They dont make them like they used to-it's a classic saying. But in the case of Escalon: Book I, this holds true in many ways. Calling Escalon a throwback to classic CRPG's would be an understatement. The amount of old school "Ultima-like" feel is overwhelming. Yet remarkably, Escalon does not feel like an Ultima. Escalon has its own style and feel. There is a lot of thought and pride that went into this polished title, and the developers obviously felt there was a niche this game would fit into.
I am however slightly worried about the direction this game may be taking.
The words 'if it aint broke, dont fix it" apply here. There is nothing wrong with the old engine from Book One. Keep it, modify it, but please dont scrap it. You can pump out Book Two faster this way. Remember, Book One is about 40 hours long max. If you start with a new engine the delay will cause fans to slowly dissolve and you will lose all momentum. One only needs to look at how Larian handled the Divinity series. They ruined it completely. They changed the engine to half-3D and now the graphic sprites from the first game look better. Now they are creating another new engine that is 100% 3D that is taking them forever to develop. They lost some of the great momentum they had from the original Divine Divinity. If they kept that original 2D sprite engine and just released sequels they would be better off for it.
Check the recent poll in this forum and you will see that almost half of us agree that you should stick with the Book One engine. You have a unique audience here. Dont give us a party based RPG. Keep it a nice single player adventure with perhaps people who will join you later like Ultima 7.
With this unique audience you have, you have to cash in on what we liked so much. This is the one thing that Book One lacked: objects! We of the Ultima crowd are object obsessed. We wants to pick up and drop everything. We are surrounded by forest. Let us chop wood. Let us skin animals after the kill. Let us cook. Let us bake bread, move chairs around, sit down, pick up books, etc, etc. This is what classic games like this were known for. Give us skills that we can create armor and weapons from. Heck, how many single players games have crafting? Hardly any. Be one of the first. And although this is more of an Ultima Offline approach, think of how far you can take things with object interaction that you normally cant do because you are busy creating a new engine and new graphics. Why try to bring in new audience with changing the party system? You've got us, now add more things that our niche likes. OBJECTS!
You have created a truly great game in Book One. Remember, thinking out of the box is good, as long as you stay within your demographic of classic RPG fans.
The Future of Eschalon
![Officer [Gold Rank]](./images/ranks/officer3.png "Officer [Gold Rank]")
![Officer [Platinum Rank]](./images/ranks/officer4.png "Officer [Platinum Rank]")
I think the key to longevity and ongoing sales of any little indie title like this is building a strong fan base and modding community. Eschalon needs an SDK so rabid fans can make their own creations. This will keep the current customers from moving on when finished and, IMHO, give the necessary "shove" to those who are on the fence about buying it.
There may even be a way of combatting piracy by releasing new content to registered customers only...I don't now the technical details but I know Stardock does something like that with Galatic Civilizations.
There may even be a way of combatting piracy by releasing new content to registered customers only...I don't now the technical details but I know Stardock does something like that with Galatic Civilizations.
Me too
-
BasiliskWrangler
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3833
- Joined: July 6th, 2006, 10:31 am
- Location: The Grid
- Contact:
![Officer [Bronze Rank]](./images/ranks/officer1.png "Officer [Bronze Rank]")
Speaking of Idea mountains - any chance for a sticky for here http://www.basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=818BasiliskWrangler wrote:Garett, excellent idea. Added to the "idea mountain".
-
rocketman28
- Senior Steward
- Posts: 83
- Joined: April 30th, 2008, 4:28 pm
Re: The Future of Eschalon
I agree 100 (I can not find the percent sign )