for this) Don't restrict weapons to only specific classes. If there must be restrictions, then make it unique. (Eg: Only rogues can use lockpicks and traps, only mages can cast mage spells etc.)

16) Why let the Compass take up a slot?
=======================================
Why not have a special Compass UI appear at the top of the screen if the player finds a compass?
The player would then have an additional slot free to put other things.

17) Make more items stackable. (Eg: Torches)
============================================

18) Have a 3D feel to the dungeons
==================================
Let us climb ladders, staircases within a dungeon level to simulate a sense of height, so that the dungeon don't feel like generic 2D plains.

19) Allow ranged characters to QUEUE up their throwing weapons / ammunition
================================================== =========================
Eg: Instead of manually putting throwing knives into the hand slot when shurikens are used up, have them all line up in a special queue slot so that once the first ammunition is used up, the next ammunition in queue will automatically appear on the player's hand without manually selecting it.

20) Make a Collector's Edition of Grimrock 2
============================================
LOL! Oh i'd probably be the first to buy if there is such a collector's edition.



These are just some of my suggestions if there will ever be a Grimrock 2.
Hopefully the developer can look into it when planning for a sequel. Thanks for listening.

What are your suggestions? What do you want to see in Grimrock 2?

Snowmoon wrote:

Code: Select all

I posted this suggestion thread on the game's Steam Forum, but i thought it'll be appropriate to post on here too.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2826634

Hi all,
I really love this game and in my review, i thought that the game was brilliant with only a couple of flaws.
I really hope that Grimrock 1 will sell well enough for the developers to warrant making a sequel.

If there is a sequel, here are my suggestions and features which I hope can be looked at by the developers.
I apologize in advance as this will be a lengthy read.

Before reading tho, PLEASE bring back the guy who did the main music theme.
It has a very very nice epic RPG feel and i am humming the tune all day at work :D
Would love to see more of his work, and maybe a sad emotional version of the main theme?

1) Expand on the Game's Universe, let us explore the outside environment instead of just sticking to another dungeon.
=====================================================================================================
What is the name of this world? Who are the important people? What are the names of the towns and villages? Can we have more backstory
to the background of the different races in the games?  Now that Grimrock is destroyed, give us an opportunity to explore the outside world, 
let us visit towns and villages, make this a living breathing  world populated with NPCs who can give you quests, trade with you, and even hire 
them as mercenaries. Make it feel more like a RPG.

2) Magic System Overhaul
========================
Yes, i personally disliked the current magic system implemented as i felt it was overly complicated. For this, may i suggest a simpler method of just right-clicking 
on the mage's hand, select the spell you want, and just left-click to cast it. If the same spell needs to recast, you just need to left click on his hand.

3) Make the UI layout customizable.
===================================
Although I didn't mind the default main layout, I think it would be nice if players can drag the character portraits around 
so i can for example lay them all at a straight line at the bottom screen instead of having all 4 cluster at the bottom right.

4) Implement Hotkeys for attacking / spell casting
===========================================
Instead of having players right click all the time, why not have a hotkey available? In addition, you can also 
implement a hotkey such as "ALL ATTACK" where everyone attacks/cast spells at the same time.

5) Why no "Healing Class" in the game?
======================================
Was quite surprised to not find any cleric/priest class in the character selection. 
IMO i think it would be nice to have a dedicated healer with their own unique spells to help the party.

6) The Rogues don't feel like Rogues.
====================================
IMO, Rogues should be masters of lockpicking. Rogues in the current game feel more like "ranged melees" rather then doing signature rogue stuffs. 
Why not have special doors that can only be lockpicked by a rogue? Or having doors that instead of having keys, a skilled rogue can just lockpick it
via a minigame. Why not also let the rogue have abilities such as setting traps or pickpocketing?


7) Make the player characters interact with each other.
================================================== =====
Instead of just having 4 silent faces as your party, make the characters engage in small talk (ala Wizardry 8) let us
give voices to our created characters, give them a personality. Make them squeal in combat, let the mages give insightful clues.

