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[Role Playing Game] The Curse of Baahl

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"Five former champions have been defeated, and dragged into the bowels of a dark dungeon. There, they have suffered through day after day of torturing from sadistic demons and wretches. Now they spend their days in the

dungeon's prison, plotting their escape and their plan to assassinate Baahl, the keeper of the dungeon, and one of the demon lords of Hell.
This, is the Curse of Baahl.
"

Asides from the hammy backstory, The Curse of Baahl is an Action Hack-n-Slash (Coop) RPG game. It will support up to 5 players for multiplayer, and will
be playable in single player as well (but will have no Allied Hero AI Support).

The map will be composed of 3 maps in total; one map for each Act.

Note: This project is still in very early development. But I will release a beta once it is playable enough.

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Length
The game will be around to 90~ minutes long, or so it's planned to be, on Moderate difficulty. It will be split into 3 Acts, and each Act will be composed of Chapters. The first Act will be the

easiest and shortest of all 3, the second Act will be the longest out of the 3, and the third Act will be the hardest.

Basic Gameplay
The basic gameplay will be, well, hacking and slashing. You'll be fighting enemies in the dungeon, killing them, taking any loot they might have dropped and then moving on to the next area. Although, to prevent this from getting

repetitive, there will be puzzles and minigames thrown into the mix as well, so you won't be just fighting all the time.

You will also encounter a few Optional Quests as you progress: if you complete them, you will be rewarded in one way or another. If you don't, nothing will change.

Of course, there will also be boss fights occasionally. You will usually encounter a boss at the end of each chapter, and definitely one at the end of each Act (Chapters and Acts elaborated below).

Each boss will be different than the other ones, and might require a special tactic to be killed (so for example, you won't be just whacking some of them over and over and expect them to die at some point).

There will also be secrets lying around the map. They will most likely be secret items, and there might be secret rooms and areas as well.

Difficulties
There will be 5 base difficulty settings: Casual, Moderate, Challenging, Brutal, and Insane.
Basically, Casual = Easy, Moderate = Normal, Challenging = Hard, Brutal = Very Hard, and Insane = Ultra Hard.

On Casual, enemies will be weaker in overall, some strong ones will be removed and some of their abilities will be removed. Heroes on this difficulty will gain less experience and gold.

On Challenging to Insane, enemies will be stronger, weaker ones will be replaced with stronger ones (on Brutal and Insane, at least), and they will get new abilities (again, on Brutal and Insane, at least), while their other

abilities might be buffed. Heroes on these difficulties will gain more experience and gold.

Difficulty will also be adjusted depending on the number of players in the game. For example, playing with 5 players will cause monsters to be stronger than playing with 2 players. If a player leaves the game, then the

difficulty will be permanently downgraded. But, if a player dies, difficulty will be temporarily downgraded until(/if) they are revived.

Sub-Game modes will also be available, but optional. Such as Hardcore (ala Diablo 2, heroes cannot revive in any way upon death), Speedrun (you have a limited amount of time to clear an area, if

you don't make it under the time limit, enemies won't give experience, bounty or loot.), Uber Regeneration (tripled health/mana regeneration when out of combat for 60 seconds) etc. If you have any ideas about more submodes,

they'd be appreciated.

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Once the map begins, players will be presented with a Soul, which they can use to select their desired hero.
Once the hero is selected, the players will be presented with a set of skills to choose from: 6 normal skills, 4 ultimates, and 2 innate abilities. Out of those, they can select only 3 normal skills, 1

ultimate and 1 innate.
The innate ability will be available to them from the start, and will grow in power as the hero levels up. The 3 normal ones will be available to the hero from level 1, and can be leveled up to 7 times, while the ultimates become

available to the hero on level 6, 12, 18 and 24 (for each level respectively).

There will be 8 regular heroes, which you can pick from, and a few secret heroes, which will require you to type a code in the chatbox to activate. You will be given one or two of their codes upon finding a secret, completing an

optional quest or finishing the game.

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"Two demons strode up towards the throne, secretly cowering in fear at the sight of their mighty leader. Sure, he looked bored and tired, but that made him nonetheless scarier for he was known to torture even his own guards for entertainment.

