Make Your Own Dungeon With Dungeon Maker
You could probably call it the "Dungeon Master Construction Set," but a new, free 3D RPG engine is now available in an early, alpha state. Entitled Dungeon Maker, it includes a toolset and sample dungeons - including a remake of the landmark RPG, Dungeon Master.


While the game limits you to the four cardinal directions of facing and movement, the graphics are "real" 3D. Which means the turns are smooth, staircases don't necessitate a level-load, the player vantage point bobs about in a simulation of human movement (and breathing), and there are nifty lighting options, among other things.

The program (and editor) are still in alpha, so guesses are they aren't quite ready for prime time. Looking at the tools, I can see some limits to how much customization you have over the game rules and interface. And the current version uses some assets that are probably in violation of copyrights at this point. And there's the usual problems with stability and everything associated with an alpha stage toolset.

So I'm not quite ready to bag the development work I've done on Frayed Knights so far to jump over to this engine. But if the developer, Wishbone, continues development on it, I can see it perhaps becoming a viable engine for future indie RPGs. It looks like it has potential, at least.

The question in my mind is just how much customization it will allow when completed. While the ability to re-create the gaming experience of Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, and other cRPGs of the late 80's / early 90's with more modern graphics is definitely cool, the important thing is whether or not indie developers will be able to exceed the design of these old games in key ways. After all, we DID get Bard's Tale Construction Set and Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures back then. I loved the games back then, but I'd like to see indies give us something more than just a retread of those classics.

Still, this looks like something worth keeping an eye on. You need look no further than the success of Aveyond, Cute Knight, or Spiderweb's games to see that some creativity and unique flavor can not only breathe new vigor into an "old school" RPG engine, but can also make it commercially viable. Maybe the next "hit" indie RPG will be made with Dungeon Maker.

You can download the current alpha version at the official Dungeon Maker website.

A hat tip goes out to Independent Gaming for the heads-up on this one.

Labels: Indie Evangelism, programming, Roleplaying Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 2:00 AM (Permalink)