Brief But Important Castlevania Poll

This forum is for discussion pertaining to homebrew and indie software for the Dreamcast, such as homebrew games, emulators/interpreters, and other homebrew software/applications. Porting requests and developmental ideas are not to be made here; you can make those here. If you need any help burning discs for homebrew software, this is the place to ask as well.
Post Reply

Which gameplay element should we be *MOST* careful to preserve?

Action (fighting & dodging; challenging enemy encounters)
2
10%
Platforming (pits, platforms, stairways, elevators..."jumping puzzles" and the like)
7
35%
Puzzles (giving a challenge in figuring out a trick or what to do next; how to unlock areas, get extras, etc.)
1
5%
Exploration (a vast and varying castle with interest-grabbing design and many areas to explore)
6
30%
Items & Extras (keeping as wide a variety as possible in the number of weapons, shields, pick-ups, spells, familiars, and other player-useable items)
0
No votes
Atmosphere (compelling visual design, sound effects and music to "set the mood")
4
20%
 
Total votes: 20
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
https://www.artistsworkshop.eu/meble-kuchenne-na-wymiar-warszawa-gdzie-zamowic/
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Brief But Important Castlevania Poll

Post by DaMadFiddler »

As I'm getting more of the design work done on my game, I'm trying to get a feel for what is most important to people. The maps obviously have to be changed slightly to work in a 3D environment, and obviously all of the elements in the above poll are important...but what is MOST important to you? Which do you feel is most important to be preserved in my 2D-to-3D conversion of "Symphony of the Night"?

I'm not going to try to exclude anything, so answers of "it's all important" or "just keep it as close to the original as possible" aren't really helpful; I'm trying to figure out what people enjoyed most about the game, or perhaps what seemed to be lacking most in the "official" 3D interations, or...well, just what I should invest the most time and effort into. So please take a moment to think about your answer, and vote in the poll.

Comments and discussion are also welcome.
User avatar
Christuserloeser
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5949
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 12:16 am
Location: DCEvolution.net
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Post by Christuserloeser »

Mmh. I won't vote because I definitly can't decide which one to choose...

The last four points may be my favorite gameplay elements. I'd consider them as comparable important.

*thinking again about it*

...maybe I'll vote for Atmosphere though, because if it wouldn't have a good Atmosphere all the other elements will loose their importance...
Insane homebrew collector.
The Kron
DCEmu Respected
DCEmu Respected
Posts: 2858
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2002 3:53 pm
Location: Bristol,UK
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Post by The Kron »

*All of the above. sorry, but you need the balance of everything
mozie
Insane DCEmu
Insane DCEmu
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2003 10:34 am
Location: in front of my pc
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Post by mozie »

Ya i think less of the fighting and a bit more puzzling
Ian Micheal
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Posts: 4865
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2003 9:56 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Post by Ian Micheal »

Exploration (a vast and varying castle with interest-grabbing design and many areas to explore)

This or it will be boring..
Dreamcast forever!!!
rbenchley
DCEmu Freak
DCEmu Freak
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2003 1:59 am
Location: Madison, WI
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Post by rbenchley »

Exploration. That's what made Symphony of the Night so great: a huge castle with secret areas.
Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
-George Carlin
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Hrm; so it seems like the poll results--at least this far--are very close to my own sentiments. Of course, the thing that's requiring the most work to keep faithful in a 3D environment is the platforming aspect, but it's also what I felt has been most lacking in both LoI and the N64 games. LoI also had a rather boring and repetitive castle, so I'm doing the best I can in that respect. I'm glad to see that nobody's main focus is item/enemy variety, because--although I'm trying to keep as much as I can--due to the massive nature of SotN and the limited resources available to me, it's probably what's going to take the biggest hit. I've got some great people working on SFX and music with me, and as long as we don't skimp on the enemies and hazards, I don't think the action is going to be too much of an issue.

The only thing I was slightly surprised at is that nobody voted for the puzzles. There weren't that many, but I thought that they added an interesting and very important little extra to the game, to help break up the monotony of running around and slashing things. Of course, this might have been a reaction to Legacy of Darkness, which kind of focused on simple-puzzle-solving a little bit too much, to where the action & platforming aspects suffered a bit.

But keep those thoughts coming; I'm currently working on getting a site put together for the game, and I hope to keep a strong dialogue going with everyone to make this as good a game as possible.
Ian Micheal
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Posts: 4865
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2003 9:56 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Post by Ian Micheal »

N64 games were the best of the lot.. if you got close to them i pay $30 for it.
Dreamcast forever!!!
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Post by DaMadFiddler »

...If you're looking for the N64 Castlevanias, you can get

CV64 here:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/153012.asp

and Legacy of Darkness here:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/166212.asp

The former is $12, and the latter is $27 (US$). Of course, there is the issue of shipping, but EBGames is a pretty major company so there shouldn't be too much of an issue with that. They also run free shipping promotions from time to time, but those may be US-exclusive.


Or, even cheaper, at GameStop:

CV64 @ $7:
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=918177

CV: LoD @ $17:
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=918265
Ian Micheal
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Soul Sold for DCEmu
Posts: 4865
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2003 9:56 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Post by Ian Micheal »

I own them i buy your game im talking about if it was like or close to CV64 My wife would make me do it. I bought CV64 for a lot of money at the time $60 and the other when for $40 she likes CV64 the best.

I think a lot of people do but just will not admitt it even i liked it.. To me better then mario 64 ..

But each to his own. It was the first CV game i had played apart from Castlevania on the c64..
Dreamcast forever!!!
Post Reply