Legend of Grimrock

[Marcuz]

I've restarted it three times already, the current party is the one I like best, I have not gone past the start of fifth level so far, it gets too creepy

I'm enjoying it very, very much, but I miss some things from Eye of the Beholder, and some narrative (not strictly a plot, but some larger-than-dungeon-crawl experience, some depth: think Elvira, Perihelion, Gold Box like).

All in all, it's an exceptional game, puzzle wise, the best game of the kind I've ever played probably.

The only real let down is game unrelated: when I played those game originally, there wasn't a internet available to run to when you were frustrated, so you had to actually replay the game differently to try new things: I couldn't help myself but to check a couple of secrets online

Current party:
- human female fighter specializing only in swords, with no armor, so to be comfortable when strolling in your regular dungeon;
- grim faced, cowl on eyes type, human male fighter with axe and probably heavy armor, with strength so average you wonder how could he even lift his axe, but so dexterous that he unerringly drops it on foe's feet or tentacles;
- clumsy but strong minotaur rogue specializing in missile weapons and in nothing else (he's very dedicated apparently);
- mantid mage (possibly a EoB I reject) with a knack for throwing snowballs at eletctical outlets.

They were rightly imprisoned for their obviously insane quirks but for a legal loopole too obscure to mention, they were risking to go scott free, so the king' counselor made up a story about mysterious depths and treasures and freedom awaiting them at the bottom of a legendary dungeon and preemptively paroled them throwing them down a disposable hole in a inaccessible location.

It's a modern environmental fable about the dangers of throwing (antisocial) pollutants and (axe wielding) thrash in a delicate and fragile ecosystem made of fungal societies, snails and skeletal warriors.

A shame, really.

[gimbal]

NOTE: very minor spoilers in here. If you haven't played yet, consider not reading this if you want to be 100% noob when you start it

Yes I've restarted too because a dedicated earth wizard just doesn't work. I now have:

human sword fighter
lizard rogue dagger fighter
human fire/earth wizard
insect air wizard

I don't know the exact name but I gave all characters the trait that gives additional skill points to have at least the important low level spells available right from the beginning.

Fire + air = win as you have single rune attack spells right from the beginning. Having a minor earth skill also helps as you then have poison abilities yourself which have tactical advantages, but it really pays off to have poison shield at your disposal.

The game is great, but if one thing is broken its the spells; there are only a handful of them and at least one of them is as useless as it was in Dungeon Master :/ On top that the skill trees are greatly out of balance; if you don't do it properly you might not even max out a single skill tree even when you invest all points into it. You have to use the trait and use the skill tomes you find as well. That makes it so in the end run when you invest in multiple skill trees, you end up with characters that are only half their potential. Not a problem when you play on normal, but on hard...

[Djay]

Getting this...

...Got this

Firstly Wow, watched the trailer... it seems just like EotB!

Installed the game, had to update directx9, after an hour of gameplay its turned into my alt pc game to play...

the engine works very well, the lighting/shadows and draw distance is fine, some nice gameplay mechanics, graphics and sound are good and a good (not too steep) learning curve is in place (auto map toggle!)... negatives? well being picky an animated intro would of been nice even if using the engine to tell the plot and achievements, dont we all wanna how well our progress is going, whether thats progress through the quest or our finding hidden stuff!

In summary, i would say its not skyrim.. but its not trying to be, its a refreshing take on a bygone era of gaming... I would say, well done!

[gimbal]

getting near the end now... I must say, some of the puzzles on the lower levels really made my brain buzz. "the checkered room", when you reach that you can rightly think "Ah, this is the one where Gimby was going crazy".

Must say, a bit disappointed by "the revelation"....

Anyway yesterday a bugfix release - now on to the level editor. Can't wait for Dungeon Master / EOB / Black Crypt "remakes", Legend of Grimrock can certainly do what all those games did.

[Shoonay]

I'm only on level 7 and it already took me ~13 hours to get to that point, it's so fun returning to upper levels to check if I missed somthing.

Originally Posted by gimbal

Can't wait for Dungeon Master / EOB / Black Crypt "remakes", Legend of Grimrock can certainly do what all those games did.

Oh yeah, can't wait for the community stuff, it seems that everybody loves it and people will definitely demand more after finishing this one.

[Washac]

Originally Posted by gimbal

getting near the end now... I must say, some of the puzzles on the lower levels really made my brain buzz. "the checkered room", when you reach that you can rightly think "Ah, this is the one where Gimby was going crazy".

Must say, a bit disappointed by "the revelation"....

Anyway yesterday a bugfix release - now on to the level editor. Can't wait for Dungeon Master / EOB / Black Crypt "remakes", Legend of Grimrock can certainly do what all those games did.

