History VideoGame / DungeonLords

* BonusBoss: In the Tomb of Souls, if one has a key from the Naga Temple [[spoiler:from making sure a thief makes it out alive]], a door can be unlocked with a powerful monster in it.

''Dungeon Lords'' is a 2005 ActionRPG developed by Heuristic Park and published by [=DreamCatcher=] Interactive and Typhoon Games. The game was notably written and designed by David W. Bradley, who was the lead designer of several mainline ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games (namely, ''Wizardry V'', ''VI'' and ''VII'') years prior.

The character progression system is [[PointBuildSystem point- and level-based]], meaning a wizard can buy wizard skills cheaper than armour skills but still get both -- in practice, this means that characters become [[GameBreaker do-it-all übermenschen with ridiculous powersets]] by mid-game. Combat is action based, with shield blocking and tactical movement being as important as stat growth, and the game puts heavy emphasis on dungeon crawling compared to its contemporaries.

The game is known for launching as an ObviousBeta, with players and critics lambasting the title for missing several expected features and being full of bugs such as quest items randomly disappearing from the player's inventory, the player avatar clipping into world geometry, and walking into certain areas rendering the game UnintentionallyUnwinnable. Many of these issues would be fixed in a number of patches, ultimately culminating in Version 1.5 being released as the standalone ''Dungeon Lords Collector's Edition'' the following year, which also expanded to include multiple side-quests and character creation options.

The poor reception of the initial release resulted in plans for a sequel being put on hold indefinitely. However, David W. Bradley and his team would later go on to develop a UpdatedRerelease entitled ''Dungeon Lords MMXII''. Sporting updated graphics, reworked classes and even more new content, ''MMXII'' released in late 2012. It was later re-released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} as ''Dungeon Lords Steam Edition'' in December 2015.

!!''Dungeon Lords'' has examples of the following tropes:

* BlatantLies:
** The gypsy who tells you "you are a rare person indeed, in that you can shape your own destiny." Wrong! This game's plot is pure {{railroading}}, the only choices you really get are what skills to specialize in.
** The information on the Intelligence stat states that it reduces the experience cost for learning skills and spells. The problem? Spells aren't learned like skills -- they're treasure, usually picked up off the ground.

* ClassAndLevelSystem
* EarlyGameHell: Generally averted, however the spiders (see above) can lead to this and you are given ''one'' antivenom potion in a starting area where three different types of enemies can poison you, which of course damages you over time. As poison persists until cured (you can't wait out the damage) if you get poisoned more than once you'll have to either reload or spam healing spells/potions at a higher rate while you traverse the first dungeon proper until you can get to the city and buy more antivenom potions.

** One dungeon needs a {{plot coupon}} to enter; if you exit before completing the dungeon, you'll be permanently locked out of the dungeon, unable to go back in to retrieve the {{plot coupon}} inside.

* InsaneTrollLogic: In the very first version of the game, only the thief class was able to '''use a map'''! [[FlatWhat what?]]
* LizardFolk: A playable race.
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame
* OurElvesAreDifferent
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Our vampires are [[ThatOneBoss So! HARD! TO KILL!]]
* RespawningEnemies: To the point of idiocy. You can literally walk through a room and have enemies spawn in as soon as you walk out and enemies can literally appear out of thin air in front of you in some areas.

* ThrivingGhostTown: Everywhere, most especially the capital.
* VancianMagic: Arcane magic functions this way.

The game is known for launching as an ObviousBeta, with players and critics lambasting the title for missing several expected features and being full of bugs such as quest items randomly disappearing from the player's inventory, the player avatar clipping into world geometry, and walking into certain areas rendering the game UnintentionallyUnwinnable. Many of these issues would be fixed in a number of patches, ultimately culminating in Version 1.5 being released as the standalone''Dungeon Lords Collector's Edition'' the following year, which also expanded to include multiple side-quests and character creation options.

The story of ''Dungeon Lords'' is nothing less than a tragedy.

Before ''Dungeon Lords'', there was a quaint little trilogy of dungeon crawlers titled ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}''. A programmer named David W. Bradley was tapped to design three games in the series (namely, ''Wizardry V'', ''VI'' and ''VII''), and he essentially redesigned ''VI''[='=]s game engine and story to give them a sci-fi feel.

