Thor in the Norse: Let's Play Castle Of The Winds

Well, quite a while ago I finished my Bard's Tale LP. I started more of a liveblog on Earthbound, but lost interest. Partially as I didn't feel like enough people were interested in it. So, I've decided to give another go to a picture LP. This one a fun little Windows Rougelike RPG.

Castle Of The Winds. A basic, but fun little graphical rougelike using Norse Mythology, with a smattering of more traditional Dungeons And Dragons elements.

I remember getting the first episode of this game years ago in a CD of a bunch of windows games, most of them shareware. This would be my introduction to a rougelike, though it'd be years before I'd even know what the hell a rougelike was. (And I'd say ADOM introduced me to what really counted as a rougelike)

The gameplay is very much a rougelike. Invisible grid-style, turn-based, go down into a dungeon, kill everything, and take all the loot back up to the town to identify and sell. Not nearly as murderous, since it won't delete your save file if you die. Which also means it's a lot easier with the potential to save scum.

I'll go into story much more later. The gist is our adoptive parents were killed, and we're looking for revenge.

So, with that quick introduction, let's begin!◊

Naturally, for reader input, I need help deciding how to divy up the stats.◊

Rather interesting how the stats are slider-bar based rather than straight up numbers. Makes me wonder how much differece a single sliver of a stat really makes.

Anyways, as you can see, the stats are Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity. I suspect they're all fairly self-explanitory for anybody that's used to video games.

Another thing I need you to pick is our first level spell.◊ Every character is automatically a mage knight, with our choice of stat distribution deciding if he's more mage or knight. Either way, we can cast spells no matter how low our intellect.

We also need to pick a gender (Which only really changes the little icon) and a difficulty. If anybody has what they think could be a good icon, feel free to suggest it. For difficulty, I'm not nearly good enough at the game to try Experts Only. I want to play on Intermediate, but if the viewers demand, I suppose I could bump it up to Difficult.

And, of course, our brave hero needs a name.

Ha! I remember this game, and loved it for the little time sink it is. And yes, I was definitely guilty of save scumming like it was going out of style. Perhaps it already had by then...? No matter.

If I recall correctly, time has no meaning in this game, so you can rest as often as you want to regenerate mana. This makes it easier than usual to play a mage, but at the same time, you can do pretty well in combat, so it'd be a waste to neglect that area entirely. I'd suggest a stat breakdown like this:

45% Intelligence | 25% Constitution | 20% Dexterity | 10% Strength

As far as a name goes, you could always recycle something from Norse mythology. There's a god named "Óðr" which is sometimes written as Odr... which is probably pronounced "odor". Hmm... maybe I should look somewhere else....

EDIT: Forgot to suggest a spell... normally, I'd say healing takes precedent over everything else. However, it's pretty easy to regain HP by resting instead, so I'd recommend Magic Arrow.

edited 2nd Dec '10 2:01:59 AM by Exaggeration17A

Yay! Trigger Liveblog! The reason I signed up on the forums in the first place!

I would say...mostly even stats with an emphasis on magic. Something like 35% Int, 25% Con, 25% Dex, 15% Str.

As for the spell, Detect Object and Phase Door sound pretty useful, if this is as devious as many other roguelikes.

^ It's really not devious at all - I wouldn't even call it a roguelike. You can load a save game if you die, teleport in and out of the dungeon easily (once you get a few spells), and there's nothing pressuring you to move forwards.

If memory serves, Magic Arrow was the most useful spell to start out with, followed by Heal Minor Wounds. Therefore, you should pick Light. :D

I wouldn't even call it a roguelike. You can load a save game if you die, teleport in and out of the dungeon easily (once you get a few spells), and there's nothing pressuring you to move forwards.

True enough. My insistence on how much of a rougelike it is is more based on general gameplay. Grid-based. You move, everyone else moves. Kill things and take their stuff. Single 'safe town' to return to to sell loot and buy better items. But with the saving one can do, and how there's no time limit, (No need to eat or anything) and the aforementioned quick dungeon in/out spells, and save-scum potential, it lacks the difficulty punch of a real Rougelike.