His figure was misshapen. Hundreds of battle scars were slashed upon his face and limbs. His armor shone in the dim lights of the room. This lord was like no other, as he enjoyed fighting. Even his royal guards seemed doubtful that they'd survive much longer in service to this menacing figure. But even still, they readied their weapons as the two approached, because they were extremely loyal to their Lord Baahl.

It seemed to take forever as the two walked up the torn carpet to confront the Lord. They kneeled as a hundred eyes followed their every movement. When Baahl finally took the energy to look up, darkness and unholy power seemed to fill the shaking demons.

He stared at them for a while, until one of the two dragged his eyes very slowly to look into the Lord's face. Immediantly, he dropped his gaze again. Every time someone looked at their own leader, they seemed to be flooded by all the elements themselves. Something no minor demon could handle.

Everyone, except the Lord of course, gasped as their leader's face grew angry. His disapointed frown scared even the most highly advanced servant. The fires on the torches grew brighter, the vines that snuck their way into the room from the rivers and mountains above seemed to grow longer, and the waves above stirred and splashed mightily, even though they were extremely far up.

"Can't even my own servants appear before me without cowering?" Scowled Baahl, his expression purely sarcastic and horrid.

"I... my great, powerful Lord ... I bring a message from the Torture chambers ..." The effort to speak even these few words strained the kneeling demon to a point where he could surely explode with fear and disapointment.

But if the words weren't enough to show that something was wrong, then Baahl's face confirmed it. Rapid breathing, harsh expressions and his eyes literally burning with fire. He stared down at the demon who spoke, who secretly wished he didn't.

"What happened!" Baahl's yell was as strong as the strongest wind. It blew across the room, rebounding across the walls and doors. No wonder the servants looked up as they tended to the fires in the area.

"I ... my lord ... you must believe me ... but it wasn't my fault ... I mean, I wasn't ..."

"WHAT HAPPENED!"

The other demon stood, and faced the Lord, who looked surprised. Even the minor demons supported each other under the rule of Baahl. As a greater demon, Baahl had the command of all the other minor demons who weren't under the rule of the other 6 greaters.

"My Lord, please. Calm your anger, it isn't getting you anywhere ..."

But his final words were drowned by a demonic yelp as the Lord Baahl struck him with a mighty fist, sending him flying across the ground. He lay there, spluttering blood over the already overly filthy carpet.

Just that moment, another demon, Tritus, ran in. He was larger then the others, and had a few battle scars to prove that he didn't take no for an answer, he was one of Baahl's strongest soldiers and a commander of his armies. He ran up to the throne, not even caring to look down at the figure struggling to get up off the ground.

"My Lord!" He kneeled, and Baahl's tense face seemed to soften. Here was a demon he could trust. Still a lesser demon, but a trustworthy demon nonetheless.

"So, what has happened in the torture chambers?" The newly emerged demon looked reluctant to speak, but still pushed onwards.

"My Lord, enemies approach! Think, far back into the past, when you captured those petty 'champions' and tortured them day and night ..."

"Yes, yes, I remember, how could I not? They almost stole my life ..."

"Yes, well, they've escaped, My Lord! The prison warden was sleeping and the group of five assassinated him! How they did it was unknown, but my spies immediately told me of the situation. Apparently, they have no thought for treasure or escape. They want to slay you, and from what I've heard, they're quite strong in the way of weapons and magic!"

The few spots of Baahl's softened expression was immediantly replaced with a smirk.

"Let them come ..." Baahl spoke grimly, "... let them feel the Curse of Baahl...""

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I don't have many screenshots to share at the moment, but I'll be updating to show progress.
For the moment, here's some Work-In-Progress screenies of some areas :)


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First and foremost, thanks to BeRock Artworks for the main logo!
Many thanks to Lolzaxis for the backstory!
And thanks to Raiden/RaidenStorms for ideas!
This map was also inspired by the Diablo series, and WarChasers.

Currently used Resources
This part is Work in Progress, since I'm constantly using more resources, I'll update it constantly as well.
 
