Many readers will no doubt
have been keeping up with the exciting goings-on in the Tavern forum, but
just in case the news passed anyone by I decided to create a page
specifically dedicated to that most worthy of causes - a Moonstone
remake/sequel! Will Sir Godber and the Knights from the Dark Hall of Purity
return from their places in retro gaming heaven to battle once again for
that most holy of items - the Moonstone? Read on to see how the real-life
quest knights dedicated to Danu's cause are getting on...
Developer
Status
Remake 1 - gm2's "Moonstone PC"
Canned - Feb
2000.
Remake 2 - Servant of God: NOW RENAMED 'ASTAROTH'!
YouTube combat video July 2010!!!
Remake 3 - Moonstone Legends
Internet
Rumour? - April 13th 2004.
Remake 4 - Ironclaw's remake
Resumed! Last
update - Oct 4th 2004.
Remake 5 - Tom Stein & Flash
Ongoing -
December 2004.
Remake 6 - Stephen Hood's Lagarnith
Design Document - suspended.
Remake 7 -
Krystian x
Ongoing with Rob
Anderson's blessing!
Remake 8 - Sigasoft
Possibly ongoing - Facebook page still
operational.
If anyone else has their
own Moonstone project in the pipeline the Tavern would be delighted to hear
from you. Drop me alineand I'll record your
progress on this here page. It could be a great way to recruit helpers and
publicise your work! Similarly, if you're already mentioned here in some
capacity and want to let everybody know how you're getting on, please get in
touch. Cheers - Rob.
Remake 1...
The cult status that
Moonstone has come to enjoy means that various remake/sequel ideas have been
floating around for years now. Perhaps the first serious attempt was started
way back in 1999 by a German software house called gm2.
(click
here for an English version of their website). Between October 1999 and
February 2000, Ron
Nanko (RN), Eddy Buhler (EB) and Holger Tag
toiled on a semi-sequel
tentatively titled Moonstone PC, which was unfortunately later cancelled
"because the design document simply grew too big". Cached in Google is the
full text of a fantastic interview from November 24th 1999 where the
three developers talked a little about their pet project. Below are some of
the the best bits...
RT:
Now
over to your current project: So what is Moonstone PC?
RN:
First of all, to get this straight: Moonstone PC is, of course, only
the working title for the project we’re currently developing. It is
based on an old Amiga game by Mindscape called Moonstone - that’s
where the name comes from.
EB:
In the beginning, we started Moonstone PC practically as a clone of
the original game with some graphical improvements. By now, our
basic design encompasses much more, though, so the similarities to
the old game will still be apparent, but you’ll definitely have a
much different game once it’s finished. The old Moonstone was an
action game. Moonstone PC will have optional tactical fights, for
those who prefer thinking over slaughtering (laughs). Oh yeah, and
for those who know Moonstone, we will have armies marching the map,
both good and evil, and the player will have to think strategically
as well, to maximize the efficiency of their own armies.
RT:
Why
did you decide to do the conversion of the Amiga game?
EB:
Well, the original game was GOOD. It was a lot of fun beating up
fellow knights, and so we decided to revive it and shape it up a bit
utilizing the power of modern computers.
RN:
However, as the original Moonstone is quite some years old, it
lacked some features and didn’t really long-time-motivate the
player, although I have to admit that nowadays, from time to time, I
still like to play a game of Moonstone with a one on one battle
between two knights.
EB:
As I mentioned before, Moonstone PC will be much bigger than the
original Moonstone. Expect a more Diablo-like variety of equipment,
and expect some different kinds of magic.
RN:
So
don’t think our final game will really look like those old Amiga
screenshots which you can find on our homepage. As a matter of fact,
it will be very different from what you can see there.
RT:
Speaking of a beta, when can we expect to see a first downloadable
version or some screenshots of Moonstone PC?
RN:
A downloadable version is far from being finished, but I guess we’ll
be able to put some screenshots on our page sometime during the next
few weeks.
RT:
What are you working on right now?
