jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! The Curious Expedition « on: November 28, 2012, 04:25:29 PM »

The Curious Expedition is a roguelike expedition simulation set in the late 19th century.

Venture on unprecedented expeditions to regions never explored before.

Adventure awaits!

www.curious-expedition.com

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} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== What we want to achieve ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {

Indiana Jones meets Charles Darwin in a roguelike.



A game in which the exploration of a lush, mysterious world is the core; we want you to feel like a real explorer. New secrets await every time you venture out, no matter how many times you’ve played.



The game is very difficult, and every move counts. If you’re not thoughtful, your trek will fail horribly and you’ll face certain death. Losing is fun!



As you explore and interact with the world, your actions will cause the region to gradually go out of balance, until the trail of chaos you left catches up and forces you to run for your life.



You’ll be confronted with the everyday racism of the late 19th century. Will you fall into the same mentality as so many explorers of those days, or will you treat the land and its natives with respect?





} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== Gameplay ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {

E xplore procedurally generated worlds with many different biomes, each with its own distinctive set of challenges for the ambitious explorer.



P lan and equip your trek with gear, weapons, scientists, porters, pack animals and much more. A good explorer is prepared for any eventuality.



M anage your resources to keep your trek alive and morale high. Balance your need for food and water with the desire to carry all that precious treasure back home.



V isit and interact with the land’s natives. Enter villages, trade and communicate with local tribes and civilizations that are unknown to mankind.



L oot mysterious temple ruins to gain fame and treasures, but watch out for deadly traps and curses that will compromise your men and the whole world around you.



E quip and utilize miraculous treasures to gain advantages, but be wary of unforeseeable side effects.



F ight and defend your trek against a wide range of wild animals, mystical creatures, zombies and even dinosaurs.





} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== Characters ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {



} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== Inspiration ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {





Stories of Jules Verne, such as



or



The story of famous explorers like Alexander v. Humboldt Charles Darwin or David Livingstone Stories of Jules Verne, such asor





} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== Business stuff ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {

Target platform: PC, Tablet devices

Planned release: 2014

Teamsize: 2

} - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -== Press ==- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - {

"The Curious Expedition has all the marks of a particularly fine undertaking. It’s a procedurally generated sort of thing, with overland exploration of varied biomes, and battles against mystical creatures, dinosaurs, cannibals and other such unpleasantries."

rockpapershotgun.com



"The game’s hook is undeniable: explorers will set out across a randomly generated continent in search of treasure and knowledge, and the slightest misstep will result in a dead or insane expedition party and a failed excursion. This is a game where Nikola Tesla might shoot an energy gun at a giant crab or a hired hand will go insane and steal precious supplies on his way out of camp."

pcgamer.com



"Curious Expedition has a massive amount of promise. From the sharp pixel art visuals to the staggering difficulty level to the constant surprises, this could end up being very special indeed."

pocketgamer.co.uk



"Curious Expedition has that precise cocktail of danger and beauty, of greed in the face of scarcity, of risk and randomness, that makes for a good roguelike. As its wild frontiers slowly reveal themselves, I felt at times cheerful, at other times afraid, but always compelled for one more push into the mountains in search of a cold spring, or toward the village where I knew my animal pelts would be prized."

gamasutra.com









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A game in which the exploration of a lush, mysterious world is the core; we want you to feel like a real explorer. New secrets await every time you venture out, no matter how many times you’ve played.The game is very difficult, and every move counts. If you’re not thoughtful, your trek will fail horribly and you’ll face certain death. Losing is fun!As you explore and interact with the world, your actions will cause the region to gradually go out of balance, until the trail of chaos you left catches up and forces you to run for your life.You’ll be confronted with the everyday racism of the late 19th century. Will you fall into the same mentality as so many explorers of those days, or will you treat the land and its natives with respect?procedurally generated worlds with many different biomes, each with its own distinctive set of challenges for the ambitious explorer.your trek with gear, weapons, scientists, porters, pack animals and much more. A good explorer is prepared for any eventuality.your resources to keep your trek alive and morale high. Balance your need for food and water with the desire to carry all that precious treasure back home.with the land’s natives. Enter villages, trade and communicate with local tribes and civilizations that are unknown to mankind.mysterious temple ruins to gain fame and treasures, but watch out for deadly traps and curses that will compromise your men and the whole world around you.miraculous treasures to gain advantages, but be wary of unforeseeable side effects.your trek against a wide range of wild animals, mystical creatures, zombies and even dinosaurs."The Curious Expedition has all the marks of a particularly fine undertaking. It’s a procedurally generated sort of thing, with overland exploration of varied biomes, and battles against mystical creatures, dinosaurs, cannibals and other such unpleasantries.""The game’s hook is undeniable: explorers will set out across a randomly generated continent in search of treasure and knowledge, and the slightest misstep will result in a dead or insane expedition party and a failed excursion. This is a game where Nikola Tesla might shoot an energy gun at a giant crab or a hired hand will go insane and steal precious supplies on his way out of camp.""Curious Expedition has a massive amount of promise. From the sharp pixel art visuals to the staggering difficulty level to the constant surprises, this could end up being very special indeed.""Curious Expedition has that precise cocktail of danger and beauty, of greed in the face of scarcity, of risk and randomness, that makes for a good roguelike. As its wild frontiers slowly reveal themselves, I felt at times cheerful, at other times afraid, but always compelled for one more push into the mountains in search of a cold spring, or toward the village where I knew my animal pelts would be prized." « Last Edit: October 22, 2014, 03:38:39 AM by jO » Logged

