Wow, thats a mouthful of stuff there.
Well, i dont know how much experience, if any, youve had with SOM yet..it is a great program for PS1 style king's field games, but it definately has quite a few limitations.
There are literally things done in KF2 (as you refer to what most US folks know as KF1) and 3 that SOM can't do at all. The engine is not completely faithful to the originals, but its not far off either.
Some of the things that are quite different are:
-You can't create falling damage
-The original map set that comes with SOM does NOT support multi-tiered mapping at all. Thankfully some of the fans have made their own custom map sets that do this.
-There is a limit of I believe 1024 usable map tiles, so anything beyond that and youre out of luck.
-We haven't figured out (yet if ever) how to create custom animated models like NPCs and Enemies which leaves us with only the monsters etc that came with the set.
-Some of the scripts available in the KF series won't work or can't be perfectly duplicated with the SOM event engine, for example equipping the aquarion boots let you walk on water (equippable items only have a set number of variables you can choose from for their effect, and modifying the game like walking on water or over traps isnt one of them).
-There are no bows and arrows. There is strictly stab, poke, slash and two handed slash type weapons.
-The sky creation is pretty weak, you are limited to just a few animations (they can be customized but are based on a low res texture and can't be elaborate).
I am sure there are more things, but you get the point.
There are benefits to SOm though..a few of them are:
-Customized objects, items, map pieces etc are not horribly difficult to create and they are easily supported by the engine.
-The engine supports a great amount of map space, object placement, and depending on the computer you make the game on, you could likely add alot more stuff to make it more detailed than a playstation 1 could handle. The graphics lie somewhere above the playstation specs but definately far below what the PS2 could handle.
-I have been tinkering with some things and yes, you can even add custom sound bytes too ( I plan on trying to add harvine's flute sound in my game )
-The design of the engine is purely KF, the turn speed, the dark atmosphere and lighting style it employs, the text etc is all very familiar.
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Ok with that said, some other things.
It is definately my goal to make this site a collaborative work in progress for all those who want to have an SOM community. We already have some really talented folks (thankfully) working on games, creating custom models, writing music and just adding their ideas. Working together we are producing new stuff that will hopefully push the limits of the SOM engine, and satisfy fans of the series for a long time coming.
The best thing any fan can do is pour out their ideas or their talents here so that the rest can benefit from your perspective, talents and time. The worst thing a fan can do, and believe me there are many who do this, is ask for a copy of SOM, get ahold of one and give it about 10 mins of effort before they give up. Using SOM is certainly not easy to begin with, and maybe its not for everyone...but there is more to a game than the programming. Folks could help with ideas, attract more people to come to contribute, play-test beta games, write music, create models, create a story etc. I encourage you and anyone who comes to not give up if SOM is not for them.
Last fall when I first discovered SOM, Tom, John and Martin gave me a chance and spent a large amount of time teaching me how to program SOM, how to make custom weapons, custom map pieces, where to improve my map design etc. DD will be far from perfect, but its hundreds of times better than it would have been if they didn't help me. So I want to return the favor and help anyone who wants to give SOM a try.
To answer your questions regarding DD and its similarity to KF 1(2 or whatever the hell you want to call it hehe) is that it will be very close in some areas. You should definately recognize a few places, and the locations of the maps in relation to each other will be almost identical. In other words, the dragon fountain will be near the main base, the shore will be by the waterfall on the west side, the colisseum will be by the dragon warrior shrine etc. The individual maps will not be the same as KF1, but like I said before, they will be similar.
KF1 is also my favorite game (when I say KF1 I am referring to U.S. #1 with alexander and guyra) and I am trying very hard to do it justice...but at the same time I dont want it to be the same adventure. Of the 19 maps, 7 areas will be completely new, and will expand your exploration to the heights and depths of the island like never before. You will climb the highest mountain on Melanat, and you will submerge below the depths of the crashing waves as well.
I plan on being very picky about the lore I put in the game, and am having the most knowledgable of the fan base that I know double and triple check every word I put in the game for continuity. I want to enrich the story that has already been beautifully laid out in the original series with new information, filling in blanks logically and creating new information that gets its roots in the history already available.
If you would like to help play test, let me know, I am trying to rough in everything by the end of the month, then it will come to the story insertion and play testing before it is released.
Also, if you want, be sure to visit my DD forum and post your name on the list to see if Koji Endo might donate a track to the cause to make the game even more KF feeling.
Again, thanks for your posts, and keep em coming.