Yay! Trigger Liveblog! The reason I signed up on the forums in the first place!

Heh, thanks, Dethy. I'm rather honoured.

Was hoping to get started today, but got distracted, as is often the case. And tomorrow night I'll be busy. So expect the story and game overview on Saturday.

Ooh, a rougelike. Could never get into these: Nethack didn't hold my intrest, anbd dwarf fortress tends to frustrate me with it's lazy lazy mansons (and occsanial glitches.)

I awiat this eagerly...

I forgot to mention the extent of the stat distribution in the last screen. You can only put them between 25% to 75% of the max. In other words, minimum is a single square in that four-square column, while max is three. Also, as a slightly annoying factor, you can't drain every stat down to minimum to redistribute, as you can't reduce anymore when that "Available" bar is full.

Anyways, votes call for high magic, low strength. Though I found that with the stat points you get, you can have a very even build. Enough to put every stat at 62.5%. (That's two and a half squares.)

Anyways, here's our starting stats.◊ For the heck of it, I went with a female character. A quick perusal of a Nordic Name site gave me the rather cool name of Gunmarie. Not that guns exist in this game, but still.

I was tempted to try Difficult, but I chickened out. This may be more forgiving than most Roguelikes, but that doesn't mean you won't die a whole lot. Oh, and there is a graveyard screen, too.

So, the first screen of gameplay that greets us.◊ Our hometown, a tiny hamlet (Which I can't seem to find a name for.)

Along the top you see the Windows menus. File gives the general Save, Load, Quit, as well as Review Story, which lets you review all plot events that have occurred

Character switches you to this screen,◊ letting me review current stats, base stats, and a bunch of other numbers I've never really had to worry about before. Also lets you change your icon, and see your attributes. We don't have any right now, though.

Inventory takes you to this screen.◊ I must admit I love the graphical representation of all worn equipment. Looks easy enough now. One window for what we wear, one for what's on the ground, and one for what's in our pack. We can get bigger packs, belt pouches, and others later, though these have the problems of really clogging up this view with a bunch of tiny open windows. And it becomes annoying to resize them all. But we'll see that soon enough.

This menu is quite user-friendly. Items can be picked up with the mouse and moved around to wherever you need them. For instance, I pick up my weapon, a dagger.◊ I can't move it into an inappropriate slot, like armour,◊ but I can put it in my free hand.◊ So equipment is easy to place where it needs to go. From the ground to my pack, or wherever I may determine it needs to go.

Note that there's a shield space, but also a free hand space. And if I recall, even if you use a two-handed sword, you still have a free hand slot. The rationale could be something kept on your belt, except that there is also a belt pouch slot as well. Meh, whatever. Stuff in free hands, as well as the belt slot, can be quickly accessed from the main menu. But if it's in a pack or a bag, it takes time to dig it out, which is not a good thing when a monster is barreling down on you and you need a healing potion.

There's also the sub-menu above. Character goes to the same menu I showed you before. Sort pack organizes your loose equipment for easy perusal. Name object lets you name an object, for the heck of it. Spell lets you cast spells here. (Mostly needed for identification spells in this menu) Activate will let you use what you have in your free hand or belt pouch. Window sorts through the various open windows in this screen.

Anyways, returning to the previous window,◊ we have the menu option to switch to map view.◊ The village is small, but the dungeon floors will get bigger. And much less visible. This also is useful when we have Detect Monsters active, as that will tell us the location of monsters across the entire floor.

Spell lets us cast spells, organize our quick pick spell menu, or browse our spellbook. We only have ten spells in our quick menu, but there's many more to learn and cast.

Activate, again, lets us use items in quick-use places. Free Hand and belt pouches.

Verbs lets us Get (Items from the ground), Examine (Which can be done by right-cliking anyway), Free Hand (puts an item on the ground into the Free Hand slot), Search (Traps and secret doors), Rest (Until healed, interrupted if you see a monster) and Sleep (Until mana is restored, only interrupted if attacked), Open, Close, Climb up, and Climb Down.

