It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Through steam and high water.

Vaporum is now available, DRM-free on GOG.com with a 10% launch discount until October 5, 5PM UTC.
Crawl through the grid-based levels of a tower standing in the middle of the ocean, solve puzzles and vaporize its steam-powered inhabitants. As you gradually upgrade your versatile exoskeleton and unlock more powerful gadgets, you will be able to explore deeper and learn the inconvenient truths pervading this mysterious place.

Watch the trailer.
Post edited September 28, 2017 by maladr0Id
Don't really need it right now, but I enjoyed the Grimrock games, so I'll probably buy a copy of this in the future, at least if the reviews turn out favorable. Certainly looks interesting.
avatar
amurgaming: Gameplay on youtube looks a lot nicer than the screenshots! Worth checking out. Since I haven't had the time to dig into LOG2 yet, this is whishlisted for now (sorry guys!).
I liked Legend of Grimrock II much better than the first overall -- more content, more variety, and they got rid of various annoying gameplay elements -- so if you played and enjoyed the first, you'll probably love the sequel.

Vaporum appears to be more limited in scope, so it's probably closer to the original LoG.
Post edited September 29, 2017 by CharlesGrey
avatar
Bui-Tur: It seems the ideas ran out in our times.
avatar
JMich: Indeed. I mean, Doom-clone and Roguelike are terms coined in the last few years, not decades ago. Not to mention that Street Fighter and Diablo never had any imitators at all.
Yes, the above is sarcasm. Whenever something becomes a financial success, others will copy it. Doesn't matter the decade, doesn't matter the medium.
There are also those of us who actually like the genre, feel it is woefully under-represented, and are happy to have a new game to play.
the opening trailer artwork, very beautiful oriental painting style excited me then was disappointed to see the boring 3d gameplay style, then realized its a realistic dungeon crawler so forgave them, lol. i love me some grimlock style dungeon crawlers. wishlisted
So is this a better game than StarCrawlers ?
avatar
CharlesGrey: Don't really need it right now, but I enjoyed the Grimrock games, so I'll probably buy a copy of this in the future, at least if the reviews turn out favorable. Certainly looks interesting.
avatar
amurgaming: Gameplay on youtube looks a lot nicer than the screenshots! Worth checking out. Since I haven't had the time to dig into LOG2 yet, this is whishlisted for now (sorry guys!).
avatar
CharlesGrey: I liked Legend of Grimrock II much better than the first overall -- more content, more variety, and they got rid of various annoying gameplay elements -- so if you played and enjoyed the first, you'll probably love the sequel.

Vaporum appears to be more limited in scope, so it's probably closer to the original LoG.
I absolutely enjoyed LoG 1. Played it twice and I consider it to be among my alltime favorites. I know it's a shame I haven't touched the sequel yet, but time's scarce these days... unfortunately. Thanks for recommending!

Has anybody touched Vaporum yet?
I'm in the there's-not-enough-games-like-this camp.

Plus it's sci-fi stuff; this and StarCrawlers are the only such first-person dungeon-crawlers I know of.
avatar
Ricky_Bobby: I'm in the there's-not-enough-games-like-this camp.

Plus it's sci-fi stuff; this and StarCrawlers are the only such first-person dungeon-crawlers I know of.
Legend of Grimrock?
First impressions on Vaporum:

The atmosphere and exploration sense is really nice in it.

Real-time combat of course results in this annoying dancing around the enemy again, which I already didn't like too much in LoG, but I find acceptable (it has a casual difficulty for those that don't want to dance, so it's not really a problem). Real time combat is a bit more comfortable than in LoG because you don't have to click on icons. You just press left button to attack or 1 or 2 to use a skill.

The biggest problem I have with the game is how your health is the limited resource in this game. You can't recover at all except with repair kits that you only occassionally get. Leveling up actually fully recovers you. So most of the game so far, it feels like you just try to reach the next level before running out of health. So you watch your exp bar raise and your health bar drop and you hope that the exp bar is full before the health bar is empty. That's a bit weird and allows you to very easily get stuck in the game and having to restart completely.

