BYOND Casual's site

Casual Quest Review

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:21:02 +0000

I am here to review Casual Quest, a relatively recent BYOND game that has a nifty RPG theme, whilst also maintaining the laid-back, easy to get into atmosphere casual games are best for.

It is a round based wave game, which offers a plethora of unique, fun, and mostly RPG based classes, that the players must make the most of as they battle hoardes of monsters.

Two brave adventurers taking on the demonic forces of Hell!

Gameplay

In Casual Quest the goal is to survive and progress through the rounds with a team of up to 4 other players. It is relatively simple to play, space bar is the basic attack, and the z/x/c keys are used to perform various special skills if your class allows it. This can range from healing an ally to summoning an undead minion, it all depends on your class, and with 35 potential classes, you can be sure there will be a plenty of interesting abilities to entertain yourself with.

You gain access to these classes through a tarrot card system, which offers the player choices and depending on their answer, they will be given a class. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of the tarot system, and I would prefer an alternative method, it can be confusing at times and takes a while to get used to, which I feel slightly lessens one of Casual Quest's most appealing traits - the ability to jump straight in, as a new player, and have a good time. Iain has a very informative website set up that you can view here to see all of the classes and their abilities, but if you're like me, you'll probably want to discover them in-game instead.

Another great thing about Casual Quest is the re-playability. Even if you manage to clear all of the ever expanding waves (I think it's at 200 right now!), it's still entertaining to try again with a new set of allies and classes. There is a great deal of class combinations to try out, and it's really fun trying to discover the best class set with a group of friends, since there's so much variation and the effectiveness of class team work also changes as you switch out the different classes.

Presentation

Casual Quest has a retro RPG style that is visually appealing, whilst it is't especially spectacular, it still gives the game a good look. Iain has definitely created art that moulds well with the theme of the game, from the ferocious dragon sprite, to the obnoxious bat, they're all very well done and blend together nicely.

I was disappointed to find that music has yet to be added to the game, I believe this is due to a technical problem. I would love to see Casual Quest have sounds added in the future, and for me, this was a big loss presentation wise.

Originality

Casual Quest is executed excellently, by combining two very different themes it is able to bring to the table something original and appealing to both RPG players and casual ones. While the graphics are styled from old RPG titles, I feel that this was a good move and it shouldn't take away from the originality -- if anything, it makes the game more innovative by taking advantage of the love for old school games and meshing it together nicely with a simple yet fun casual game.

Overall

In closing, Casual Quest is a game that all BYONDers should try out with a group of friends. It is challenging on your own, especially for a new player, so I recommend joining a group that's already started up, or asking friends to party up and try the game out. Feel free to add me to the pager and I'd gladly quest with you!

If you decide to play, and enjoy your time, I highly recommend purchasing a subcription to access the extra classes. Not only are they fun to play, but you will be supporting original game developers on BYOND and rewarding Iain for the countless hours he has dedicated to releasing this little gem for users of BYOND to enjoy.

Casual Contest: Results!

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 02:37:59 +0000

The long wait is over, hooray! I've finally finished judging this contest, and believe me it was no picnic. When a contest comes with a prize like this, it's not something you can just simply say "that one wins" to, and turn around. I put a lot of time into these games to make sure I did it right.

The winners of the contest will have to send me a page through the pager, or find me in Chatters in order to collect their winnings, I'll need you to tell me a paypal address to send the money. I'm not posting my email here for you pesky bots. >:(

Anyways, I'm sorry if you didn't win, but unfortunately, not everyone gets to win otherwise it wouldn't be a contest. Some of your games were great ideas though and I'd like to see them expanded on, so keep developing!

Any questions about judgment, or if you want to discuss your game and get some feedback or criticism, feel free to contact me in Chatters. I'm usually there all day.

Okay! Here you go! Ta da!

http://files.byondhome.com/BYONDCasual/casualcontest1/ casualcontest.html

P.s. If you have better colours for those boxes, feel free to suggest them to me, I'm terrible with that stuff.

Times up.

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:04:53 +0000

The deadline has now passed for all entries (as of an hour ago actually).

Now for the tedious task of rounding up all known submissions from comments of previous posts, forums and email. At last count, I think I had ten, and I haven't checked my email this morning, so maybe I'll get surprised and suddenly fifty people out of the blue decided to make this competition a GiaD.

If only. I'll update with the game count and submissions later on.

Sorry about that!

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:16:55 +0000

I missed my own deadline due to work and general exhaustion. I know I received a couple of emails asking me when the deadline actually was, and it occurred to me that it'd be unfair to run everyone on Australian time.

Due to the fact I was both absent and there was some confusion. I dare say it's only fair that I extend my deadline for a period of 24 hours.

Look at the date and time this post was made (9am AEST) and work from there. You have 24 hours from this time to get your submissions in (comments, email, telekinesis, etc).

I'll hopefully not miss this deadline tomorrow.

Judging will take place between then and the following Wednesday.

Times running out!

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:43:15 +0000

There's not much time left if you want to get in on the action of the Imagination Competition. Don't fret, a week is still plenty of time to get a decent Casual game submitted. So if you haven't started, now would be a good time to consider it.

Seeing as I've received two emails on the subject, only one being an actual submission, I'm hoping that everyone is just working hard on their submissions (otherwise, the three entries I'm aware of are going to have happy developers).

If you have a hub page for your entry and don't feel like emailing me, place a link to it in the comments of this post or make a topic about it in the forum (the sad forum that cries itself to sleep at night 'cause no one loves it).

Happy developing.

Casual Competition Hint: Don't be put off by the competition!

