Stone of the Citadel - Planned for Release 0.1

Stone of the Citadel - Back in 2012!

I originally started working on Stone of the Citadel back in 2012, originally using the Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (SFML) which I had used (and still use) for Alternate Reality X. I wanted to create a party based CRPG which brought together what I considered the best features and experience from the classic CRPGs of the 1980s and 1990s. For me that's the Ultima series, Might and Magic, The Bard's Tale, the SSI games including Eye of the Beholder and of course Alternate Reality. In addition there are many other games which I've played or been intrigued about over the years where I thought good ideas didn't achieve their potential.

Even today as a player and aspiring game developer I still love a lot of features about these games and the style of gameplay that they contain - controlling a party rather than a single character, grid based maps, turn based combat, atmospheric use of text and in a number of cases memorable music and sound effects. They have a unique feel and interest for me which isn't really catered for or captured in most modern games.

I can't really hope to compete graphically with the big games of today and if I'm honest I don't really wish to - we're well catered for in the first person, single player Elder Scrolls type category. That's not to say that presentation and graphics aren't important to me. I will be putting a lot of effort into the appearance of the game to make the 3D view as attractive as possible and have all the relevant information easily accessible.

So what can you expect from Stone of the Citadel?

Firstly it will be made using Unity 3D. The reasons for this are many but the main ones include its powerful features, excellent cross platform support (including iOS and Android) and a rich community with lots of tutorials, videos and helpful information. It's fairly easy to use and has a big asset store of code, 3D models and other add-ons which you can add to your project. It's also been used by for many games including high profile kickstarters like Wasteland 2 and Shroud of the Avatar so we can see how capable it is. I've spent enough time using it now to be comfortable that it can do everything I would want for my projects (and lots more than I won't use) and it will allow me to easily create the type of 3D and 2D views that I need for my games. It will do away with the problems I've had with OpenGL and video drivers as it seems to work fine on every machine and device I've tried.

The game itself will allow you to create a party of 1 to 8 adventurers to explo. A back story will be generated for each character you create or you can create your own to provide extra customisation for your characters. Whilst there will be a notional class or profession, most characters would be able to attempt most actions, wield most weapons etc but would require focussed effort and training in order to be effective in that area.

Map wise I will be using a grid based system similar to that used in games such as Eye of the Beholder and Might & Magic 3 and to some degree Ultima IV. This is different to the format used in say Alternate Reality where each position on the map has 4 outward facing walls, sometimes resulting in paper thin looking walls. This map format also allows me more flexibility in regards to the automap and making use of an Ultima style tile view should there be a requirement for that in some stages or areas. I think it will be the best fit for the type of levels I'm looking to make with SOTC and within Unity 3D. This doesn't however mean that the 3D view will just be walls made from square blocks :)  Whilst the map structure and layout are unlikely to change during the game, expect the map to be always active with events, encounters and items. Some of these will be heavily randomised so that it always feels like there is a lot going on in each area rather than a map area that can be "cleaned out" and then feels barren and empty.

Example of the EOB map style (from www.gamewinners.com)

The game will begin in a City with further areas outside the City becoming accessible as you progress through the game and develop your characters. Some characters and monsters in the game will move around the environments independently of your actions so you will sometimes encounter the same characters or opponents at different points of the game, creating the feeling of a real living and breathing world. Characters will respond to your party as individual characters (based on their unique characteristics) rather than using a single, stock response. Characters will have a lot of detail for you to develop (if you want to).

I'm now working on the first demo and framework code within Unity 3D. My first task is to complete my initial building blocks (some simple textured walls and doors) and build up a sample City map for exploration. More details and screenshots coming soon.