Forbidden Depths - A 3D first person roguelike

[binarymichael]

Hi Folks!

I'm working through a new title called Forbidden Depths, a 3D first person roguelike. Roguelike mechanics will be loosely based on the Brogue design with the gameplay of the first-person dungeon crawlers of old (Think Brogue meets Eye of the Beholder, but in an up to date 3D engine). The game will have the following features:

- Single Player
 - First-Person
 - Turn Based Combat
 - Grid Based Movement
 - Randomly Generated Dungeons
 - Randomly Generated Traps/Puzzles/Secrets
 - Keys/Switches/Pressure Plates, secret doors/walls
 - Environment that affects enemies as well as you, in both good and bad ways (traps affect enemies)
 - Different enemies with different abilities. (oozes can squeeze through things, ghosts ignore walls)
 - Polymorphic items. A potion or scroll will be unique in each game instance.
 - Permanent Death!
 - Simple intuitive controls
 - Full 3D graphics and animation
 - Multiple Platforms:
     . Windows PC
     . Android
     . iOS

- Possible Future Platforms:
     . Linux
     . Mac OS X
     . Blackberry

More info (along with early development screenshots/videos) can be found at:

www.forbiddendepths.com

Since development is early, now is a great time for suggestions and ideas. Right now you can test/wander around the randomly generated dungeons and say "oooh look at that torch!" but that's about it, however it will give a feel for the atmosphere:

Early Development Web Demo

Screenshots:











Any feedback/comments/ideas are greatly appreciated

[Anvilfolk]

None of the links work

[binarymichael]

Fixed! Sorry about that!

[getter77]

Looks and sounds promising---keep up the good work and keep us posted!   

[guest509]

Brogue 3D? <checks bank account>

[binarymichael]

  Thanks! It will most likely be using a simple stat system like Brogue, with STR as your only attribute upgraded through potions, but you will still gain levels, and rely heavily on potions and scrolls. A lot of structure is in place now too for randomly generated puzzles and such, however i'm not sure what mix to put it. Simple key/door, secret door? or good mix of puzzles on combat? Or heavy puzzles? The choices are puzzling...

[Z]

I think the name is too similar to Frozen Depths...

[TheCreator]

Generally, I'd avoid words like "forbidden", game titles with such words sound so boring. Every second RPG has "forbidden" in its title, or similar crap. Inventing original names is not easy, but you don't need to hurry.

[NON]

Generally, I'd avoid words like "forbidden", game titles with such words sound so boring. Every second RPG has "forbidden" in its title, or similar crap. Inventing original names is not easy, but you don't need to hurry.

It's also not very google-friendly.

This search phrase Forbidden depths (no quotation marks) gives 20 000 000 hits. Apparently it's also a movie, and a level from a popular(?) James Bond video game.

Compare that with my game Infra arcana - 106 000 hits. A good number of those are relevant to the game. Almost all hits for the first five or so pages are relevant.

[mrrstark]

Should call it "Crawl Hack Slash Dungeon Pixel Mighty Kingdom Infinite RPG 2"

[miki151]

This search phrase Forbidden depths (no quotation marks) gives 20 000 000 hits.

At least it's a challenge for him to get in the top 5 

[mrrstark]

Any feedback/comments/ideas are greatly appreciated

There's not much in the web demo to comment on yet. Curious to see where it goes though.

In these Eye-of-the-Beholder type games, I truly miss sidestep whenever it's not implemented. It might be difficult to figure out how to give that control on mobile, but I'm sure you can find an intuitive non-button based way

[binarymichael]

Thanks a lot for the input. This is the kind of stuff I was looking for. At the time, "Forbidden Depths" was more of a working title but then it just stuck. After reading this article:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobLockhart/20130723/196823/Diary_of_an_Indie_Studio_Choosing_a_Name.php

And then reading your comments. I am starting to re-think things. I think a new name might be in order down the road. NON - Infra Arcana is quite a unique name so I can see why it worked so well. What kind of name would you guys see as "catchy" title that might work. And i'm pretty sure "Crawl Hack Slash Dungeon Pixel Mighty Kingdom Infinite RPG 2" is already taken... 

"In these Eye-of-the-Beholder type games, I truly miss sidestep whenever it's not implemented. It might be difficult to figure out how to give that control on mobile, but I'm sure you can find an intuitive non-button based way "

Side-step will definitely be in there. For controls, my main focus is to make it as accessible as possible, simple interface, etc. I wonder if a 2 finger swipe would work...

[mrrstark]

Side-step .... I wonder if a 2 finger swipe would work...

Exactly. Mobile targets _NEED_ innovative and well thought out UI and control.

I've downloaded sooo many games, only to discard them in a couple minutes because the designer just didn't figure out how do UI on mobile.

If you look at most of the RL's on the store right now, all but a couple don't do UI very well, often grafting on a D-pad, A/B buttons, like it was an NES controller. Your hands get in the way, there's no haptic feedback, and often the accuracy is terrible so the gameplay is poor.

In my own little toy Android project, 2d top down tile based, I'm very much trying to keep the interaction swipe/gesture etc. and trying to retain high accuracy input, and trying damned hard to avoid ui buttons etc.

If you look at the game "Osmos", it's not an RL or anything close, but they try to use 1, 2, & 3 finger swipes & taps to mean different things. It's not the best implementation, but they were trying anyways, which got me thinking.....