Hardcore game name

[Shadow]

So I'm thinking about the name for the next game. I really don't like naming things; it's a pain and I don't think I'm that good at it. I'm actually more and more tempted to name it Din's Curse 2 and be done with it since there are plenty of similarities with Din's Curse. There are also some differences though.

A quick rundown of the next game: you play as one of the Mutated, characters are hardcore (permadeath) and mutate over time, the next generation of character is evolved from his/her parents and most of your total power carries over, you do have a lot of control of guiding your character's development (picking parents, picking skills, getting rid of unwanted mutations, etc), each world has a random setup and win conditions, and your goal in each area is to prove to the world that the Mutated is a "good" and powerful race.

Similarities to Din's Curse:

• Overall goal is to move to an area, more often than not to help the local people, and move on to the next area
• Both have same kind of resurrection mechanism thanks to the gods (Din in this case)
• Tighter focus than most of our other games (not controlling a clan)
• They are both cursed (DC your character is directly cursed by Din, in the new game basically the entire race is cursed because they are split off from Orcs)
• Random, dynamic world (this is also true of all of our games except Kivi)

Differences with Din's Curse:

• You're not playing a human, but a mutated (race introduced in Zombasite: Orc Schism)
• You're not forced into redemption, but simply trying to prove your new race is good and powerful
• It's not a true resurrection, but mutated and carry on from "parents"
• There are no direct hybrids, but guided mutations/evolution
• Not just a town and a dungeon (although many scenarios do this)

I didn't start this game as a sequel, but it fits pretty well; mostly just a change from Humans to Mutated as the focus. So what do you all think? Do you think I should go the Din's Curse 2 route or make this a separate game? Is it too different to be a Din's Curse game? Or do you not care what I call it as long as I hurry up?

UPDATE: I decided to go with Din's Legacy.

[pseudo310]

Maybe like Din's Curse 2: Children of Din or something like that to denote the multigenerational aspect? But I think straight up calling it Din's Curse 2 is 100% fine.

[Bluddy]

I think referring to Din in the title is good since it'll let people who liked Din's Curse find the game more easily, but on the other hand, sequels titles sound uninspired. I like the 'Children of Din' suggestion above -- 'Lineage of Din' would also be good.

There's a game called Rogue Legacy that has generations of heroes in a roguelike setting. This game has a huge audience -- around 1.3 million owners according to steamspy. It wouldn't be a bad idea to stay close to that name, thus hinting that you have a similar mechanic, while also keeping resemblence to the original Din's Curse name, so 'Din's Legacy' has my vote.

BTW, have the original Din's Curse win/lose conditions remained as an option? Actually I care more about the lose conditions (ie. losing all questgivers), which I thought were a really tight design mechanic. It would be nice to have an option to play a world with those specific lose conditions, rather than random ones, as an ode to DC.

[Caal]

DC has always been my favorite Soldak game (I still play it) so anything that builds on or expands this title I'm all in favor of. As suggested above, I think incorporating the Din name would be good. One (probably miserable) suggestion for a name would be to key off of the mutation aspect, something like - DNA: Din's Notorious Abnormality.

[pseudo310]

Oh yeah Din's Legacy sounds cool.

[Castruccio]

Isn't Din's Legacy a little too derivative? It's like naming it Dincraft or something, if it was an RTS. I don't think the name of the game has to reference other games with similar mechanics.

You could use a subtitle like "Din's Curse II: Heirs of the Mutated." Or "Din's Curse II: Dark Descent" (a double play on going down in a dungeon, and on the word 'descendant' and the game's theme of lineage).

Or you could go with a different game title altogether that subtly references Din's Curse but doesn't actually use Din in the title. Perhaps a two word title as simple as "Cursed Generations".

[pseudo310]

Originally Posted by Castruccio

Isn't Din's Legacy a little too derivative?

Two games using the same word!=derivative

[Fleabum]

As it has a lot of lore from Din's Curse, then it should have some similarities in name. I think using the Din's Curse II: <insert something here> is the best way of both tying the game in with the lore aspect along with the new direction.

Din's Curse II: The Mutated
Din's Curse II: Evolution
Din's Curse II: Legacy
Din's Curse II: Din's Gift
Din's Curse II: Linage

Doing it this way is a double edge sword, if someone really enjoyed Din's Curse, they will most likely look at the sequel and buy it, but if someone was put of by Din's Curse, they might not look at the sequel.

Regards
Flea

[Mithur]

As for the idea of the game that every next character is a descendant(in-kind) of the previous character.
That may be suitable as an addition to the main title-Din's Curse II:Scourge of Bloodline;or if not related to Din's Curse then- Scourge of Bloodline,or Aleria Cursed Bloodline.
Mutated race was cursed. But by which god? Maybe while exploring a Harcore game we collect lore objects that will answer to that.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Bluddy

... so 'Din's Legacy' has my vote.

BTW, have the original Din's Curse win/lose conditions remained as an option? Actually I care more about the lose conditions (ie. losing all questgivers), which I thought were a really tight design mechanic. It would be nice to have an option to play a world with those specific lose conditions, rather than random ones, as an ode to DC.

I kind of like Din's Legacy. I don't know if you guys know this or not, but boardgames are having a Legacy movement right now (your current game can affect future games) so there are quite a few games with Legacy in the title.

Each scenario has different win and lose conditions. While there aren't any that are exactly like Din's Curse, there are several that you have to protect the town.