QUEST HEROES - An HeroQuest-like cross platform video game

[dTb]

Hi again dear Ye Old Inners!

Here we are! After having presented Quest Heroes in the let's search a better title than Quest Heroes thread, I'm creating the real project thread. And guess what... the title is still Quest Heroes. Hum. Mostly because it turned out that the timing was bad to rename the project (domain name, in-game asset, presentation documents...). Maybe we will change it later.

So, I'm going now to repeat a little myself, but also to give you a little bit more information!



So Quest Heroes is a cross platform (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) video game currently under development, that is trying to capture and to bring into the digital world the fun of HeroQuest gameplay and of all the other physical-dungeon-crawler board games like Descent, Mice & Mystics, Super Dungeon Explore, etc. I know, there are a couple of video games out there that have already tried but I think none was really successful at capturing our favorite game's intrinsic essence. There is Warhammer Quest on iOS ans Steam of course, in which I spent something like 50 hours, but the problem with it, is it's a perfect Warhammer Quest port, with all the Warhammer Quest flaws: exploration is not really fun, there are almost no scenarios and a limited number of mechanics.



And because "If you want something done right, do it yourself", I started the project myself with two friends. We've already put in about the equivalent of seven months of full-time work and we are now searching for a publisher to fund the end of the development. To help us to convince that the game can be successful (means "to have a chance to get released") thank you in advance to...

follow us on Twitter: @QuestHeroes!

... and to spread the word around as much as possible of course (the press kit will be ready in the next few days, meanwhile feel free to grab any screenshot you like on the official website if you want to illustrate).



Let's talk features now :

● A rule set totally compatible with real life board-gaming. We will release a free print-and-play version at some point of the development process.
● A not-so-serious medieval fantasy world in which, for instance, the mayors are exploiting zombies to clean out their sewers and sending adventurers to teach them a lesson when they go on strike (even the dead feel entitled to at least one day off per week).
● You manage a pool of heroes: before each quest, you select the members of the party.
● Ultimate party-building freedom. If you'd rather have an adventuring party made up of three wizards and a thief instead of the traditional warrior-archer-dwarf-wizard combo, then go for it! It's totally up to you.
● No frustrating class-based gear limitations. Characters can equip and use any weapon or equipment as soon as they have the required stats, regardless of their class.
● Permadeath. However, there are resurrection scrolls (extremely rare, and usable only right after the death) and you can pick up a dead character's gear, so nothing is ever completely lost.
● Heaps of magic, monsters, missions, skills and items... indeed.
● Randomly generated quests.
● Special rooms with their special tricks, traps, rules and puzzles.
● Monster's AI using different kind of group-strategies depending on the situation, and a different individual AI for each kind of monster/foe.

And of course bosses, traps, secret passages, different environments, multiple victory conditions...



And... that's pretty much it . If you want more information, more screenshots or a gameplay video from the prototype, you can have a look to the official website: http://www.quest-heroes.com and (again) you can follow us on Twitter .

It's not going to be a Shenmue 3 success, but if we reach at least a couple thousands followers we are pretty confident we're going to interest a publisher.

Thank you for your attention !

[Count Mohawk]

Well, this looks interesting!

I won't speak for the others, but I personally am the sort of person more impressed by looking at the mechanical side of games than the presentation, so any time you have details on how XYZ spell, ability, action, etc. works, please feel free to share them here!

Unfortunately, I won't be following you on Twitter, as I do not have a Twitter account. But I bet there are many others who do!

[QorDaq]

I look forward to seeing where this goes, definitely looks engaging.

maj!

[Redav]

*subscribed* It does sound interesting. Oh, another user who doesn't use social media

[StratosVX]

I'm on the same page as Count Mohawk - no Twitter account. How about a guest book link on your website for those of us that would like to see this get picked up but don't have a Twitter account?

And the game looks pretty sweet, by the way.

[dTb]

Hi all!

Thank you for your feedback and comments!

@Count Mohawk: sure, I totally understand... my first idea was to have static markers for characters, like old school war-games (like this or this) but my artist friend said "no way". At first he was pushing for full 3D, but we would have had to cut a lot of features, and this was a big "no way" for me. So we agreed on this animated polished 2D compromise .

Insight on the rule set (not exhaustive, no particular order)

Actors main characteristics are: life, mana, movement (fixed number of cells they can move each turn), actions (per turn also, usually 1), attack, defense, aim, dodge. And a couple of weapon masteries.

Attack (ATT) is used for contact attacks against Defense (DEF).
Aim (AIM) is used for ranged attacks against Dodge (DDG).

D6 are ruling the world: any number >= 4 being a success. For example if a character with an ATT 3 attacks and get , he's having 2 successes (the 5 and the 4). If the target has DEF 2 and gets , he only has 1 success and gets hit. For the time being all the weapons are dealing only 1 damage but some powerful ones may deal more. Of course the "4" in the ">=4" will be tweaked for particularly strong or weak characters, curses and buffs.