8) Let us be able to write notes on the auto map.
================================================
Ultima Underworld's Automap did this very well, where the game would automap for you, and you can literally write anything at anywhere you want on the map, instead of the Grimlock's current system of writing only at the icon you set. Also, i think it would be cool to just bring up a "Note Screen" while exploring to immediately write a note, instead of having to firstly go to the automap, click and then enter notes.

9) Implement the ability to split the party.
============================================
Just thought that this might be quite interesting to be able to split up the party, and can maybe present more puzzle challenges.
Eg: you can set the member who will stay behind while the rest of the team moves forward. You can of course switch back to that member at any time to do other things.

10) A Co-op mode?
=================
This may be very difficult to implement, but i thought it would be cool to have a co-op mode with a friend 
to explore and solve puzzle together. Puzzles can also take on a whole new co-op level challenge

11) The ability to re-stat our ability points.
=============================================
Just putting this out as an option for people who wish to re-stat.

12) More exciting loot please and also... Weapon Crafting?
================================================== ========
The current loot selection in Grimrock 1 is sparse. Not exciting at all. Is it possible to increase the types of loot we obtain? Or even better do crafting and weapon customizations?

13) Provide an option for both Turn-Based Combat AND Real-Time Combat
================================================== ===================
I think it would be cool if Grimrock 2 could borrow the idea from Might and Magic 7 which was a mix of real time and turn based combat. Basically, the game is 
played in real time, but when enemies are encountered, the player can effectively just press a button and the game will shift to turn based combat instantly.

14) Old-School Hardcore mode is not Hardcore enough
================================================== =
For real hardcore connoiseurs only. Having a TRUE hardcore mode that consists of:
a) Automapping is not available
b) Poisons and Diseases that needs to be treated instead of just resting. They are also cause very high damage ticks and is very dangerous if not healed soon.
c) Implement limbs fracture whereby if a character suffers too much damage, they will actually lose hp due to a fractured limb. Pitfalls are actually dangerous now.
d) Having spells fizzle and explode on the party if spell level is not high enough.
e) Unable to rest unless hunger level is satisfied.
f) Actually needed to cook food to improve the amount of HP healed.
g) Implement blindness where if not treated, the whole screen will go black
h) Have enemy mages cast immobilizing spells such as Stone, Paralyze or Insanity where the affected party member can randomly attack their own party members.

15) Why limit swords and other weapons to Fighters only?
================================================== =======
Why not have all weapons available to all classes so players can customize exactly how they want their own character to feel like.
Example: If the player wants to have a Heavy Armor totally OP Mage that wields Maces and cast fireballs, go ahead and give that choice. (Of course the player must be prepared to spend ALOT more ability points for this) Don't restrict weapons to only specific classes. If there must be restrictions, then make it unique. (Eg: Only rogues can use lockpicks and traps, only mages can cast mage spells etc.)

16) Why let the Compass take up a slot?
=======================================
Why not have a special Compass UI appear at the top of the screen if the player finds a compass? 
The player would then have an additional slot free to put other things.

17) Make more items stackable. (Eg: Torches)
============================================

18) Have a 3D feel to the dungeons
==================================
Let us climb ladders, staircases within a dungeon level to simulate a sense of height, so that the dungeon don't feel like generic 2D plains.

19) Allow ranged characters to QUEUE up their throwing weapons / ammunition
================================================== =========================
Eg: Instead of manually putting throwing knives into the hand slot when shurikens are used up, have them all line up in a special queue slot so that once the first ammunition is used up, the next ammunition in queue will automatically appear on the player's hand without manually selecting it.

20) Make a Collector's Edition of Grimrock 2
============================================
LOL! Oh i'd probably be the first to buy if there is such a collector's edition.



These are just some of my suggestions if there will ever be a Grimrock 2.
Hopefully the developer can look into it when planning for a sequel. Thanks for listening.

What are your suggestions? What do you want to see in Grimrock 2?

