(I've posted about this game on the old forum years ago. Posting it now with the hope to get the interest of newer folks - and oldies too, since Elona has undergone many improvements since then. If enough of us play it, maybe we can host a forum-game about it like before, too! ^_^)
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/promo.png)
Elona is an open-ended RPG where just about everything is possible but always optional, including even the main storyline. I've been playing it for many years and absolutely love it! Here are just a few of the many things you can do:
- Dive into static and randomly-generated dungeons, capture/kill monsters and collect all sorts of loot;
- explore towns with unique NPCs, complete their quests for fame and loot;
- be the star performer of crazy parties for more fame and loot;
- own a castle, mansion, ranches, farms and storehouses to store all that loot;
- train captured monsters to work for you, or sell them/marry them/mutate them/kill them/eat them;
- collect cards and figures for display in your museum.
- become a tax-evading criminal or nuke an entire city
As standard with many roguelikes, crazy stuff
may will happen to you, like:
- using unidentified loot may kill or maim your character for good;
- your trusty living weapon may evolve and turn against you one day;
- NPC swinging his sword at something may set the entire town on fire and summon a dragon horde;
- aliens may infest the town, infecting random NPCs with their alien babies;
- stranded in bad weather on certain days will mutate your character;
- your dreams may restock your magical spells, heal you, decrease your stats or curse your equipment.
Screenshots
From a few minutes of my Elona+ gameplay just before making this post.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/castle.png)
Magic room to the left, then the bedroom with 'wife', where another kind of magic happens occasionally. A throne hall on the right, with a library and a small courtyard below.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/newweapons.png)
Some of the new weapons and items in Elona+. That chainsaw causes massive damage to dragons and gods (not only to the pantheon gods, but also to a new type of super-powerful enemy class), among other things.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/monster1.png)
That 'five-headed god' on the top is a new Elona+ enemy, can surprise you with various elemental breath attacks.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/monster2.png)
Some enemies are higher-evolved versions of old Elona monsters, like this 'quick redcap' (quickling) and 'bell of termination' (bell). The latter dropped a 'caramel of termination' when killed. If I ate it, it would summon the dragon horde and set everything on fire, as mentioned above.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/monster3.png)
Rather than killing, I dominated the NPC in the lower right. It'll fit right into my new team.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/monster4.png)
An easier way to get some impressive-looking monsters is to capture one in its lower form (a dragon for this one, iirc) and evolve it into this, with the right item and conditions.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/monster5.png)
That seraph up there owned pretty much everyone on the field, until it croaked from a timed 'death word' from one of the nastier enemies that survived long enough for its curse to take effect.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/city0.png)
The newly opened southern continent has some interesting locations full of high-level enemies and quests.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/city1.png)
Small town with new cute NPCs called 'military putit'.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/city2.png)
A huge underground casino where you can strike it big, if lady luck smiles.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/city3.png)
A torture chamber in the same casino, where less lucky guests will find themselves.
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/promo/city4.png)
This technocrat military base in the southern continent plays a role in the continuation of the main storyline.
Downloads:
Elona 1.16 final (http://homepage3.nifty.com/rfish/file/elona116rfix2b.zip) (official version, development ended in 2011)
Elona+ 1.17 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kmv7mo349ehd7l1/1HKVFYzJ0p/elonaplus) (a popular fan-developed variant with bugfixes, new quests/enemies/items/towns etc. I've been playing this since last year.)
I don't have a number pad which makes the controls awkward to say the least.
The controls have numpad-independent versions too, which is what I'm using since I don't have a dedicated numpad on this laptop either. I use arrows for movement, "l" to target and spacebar for actions. The rest of the functions are not bound to the numpad, though I agree that it would be a lot to learn at once. Fortunately only a handful are used frequently at the beginning, and the list of all keys is just a "?" typing away. There is also a graphical keyboard layout (http://elona.squares.net/forum/download/file.php?id=197) that might help.
Worst of all it's using a DnD framework which I've always felt made for lousy video gaming. It looks like I'm in for a lot of trial and error just learning how to play while struggling not to starve and die. Is it really worth it?
These are pretty much the staple features of roguelikes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike), so if this stuff is not your cup of tea, chances are that no games in the genre will appeal to you.
Personally, I find total freedom and unguided gameplay experience quite a refreshing change. Finding out neat tricks to overcome the crazy, unexpected challenges is a reward in itself. For example, when a pet passes over a well while following you, chances are, an event will be triggered where the pet falls into the well and dies. And to solve this problem,
you just attach some feathers or wings (equipment) to the pet and it will 'float'.
