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Cult Engine 3.75 (internal codename: Dungeon Alchemist)

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Cult Engine 3.75 (internal codename: Dungeon Alchemist)

Unread postby icycalm » 05 Apr 2022 16:45

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https://www.dungeonalchemist.com

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10 ... lchemisttm

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1588 ... _Alchemist

Briganti wrote:Dungeon Alchemist is AI-powered fantasy mapmaking software that enables you to make awesome-looking maps, really fast!


Dungeon Alchemist is the first-person super-mapmaker from Belgium whose Kickstarter reached $2.5 million when it launched back in February last year. For comparison, TaleSpire reached 3,542,035 Norwegian kroner, which is like 20 dollars (it's about $400k). I sort of gushed about it in my FPGMRPG thread when I first stumbled upon it in December: https://culture.vg/forum/topic?t=7601

It's been in beta for a while, but now it's in Early Access, and it's getting rave reviews: at the level that TaleSpire was getting when it launched, and it's still getting. It's almost certainly getting March 2022 Insomnia Game of the Month, and I just bought it.

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Currently, you can export maps made in this to Fantasy Grounds with doors, walls and line-of-sight, or to Foundry with all that stuff plus animation. This is all 2.5D, meaning 3D graphics but viewable only from overhead 2D. However, since their promotional videos show real-time first-person exploration as if you're playing Doom, I asked the developers about this on Twitter and they told me that they've partnered with an upcoming first-person VTT... They wouldn't divulge further details, so not sure if it's supposed to be real-time too... I doubt it, but we'll wait and see I guess. It's astonishing news because this has never been done before, let alone at this level of quality. I mean I HAVE seen a couple of first-person VTTs, and even a real-time one: they aren't out yet though, I don't think, plus they are fairly bland if not downright ugly. This on the other hand is freakin' gorgeous, even if I have this complaint that everything looks too shiny and new, which will work well with some types of assets, like a palace, but not very well with lots of the kinds of assets you'd want in a fantasy campaign. But the devs are releasing a lot of content, like TaleSpire, so I am confident this will eventually be addressed, plus they'll allow users to add custom content, again like TaleSpire, so I am not worried. This thing has a bright future.

Note that on top of the 3D and first-person aspects, the main selling aspect is the AI. It's the AI that designs the rooms. You just make a square and say what kind of room you want, then you can modify it after the AI has built it. So map generation is super-fast. I could generate taverns on the fly pretty much as you visit them.

On Steam Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjN-paPVFmc

First-person view video can be seen here: https://twitter.com/dungeonalchemi1/sta ... 7590178826

Promo screens from the Steam page. Keep scrolling down as the better ones come from users after.

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The promo screens on Steam IN NO WAY do justice to the power of this program, again as with TaleSpire, so I'll be posting thousands of screens here to show you what other people are making. I am getting this stuff from their Twitter, and from searching Twitter: https://twitter.com/dungeonalchemi1

https://twitter.com/KaatVanThillo/statu ... 4413255683

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https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 4126166018

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You can even put your own images in the paintings lol: https://twitter.com/SydneyAshcroft/stat ... 3375652865

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That's Arco's wolf from Hero Forge if I am not mistaken.

Here's a video demonstrating the power of the tool that changes images in paintings: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 2754206721

You could put illustrations from Paizo campaigns in there; you could have a whole hall in your castle with images of all the battles you've fought etc.

More maps:

https://twitter.com/HighlandL4ss/status ... 4710588420

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https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 0798665736

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Dungeon Alchemist @DungeonAlchemi1 wrote:And it looks so innocent... :)


Harraquis @harraquis wrote:Definitely not a mimic


https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 3301508097

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https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 1833112588

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Detail is amazing, CERTAINLY higher-fidelity assets than in Baldur's Gate 3 or any other isometric CRPG.

Check out this video to see how smoothly secret doors and traps are animated: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 0583649281

Video of iron maiden, don't miss it: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 9514174464

The devs tagged Iron Maiden's Twitter lol.

Video that shows that you can place individual items like say bottles on shelves: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 0858989573

So eventually you should be able to have every item you own placed in your room or house WYSIWYG-style: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2789105019

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More animation in spellbooks: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 3232658443

Check out this Serpentine Statue video to see what the animation looks like, it's pretty stunning: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 7174712324

As I said, we won't have animation when exporting to Fantasy Grounds, but we will have eventually in Foundry, and of course in the promised first-person VTT when it releases.

Devs have great sense of humor: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 3911545866

Dungeon Alchemist @DungeonAlchemi1 wrote:We're probably catering to some audience, but it's hard to say which...


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This is what playing with 2D tokens on a 2D VTT looks like: https://twitter.com/ColdFaeHeart/status ... 7223607300

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However it does have some of the same issues as TaleSpire, e.g. with round rooms: https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 4392603657

Dungeon Alchemist @DungeonAlchemi1 wrote:I admire the lengths all of you will go to to create round rooms...


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I hope these issues will be overcome by modders/custom assets/future updates. They won't be an issue for us, but they will be an issue for whoever tries to recreate published adventures, which is why we won't be using the tool for this, just like with TaleSpire.

https://twitter.com/DungeonAlchemi1/sta ... 1294925824

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https://twitter.com/TNThusky/status/1508850083697209352

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When you place the camera in isometric view it starts to look like TaleSpire but more natural due to the less Minecrafty blocky terrain and assets: https://twitter.com/Brokenzodiac/status ... 6457840642

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Half-submerged boat: https://twitter.com/Aitealeeso/status/1 ... 6539097088

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https://twitter.com/PansLabyrinth99/sta ... 8919016454

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Complex scene and mood controls: https://twitter.com/PansLabyrinth99/sta ... 3579314177

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This is the closest attempt I have seen to make a whole town/village really: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2789510162

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I don't know what's up with the lack of roofs... I hope that is addressed eventually. The whole verticality aspect is way inferior to TaleSpire's, where you can basically build space elevators. I think people will start asking for more verticality soon.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2785207404

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Love this shot of a well at the edges of town. The immersion is unparalleled, especially once you're able to move in first-person.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2785315016

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Coolest dungeon I have seen yet on the platform.

Keep in mind the EA only launched six days ago... Imagine where it'll be six months or a year from now.

Patreons are already popping up that sell content, thought I haven't seen anything yet at the quality of Istallri from TaleSpire. Here's one example: https://www.patreon.com/sydneyashcroft
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icycalm
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Re: PC|MAC Dungeon Alchemist

Unread postby icycalm » 05 Apr 2022 17:33

Just discovered the Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonAlchemist

Several of my questions are answered there already. E.g. roofs are on the roadmap, and apparently you can make the map as big as you want.

Bonus awesome cemetery: https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonAlchemi ... mist_rules

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icycalm
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Re: PC|MAC Dungeon Alchemist

Unread postby icycalm » 05 Apr 2022 23:51

Dungeon Alchemist is Out!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/64762225

icycalm wrote:And it'll almost certainly be Insomnia's March 2022 Game of the Month... and a 2022 GOTY candidate...


My Patreon announcement post.

More crazy news coming on Patreon soon, even crazier than the above. I am typing it in another tab, and I'll be posting it asap.
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icycalm
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Re: PC|MAC Dungeon Alchemist

Unread postby icycalm » 10 Apr 2022 00:54

RPG Tools - Dungeon Alchemist + Foundry Import
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lM3EQC85Us

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Quick demonstration of how easy it is to import a Dungeon Alchemist location into Foundry, bringing all the walls and lights over automatically. The guy picks a gorgeous map too, and you can see how easily he zooms in and out and pans around in full 3D.

He also modifies the map a bit, and I am trying to figure out if the "destructibility" here is on the same level as TaleSpire. You can DEFINITELY blow away walls and destroy objects, but I think the objects here are made up of considerably larger parts than TaleSpire's, so even though you can certainly destroy EVERYTHING, it's not as granular as TaleSpire. The walls are big slabs that must be deleted wholesale, instead of made up of smaller wall tiles that can be removed one at a time, leading to far more natural scenes of destruction. Still amazing though, don't get me wrong.

HOWEVER, this destruction can only happen in Dungeon Alchemist. I don't think it can happen in Foundry in real-time as you're playing the game, like with TaleSpire. So for every wall you want to destroy, the GM has to go into Dungeon Alchemist, update the location, then export to Foundry, and then it will work. So it's basically unplayable unless Dungeon Alchemist adds VTT features so you won't need Foundry. Which isn't on the cards. So TaleSpire is still the king from every angle pretty much.

ULTIMATELY, you could simply export all of Dungeon Alchemist's building blocks as 3D models and import them into TaleSpire lol? That'd be freakin' insane. I think it should be possible further down the line. And THEN you should be able to deform the terrain and buildings in real-time during play in TaleSpire. And at that point it'd be like having two developers making assets for your game. Crazy stuff.

And on an unrelated note, that guy's stream setup is sick, with the background border etc. I can imagine a Battlegrounds border etc. coming in the future, especially with 4K streams that will have much more space for embellishment.
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