Ruzar: The Life Stone - A Dungeon Crawler RPG

[Couchpotato]

Hammer Glass Studio has a new game on Steam Greenlight called Ruzar that needs your vote. So without wasting time here is the new video , and short game description.

Ruzar: The Life Stone is a dungeon crawler RPG game in which you play an adventurer who needs to discover the powerful Life Stone. Do you have the skills to survive in the deadliest dungeons of the Mountain of Ruz and recover the legendary artefact?

More information.

 

[Darkheart]

Does it have turn-based combat? Greenlight page didn't say anything about it. The dancing around enemies in Grimrock was very unfun for me...

 

[deganderson]

Does it have turn-based combat? Greenlight page didn't say anything about it. The dancing around enemies in Grimrock was very unfun for me…

Same for me really, it's arcade combat instead of strategic. Easier to produce I guess. Look at 1:10ish, also no turn based combat here. This is grimlock clone.

The spider is the guardian of the key, probably had it in his spider purse. It looks like story telling isn't going to be a strong point either.

 

[Kordanor]

Yeah, thought exactly the same. Votes for it on greenlight, but I don't think I would actually buy it if they keep the combat as it looks like in the video.
Dancing around enemies isn't fun, neither is the "forward, hit ->now move backwards before the enemies attack is finished, repeat"-Mechanics. I know that some old dungeon crawlers did that. But it's not gameplay I'd enjoy today.

 

[johnnysd]

I think this looks really good. I do not mind the Dungeon Mastery-y type combat at all. Not sure that in this environment turn based is actually better. These are action RPGs, and this looks to be really promising. Likely first day by for me.

 

[hammerglassstudio]

Hi Guys,

As Johnnysd said, this is not a turn based game. This is highly inspired by the Dungeon Master series. And we assume it, like Legend of Grimrock did. You will notice that the game has some major differences between the classic game.

We understand that the game won't please everyone and this is ok with us. That was not our goal in the first place.

Thanks

 

[Farflame]

Dancing around enemies isn't fun, neither is the "forward, hit ->now move backwards before the enemies attack is finished, repeat"-Mechanics.

I partially agree, but it always depends on actual design. For example you can make enemies faster so they will hit you first when you move close.

 

[Sacred_Path]

Voted, though respawing enemies didn't work very well in Dungeon Master II...

 

[Kordanor]

Yeah, but it didn't look like that in the videos.

Grimrock of all dungeon crawlers had the biggest problem imho as it was the most twitchy game which did almost not include any RPG aspects. Equip of your party or so didn't really matter. The only art was: Enemy is infront of you, then sidestep right, move forward, turn left, hit (enemy hasn't turned to you yet), sidestep left, move forward, turn right, hit, repeat until enemy is dead. I remember that the timeframe to do so was even that harsh, that I only used one of my party members to attack most of the time. All the other ones just joined him running around.

Forward->hit
backward
Forward->hit
backward
was the technique used in stonekeep from what I remember. Or Anvil of dawn. One of the few games where I started a lets play and aborted it because it was just boring and annoying:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C7km9ccf7E&list=PLNU8jxMn6ejru2hlluhpYwVlarpFzohgJ&index=15

And then there was Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore. These actually were some of the games which worked best. Because Enemies often came in masses and cornered you. So all the equipment on your party mattered.
Biggest flaw there: Before each and every fight you threw everything at them, darts, stones, arrows, random items. And if it allowed you to throw your grandmother, you would have done that as well. Was great fun to collect all the items again after each fight.

 

[hammerglassstudio]

Kordanor,

I do agree that the video you have in your link is not really what we want to achieve.

So here is what we are doing:

• You won't always be able to turn around the enemy all the time. There are sections where you won't have space.
• The video with the spider is the tutorial for the combat, so it is meant to be easy.
• In opened area, you will encounter more than one enemy, so be prepared because the challenge will be harder.
• Some creatures have ranged attack. So if you keep your distance, they will use their range attack to fight you.
• Creatures attack at a different speed (like Farflame suggested). They also move at a different speed. So a spider will move faster than a skeleton, etc.
• Doing the forward / hit multiple times will make the creature attack you at one point, so if you do that, you will be hit. If you time yourself, you can manage to avoid the attacks, but it's much harder than in the video you used as an example.
• We don't throw human people but when you throw items, they are lost. You can't collect them anymore. And you can only throw items that are associated with ranged weapons (bow, crossbow, ranged weapons)
• We have an economy where the player can buy items. This is an important part of the game as all the items available at the merchant will help the player to fight against the creature. Equipments (armors, weapons), skills and stats do matter when you level up.

There are other tools the player can use but you need to play the game to feel them. I am not asking you to buy it if you don't like these games (which is fair), but we think there are enough difference to enjoy it.

Sacred_Path, thanks for the vote.

Btw, we have been Greenlit today!

 

[Pessimeister]

This looks interesting; thanks for the heads-up on this one Couch!

Grimrock of all dungeon crawlers had the biggest problem imho as it was the most twitchy game which did almost not include any RPG aspects. Equip of your party or so didn't really matter. at as well. Was great fun to collect all the items again after each fight.

l'd have to politely disagree with this assessment. The combat wasn't a "problem" in so much as it is a merely subjective preference of style. If you don't like real time combat with those movement elements, then naturally you might see it as a "problem". Personally, I think its part and parcel of the genre and not as big an issue as you make out. Playing creatively and using a versatility of approaches in the dungeons was great fun for me, especially in the sequel.

As for the "almost no RPG aspects", I think this is inaccurate as well. You could build your characters in interesting ways with the skill system and the game supports a variety of classes and party configurations. Plus the editable maps, the core oldschool dungeon crawl experience, the puzzle and riddle elements = it's classic RPGness.

I can't say I agree with the "equipment of your party doesn't matter" either but that's enough bones of contention for now.

All the best to Hammerglassstudio in helping to keep this genre alive!

 

[Kordanor]

@hammerglassstudio: Thanks for the clarifications! Will definitely take a look!

@Pessimeister: I can only assume that you just played the game as you felt was right but didn't figure out this optimal path. Because once you did that, which might have been required for the high difficulty, the rest, didn't matter much anymore. Regarding your party: As long as one dude had one big weapon you were fine. Otherwise Equipment and Classes were redundant.
I cannot judge Grimrock 2 as I avoided it so far due to my disappointment with Grimrock 1, which mostly came from the exploration part though.

 

[hammerglassstudio]

Hi Guys,

The game is on Steam as EA.
All the information can be found here : Ruzar - The Life Stone

We hope you like it
Thank you!

 

[Carnifex]

I like the looks of it, and lord knows I love a good dungeon crawler, but not being turn based will most likely lead me to not purchase it. I've the Grimlock series for that, and that's all I need. I wish them well and hope that anyone that enjoys the style gets it.