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Legend of Grimrock II Announced [First screen post 70]

KKRT00

Member
First screenshot: http://www.grimrock.net/2013/03/26/the-first-official-legend-of-grimrock-2-screenshot/

forest_1080pe3edy.jpg

If thats open world ala M&M or Wizardry i'm in day one.
 

DJ_Lae

Member
Screenshot looks fantastic, outdoor sections would be a welcome change and have me more excited than I already was.
 

mclem

Member
Probably worth pointing to a post from a week ago that I've just spotted talking about the rejected ideas. One makes me curious - be warned, there's a lot of musing and extrapolation - and guesswork - coming up:

http://www.grimrock.net/2013/03/21/scrapped-game-designs/

Travel around the Northern Realms in 30 days

Another concept which we tried to make work really hard was travelling in many locations around the Northern Realms, the world of Grimrock. We were initially really excited about this idea, and we made a prototype of the world map, with towns, villages and adventuring locations. There would have been a storyline that ties the main locations together much like the main quest in many RPGs.

In the prototype, the party could travel between the map nodes and choose where to go next. Towns and other encounters were menu based “resource management nodes” and adventuring locations were dungeons with puzzles and monsters. We were so happy about this design that we were about to write a lengthy blog post about it, when doubts began to haunt our heads.

Here’s a snippet of this unreleased blog post:

“One of the themes in Grimrock 2 will be travelling. We would like to explore the outside world that we hinted in the first game. Travelling vast distances in the world would of course not work tile by tile (btw. tile-based movement is definitely a keeper feature), so Grimrock 2 will have multiple locations and a greater variety of environments. Multiple locations will hopefully improve the pacing of the game (a breather after completing an area), give immediate subgoals for the player (complete the current locale), and more choices (where to travel next).

However, one thing that Grimrock 2 will not be is a massive modern RPG. There won’t be zillions of NPCs doing their business and endless wastes of wilderness to travel in. Grimrock 2 will be a different kind of experience with an oldschool heart. We want to keep the core gameplay still tightly centered around the party, tricky puzzles, scary monsters and exploration. Our goal is to make sure that anybody who played the first Grimrock, should be instantly at home with the new game.”

We really wanted this idea to work. The final paragraph of the unreleased post gives some hints about the problem with this design: “tightly centered around the party”, “focus on exploration”, “instantly familiar with the new game”… The problem with this design is the lack of focus. We believe that the charm of Grimrock is compactness, tight focus and emphasis on fun core gameplay. In Grimrock 1, the environment, the dungeon itself has personality and the quest was personal to the characters. Having multiple locations with different atmospheres and multiple linked goals would take some of that charm away.

A game of this sort could surely be made, but, again, it would not be a Grimrock game.


Now, since this was listed as a rejected idea, clearly Grimrock II isn't going to be this hugely expansive title; but yet, we do have an overworld shot here suggesting something, well, expansive. I suspect the key difference we're looking at is the *long-distance* travel bit; I suspect all the exploration in the final game will still be in a tile-based format. Maybe a large hub area - fully-explorable - littered with small dungeons; maybe with some of the dungeons having effects on the overworld (fight into a dam control building, open a dam, now you can sail across what was once a ravine, that sort of thing?).

The biggest question here, which a screenshot of an overworld brings to light, is what the player's objective is. In a straight dungeon crawl, that's simple: Get to the bottom. True of Grimrock, true of Etrian Odyssey, true of Eye of the Beholder. In the process you'll get a storyline revealed to you, but the player's initial motivation is just to go, well, forwards.

When you're in an overworld environment, though, 'forwards' is a slightly nebulous concept. Sure. from a player standpoint, exploration is its own reward, but from a character motivation standpoint, it's a little curious - I'd expect there to be some *other* reason for the player party's presence there, and I think knowing that would give us quite a bit more insight into what we're getting. I'd be a little disappointed if this was once again some royal oubliette, this time an open-air one.

One other musing on an overworld: it makes less sense for the player force to be alone than it does in a dungeon. Might we see NPCs this time around? Not on a big scale, of course, but it's a bit odd for players to be stuck in a random wilderness that's clearly had human habitation in the past when there's none there now - and if it *is* my thought of a "large hub levels with dungeons entrances scattered around", giving the player a direction beyond the aforementioned nebulous 'forwards' might be in order. I do note that towns were clearly in the scope of the rejected plan, at least.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
I don't know, but it's probably more like Lands of Lore.
Each section of the world is like it's own dungeon link together.
But it's just a feeling, maybe it like Wizardry 7.

Yeah, even though the screenshot is outdoors, the traversable paths look maze-like, similar to Lands of Lore. You can see from the screen there's a very linear path to follow bound by the trees, cliff and rock walls. Lands of Lore's overworld was really just like another dungeon level like you say, not open at all (which is fine). But you could find shops and towns in it, so it felt different from the dungeons in that regard.
 

taoofjord

Member
Indeed, and it was (and still is) awesome. I recently played LoL1 again and was amazed at how well it holds up. It's still immersive and nice looking, too. A shame about the sequels, though.
 

