If you've been keeping up with developer Free Range Games' upcoming base-building survival game set in J.R.R. Tolkien's landmark universe, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, there's a chance you caught an early glimpse at its world map.
Check out free retro-RPG Moonring, made by an industry vet and Fable designer in classic Ultima style
01.10.2023 - 21:51 / pcgamer.com
A veteran game designer has gone and released a full-on top-down dungeon crawling, open world, old school Ultima-style RPG with a boatload of modern conveniences for the low, low price of absolutely free. Moonring is a really simple to get into retro-RPG with some neat systems and a fun world to explore where five moons represent the five gods, each of whom chooses and guides humans—except for those like you, the dreamless, who must choose their own destiny.
It's a pretty real-deal thing. Open world, tons of items to collect, open-ended character building with neat skills, and even some wild and strangely obtuse systems to learn. It even uses somewhat-divisive keyword conversations, like a lot of old games did. For all that it also has merciful features like automatic note-taking of keywords and a great system that autosaves as you start each dungeon—if you die, you just pop back to the start, making each one like a mini roguelike expedition.
It also has naval exploration and boarding actions between ships, which automatically earns it my approval.
There's other really interesting game design in here, too. Your character has health, but also a regenerating poise system that acts as a buffer of hit points before you take health damage. Thus stealth, and retreat, are very valuable. There's a dynamic fire and light system, and I think there are other elemental interactions that can appear on the map as well—getting wet makes you fire resistant, for example, but weak to Rot effects. There's also a system of magic around the five moons and their phases, with each god's powers changing depending on which moon is in what phase.
Dene Carter, the creator of Moonring, is a long-time game dev whose credits include co-creation on the Fable series, the first Dungeon Keeper through to its Gold Edition, and back earlier in the 90s games like Warlock: The Avenger, Cloud Kingdoms, and Druid for the ZX Spectrum, way back in 1986.
Carter included a note from himself on the Steam page:
«Hi folks. I've loved RPGs since the early 1980s, and grew up playing games like Lord British's 'Ultima' series and early Roguelikes. This is my love-letter to a style of gaming that has largely fallen out of fashion: with its vivid, bright sprites overlaid on stark black backgrounds, true open-world gameplay, and lack of handholding. The days I spent playing these games were spent in joyful exploration and discovery, venturing into the dark unknown, a co-author of the experience, filling in the gaps left by the primitive art with my imagination. For those of you who did the same, I hope Moonring recaptures some of the spirit of those days for you. For those who did not, I hope that the more modern conveniences you find in this game allow
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
pcmag.com
17.10.2023 / 21:01
IRS Will Offer Free (But Limited) Direct E-Filing Next Year
A subset of taxpayers will be able to kick Intuit and its ilk to the curb and instead file their 2023 federal taxes online at no charge via a new Direct File option the Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday.
radiotimes.com
17.10.2023 / 12:55
EA FC 24 Twitch Prime Gaming rewards: How to claim free Amazon goodies
The EA FC 24 Amazon Prime Gaming Twitch packs are now rolling out, providing plenty of opportunities for Prime subscribers to take home some major goodies to help improve your Ultimate Team Squad.
tech.hindustantimes.com
16.10.2023 / 11:23
Planning to buy an iPhone, iPad? Check out the Apple Diwali online and store offers list first
It is that time of the year again when festive sales start, offering massive discounts on a vast range of products such as smartphones, accessories, home appliances, electronics, and more. Not just e-commerce platforms, but brands themselves also roll out special offers. With Diwali, the festival of lights, approaching, more and more companies are expected to unveil their festive offers in the coming days and weeks. Apple has announced its Diwali offers that will be live both online, and its retail stores in India, Apple BKC, and Saket. Check out the offers here.
videogameschronicle.com
14.10.2023 / 10:45
Van Gogh Museum pulls Pokémon promo cards due to ‘safety and security’ concerns
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum has stopped a Pokémon promotional card giveaway due to what it called “safety and security” concerns for visitors and staff.
tech.hindustantimes.com
13.10.2023 / 18:27
5 things about AI you may have missed today: 'AI will make human creativity weirder', Cyberpunk 2077 AI voice, and more
Today was a big day for artificial intelligence, where major strides were made in the development of this emerging technology. Google today announced that it will give its customers, who use generative AI tools, protection against copyright infringement lawsuits. The company also added that for seven of its products, it will also give legal protection. In other news, CD Projekt SA revealed that it used AI to recreate the voice of a deceased voice actor for the game Cyberpunk 2077. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.
theverge.com
13.10.2023 / 18:21
Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s deal for cloud gaming rights, explained
By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.
engadget.com
13.10.2023 / 15:03
The Fabulous Fear Machine is a delicious pulp game about the horrors of propaganda
Did you know AMC makes video games? The television network responsible for Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead has a full-blown publishing label for video games, and it’s shepherded four titles to market since 2020. Its first was a real-time flight simulator from the NYU Game Center Incubator called Airplane Mode, which trapped players in the window seat of a commercial airliner for six literal hours, complete with the small luxuries and major annoyances of actually flying coach. AMC’s IFC channel even produced the in-flight safety video for that game.
gematsu.com
12.10.2023 / 14:25
Earth Defense Force 6 coming west in spring 2024 for PS5, PS4, and PC
D3 Publisher will release Earth Defense Force 6 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam in spring 2024, followed by Epic Games Store shortly after, the company announced.
gematsu.com
11.10.2023 / 16:09
PS5 cloud streaming for PlayStation Plus Premium members launches October 17 in Japan, October 23 in Europe, and October 30 in North America
PlayStation 5 cloud streaming for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers will launch on October 17 in Japan, October 23 in Europe, and October 30 in North America, allowing users to play PlayStation 5 games without having to download them, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced.
gematsu.com
11.10.2023 / 14:41
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 major free update launches October 12, coming to PS5 and Xbox Series in 2024
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Dimps will release a major free update for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on October 12, followed by new downloadable content and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions in 2024, the companies announced.
pcgamer.com
08.10.2023 / 22:09
Upcoming RTS-RPG fusion dares to ask big questions like 'What if the Vikings were riding dinosaurs?'
Personally I quite like Age of Empires, Warcraft, and Stronghold games. I also like dinosaurs. So, naturally, I like the concept behind Dinolords, a recently announced fusion of medieval city-builder and action RPG with RTS combat and also, you know, dinosaurs. Set to release into Early Access in the first few months of 2025, Dinolords is developed by new studio Northplay and published by the publishing arm of Ghost Ship Games, the developer behind Deep Rock Galactic.