KickStarter AntharioN

[Humanity has risen!]

For backers only Posted by Orphic Software ♥ Like
Hey guys, it's been another very very busy month for us as usual. The thrust of what we're working on right now is getting everything ready for the Alpha (yes it's finally began to loom on the horizon!). This consists mainly of lots and lots of little tweaks and fixes, making sure that every last button has the right sound effect, every item's stats are just right, and everything is generally balanced, etc. Programming-wise we've got two major tasks still open: (1) verify that combat works correctly; and (2) verify that spells all work correctly in every conceivable circumstance. This last one is pretty tough considering the high complexity of our spell system and the fact that we've got 45+ unique spells (which often interact with one another) to debug. Engine development and and asset production have frozen (aside from 2x outstanding atmospheric music tracks) so our focus right now is on adding polish, refining the world, eliminating bugs and making it fun, of course

Since we haven't talked that much about music and sound effects I'll just mention that they've all turned out incredibly amazingly! We have 21 ambient sound tracks (things like crickets chirping at night, rain, thunder, etc), 14 Atmospheric tracks (played while exploring outdoors, plus we've got 2 more coming), 6 dungeon tracks, 7 combat tracks, and around 130 sound effects. That's a lot of sound for any game! The music could not have turned out any better, and I really strongly emphasize this. Music, when it's done right, does so much to elevate the atmosphere of a game. And with a game like Antharion, atmosphere is super important. The toughest part in terms of sound design has been finding the right range of outdoor atmospheric tracks. We really wanted to touch across a whole range of moods (melancholic, magical, anticipation, soothing, adventurous, nostalgic, etc.) and we wanted to do it in a way where you could essentially shuffle between any 2 tracks randomly without breaking the mood of the game. In this we've really succeedeed way beyond what we could have a hoped for. Here's our final encounter combat track (we use it for a few other significant encounters as well).

 

[Mark Dubya]

That was quick - thanks! I really don't understand why they restrict these updates to backers in the first place, but I guess it doesn't matter as long as the Codex is around to post the goods. Cheers -

 

[Jack Dandy]

Aye, thanks for the update. I share the same thoughts as Dubya- For this kind of tiny game, keeping updates restricted like that is just silly.

 

[wesleyclark]

Small update on the map and world size.

Hey everyone. This month we've been splitting our time between building out the world and testing and tweaking. The world has become pretty huge at this point. Here's a bird's eye view of the main continent (missing islands and underground areas). If you look very carefully you can even manage to see some towns and settlements...

And to give you a better sense of scale here are further zoomed in screenshots of the town near the rightmost part of the map...

You may notice that the desert and snowy areas take up a sizable portion of the world map. That's because we really wanted to give those two areas the feeling of being a vast barren wasteland/wilderness in contrast to the more densely packed and populated temperate regions.

One feature I don't think we've mentioned yet is smooth scrolling. While much of Antharion's old-school gameplay mechanics come from the snappy feedback of instant grid based movement, we recognize that for some players it can be a little harsh on the eyes so we've added an option for smooth scrolling. We've done our very best not to make it too smooth so that it retains the snappy/quick responsive feel of the original scheme. Check it out....


► Play video
Thanks guys for checking in with us this month!

 

[pakoito]

That video is for backers only, but I'd gladly watch it. I'm one of those who can't stand unsmooth scrolling.

 

[Zombra]

That video is for backers only, but I'd gladly watch it. I'm one of those who can't stand unsmooth scrolling.

There's not much to see, it's like 6 seconds of guys walking around, but the smooth scrolling does look really good compared to the clunk clunk clunk of previous builds.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Thanks for the update!

 

[mindx2]

This is one KS I'm really looking forward to playing. There's just something about it that gets me excited*

Spoiler

Game must have "soul"

 

[Jack Dandy]

Same here. It looks like the Spiderweb games, except this one has actual POLISH. As in, competent art & sprites, and *GASP* music!

 

[V_K]

Here go my hopes for an open-world game with good towns....

 

[Jack Dandy]

Upset about the town sizes? Yeah, they're more villages than towns, but I suppose that's not really all that different from the original Ultimas.

 

[Niektory]

That video is for backers only, but I'd gladly watch it. I'm one of those who can't stand unsmooth scrolling.