There's the lower quick-button menu with commonly used commands. But, as a roguelike, there's also all the keyboard commands that I'll be using more often.

So before we explore the town, time for some...

BACKGROUND

Hiding anything from young children is difficult, for when no one is watching they have a way of getting into every nook and cranny of their ever expanding world. And so it was, that at the age of twelve you found an ornately carved wooden box hidden above the rafters of your farmhouse home. Intrigued, you examined it closely, from the intricate crown on the lid to the tiny lock that resisted your simple attempts to pick it. At last you replaced it where you'd found it, and continued the search for bird's nests and mice that had taken you there in the first place. It stayed in your mind, however, and you found yourself wondering, as you lay down to sleep at night, just what might be inside.

Farm life can be hard, for there are always chores to be done, especially as the only child being raised by aging godparents. But there are joyous times as well, when the harvest is in, and life slows down to contemplate the splendors of autumn's beauty. And often, on those crisp autumn nights you managed to coax a story out of your godfather. Sometimes he would tell legends of the gods, wondrous tales of the battle between Thor and the giants, or the troubles caused by the trickster Loki. Other times he would tell of the days of his youth, when as a brave young warrior he had served in King Lifthransir's royal guard. But this night you had another subject in mind, for the carved box had been in your mind for days.

"Grandfather," you said, for while he was not truly your grandfather he seemed as close as one, "what's in the box under the eaves?"

His eyes opened wide, and he shot a look at your godmother who sat nearby. "Well," he said at last, "if ye be old enough to be askin', I guess ye be old enough to know. Why don't you fetch it here, child, and we'll take a look inside."

Minutes later you watched with anticipation as he drew a fine chain out from under his tunic and used the small key that dangled from it to open the lock. Slowly he lifted the lid, and you caught a glimpse of gold reflecting the firelight. He reached inside and drew forth a finely crafted gold chain, with a circular pendant suspended beneath.

"What is it?" you asked in a hushed voice, as you stared at the slowly spinning pendant glinting in the firelight.

"A gift from your true father," he replied. "He came to us a dozen years ago, with the blood of a hundred wounds covering his body, and the awareness of his own mortality in his eyes. He handed us a small bundle, you as an infant, and collapsed on our doorstep. He awoke just once before he died, and asked us to raise you for him. He said the amulet he wore was to be yours on your eighteenth birthday. If you were worthy, he whispered as his voice failed, it would lead you to fortune and glory."

You watched as your godfather gently lowered the pendant back into the box, and closed the lid.

"And so, my child, you have much to live up to. Grow strong and wise, for the Norns have reached out and touched your life, as they do with few mortals, and I feel you will have need of all the talent and ability you can muster in whatever task lies ahead."

So that's the background story, but there is one little detail that's missing, explaining why we're running around killing monsters. Next post.

Before we go shopping, let's see why we're doing all this...

Stepping through the village gate,◊ we see a wide, open field,◊ and several branching roads. The first turn to the right is where we want to go.

At the end, we see (As told directly from the game by right-clicking) the smoldering remains of a building, a trampled garden, and plotline.◊

You gaze once more at the charred ruins of the farm where you were raised. You buried the blackened skeletons of your godparents in the remains of the garden they loved; but you can't bury the anger which still seethes at the thought of how they died. Grimly, you vow that nothing will prevent you from avenging their deaths.

The marauders pillaged the farm quite thoroughly. Nowhere in the ruins can you find the amulet left for you by your true father, whose dying words, whispered to your godfather, were supposedly of its importance to you: of how it could lead you to your fortune and great glory, but only if you proved your worth. Your godparents had promised it to you for your 18th birthday; now you have neither godparents nor birthright, and your birthday has just passed.

A search for clues in the rubble finds only a confused trail of footprints, leading north, towards the mountains. Many of the footprints seem much too large to have come from the boots of bandits or soldiers.

You look north, wondering: Where might the amulet be by now? To whom must you prove yourself, and how?

So, as we have probably pieced together, around our 18th birthday, we were out, probably getting drunk, and our home was burned, our godparents killed, and that amulet meant as a present stolen.

