4 ms·

> Over in Japan, the Enyx designers combined the dungeon crawling from Wizardry and the over-world exploration of Ultima, adjusting them to the limitations of t

> Over in Japan, the Enyx designers combined the dungeon crawling from Wizardry and the over-world exploration of Ultima, adjusting them to the limitations of the Famicom/NES console—and to the tastes of the local public. With a linear story, streamlined systems focused on battles, and a more forgiving difficulty level, Dragon Quest became the blueprint of what would become the Japanese RPG genre. "Enix", I assume? Also, while Enix was the publisher behind Dragon Quest (and pretty much made the series the core of the company's identity), the original DQ was actually developed by ChunSoft.

drewcoo 2y ago
To further correct that article snippet . . . Dragon Quest did not have Wizardry-like dungeon crawling. It had Ultima-like dungeon crawling. Ultima III had top-down tiled dungeons in '83.
- smcameron 2y ago
  > Ultima III had top-down tiled dungeons in '83. That's not what I remember, Ultima III had crude 3D dungeons similar to Wizardry's dungeons. The maps of the dungeon levels were 2D and tiled. Google image search for "ultima iii dungeon" confirms my memory.
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
    In fact, all of the Ultimas through V had first-person dungeon views. Wizardry's wireframe dungeon renderer was a bit more advanced, though, in the sense that it supported empty space and disjoint 'islands' in the map, while Ultima I and II could only display corridors. IIRC that limitation was fixed by III, but it may have been IV. It was definitely fixed by V.
    - tmtvl 2y ago
      I dunno about Ultima III, but QotA had 'battle screen' sections of dungeon, which basically means a top-down section. I believe the altars are in such sections? I do know there's a three-way split in the Stygian Abyss, because I accidentally went around in a circle last time I played. QotA is really awesome, I should play it again some time.
      - CamperBob2 2y ago
        It had both top-down 'combat rooms' and a 3D first-person view (as did Ultima III.) Of course, in Ultima III, you couldn't leave the top-down combat arena until the monsters were dead or you were. That was also fixed in Ultima IV, where you could chicken out at the cost of some Valor.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

drewcoo 2y ago

To further correct that article snippet . . . Dragon Quest did not have Wizardry-like dungeon crawling. It had Ultima-like dungeon crawling. Ultima III had top-down tiled dungeons in '83.

smcameron 2y ago
> Ultima III had top-down tiled dungeons in '83. That's not what I remember, Ultima III had crude 3D dungeons similar to Wizardry's dungeons. The maps of the dungeon levels were 2D and tiled. Google image search for "ultima iii dungeon" confirms my memory.
- CamperBob2 2y ago
  In fact, all of the Ultimas through V had first-person dungeon views. Wizardry's wireframe dungeon renderer was a bit more advanced, though, in the sense that it supported empty space and disjoint 'islands' in the map, while Ultima I and II could only display corridors. IIRC that limitation was fixed by III, but it may have been IV. It was definitely fixed by V.
  - tmtvl 2y ago
    I dunno about Ultima III, but QotA had 'battle screen' sections of dungeon, which basically means a top-down section. I believe the altars are in such sections? I do know there's a three-way split in the Stygian Abyss, because I accidentally went around in a circle last time I played. QotA is really awesome, I should play it again some time.
    - CamperBob2 2y ago
      It had both top-down 'combat rooms' and a 3D first-person view (as did Ultima III.) Of course, in Ultima III, you couldn't leave the top-down combat arena until the monsters were dead or you were. That was also fixed in Ultima IV, where you could chicken out at the cost of some Valor.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]