I made a game: Castle on the Night Land

[Andi]

Hello friends. I've made another game in case anyone is interested. It's called Castle on the Night Land. It's an adventure game in which you are trapped in an evil haunted castle and must escape. Use your wits to solve devious puzzles and find hidden secrets.

It's highly inspired by the old DOS game Castle Adventure, complete with monochrome graphics. The soundtrack was also all written by me. It's had some significant playtesting so most major bugs should be eliminated. But please give me your suggestions or tell me if anything seems suspect. I'm really working hard to polish this game up.

It's written in a game creation engine called OHRRPGCE. It runs in Windows.

You can download the game and view screenshots here:
http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?t=4023

I look forward to some of you taking on the challenge.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

This is just what the Dr. ordered. Great classic feel.

The story telling is spot on. I really miss this style of narration.
This is something that simply is lost when everything is presented in high poly graphics.

The description is excellent. I'm dusting off my imagination, a long lost friend in video games.

[Herr Schatten]

The description is excellent. I'm dusting off my imagination, a long lost friend in video games.

If you want to make good use of your imagination, go play some old adventure games. Nothing primitive like the Zork trilogy, but some of the later stuff that came out just before the genre's demise. I especially recommend The Lurking Horror and Jinxter, but you can't go wrong with any text-based game released by either Infocom or Magnetic Scrolls.

[Andi]

This is just what the Dr. ordered. Great classic feel.

The story telling is spot on. I really miss this style of narration.
This is something that simply is lost when everything is presented in high poly graphics.

The other part I love about gaming "back in the day" is that there was so little information available about the games that there was a real sense of discovery. Now it's easy to know all about about a particular game before you even play it and more modern offerings stick close genre expectations so there are rarely those moments of genuine surprise.

Also, with those really old games, they were so cryptic and frustrating, every time I beat one, I would wonder, "I wonder if anyone else has ever seen this ending?

If you want to make good use of your imagination, go play some old adventure games. Nothing primitive like the Zork trilogy, but some of the later stuff that came out just before the genre's demise. I especially recommend The Lurking Horror and Jinxter, but you can't go wrong with any text-based game released by either Infocom or Magnetic Scrolls.

I would recommend that you go straight to the source and fire up Colossal Cave, if you haven't ever before. It's ancient but still very interesting and full great of puzzles and features.

[Slump]

Very cool Andi! Haven't the time to try it out yet but it's downloaded and I'll get to playing asap. Looking forward to it!

[ZOM]

Hey man, great stuff Andi! Love the atmosphere and one-hit kills. You weren't kidding with the save often advice in the readme.

EDIT: this game is brilliant. I got surrounded by vampires in my only save, but I'll restart it tomorrow and hopefully play a bit wiser and use different save slots.

[Andi]

Very cool Andi! Haven't the time to try it out yet but it's downloaded and I'll get to playing asap. Looking forward to it!

Yes! Thank you! That's a dope Adam Warlock avatar, by the way.

EDIT: this game is brilliant. I got surrounded by vampires in my only save, but I'll restart it tomorrow and hopefully play a bit wiser and use different save slots.

Lots of people get hung up at the vampires. They're not as bad as you think.

HERE'S A VERY SPOILERISH HINT YOU CAN READ IF YOU WANT TO WRECK THE WHOLE VAMPIRE EXPERIENCE:

There's an item that kills them.

[Slump]

Gave it a brief play through, got a score of 7, rank of wanderer! Pretty fun little game here Andi. Didn't read the text help file until just now so I'll have to go back and collect all 15 treasures sometime now that I know how many they are. Great job Andi, you've drained 25 min of my life!

[Andi]

Gave it a brief play through, got a score of 7, rank of wanderer! Pretty fun little game here Andi. Didn't read the text help file until just now so I'll have to go back and collect all 15 treasures sometime now that I know how many they are. Great job Andi, you've drained 25 min of my life!

Thanks for playing! To my knowledge you are the 2nd person that beat it. Amazingly, people either plow through the game in 20 minutes without having to think, or get really hung up and quit. There's no middle ground it seems.

Finding the additional treasures should provide you some extra challenge if you are so inclined. If you got 7 of the treasures, it is likely that you didn't even see all the rooms since there are 3 hidden rooms that only hold treasures.

[Subterranean Sun]

Just downloaded it and beat it. Got 12 points... The rest of treasures must be pretty damn well hidden. I bet there is a treasure in one of the coffins in catacomb. Can't find it though.