Ok... Hmm... I have beat the game, but not found every single item/secret, so forgive me if I get some things wrong...

Suggestion 1-5 I agree with.

6, however, I do not agree with. A rogue isn't about lockpicking, that's a thief. A Rogue is usually a range unit that can use daggers at close range, and very hard to hit. The game does this very well. I did a run with 4 rogues, and it was very fun to play. Was hard at first, but was nice near the end. Front 2 have Assassination/dagger and dodge skills, both having dagger and shield. and the back row having 1 as pure Missile skill, using crossbow and the other pure Assassination and can attack from backrow with sword and shield. Had to play smart in alot of places, but in the bigger rooms I dominated all monsters easily. So I think Rogues are just fine the way they are.

7, I like a lot and wouldn't mind seeing. Even if simply small comments of walking into an empty room with a single switch and the rogue speaking up and saying 'This is totally a trap...'

8, Isn't very much needed... I went through the entire game where the only 'notes' I had to write was leaving a note where each of the Health/Rest stones were on the first 4 floors. Then just forgot to do it on the others as they weren't needed often, or very near when needed.

9, I don't think should EVER be allowed, unless the entire game was Turn-based. You get enough trouble keeping 1 party of 4 people alive and not boxed in and ambushed. Splitting into 2 parties of 2? just asking for trouble, especially since you won't be able to tell when the other party is getting attacked while your not looking.

10, Wouldn't be nice, I don't think. The dungeons/loot/puzzles are not random. So if Co-op was added, the other person could rush through and solve everything for you, take all the loot, and just leave. Or open all the door, and bring the mobs to you and leave. Too easy to abuse.

11, I agree with deeply! You have no idea what to expect for monsters, or items the first time through, and so would have helped to be able to adapt and learn. Especially since we didn't know how deep the dungeon goes, and so didn't know the highest level we were going to reach.

12, I do want more exciting loot. Or well... Really, just more... useful loot... Only 4 mage 'weapons' One that is a staff that only gives 5 energy. Another is a orb that is a inf light source. Then one to increase Earth spells, and the last increases Fire spells. Only 2 of the spell schools get a boost item? Also Light armor only has 2 sets of armor, and Heavy armor has 3 sets. But mages get nothing. Missile users got 3 bows. A bow, crossbow, and then the last one was a bow that was weaker than the crossbow. Only 2 dagger weapons as far as I know. Knife and Dagger. 3 Maces first weapon, second from the orge at lvl 6, then last is like floor 12, right before the last fight. Then there are like 5-6 swords, and 4 axes. Not many items at all, especially if making a party of 4 that are the same classes. Also some items found at the beginning of the game, end up being better than items found 3-4 floors later. Or in the case of the crossbow, find in floor 4 i believe and never get anything else better.

So, yeah. I wouldn't mind seeing more items, and more better placed. You would think getting better items the deeper you go but they aren't that good. Especially the 3 treasures on floor 6, 9, and 13. a Book for Fire school (Fire is so very over powered in this game. 2 Mages: one going Ice, and one going Fire, and you own everything in the game) on floor 6, and a school book in floor 9 and that's it. The others are useless. Floor 13th does have a full suit of heavy armor, but at that point, 10 mins before the end of the game, what's the point waiting to get it? Ok, enough of that rant. Onwards.

13, The game was built for real-time. To survive on the harder settings, you have to dodge and not get hit to hit enemies. Also would never be able to strife behind and backstab for rogues since everytime you moved, the enemies would move with you. You would never be able to run away as well.

14, I agree with this. The only way to get 'harder' is taking out the map? Would be crazy the first time, yeah. But the other times, you would know the maps since the were mostly simple and easy to memorized mostly. Also not many puzzles need you to go very far, nor back track far, so never really lost either.

15, This I somewhat don't agree. Each class have their own items, and don't need items crossing over, since they don't have skills for that item.

16, Compass is only needed for old school where you can't use the map. Makes the 'old school' play easier, so I say it's fine as it is.

