A development blog for my new game 'Chaos Reborn', a sequel to my 1985 ZX Spectrum classic 'Chaos' - plus some musing on games and the games industry in general.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Giant scorpion
Chaos Reborn will not only feature creatures from the original game, but some new ones as well. One of those will be the giant scorpion.
I know it's blasphemy, but I've only played a little bit with Lords of Chaos. I didn't have it when I was young, only one of my friends had it, and I somehow forgotten about it later. Didn't even know there was a giant scorpion in that game. I've checked now on World of Spectrum, and I've found a scan of an old computer magazine, and you are right, it was yellow.
It was a Giant Spider, actually. Very strong in LoC, not sure the scorpian should be quite that strong but this looks GREAT!
I saw someone complaining about the vividness of the colours and just wanted to say I disagree. The only challenge is going to be making them stand out from the background.
It's one of the things that makes me worry about a LoC-style approach to the more realistic-style landscape of green grass and blue water etc. But obviously the original's black void was in big part due to technical limitations of the time.
There's got to be some sort of solution there, but I guess that's why you guys are the professionals and we're not! Anyway, great progress so far, absolutely loving it.
... you couldn't do some sort of dark and misty Plane of Limbo effect, with very vague kind of landscapes swirling about within it, perhaps? Again, a balance must be found between the original Chaos and Lords, imo.
Apologies for triple post, but I wanted to raise the subject of the smoke effect in Valkyria Chronicles... take a look at this link (should take you to a specific time in the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85vNpGiurwE#t=18m58s
When the unit runs into full smoke cover, you can see the graphics engine switch to a kind of foggy effect. It isn't swirling in any way though, which is a shame, but something like that might help the bright and vivid creations really stand out. Obviously it'll be darker than the gray smoke effect, and I'm really out of my depth here but just thought I'd offer that as an idea maybe. Anyway keep up the good work!
To 'recreate' the black background of Limbo somewhat of Chaos, you could have it set during the 'night' with only torches, magic fire, glowing magic wood and shadow wood trees etc. otherwise illuminating the landscape.
The Giant Scorpion is taken from Lords of Chaos. It will have a poison special ability, in which a successful attack doesn't instantly kill the target, but it may die in a future turn. It is a powerful attack though.
One thing I had trouble with in the original Chaos, was it wasn't immediately obvious which creatures belonged to which wizard. I'm loving these creature models and the single colour look, but perhaps they could give off some sort of glow in the wizard's colour? Any thoughts, or do you already have a better way to handle this issue?
I am aware of this issue. We thought about colouring the creatures according to the owning wizard, but they would lose too much of their personality and distinctiveness. So we will have another solution, but are not sure what it will be yet.
Possibly a small sphere or shield bearing the wizard's colour? Not so large as to interfere with the creature graphic, but obviously enough that it's clearly visible - and in the same place for each creature so it stands out as an icon and not part of the creature itself. Maybe.
Yes, not a bad idea - although I feel it will have to be a more obvious visual cue to identify creatures. For team based games you need to know your own creatures, allies and enemies.
Great to see the page is being updated while I'm actually reading it.
ReplyDeleteWhen can we sign up for testing??? :)
giant scorpion was yellow in LoC?
ReplyDeleteI know it's blasphemy, but I've only played a little bit with Lords of Chaos. I didn't have it when I was young, only one of my friends had it, and I somehow forgotten about it later. Didn't even know there was a giant scorpion in that game. I've checked now on World of Spectrum, and I've found a scan of an old computer magazine, and you are right, it was yellow.
DeleteIt was a Giant Spider, actually. Very strong in LoC, not sure the scorpian should be quite that strong but this looks GREAT!
DeleteI saw someone complaining about the vividness of the colours and just wanted to say I disagree. The only challenge is going to be making them stand out from the background.
It's one of the things that makes me worry about a LoC-style approach to the more realistic-style landscape of green grass and blue water etc. But obviously the original's black void was in big part due to technical limitations of the time.
There's got to be some sort of solution there, but I guess that's why you guys are the professionals and we're not! Anyway, great progress so far, absolutely loving it.
... you couldn't do some sort of dark and misty Plane of Limbo effect, with very vague kind of landscapes swirling about within it, perhaps? Again, a balance must be found between the original Chaos and Lords, imo.
DeleteApologies for triple post, but I wanted to raise the subject of the smoke effect in Valkyria Chronicles... take a look at this link (should take you to a specific time in the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85vNpGiurwE#t=18m58s
DeleteWhen the unit runs into full smoke cover, you can see the graphics engine switch to a kind of foggy effect. It isn't swirling in any way though, which is a shame, but something like that might help the bright and vivid creations really stand out. Obviously it'll be darker than the gray smoke effect, and I'm really out of my depth here but just thought I'd offer that as an idea maybe. Anyway keep up the good work!
We are going to do something special for the terrain - it will be nothing like the terrain in LoC. We will put something on the blog for this soon.
DeleteTo 'recreate' the black background of Limbo somewhat of Chaos, you could have it set during the 'night' with only torches, magic fire, glowing magic wood and shadow wood trees etc. otherwise illuminating the landscape.
DeleteThat looks good!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember a scorpion in the Speccy version and I played it this morning, Giant spider was yellow though.
ReplyDeleteThe Giant Scorpion is taken from Lords of Chaos. It will have a poison special ability, in which a successful attack doesn't instantly kill the target, but it may die in a future turn. It is a powerful attack though.
ReplyDeleteLike a mortal wound?
DeleteSounds good so long as it's balanced well!
DeleteNice design. I like it!
ReplyDeleteLove it and already wondering about its stats. :)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I had trouble with in the original Chaos, was it wasn't immediately obvious which creatures belonged to which wizard. I'm loving these creature models and the single colour look, but perhaps they could give off some sort of glow in the wizard's colour? Any thoughts, or do you already have a better way to handle this issue?
ReplyDeleteI agree, there was the same issue in Lords of Chaos too. Especially if one of your creatures had been subverted in your opponents turn...
DeleteI am aware of this issue. We thought about colouring the creatures according to the owning wizard, but they would lose too much of their personality and distinctiveness. So we will have another solution, but are not sure what it will be yet.
DeletePossibly a small sphere or shield bearing the wizard's colour? Not so large as to interfere with the creature graphic, but obviously enough that it's clearly visible - and in the same place for each creature so it stands out as an icon and not part of the creature itself. Maybe.
DeleteHow about just designating which creatures are yours and which are those of the enemy, rather than identifying each individuals wizard.
DeleteAfter all you may know which creatures are yours as you created them, but you wouldn't be able to tell the other wizard's summonings apart.
Perhaps have your own creatures shown standing proud while the enemies are skulking a little?
Yes, not a bad idea - although I feel it will have to be a more obvious visual cue to identify creatures. For team based games you need to know your own creatures, allies and enemies.
DeleteIn the original Chaos, didn't you just press a number key to highlight your Wizard and his creatures? It seemed to work fine.
ReplyDeleteI will probably keep this function - at least for the PC version. For iPhone/ipad we would need to have icons for each wizard.
Delete