The Drunken Lizard Pub

Hey
I've been following the progress of this game for just a few months, and I'm already pretty excited about it. I read the entire thread on the demo review, and was just about to post my question when I found that Basilisk closed the thread - doh!

Hopefully it's not a problem to post another question about it.

My question is about the game's total ambience/feel. I know detail questions have been answered about lighting, music, sounds, etc., but I'd like to know about the entire package - how does the game feel as a whole?

One of the games I still reminisce (sp?) about with real fondness is Diablo 1. The combination of color palette, music, storyline, gameplay, graphics, and sound effects all gave way to a great ambience and feel. I like games that are dark, mysterious, suspensefull (with a touch of lightheartedness/humor for relief) - even in areas in which you're supposed to feel safe (like the town of Tristram - there was such a feel of foreboding even though you were completely safe there).

So what kind of feel does Eschalon have?

I'm not really sure I can answer that in any way above and beyond what I wrote in my original post.
It's not gloomy and foreboding like Diablo, it feels like a wilderness fantasy. Lots of greens and earth tones, sounds of birds and water, nice ambient lighting and so forth. Dungeons are very dark, and if there is no light source they're actually pitch black (as in you cannot see anything at all, it's black) until you light a torch and get a small warm yellow-orange glow to push back a small area of that darkness. The town in the demo feels townish, small and quaint.
I'd say that the game successfully bestows the feelings you should have in the respective areas, through use of sound, lighting, colour etc.

Nice response Gallifrey.

Now, the dungeons are not totally black- they are very dark but not black. We don't have any brightness or gamma sliders in the game...perhaps I need to adjust the brightness up a bit if you were seeing them as black, Gallifrey?

Just to clarify the dark comments, the dungeons are dark to the point of making you feel like you're stumbling about in the dark, you can sort of see but not really. This is why you bring lots of torches!
If you don't have any illumination source, you'll hear critters but not see them (though even with a torch there's a good chance you'll hear your attackers before you see where they're coming from!). So, in terms of look and feel here, it's rather like you're in a dark, scary dungeon where there are things that want to kill you

I'm ok with pitch black:) but for the record you should probably include brightness sliders in the game.

Hmm maybe a flamethrower for the non-magical user?!

Sounds cool - reminds me of what Baldur's Gate felt like (another game I really liked).

Is there a beta still available to try out somewhere? Or do all of us late-on-the-wagon fellows have to wait for the next push?

Adam

The demo was only available for Gallifrey to give feedback to Basilisk. I think they said they'd release a demo at the same time they release the full game.

Searching the forum will answer many questions. It has already been stated that there will be a beta (seems like a reasonable idea!) but that it will be limited number of selected people and that it isn't ready yet.

It has also been stated that there will be a demo 'try before you buy' area (like the Spiderweb games). That'll be AFTER the beta testers sign off on it, whenever that is.

BasiliskWrangler wrote:Nice response Gallifrey.

Now, the dungeons are not totally black- they are very dark but not black. We don't have any brightness or gamma sliders in the game...perhaps I need to adjust the brightness up a bit if you were seeing them as black, Gallifrey?

OOOps, noticing this post now.
Light in the dungeons can be a real problem for me : I can't always play in good lighting conditions, having windows behind my computer's screen. So very dark dungeons are sometimes almost unplayable in some games (or I have to wait for the night to come )
A brightness slider would be quite handy.

We'll see what we can do. Unfortunately a brightness slider has not made it in the game yet and it may be hard to get it in before release. No tester has complained about the darkness levels in dungeons yet, and if there are some complaints after release, we might be able to do it in a patch.

Of course, my workaround solution for you is to wait until night and play in the dark! Much better that way anyhow!!

BasiliskWrangler wrote:We'll see what we can do. Unfortunately a brightness slider has not made it in the game yet and it may be hard to get it in before release. No tester has complained about the darkness levels in dungeons yet, and if there are some complaints after release, we might be able to do it in a patch.

Of course, my workaround solution for you is to wait until night and play in the dark! Much better that way anyhow!!

Wouldn't that mean having to break off from playing the game though. Better bet to buy some thick curtains or blinds.

Oh, I can play at night, I go to bed very very late... But I prefer surfing, and playing daytime (don't know why though).
If the dungeons aren't too dark, it will certainly be playable for me. If no tester has complained until now, it's probably OK.
And I can still fiddle with my screen settings anyway.

Let me help:

- There's always your own monitor slider for brightness.
- You could and should rearrange your (real) desktop. You shouldn't have reflections on screen.
- Close the window.