Scallywag: In the Lair of the Medusa---to buy?

[getter77]

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Chronic_Reality/SW/SW_page.html

Just like last time with Kamyran's Eye 2 that resulted in me buying it pretty well blind but still not getting around to full on playing it proper yet, what's the good word with this game?   I fear it will go OOP soon, as well as the editor seems robust and hey, ROGUELIKE!

I'm pretty much within inches of buying it, but of course, money is kinda a finite resource to be spent deftly within gaming purchases...so if it is highly prone to failure or some such before winning is possible or even good play...

[Brigand]

Ooo.....tough call....

One on hand, there are tons of free, well-crafted rogues out there.

On the other, we really need to support these efforts monetarily. If the production values are decent, then they had to spend some money to get the product out the door.

But back on the other hand...it would take a really slick game to get $$ out of me what with a mortgage and a wife who sees this as a frivolous expenditure.


At the end of the day, I would wait for a review, or try and ask someone who has played it what they thought, which admittedly may be tough with low-profile games.  I still refuse to pay for certain roguelike games currently out there (and I won't bash them by name, but some people probably know what I'm talking about), as it seems like almost an ethical consideration given the nature of the roguelike genre. For example, I like how the author or Legerdemain has marketted his game - free to play, but strategy for pay. 

Tough call....

[getter77]

There's some reviews out there, but ones written way back when or shortly before the game came out, and you know how that goes with PC games...so I was hoping to get a reasonably fresh perspective on it.

Being that I purchased the above mentioned Kamyran's Eye II, and also purchased Legerdemain, and plan to send off a postcard for LambdaRogue when the next version hits, I clearly have a precedent for throwing some degree of money at these things on top of the console and handheld side of the equation.   I posted on the forum they have for the game that hasn't seen use in quite awhile, and there also noticed that the developer's website is down and has been for quite some time so hopefully that'll help.

As you can see the game also seems to contain a rather robust editor, which leads various cogs to turn in my head about having things get a tad more lively with it around these parts and others down the line when I and others could pick at it.  I should say the existence and inclusion of such an editor does a fair job to add value to the package in addition to the game itself compared to Legerdemain and Kamyran's Eye II, which lack such a feature---perhaps more value than the game itself if elbowgrease is applied.

I can't say I see any ethical qualms for paying for Roguelikes versus the spirit of communal and individual ingenuity though.   Like everything else in the videogame world, you do what you can, as you can, as the notion strikes you and what happens will happen for good or ill.

Hopefully somebody else here can weigh in else it looks like it'll be on me to take the plunge for the chance of later being able to enrich things around here, especially as if it does go OOP somebody will need to be a source for whatever form the game might be able to ultimately take.

[getter77]

True to form, I elected to not take the chance of an OOP situation and just now completed my order for Scallywag: In the Lair of the Medusa and a game by the name of Dominions III for a grand total of $92.85 or so.   Seems Dominions III comes with a color 300 odd page manual...so that's nice.   

Like Kamyran's Eye 2..and I suppose 1 since nobody's tried that one even though it was released as freeware after it did commercial time,  at some point I'll dig into the game and make things known as I can here at the Temple.

Perhaps some of you will join me on my merry way with this!   

[getter77]

Granted, I've already made my purchase, but this was refreshing to see a response to seeing as how it was pretty much what I was figuring on my gut feeling:

"As you can tell from the forum it's been rather dead, which is unfortunate. Scallywag has some nifty mechanics and a slightly different focus than most RLs (that being that speed to completion is more important than hacking everything in sight). The key point though is how easy it is to mod, and it's truly baffling that point hasn't been latched onto. When it first came out I knew a few people messing around with the ideas of some mods, but nothing ever came of it.

All I can say is play the demo. The demo gives you an excellent sample of what to expect in the full game (you can even mod the demo). If you're not interested in doing a lot of modding keep that in mind, as that will impact what the game is to you.

As far as updates, etc, the game when released was rather stable, with nothing out of the ordinary being reported. Unfortunately I believe the developer has other priorities in is life at the moment so don't expect any updates anytime soon."

So, perhaps some other folk here at the Temple may also throw in $30 for a digital or boxed copy somewhere in the not so distant future.  Either way, we'll see what can be gotten cooking in the future down the line with this.

 

[Anvilfolk]

There's a crisis going on, man!

[getter77]

Indeed!  Hence the budget price compared to most console and very recent PC fare helps a tad.   

To be fair, this was paid for in part thanks to a grant from my income tax refund, and Shrapnel is based here in the states, so I'm gonna call that a win/win just because.

[jim]

Hi everyone. New user, longtime rogueliker. Since rogue came on my used IBM 286 back in the eighties, in fact.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm allowed to do piracy-as-shareware where iffy purchases are concerned. If I find myself playing the game frequently, I'll buy it. And I'm not just some cheapass hypocrite, for the record -- I registered Legerdemain and donated more to Toady One's mad quest over the years than I care to remember.

So I've played Scallywag a bit and I think it's a fun little game, but it's not worth the cost. What bugs me most, although I appreciate the light aspect of the game, is that I don't enjoy having to walk around in the dark all the time out of resourcey circumspection. That and I just don't think there's enough "game" to warrant the price. Deleted, conscience clear.

[getter77]

Heh. but you see, one such as I was too lazy to even try the free demo, let alone bother with tracking down a full version download elsewhere.  I'm clearly touched in the head with this though.   

At some point I'll add in a writeup as a case for the game based on the manual and thus the "default" potential.  I figure the light issues are one that has nifty potentials otherwise and besides....it can likely be easily modded so that you've full light all the time or some such and just get hungry in standard Roguelike fare.  Dungeon is of a decent length...yep...no buyers remorse.

Welcome around the place jim.