Discussion on Game Modes (Ideas)

[JSMany]

Thank you Roswitha for the positive feedback. I was just considering your deeper dungeon idea when I realized that there should be more souls like me in this epic journey towards redemption.

Also wasn't most of the things I said already implemented in Depths of Peril as faction dynamic? Would it really be that difficult to add them in if Shadow already has the groundwork all laid out in his previous game? At the very least, it shouldn't be as difficult as starting all over from scratch, right?

[Roswitha]

Originally Posted by JSMany

Thank you Roswitha for the positive feedback. I was just considering your deeper dungeon idea when I realized that there should be more souls like me in this epic journey towards redemption.

Also wasn't most of the things I said already implemented in Depths of Peril as faction dynamic? Would it really be that difficult to add them in if Shadow already has the groundwork all laid out in his previous game? At the very least, it shouldn't be as difficult as starting all over from scratch, right?

I agree that most of the groundwork is already done. My main reason for thinking sequel, rather than expansion, is that it's too much of a mental shift. An expansion follows fairly close to the original, and your idea is taking off at a 45 degree angle (IMO, as always). It will be interesting to see what (if anything) Shadow does with it.

[DeathKnight1728]

Whatever is done with the sequel/expansion, shadow said it himself that Din's Curse beat out depths of peril in sales. That's gotta say something, though I might be wrong.

[Shadow]

JSMany: I actually had a really similar idea to that at the beginning of the DC development. Off hand I don't remember why I didn't go forward with it. It might have just been too much like DoP. Either way it is a cool idea.

DeathKnight1728: I said that DC was selling faster than DoP did for the same comparable time period. I'm pretty sure that DoP is still leading DC in total sales.

[JSMany]

Originally Posted by Shadow

JSMany: I actually had a really similar idea to that at the beginning of the DC development. Off hand I don't remember why I didn't go forward with it. It might have just been too much like DoP. Either way it is a cool idea.

DeathKnight1728: I said that DC was selling faster than DoP did for the same comparable time period. I'm pretty sure that DoP is still leading DC in total sales.

The rival faction dynamic in DoP was very well done and left a lasting impression on me. I'm pretty sure most of your fans would love to see something similar in your other games, especially Din's.

If anything, mainstream action rpg developers need to learn from you and take things few steps further than simply maintaining the status quo that diablo set over ten years ago.

EDIT: I think Din's is selling faster than DoP probably because DoP made Shadow's work famous in indie circle. While I'm not saying Soldak is in danger of going mainstream anytime soon, DoP definitely left its mark in indie scene and beyond, and people know good stuff when they see it. Even my friends who are not into indie stuff heard of DoP and tried the demo. They couldn't get over the whole graphic thing but the fact that they even heard of DoP is saying something, since they mainly play console games.

[Magitek]

I'm not sure if it would need to be a gamemode or a permanent fixture in the game, but I'd like to see more focus on protection of the towns.

Perhaps adding a siege master that the player can invest in defensive structures and guard units. Towns of a higher level would generally be difficult to defend and the monster waves much larger.
or perhaps the further the player delves into the dungeon increases the size of the invading waves. The town attack icon would show number of remaining total defender strength or something.

At this point its common to go without more than 1 (usually very pathetic) attempt at attacking the town. Sometimes you get the odd extremely powerful boss which is usually alot more fun than the usual push-over;
Recovering a town from the brink of death is epic. Having an actual chance to lose is nice too.

[DeathKnight1728]

That would be pretty sick. Make the town upgrades like an arrow machine or a chukonu or something that shoots a bunch of arrows. The siege master could also ask you if you want traps in the town. Maybe that could be added to the demon expansion. Instead of going into the dungeon to kill a boss, you go in there to gather ingredients. The only quests are to do that, when the ingredients are gathered you get attacked. And at that point, it's like two towers

[JSMany]

The game would be similar to those tower defense games we see on flash, only more complex and less restricting. I can see many more hours of fun with it. If we can buy more guards/questgivers/merchants/defensive-structures while waves after waves of monsters are pouring through the gate, I can see money being more tightly hoarded where players have to carefully consider the pros and cons of their choices. The can choose to buy that shiny new sword of awesomeness, or hire a level 13 spellslugging guard, or build a new ice tower next to the gate to slow down monsters, but they can't do it all. I think that's a dilemma I would love to have in this game.

[Kruztee]

I'm not too sure that I'd like to see the focus shift too far from the dungeon crawl experience that it is now.

There are some great ideas here though!

[JSMany]

Originally Posted by Kruztee

I'm not too sure that I'd like to see the focus shift too far from the dungeon crawl experience that it is now.

There are some great ideas here though!

That's why we're discussing this in Game Mode thread. If Shadow ever implement something like this, it should be a game mode players can choose before selecting a new town. So some players can choose to have deeper dungeon mode while some players want monster wave mode and some players can choose rival mode or even all. Imagine a deeper dungeon with rival redeemers while waves and waves of monsters are assaulting your town. Now that's epic.