17, I don't agree with, since you get so many boxes and sacks to more than enough items. Unless your hording everything and moving very very very slow on 4 fighters. Even then, they probably could hold all the equips and food.

18, I think it's fine just where it is for looks. Tho I wouldn't mind more than 3 tile sets. It makes spotting the secret buttons on walls so easy, since all the textures are the same except that one spot that is different. You would think that the 'secret buttons' Would look the same on all ways, only on the one special wall when you click it, it pushes it and moves.

19, this shouldn't be needed, since you can hold one in each hand. And if you run low, you can also open your inventory aswell, and put a new item in the hand when waiting for him to cooldown from his attack.

20, With a small game size of this, I don't think it would need a collectors edition, but I wouldn't mind a making of, and music stuff free maybe at a later date after the game.

This is my opinions on these things, and sorry if somethings, mostly the stuff about the items, are wrong. x.x

Thanks for your reply.
I'd just like to put in my comments on some of your replies. My comments in Yellow.

7, I like a lot and wouldn't mind seeing. Even if simply small comments of walking into an empty room with a single switch and the rogue speaking up and saying 'This is totally a trap...'
Glad that someone likes this feature. Wizardry 8 had this feature and i thought it was pretty cool to have the characters interact with each other. It makes combat that much more exciting when my dying mage shouts "Im Dying!! HELP!!" lol!! It just gives them so much personality, much better then having 4 silent faces.

12, I do want more exciting loot. Or well... Really, just more... useful loot... Only 4 mage 'weapons' One that is a staff that only gives 5 energy. Another is a orb that is a inf light source. Then one to increase Earth spells, and the last increases Fire spells. Only 2 of the spell schools get a boost item? Also Light armor only has 2 sets of armor, and Heavy armor has 3 sets. But mages get nothing. Missile users got 3 bows. A bow, crossbow, and then the last one was a bow that was weaker than the crossbow. Only 2 dagger weapons as far as I know. Knife and Dagger. 3 Maces first weapon, second from the orge at lvl 6, then last is like floor 12, right before the last fight. Then there are like 5-6 swords, and 4 axes. Not many items at all, especially if making a party of 4 that are the same classes. Also some items found at the beginning of the game, end up being better than items found 3-4 floors later. Or in the case of the crossbow, find in floor 4 i believe and never get anything else better.

So, yeah. I wouldn't mind seeing more items, and more better placed. You would think getting better items the deeper you go but they aren't that good. Especially the 3 treasures on floor 6, 9, and 13. a Book for Fire school (Fire is so very over powered in this game. 2 Mages: one going Ice, and one going Fire, and you own everything in the game) on floor 6, and a school book in floor 9 and that's it. The others are useless. Floor 13th does have a full suit of heavy armor, but at that point, 10 mins before the end of the game, what's the point waiting to get it? Ok, enough of that rant. Onwards.

LOL! i didn't play a mage because i didn't like the magic system. I went for 2 fighters 2 rogues instead. Tis rather sad that only 2 spell schools get boost item.
The loot in Grimrock really needs to be re-thought of, because they really aren't very exciting. Totally agree with the full set of plate armor at lvl13. I was so happy getting it, only to have the game end soon after lol! Totally trolled by the game


14, I agree with this. The only way to get 'harder' is taking out the map? Would be crazy the first time, yeah. But the other times, you would know the maps since the were mostly simple and easy to memorized mostly. Also not many puzzles need you to go very far, nor back track far, so never really lost either.
I'm glad someone agreed with me on this. Hardcore mode SHOULD be hardcore. Originally, I was so worried about getting poisoned and diseased.
Imagine my surprise when resting actually cured diseases and poisons lol

15, This I somewhat don't agree. Each class have their own items, and don't need items crossing over, since they don't have skills for that item.
I was looking for full customization. I mean if someone wants to play a completely special build character (Eg: a heavy armor mace wielding mage),
theres no reason why not if they are willing to pay the high cost.


