There's a remake project undergoing.

In case anyone's interested:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=68919.0

I would really like to see Darklands updated, so I am thankful for the link you provided, Elwin. I wish them the best of luck in their endeavor and hope when and if Darklands is remade whoever does not change anything more than they absolutely have to.

A remake (as close as anyway) is being made using the Oblivion Editor. The people working on it are steeped in the original game. The project has only just started, but they do have a webpage. To Avoid copyright it's called "The Darklands"

Go and give your support at

http://thedarklands.com

You'll see they haver replicated the Darklands interface with pull down menu's etc. They also have a forum.

I have been involved from early on and will help market it when it gets finished, but as you know, these projects only come to light if they get support from gamers who keep on saying "can't wait"! :)

bay12... thats the guy behind dwarf fortress isnt it? that little bit of lunacy stole a few weeks of productive time from me. hard to learn, fun to get sucked into, maddening when it all goes down the toilet and the dorfs go mad and start hacking each other up.

i could see him doing this as a project but it sounded like he was pretty absorbed with dwarf fortress.

Nah, it isn't Tarn Adams himself, just some DF fan :) (hence the Bay12 subforum).

Darklands in DF Adventure mode (with Darkland graphics and mouse support) would be swell.


I'm real glad about these projects but am unsure if we'll ever see them in good form.


Meanwhile I just had a game where I died by some wickerman like villagers....terrible shame.

What I question is: Why Oblivion?

From what I recall, menu-heavy mods have often had performance issues (at least, back in TES3) and this would be insanely menu-heavy for obvious reasons.

Also, this would essentially be an FPS-remake since I doubt anyone is going to implement a full strategy game in it. That is not to say I wouldn't mind a Darklands-inspired FPS/RPG, but remake is kind of a stretch.

That being said, good luck with your project. But I doubt you'll be getting too much support from the Darklands community (or, you will at least get as much as the XCOM and Syndicate "remakes" are getting :p). So that just leaves the Oblivion playerbase who generally prefer a bit more action and less menial jobs for moneys.

If someone could remake Darklands with the Temple of Elemental Evil engine...my god, that would be a perfect combination...

My thoughts also. It would be interesting to have medieval Germany as a setting for Oblivion, but the toolset is really only good for adding content, not game mechanics, since you have no access to any of the code.

Maybe it could be done with a Mount and Blade mod? That's the only recent game I can think of that has similar setting and style (menu-driven towns, over-world map separate from battle map, random events, etc.), as well as comprehensive modding options.

Uhm... Neverwinter Nights wasn't isometric. It was third person over the shoulder with the ability to zoom out (just like TWEE :p).

And again, it just seems strange to pick an engine that would need so many changes. Especially since there are many viable choices out there (I hear Unity is very easy to use, and has a VERY helpful community).

And nobody is saying it won't be a CRPG. But, like I said. the XCOM "remake". From the few blurbs I have read, it is actually capturing a lot of the essence of the originals. But it is still a FPS (even if it is a "party based" one), and it is still catching a lot of flak.

Seriously, I am a lazy and stupid person. I don't feel the need to read through a bunch of comments. So can you just answer: Why Oblivion? What features of that game are beneficial to this? The resources? I am sure you could find plenty of amateur modders who would love to donate or make basic medieval weapon models.
I ask because I love Darklands, but I have also been active in the modding scene for over a decade (I miss Unreal Tournament...) and I have seen LOTS of mods that die horrible deaths because the modders picked a really stupid game to base their project off of.

Your response consists of: They are Darklands fans, it is possible to have a First-Person CRPG, NWN was isometric (hee hee), and "stop being mean". None of those fill me with confidence or answer the question.
Because a total conversion is a lot of effort. ESPECIALLY when it is a remake of an older game. Simply because the will to work dies out when you are just following in someone's footsteps and can't really make too many of your own tweaks without pissing off your fanbase.

Once they get the Skyrim Construction Set, they may consider going with that. They probably went with the Oblivion CS because there are lots of people with really good CS skills. Having said that though, I do believe separately coded routines outside of the CS but designed to dovetail with it are also going to be written, so it could be very different from people are thinking just because it's "Oblivion"..

Okay

Why Skyrim? Why Oblivion? Hell,. why Morrowind?

I am just trying to figure out what the rationale behind using a knife to turn the screws is. Yeah, the blade fits in the slot, but there is going to be a lot of slippage and you might cut yourself.

I am not saying it couldn't be a fun mod. But, like I said: IF they even do half the stuff you claim they are going to, that is gonna need some hefty scripting (kills perf). Not to mention the text adventure aspect is going to kill performance too. And by targetting Oblivion, they inherently alienate a large part of the "classic" RPG community (even if we ignore the FP-aspect, Oblivion was largely viewed as a step back by many). That leaves the Oblivion fans, who probably prefer games like Oblivion, not games like Darklands.

I am just still wondering: What was the rationale behind this decision? If it was just "there are people who are good with it", then there are still PLENTY of alternatives. Based off the website, this is a relatively recent (last 2 or 3 years) project. That is pretty much when all the super-user-friendly engines/SDKs were coming out (Unity, Microsoft's XNA, other stuff). All of which won't involve fighting against an engine for the sake of a few assets or whatever the rationale is.

That's like avoiding an oncoming train by taking one step back while facing it.

Well, they could have called it "DarkLands " or something. Works every time.