I've recently run across a few games, and I'm intrigued by what I found. Din's Curse and Drox Operative (both by Soldak games) were released in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Both are ARPGs that seemingly got quite favorable critical reviews but little fanfare in the gaming community, perhaps due to the unimpressive graphics or perhaps due to the small-scale indie origins and virtually no advertising budget. I've played both a little bit (maybe 30 hours on Din's Curse and 10 hours on Drox Operative), but I've been very intrigued.
They both start out with an old, very familiar ARPG format. You begin the game with a character (or a ship), and you can go into the dungeon (solar system) and fight monsters (alien space creatures and ships). In exchange for defeating them, you get gold (credits) and gear that can raise your stats (damage, defense, etc.). Some of the more exotic gear can raise your stats in different and interesting ways. You also complete quests for NPCs, and in exchange you get experience, money, and perhaps a choice bit of gear.
This is a very familiar formula, and given the lack of eye-candy in the game, you start to wonder if you just purchased a Diablo knock-off circa 1999. This is the "something old" part of both of these games. But then something peculiar happens.
You realize that this isn't a campaign game on rails. Things are happening in the random, procedurally-generated world around you, and they can dramatically affect the world in which you're operating. They can even affect whether you win this particular scenario or lose it.
In Din's Curse, if you take too long to eliminate a boss monster who is amassing troops in the dungeon beneath the town, the monsters will come boiling out of the dungeon and start killing townspeople. They might even kill the Armorer, meaning you can't buy any more Armor from that town. If they kill too many of the people in the town, the town is considered overrun--you are defeated, and the god Din teleports you onto the next town to see if you can do a better job of saving it.
On the other hand, if you complete the quest that the Armorer has sent you on to find him special raw materials in the dungeon below, not only does he give you some nice gold, XP, and maybe a specially crafted item, but he also makes better armor for all the other people in the town, so they'll be more successful at fighting off the next invasion. The townspeople are quite dynamic--they get hungry (and can even die of hunger if not well-fed), they trade with each other, some of them even take up devil worship on the sly and start crafting dimensional portals to allow monsters into the town.
The ARPG isn't simply a game on rails, with combat against [insert next boss encounter here] being the only source of drama or challenge in the game. The world is evolving around you, and usually not in a direction of your choosing. This introduces a sense of tension, because time is scarce and you're forced to evaluate trade-offs. It also introduces a nice strategic layer.
In Din's Curse, you start facing dilemmas like, "Do I complete the quest to help the people of this town build an Ice Totem, so they'll be better able to withstand all attacks, or do I work to quickly move against that boss creature whom NPCs are telling me I need to move against soon?" You're given a quest to go find and rescue a new Armorer from Level 5 of the dungeon, but is that the best way to preserve the village's odds of survival and get your character better gear, or do you think you can complete the defense of this village without ever providing new Armor for your hero or the townspeople?
In Drox Operative, it's even more of a sand box world. You're thrown into a random sector of space, populated by numerous cooperating and competing races, and you have to figure out how to chart your way. You are an agent for a super-secretive spy guild that offers you various ways to further their influence throughout the sector, but almost all of them involve establishing different types of relationships with the aliens in the sector. You can win by allying yourself with the race(s) that will triumph eventually, or by establishing a reputation of such fear or awe that all of the races will respect the legacy of the Drox. Diplomatic victory is an option, as is amassing so much money that the Drox can fund their own operations here.
You'll be offered a million quests to complete, and all offer money and XP. But completing quests for different races also affects relationships. Completing a quest for the Dryad race will improve your relationship with them (and perhaps grant cheaper access to the advanced Deflector technology and Damage Control components that they are known for), but it will also antagonize your relations with races who don't care so much for the Dryad.
In the meantime, the galaxy is evolving around you, often quite rapidly. Races create their own warships to protect their own planets and colony ships to colonize other nearby compatible planets. They also create cruise ships, although I'm not sure what their function is (to raise money, perhaps?). Each planet has its own stats--production of ships, generation of income, technology research.
It's not your job to manage these planets, but you can nudge them in different directions through direct actions (sabotage will hurt them and you probably won't even be caught, while completing quests or buying lots of gear at a planet might provide them economic benefits). In the meantime, space monsters will attack them, as will competing alien races if war breaks out.
Your interaction with the races is also open-ended. You can gift technologies you discover to one race, in hopes of pushing it to dominance in the sector. Or you can sell different techologies to the highest bidder, in the hopes of establishing enough money to win an economic victory. As an agent of the Drox, you can try to start rumors that will antagonize (or improve) relations between two races. If relations deteriorate too far, races can even declare war on you.
There's a lot going on and you're not expected to manage all of it (or even be aware of it). You're just trying to surf events to find a path to victory for you and your Drox benefactors. Sometimes, events will overtake you and the Drox agenda in a sector will be defeated. In that case, the Drox will send you on to another sector.
Both games are very open-ended. That's the "something new" that sits on top of the old-fashioned ARPG game.
I'm still struggling with the open-ended nature of these games. It's unsettling, not knowing if I'm doing the right thing or whether I'm making a difference. But both games have me intrigued. If anybody has more experience with either game, I'd love to hear more about them.
This seems to be indie developers at their best. They take some familiar types of games, and add an innovative wrinkle that's too risky for a major publisher to fund, but can produce some quirky and very successful games. This doesn't require huge polygon counts or a massive development budget. All it requires is some creativity and an ability to create different pieces of a game that work together nicely.
Din's Curse is an excellent ARPG. The only gripe I really have is that I wish you could zoom out further.
Quote from: Bison on February 09, 2014, 07:47:03 PM
Din's Curse is an excellent ARPG. The only gripe I really have is that I wish you could zoom out further.