19, this shouldn't be needed, since you can hold one in each hand. And if you run low, you can also open your inventory aswell, and put a new item in the hand when waiting for him to cooldown from his attack.
Have to disagree with you there, i think it will be nice if items can be queued. Imagine using a bow and arrows and once arrows finish, immediately use shurikens, throwing knifes etc with no downtime and having to fumble to drag the item to the character's hands during combat

Snowmoon wrote:
14) Old-School Hardcore mode is not Hardcore enough
================================================== =
For real hardcore connoiseurs only. Having a TRUE hardcore mode that consists of:
a) Automapping is not available
b) Poisons and Diseases that needs to be treated instead of just resting. Make them cause high damage ticks and very dangerous if not healed soon.
c) Implement limbs fracture whereby if a character suffers too much damage, they will actually continuously lose hp due to a fractured limb. Pitfalls are actually dangerous now.
d) Having spells fizzle and explode on the party if spell level is not high enough.
e) Unable to rest unless hunger level is satisfied.
f) Actually needed to cook food to improve the amount of HP healed.
g) Implement blindness where if not treated, the whole screen will go black
h) Have enemy mages cast immobilizing spells such as Stone, Paralyze or Insanity where the affected party member can randomly attack their own party members.

While I'm fine with most game mechanic decisions in Grimrock, I'm happy that you feel like me regarding the hardness of the "Old school mode" ... which is clearly NOT hardcore or old school enough!

I would introduce and integrate many of the proven DM mechanics:
* real starvation should be a real character development opportunity, if running out of food (instead of just weakness)
* limbs should be breakable and have an property influence (e.g. broken legs -50% weight carryable, head-wound -50% willpower, body-wound -20% strength -20%HP, broken arm -> can't use weapon), would limit the excessive and consequenceless "pit-jumping-sport" in mount grimrock. (ropes???)
* breakable limbs, heads, bodies would give the specific body part protection more relevance and realism. At the moment all armour parts of a set give the same protection but have different weight. So the most inefficiant armour part is the breastplate... and should be taken off, efficency wise.... that feels wrong. Bodypart specfic damage would fix that and would also balance armour better against evasion.
* Dying should have more negative consequences. At the moment this just means running approx. 1 min to the next crystal, not a real motivation to keep your complete crew surviving. In DM this was handled better. Lossing one member means -> weaker team, loss of 1/4 of equipment and carrying capacity. And the requirement of recovering the killed character bones and equipment, bring everything to a far away shrine... that was annoying and motivated survival of the complete crew.
* Brightness and contrast level. Without any torches and light sources, it's still so bright that you can see three tiles far. Not realistic, it should be perfect darkness, pitch-black. Also, there is no cat-race among the selectable races which could explain this brightness. Also, contrast should be higher... characters should fight all the time with to bright or to dark illumination of the dungeon.
* extend the cooldown of reviving crystals significantly. Again, dying has not enough consequences. But if the crystals charges would be more valuable.... or make the cooldown even infinite, every crystal is useable only once!
* characters are blindable by strong light sources. Ok, maybe enemies as compensation, too... After crawling around for hours in a gloomy dungeon with a barely burning torch, the surprising brightness of thrown fireball or electric bolt should flash the screen white so that you unable to see something or even dodge

badhabit wrote: * real starvation should be a real character development opportunity, if running out of food (instead of just weakness)

* Dying should have more negative consequences. At the moment this just means running approx. 1 min to the next crystal, not a real motivation to keep your complete crew surviving. In DM this was handled better. Lossing one member means -> weaker team, loss of 1/4 of equipment and carrying capacity. And the requirement of recovering the killed character bones and equipment, bring everything to a far away shrine... that was annoying and motivated survival of the complete crew.

* extend the cooldown of reviving crystals significantly. Again, dying has not enough consequences. But if the crystals charges would be more valuable.... or make the cooldown even infinite, every crystal is useable only once!

I agree with these 3 points. A character, or 2, or even 3 of them dieing doesn't have any impact other than moving all the HP points into the last guy and running back to the crystal. Then rinse and repeat forever.

