Grimdark Spirits Windows game

Hello, pilgrim towards the Long Stillness!

Grimdark Spirits is my baby. I guess that if you really want to fully understand what it is, you must understand its father. And that's me, so here I am, trying to make you love this creation of mine, as much as I love it.

I've started programming on a ZX Spectrum in 1993, in a corner of the ex-communist block. I've specialised all of my teen years and my earlies twenties in talking to computers and making them talk back. I have a diploma in Statistics/Cybernetics to show as proof.

But my life took a different turn. I ended up a journalist for quite a few years, then I've started travelling and now, somehow, I'm a trained chef in the United Kingdom, where I believe I'm going to stay forever.

But a few weeks ago I've had a feeling that something is not exactly right. Call it nostalgia if you need a word for it. I suddenly felt the urge to return to writing code. But at that point I had not compiled anything for more than 15 years, so I took a shot in the dark, chose Python and really engaged with the thing.

I've learned that the best way to learn something is to try and do something useful with that. And since I love the way Dark Souls pummels you into the ground and Grimdark as a literary genera, Grimdark Spirits, was born as my learning project.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm only three weeks into learning Python. By no means I'm trying to imply that I'm a genius and that I can master a programming language in a few months. There are moments when I need to google the hell out of a problem and sometimes I have no idea why that particular solution works. Oh, and I have an absolute zero when it comes to experience in programming video games. Or promoting them. Or selling them, as a matter of fact.

All that I have is this feeling that what I'm doing is the right thing and that something deep inside of me heals every time I write a tiny piece of code.

Now, let's talk a little bit about my baby, Grimdark Spirits! My plans are to build it into a fully functioning text based Role Playing Game. I can guarantee it will have a totally original take on the genera.

For example, the fighting system is based on a quote from one of my favourite philosophers, Mike Tyson: "Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth". I'll let your imagination run with that for a while and drop a cherry on the cake. At the end of every fight, you'll have the opportunity to execute a Finishing Move, just like in that game that ate all of your quarters when you were a kid.

Also, a traditional RPG has a few things that make perfect sense from a mechanical point of view, but are completely idiotic if you think about them for more than a minute.

Let me ask you something. What hurts more, being hit in the head with an axe or with a mace? At the end of the day you'll end up six feet under, no matter which one of those hits landed, so why should one have 1d6 damage and the other 2d3?

What about drinking health potions during a fight? Have you ever seen a Kendo match? Or a Muay Thai - I'm going to elbow and kick the brains out of your skull - competition? Now, imagine trying to move a muscle the wrong way, when your opponent is one of those people and they are actively trying to turn you into mush.

And now, my favourite part. What if I told you that if you hit a wall with a chair enough times, you'll end up learning new ballet moves? You'd think I need to see my doctor, right? Which I do, of course, but the whole idea is that "Learning by Doing" makes more sense, even if it's harder to implement.

But I am going to do it, anyways!

Because I have a day job and can't afford to spend too much time with the project, it will develop slowly. Also, for the same reasons, I can't really afford to pay game testers. So I've decided to share my work with you. I don't know if this is going to be a Give-Me-Money-If-You-Want-To-Play-It game in the future. I would so much rather get some coffee money from the people that enjoy playing it, but we'll have to get to that point.

Until then, I'll need to make a few more sacrifices at the altar of the almighty Python God! See you around, traveller. Hopefully before you get to see me!