Hand-drawing dungeon maps may sound terribly dull, but it was a core feature of some of the biggest RPGs of the 80s.
I also wouldn't want to play most modern RPGs having to draw my own map, but there's a good reason why some dungeon-crawlers are still designed around that idea🧵
In these type of games, each dungeon floor is roughly a 20x20 grid. It varies with each series, some games even came with branded graph paper!
It is limiting, but that's the point: you know you are in one of the squares. And spells like Wizardy's DUMAPIC gave you X,Y coordinates
You start at X:0 Y:0, at each step you draw what you see: wall, door, corridor, etc.
To challenge your map skills, devs added things like dark areas, one-way doors, secret entrances, warp-around maps, chutes, and traps that rotate / teleport your party - often with no warning!
At first they're gentle. Wizardry's 1st level has a dark area (you can't see anything), but if you've explored the surrounding rooms you'll know its rough shape before going in
That's also how to search for hidden doors: you look at your map and there's suspicious empty areas...
Of course, once you master the concept, the maps can get very cruel. Wizardry 4 is infamous for this.
One of its levels has 16 similar blocks, connected by spinners that randomly rotate you - without telling you! This is a nightmare on paper, but would be trivial with an automap
And if you have a standard, subverting it is fun! Wizardry V added massive maps, some as big as 73x40!
And this wasn't explained anywhere, the box just said "game is bigger!". Players expected a 20x20 grid, but got a corridor intentionally made to not fit on A4 graph paper lol
Since the mid 90s hand-drawn maps were mostly replaced by automaps.
Only hardcore titles like Elminage Gothic or Wizardry: The Five Ordeals still require it, but with an added convenience: limited spells & magic items can give you a glimpse at an automap, helping you make yours:
It sounds easy, but maps are rare at first. And late dungeons have "no-magic" areas with teleporters / spinners, so you'll get a pure mapmaking challenge once in a while.
It's kinda like when Etrian Odyssey has teleporters that don't show on the automap - you have to write them.
In the end, what's important is that player and the game both agree on what kind of experience they are in for.
Wizardry 1 is still great, but it was made for hand-mapping. Some ports add automap, but it's like playing Final Fantasy with unlimited HP - it's a partial experience.
BTW, real-time RPGs like Dungeon Master & Eye of the Beholder also didn't have automaps, but their real-time nature and more linear progression makes handmaping a pain... I think the community as a whole agrees you should use automap mods like All-Seeing Eye or Grid Cartographer.
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People liked the thread on Chinese/Taiwanese RPGs, so let me tell you about another overlooked region: South Korea!
Yes, Korea is a gaming powerhouse, the land of MMOs, e-sports and mobile. But during the 90s they also had a huge PC RPG scene! Let's talk about those! 🧵
Korea got computers early, thanks to local giants like Samsung. And they also began by copying foreign classics, but with a twist: due to the brutal Japanese occupation, their culture was banned - you couldn't sell Mario there.
But you could sell local clones/ports/pirate copies!
A few original RPGs appeared in the late 80s, inspired by Ultima and Ys, but technology was still too crude, and players were split between platforms like MSX and Apple II. By the early 90s IBM PCs enter the popular VGA era, making it easier for devs everywhere to create PC games
Of all the research I did, the history of Chinese RPGs is my favorite. It blew my mind how over 200 PC RPGs were created in the 90s and early 2000s, an output rivalled only by Japan and the US!
And yet, we never talk about these games... So let me give a very brief overview🧵
In Taiwan in the late 80s, people began importing foreign PC games and localizing them - first translating manuals, then fully translating or even porting them, like their Dragon Quest for DOS. These groups grew and even made publications like Jingxun Computer Magazine/ 精訊電腦
In 1989, the US coerced Taiwan to follow international copyright laws, so these games became illegal. But the experience & network acquired was enough to make these groups became "normal" publishers - like Softstar (大宇資訊) and Soft-World (智冠科技) - and make their own games.
Reading some takes on the recent "JRPG" discourse, I wanted to talk a bit about about "Western RPG x Japanese RPG" history.
Mainly about how they evolved, each going thought many crises, "influence gaps" and learning from the other. It will be long, and take a while...🧵
Ok, so D&D comes out in 1974 in the US, people immediately start making adaptations of it for mainframe computers.
These were purely about exploring dungeons & killing monsters, but quickly grew more complex, supporting multiplayer, rankings, secrets and first-person combat:
The first home computer RPGs in the late 70s bring many new ideas & influences:
-BAM & Rogue pioneer roguelikes
-Wilderness Campaign focus on a small army of heroes
-Temple of Apshai draws from Choose-Your-Own-Adventures books
-Eamon mixes text-adventures + RPGs + custom modules
Since Steam is having the roguelike sale, let me recommend some amazing and EXTREMELY CHEAP games you can enjoy for dozens or hundreds of hours ↓
Tales of Maj'Eyal: store.steampowered.com/app/259680/Tal…
One of my most-played game of all-time, it combines an extremely deep roguelike with a more CRPG-like main quest, dozens of classes and races that play totally different and hundreds of secrets to uncover.
One Way Heroics: store.steampowered.com/app/266210/One…
Imagine a Vampire Survivors roguelike: you pick a class then keep moving right, trying to survive as long as possible, unlock secrets and kill the end boss - then repeat with new heroes and powers. Super addictive!
Today is the 20th anniversary of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, a game I absolutely love.
There's RPGs with better gameplay or more charismatic heroes, but Morrowind has the deepest & most fascinating world you can immerse yourself in. It truly offers a journey into another life.
I really love its setting. It abandons Tolkien & medieval fantasy to offers a fantastic mix of Dune, Moebius and epic poems.
It's an alien world full of exotic creatures, epic feats, conspiracies, deceitful gods... yet all consistent, with social classes, laws, government, etc.
To understand this world you must truly live in it. Talk to many people, follow myths and rumors, go to libraries and museums, trade favors, pilgrimage across religious landmarks...
This is the main quest! There's not a single RPG out there that embraced immersion to this level.
There's NOTHING in English about Chinese RPGs, but I found a gigantic rant/retrospective from a Chinese gamer on the entire history of the genre: gameres.com/860469.html
I feel a special kinship with someone that goes "2005-2008 was decline" 🥲
I'll try to give an overlook, butchering the names since they it REALLY hard to read:
It begins in 1990-1994, with simple Dragon Quest-clones like "Xuan-Yuan Sword 1" and "Legend of Hero", then quickly evolving with "Xuan-Yuan Sword 2" and "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".
In 1995 things start really going with Legend of Sword & Fairy (aka Chinese Paladin), an all-time classic, maybe China's most iconic RPG.
Also noteworthy are Xuan-Yuan Sword: Dance of the Maple Leaves, with its deep story & philosophy, and Legend of Hero 3, with its amazing art: