I'm really glad to see that your are reviving and improving your game. It had truly absorbed me when I played it some years ago on DosBOX. I remember when I was restarting a single level again and again (for which I obviously wasn't prepared), litterally hundreds of times, being only able to inflict a weak and unique blow (if at all) to an ennemy before dying right away! I really liked the original approaches: quest selection, spells, etc.
Besides, the atmosphere of old first-person games is irreplaceable, and you always have the feeling that there remains mechanisms and secrets in some intricate levels that even the most attentive players could miss. It's true in
King's Field, and even more true in
Amulets & Armor.
Perhaps you could add some more secret walls, mysterious chambers, some really obscur switchs and seemingly unreachable places to reward exploration? The magic system and the journal could be used to give clues and means to resolve such mysteries (I was so intrigued when I first met Elmor, then I searched all possible information about him in the journal). I really appreciated the simple offensive/defensive values of equipment and always wondered if DiamondEdge was indeed the most powerful weapon in the game. Unique stuff which can't be bought like Vindicator is great but too easy to find in my opinion, thus bringing very little satisfaction.
A few other suggestions, for what it's worth:
- Elmor is immortal. Being able to get him stuck against a cliff (there's a nice alcove near the exit to do that) and slash him indefinitely to gain easy EXP is what actually made me leave the game. You just have to equip food and water rings and put something on the attack key of your keyboard. Clever, perhaps, but foolish. I consider this to be game design mistake; the undead shouldn't give any experience points at all.
- Add a level cap (at level 20-25?) and give the player some material to allow optimization strategies. Perhaps it is already the case, but I'm not sure to fully understand the incrementation of stats when gaining a level, and we don't know the exact purpose of each of these stats (combat formulas).
- Enemies should completely regenerate if the character dies.
- Perhaps it would be also a good idea to make the Aegean God vulnerable? An enemy who seems invincible but who actually isn't? I can easily imagine a hopeless boss fight here, that only the most optimized characters would have a (slim) chance to overcome.
Anyway I wish you the best luck in your work! It's a game which deserves much more popularity.