Overall pretty solid game... I don't usually play adventure games, but I enjoyed this one.

Just a nitpick: you spelled "unable" wrong in the introduction.

[Andi]

Just downloaded it and beat it. Got 12 points... The rest of treasures must be pretty damn well hidden. I bet there is a treasure in one of the coffins in catacomb. Can't find it though.

Overall pretty solid game... I don't usually play adventure games, but I enjoyed this one.

Just a nitpick: you spelled "unable" wrong in the introduction.

Nice work. Thank you for telling me about the spelling error. I'm constantly trying to track those down. I'll fix it on the next update I do.

There is no hidden treasure in the catacombs. If there is ever a hidden item, the tile will look different than the others somehow or there will be some sort of visual clue. For instance, the graves you dig up all have unique headstones, rather than being duplicated elsewhere in the graveyard.

If you are missing 3 treasures, I suspect that you didn't find one of the treasure rooms. Did you locate the cavern room with the tunnels that warp you around? If you didn't and you'd like a hint, I'll provide one below.

You need to use the pick on a certain floor tile.

[Slump]

Gave it a brief play through, got a score of 7, rank of wanderer! Pretty fun little game here Andi. Didn't read the text help file until just now so I'll have to go back and collect all 15 treasures sometime now that I know how many they are. Great job Andi, you've drained 25 min of my life!

Thanks for playing! To my knowledge you are the 2nd person that beat it. Amazingly, people either plow through the game in 20 minutes without having to think, or get really hung up and quit. There's no middle ground it seems.

Finding the additional treasures should provide you some extra challenge if you are so inclined. If you got 7 of the treasures, it is likely that you didn't even see all the rooms since there are 3 hidden rooms that only hold treasures.

Yeah I kinda breezed though it without worrying too much about the treasure. Probably go though and grab the rest sometime tonight after dinner. Adventure games are one of my favorite genres so I found this relatively simple but still very enjoyable. Are you planning on expanding the game at all in the future or are you already on your next project?

[CStarFlare]

Never played this kind of thing before, but I was enjoying myself until I got lost in the cellar. Will have to try later again when I'm in a better mood.

[Subterranean Sun]

Ah, thanks for the hint! Took me a while to find them though.

[Andi]

Yeah I kinda breezed though it without worrying too much about the treasure. Probably go though and grab the rest sometime tonight after dinner. Adventure games are one of my favorite genres so I found this relatively simple but still very enjoyable. Are you planning on expanding the game at all in the future or are you already on your next project?

I probably won't expand. Most people don't have the patience to slog through hours of mazes and inventory puzzles. This is about the right length in my opinion. But I'm definitely up for rebalancing, fixing bugs, and adding features.

Never played this kind of thing before, but I was enjoying myself until I got lost in the cellar. Will have to try later again when I'm in a better mood.

Oh man. That maze is pretty easy if you've got the torch. There's one other maze that's harder still.

Ah, thanks for the hint! Took me a while to find them though.

Congratulations sir! You are the first to collect all 15 (or at least that I know of).

[CStarFlare]

I knew there must be a torch I was missing

I found a sword and chalice (I think?) by wandering in the darkness but I haven't found my way back out yet

[Andi]

I knew there must be a torch I was missing

I found a sword and chalice (I think?) by wandering in the darkness but I haven't found my way back out yet

I've been surprised by the number of people who inadvertently try the cellar without a torch. I can only imagine what an asshole you must think I am for making an invisible maze. That would be so tedious. Kudos to you for taking the ultimate challenge.

[Andi]

Never played this kind of thing before, but I was enjoying myself until I got lost in the cellar.

For "never having played this kind of thing before", it's strange you would have an avatar from Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom. Or am I mistaken?

[maxlords]

I must SUCK at these. Keep getting smoked by that skeleton and can't seem to find anywhere to use that key I got. *sigh*

[CStarFlare]

Never played this kind of thing before, but I was enjoying myself until I got lost in the cellar.

For "never having played this kind of thing before", it's strange you would have an avatar from Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom. Or am I mistaken?

I found it in a Something Awful article and thought it was cute

[Andi]

I must SUCK at these. Keep getting smoked by that skeleton and can't seem to find anywhere to use that key I got. *sigh*

If you defeat the skeleton, you'll figure out how to use the key shortly after. Here is a somewhat general hint: You'll need a weapon to defeat the skeleton.