But before we do, time to explore the town and go shopping.

here's an example of the right-click examine◊ feature in use. It'll tell us the detail of the square we click. I like the little nods to detail that it'll tell you "road" or "grass" if you click on such things. The signs can be read, or you can just right-click to determine what the buildings are: Shops, shrines, or just farms, as the two buildings to the north of town are.

There's five shops in town. First is Bjorn the Blacksmith.◊ As you can see, he sells weapons and armour.

Oh, and here's the shop window. Similar to standard inventory window, though with the shop's inventory as "ground." right-clicking◊ on an item gives you weight, bulk, and cost. Doing so for magic items also gives you details on the enchantment. Most are self-explanitory, but some aren't quite as obvious.

Along the top of the shop menu, the window's blue bar, you'll see along with the shop name (Always prefaced with Castle. I find this amusing, but I'm not sure why) the amount of money you have (Always broken down into copper pieces) and your total load, in both weight and bulk. I've never worried too much about load, beyond when I can't actively carry any more.

Directly to the right of the blacksmith's shop is Gunnhild's General Store.◊ Here you buy clothing, storage items, and basic magical items. I'm lucky in that he/she (What gender is that name?) has a medium pack to start out with. Carrying more loot seems more restricted by one's pack than by one's strength, so bigger packs are always welcome. Ther's also a three slot belt available, which is handy. As mentioned, items in a belt pouch can be quickly and efficiently reached by a menu, and thus used in combat without having to root around in one's pack and get attacked.

Like inventory management, shopping is a breeze. You just pick an item up from the window and move it to you, either your pack or your body. Then you're asked if you want to buy it.◊ Similarly, selling items simply involves picking it up and putting it in their window.◊

Shops don't buy everything. Well, not most shops. Weapons and armour I sell at the blacksmith, while clothes and magic items are sold to the general store. In later towns there'll be more specialty stores with more exacting demands on what they'll buy.

Armour and Weapons are sorted by effectiveness. So the more valuable, the better the weapon is. There's no fancy advantages/drawbacks, nor skills to consider, (Aside from the aforementioned two-handed sword, but that's a long way away.) so just get the best weapon you can. But in my case, I want to get all the cool carrying items, and some of the other bits of armour. So after going shopping with 1500 copper, here's my starting setup.◊ No armour, you say? I know when we go to the dungeon, we'll find... Uhh, I mean... The oracle told me on my birthday that 'protection will be found' when we begin our quest.

Speaking of oracle, the bottom building is the Temple to Odin.◊ Spells are available to buy, though since we're uninjured, most of the health and stat-regaining spells are grayed out. Strange Remove Curse isn't, since we don't have any cursed items.

Rune of Return is a handy spell that really reduces the difficulty once we get it, though it's far too expensive to waste money on right now. It's the quick in/out spell, taking you out of the dungeon back to town, or into the lowest level of the dungeon we've explored. But it's still too early a level to need it. And I prefer to cast it myself rather than spend money on it anyways.

The last two shops in town are Snorri the Sage, who identifies items (Drag an item into his 'inventory window,' and he'll identify it, though it's put back wherever you grabbed it from your inventory) and Olaf's Junk Store. The Junk Store will buy anything from you, but he'll only give you a maximum of 25 copper for it. Still, he's the only place to sell destroyed or cursed items, so it's handy for inventory clearance. He doesn't actually have anything for sale, he only buys crap. Also, any items sold to him are gone for good; you can't buy them back.

Speaking of, while items you sell to stores will be available, at first, stores randomize their inventory when you leave for a while, usually to go pillaging a dungeon level, then come back. I'm not sure if it's event based or time based, or if they randomize more (So there's more new inventory) the longer you're gone for.

Back of cursed items, you can sell unidentified items to stores, but they'll only give you a flat rate, which could be much less than the item is worth. Or more, if it's a normal item. As well, if you sell them too many cursed items, they'll stop buying unidentified junk from you and tell you to go get it identified first. And stores won't buy decursed items, either. Gotta go to Olaf for that.

Oh, and you can't enter◊ the two farmhouses in town. Real friendly neighbours around here.

