D&D 5E Why a New D&D Video Game Should Be 16bit/2D

It has been a long time since we have had a great D&D video game. One could almsot argue it has been 17 years since we have had a great one or over a decade since we have had a good one.

Now game development is stupidly expensive. A "cheap" game like Pillars of Eternity is around 4 million dollars to make. An even cheaper game is around 1 million which will get you something like Sins of a Solar Empire or Europa Unversalis IV apparently.

A good game in this price range can still sell a million units.

For less than a million dollars you are getting into indie game territory. He you are looking at basic cartoony grpahics and/or short games or games with 16 bit graphics. Or at least modern 16 bit graphics.

Whats 16 bit graphics? Basically it is the old Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis/Megadrive levle of graphics from 1989-1996 or so before the PS1 and N64 turned up/blew up. Technically the 32 bit era started in 1994 but it was more like 1995 or 1996.

Back then we had some great RPGs some of which I even still play on occasion. In my household we have a PS4 and XboxOne and we have the Mass Effects and the Wife players Dragon Age, Witcher 3.

Here is a game I used to play back in 1995 or so and last played to competition around 10 years ago.

Shining Force II

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...en4sTRAhUCkJQKHbF-AMAQsAQIGQ&biw=1920&bih=950

From around the same time we also had Phantasy Star IV.

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=P...3C4sTRAhXBJZQKHd5AAX8QsAQIGQ&biw=1920&bih=950

Last played a few years ago.

Now one can still get games with graphics like this. I bought my wife this game for Christmas.

Stardew Valley

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...n-4sTRAhVHF5QKHf2cAXIQsAQIGQ&biw=1920&bih=950

The 1st 2 links were games from 1994/1995, Stardew Valley is from 2016. Stardew Valley was mostly done by a single programmer (read cheap).

Stardew Valley was also one of the best games of 2016.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/stardew-valley

http://au.ign.com/games/stardew-valley/pc-20001247

Personally I think Stardew Valley is a good looking game despite its basic graphics and I own Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us.

Put simply if one could make a good looking 2D D&D game with modern "16 bit graphics" I would rather buy that over something like Sword Coast Legends. Here Stardew Valley is $10 cheaper than the D&D Starter Set so its not like you have to sell it at full price either.

If you try and make a cheap 3D game you end up with Rubbish like SCL and Pathfinder Online. If you want to make a cheap game make it look like this or for a bit more money you can have a game looking like EUIV, Sins of a Solar Empire or Pillars of Eternity. A dated 2D game from the mid 90's will also look better IMHO than an early 3D game from 1997 or a bad modern game. Sonic the Hedgehog still looks good on a TV after 25 years.

Then if you have a hit game and you get some income and buzz around it you can go bigger for a sequel and then you have a franchise. Slapping the D&D label on a rubbish 3D game will achieve neither and realistically you are not going to have a smash hit with a cheap 3D game. Make a good looking game that is a good RPG.

I came in here about to fling poo and claim this is a *terrible* idea... but then I remembered tablets and phones exist. Even Nintendo has started making Mario games for the iOS. And SquareEnix has been slowly releasing the Final Fantasy games for the iOS as well.

While I don't think it needs to go pixelated and 16 or 32-bit, a D&D game could be 2D and designed as a simpler mobile game. Simpler 2D sprite games work pretty well on mobile devices, running faster than 3D and being easier on the batteries. As would more cartoony Flash style games.

A retro more 2D JRPG experience that uses the D&D rules and relies on text rather than voices would be cheaper and fun. Quicker and cheaper than another game. It'd be easy to have a "modules" of stories where you adventure and can buy more adventures as DLC/ in-app purchases.

I would play a 16bit Ultima style dnd.

Why Good D&D Video Games Should Put a 16 in Charisma.

You forgot Shovel Knight
http://yachtclubgames.com/shovel-knight/

Jester David said:

I came in here about to fling poo and claim this is a *terrible* idea... but then I remembered tablets and phones exist. Even Nintendo has started making Mario games for the iOS. And SquareEnix has been slowly releasing the Final Fantasy games for the iOS as well.

While I don't think it needs to go pixelated and 16 or 32-bit, a D&D game could be 2D and designed as a simpler mobile game. Simpler 2D sprite games work pretty well on mobile devices, running faster than 3D and being easier on the batteries. As would more cartoony Flash style games.

A retro more 2D JRPG experience that uses the D&D rules and relies on text rather than voices would be cheaper and fun. Quicker and cheaper than another game. It'd be easy to have a "modules" of stories where you adventure and can buy more adventures as DLC/ in-app purchases.

Click to expand...

Same here; I do recall that a 2D sidescrolling tower defense game was announced a couple years back, bur appears to have disappeared?

At any rate, WotC as a licensor doesn't have that much control previously...but with their own studio, we may actually see something like this get made.

Oh God. No more retro pixel video games, please.
That stuff hurts my eyes now. You can make a 2d game with HD now. At least take a look at games with good alternative art styles, like Darkest Dungeon. Heck you could even get like 3 frame animations illustrated by classic dnd artists for nostalgias sake.

And of course having a 2d art style will in no way prevent the game from being potentially horrible.

Leatherhead said:

Oh God. No more retro pixel video games, please.
That stuff hurts my eyes now. You can make a 2d game with HD now. At least take a look at games with good alternative art styles, like Darkest Dungeon. Heck you could even get like 3 frame animations illustrated by classic dnd artists for nostalgias sake.

And of course having a 2d art style will in no way prevent the game from being potentially horrible.

Click to expand...

But it will save money, which could be spent on making a better, more playable game engine, or be spent on music, and other sounds. Note, could, not necessarily "will".

On the subject of a D&D game, my vote is for a more customizable version of Fire emblem, should they go the 2D route. Allow customizing of classes, choosing of stats/spell/weapons/subclass, and you should be good. Also, make the engine think I'm dice rather than flat numbers, so that a sword says 1d8+mod instead of 2-9 damage.

If we are talking big games however, I would kill for a D&D, or really any high fantasy versiom, of Xcom. Already a built in class system, with meaningful choices that alter gameplay. Allow research of spells and weapons, rather than tech, and no longer have the option to fight off any threat that occurs. Instead, your choices lie in what territories to branch your Defenders into, and you can only defend nearby areas. The game engine is pretty much pre built to work well for D&D, IMO, it just needs some reskinning done.

EDIT: Also, the Xcom should think in dice as well. I feel like any D&D engine should say dice numbers for weapons and spells, and maybe tell average damages to help out some people. I won't look at 10d4 and know what the average is, or how it compares to 5d6, but if one average is higher than the other it will help inform a tactical decision.

Have yall heard of the game Dragons Crown?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon's_Crown

fits right in I think