Impressive.

Finishing a game is an hard task that is worth it, only few people do finish their projects, should be a big plus for you.

-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

BETA BETA BETA!

I wanna play

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Original post by DaMuzza
So, I''d like to show off some screenshots and briefly explain the game, with the hope that some positive comments, some constructive criticism and perhaps some gameplay ideas will get me going again.

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It looks real nice

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You are a wizard. The game is set across a series of islands. You can cast spells like fireball or lightning, but mostly you are quite weak and defenseless.
But you can summon creatures to do your bidding by collecting magic spells.
You don''t just summon these creatures, you possess them.

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This sounds like Magic: The Gathering combined with Dungeon Keeper. Not that that''s a bad thing.

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So if you had a ''goblin horde'' spell and cast it. You would change into a goblin leader, with 3 or 4 goblin soliders around to help you and follow you into battle.

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Hmm. Can you still do spells as a goblin leader? If you can, then I think you''d lose the whole weak-and-defenceless thing. I''d actually have it so that you''d summon a powerful creature to possess (and some cronies to come along for the ride), and your real body would have to hang around somewhere safe.

Are there ''civilians''? And if so, can you possess them? If so, what about a game mode where you can''t summon any creatures, and must use what is available.

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Each creature has its own skills and uses. Giant eagles can fly, crocodiles can swim, dragons can breathe fire and set fire to things, short creatures can be used to get through tight spots, undead creatures can instil fear into the enemy, elves are great with bow and arrows and so on (there are dozens and dozens of such ideas for different creatures).

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Another potential reason to avoid actually transforming yourself is that you might disguise yourself as a harmless being, enter the enemy''s hideout; then transform into a dragon and go on a killing spree. You could then solve the ''tight spot'' problem by giving a wizard a spell that lets him teleport to anywhere that that he or a possessed creature can see. To stop wizards sending a fly into the royal court, teleporting in and then summoning a dragon, you could dot various enchanted doors around the place that don''t let possessed creatures past - so you''d have to go in your true form.

Of course, all this could simply be another game mode - if you can already possess other creatures, it''s just a matter of disabling self-transformation for that particular game.

One RPG magic system I toyed with for a while was one in which you had to consume the souls of creatures you killed, and in doing so you gained their powers - kill a creature that can fly, and you gain a limited flying ability. The more you kill, the more your flying ability grows. This only applies to magical abilities - so killing birds wouldn''t be enough.

I don''t think that would work directly in your game, but perhaps you could experiment with giving your wizard the abilities of creatures he possesses - if he possesses a Plague Demon, for example, he gains the ability to enplague his foes. Naturally, the more he uses a particular ability, the stronger it becomes. It may also be that some abilities are not compatible - abilities attained from the undead might not get along with those attained from fairies, say - so the more proficient you become at sapping the life from your enemies, the less skilled you are at flying, or changing your size at will (as some types fairies are able to do).

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Just Plain Wrong

Really, really great!
Now the time would be ripe for a little beta...


Yesterday we still stood at the verge of the abyss,
today we''re a step onward!

As for releasing a demo. I will do but only once I have put together a proper ''mission'' with a starting and ending.
The elements are there, they just need bringing together and I don''t like to rush it.

In response to Mayrel:

Thanks for the detailed reply. I''ve really been needing to talk over some of the gameplay aspects with someone. Its gone through a lot of changes from my original intention in order to keep it as simple as possible (I don''t want it to be an RPG as such - just have some RPG elements to it).

When you are a creature, you lose the ability to cast spells. You have to transform back into the wizard to do that. Which means you lose your monsters and waste your magic power. So it is to be a crucial decision when and where you should choose to swap between monsters and is also something I can balance the game with to stop the player abusing the system.

Also, the original idea was that the wizard would summon these creatures that you could take control of, but the original wizard body would remain in place as you suggest.
The thing is though, it was getting too complex. I don''t want it to become a real time strategy game where you manage your creatures by point and click orders etc.
I want you to be in direct control of the action, which means, you can''t have too many units at once (or you no longer can tell what is going on) and you can''t have to worry about being in two places at once (which you would if your wizard was elsewhere in the map - possibly vulnerable to attack).

Civilians: Yes, the idea is that there will be forts or castles or villages where humans or other creatures live. They will defend themselves if attacked (some objectives will be to ''take the fort'' and you have to be careful of archers on the battlements etc.)
You do not have the power to possess creatures you haven''t directly summoned with your own spells, but there will be spells like ''raise dead''. So you could kill a bunch of humans, and then raise them and have an army of zombies, skeletons and wraiths, say.

I love the idea of enchanted doors. Just what I need for limiting certain powers the player may gain. Although I think I''ll make the portals of some kind (maybe two magic statues you must pass between) so I can place them outside as well as on buildings.

Your idea of the wizard gaining abilities from creatures is interesting. The idea was that the wizard would be able to gain some powers. A spell ''magic wings'' would let him fly. ''Dragon scales'' would give him tough armour and things like that.
I hadn''t imagined they would come from creatures, rather be spells that you collected, but thats a good idea.
With certain creatures, you could perhaps ''absorb'' them rather than possess them. This way you lose the ability to summon them, but gain any special powers they have. Another tactical decision to be made by the player.

that guy looks a lot like fiece diety link from majoras mask. Did you create that model?

Some more screenshots here:

http://www.fps.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Chaos/screenshots.html

I''m not sure which guy you''re talking about, but I didn''t create any of the characters. Most of them come from polycount.com

Nice! I hope you finish it!

Moe''s site

Looks great? Are you a hobbiest game programmer, or an industry worker bee making a game on the side. What kind of work do you do for a living?

I''m just curious because I wonder what the game industry has to offer small independent programmers whose primary job is something other than game development.

Your work looks good enough to get you in the door of a serious game development studio. Have you ever looked into it or considered it?

I''m making a simple 3D demo game myself, but I''m mostly doing it to show my potential and enthusiasm. I''m curious if that sort of thing will get you very far. I''m sure it all depends on the quality of the demo.

WOW!! That is an awesome game idea, and holy crap man those screens are beatiful, where''d you learn to code like that, do you have a team or are you doing everything yourself, once again that is an absolutly beatiful engine and the gameplay sounds real fun! Good Luck, never give up!