HD version

[niapet]

Hey all,
I just found this gem of a game! Why is this not more well known on the App Store?

Anyway you all should create an HDTV version to take advantage of the retina display. I would gladly buy it a second time for hd and it might appeal to an even wider audience?

[wolf3167]

So you think they should put this game on consoles and make it for High Definition Television. They wouldn't even release an HD version for an iDevice or PC. The Development team is 2 people. Play the game because it's a good game. Not for graphics. Also this isn't a technical issue, it belongs in General Discussion.

[Sylon / Redshift]

Wolf, relax. : ) I moved this one to the technical forum because I always move anything here which is not related to the main game's gameplay.

And yes, I mean no, there will be no HD or any other version from this game, sorry. (It's an old project which was originally released on the PDA market with 480*320 and lower screen resolutions.) But thanks for the nice words, Niapet, and have fun with the game!

[niapet]

Yeah wolf take a chill pill. Graphics may not be everything, but they are something, or we would still be playing text rpgs. Get off your high horse and stop being jerk for no reason whatsoever.

[wolf3167]

Sorry that I get a little carried away with this stuff but it just gets annoying when people talk about better graphics for a game such as this because:
1- All of the expansions would have to be ported/redone or just discarded in general which wouldn't bode well with many including me or any other advanced/high-leveled player that has played through the expansions.
2- How would HD graphics even go with this game? Improved graphics aren't always the answer though they may be a nice addon. Personally I would like to see a lot of gameplay improvements over new graphics. Also if the graphics were improved the game'm movement would probably feel quite stupid (walking around in a turn based RPG with awesome graphics that freeze for me to take my turn seems silly. HD is more for first-person/third person shooter/action games. Really a game like The Elder Scrolls is borderline RPG and mindless button mashing shooter. The graphics are good but there's no soul, which the quest has.

[niapet]

By hd I simple mean higher res textures. It would be as simple as replacing the texture files in the game and would not invalidate saves ore expansions. I use, and have even made, hd textures for elder scrolls games and other games, like NWN & NWN2

Hd textures doesn't mean a fundemental change to the game, just replacing texture files with larger versions, perhaps from original un-scaled files, so as to scale better on iPhone 4+ and iPads.

Now in response to your second point it's blasphemy to say Morrowind has no soul. This game CLEARLY takes its inspiration from early elder scrolls titles and, while it is very impressive for a mobile game, it can't seriously be compared to Morrowind in the realms of lore, gameplay and scope(this is not a put down, just being compared to Morrowind is a rather large compliment!)... Though I agree with you that Skyrim is borderline adventure game.

Anyway hires texture packs do not at all detract from morrowind, and look fine on turn bAased games like undercroft. If undercroft had the scope of The quest, it would be a great game.

[wolf3167]

Yes Morrowind is the odd exception to The Elder Scrolls but I do think that it would just feel silly to have HD in general when it's still at it's core a turn-based strategy RPG. I am sure it could be implemented well but that is time that i feel could go into either gameplay improvements, future expansions, or maybe even a sequel that would blow this game away(not likely to happen in the next year or so).

[wolf3167]

And about the elder scrolls comment I think that skyrim is just an awful game and the reason I left Morrowind out was simply because the net is full of skyrim fanboys. I shouldn't have assumed. My bad.

[niapet]

I agree skyrim is awful. It felt good at first, but quickly became a hollow experience.

You may be correct that a sequel would be a better use of resources. However hd textures would definitely broaden appeal. So if a sequel were made, it should at least be the native resolution of the retina display.

I also agree that gameplay improvements would be nice. It would be nice to have more options in quest resolution and some glaring errors, like how, at level 7, my attack magic has already been superseded in utility by wands...

[Sylon / Redshift]

Niapet: we can't replace the textures, sprites, scenes, items etc. with "larger, original, unscaled files", because as I wrote these are the originals which I drew, the game was originally designed and created for old PDA devices. It would be simply a too hard work to redraw everything in a larger resolution, just to release a better looking version for the newest devices. Way too much work, while the graphic engine would still remain the same under these graphics. (Remember, the only graphic artist was and is me - it took about 18 months for me to draw everything and build all maps for the game in a fulltime job, sometimes with 12-16 hours per day.) It is an old game (was released back in 2006) and we already moved on to new projects.
It's a sad thing of course, but instead of this rework I would mostly make The Quest 2 (or another RPG) which would have a better graphic engine. : ) Who knows, probably after our newest game we'll make that...