Beren

Member
I love the combat and atmosphere on the first one, the puzzles on the other hand ... not even a bit. If this one has more combat and less puzzles i am in.

Oh also i dunno why i have some nasty input lag on this game D:
 

Zarovitch

Member
I love the combat and atmosphere on the first one, the puzzles on the other hand ... not even a bit. If this one has more combat and less puzzles i am in.

Oh also i dunno why i have some nasty input lag on this game D:

Puzzles are important for me. That's one of the reason i've play the first one and like it so much.
 

Munin

Member
Indeed, and it was (and still is) awesome. I recently played LoL1 again and was amazed at how well it holds up. It's still immersive and nice looking, too. A shame about the sequels, though.

Lands of Lore 2 is a great game, only 3 is crap
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
I love the combat and atmosphere on the first one, the puzzles on the other hand ... not even a bit. If this one has more combat and less puzzles i am in.

Oh also i dunno why i have some nasty input lag on this game D:

The puzzles were the best part of Grimrock and the combat the worst...
 
The puzzles were the best part of Grimrock and the combat the worst...


True, although some of my favorite moments were combat. The best combat is when the game fully takes into account your movement ability and forces you to use it wisely. Like flooding you with enemies so you are forced to fight while running away, and you better have your escape route planned or you'll get cornered.
 

Tain

Member
The combat did turn me off the original. I'm not too well-versed in the genre, for all I know the flaws could be common.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
The combat did turn me off the original. I'm not too well-versed in the genre, for all I know the flaws could be common.

It's the same combat system used in the Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, Black Crypt and other dungeon crawling games.
 
Lands of Lore 2 is a great game, only 3 is crap

I'd say even LoL3 is worth a play through now. Some of the locales and graphical effects are pretty damn nice. As well as Gladstone itself.

Of course back when it launched it was pretty poor but now... beggars can't be choosers :)

And yeah I day one'd it back then. Full price as well :(
 

KarmaCow

Member
I never really played the older PC dungeon crawlers but I don't know how I feel about big open areas even it's the same mechanically. I liked being trapped in a dungeon in the first game.
 

DiscoJer

Member
It's the same combat system used in the Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, Black Crypt and other dungeon crawling games.

Indeed, but the trouble I had with it is that I was in my 20s then, and I am in my 40s now. My reflexes and eyesight have gone downhill, which makes real time combat less than fun, even if it's well done like these games.


edit: Not saying they should change it , of course, just I won't be buying it right away like I did with the first.
 

Muskweeto

Member
This has gotten me so excited.

The first one is one of my favorite games and from the screenshot it looks like they're doing what I was hoping for in a sequel.

I hope you can import old gamesaves or something for the sake of continuity.
 

Tain

Member
That wasn't a flaw. It's designed that way.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, the strength of circling around an enemy in four squares seems silly and like something you'd want to avoid when planning out these encounters. It could be ineffective after the first few floors, for all I know, but I didn't stick with it long enough to see.
 

Dec

Member
First game was great and that screenshot looks really interesting. Only negative, for me, was that the first one wasn't turn based.
 
Lands of lore 1 is one of my favorite PC games. If they capture some of the scope of that then this game will be very satisfying for me.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Just to make sure we're on the same page, the strength of circling around an enemy in four squares seems silly and like something you'd want to avoid when planning out these encounters. It could be ineffective after the first few floors, for all I know, but I didn't stick with it long enough to see.

It's only effective when you're fighting one thing, that becomes less and less common the further you get.
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
Just wanted to chime in and say im a couple of levels into the first Grimrock. Such an awesome game! Cool atmosphere and nice dungeon design. Just one question though, does the dungeon variety change at all? Ive been staring at the same tilesets for a while now....
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Just wanted to chime in and say im a couple of levels into the first Grimrock. Such an awesome game! Cool atmosphere and nice dungeon design. Just one question though, does the dungeon variety change at all? Ive been staring at the same tilesets for a while now....

Yep. More than Wizardry PSN for sure.
 

Santiako

Member
Just wanted to chime in and say im a couple of levels into the first Grimrock. Such an awesome game! Cool atmosphere and nice dungeon design. Just one question though, does the dungeon variety change at all? Ive been staring at the same tilesets for a while now....

Yes, it changes every few floors.
 
Just wanted to chime in and say im a couple of levels into the first Grimrock. Such an awesome game! Cool atmosphere and nice dungeon design. Just one question though, does the dungeon variety change at all? Ive been staring at the same tilesets for a while now....

They do change. There are 3-4 different environments/designs, changing as you enter certain deeper levels.
 

Eccocid

Member
The puzzles really took the focus in the first game, so much so the RPG aspect from making a party and choosing classes felt a bit detached. There's probably more info hinted to on their forums, looking forward to this and seeing what's new when they put more info out.

I havent finished it and played couple of floors (7-8 maybe?). But yeah i think it was way too puzzle oriented imo. I wanted to see more RPG elements and npc characters(are there any later in the game?)
 
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