Paul Jeffries









Level 3 Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #2 on: November 28, 2012, 05:00:23 PM »



Looks pretty awesome, anyway. I like the style of the graphics, particularly the title screen and character portraits. Also, more games should include Nikola Tesla as a playable character. Heh, you stole my working title ! Only kidding, of course - although the main reason I just went with 'Incognita' and only as a working title is because there are a couple of other games already out there called 'Terra Incognita'. Maybe not a problem, but something you should perhaps be aware of.Looks pretty awesome, anyway. I like the style of the graphics, particularly the title screen and character portraits. Also, more games should include Nikola Tesla as a playable character. Logged www.vitruality.com | SPARTAN - Small Pixel Art Animator and procedural tile generator

kleiba









Level 2 Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #3 on: November 28, 2012, 05:00:40 PM » good luck with this project! Looks really coolgood luck with this project! Logged

pluckyporcupine







Level 9 Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #5 on: November 29, 2012, 12:50:22 AM » Quote from: jO on November 29, 2012, 12:45:37 AM

We're working very iterative on it currently, so the game still changes a lot.

We have a playable prototype which is not yet ready for public testing, but we're pretty happy already with the core gameplay. From a pure feature perspective we almost have everything in what we want.

It's kinda hard to tell. 20% ?We're working very iterative on it currently, so the game still changes a lot.We have a playable prototype which is not yet ready for public testing, but we're pretty happy already with the core gameplay. From a pure feature perspective we almost have everything in what we want.



Could you elaborate a little on the differences between the characters, other than staples of each character, like Nikola Tesla having a Tesla cannon? Or would you rather wait on that? Awesome. I'll be watching for when that is ready.Could you elaborate a little on the differences between the characters, other than staples of each character, like Nikola Tesla having a Tesla cannon? Or would you rather wait on that? Logged

Plucky Porcupine Game Boutique

jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #6 on: November 29, 2012, 12:55:45 AM » Quote from: johnki on November 29, 2012, 12:50:22 AM Could you elaborate a little on the differences between the characters, other than staples of each character, like Nikola Tesla having a Tesla cannon? Or would you rather wait on that?



The "Specialists" as we call them for now will feature different abilities that will allow you to play the game in different ways. In a sense, you could see each of them as different skill-lines in a traditional RPG sense.



You'll be able to select which ones you take with you when equipping your trek at the beginning of an expedition, but you'll also be able to pick some up during your journey. Also, even though much less likely than with the porters, they are able to die. The "Specialists" as we call them for now will feature different abilities that will allow you to play the game in different ways. In a sense, you could see each of them as different skill-lines in a traditional RPG sense.You'll be able to select which ones you take with you when equipping your trek at the beginning of an expedition, but you'll also be able to pick some up during your journey. Also, even though much less likely than with the porters, they are able to die. Logged

Eigen







Brobdingnagian ding dong





Level 10Brobdingnagian ding dong Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #7 on: November 29, 2012, 01:34:02 AM »

I really like the inclusion of real world characters.



Our games seem very similar in certain aspects but I like your combat solution better. How does the tribal communication work in this?



Looking forward to this very much. Wow, I like the sound of it! And the way it looks, though the tilework is probably WIP? Very Civ-ishI really like the inclusion of real world characters.Our games seem very similar in certain aspects but I like your combat solution better. How does the tribal communication work in this?Looking forward to this very much. Logged PIONEERS | Tumblr | Tweeter

jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #8 on: November 29, 2012, 04:23:06 AM » Quote from: Eigen on November 29, 2012, 01:34:02 AM

I really like the inclusion of real world characters.



Our games seem very similar in certain aspects but I like your combat solution better. How does the tribal communication work in this?



Looking forward to this very much.

Wow, I like the sound of it! And the way it looks, though the tilework is probably WIP? Very Civ-ishI really like the inclusion of real world characters.Our games seem very similar in certain aspects but I like your combat solution better. How does the tribal communication work in this?Looking forward to this very much.