In case you're wondering, the fields around the hamlet are farmland, and we can't walk on it.

Anyways, we're (mostly) equipped and burning for vengeance! Onward, Gunmarie! Destiny awaits!

edited 5th Dec '10 9:33:29 AM by TriggerLoaded

It had been a very bad birthday for Gunmarie. Her big birthday bash mostly revolved around confirming to all the boys that, yes, she could still kick their asses even if she was drunk, and being 18 didn't mean she had to start being submissive to all of them. She also stumbed home drunk, and it wasn't until she woke up the next morning that she realized that her house had been burned down and pillaged. She thought it was strangely drafty.

And so was a pounding hangover replaced with burning vengeance. Selling her godparent's farmland for whatever coppers she could scrounge up gave her some starting capital. She wondered if it was a good idea, but she knew she could never rest until she found the monsters that had destroyed her home and her family. She had consulted the priest of Odin before her journey. Though his advice was cryptic, it was also oddly specific.

She had bought weapons, armour, and equipment at Bjorn and Gunnhild's. Stepping out of the village, she took one more look at the burned wreckage of her home. Partially to make sure that the amulet was stolen, and she wasn't just too hung over to find it last time.

Heading back to the path, she saw the main road.◊ Traders, travellers, and soldiers were not unknown, but they were rather uncommon, and so the road wasn't well maintained. She looked into the distance,◊ reflecting upon her decision, and her life.

[Trying to leave the map on the road, both to the east and west, gives you those messages. At least it acknowledges that the player may want to leave the map, even if the character doesn't.]

Finally, Gunmarie stood in front of the old mine. It had been abandoned for years, though rumours of monsters infesting its depths were often told in town. It would explain the occasional goblin attack the town had to deal with. Well, now Gunmarie was going to find out the truth. The tracks led into the mountains, and there was nowhere else they could have gone but here.

Though Gunmarie again questioned her decision when she stepped inside the cave,◊ and remembered she couldn't see in the dark.◊

[Yep, only one square of vision, for the most part. Also I forgot to get a screenshot of the cave entrance. I'll remember that next time.]

Still, vengeance is a powerful emotion, ofter overriding such things as intelligence and common sense. And so Gunmarie pushed onward, wondering why Gunnhild didn't stock torches.

She came to a fork in the tunnel.◊ Again, the words of the oracle rang in her head.

"Go left."

Okay, maybe the oracle wasn't all that cryptic. Still,it didn't make much sense at the time.

Creeping forward, she saw the walls widen out slightly. Presumably she was stepping into a room.

*Sckt*

A scraping sound! Gunmarie readied her spear, and peered into the blackness. There was something in here!

Though dark, she could just barely make out a strange little creature.◊ She struggled to identify the strange, pick-carrying creature, until it barked, jogging her memory. She remembers hearing about these things. Kobolds!◊ A small, filthy, industrious race of miners. Subterranian, territorial, but not very strong. And the way it was looking at her, it wouldn't be satisfied with an apology.

[Right click on a creature to see what it is, and its current health, as I've shown above.]

Though small, it did have one advantage over Gunmarie. It could see in the dark.

But Gunmarie had another advantage. She had been studying under Snorri, who recognized her talents. Indeed, he said she was a natural. Not as a sage, but as a wizard!

She focused, remembering the minor attack spell she had learned from Snorri. She could feel her mental reserves slightly exhausted, but the energy coursed through her hands, seeking a target.◊ Which she was only too happy to provide, launching the eldritch force at the kobold, with satisfying results.◊

Gunmarie breathed heavily, trying to calm her beating heart. Okay, she could do this. It seemed easy enough back at the village, vowing bloody vengeance on her family's murderers, but now it seemed a lot more deadly and real. Even if the creature never got close to her. But at the same time, striking down the little monster had brought a rush. It was her first kill... And there would be many more. This she knew.

After a quick moment to rest, Gunmarie searches the cave, seeing if the kobold had anything worthwhile. Kobolds also tended to be notorious scavengers. Indeed, she almost tripped over something on the floor.◊ It looked like heavy clothing at first, but a closer look revealed the other words of the oracle rang true. It was a suit of leather armour.◊ Strangely, despite sitting in a cave, being watched by a filthy kobold, it wasn't in bad repair, and was indeed quite wearable.