Several years after ''Wizardry VII'', Bradley formed a game development company named Heuristic Park, who developed two other games: ''Wizards and Warriors'' (no relation to Creator/{{Rare}}'s [[VideoGame/WizardsAndWarriors game series]] ), and... this.

So, when the guy who breathed new life into the ''Wizardry'' series put together his own production company to create a brand new "epic ActionRPG experience", one would expect nothing but good things. What happened instead was a game [[ObviousBeta so broken and buggy]] that it sank the reputations of Bradley and his studio, and was described at the time as "a new low for how incomplete a game can be and still get released."

Version 1.0, the first commercial release of ''Dungeon Lords'', was a disaster. Quest items would disappear from the player's inventory at random. The avatar would sink into the ground and get caught up on corners. Buttons on the character creation screen failed to work. Walking around in the wrong areas could cause the game to become UnintentionallyUnwinnable.

Gradually, Heuristic park patched ''Dungeon Lords'' up to version 1.5, which fixed many of the bugs and expanded the adventure to include multiple side quests and enhanced character creation options. This "Collector's Edition" release was now technically playable, but by this time, ''Dungeon Lords'' was already a critical and commercial failure. Worse yet, there was no way for players to patch their game up to the more functional version, so those early adopters essentially had to buy the same game twice.

Rather than list what went wrong with it, it's easier to describe the good things in this game. The character progression system is [[PointBuildSystem point- and level-based]], meaning a wizard can buy wizard skills cheaper than armour skills but still get both--in practice, this means that characters become [[GameBreaker do-it-all übermenschen with ridiculous powersets]] by mid-game. Combat is action based, with shield blocking and tactical movement being as important as stat growth, and the dungeons are immersive and interesting.

For a time, a ''Dungeon Lords 2'' was in development, still trying to pioneer Bradley's vision. Development was put on hold indefinitely in late 2009, and that was the last anything was ever said of the matter.

Then in April 2012 came the surprise announcement that David W. Bradley was working on a remastered version of the game retitled ''Dungeon Lords MMXII'', sporting updated graphics, reworked classes and new contents. The game was released in Europe on September 2012, around the same time as ''VideoGame/TorchlightII'', but didn't see the light of day in North America until a surprise release on Steam in December of 2015.

Then in April 2012 came the surprise announcement that David W. Bradley was working on a remastered version of the game retitled ''Dungeon Lords MMXII'', sporting updated updated graphics, reworked classes and new contents. The game was released in Europe on September 2012, around the same time as ''VideoGame/TorchlightII'', but didn't see the light of day in North America until a surprise release on Steam in December of 2015.

Version 1.0, the first commercial release of ''Dungeon Lords'', was a disaster. Quest items would disappear from the player's inventory at random. The avatar would sink into the ground and get caught up on corners. Buttons on the character creation screen failed to work. Walking around in the wrong areas could cause the game to become UnwinnableByMistake.

* OurElvesAreBetter

Several years after ''Wizardry VII'', Bradley formed a game development company named Heuristic Park, who developed two other games: ''Wizards and Warriors'' (no relation to Creator/{{Rare}}'s [[VideoGame/WizardsAndWarriors game series]] ), and...this.

* BonusBoss: In the Tomb of Souls, if one has a key from the Naga Temple [[spoiler:from making sure a theif makes it out alive]], a door can be unlocked with a powerful monster in it.

Rather than list what went wrong with it, it's easier to describe the good things in this game. The character progression system is [[PointBuildSystem point- and level-based]], meaning a wizard can buy wizard skills cheaper than armour skills but still get both--in practice, this means that characters become [[MarySue do-it-all übermenschen with ridiculous powersets]] by mid-game. Combat is action based, with shield blocking and tactical movement being as important as stat growth, and the dungeons are immersive and interesting.

Before ''Dungeon Lords'', there was a quaint little trilogy of dungeon crawlers titled ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}''. A programmer named Dave was tapped to design three games in the series. He helped design and code the fifth, sixth, and seventh games, which is notable because ''Wizardry 6'' completely redesigned the game engine and story to give it a sci-fi feel.

Several years after ''Wizardry 7'', Dave formed a game development company named Heuristic Park. They developed a game for Windows called Wizards & Warriors (but not ''that'' ''VideoGame/WizardsAndWarriors''), followed up by this game.

