Minima
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
The Land of Miskatonia needs a hero to save it from the evil Faxon and its minions. Can you be that hero? Explore Miskatonia and its settlements, talk to its residents, build up your skills, and finally challenge Faxon in its secret lair.
Minima is an adventure RPG in the style of the older Ultima games (Ultima I, Ultima II, Ultima III, Ultima IV, & Ultima V) as played on the Commodore 64 and 128 computers. Just like the original Ultima games, it includes a world view, enterable towns, and 3D dungeon displays. It also features graphics, sound effects, and music that should help one recollect those classics. More importantly, it is a fully playable (and winnable) game with its own backstory, plot, setting, and characters. It was written for PICO-8 and can be run on Linux, Mac, MS-Windows, and Raspberry Pi. It can also be played through the Web at: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=31831
If you like Minima, you may also enjoy Anteform, a game written using the same engine and sharing the same user interface.
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Development log
- Minima Engine Used for New GameAug 24, 2019
- Minima got two bug fixes and a new Raspberry Pi versionJul 14, 2019
- Honorable Mention for Minima in Both Nominated CategoriesFeb 18, 2019
- Minima Nominated for Two PICO-8 AwardsJan 27, 2019
- Minor bugfix release, and now using Itch uploaderOct 24, 2018
Comments
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This is really cool!
A couple of questions:
1) how do I use torches? I have them in my inventory, but dungeons are always dark and I can't figure out how to lighten them.
2) do you know of other good games in this style? Preferably "modern" games, do avoid the worst of the aging process. (I will try your other game, Anteform, too).
Anyway, good work on this! Cheers.
I've since found out to press "f" to "flame torch". This is listed in the game commands, but not the manual! :(
That said, I am a bit lost. The dungeons, in first person, can be very disorienting, and there doesn't seem to be any boss or final loot to give a sense of closure? So I never know whether I've cleared them or I just missed a path somewhere (and they all look the same, so navigation is a bit hellish haha).
Ok, final reply to myself (haha):
- are there unique weapons beyond the ones on the store? I think I've gone through every dungeon and nothing.
- The tower's exit seems to lead to a square surrounded by stones. Any hint as to what I'm missing?
Yes, in Minima there is one weapon available that's better than anything you can get in the store. You'll have to talk with folks to get info on it and where to find it.
There's a switch that you passed earlier that you need to find. I believe there's also a clue about this that someone has someplace, but I confess it's been awhile so I don't recall where.
Oops, Sorry about that. I'd better try and get that fixed... Somehow you're the first one who's ever run into that (or at least reported it to me).
Yeah, this is true to the spirit of these games in the past. There are also severe technical issues preventing the addition of such things. Minima and Anteform both use pretty much all the resources available to them in the PICO-8 environment. Generally I can't even change existing strings too much let alone add navigation. By design though they're actually pretty easy to map on graph paper as they're all deliberately very regular. Basically it's a matter of coloring in blocks versus leaving them blank, and floor sizes match.
With both games there's really only one dungeon or tower that's absolutely required, and when you finish that one you'll know it. The other ones can be pretty good ways to build up experience and gain gold, though.
Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
I tried to get everything into the interactive help menu available via the "enter" (or "return" depending on your keyboard) key. It's "f". The command that historically always gets people is giving the "x" as a "direction" with "look" to search the current location.
Of course there are the other Ultima games. All of the ones up through at least #6 have a lot of the same feel as Minima, and the newer ones are (obviously) more modern. Spiderweb Software is a company that's still commercially making (much larger) games with a similar feel but with more modern interfaces; I'd recommend Queen's Wish (which has a demo available) if you want to try out one.
this game is very cool!!
wow, i like your ultima-style rpg minima, and anteform
Thanks, I'm glad you like them. I've really enjoyed hearing back from people who've played them and had fun with them.
what game engine did you use to make this?
I made an engine on top of PICO-8. With fairly minor changes it ought to be usable for other games. I put a few notes about how to start doing so on the GitHub page at https://github.com/Feneric/Minima
Note though that the limits in PICO-8 are pretty fierce and the production version of the code had to be made a little ugly in order to fit within them. It's probably easier learning the structure from an early version before looking at the production one.
Is there a web version?
Yes, you can play it online at: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=31831
Please note that while it works in mobile browsers, it requires a keyboard.
Hello,
I completed the game and it was a fun ride.
I have got one suggestion, I think bumping onto an enemy could make the character attack it.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I did actually think about that but ended up not going that way for a couple of reasons. The first is that the games Minima strives to be like all use the "a" key for "attack", too, and anyone who's used to those will probably have the whole "a -> direction" sequence pretty well entrenched in muscle memory already. The second is that there are a couple of areas in the game where it makes a difference. One of these I won't go into because I don't want to give anything away that players can figure out by playing themselves, but the second is that whether or not bumping is forgiven makes a big difference in towns.
It makes sense, thanks for the detailed answer.