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Hmm...you mean something like one map for every act? Never thought of that, but sounds good. Will probably allow for more freedom while making rather than "Need to make X small so that Y and Z will fit in the map". Thanks for the suggestion! :]

Although, once all the maps are done, I am allowed to upload all of them on the Maps section? (since it will basically be the same level, but a different chapter)
 
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Thought that is Curse of Baah! I really laugh but I found out its Baahl...LOL! BTW, lets go to your game, I like your game and looks promising. Its like Diablo that is composed of Acts and puzzles. Well, I really like maps with puzzles to make it fun and this one is what Im waiting for. Wish you a good luck in this game. Looking forward:thumbs_up:

NOTE: Post some of your WiP maps here so we can play it and give you some tips!::grin:
 
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Lol, seems everyone thought it's called the Curse of Baah! xD

And thanks for the compliments! :] As for WiP maps, I will post some once they are playable enough, like, at least one area/chapter and 1-2 heroes being complete, but I'll be posting screenies to show progress in the meantime ^^
 
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Lol, seems everyone thought it's called the Curse of Baah! xD

And τhanks for the compliments! :] As for WiP maps, I will post some once they are playable enough, like, at least one area/chapter and 1-2 heroes being complete, but I'll be posting screenies to show progress in the meantime ^^

Thats' great that you will post some WiP! Keep up the good job. Dont stop this now!:thumbs_up:
 
Level 8
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Thanks for the motivation boost! ^^

Speaking of WiP pics, here's a bit of progress/prototype of the first area (click me!)

I haven't added any doodads or tiles yet (except some tiles for the starting area), but this is the layout. The Armory and Prisoner Cells will be part of optional quests, but will give you a reward if you finish them :p (like all optional quests)

Note: Since there are lots of 'em, Iron Gates in the map will open when you approach them, so you won't need to destroy them. Although you will have to for Dungeon Gates, and any other gate will need something special to be opened (i.e. key, lever pulled, puzzle solved, all nearby enemies dead, etc)
 
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Thanks for the motivation boost! ^^

Speaking of WiP pics, here's a bit of progress/prototype of the first area (click me!)

I haven't added any doodads or tiles yet (except some tiles for the starting area), but this is the layout. The Armory and Prisoner Cells will be part of optional quests, but will give you a reward if you finish them :p (like all optional quests)

Note: Since there are lots of 'em, Iron Gates in the map will open when you approach them, so you won't need to destroy them. Although you will have to for Dungeon Gates, and any other gate will need something special to be opened (i.e. key, lever pulled, puzzle solved, all nearby enemies dead, etc)

The terrain is too simple.... Oh, I forgot that your not yet adding the doodads and tiles.... Keep going. Looking forward to this game.:thumbs_up:
 
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Hmm...you mean something like one map for every act? Never thought of that, but sounds good. Will probably allow for more freedom while making rather than "Need to make X small so that Y and Z will fit in the map". Thanks for the suggestion! :]

Although, once all the maps are done, I am allowed to upload all of them on the Maps section? (since it will basically be the same level, but a different chapter)

Yep. Somehow like that. Maybe just 160x160 to 224x224 would do.

Also the terrain is too simple. Check "Obsidian Depths" for some inspiration.
 
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I'm gonna use 224x224 for now, and if there's any unneeded space, reduce it to 224x192/160.

About the terrain, yeah, that pic was WIP. I've added tile variation now and adding doodads, will then polish it after finishing gameplay. Altho, I doubt I can make spectacular terrain like Obsidian Depths has. o_O
 
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Alright, I'll search for some light doodads then. Though, what do you mean by DayNight stuff?

Edit: Oh, SetDayNightModels("","")?

Edit 2: Well, it looks like this with the new lighting,

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still working on it, but I like it better than the classic lighting. Thanks for the tip anyways! ^^
 
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Testing out how fog looks with the new lighting, not sure if it's too blueish that it makes normal lights look like blue lights or not,

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Also 2 new areas:
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Thoughts?

Maybe black but I liked it! But this fog only fits on this type of terrain, a dungeon or prison but for forest... plains...... no! Unless you create a underwater this fog will fit.:thumbs_up:
 
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Loving the aesthetic of the terrain! Also, the idea for the gameplay is great, I have always liked Diablo-esque dungeon crawlers :)

The non-doodad-flooded areas look good, although I think some parts could do with only a little but more detail, a few skulls, limbs, etc... Other than that, I like it. The blue lighting is especially cool, haven't seen a map like this with custom lighting for quite a while, nicely done.
 