Or, when you or your pet drink from a fountain, it might triggeralien pregnancy. To heal it, just quaff some ink or poison, and the alien baby will 'melt' in your stomach. Crazy but works!
To me, getting stuff like this is akin to discovering a random secret in KU.
A couple tips for warding off hunger:
- Free food: eat stuff that's on display in bakeries, without penalty. You can also bash fruit trees for fruit. Pick up edible wild plants, nuts, leaves etc. from fields and forests.
- Corpses are a great source of food, even early on (just remember to identify them first, unless you feel lucky). If you are not a fighting type, you can let monsters kill each other and pick up any corpses and loot that may drop.
- Otherwise you need to buy food. You can get money effortlessly by prostitution and by collecting junk and either selling it or better yet, keeping it for use in quests. (NPCs tend to ask for all sorts of low-level junk and are quite generous in exchange.)
But this is just a few of the million things to figure out and do. There is a handy beginner's guide (http://elona.squares.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2331&sid=c08881ad69366b42238c39aec5d7e4e4) at the official forum, and another one (http://elona.wikia.com/wiki/Beginner's_Guide) at the Elona wiki. Hopefully enough to get you off on a smoother start - relatively speaking. ;)
Awesome!!! :D So, what kind of character did you end up playing as?
About the forumgame: last time we challenged each other to find or do certain stuff in-game, post a pic of it in the forum, and the first one to do so would be the next challenger. Think stuff like 'find at least 9 spiders on one screen', which then would be matched by something like this:
(http://thaiwonders.com/documents/nifflas/elona/game/spider_lair.jpg)
Another thing we could do is give vague concepts, e.g. 'seafood', 'heaven and hell', 'solitude', 'don't hurt me' etc. Players then would post their interpretation of the concept (as screenshots). Winner could be decided either by the challenger or by vote.
Couple ideas for starters... what do you think? If you have other ideas, feel free to share too. :)
Awesome!!! :D So, what kind of character did you end up playing as?
After a misfire as a Juere War Mage, I restarted as a Juere Warrior, Xut The Stillness and his companion Nasrana the young lady.
I wish she would stop setting herself on fire though.
I have to stay away from the wiki. I go to find out what a stat means and end up reading major spoilers.
I simply refuse to murder Gwen the Innocent no matter how highly recommended it is!
I haven't touched Elona+, but it doesn't sound like there's much benefit until I complete the standard game anyway.
For the forum game, it sounds like fun, especially the theme interpretation type. Another idea is to post a picture, and the person who writes the best caption wins.
Geez the art style looks really neat for this, it's very familiar (having a similar feel to RPGMaker stuff) but unique and in it's own style and I'm digging it
Any recommendation on whether or not to start with the official version or the plus version? I'm going with trying plus for now.
Also I should note that your link to the plus version is broken, if I found the correct thing (and I'm not sure why I wouldn't have) it seems to be on 1.17 now as well, pretty good progress for being 1.14 a month ago (I'll assume that each .1 they add is a more-or-less "full" update and not just small bug fixes since those usually seem to be more along the lines of 0.0.1).
Yeah, 1.17 has been out for a few days now, I should update that. Thanks for the heads-up! (And yep, each version has major changes; this one, for example, added a "hard mode" option and a way to prevent food rot. More than a dozen new creatures, some new items, abilities and pet evolution paths have been added since 1.14.
I'd actually recommend playing E+ right from the start. Although you can't access the high-level southern continent until the main quest is completed, there are some immediate benefits to E+. Some examples: a much more refined control over pets (behavior, appearance, learning, stats); the ability to repair acid-damaged items, create bottles of water (more useful than it sounds), prevent food from rotting, and an overall more usable casting system. OTOH, trading and performing have been nerfed, and leveling living weapons is still being redefined (this is not an issue in the beginning though). One thing to keep in mind is that going backward is not really an option, i.e. an E+ world won't transfer well back to vanilla, but it works the other way around. So, caveats either way. :)
After a misfire as a Juere War Mage, I restarted as a Juere Warrior, Xut The Stillness and his companion Nasrana the young lady.
Nice, that looks like a balanced setup for a smooth(er) ride. :-)
Parts of the wiki are meant for beginners, while other parts are written with experienced gamers in mind - the trouble is, the boundary between these parts is not always clear, as you have noticed. X) I don't think I've killed her either, unless it was by accident, like inadvertently summoning monsters, setting the village on fire, alien infestation, ragnarok...
About the forumgame: I started writing up a post for it a while ago, but I'm in the middle of moving house/getting a new job, so this wouldn't be the best time for me to start a game topic. That shouldn't prevent anyone else from starting one though. :)