EB:
Currently, when I find the time, I’m sketching out a strategy system
for the map. The stuff where armies march the lands, and cities have
to be defended, and monster infested places must be cleansed.
HT:
At the very moment, I’m testing some textures for the main game
interface and have reached that point to rethink it all. Some
font-design is on it’s way as well, and finally I’m searching for a
special clue to make the interface design somewhat coherent,
organic.
It's a real shame things
didn't work out for the guys but it sounds like the foundations were in
place for a great game that it may still be possible to resurrect some time
in the future. I'm in the process of trying to get in touch with gm2
at the mo in order to try and source some screenshots from the abandoned
project. Hopefully news will be forthcoming...
Update: 24.09.04
Well, Ron Nanko of gm2
was kind enough to get back in touch with the Tavern. Here is what he had to
say...
RT:
I am the webmaster of the Moonstone Tavern, a fansite dedicated to
the cult classic Amiga and PC game.
RN:
Great, I didn't know something like that existed!
RT:
Whilst surfing the net for Moonstone-related info I came upon your
very interesting project - Moonstone PC - which, from the looks of
it, was shelved more than 4 years ago. In particular the interview
you gave to EnigmaNews made me sad that nothing came of all your
hard work.
RN:
You're right, the Moonstone PC Project entered a "frozen" project
state sometime in 2000, as the design document started to get out of
hands. What we had planned was the old Moonstone storyline as a base
for a Completely new game with a far larger map, more cities, RPG
like character-interaction, strategic army movements, dozens of
different monsters, Diablo-like inventory for the hero and so on and
so forth (of course, the old action sequences would still be in the
game).
Intriguingly (or perhaps even some twisted gag of fate) we came up
with some ideas which in the years after the project was put aside
became very popular and innovate game elements, like the rune system
for weapons in some of the Diablo-sequels/add-ons. The point is: as
we started working on miniCan around the same time (which was a
priority project) we had to delay work on Moonstone PC for an
indefinite time.
Sadly, until today the project hasn't been touched again, although
it certainly hasn't been forgotten by any of us (and how could it,
the project already consisted of somewhat around 100k lines of code
at that point). Unfortunately, there are no neat screenshots of that
old version, as during the years we lost some backup material and
would have to recompile and rebuild the old project in order to get
things running again. I just looked for some background images and
the like and couldn't find anything related just now. I guess I'd
have to browse through some archived CD images, but that can take
some time.
RT:
Do you have any other information (or especially screenshots!) that
you would be prepared to let me publish on my site to show to
enthusiastic Moonstone fans?
RN:
As stated above, I would have to do some more research, first. But
I'll happily pass everything along, what I might find.
RT:
Are there any plans in the future to resurrect your interest in the
game? From the amount of feedback my site receives it seems that
Moonstone is still alive and well in the hearts of gamers all over
the world :)
RN:
Without wanting to raise any new hopes: if it weren't for the lack
of time we are still facing, we'd start working on Moonstone PC
right away. The design document is in a safe place, and it still
bursts with great ideas and improvements over the original game.
Again: if there should be some point in the future, when we have to
possibility to work on the game AND finish it, we will do it and I
promise you right now, that every single day you wait for it will be
a day worth waiting for! If you should have any further questions,
feel free to ask me! Regards, Ron Nanko
So, a little disappointing
that Ron did not have any screens to hand to show to us fans, but overall it
was an interesting little chat. Thanks Ron! If anyone reading has any
further questions about gm2's project, give me a shout and I'll
mail Ron again.
Remake 2 - Dario and Mauro
Pane's Moonstone tribute: "Servant of God"
Dario won't reveal
too many juicy titbits at this time, but his brother Mauro (forum
member Moonknight) says that the game will: "probably...have a
different story and world, so don't expect to find a moonstone by
killing the guardian. Still keep in mind the violence of the game
and prepare for new level of violence". Likewise, the only image
released so far is the impressively detailed model to the left of
this text, which I'm sure you'll agree bodes extremely well for the
future!