Still, overall impression is pretty good so far.
avatar
JMich: Indeed. I mean, Doom-clone and Roguelike are terms coined in the last few years, not decades ago. Not to mention that Street Fighter and Diablo never had any imitators at all.
Yes, the above is sarcasm. Whenever something becomes a financial success, others will copy it. Doesn't matter the decade, doesn't matter the medium.
This is a tangent, but isn't it interesting how persistent the use of the term Roguelike is? Other terms meant to indicate games that followed a particular game's formula became more general over time, Doom-clone became FPS, GTA-clone became Sandbox and DOTA-clone became MOBA, but Roguelike has stayed in use for almost four decades now. The only term with a similar history is Metroidvania, although that's an amalgamation of two series rather than a singular game.
Post edited September 30, 2017 by Fortuk
avatar
Fortuk: This is a tangent, but isn't it interesting how persistent the use of the term Roguelike is? Other terms meant to indicate games that followed a particular game's formula became more general over time, Doom-clone became FPS, GTA-clone became Sandbox and DOTA-clone became MOBA, but Roguelike has stayed in use for almost four decades now. The only term with a similar history is Metroidvania, although that's an amalgamation of two series rather than a singular game.
I think that's because the term Roguelike has a fairly strict definition, while your other examples are just vague genres which don't necessarily resemble the games they're originally based on. In example, most modern FPS games are quite different from DOOM. Games which only vaguely resemble classic Roguelikes exist as well, but they tend to have their own genre labels, such as Rogue-lite.

I'd also add that the genre Metroidvania isn't really an amalgamation of two games, only its name is. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and ( Super ) Metroid both share the same style of gameplay, which we now commonly call "Metroidvania" -- I think the term was coined because those were simply the best and most popular games in that style, and thus helped spawn a new genre.

Is Diablo-Clone still a thing? I think that term is still thrown around, for games in that style. Tetris-Clone, maybe?

I also wonder if publishers and devs prefer to avoid terms such as "GTA-Clone", for legal reasons. Besides, calling a game MOBA or FPS is probably better for advertising, rather than calling it a clone of some other game. ( Even if that's clearly what it is. )
Post edited September 30, 2017 by CharlesGrey
avatar
Vythonaut: Ultima Underworld is ugly? It sure comes from an older generation of graphics but i wouldn't call it "ugly". I think you've been spoiled by all these shiny new graphics. :)
avatar
ciemnogrodzianin: No, sir. By Ultima One I mean Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness :) It was possible (but not necessary) to go down the caverns and the gameplay there was quite similar to later dungeon crawlers. Except the graphics, which, well, I'm not so sure it could be even called "graphics" ;)
Oh, i see. Wait, actually, i don't see (any graphics)! :P Still, i think Ultima 1 is better visualised than Akalabeth; at least Ultima has color! All you need to add is a little bit of imagination. ;)
avatar
Ricky_Bobby: I'm in the there's-not-enough-games-like-this camp.

Plus it's sci-fi stuff; this and StarCrawlers are the only such first-person dungeon-crawlers I know of.
avatar
amurgaming: Legend of Grimrock?
Not a sci-fi game though, in my humble opinion, ... which is what my point was.
avatar
CharlesGrey: I think that's because the term Roguelike has a fairly strict definition, while your other examples are just vague genres which don't necessarily resemble the games they're originally based on. In example, most modern FPS games are quite different from DOOM. Games which only vaguely resemble classic Roguelikes exist as well, but they tend to have their own genre labels, such as Rogue-lite.

I'd also add that the genre Metroidvania isn't really an amalgamation of two games, only its name is. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and ( Super ) Metroid both share the same style of gameplay, which we now commonly call "Metroidvania" -- I think the term was coined because those were simply the best and most popular games in that style, and thus helped spawn a new genre.

Is Diablo-Clone still a thing? I think that term is still thrown around, for games in that style. Tetris-Clone, maybe?

I also wonder if publishers and devs prefer to avoid terms such as "GTA-Clone", for legal reasons. Besides, calling a game MOBA or FPS is probably better for advertising, rather than calling it a clone of some other game. ( Even if that's clearly what it is. )
They're not quite the same game but two sides of the same type of coin, hence why you still see the occassional clarification of whether a metroidvania weighs more heavily towards the metroid or the vania. That's what makes Rogue special as it's 'pure' enough as an example that a clear definition is possible, as the roguelite is now effectively a subgenre instead of overtaking the meaning of roguelike, like what happened to other genres.
As for Diablo-clone and Teris-clone, the first has mostly become arpg and the latter is weirdly accurate in that it's not a genre but used for games that are genuine Teris clones. As in, really just reskinned Tetris.

Publishers don't use clone terms I think less because of legal reasons and more because calling yourself derivative is never a good selling point. That's telling the consumer that the original is apparently good enough to make a clone of, so why not buy that instead - free marketing for a game you're competing with.