Driftmoon Demo Released

By: Derek Yu

On: February 10th, 2012

Anne and Ville Mönkkönen have released a demo for their upcoming RPG Driftmoon, which is nearing completion (a “few months”, according to the website). Previously, the game was only playable as a preorder.

The demo of Driftmoon comes with a full-featured editor and all of the currently available mods. If you enjoy it, you can still preorder for access to the alpha.

Posted in Previews, RPG, Windows | Tags: VilleMönkkönen

Saint11

Seems very cool! I’ll check it out!
Anonymous

I did so love Notrium, but was always doubtful if I wanted to spoil myself with an unfinished product. I guess it’s about time I gave Driftmoon a shot.
Davide Mascolo

Notrium was cool but marred by what I may call an excess of action – you were surviving in a very hostile environment, true, but often the fauna was just relentless, made worse by an admittedly weak melee combat. In fact, I remember old development posts of Driftmoon about how much time was spent for the combat system of the new game.

That said, I’m glad to see Monkkonen back.
Ville Mönkkönen

I completely agree with you about the combat in Notrium. Combat is actually one of the reasons we decided to postpone our demo by over half a year, we wanted to make extra sure the combat is fun. We’re very satisfied with the combat in Driftmoon now, it keeps getting better as the game progresses, and you get more opponent types and learn more combat skills.

I’ve been planning a Notrium sequel if Driftmoon does well, so don’t be afraid to try that demo… ;)
v6

The “Previously, the game was only playable as a preorder.” part makes me a bit confused. I’m pretty sure I played a demo a long long time ago. I have no recollection of pre-ordering…
Ville Mönkkönen

That was actually something akin to a technology preview we did, must have been over two years ago. The game has advanced quite a bit since then, as we’ve changed the whole plot. So try the demo, it’s a completely different game! :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Marshall/740571628 Michael Marshall

I got excited seeing the overworld map, it reminded me of Actraiser, but sadly this is no actraiser clone.
News

visual vomit banquet
Adalore

Eh, nothing against the game, but the camera angle probably would make it next to unplayable for me. :/

Also the melee needs more “SLASH!”, more ! per hit, because it kinda looks like you are waving a sword weakly to apply damage.(like a magic wand.) Rather than the sword it’self applying the damage.
Ville Mönkkönen

You might still want to try the demo, people usually say they like the camera angle after the first two minutes. For example the people here say that:
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16213
Konstantinos Dimopoulos

Very nice!
anton vinogradov

yeah the first time i played it i was really thrown off by the camera angle, but i came to quite enjoy it, it gave a somewhat old school feel, or something. i dont really know.

though i did like the original tech demo storyline better, granted i only played like five minutes into the new one.
David Holmin

Yeah, the striking lacks impact. The camera angle isn’t my favorite, but doesn’t make it unplayable by any means. At least it’s old school. ;)

Overall it looks very fun. Seems to have a bit of the Ultima-like feeling of discovery.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Quigley/631370533 Michael Quigley

What people will probably miss about Driftmoon is exactly what a ton of people missed about Notrium. To be specific, the game is modular. In other words, if you do not like it you can change it. I actually spent time with this engine and know what it is capable of and it allows leagues beyond what Notrium could manage with physics and a desperately needed interface that simplified the entire process without the need to mess with any text files.
Ville Mönkkönen

That’s right, when making the Driftmoon engine, the intention has all along been to make a sort of RPG Maker for top-down games. Comes with the same tools used to make the whole game. And not just RPG’s, you could probably build a Notrium clone on the Driftmoon engine as a mod.

And don’t forget that the modding part of Driftmoon is partly thanks to you Michael! You were the one who made me realize the benefits of modding with Notrium. We’re still hoping you have time to make a mod! :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Quigley/631370533 Michael Quigley

I will try and get around to that since it is easier than making a game from scratch. My artistic talent still leaves a lot to be desired so it wont be much to look at but I could probably construct something fun and or frustratingly challenging. Hopefully my mod wont give people disturbing dreams this time!
Ville Mönkkönen

As I recall, your artistic talent was well suited for a top-down game. I’m hoping to get pleasant dreams from your mod! :)