The Red Knight Sir
Edward all kitted out for maiming and slaughtering circa 2004
perchance?
UPDATE: 16.09.04
Both Dario and Mauro have
gotten in touch recently to shed some thrilling new light upon their pet
project, now tentatively titled "Servant of God". Dario explains the status
of the project in his email:
"We
have been very busy, and we are slowly progressing. We still need
someone for music and SFX, and I will later need some help with
Lightwave...(preferably)...someone willing to work Without getting
paid until we sell the game :-)
(They are located in London btw.)
Servant of God is inspired to and is a tribute to
Moonstone, but there will be a totally different story, more
advanced gameplay, and of course (my favourite) lots of gore! :)
Below are three
screenshots that Dario sent with the email. The first two are excellent
pieces of concept art, but it is the third that will really get the juices
of Moonstone fans flowing!
A brilliant recreation of
the original Moonstone atmosphere, I'm sure you'll agree!
UPDATE: 6th October 2011:
Re-envisioned as 'Astaroth', this remake now has its own web site:
http://astaroth-game.com
crammed with info and concept art. Also, check out the stellar combat video
below! Superb animation!
What homage to Moonstone would be
complete without the obligatory tavern scene?
Some rich concept art offers insight
into Astaroth's heady potential...
Remake 3 - Guestbook Guff?
I received a very
interesting guestbook entry on April 13th 2004 from a guy calling himself
Erik. He reckoned that a semi-sequel called Moonstone Legends (snappy
title!) was in the pipeline and even claimed that it would be due "next
month" (May 2004). He also promised that when he knew more he'd get in
touch. However, that was the last I heard and investigation on the Net
turned up absolutely nothing. So - con or not? Make your own minds up...
Remake 4 - Ironclaw's
Odyssey
What looks to be the most
advanced re-imagining of Moonstone so far is principally being coded in
Flash by Tavern forum regular Ironclaw, although lots of inspiration and
help has also been forthcoming from the inimitable Sir Sheepus. Keep up with
the latest happenings in this forum
thread.
Ironclaw's hugely exciting
Moonstone Test (posted May 24th, 2004) simply has to be seen to be believed,
with a taster of the new introductory sequence, enlarged map environment, as
well as early glimpses of both the player combat engine and early enemy AI.
If this teaser doesn't get fans drooling in anticipation, nothing will! Try
out Ironclaw's actual working Moonstone Test at
www.retrogaming4ever.com,
then get on your knees and pray to Danu that he resumes work soon!
Below are a few
interesting progress pics, illustrating the development of the remake up to
its present point.
The World Map
Ironclaw is determined
that his remake will possess a much more expansive map than Rob Anderson's
original. To this end, he and Sheepus went about totally renovating the
original map, adding new locations for lairs and towns. It now even scrolls!
Click on either picture for full size...
Characters
In contrast to the
original, the Moonstone remake is aiming to include a fair bit of
interactive dialogue between characters. Here's a sample of some potential
dialogue between Godber and a citizen of Breed known affectionately as "Bob"
that I knocked up a while back...
You enter in the tavern and
a menu appears. There are two options:
1. Gamble
2. Converse with Tavern denizens
Bob –
We don’t get many visitors
round these parts stranger. What business brings you to Breed?
Sir Godber –
My business is my own. And you’d do well to remember it!
Bob –
Fine! Fine! Just makin’
conversation, like.
Sir Godber –
My apologies, my long journey has made me weary. In truth I know not
why I have wandered into this godforsaken pit…
Bob –
You’re not one of these
new-fangled Christians cultists, by any chance?
Sir Godber –
I follow no man, and
certainly no Christian God! I am nothing but a mercenary, a sword
for hire. Gold is my god and Fate is for fools!
Bob –
Then you don’t know about
the Moon cult in these parts then stranger? They are looking for man
to defend the olde traditions from these Christian zealots! All of
this promising of peace and equality to the people is hurtin’ old
Danu’s following no end!
