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Author Topic: King under the Mountain - Fantasy simulation-based strategy  (Read 60057 times)

ZeroGravitas

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Sorry for dropping in without having read the topic or anything, but is it too late to consider changing the name of the game? I'm just saying, the acronym for your game... KUM... yeah.
King Beneath the Mountain, perhaps?

Or it's KUtM?  ::)
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Ozyton

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A lot of times small words like that get dropped from the acronym =p
But it does make it less lewd.

forsaken1111

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I really don't think its that big of a deal.
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Zsinj

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That's great, and I'm glad you're going for a modular style. However, I'd still think about your end goal and build it towards that. Maybe not immediately, but after you've got the basic systems in you've got to make choices or it'll be just a bland colony game with different re-skins and stats for each race.

If you stick to dwarves - great! Make sure they're extra dwarvy and have something to distinguish them from DF, Gnomes and all the others.
If you go for Wizards - great! Make the gameplay based around learning powerful tactical and strategic spells, dueling other wizards, growing in power and building a huge library of rare tomes.
If you go for Dragons - great! Make it all about being a terrifying dragon, obsessed with hoarding gold and powerful artifacts.

Just don't make it dwarf fortress lite, plus dwarf fortress lite re-skin with a main character that can throw fireballs and make potions, plus dwarf fortress lite reskins with a dragon which is really powerful.

Great points, and yes very much that's the plan - I'm really not aiming to make DF-lite here (or attempt to be close to what DF is as that's probably impossible in this lifetime), it'll be its own game with more of a focus on production chains and crafting. For example, you'll have a lot more input into "legendary items" that are crafted, and there's to be a rune engraving system to add magical modifiers to weapons and armour - something like you can keep adding runes to make something more powerful but the more you add, the greater chance it'll be destroyed in the process. Also considering mixing metals into your own alloys, metallurgic alchemy perhaps :)
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Zsinj

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Sorry for dropping in without having read the topic or anything, but is it too late to consider changing the name of the game? I'm just saying, the acronym for your game... KUM... yeah.
King Beneath the Mountain, perhaps?

I did go through a phase of weighing up changing the name, got quite a bit of feedback on Reddit and other gamedev groups. In the end decided to stick with it, though the acronym isn't ideal (KutM?), it's evocative and a good fit for the theme of the game. Not everyone likes it for sure but enough did that I thought it better keeping as it's already out there with people interested. Plus, now there's a logo!
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Tilla

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I'm all for a dwarfy game thats more in the Rimworld school - Rimworld is probably the best a DF-like has been period, in part due to its restraint and scaling back but also focusing on cool details (like its health systems)
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Zsinj

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I'm all for a dwarfy game thats more in the Rimworld school - Rimworld is probably the best a DF-like has been period, in part due to its restraint and scaling back but also focusing on cool details (like its health systems)

Glad to hear it! Definitely plan to focus on my own subsystems to make this game shine - particularly crafting and exploring off-site locations.
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forsaken1111

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I'm all for a dwarfy game thats more in the Rimworld school - Rimworld is probably the best a DF-like has been period, in part due to its restraint and scaling back but also focusing on cool details (like its health systems)

Glad to hear it! Definitely plan to focus on my own subsystems to make this game shine - particularly crafting and exploring off-site locations.
That sounds great. Have you considered some kind of system whereby you can build memorials to events or battles? Its one of the little things I really enjoyed in games like Children of the Nile. You could have your people engrave an obelisk or slab with tales of a great victory or past event, such as a famine.
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Zsinj

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That sounds great. Have you considered some kind of system whereby you can build memorials to events or battles? Its one of the little things I really enjoyed in games like Children of the Nile. You could have your people engrave an obelisk or slab with tales of a great victory or past event, such as a famine.

Yes I'd love to have some kind of historical events system similar to Dwarf Fortress for engravings and memorials like this, something I've always enjoyed looking through too :)
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ChairmanPoo

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I +1 the idea of a wizard/necromancer simulator instead of a DF-clone proper (even if some mechanics are similar). I already have DF for DF. The other one would be a "newer" experience.
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Retropunch

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I +1 the idea of a wizard/necromancer simulator instead of a DF-clone proper (even if some mechanics are similar). I already have DF for DF. The other one would be a "newer" experience.
I very much agree (as can be seen!) as I really don't think I've ever seen it done before properly. There are a few games where you can be a wizard in a very abstract way (HOMM jumps to mind) but not really in a fleshed out sense.
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With enough work and polish, it could have been a forgettable flash game on Kongregate.

Zsinj

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Thanks for the feedback! It's things like this that will decide the priority that I do things in.
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martinuzz

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The name King Under the Mountain could get you into trouble with the Tolkien legates sueing you. I'd recommend changing it.
I believe Tome4 dev had to change the name from troubles of Middle earth to tales of Maj' Ejal for that same reason. It seems the (great-?) grandchildren of Tolkien aren't very nice folks when it comes to protecting their legacy.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/King_under_the_Mountain
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/King_under_the_Mountain

For the rest: Even though I've grown very skeptical of df light clones, I must say your art looks nice. Try to focus not on resembling DF as much as you can, but try to create your own unique game. Play evil, dungeon keeper style is a good theme though. Perhaps make that the game's main focus rather than orcs and dwarves?
« Last Edit: September 04, 2016, 12:30:25 pm by martinuzz »
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Folly

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Is there any possibility of a built-in 3D renderer? I find that building forts is always more satisfying when I can visualize them in all their 3D glory!
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darkflagrance

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Another place you could go with the DF-like is a game that tries to capture the full 3d glory of huge halls and sprawling caverns that we see in Moria and the Lonely Mountain in the LOTR films. Dwarf Fortress's underground features don't quite lend themselves to massive scale interior scupting yet, and most other games don't have multiple z-levels or require you to dig everything out.
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