Indeed, I think the new trend in games should be not naming your monsters at all, and instead giving them descriptive labels like what are in this ‘ere clump of pixels.

What? You don’t think it’ll catch on? BAH. I’d argue the point but a whole flock of Strange Creature 73 has just flown up my trouser leg, so do excuse me a moment…

To elaborate on what’s done today: A decent amount, yet not as much as I hoped. I spent far too long iterating the layout of what I am calling the “encounter panel”, but I think this present design uses space nicely enough for the time being. As you can see, I’m using the Oryx tileset (otherwise known as the retro coder’s best friend) since it’s just so easy to work with and is pretty much the best free set of graphics out there right now. I don’t mind that they’ve been used in so many other things – they can be replaced later if needed and it’s way better than looking at dull placeholder squares. Oh, and I know it doesn’t have chests yet; they’re in a later Milestone.

All that remains before Milestone 2 is complete is to finish getting the spawn areas to randomly populate – by which I mean they won’t take account of what monster spawn types (humanoid, insect, devil, etc.) the dungeon file says should actually appear in any given location. Then it’s just a case of actually feeding that “real” data to the encounter panel. Easy! Except it probably won’t be.

To temper my own excitement as well as any you, dear reader, might be feeling, I should say that I’ll update as often as I feel there’s something interesting to mention. With Christmas around the corner, updates may be less regular, but we’ll see how it pans out.

I have made the occasional tweet in the past about being involved in some flash-in-the pan project for this and that (Ho-Hum Piano Dungeon, anyone? Lordy, what the deuce was I thinking…), and they’ve always somehow petered out before they became interesting. Or they just failed to be interesting in the first place. Just to give you fair warning: This could well be just another project. But this is one is far closer to my heart than pretty much anything I’ve coded in the last few years – it is, in fact, a return (*coff*) to a project I abandoned in the days of Firestorm Productions, never to be mentioned again…

This video should instantly tell you what game I mean!

Yes, it is of course an attempt at an 8-bit “demake” of the often-overlooked Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol, released in 1995 by David Allen and now owned and marketed by Decklin over in Decklin’s Demise. What the video shows is the program’s completed first milestone: It can load a dungeon using the file format of the old game, and have a “party” of one character move around and explore, respecting walls correctly. For the next milestone I will add an interface to displays monsters and get the spawn areas (i.e. rooms) to individually populate.

Ten milestones are planned to take this idea far enough for it to be a playable game engine, some bigger and more involved than others, with one further milestone required to add the final content and make it playable. Any and all feedback is much appreciated to keep the motivation at its current high level!

On a related note, if you’ve played Demise, the strangely-titled rough diamond that was the sequel to the first game, you might be interested to know that Demise: Ascension – an update that includes even more content and the ability to run natively on Windows Vista and 7 – has recently gone into a public testing phase. You need only put your money down to order it from the Decklin’s Demise page above and you’ll receive access to all current and future versions. If you’re into retro RPGs with many, many hours of playability, you really should check it out!

What the deuce has happened in the past month? There’s been a sudden explosion of indie-related bundles from places on the internet that you never thought existed! Anyone would think it was nearly Christmas or something.

A little while ago it was the Indie Music Bundle to titillate your ears with fantastic vibes, but right now you have a choice of not one, or even two… but four different game bundles to check out – and they’re all asking you to pay as little or as much as you like! One is even completely free to download!

Since a couple of them are also supporting charity, now is a great time if you’re just starting to dip in to the world of indie games and are looking to snag some great deals at the same time as helping a good cause. While it’s possible to take the dimmer view that it’s an easy way for an organiser to make a quick buck, that would be pretty unfair – if you believe in the charitable roots behind a couple of these bundles then they’re doing a lot of good at a time of year when it matters the most. Even if a bundle doesn’t donate part of its proceeds to charity, it’s still a good way to get some games you might otherwise have overlooked for an excellent price. Stocking fillers ahoy!

Read on to see all of the currently running bundles that are clamouring for your attention…

Read more…

Okay, I know this is a somewhat lazy and isn’t one of my own Game Music Monday videos – it isn’t even a remix! – but it still kind of fits the bill for recent events.

A certain game cause quite a stir on Friday and broke all sorts of records, at one point seeing about 280,000 people playing it all at once. I was one of them! Do I get a cookie? No? Pah. Well, fine – I’ll just nom into my bowl of mammoth snout steak, then. Meanwhile, there are still those who feel that Skyrim isn’t the be all and end all of modern gaming, and cling to the glory days they when Morrowind started to grace our hard drives for the first time over nine years ago. Feeling old yet? I am!…

Credit goes to SockandRock who did a good deed by uploading this legendary composition from the one and only Jeremy Soule. I played Morrowind only a little and mostly just as an experiment – I joined the Elder Scrolls at the bit where, just as all those dratted Oblivion Gates were popping up everywhere, someone kindly thought to deliver 15,000 watermelons to Chancellor Ocato. My soul was never quite my own ever since.

