Rimelands: Hammer of Thor by Dicework Games

[ChiffaN]

I've just finished up the interview with Dicework Games about their upcoming RPG. The full piece will go up on the main site soon, but you can check the announcement here

Update: the interview is up

Interview with Arto & Peter from Dicework Games – Rimelands: Hammer Of Thor was actually the game we originally wanted to do.

A few teasers:

Combat

The combat is turn-based in the same way as in many roguelike games: on each turn you move to an adjacent tile or perform a single action. Then, all the enemies visible do the same. The basic tactical choices depend on your character build: melee path characters’ tactics involve efficient use of weapons and talents, ranged characters will find to their advantage to keep mobile and plan their routes, while magic users need to keep track of their mana reserves.

Varying enemy types will require different strategies and some enemies will work together, so you’ll need to think carefully which opponents to tackle first and with which attacks.

We are taking efforts to ensure that the game mechanics are as transparent as possible, so you’ll always have a good grasp about the consequences of your choices. The main guideline is that if you fail, you’ll have a good understanding of what actions most probably lead to your demise.

Exploration And Story

The game features both random generated and pre-designed levels, latter of which will also include some light puzzle elements. There won’t be too many mazes, but people wanting to search any nook and cranny will find their efforts rewarded by additional treasures.

The main plot in the game will be linear and there won’t be any dialogue trees, but additional side quests will be there. We’re taking care not to drown anyone in the dialogue, so all the conversations in the game game will be pretty short. We’re also planning (skippable) cut-scenes in between the levels to carry out the story, but we can’t yet tell how they will be handled.

The mood of the story will be light, adventurous and slightly humorous, but with some more epic and serious undertones.

In retrospect, the Nausicaa vibe some have noticed in the forums is a good perception, although Laputa has been a more conscious inspiration. Among many others, of course.

Some key points I've got from the developers:

• There won't be set classes, rather there will be skill trees for melee, ranged and magic allowing to customize the charatcer to your own liking
• There will only be 4 equipment slots
• There will be an engineering system allowing to create new equipment using blueprints. Players will be able to share blueprints via special codes
• The world map will cover Northern Europe with both dungeon and open-air levels to crawl through
• Out of combat the game will be real-time
• The expected ETA is 2-3 months

[NineSwords]

I guess I'll get it if it won't be too expensive. It looks at least very promissing.

[ChiffaN]

I promise we'll do a full review as soon as it is out. Maybe even a preview once the beta-testing starts. We'll see, we still have some time to get our appetites up.

[RustySabre]

This looks pretty cool to me. Based on the skill system it sounds a bit like Dungeon Siege. I think this is going to be a good year for RPGs on the iPhone.

[ChiffaN]

The inter view is up, see the link in the start of the post.

[shigzeo]

ChiffaN, sometimes, I really hate you! Looks great, thanks.

[ChiffaN]

shigzeo, whaaaaat?

[RustySabre]

@ChiffaN Nice interview! I usually tend to skim and drift off after a while, but I read the whole thing. The game sounds really cool, and I like the developers' philosophies behind the game. I'm even more interested to see this when it comes out now.