Yeah, another level of zoom out would be nice.
I have Din's Curse and it's expansion. Actually forgot about those with all the other stuff I've picked up in the last couple years. Need to dig them out again.
While I like DC, I wasn't so impressed with Drox Operative. It didn't grab me like the other. I think Space Rangers HD does it better, with more variety.
Man, Din's Curse sounds pretty darn fine. I really, really don't need another game. However...Ugh the temptation is strong young Jedi... ::)
Isn't Drox Operative 2 in development right now? Or am I thinking of Space Pirates and Zombies 2?
I'm not sure if Drox Operative 2 is in development or not. They released some additional DLC late last year which is $9.99 (original game is still retailing for $19.99). The original DO is actually in the midst of a Greenlight campaign on Steam. Or, at least, it was a week ago.
DC is obviously a few years old. I think I got it on the Steam Holiday sale for $4.99, plus the Demon Wars DLC for another $1.99. Both were great bargains.
Toonces, if you aren't sure, you can download the demos for both games at http://www.soldak.com/.
I too struggle with how claustrophobic the screen feels in both games. I know that was an intentional design decision (done in part to limit the power of shooters, I suspect), and it adds to the tension in the game a little bit, but having it be just a bit larger would help me to feel like I was in more command.
Nefaro, Drox Operative does remind me of Space Rangers 2 (and its HD ilk), which is high praise. It's too early for me to figure out whether DO's open-endedness is a strength or a weakness. SR2 was a lot of fun, but the replay value is a bit limited. I have yet to decide whether the "blue sky" format of DO is a strength or a weakness.
Quote from: FarAway Sooner on February 09, 2014, 07:34:49 PM
In Drox Operative, it's even more of a sand box world. You're thrown into a random sector of space, populated by numerous cooperating and competing races, and you have to figure out how to chart your way. You are an agent for a super-secretive spy guild that offers you various ways to further their influence throughout the sector, but almost all of them involve establishing different types of relationships with the aliens in the sector. You can win by allying yourself with the race(s) that will triumph eventually, or by establishing a reputation of such fear or awe that all of the races will respect the legacy of the Drox. Diplomatic victory is an option, as is amassing so much money that the Drox can fund their own operations here.
You'll be offered a million quests to complete, and all offer money and XP. But completing quests for different races also affects relationships. Completing a quest for the Dryad race will improve your relationship with them (and perhaps grant cheaper access to the advanced Deflector technology and Damage Control components that they are known for), but it will also antagonize your relations with races who don't care so much for the Dryad.
In the meantime, the galaxy is evolving around you, often quite rapidly. Races create their own warships to protect their own planets and colony ships to colonize other nearby compatible planets. They also create cruise ships, although I'm not sure what their function is (to raise money, perhaps?). Each planet has its own stats--production of ships, generation of income, technology research.
It's not your job to manage these planets, but you can nudge them in different directions through direct actions (sabotage will hurt them and you probably won't even be caught, while completing quests or buying lots of gear at a planet might provide them economic benefits). In the meantime, space monsters will attack them, as will competing alien races if war breaks out.
Your interaction with the races is also open-ended. You can gift technologies you discover to one race, in hopes of pushing it to dominance in the sector. Or you can sell different techologies to the highest bidder, in the hopes of establishing enough money to win an economic victory. As an agent of the Drox, you can try to start rumors that will antagonize (or improve) relations between two races. If relations deteriorate too far, races can even declare war on you.
There's a lot going on and you're not expected to manage all of it (or even be aware of it). You're just trying to surf events to find a path to victory for you and your Drox benefactors. Sometimes, events will overtake you and the Drox agenda in a sector will be defeated. In that case, the Drox will send you on to another sector.
Both games are very open-ended. That's the "something new" that sits on top of the old-fashioned ARPG game.
Thanks for the great review! It's funny you mention this game: I came across a reference to it a few days ago and I was like "Drox Operative? What is that?" People were raving about it at the time. After reading your review, I can see why! It sounds like Crusader Kings in space. :)
I like to think I keep a close eye on gaming so if I completely missed this game, I am sure scads of others have as well. The dev's decision to put this on Steam is a good one: it should go a long way to getting it the exposure that it needs!
The Steam Greenlight page is here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122180124&searchtext=Drox+Operative
I guess it has been Greenlit because the page isn't asking for votes anymore.
Thanks for the heads up!
Jarhead: I know SPAZ 2 has been announced, so maybe you are thinking of that.
BTW: Drox reminds me of Arcen's new game, The Last Federation.
I know so many people rave about Space Rangers 2...personally, I just don't get it. I have tried on three separate occasions to play and enjoy and for some reason it never feels deep, serious or fun. The comparisons with DO don't strike me as a positive testament and so far have scared me away.
Current price for DC is $10 and $5 for DW expansion directly from Soldak. Very tempting but I will try the demo first.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 10, 2014, 07:03:48 AM
I know so many people rave about Space Rangers 2...personally, I just don't get it. I have tried on three separate occasions to play and enjoy and for some reason it never feels deep, serious or fun. The comparisons with DO don't strike me as a positive testament and so far have scared me away.
SR2 was quirky, unpredictable, and sometimes downright whacky (e.g., the mission where you have to play strip poker with the middle-aged secretary to get her to take her glasses off so you can steal them to accomplish a crucial mission objective). It was as much about novelty and silliness as it was serious gaming. If that's what put you off, you don't need to worry.
Drox has a very different tone. It's NOT a wargame, just like
Diablo and
Torchlight and all the other ARPGs aren't. But it's not a Monty Python Space Opera, either. It's deep. In some ways, it's so deep I worry that it might be opaque, and I have no idea if some of the less blatant stuff I do matters. But trying to figure that out has kept me pretty darn entertained.