Yeah, all the map tile art is very basic. We did not invest any work in transition tiles or any other fancy stuff that would improve the look of it. Right now it is all about pure readability and being able to prototype very fast.



And yes, we've been following your work very closely, you are right that we are very similar in certain aspects. I especially love how much you restrict yourself on the colors, I think your game has a great feeling to it.



Tribal communication right now is pretty much depending on whether you are able to understand their language or not, something an Anthropologist can help with, for example. We do not intend to do something that would go into a dialogue system direction, but instead make it all more or less actions-based (trading, recruiting, asking for hints about the region etc.) Yeah, all the map tile art is very basic. We did not invest any work in transition tiles or any other fancy stuff that would improve the look of it. Right now it is all about pure readability and being able to prototype very fast.And yes, we've been following your work very closely, you are right that we are very similar in certain aspects. I especially love how much you restrict yourself on the colors, I think your game has a great feeling to it.Tribal communication right now is pretty much depending on whether you are able to understand their language or not, something an Anthropologist can help with, for example. We do not intend to do something that would go into a dialogue system direction, but instead make it all more or less actions-based (trading, recruiting, asking for hints about the region etc.) Logged

jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #10 on: November 29, 2012, 08:05:23 AM » Quote from: JaJ on November 29, 2012, 04:39:23 AM Really cool concept. I'm especially interested to see how disruptiong the balance plays out gameplay-wise. Is it possible to not disrupt anything at all? Can you still win if you purposefully disrupt things? Or is disrupting the balance something that happens no matter what you do?



It's gonna be pretty tough to not cause all kind of chaos while you are trying to reach your goals



Especially when looting temple ruins you'll more than often run into large scale events that are caused by defiling the temple and angering the "gods". An example for this are volcano eruptions, that cause lava to spill over the lands and set jungles on fire, that will again spread over large regions.

Other examples are curses like the "30 days of night" where basically our daytime system is locked into night, with all kinds of monstrosities spawning in the darkness.



Chaos can also emerge from the usage of magical artifacts. For example, it might be handy to create a spring at your position to fill up your water reserves, but the spring won't stop, so it's gonna create a river that will move through the land, potentially drowning native villages or in general make it harder for you to travel.



As of now we're still exploring the whole concept of the "leaving a trail of chaos", but since it is one of our main focuses you can expect it to play an important role in our game. It's gonna be pretty tough to not cause all kind of chaos while you are trying to reach your goalsEspecially when looting temple ruins you'll more than often run into large scale events that are caused by defiling the temple and angering the "gods". An example for this are volcano eruptions, that cause lava to spill over the lands and set jungles on fire, that will again spread over large regions.Other examples are curses like the "30 days of night" where basically our daytime system is locked into night, with all kinds of monstrosities spawning in the darkness.Chaos can also emerge from the usage of magical artifacts. For example, it might be handy to create a spring at your position to fill up your water reserves, but the spring won't stop, so it's gonna create a river that will move through the land, potentially drowning native villages or in general make it harder for you to travel.As of now we're still exploring the whole concept of the "leaving a trail of chaos", but since it is one of our main focuses you can expect it to play an important role in our game. Logged

antoniodamala Guest

Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #11 on: November 30, 2012, 03:17:13 PM » Is the combat going to be like that or that's just a mockup? To me is such a waste to be in a rogue-like system where movement widens the combat so much, and just use classical dragon quest battle (unless you have some inovation to it).



Anyway waiting for it.

Logged

jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #12 on: December 02, 2012, 01:06:39 PM » Quote from: antoniodamala on November 30, 2012, 03:17:13 PM Is the combat going to be like that or that's just a mockup? To me is such a waste to be in a rogue-like system where movement widens the combat so much, and just use classical dragon quest battle (unless you have some inovation to it).



We indeed plan to separate our combat from the rest of the game, which is, I have to admit, very untypical for a roguelike.

However, even though combat plays a very important role in our gameplay, it is nowhere as central as in the typical roguelike. That's why we want to keep it rather simple and do something similar to a JRPG combat setup. Still, we have some ideas on how to adjust that setup to make it special and fit to our game (those adjustments could be called "innovations" by people that like this word )



Besides the importance of combat, we thought the typical roguelike combat does not fit to what we want to achieve. One reason for that is that our scale is much different; you're spending 1 day of traveling when moving ~6 fields, which makes entities very very small in relation to a single field on the map.



If you'd want to find a direct comparison to what combat means in a typical roguelike for out game, it would be the way how you have to adjust your movement, planning and resource consumption in relation to the different types of fields and biomes you are encountering. There's even pattern recognition that you'll have to do on the different types of fields, if you want to achieve certain things.