Normal service – whatever the deuce that is – will resume next week. Until then, enjoy the memories this tune effortlessly conjures up, and if you just so happen to be fighting dragons in snowy climes, may your Shouts be strong!

oooooOOEEEeeeoooeoOOOEEeeEEOoooo! Be afraid, be very afraid, because it’s time for a special Halloween double bill of delicious game music remixes!

Yes, I know both of these tracks are the same tune, and you might wonder why. Well, simple really: They’re both so good that I couldn’t include one over the other, and since it’s a special occasion, I bundled them both into one feature so that you can decide for yourself which is your favourite.

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #7: Halloween Ghouls ‘n Ghosts!

The original composer of this track was Tim Follin, a name that certainly ranks up there with the most respected 8-bit composers of all time. His work in games such as L.E.D. Storm, Black Lamp, and Bionic Commando – along with the two GnG games - is fondly remembered by many. Remixers Binster and Tim Forsyth have done well to preserve the classic feel with some modern flair.

Enjoy your Halloween and tune in next week!

Blizzard confirmed late last month that, as pretty much everyone already suspected, Diablo 3 won’t be falling into our sweaty mitts this year. Yes, there are beta keys to pray for, but unless you’re some kind of elite journalist, media juggernaut or high-profile WoW guild, you’ll probably be praying a long time to no avail.

What of Runic Games, then, and their game which looks set to steal the ARPG crown in the meantime? Sticking true to the roots from which the team grew, they too haven’t let slip any official release date for Torchlight 2, other than the hallowed quote of “sometime in 2011″ – blargh, the suspense!

To ease the interminable wait, you might want to spare a glance toward one of these two alternatives.

First, you can dive straight in to Drakensang Online‘s open beta. It’s a browser-based game, and thanks to Java it’s far more playable and graphically attractive than you may initially think (no huge downloads, either!). The cash shop sells the usual selection of stuff like XP boosts and special item sets, but in my experience it’s entirely optional and – if you do have money to spare – it’s more balanced and better value for money than a lot of other similar games. While it only has two character classes and suffers noticeably from production-line armour making everyone look the same, the game is otherwise quite polished and the developers seem to be working hard to capitalise on its potential for the future.

Something else to check out is Path of Exile, a much darker and grittier affair that fans of early ARPGs should definitely appreciate – it has a good selection of loot and a system of gaining skills through socket gems, alongside a novel way of recharging your healing and mana flasks by killing enemies. Unfortunately it’s in closed beta as I write this, so you’ll need to register an account there and hope you get lucky with their random hourly giveaways (or have some kind soul pass you a spare key). My words of wisdom would be that you should definitely try and play it through whatever means possible – it has “rising star” written all over it and has picked up some good press from the various gaming expos of the past couple of months.

There are other forms of free click-kill-loot entertainment out there but they mostly fall into the smelly category of “Korean grindfest”, so I’ve deliberately avoided mentioning them. What games (ARPG or otherwise) are you playing to while away the days between now and loot-filled heaven?

It’s been a long time coming, but the wait is finally coming to a close!

Developers Trendy Entertainment have had something of an epic journey in getting their hybrid 3PS / tower-defence / action-RPG game up and running. Initially created as an Unreal Development Kit prototype before games such as Sanctum or Orcs Must Die loomed large on our collective indie radars, the characterful Dungeon Defenders was slated for a release around this time last year. But suddenly… something happened. Something bad. Yep - Microsoft and a bankrupt third-party publisher happened, that’s what.

Fortunately the Trendy devs were able to keep their heads above water by releasing an iOS and Android miniversion – Dungeon Defenders: First Wave – while the console and PC side of things was being resolved. The wait has been a strain but now we can look forward to the action beginning later this month – on the 18th for PSN and the 19th for PC digital platforms like Steam, Impulse, D2D and GamersGate. No doubt this will bolster the already impressive-looking launch title lineup for Sony’s PSVita handheld, something they arguably need to make people forget the events of earlier in the year…

But I digress. I’m hyped again, even though I didn’t think I would be after having to wait this long (yes, I’m an impatient git who frequently demands instant gratification). Roll on the 19th!

Aha! I know, cutting it fine again, but never fear – Game Music Monday continues onwards and sidewards with one of my all-time favourite remixes!

The Bitmap Brothers game from which most people will know this track was a bit of a Marmite title. A lot of people loved it for the amazing gameplay but there were also those who thought it was just too difficult. I myself never did beat Gods, but I definitely enjoyed trying…

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #3: daXX – Gods Intro (DaxxTRS Remix)

Richard Joseph made something pretty special when he adapted the original music by Nation XII. Daxx’s mix doesn’t mess it about – it simply waxes and buffs it up a bit without doing anything to ruin the beat. For me this is pretty much the perfect remix, and I was surprised to see that it didn’t appear to be on YouTube yet.

As always I hope it gives you a pleasant few minutes of listening to ease those Monday blues!