Bard's Tale/Wizardry/Devil Whiskey Clone?

#1 Hmm, that looks 3D to me. I'd go with TGE if you're lookin' to do something like that. TGE would be perfect.

#2 I agree, looks like TGE would pull of the 3D in window effect much cleaner than sprite projecting.

#3 I don't see why not. For Bard's Tale, the view distance is four spaces, I believe, including the area directly to your left and right. Split each layer into segments so that you can control render area and layering according to distance. You could create the "wall" graphics for each area distance and then place them accordingly. This is a quick prototyping idea. You would actually want to skew your sprites according to the viewpoint. That would be more accurate and friendly for rendering varied "walls" (walls is a liberal term since they can be trees, rocks, etc like in Bard's Tale 2/3 or Might and Magic).

#4 IIRC, David's techniques above is in fact how the old Bard's Tale and Wizardry series worked...they were -way- before realtime 3D was around :)

#5 Thanks. I just have a thing for these old style games. They make a good start for learning more complex things

#6 From what I've seen, TGB would be *ideal* for doing this kind of game.

EDIT:
Okay, I questioned the viability of that type of gameplay, and then kicked myself - one of my BEST-SELLERS does exactly this (I didn't write it, I just sell it on my website). It doesn't use TGB, but it proves that you can make a game with this "fake 3D" orthagonal sprite-based dungeon and it can work really well.

Check out Cute Knight.

The dungeon exploration is only half the gameplay, but it's tied in well and is plenty of fun. I was never able to get THAT far into the dungeon with the demo version... I've been playing the full version for a while and have YET to actually make it to the "bottom" of the dungeon.

#7 There is a lot of life in these older games that can be brought over into the modern world. Lucas Arts Loom for an example is another favorite.

I'll dig in this weekend to see how TGB can do this. It's about time for me to sink my teeth into TGB now it's very close to live.

#8 Heh, I recently downloaded the old Eye Of The Beholder series and started playing it again.
These were some of my fave games when I was a kid and I got such a buzz and rush
of memories when I saw the old familiar interface.

I remember how immersed I was by what seems quite dated graphics today, although more and
more I realise that sometimes you just want a nice simple leisurely stroll through a game, not
info overload with 3D etc.

~neo