Update, I see the LoG forum has something about an update, but where do I download it from ?
What version number is the update ?

[Shoonay]

The number is 1.1.4, it should be available where you bought the game, there is no outside link that I know of.

[Washac]

Originally Posted by Shoonay

The number is 1.1.4, it should be available where you bought the game, there is no outside link that I know of.

Now that is confusing, the version you download shows as 1.0.0.8 and when installed it is 1.1.4.

[BigHyorgi]

Originally Posted by Djay

Getting this...


the engine works very well, the lighting/shadows and draw distance is fine, some nice gameplay mechanics, graphics and sound are good and a good (not too steep) learning curve is in place (auto map toggle!)... negatives? well being picky an animated intro would of been nice even if using the engine to tell the plot and achievements, dont we all wanna how well our progress is going, whether thats progress through the quest or our finding hidden stuff!

Well, the intro isn't animated, but it tells you the plot, slim as it may be. You've probably figured this out by now, but hitting esc, then statistics tells you how many hidden items and treasures you've found so far.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Shoonay

I'm only on level 7 and it already took me ~13 hours to get to that point, it's so fun returning to upper levels to check if I missed somthing.

Don't run out of food

Its those darned Steam achievements, I actually caught myself finding it important to nab them I only missed the "wear a full suit of armor of valor" one because I tossed the shield of Valor on "some" floor, not realizing yet it was part of the set :/

As to finding secrets, especially on the lower floors where the secret buttons become smaller and smaller you get quite good at spotting them. The automap is the biggest spoiler however, it is usually only too apparent when you mapped out an entire floor where hidden stuff is still going to be found. You might think it is cheating, but it is more fun to do it that way than to scout the entire level again just staring at each wall (which is what I do on the first time I make my way through it).

In any case I've finished it, now I'm going to give it a rest before giving hard mode a try. Will be interesting to make the "finish the first floor in 4 minutes" achievement that way

[Shoonay]

Originally Posted by Washac

Now that is confusing, the version you download shows as 1.0.0.8 and when installed it is 1.1.4.

Yes, that's GOG internal naming, always check the ingame number and you should be fine.

BTW: IMHO the patch should have been released as a separate installer... and that's what them nasty pirates did, I saw a cool 1.3MB archive with a simple script you run inside your game archive and that's it.
Works with every version of the game since none has DRM.

Originally Posted by gimbal

Don't run out of food

Well, there is this (*SPOILER*) unlimited supply of food at lvl6 (*SPOILER*) but I'm sure you know I know about it.

[Marcuz]

I've posted the following link for portraits I've drawn for Grimrock on the game's board too:

http://ge.tt/6tLRxiG/v/0?c

Uhm, in reducing them from 200px to 128px they lost a bit of sharpness, and linework, but still some concept between them I like.

So, 18 portraits hand drawn and colored by me, not exactly pixel art, but in a way reminishing of EoB 1 characters.

Later on I'll make them 32px wide and polish them so that they could be used in EoB too.

Enjoy if you like them, just please do not redistribute.

Thanks!

[gimbal]

Awesome to the max. Actually I love the art style, I'd enjoy a game in that entire style actually

[Shoonay]

Nice work Marco, here's the link btw: http://www.grimrock.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2120

[Marcuz]

Thank you guys, I'm a bit unhappy by the result actually: the line-art works only so far on these, because it discourages the use of color tones, and while I like using flat colors there's to much line shading.

Next time I'll use line only for outlines maybe.

I have an interface ready and 60 portraits finished for a Beholderesque game that work better than these because of the lower size (something like 80 x 80 px) and are simpler but more pleasing, only I have not yet (maybe never) the game to apply them to :/

[kriz]

Got it downloaded.. Its cool, but the atmosphere is much much better in Eye of the beholder 1/2, maybe it wil lget better when i get further into it.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by kriz

Got it downloaded.. Its cool, but the atmosphere is much much better in Eye of the beholder 1/2, maybe it wil lget better when i get further into it.

Eh nope, better not get your hopes up so they won't be shattered The dungeon texture changes twice, but its the same old deal. In fact, I'd say it gets less atmospheric the further down you get :/

The monsters get really wacky though, that helps a lot. There is some crab-like creature that gives me the willies.

[Marcuz]

Originally Posted by gimbal

There is some crab-like creature that gives me the willies.

Yeah those and the scavengers are very well designed imho, specially the crab, with its movement!

[kriz]

ouch.. i had that feeling .. but good people see the potential in this concept of a rpg again.... More wanted

[Shoonay]

Phew, finished it, took me almost 21 hours and it was AWESOME!

EDIT: they put a Polish swear word in the game, harr harr... well, kinda
http://i.imgur.com/lOFy2.jpg <- SOILER ALERT