Every-time a successful attack (at least one success) is done on a target who manages to parry or dodge, this target get "exhausted": he loses 1 point of DEF and DDG until the end of the turn, this being stackable. This means that even strong characters can be soften by attacking them enough time during the same turn.

About the movement system: diagonals are allowed if both tiles between the diagonal are either empty or occupied by an ally. If there is a massive object (wall, crate) or an opponent in one of the two tiles, the diagonal move is not permitted: this allows to slow down opponents by moving near them.

Last thing, weapon masteries: all characters have a number associated to each weapon category (knives, swords, spears and halberds, bows...) and each particular weapon is having a weapon mastery requirement. A simple non-magical one requires to have at least 1 point in the mastery. The more magical a weapon is, higher this requirement is. And if you want to dual wield, you need at least the sum of each hand's weapon category in both category... example: if you want to dual wield a sword with a mastery 3 requirement and a crossbow with a mastery 5 requirement, you need to have 8 in both weapon categories: swords and crossbows. I didn't decided yet when and how the player will be able to upgrade these masteries: maybe throw training books, a training center or after a level up.

So much for the basics

How to help

Even if you don't intend to use it, you may create a Twitter account just to "follow" us (by using your trash mail or a temporary one like http://www.yopmail.com/en/)... ok, let's pretend I didn't say anything .

Else as QorDaq did and as Stratos suggested (with the guest book thing) you can come on our forum and leave a little message, it's much appreciated too!
And last thing we have also a facebook page.

And don't worry, no matter where you follow or not follow, I'll keep this thread updated !!

[dTb]

Development update 1

Hi all!

I'm back to give you some news after one week of communication and press-contact to let the world know that Quest Heroes exists (to reach the audience and be able to prove to anyone interested in investing in Quest Heroes that there is effectively an audience, ready to pay for it).

One of the most important things was a small article wrote by Touch Arcade, one of the biggest mobile game news website. Gameapalooza also made us the favor of writing a paper. Twitter-wise we have now 67 followers, the target being 100 at the end of the month.

And here are a couple of new media that I released this week here and there:

Loot... loot loot LOOOOOT!






The barbarian cannot reach the orc so the rogue uses SWAP to solve the problem


(GIF link if you don't see the animation immediately)

That's it for this week... keep your fingers crossed for us (or pray "May the skull attack dices be with them" )!

[Jasper Akhkharu]

Awesome concept! I think about upgrading some board games into video games alot because some of the rules are relatively simple and gameplay is straightforward.

Have you thought of doing some sort of crowdfunding to get the rest of the game up and going? You mentioned funding issues in your first post.

i would love more info on the methods you use for gaining skills and acquiring specialties, like spellcasting and weapon skills.

The (over)use of colors on the screenshots takes away from some of the game for me, though. There seems to be too much color going on all over the place, so it kind of drains away the grimy dungeon feel of the game. Are those torches glowing green? I'm sure that some of the coloring is from effects, tho.

[dTb]

Hi Jasper!

About the crowdfunding, yes: for the time being we are searching for a publisher but if it turns out to be difficult we will consider the crowdfunding path.

The skill learning system is still work in progress, I will most likely come here to discuss about it at some point: the system I have in mind since the beginning is a Diablo 1 one, where each class have a certain number of skills that they are able to learn, the heroes find spell books in the dungeons, characters able to learn this spell can read it, the book disappear and the spell is learned (or leveled-up).

But during the prototype development I had a sudden strong desire to create a "skill path system" as in Path of Exile. And other attractive ideas came into my mind so this part still need to be worked out and carved.

About the "rainbow color style" it's a design decision that I totally endorse. I love this color harmony, reminding me World of Warcraft, the complete opposite of Darkest Dungeon. You are the first one troubled by it, but if other players think it's too much, we may reduce the torch color effect (you were right, each torch has its own glowing color) or even better, add an option allowing the player to reduce it at the level he wants.

Thank you for your feedback!

[dTb]

Hi all!

Just a small update: a "Twitcher" called @Highsight has been playing Quest Heroes' prototype for his very first time and has been streaming it.
If you like the project, you can catch it up here (it lasts 30 minutes):

http://www.twitch.tv/highsight/v/7640800?t=86m10s



He gave his first impressions and feelings, what he thinks that could be improved, what he likes or dislikes... most of the things he pointed out were already in my to-do list but some were not (like being able to move the map with the mouse), so it was very interesting.

Be assured that it's only the core engine: a tactical turn based "hack'n & slash". Everything that is making a great HQ Quest, ie. scenarios with their unexpected events and surprising mechanics will be in at a later stage!