Questions and comments

[Aeroprism]

Hello devs, hello fellow players.

First of all, thank you for an extremely satisfying game. Ever since the DM/EoB days, I have been craving for a good, quality grid-based dungeon crawler. You guys certainly delivered.

I have a few questions regarding the game as it is and the game as it might become.

1- I see in the FAQs that people blaze through this game in 10-15 hours. After 3 hours of gaming, I am tackling level 3. I take things slow, mind you, I love to fully explore and appreciate every new detail. Still, I would like to know: how many floors are there in the original release? Is there any reason to backtrack? I remember in Shining in the Darkness (Sega Genesis dungeon crawler), you used to revisit older floors after acquiring items that allowed you to access places you could not before. In other words, please tell me it's lengthy, this is something I'm in no hurry to see end.

2- Is there a spellbook I might have missed? So far I am guessing I need to remember every spell rune combo by myself but hey, doesn't hurt to ask.

3- Are there plans to introduce hybrid classes? I currently play with a warrior-warrior-mage-mage party because I just don't see the appeal of rogues as they are now. (Personal preference, I'm sure for other people they work great). However, were I able to create a character with some skills from a fighter and some from a rogue, it would be a totally different story.

4- I read that there is no level cap, but monsters do not respawn. Obviously, everyone should find their characters at the very same level when they complete the game, unless there are alternate ways of gaining XP? There is a finite amount of mobs, unless of course the rules change further in and you find say, a spawnpoint where monsters never stop pouring. This is why I decided to play two mages, I have this feeling that trying to learn all schools one a single character will limit me a lot and slow down the progression. With two mages, I get two specialists. (The question is therefore: are there other ways to gain XP?)


I love your magic system, it's just plain awesome. It's very much like DM/DM2 but a tad more intuitive. The fact that it's level based makes it a winner for me.

Browsing through the forum, I read that additional character portraits, quicksaves and quickloads are in the making so, no worries there.


I'll probably have more comments and questions as days go by but for now, this there should generate enough discussion with my fellow players!


Thanks again. Incredible game.

[Darklord]

1, The game happily allows you to play at your own pace, I'm sure you could easily hit 30 hours plus exploring everything carefully.

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There are 13 levels

2, No spellbook, but you can keep the scrolls you find, and mouseover them if you forget. This is the same as in Dungeon Master. (which this is a homage to)

3, Couldn't say about Hybrids, I suspect if such a thing were to happen it would a good while away, the AH guys have loads of other things to do first. This may be more likely for a sequel.

4, Most enemies do not respawn, some do. hence if you wanted to you could kill those as often as you like. I suspect it's the ones that drop food when you kill them, allowing players who take there time extra food. (Same as DM)

Hope that helps!

Daniel.

[Aeroprism]

Very appreciated! Thank you sir!

[TΛPETRVE]

Most enemies do not respawn, some do.

Actually, that's a minor niggle for me - Respawning enemies are needed for some puzzles, and while they are pretty low-level and don't give much XP upon defeat, they can still be used for level grinding. Personally, I''d rather have a unique kind of mob added specifically for those puzzles, that dies with one or two hits and doesn't give any XP at all.

[Darklord]

I don't grinding to be a problem, if some people want to spend hours killing the same enemy to gain levels and make the rest of the dungeon easy then fair enough I guess.

Daniel.

[Aeroprism]

So I'm a very slow player, being a new parent and all, I don't play as much as I used to. I also like to take my sweet time and explore everything before moving on.

This brings me to halfway through level 9 so far. I know saying this won't make me the most popular person on this forum but I gather that if we all go "This game is flawless" to the devs, they'll never feel we're being honest with them.

It's been said a thousand times so far, amazing game for the most part. The mood was very properly set. I have yet to find one single bug. The puzzles were fun and original without being annoying or frustrating. So far, a very solid game. I wouldn't have made the stat/leveling system quite like this, but it still works well enough. In short, I wouldn't feel cheated had I paid $40 for it.

All that said, I'm still having a hard time finding the motivation to go on. What is slowly, inexorably getting to me is the constant, endless stream of encounters. And I'm not talking about the infamous level 3, that was easy, spiders died fast. (I play on normal). In levels 7-8 however I have been finding myself constantly harassed by those flaming flying armors and now, level 9, I am stuck at the temple entrance (where you can read a warning on the wall) and all I see is Ice lizards after ice lizards. Most are encountered in straight hallways so, no 2x2 dancing there. they hit like trucks too so, fighting head on = no.

My party is very range-centric with two mages (one specced in ice, very fun for ice lizards, fortunately I used the

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fire book

on her), one front line archer and a warrior who misses half the time with his axe.

What was a nice, fun exploration game has turned into a routine of hiding behind a door, pour all my mana at Ice Lizard #41, rest, rinse, repeat. Encounters are thrilling if they happen once in a while, while you to not expect them. They become a chore if they happen every minute.

Is this what I am to expect with level 10-13 as well?

[pongsifu]

I'd say the ice lizards are the most combat-centric part of the game aside from floor 3. There are plenty of 2x2 or larger rooms in their area though, so you should never have to fight them in a hall. The only time I found myself really bored with combat was ogres and a similar enemy.

When I really thought about it, pretty much every enemy has their own different way of attacking, which keeps it interesting, but that doesn't keep me from wishing for more. Especially if they were wildly different, like an enemy that occasionally does an AOE or spin attack that hits for every square around them (random example I just now made up, so it isn't the best obviously). As long as they aren't used in crazy amounts anyway.

[dastein]

Boring ogre combat? At least the first encounter was very exciting for me.

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I also liked the two placed in the "spiral" towards the end of the game.

Those differences in experiences might hinge on personal taste and party compositions, of course.

[pongsifu]

Boring ogre combat? At least the first encounter was very exciting for me.

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I also liked the two placed in the "spiral" towards the end of the game.

Those differences in experiences might hinge on personal taste and party compositions, of course.

The first one was fun and so was the other you mentioned, but other than that it was just ring around the ogre while I whittled away at his gigantic health pool. What really got me though was

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The wardens on floor 12. They behave the same way as ogres and unless you want them running around while you fight the cube, you have to kill 4 of them in a row. That was the most monotonous fighting of the whole game for me.

[dastein]

Agreed on the last part, that spot was a little tedious.