So when the guy who reinvigorated the VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} series builds up his own production company to release what is billed as an epic action RPG experience, what kind of game is the result?

''The game that killed David W. Bradley's career.''

Version 1.0 of ''Dungeon Lords'' was [[ObviousBeta so buggy, so incomplete]], that it was described as "a new low for how incomplete a game can be and still get released". Quest items disappeared from your inventory at random. Your avatar would sink into the ground and get hung up on corners. Buttons on the character creation screen failed to work. Walking around could cause the game to become {{Unwinnable}}, and through no fault of the player.

Gradually Heuristic Park worked up to version 1.5 - Collector's Edition, which fixed many of the bugs and expanded the adventure to include multiple side quests and enhanced character creation options. The game was now playable. By then, ''Dungeon Lords'' had been critically panned, was a commercial failure, and on top of that there was no patch to 1.5 from 1.0, forcing players who bought the game at release to buy the same game but not broken.

Rather than list what went wrong with it, it's easier to describe the good things in this game. The character progression system is point and level based, meaning a wizard can buy wizard skills cheaper than armour skills but still get both--in practice, this means that characters become [[MarySue do it all mensches with ridiculous powersets]] by mid game. Combat is action based, with shield blocking and tactical movement being as important as stat growth. And the dungeons are immersive and interesting. Dungeon Lords is an inviting DungeonCrawling experience.

Then in April 2012 came the surprise announcement that David W. Bradley is working on a remastered version of the game retitled ''Dungeon Lords MMXII''. It will sport updated graphics, reworked classes and new contents. The game was released in Europe on September 2012, around the same time as ''VideoGame/TorchlightII''. No word on the US release.

This is also not to be confused with the European board game Dungeon Lords, which takes more after ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''.

Before ''Dungeon Lords'', there was a quaint little trilogy of dungeon crawlers titled VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}. A programmer named Dave was tapped to design three games in the series. He helped design and code the fifth, sixth, and seventh games, which is notable because ''Wizardry 6'' completely redesigned the game engine and story to give it a sci fi feel.

* DemonicSpiders: Literally. The starting area's enemies are mostly not too tough being rats, goblins, snakes (though they can poison you), bats and bandits, all of which are relatively easy for a neophyte character to handle. The giant scorpions are a bit tougher (and again have poison attacks) but handleable with care. However in one corner of the valley the game occasionally likes to spawn ''giant freaking spiders''. These are fast, hit hard, have poison attacks and are much tougher, taking lots of damage to put down. They will make ''mincemeat'' out of anyone not very skilled and/or lucky at this point. GenreSavvy players will lead them to the huts in the middle of the map as the spiders are too large to climb up the ramps letting you shoot them to death in safety.

* NamesTheSame: There's also a [[http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45315/ boardgame]] called ''Dungeon Lords'', which is nothing at all to do with this game, having more in common with ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''. It's also very good.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dungeon_Lords_Coverart_2430.png
[[caption-width:252: [[CoversAlwaysLie Don't be fooled]]: [[LighterAndSofter in game]] he looks more like [[Literature/HarryPotter Dumbledore]].]]

* DemonicSpiders: Literally. The starting area's enemies are mostly not too tough being rats, goblins, snakes (though they can poison you), bats and bandits, all of which are relatively easy for a neophyte character to handle. The giant scorpions are a bit tougher (and again have poison attacks) but handleable with care. However in one corner of the valley the game occasionally likes to spawn ''giant freaking spiders''. These are fast, hit hard, have poison attacks and are much tougher, taking lots of damage to put down. They will make ''mincemeat'' out of anyone not very skilled and/or lucky at this point.

Rather than list what went wrong with it, it's easier to describe the good things in this game. The character progression system is point and level based, meaning a wizard can buy wizard skills cheaper than armour skills but still get both--in practice, this means that characters become [[MarySue do it all mensches with ridiculous powersets]] by mid game. Combat is action based, with shield blocking and tactical movement being as important as stat growth. And the dungeons are immersive and interesting. Dungeon Lords is an inviting [[DungeonCrawl dungeon crawling]] experience.

This is also not to be confused with the European board game Dungeon Lords, which takes more after DungeonKeeper.

* NamesTheSame: There's also a [[http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45315/ boardgame]] called ''Dungeon Lords'', which is nothing at all to do with this game, having more in common with DungeonKeeper. It's also very good.