Sir Godber –
Bah! Peace and equality in
these times? Don’t make me laugh! No – I have little care for Danu
or any Moon cult but I’m always interested when there is a reward
involved. Tell me more peasant…
Bob –
Well, these Christians have already built a monastery in the
wetlands. They are decent and kind to us humble citizens of Breed.
To be continued...
Locations
By "borrowing" a castle
graphic from Defender of the Crown and tinkering with it a little, Ironclaw
then placed it upon an existing Moonstone background before altering the
colours. Mightily impressive!
Sir Godber gets mean and
moody with the troll from the Secret of Monkey Island. No Red Herrings for
you this time matey - just the taste of cold steel!
A few of the creepier
Secret of Monkey Island locations undoubtedly had a Moonstone "feel" to them
- perfect for the remake!
Although the sumptuous
hand-drawn visuals of Capcom's Knights of the Round are undoubtedly ace,
they were a little too bold for Ironclaw's tastes. Still, great to see the
legendary King Arthur lining up alongside the even more legendary Sir
Godber!
Narrative
Alongside Sir Sheepus, I
have also chipped in with some initial narrative and dialogue for the
remake, my own coding experience unfortunately being restricted to the
occasional dodgy bit of html
The
extract below is from the revised intro sequence...
(Tree image)
As night’s velvet veil draws slowly in,
your attention is drawn to the lone mountain that lies some way off
to the West. This reunion you’ve heard so much about is imminent.
Yet those sneaky druids are a secretive bunch and only reveal
themselves to the ordinary people when it is their want.
(Fade out)
(Fade in)
But you know where to locate them -
thanks to good ol’ Bob’s “cooperation”, of course. Yet that
unshakeable feeling remains that there is some other reason for your
being here. It’s almost as if someone – or something – is drawing
you into the maelstrom…
(Fade out)
(Fade in)
In a blaze of light an image suddenly
manifests itself within your thoughts – some sort of rounded milky
white stone. It’s wondrous. Yet the vision evaporates as quickly as
it appeared. Only one word lingers on in your troubled
mind...“Danu”. Why does it seem so familiar?
(Fade out)
Shaking these accursed delusions from
your mind, you focus upon the task in hand. The reunion is about to
commence....
(Fade out)
(Now the tree image disappears and the moon image appears)
(Fade in, still in the middle of the
image) The
sky is clear and the moon is full tonight, a frozen tear suspended
in the heavens. The air is oddly still; ne’er a bird or insect dares
to break the silence. Your eyes begin to glaze over. Suddenly the
faintest of sounds breaks you from your trance. They are coming…
(Now the intro starts)
(Coinciding with the part of the druids
just before they walk onto the screen; the text is now displayed
below the image) You hear steps. At the
same time the burgeoning song of the crickets and cicadas begins to
fill the air. Nature is stirring; the air almost crackles with
static electricity.
(Now the druids appear in the path)
Suddenly you see them, clad all in grey
with torches held aloft. The druids! Cursing the creaking of your
battered armour, you follow them as quietly as you can, keeping your
distance all the while. There must be at least thirty; they are
heading to the foot of the mountain… It’s odd but you, a brave and
seasoned knight, are shaking. Do they know you are here? The druids
approach a great stone circle. You edge ever closer as they form a
circle of power around the ancient monoliths. An Elder Druid, clad
in ceremonial garb, emerges from the packed throng.
(Switch to famous shot of knight observing the proceedings)
You clench your bone-crushing gauntlets
into a determined fist. Suddenly the fog evaporates and your mission
becomes clear – Fate has drawn you to this place. The Druids knew
why you came here all the while, and now so do you…
(You approach the circle and the
ceremony begins)
Storm clouds rage across an ebon sky that was
clear but a moment ago, as if the very Gods themselves were battling
for domination amongst the stars. The pagan chants of the Druids
reach fever pitch. You are sweating profusely as the Elder turns to
anoint you. Bowing in submission to his divine powers, he infuses
you with the will of Danu. You are to be the Champion of the Gods
themselves! Are you ready to fulfil your divine destiny?