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:24:38 +0000

I remember way back when I was a junior DM programmer, there were always competitions that looked interesting enough to have a crack at. But I never did. I'd see names like "Lummox JR", "DarkCampainger" or "GhostAnime" and think to myself "these guys are way better than I am, I don't have a hope. Nah, forget it".

That's (quite obviously) the attitude of failure. And something I want to discourage for my . It doesn't matter that people with years of DM experience are going against you, that's not what I'm judging on. As stated, I don't care about your code, if it's untidy, resource draining or just plain bad. You still have a chance.

If your game is playable and fun, you just might win. Don't be put off by the bigger guys who'll have that fancy pixel movement or explosive projectile system. It's not about that. It's (supposedly) about the enjoyment of creating games (where actually it's probably more about that $100.00 of cold hard cash looking mighty exciting. Whereas in my case, it's trying to bring a small flood of decent and fun games into BYOND).

I've set up a forum on the off chance people are looking to discuss ideas, recruit others and maybe participate in some good old community bonding.

If community participation and the overall result of the competition is a success. I'll host another relatively soon. If Casual becomes a stronger guild for it, all the more reason to up the prizes. Just don't think "Ohh, another competition later with better prizes, I'll hold off until that one". 'Cause the next one isn't about making completely original games. ;)

Get too it.

Casual Competition: Put your imaginations to the test.

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:11:31 +0000

I'm back with a competition. The challenge, although it sounds simple, hopefully will not be.

I want you to make an original casual game. A game that's entertaining for parties, good when you're bored or just something to keep you sane when you're short on time. Card game, board game, mystical fairy game with matching unicorns and fairies, whatever.

Your prizes are: $100.00 USD for the winner and $50.00 USD for the runner up, to be spent however you want. If you have a paypal account and want the money, so be it. If you want an Amazon gift card, fine. If you want 5.56 BYOND Memberships, alrighty. The only things you can't get are anything that can't be done with a credit card, or anything that requires money orders or the sending of physical money.

You have one month. The competition ends on the 19th of September with judgement coming afterwards. If you work in a team, all team members must be noted and the prizes will be broken up evenly between you to be spent however you want.

Please do have some idea of what you want before you win. I don't like having to hang onto funds that aren't mine for long periods.

Source code submissions aren't necessary. DMB and RSC will do.

Use whatever libraries you need too, after all, I can't check.

Use whatever graphics are freely available to you that aren't "ripped" or stolen. As originality is the goal, try coming up with something on your own. Provided the game is fun, I honestly don't care what it looks like in the graphic respect.

A hint: You will lose points for using the standard BYOND interface. Make your interface a flowing part of your game.

Entires can be hubs or emailed to me at tiberath@tibbius.com.

Get cracking.

[Edit] TsFreaks has added $25.00 USD to the prize pool, giving a third prize to be won.

Game Of The Month July: Feval

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:22:53 +0000

BYOND Casual Game Of The Month July: Feval By Iccusion Entertainment

Notes
As you all of guessed this is part of the phase of cleaning out the cobwebs of BYOND Casual and beginning to have active conversations and activity in general.
Every month, obviously beginning this month I will choose a game that is the absolute definition of BYOND Casual, a good environment, an excellent community, and addictive gameplay.

Game's Details
Feval is an exceptional addictive game where it's a simple yet tactical purpose, Blowing Up Your Enemy with an arsenal array of acorns to use, Go Nuts!. The one and only goal of the game is to be the last one standing, literally. Currently Feval is one of our top played games and very addictive, believe me I've spent countless hours playing it with my brother.

Currently the downloading files are not released, but the game is commonly hosted though no events have taken place in awhile.

Be sure to visit the Iccursion Entertainment blog for recent updates!

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Casual Guild

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:28:10 +0000

This is a friendly reminder to all that we are still looking for fresh new games to add to our guild. But please be sure your game meets the criteria (id:6) -- though these rules can be relaxed so don't be swayed if your game doesn't match them all to a T.

We've been getting a lot of submissions from Anime games, and I'm really not sure if they are intentional or authors are just submitting their games to every guild in hopes of one accepting them. If you really want to see your game listed on Casual open a forum topic when you submit your game (or before) and we can discuss your game, as the game acceptance process doesn't let us tell you why your game got rejected.

Casual's got some of the best games on BYOND, you should be a part of it.

What makes for a good prize these days?

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:19:36 +0000

If I was to hold a competition in the coming weeks, I'm wondering what would be the kind of prize you'd actually make a decent, fairly polished casual game for?

I mean, let's face it, BYOND Memberships are good and all, but they're not exactly something to strive for, as they're generally a prize (or the top prize) in most if not all BYOND related competitions. And with that said, most BYOND users who actually want a membership, by this stage of the game, probably already have one.

This brings me to pondering what is a decent prize for a competition. Cold hard cash would be almost everyone's first response, but unfortunately that doesn't work out well for as many people as you'd hope. The only way I'll transfer money to someone is via Paypal, and Paypal's rules state you must be 18 or older to have an account. There's the fall back onto parents accounts, but that's just red tape and annoyances, so we can count that one out.

Another option would be me actually going to some random website (I'm not an idiot, I know a scam when I see one kids!), and purchasing you something of the winning amount. This works perfectly, if you trust a complete stranger with your name and address. Don't get me wrong, I'm a trustworthy guy and have bought things for people in the past. But how many of you honestly trust me with your personal details?

So that rules out the stuff I could come up with. There's always sending you signed autographs of myself. But once again, I'd need your name and address. Oh well.

So what would you like to see for a competition prize.

Seeing as I've summoned you all here with an obviously interesting blog post, why not stick around and play some games (review them if you'd like!) or even use the forums. =D