Indie Retro News: BRIGHTMOOR - An AI Ultima-style C64 game from GloomKeep II creator J5

Here is the most recent sport ‘BRIGHTMOOR’, a brand new Ultima-style retro RPG constructed from the bottom up in 6502 meeting on the strong GloomKeep II engine with the assistance of AI. The sport plunges gamers right into a darkish fantasy world the place King Mordran, determined to flee his personal mortality, has struck a catastrophic discount with an historical drive sleeping beneath the earth. Because of this truce, the dominion’s protecting daybreak bell has fallen silent, remodeling the monarch into the Hole King and plunging the realm into perpetual twilight. To revive daylight, a lone hero should enterprise throughout an enormous 64 by 64 tile world and conquer six inverted black towers often known as Gloomholds, which burrow deep into the earth slightly than stretching into the sky.

New Gameplay Trailer

In line with the web site, BRIGHTMOOR blends tactical survival mechanics with rogue-like components, that includes a dynamic world the place the wilderness, roadways, and dungeon entrances shift randomly with each new playthrough. Whereas the six core areas and their respective cities—similar to Thornhollow and Dawnhaven—stay mounted, gamers should depend on native sages and aspect errands to pinpoint the place every subterranean stronghold lies. The gameplay additionally has a practical line-of-sight mechanic and a totally simulated 12-month calendar the place dusk dramatically shrinks visibility and unleashes practically forty distinct regional monsters, from Mere frogmen to Cinder trolls. Delving into the multi-floor dungeons forces gamers into intense battles in opposition to oath-lords who summon reinforcements when weakened, however defeating them yields legendary artifacts just like the Sunblade or Starmantle, that are important for bringing the solar again to the moor.

CREDITS

Design, code, artwork and music largely by J5, with assist from different builders and Claude help.
On the engine of GloomKeep II.
Krill’s loader · GoatTracker 2 by Cadaver · Exomizer by Magnus Lind.
Monster artwork after Kenney and Hexany (CC0) and Kcaze’s 1-Bit Fantasy Creatures 2 (CC BY 4.0).
A sport by J5 — youtube.com/@j5retro