Gunmarie donned the suit, but then remembered Snorri's words. Some items were cursed to have the opposite effect. Armour would expose oneself to attack, weapons would make the wearer less able to hit. And most curses were undetectable without proper training, or until somebody uses the item. Or puts it on.

Still, after an experimental few shifts and poses in the armour, it didn't feel particularly weird. It was probably fine.

edited 7th Dec '10 6:19:22 PM by TriggerLoaded

Not a bad start.

[When you cast a spell, your mouse pointer becomes crosshairs. Move the crosshairs to the target and let loose with your spell. You get a little graphic of your spell flying towards the target. It just looks like the icon used in the quick cast menu flying towards them.]

A quick search of the room revealed nothing, so Gunmarie doubled back and took the right route, only to find another fork.◊

She heard more scraping sounds to the right, but these were smaller. Well, she wasn't going to get vengeance hiding from every noise. Time to investigate.

Again, the tunnel opened up into a wider room. She didn't see anything in the north side of the room, so she began to wander south...

Until she stuck her foot in something soft and hairy, and it replied by ripping a huge gash in her leg.◊

Gunmarie stumbled back in pain! Peering forward, she saw the glowing eyes of a rat, nearly the size of a dog!

Hmm, maybe this would be good physical practice, she thought. Sure, she was an accomplished adept, but she'd also need to practice her hand-to-hand combat ability.

And so she stepped forward to skewer the rat with her spear. It quickly dodged to the side, and the opening left by her attack was exploited by another rat◊ coming out of the darkness to bite her on the arm.]]

This was looking quite dangerous. A single giant rat was a threat, it was possible that two could overwhelm her, especially in the dark. Forget practicing her combat ability, she needed to live. And so was one rat blasted back with another mystic bolt. With one out of the way, the other wasn't nearly as threatening, and a solid strike◊ by her spear left it twitching on the ground as its intestines leaked out.

[It wasn't too bad here, but sometimes the descriptions of the killing blows can get very graphic.]]

A quick search of the room turned up nothing more than bones and bat droppings.

Still, something had to be in here, so Gunmarie doubled back to again take the other path.

This one again began to open up into a wider room. The slight draft suggested it was a fair bit bigger than most. Though looking at the bites and gashes on her arms and legs, she decided it'd be best to rest for a bit.

[Tap 'r' to rest until healed. You recover quite quickly.]

In no time, Gunmarie was ready to go again, her wounds surprisingly minor now, and the pain nonexistant. She just thought she was tough when injuries didn't seem to faze her. Now she started to wonder how different was she, and if she truly was destined for bigger things?

These thoughts ran through her head as she paced forward, until she was interrupted by a growling battle cry. Quickly looking to the left, she saw a small green creature holding a club, charging towards her.◊ A goblin, just like many others that had attacked her village on occasion.

Gunmarie was in no mood to play around, and simply waved her hand at the creature, sending a magic bolt at it, killing it before it could even get close.◊

Walking over to where the corpse lay, Gunmarie quickly searched it. Nothing of value, even the club was just a roughly carved tree branch. But behind it, Gunmarie saw a set of stairs. It must have come up from the lower level.

Well, she had fully explored◊ this level of the mine. Time to head down and see what else awaits.

Now, obviously I'm not going to detail every combat past this point. Still, I do wonder how to proceed with the rest of this LP. Probably I'm going to go with basic information on all the monsters I fight (Like I did back with my Bard's Tale LP?) with occasional in-story descriptions when something important happens. Also descriptions of more general gameplay, what loot I find and what I keep/sell and what-not, though again not in full detail.

Speaking of, did you guys mind the rather indepth review of the game mechanics, especially starting out? I always like to give a full description, so you can get a very good idea on how the game is played. I did it with Bard's Tale, and I did it here. I'm wondering if it's appreciated, or skipped over for the most part.

I very much enjoy it so.