The Moonstone time has not yet passed.
The Pagan time is now.
Danu’s epoch is infinite. His enemies will die or bow...
PREPARE YOURSELF, FOR THE SEASON OF THE MOONSTONES IS UPON YOU!
Remake 5 - Tom Stein's
Flash remake
Tom is a computer
science/software development university student who's a big fan of Moonstone
and has recently begun working on a personal project recreating the game for
the PC using Java. It's not yet near a playable/releasable
state but it's well underway. Here are a few screens Tom kindly donated to
the Tavern...
A very nice title screen Tom -
hang about, haven't I seen that image somewhere before?
According to Tom,
the map screen is nearing completion.
Poor old Godber looks lonely -
he needs some enemies to battle ASAP!
Like I said before, if
anyone has their own Moonstone project in the pipeline I would be delighted
to hear from you. Drop me alineand I'll be happy to
record your progress...
Remake 6 - Lionhead's
Stephen Hood emails!
"Hi there,
This is something I am
still personally interested in reviving (albeit under a different name and
different – modern – design) I actually did some work on it once (At a
different company), I’ve attached a tiny snippet from a collection of
designs we were considering at my last place. One day perhaps… (Maybe at my
own studio)"
Stephen
even sent me the design document!
How cool is that? Although
Lagarnith will almost certainly never see the light of day in that form, I
certainly wouldn't be surprised to see a professional Moonstone remake come
out in the next 5 years...
Remake 7 - Moonstone
reimagined as a scrolling multiplayer hack 'em up by Krystian x!
"Hi ,I'm making
moonstone game for PC, PSP and other platforms - maybe you
would like to check it out. It's more like beat 'em up than
Moonstone as RPG tho."http://tinyurl.com/3p5b9oa
Fully playable and absolutely brilliant, download from the above - I
urge you to give it a try! Here's Moonstone co-creator Rob
Anderson's email to Krystian :) What a nice guy!
Hi Krystian,
First I would like to say thank you for all of your kind compliments. I am
happy that you liked the game and I wish more people did 20 years ago when
it was released and things might have been different regarding sequels, and
other ports. I am quite happy and proud to have made the game for a variety
for reasons and I fondly remember that time in career. I have worked on many
other video games over the years, but none have been more satisfying than
when I worked on Moonstone.
By no means am I angry because you are using the artwork and animation from
Moonstone for your own personal project. I watched your video and I am
impressed that you captured all of those graphics (and sounds) and placed
them into your "homebrew" game. I noticed you put a bit of a "Golden Axe"
feel into it by adding scrolling and being able to interact with the
environment. It is also fun to see multiple knights fighting against a group
of Troggs and splitting them into two (good memories!).
The drawings that are posted on the website were drawn 20 years ago and I
have many of them still in boxes around my house. I gave a couple of the
original drawings for Rob Taylor to post on his website when he emailed me
about the Moonstone tavern. As far as the rejected artwork and characters;
no I don't have much of that artwork around and it isn't posted anywhere
else but on the tavern website. The dropped characters were like you
mentioned, memory, or technical problem regarding animation setup and
programming them to be fun. I will dig through some old boxes and see if
there is anything lying around that might be fun to post.
You mentioned that I may not be interested in 2D graphics anymore, but on
the contrary I am still inspired by great 2D animation when they are done
well in games. It was my first job and I still enjoy a good 2D game.
I hope I answered all of your questions and thanks for your email. I would
like to see how your personal project progresses, what is next for it? I
appreciate you letting me know that you are using the artwork. Please keep
in touch.
Best Regards,
Rob Anderson
Remake 8 - Sigasoft's
Moonstone Deathmatch!
In December 2010
I received a cool email from Gavin Robinson at Sigasoft to let the
Tavern know the guys were working on a Moonstone pseudo-sequel
subtitled Deathmatch. Grab all the info here and check the screens
below!
The
extract below is from the revised intro sequence... 
![[Amiga Web Ring]](Images/awringi.gif)