Monster Rancher
We go hands-on with Dungeon Maker, one of the coolest monster rearing "sims" we've ever seen. Impressions inside.
Published: June 3, 2007
Back during the 16-bit 32-bit days, ____ Maker games were all the rage. RPG Maker, Fighter Maker, Princess Maker (yes, that one is totally real, we swear) -- and even on the PC, games like Dungeon Keeper at least loosely fit the role of literally building your own game bit by bit. Now, the first two games on the list were definitely the most barebones of the bunch; ASCII/Agetec made something of a name for themselves by providing the tools to construct old-school-style classics/remakes from the ground up, but given how many freakin' sequels appeared on consoles over the years (we still pray for a proper Dungeon Keeper III), they obviously filled a niche.
Which is why we were a little surprised when Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground showed up at the office last week -- not so much because we didn't know it was out there (publisher XSEED made sure we all knew about it earlier this year), but just because we'd forgotten that it was hitting as soon as the end of this month. Luckily, even after just a few hours, we can already feel the game starting to sink its claws in. Stray thoughts start mulling over how to better craft the perfect monster-catching abode and once we get some free time, we can't help blowing a couple minutes just running through our create-a-keep.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves a little here. Let's start at the beginning, with the basic tale of an out-of-town adventurer rolling into a sleepy hamlet that's being accosted by the mysterious Wandering Demon who presumably will be the game's final boss. Our hero decides he's going to put an end to Creepy McRoamAround personally, but to do it, he's going to have to build a multi-level dungeon to bait the creature before finally killing it. The only catch is that he, probably much like most of us, has never really built a dungeon before.
Assistance comes in the unlikely form of an old beggar who seems to know an awful lot about building these things, and even offers to supply the first few bits of construction material so the hero can stride in and start felling baddies selflessly (pocketing most of the spoils for himself, of course). As it turns out, basic monsters are pretty easy to pull in. You just set up some corridors and some rooms and give it about a day and they're ready to rock. If you want the bigger beasts, however, it's going to take more careful planning, and this is where some of the more advanced building techniques come in.
For instance, did you know you shouldn't build rooms near the entrance? Yeah, apparently monsters don't like this. They abhor long, straight corridors too, supposedly, so the idea is that you add tons of twists and turns (basically a way for the game to spawn things around corners on you when you go exploring later). Building tons of forks and t-intersections and multi-door rooms is also quite necessary, and if you think the really big, bad ones like dirt floor and bare rooms... well someone isn't going to be catching the Wandering Demon with an attitude like that.
Which is why we were a little surprised when Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground showed up at the office last week -- not so much because we didn't know it was out there (publisher XSEED made sure we all knew about it earlier this year), but just because we'd forgotten that it was hitting as soon as the end of this month. Luckily, even after just a few hours, we can already feel the game starting to sink its claws in. Stray thoughts start mulling over how to better craft the perfect monster-catching abode and once we get some free time, we can't help blowing a couple minutes just running through our create-a-keep.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves a little here. Let's start at the beginning, with the basic tale of an out-of-town adventurer rolling into a sleepy hamlet that's being accosted by the mysterious Wandering Demon who presumably will be the game's final boss. Our hero decides he's going to put an end to Creepy McRoamAround personally, but to do it, he's going to have to build a multi-level dungeon to bait the creature before finally killing it. The only catch is that he, probably much like most of us, has never really built a dungeon before.
Assistance comes in the unlikely form of an old beggar who seems to know an awful lot about building these things, and even offers to supply the first few bits of construction material so the hero can stride in and start felling baddies selflessly (pocketing most of the spoils for himself, of course). As it turns out, basic monsters are pretty easy to pull in. You just set up some corridors and some rooms and give it about a day and they're ready to rock. If you want the bigger beasts, however, it's going to take more careful planning, and this is where some of the more advanced building techniques come in.
For instance, did you know you shouldn't build rooms near the entrance? Yeah, apparently monsters don't like this. They abhor long, straight corridors too, supposedly, so the idea is that you add tons of twists and turns (basically a way for the game to spawn things around corners on you when you go exploring later). Building tons of forks and t-intersections and multi-door rooms is also quite necessary, and if you think the really big, bad ones like dirt floor and bare rooms... well someone isn't going to be catching the Wandering Demon with an attitude like that.