Tomb of Tyrants

WIP games, tools & toy projects
#1

The new Kickstarter is live!
Tomb of Tyrants is a dungeon-defense puzzler combining color-matching mechanics with tower defense strategy. Players construct a foreboding fortress to protect their tyrant from waves of greedy adventuring parties. The game is in development for PC, Linux, OSX, and OUYA, with mobile platforms also being kept in mind. There is a pre-alpha demo out now, and backer-exclusive alpha/beta scheduled for late August.

Features:
-Unique blend of tower-defense, simulation, RPG, and puzzling
-Slick, simple, and frenetic matching mechanics, where reflexes and planning are both rewarded
-Lovingly pixeled characters, settings, and animations
-Tactically emergent gameplay, spawning new strategies and builds as your game evolves
-Tons of diverse floors, items, minions, heroes, and more, to discover and exploit
-Quick sessions with long-term unlocks, gradually taking your game from newb-friendly to deeply complex

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Here’s a full eight-and-a-half minute gameplay demo with some detailed explanations on specific mechanics and future plans. The game is at a stage where most of the primary game mechanics are in place, and I am building additional content (of which I want tons) and working on some advanced features. The game is in its second Kickstarter; I was underprepared the first time around, but I learned a lot, received a lot of positive feedback and suggestions, and I’m very excited for this second attempt.

I’d love to hear any questions or comments you all have to offer. Thanks for checking it out =)!

#2

I really like that art!

#3

Looking really good.

I would be really interested in play this closed alpha… hint hint :persecutioncomplex:

Anyway that video on kickstarter is very interesting and a nice combination of game play mechanics.

#4

The art is great, the gameplay looks interesting (although not to my taste, but that doesn’t matter), and you’ve set up a good Kickstarter.

Good luck. This looks promising.

#5

Is that golden head a reference to Splunky ;D Looks very similar!

#6

Awesome! The smoothness of the animations is astonishing O:
I hope you reach your goal :slight_smile:

#7

Thank you for all of the welcoming comments!

The golden idol is indeed a nod to Spelunky =), although it doesn’t actually do anything special in my game–it’s just a fun piece of treasure to collect.

The initial alpha will likely be limited to a smallish handful of people that I already know and trust, but as soon as I felt comfortable with their feedback, I had planned to open it up to my Kickstarter backers. It doesn’t look like the Kickstarter is going to succeed, though, so I’m not sure how I’ll handle that now. I may end up attempting another campaign of sorts after this one ends; next time, I’ll be much better prepared =).

#8

Game looks great, very unique idea. If you want more exposure try reaching out to game-playing youtube people; one video from a popular youtuber and your popularity will go through the roof.

#9

What resolution do you design your pixel art backgrounds at? (Like the background in the first image)

#10

All of the backgrounds are done in sections, so the big outdoor background is actually a dozen or so parts that are then layered for some vertical parallax. The first screenshot is representative of the game’s target pixel size at 1920x1080 (although the image is obviously not that resolution itself). However, at other resolutions, the game will either scale down the apparent pixel size or trim off the sides of the game world (which are largely unused) to fit the game to the window/resolution. When I actually draw the graphics, though, they are often blown up even larger than they appear here. Hopefully, something in there answers your question =).

In other news, the Kickstarter was unsuccessful, but I learned a lot and built more awareness for the game. I’m taking the feedback I’ve received and applying it toward a new campaign in the near future. I’ll be sure to post more details (and update the original post on the game’s progress) when the time comes.

#11

Soo, how is the game going?

#12

The game is going really well, and I’m still planning to do another Kickstarter, but I’m giving life a little time to catch back up before I dig back into fund-raising–the last campaign was time-consuming enough, and I’m aiming to be even more involved the next time around. While I’ve been adding new features and content, I also spent some time refining the mechanics and producing a solid stand-alone demo that I was able to show off at a local IGDA event, gathering feedback and ideas. At this moment, I’m working on a small trailer for the next campaign–this time with less talking and more gameplay montaging.

I’ve been awfully silent about the game for the last few weeks, but that should change pretty soon =). Thanks for asking!

#13

No problem :slight_smile: Its weird the kickstarter didn’t work out, the game looks very proffesional. http://www.igda.org/ ? Looks noice, hope it works out :slight_smile:

PS: Make the game work on java 1.6 , so i can play it :stuck_out_tongue:

#14

Well, it’s been a month since the last Kickstarter ended. I posted a new update on the status of the next campaign (“soon”–likely within a week), and included this draft for the new trailer:

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@Olo, the game does work on Java 1.6 =).

#15

The new Kickstarter is up! I’ve updated the original post with some newer assets, trailers, and information. Thanks, everyone!

#16

A lot has happened in the last two weeks!

The Kickstarter hit its funding target, and I announced stretch goals–and we’ve already knocked out the first one! I’ve been releasing daily content updates, with a lot of new art and details about game mechanics. I even livestreamed pixel art development on the Looming Lunarium and Scorching Scrapyard.

Now, in our final week on Kickstarter, I’m releasing an updated version of the pre-alpha demo build I used to record my gameplay video. It is definitely still rough in places, and light on content, but it offers a small taste of what the game is about and how it plays. I recommend supplying your own soundtrack, and watching the gameplay demo first, if you’re unfamiliar with the mechanics. Enjoy =)!

#17

It’s been a great final week on the Kickstarter (21 hours remaining!), with a ton of big updates!
After the demo release last weekend, this week has covered Alpha details, custom Tyrants and banners, the Codex and co-op, design rewards and champions, and items! Whew!

In addition, the week saw a couple of pixel art livestreams, which produced the Acrid Alchemist above and the Petrified Pantheon below; details on these floors and a number of other topics have been strewn throughout the week’s updates, but there’s still a day left; expect more news soon!

#18

Congrats to your success on Kickstarter, it’s good to see that small indies can get funded. :slight_smile:
By the way could you explain why did you pick Kickstarter over IndieGoGo when you restarted your campaign?
Also I hope that you’ll reach the Android stretch goal, this game would be a good fit for mobile devices. :slight_smile:

#19

Thanks, PandaMoniumHUN!

I was considering IndieGoGo after the first campaign, but decided to give Kickstarter another shot for a few reasons. The first is that I don’t have any experience funding projects with IndieGoGo; whereas I’ve backed something like 50 projects on Kickstarter, so I am very familiar with it. In addition to that initial bias, however, I had a number of backers who expressed misgiving about IndieGoGo, because they felt it has a smaller audience and is somewhat less reputable than Kickstarter. Not being so familiar with it myself, it seemed like a simpler choice to go back to Kickstarter, where I already had a presence and experience.

Even if we don’t hit the Android stretch goal, I intend to explore mobile down the line, starting with Android. All of my planned stretch goals (and I didn’t get to reveal them all in the Kickstarter) are things that I still plan to do eventually, if the game finds enough success elsewhere =).