You would think on Hardcore, the hardest of the hard, that the Crystals would only have 1 use. I know Dungeons and Dragons online uses that system for all settings. No health potions, no mana regen, limited spells for mages. And the crystal that lets you heal, you can only use once. And if you leave the dungeon and reset it to refresh the crystal, all the mobs, traps, and/or bosses come back too. So yeah, it is very hard, and makes you plan for every encounter. But also, would make you judge your team better, and not rush back just as soon as 1 character dies when you can continue on for a little longer and get more use out of the crystal.

I also say, have it so Resting only regens energy, and not health. Also I agree with the Disease and Poison should have to be cured, and not last for a little bit. Also, to make it even harder. Since you won't be able to heal from resting anyways, Disease should make it so they can't be healed at all, from spells, crystal, or potions until it's cured first. I mean really. The only potions I made through the whole game were HP and Energy potions, since you can rest and wait for the poison and Disease to run it's course and then vanish.

Starvation should be bad too, making you weaker the lower it gets. But if it runs out (I don't know if it already does this, never got to even yellow before, cause I kept everyone well fed) that character should die from starvation. Also, since there is food everywhere, make the bar drain faster, like 3 times faster.

Hi there,

thanky ou very much for sharing your ideas. There are some interesting thoughts on it. But I wouldn't want to discuss each single one.

Yeah, I agree with you in so far as the game may become a better game and there is nothing wrong with changes.

But considering the imagination that Grimrock II would incorporate all of your ides, this would create a completely different game. And to be honest: I don't know how well or how crazy this might be. Actually it would be a promissing game, but it would be completely different then what you have learned here in LoG. And also tbh: I really appreciate LoG the way it is, and taking my experiences with games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Night, Morrowing or Oblivion into consideration and the mere fact that I really did not like them as much as I did the first two Eye of the Beholder games I am not so sure, whether I would appreciate so many changes in a new Grimrock game.

Speaking of those different games: When I read your many ideas you shared I really had the impression of reading either things I new from more strategic games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights or from the later Elder Scrolls games. Did you have those on your mind when you wrote your article? it would be interesting to see how things would work like the way you describe it. But I would not consider this an "old-school dungeon-crawler" anymore.

About exploring the world of Grimrock ... If you check the folders of your game you may find a world-map. So basically: Yeah, there is something like this available. And a deeper background would add some interesting feeling to the game.

All the best!
Liam

LiamKerrington wrote:Speaking of those different games: When I read your many ideas you shared I really had the impression of reading either things I new from more strategic games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights or from the later Elder Scrolls games. Did you have those on your mind when you wrote your article? it would be interesting to see how things would work like the way you describe it. But I would not consider this an "old-school dungeon-crawler" anymore.

I didn't. While I love those games, I wasn't thinking of them when I made my suggestions. I just wanted to help make the game more balanced. One thing I hope to see in the Editor coming out, is a lot more items that maybe was created but not placed in the game for some reason. Or even the ability to import your own items, or make your own using preset models of items already exiting. Same with enemies, but that would be too complicated to get people to make their own mobs. I just fear that even with new puzzles and dungeons... it will start getting old fast when using the same items, and fighting the same enemies every single map.

LiamKerrington wrote:Hi there,

Speaking of those different games: When I read your many ideas you shared I really had the impression of reading either things I new from more strategic games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights or from the later Elder Scrolls games. Did you have those on your mind when you wrote your article? it would be interesting to see how things would work like the way you describe it. But I would not consider this an "old-school dungeon-crawler" anymore.

I'm assuming this question is directed for me.
Well, actually i was thinking of 3 old-school RPGs when i had those ideas:
Eye of the Beholder 2, Might and Magic 3, Wizardry 8

Each of them has the same dungeon crawling style as Grimrock and each of them are considered classics of their time.
I was really hoping that Grimrock 2 could incorporate the good ideas from all 3 of them.
Lore and story are the most important for me in any RPGs, i want to know more about the universe, the people, the culture.