Here is a very specific hint: Get the sword from the cellar. You'll need to the torch to see. It's in the courtyard.

[maxlords]

Ok...beat the game with a score of 12 - Trailblazer. There was one room I couldn't seem to figure out though....assuming that's where the last 3 treasures are.

[ZOM]

Finally gave it another go - 15 treasures get! So did my bro (actually he found all before I did), which also thought of this as a very entertaining game.

[Slump]

I knew there must be a torch I was missing

I found a sword and chalice (I think?) by wandering in the darkness but I haven't found my way back out yet

I've been surprised by the number of people who inadvertently try the cellar without a torch. I can only imagine what an asshole you must think I am for making an invisible maze. That would be so tedious. Kudos to you for taking the ultimate challenge.

Haha dammit! I didn't even know there was a torch! Literally probably spent like 10 of my 25 or so minutes in that maze walking in the dark. I thought you were going for the draw your own maps thing

[nZero]

14 treasures and I have no idea what I'm missing.

Edit: The readme says there's music but I'm not getting any sound at all?

[Andi]

Ok...beat the game with a score of 12 - Trailblazer. There was one room I couldn't seem to figure out though....assuming that's where the last 3 treasures are.

Use this hint if you'd like: You need to use the pick on a certain floor tile.

Finally gave it another go - 15 treasures get! So did my bro (actually he found all before I did), which also thought of this as a very entertaining game.

Grats! Good work. Thank you for playing and for your kind words.

Haha dammit! I didn't even know there was a torch! Literally probably spent like 10 of my 25 or so minutes in that maze walking in the dark. I thought you were going for the draw your own maps thing

Usually I do have annoying things like invisible mazes in my games, but Castle on the Night Land was an attempt to make a game that people would actually want to play.

14 treasures and I have no idea what I'm missing.

Edit: The readme says there's music but I'm not getting any sound at all?

I've tried it out on several different computers and all of them play the sound. What version of Windows are using? Is anyone else having this problem?

As for the final treasure here are some hints if you'd like: Did you kill the beetle with the sword? Did you dig up all 3 graves in the graveyard? Did you find the chest hidden under a wooden beam in the cellar? Did you find the secret throne room off from the keep? Did you find the secret crypt off from the sanctuary?

[nZero]

What version of Windows are using?

Windows XP SP3 (32-bit) Japan version.

Thanks for the hint, it was the Crown I was missing. Really neat game

[maxlords]

Ok...beat the game with a score of 12 - Trailblazer. There was one room I couldn't seem to figure out though....assuming that's where the last 3 treasures are.

Use this hint if you'd like: You need to use the pick on a certain floor tile.

Actually...I found that room and still ended up with a score of 12

[Andi]

What version of Windows are using?

Windows XP SP3 (32-bit) Japan version.

Thanks for the hint, it was the Crown I was missing. Really neat game

Hmmm. I don't know why I asked that. I don't know enough about Windows to know whether any certain version would make a difference. I'm sorry you can't hear the music. I'm rather proud of it. I am curious to find out if you are the only one having that problem.

Yes. The throne room is a cool little room. I thought that it was hidden quite obviously, but apparently that isn't the case.

Ok...beat the game with a score of 12 - Trailblazer. There was one room I couldn't seem to figure out though....assuming that's where the last 3 treasures are.

Use this hint if you'd like: You need to use the pick on a certain floor tile.

Actually...I found that room and still ended up with a score of 12

Did you dig up all 3 graves in the graveyard? Did you kill the beetle with the sword? Did you find the throne room off from the keep? Did you find the crypt behind the sanctuary curtain? Did you find the chest hidden under a wooden beam in the cellar? Did you find the chest hidden behind a pillar in the garden?

[CStarFlare]

Just beat it. Smooth sailing after I found my way out of the cellar - I had to start over and map out my path at every step! It was strangely enjoyable to plot my course while testing every wall for forks in the road. Really enjoyed the ride, but I think you're right - if it has been a really long game, it probably would have started to wear thin.

Ended up with 14, and I'm pretty sure I know where the other one is. Just need to figure out how to get to it - it's actually driving me up the wall; I can't think of anywhere else to check. I'll have to come back to it later.

It's very easy to bypass the torch because it's difficult to get around the beetlein the corridor without killing it/dying in the process. I had assumed that I would need to kill the beetle to search through the weeds. I didn't find the torch until near the very end - I was amused when my light went out in the well, because I wasn't aware that I had one