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Very nice! Gj on this! :)

Thanks! ^^

Loving the aesthetic of the terrain! Also, the idea for the gameplay is great, I have always liked Diablo-esque dungeon crawlers :)

The non-doodad-flooded areas look good, although I think some parts could do with only a little but more detail, a few skulls, limbs, etc... Other than that, I like it. The blue lighting is especially cool, haven't seen a map like this with custom lighting for quite a while, nicely done.

Glad you like it! :pgrin: Hmm...I suppose I can put some skulls and/or corpses in areas without too many doodads, thanks for the suggestion. :)
 
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Sounds great, and I really look forward to it!

I can also help if you want. I'm not much use with terraining/triggering or anything, but I can write the background stories for the areas/bosses and stuff? Message my Hive account if your interested in my offer.

Anyway, it looks promising. Good luck! :ogre_hurrhurr:
 
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Alright, I've sent you a PM about it. ^^

On a side-note, here's two screenies of early gameplay with the Berserker hero;


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Credits

SKINS:
Kwaliti - Satyr skin
Goliath the God - Chaos Troll Warrior

MODELS:
PROXY - Goddess of War

SYSTEMS:
Julanio - Floating Damage&Spells
Marsal - Advanced Experience and Bounty System


Maybe it doesn't look like much, but it's a start. :p

EDIT: Also updated the main post with a backstory, thanks to Lolzaxis. :)
 
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Agreed with Drunken about the fog, a semi-dark blue fog fits any kind of environment, from ocean, dungeons, etc etc. Since blue it really brings a soothing effect at any given situation. It also stands for bringing peace and calm. Not only this, blue is a color that stands for protection friendship, truth and sensitivity. It simple give coolness. But when you make it a bit darker, the feeling of paranoia, panic and sorrow combines with the other emotions that blue adds on the atmosphere.
 
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Done with the first area's terrain, so here's the final pics for the moment;

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Will start working on gameplay now ^^ Though, not sure if to release an alpha out or not after 3-4 heroes and 2-3 areas are done or finish some more stuff first...

Liked again your terrain! Keep it up. Hey, I love that light in your terrain... Whats that? BTW, here's your REP for the cool terrain you got.:grin:

Alright, I've sent you a PM about it. ^^

On a side-note, here's two screenies of early gameplay with the Berserker hero;


xQbDz.jpg

Lgc2n.jpg


Credits

SKINS:
Kwaliti - Satyr skin
Goliath the God - Chaos Troll Warrior

MODELS:
PROXY - Goddess of War

SYSTEMS:
Julanio - Floating Damage&Spells
Marsal - Advanced Experience and Bounty System


Maybe it doesn't look like much, but it's a start. :p

EDIT: Also updated the main post with a backstory, thanks to Lolzaxis. :)

Liked the model of the hero. I somewhat know that model because I have used it on my project map (my Godlands map) but it crashed it so be careful that model might crashed your map and you cant open it anymore.... Well, that happened to my map.

BTW, like the hero.... but any screenshots showing the hero casting some abilities? Want to see its abilities.
 
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Liked again your terrain! Keep it up. Hey, I love that light in your terrain... Whats that? BTW, here's your REP for the cool terrain you got.:grin:

Thank you! ^^ And the light is the Ceiling Light by Tranquil.

Liked the model of the hero. I somewhat know that model because I have used it on my project map (my Godlands map) but it crashed it so be careful that model might crashed your map and you cant open it anymore.... Well, that happened to my map.

BTW, like the hero.... but any screenshots showing the hero casting some abilities? Want to see its abilities.

Hmm...will be keeping an eye out then, if the model causes problems, then I'll replace it. Thanks for letting me know. ^^

As for ability screenshots, I'm still working on her abilities, will post some screenies of her using them once I'm done with at least half.
Although right now, I'm working on getting units done for the first area, then completing her, so it may take a while until I finish all her spells and have screenies :/
 
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