DiMono
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How about the ability to play as different characters? You can play Beethro, or you can play Gunthro, or whatever other names you can come up with. They could each have a different image in the game, and they'd each have their own perspectives on the monsters so you could have different text for each of them.

This would mean a lot of work for us architects, so I don't know how feasable it is, but I think it would something neat for 1.7 (1.8?)

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joker5
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This fits right in with my belief that DROD will eventually become a mostly fantasy RPG with the only major element remaining from the original being the grid-based monster-slaying with a sword. Marvin_The_Robot is taking the smaller side-path that will result in a good game with time and work, but mainstream DROD will eventually have a HUGE beautifully lush world filled with many many different types of critters.

MWAHAHA! I can't wait!

~joker5

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Nillo
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Maybe the other characters have other weapons, like an archer that can shoot at the direction he's looking. And a tile that changes your character when you step on it.

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joker5
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I doubt that... So far DROD has shown no indication of EVER developing ranged weaponry of ANY sort.

~joker5

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zex20913
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I would highly doubt if they ever take away the big sword. It is one of the mainstays, if not THE mainstay IMO.

The different character thing might be cool...but I'd still be more interested in the puzzles and whatnot, and not so much the characters.

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DiMono
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zex20913 wrote:
I would highly doubt if they ever take away the big sword. It is one of the mainstays, if not THE mainstay IMO.

The different character thing might be cool...but I'd still be more interested in the puzzles and whatnot, and not so much the characters.

I agree... with all of this, actually It was mainly intended for (even more) replay value. Beat the game once, decide to play it again, pick Moorteo instead of Gunthro. The only things it would change would be the colour of the swordsman, and the level intro text (i.e. Moorteo's a little sarcastic, Dimthro (if his comments ever make it to the pages) is really cocky, etc).

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The_Red_Hawk
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Nillo wrote:
Maybe the other characters have other weapons.

There have been suggestions for this before, and I don't think that it's going to get in, as the suggesters (myself included) have found that this sort of undermines the idea of DROD.

(I still think it's a good idea, though).

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joker5
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I suspect someone save Beethro and whatever orb-banging funny-weapon-wielding idiot we're going up against in will have weapons... Maybe they'll even USE them, although I'm doubting a little over here.

~joker5

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Mattcrampy
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Unlikely - it's all about Beethro.

Anyway, we've got a way to have other playable characters without switching from Beethro.

Oops, better not break my oath.

Matt

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zex20913
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Mattcrampy= and knows it.

You tempt us. Bread from stone man, bread from stone.

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joker5
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I understand how you want to keep that private and make nifty surprises... and I just can't wait until 1.7 to find them all. It would really take most of the fun out of it if he spake of this stuff. As of now I'm just wondering what percentage of the new stuff we'll be able to use in the editor. I've got this nagging suspicion non-official architects will be getting the short end of the stick so to speak. Could I please get a vague statement about that? "Almost everything we're developing will be placeable in the editor" would be like a choir of angels to my eyes.

~joker5

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mrimer
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joker5 wrote:
As of now I'm just wondering what percentage of the new stuff we'll be able to use in the editor. I've got this nagging suspicion non-official architects will be getting the short end of the stick so to speak. Could I please get a vague statement about that? "Almost everything we're developing will be placeable in the editor" would be like a choir of angels to my eyes.

You will be happy to know that, for almost everything we are creating, we are using the level editor to accomplish.

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joker5
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Yes, I AM quite happy. Now I can barely wait for 1.7 to be released. By the way, why did you guys make the tracker on sf.net private?

~joker5

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Mattcrampy
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For the same reason that I keep mentioning the Architect's Oath.

The DAA have kidnapped our loved ones and we're not allowed to talk about it to anyone.

Well, either that or we want to keep quiet and let the game do the talking. As we get closer to release, at some point we'll have to finalise our feature list. People will get hurt and the longer that we flaunt features that might not even be in the game, the longer people will expect them to be there, and the more people will be bitter that they're not there. We don't want to hype 1.7 as the big new thing when it's not even ready yet.

It's a targeted campaign of misinformation designed to stop hype until we've got something to hype. For example, I've already mentioned elsewhere how disappointed I am that whenever a game mentions 'rumours' of some sort that they always come true and the game's just being coy. I'm pleased to say I've been able to reverse that trend with DROD.

Bet you're not pleased, though. Now you're asking, wait, what has Matt said might be in 1.7 that won't be in 1.7? Well, spoils it a bit if I tell you, doesn't it?

But it's not so much that we want to surprise you, because you'll find out anyway. It's more that we reserve the right to tool with things behind the scenes so that you see the game at its best. Just imagine if I said that some super-cool-thing was going in and we couldn't get it to work? We've got the dilemma then of either putting in a super-cool-thing that's buggy and no fun or taking it out and annoying our fans.

For all these reasons, and many more, we're keeping quiet. Except the occasional coded message, which makes me feel better but will hopefully slip by all of you.

Or is this another red herring?

Matt

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zex20913
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I like fish. Maybe there should be a monster called a Red Herring that dwells in the Flow, and serves no purpose other than a graphical fun thing.

That was a joke.

Besides, The Flow may or may not be in the game.

[Edited by zex20913 on 01-25-2004 at 04:35 PM GMT: Reality Flow]

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joker5
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Lol... I know you reserve the rights to fiddle with everything behind the scenes, and I meant nothing in any way that could annoy , infuriate, or enrage anyone. I think that your rumor policy works great with DROD as its open source and not really commercial. Since it's free (so far) we can't really complain about what's in and what's out, which lets us enjoy the surprises. After all, we're not really doing squat for DROD except maybe writing a good review or suggesting an idea(which is really more along the lines of YOU doing work). Just a question: When DROD goes commercial, will you keep the same policy? And will we keep our cute little 1.5s and 1.6s to take out on cold winter nights and enjoy the nostalgia that washes over us?

~joker5

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Criminals, like other people, dislike being shot. ~FBI study on guns

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Mattcrampy
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joker5 wrote:
Just a question: When DROD goes commercial, will you keep the same policy? And will we keep our cute little 1.5s and 1.6s to take out on cold winter nights and enjoy the nostalgia that washes over us?

~joker5

DROD is still open-source. The plan, I understand, is that the executable is free to download and people can play user holds to their heart's content. Along the same lines, we'll probably keep old versions of DROD around.

What will be pay-to-play is the new dungeon. That's all I'm confident enough to say.

It's mostly me doing the misinformation. It's because 1.7 is partly a commercial release that we don't want people to get false hopes.

I'm gunna shut up now.

Matt

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DiMono
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Besides, I can't speak for anyone else, but I am doing more than just pimping DROD to my friends (I've actually downloaded it to their desktops and chained them to their chairs, it's pretty funny). As soon as I have time, I'm going to write up questions for Erik and interview him for my column. The last question is going to be two words:


Shameless plug?

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Mattcrampy
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And the stylish answer will be 'Yes.'

Matt

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