Now that Grimrock is destroyed, i was hoping Grimrock 2 can start to explore the world outside.
Hey i mean we got so many different races: Humans, Minotaurs, Insects, Lizardmen, surely there must very interesting lore for each of them!
A main human kingdom rulling over them? Having insectoid villages planning on rebellion? Minotaurs and Lizardmen engaging in a war? The possibilities are endless!!

For the open world idea, i was thinking in terms of how Might and Magic 3 handled it (which was the 1st open world rpg i've played i think).
Hopefully present the world like how it looked like in that game with castles, crypts, dungeons, towns, villages all over the place to discover.
A deep and rich story to bring them all together, a living breathing world. Ohhh that would be so nice!

I really really miss the old school RPGs where you have your party characters faces at the bottom lol
I always thought of them as very unique individuals each having a backstory, unlike today's RPG where its usually only a solitary hero.

Anyway In my earlier review of Grimrock 1, i felt that the game sometimes felt more like a Puzzle Game with RPG elements, rather then an RPG with puzzles.
Hopefully that can be addressed in Grimrock 2.

Snowmoon wrote:Anyway In my earlier review of Grimrock 1, i felt that the game sometimes felt more like a Puzzle Game with RPG elements, rather then an RPG with puzzles.

Exactly the same here, but it wasn't different 24 years ago when I came from Ultima and Bard's Tale.

But I too think more story, overworld and NPCs would be the way to go. I think you can only do a limited number of fresh puzzles (unless of course you depart from the classic dungeon elements and add new stuff).

Snowmoon wrote:
I'm assuming this question is directed for me.
Well, actually i was thinking of 3 old-school RPGs when i had those ideas:
Eye of the Beholder 2, Might and Magic 3, Wizardry 8

Each of them has the same dungeon crawling style as Grimrock and each of them are considered classics of their time.
I was really hoping that Grimrock 2 could incorporate the good ideas from all 3 of them.
Lore and story are the most important for me in any RPGs, i want to know more about the universe, the people, the culture.

Now that Grimrock is destroyed, i was hoping Grimrock 2 can start to explore the world outside.
Hey i mean we got so many different races: Humans, Minotaurs, Insects, Lizardmen, surely there must very interesting lore for each of them!
A main human kingdom rulling over them? Having insectoid villages planning on rebellion? Minotaurs and Lizardmen engaging in a war? The possibilities are endless!!

For the open world idea, i was thinking in terms of how Might and Magic 3 handled it (which was the 1st open world rpg i've played i think).
Hopefully present the world like how it looked like in that game with castles, crypts, dungeons, towns, villages all over the place to discover.
A deep and rich story to bring them all together, a living breathing world. Ohhh that would be so nice!

I really really miss the old school RPGs where you have your party characters faces at the bottom lol
I always thought of them as very unique individuals each having a backstory, unlike today's RPG where its usually only a solitary hero.

Anyway In my earlier review of Grimrock 1, i felt that the game sometimes felt more like a Puzzle Game with RPG elements, rather then an RPG with puzzles.
Hopefully that can be addressed in Grimrock 2.

The entire Might and Magic series were amazing (not to mention my childhood), and i very very much hope that they head in that direction. I mean, it doesn't have to be a copy of M&M, but just to look at the possibilities makes my mind swim in ideas! But, in the end it is up to the developers imagination. i feel that at least adding some sort of base or a few towns, not even to walk in but just as a staging area to begin dungeon delving, is the best thing they could possibly do if nothing else. sure, i would like a huge awesome story and an amazing overworld with many fantastic creatures and settlements, and ornate history spanning centuries... but thats also alot of work that a growing group like Almost Human may not want to undertake yet.

i do also agree with the ideas for hardcore hardcore mode. Not stacking items makes you appreciate inventory more, but if they do end up making the game "bigger", in general, then they should add some sort of storage chest or banking system.

Baby steps might be a make or breaker here. Lets keep our support up for Almost Human, and maybe they'll make our dreams come true some day.