In a sense, the most dominant "combat" in our game is that between your trek and the world around you; fighting the monsters of the world is definitely an important aspect, but certainly not as important as overcoming the challenges that emerge out of the world itself.



I hope this makes some sense and that we'll soon be able to give some more concrete examples of what this all means We indeed plan to separate our combat from the rest of the game, which is, I have to admit, very untypical for a roguelike.However, even though combat plays a very important role in our gameplay, it is nowhere as central as in the typical roguelike. That's why we want to keep it rather simple and do something similar to a JRPG combat setup. Still, we have some ideas on how to adjust that setup to make it special and fit to our game (those adjustments could be called "innovations" by people that like this wordBesides the importance of combat, we thought the typical roguelike combat does not fit to what we want to achieve. One reason for that is that our scale is much different; you're spending 1 day of traveling when moving ~6 fields, which makes entities very very small in relation to a single field on the map.If you'd want to find a direct comparison to what combat means in a typical roguelike for out game, it would be the way how you have to adjust your movement, planning and resource consumption in relation to the different types of fields and biomes you are encountering. There's even pattern recognition that you'll have to do on the different types of fields, if you want to achieve certain things.In a sense, the most dominant "combat" in our game is that between your trek and the world around you; fighting the monsters of the world is definitely an important aspect, but certainly not as important as overcoming the challenges that emerge out of the world itself.I hope this makes some sense and that we'll soon be able to give some more concrete examples of what this all means Logged

Mef







8 bit massacre!





Level 08 bit massacre! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #13 on: December 03, 2012, 03:18:28 PM »

It's like Oregon Trail meets Rogue, but cheats on "her" with JRPGs lol.

Sounds like a winner.







Only thing that turns me down in this preview is this mixture of fine

pixels (small tiles reminding me a lot of excellent Thomas Whetnall's

work) with all this lighting and lightning being rendered in a "modern"

way. Hopefully the buttons and font are placeholders and will get some

nice pixeley version too. Resolution clash is such common error today.

Absolutely love the idea.It's like Oregon Trail meets Rogue, but cheats on "her" with JRPGs lol.Sounds like a winner.Only thing that turns me down in this preview is this mixture of finepixels (small tiles reminding me a lot of excellent Thomas Whetnall'swork) with all this lighting and lightning being rendered in a "modern"way. Hopefully the buttons and font are placeholders and will get somenice pixeley version too. Resolution clash is such common error today. Logged "Stand rigid for the next battle

Peace means reloading your guns

The love for life is all hatred in disguise

A carnival creation with masks undone"

jO







Adventure awaits!





Level 4Adventure awaits! Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #14 on: December 13, 2012, 01:34:25 PM »



We are aware of the fact that the move to a hex-based grid would have a lot of consequences on gameplay, and think most of them would be rather beneficial. However, we are also interested in how this influences the general look of the game.

We know it's hard to judge with all the tile graphics still being very rough (we did not spend any time yet on tiles-transitions or even tile-variations to make things look nicer; right now it's all about rapid prototyping and readability).



Still, we'd be very interested in the opinions of you guys, what do you prefer, the square or hex grid?







"old" square grid:





hex grid: We've been tossing around the idea of moving to a hex-based grid a couple of times, so I decided to make a quick mock-up of how it would look like right now. I tried to stay as close as possible to the original shot in the beginning of this post for a good comparison.We are aware of the fact that the move to a hex-based grid would have a lot of consequences on gameplay, and think most of them would be rather beneficial. However, we are also interested in how this influences the general look of the game.We know it's hard to judge with all the tile graphics still being very rough (we did not spend any time yet on tiles-transitions or even tile-variations to make things look nicer; right now it's all about rapid prototyping and readability).Still, we'd be very interested in the opinions of you guys, what do you prefer, theorgrid? Logged

Netsu







proficient at just chillin'





Level 10proficient at just chillin' Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #15 on: December 13, 2012, 01:48:10 PM »

I really like those mockups, especially the fight screen Hexes ALWAYS win.I really like those mockups, especially the fight screen Logged Soundcloud | Heptych | Homepage | @NetsuGamedev

eigenbom







@eigenbom





Level 10@eigenbom Re: Terra Incognita « Reply #16 on: December 13, 2012, 01:52:07 PM » good luck with this project.



They both work: the square mockup screams roguelike/zeldalike, but the hex one screams civilisation. Input is important though, do you control with the keypad? If so, hex won't work. If you click with a mouse then hex will probably be more intuitive as the paths between pairs of points are shorter. Aesthetically: I prefer the square grid, especially with the chunky pixel style where the pixel edges align with the grid edges. Logged MoonQuest Devlog