Youtubized.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I really like it, the lighting system looks like it can create for some damn good atmosphere too.

 

[Scroo]

Looks good. And thanks for putting the vid on YT Niektory

 

[Jack Dandy]

So, I messaged the project lead- tried to use my Kikish wiles to persuade him into being more open about the game. (IE public updates, preorders)

He was super cool & polite, But it seems that until it reaches Alpha status, they really prefer keeping it under wraps.

I honestly wonder why... It already looks neat and a half. And most indies show the world what they're working on at even earlier stages.

 

[Zombra]

So, I messaged the project lead- tried to use my Kikish wiles to persuade him into being more open about the game. (IE public updates, preorders)
He was super cool & polite, But it seems that until it reaches Alpha status, they really prefer keeping it under wraps.
I honestly wonder why... It already looks neat and a half. And most indies show the world what they're working on at even earlier stages.

At a guess, it may have something to do with their constant reinvention of everything. Every new screenshot looks really different from the last. It's actually really weird. So maybe they don't want to "go public" with stuff that won't look anything like the final product. I don't know.

 

[jdinatale]

Ok fine, but they are giving up free publicity. I only knew this game existed because of this thread and I'm sure many others are the same. "Hidden" media/press releases are retarded.

 

[Zombra]

I don't disagree. It's just fun to try to rationalize mysteries.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Orphic Software about 20 hours ago
Video update coming tomorrow.

Niektory , mindx2

 

[Niektory]

Video Update 7/9

This month we put together a little video for you guys. You'll notice a new world map, I want to emphasize that it's missing its topographical icons (mountains, forests, bodies of waters, etc.) which will be added in this coming week. You'll also notice some "location" icons, these are cities or settlements which, as you discover them, will show up on your world map as fast-travel destination icons. We're going to restrict this as much as possible to the 10 or so city/settlements on Antharion's mainland. There will be island settlements but in Antharion anything not on the mainland is considered "uncharted" and so will not be visible on the world map. As for the release I will say that we are still on track for a December release. I should probably also mention that the accompanying music is an actual in-game atmospheric track by our composer Eric Gallardo. Thanks again everyone for your generous patience and support and enjoy the video!

 

[iZerw]

The music reminds me of Morrowind.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Thanks!

 

[Zed]

That sound when sailing the boat.

 

[Baxander]

I have been following the development of this game for some time, and I absolutely cannot wait for its release! Something about it looks amazing to me. Fingers crossed we see it this year!

 

[mindx2]

Update time:

Project Update #38: Progress Update 8/15/14
Posted by Orphic Software
Hey everyone, we're very pleased to report that things are going great! The technical stuff is frozen at this point. We're in a kind of pre-alpha testing feedback loop mode that involves playing through parts of the game over and over, building up lists of things that need tweaking/changing, actually tweaking them, and then starting all over - again and again and again. There are so many tiny issues, like what towns to put what spells in, how many early spells to make available via vendors at early levels and how much should they cost, how much gold do you want the average player to end up with by level 5, what should the distribution of common low-level alchemical ingredients look like across the early major dungeons and how do you prevent the player from acquiring too many. I feel extremely comfortable that we're totally nailing all of these balance issues.

I want to talk a little bit about skills because so much has changed since we started heavy testing. The final skills are: Black Magic, White Magic, Gray Magic, Archery, One-Handed Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Defense, Lock Picking, Pickpocketing, Barter, Persuasion, Lore and Alchemy.

Persuasion - Allows you to manipulate NPCs in dialog. We're trying really really hard to make this skill valuable by adding tons of opportunities to use it in dialog throughout the game. Our goal is to make Persuasion as desirable of a skill as Two-Handed Weapons, Archery or Black Magic.

Pickpocketing - This was a tricky one because of balance issues but we feel pretty good about the implementation. The way it works is that you've got to be right next to whoever you're attempting to pickpocket, then you right-click and select "pickpocket" and then a little window pops up showing their inventory contents. You can then mouse over each item to check it out and it'll show you your odds of successfully pickpocketing that item. So basically it works on an item by item bases and not on the entire inventory making is much more likely that you'll get caught (which will result in a hefty fine or jail sentence). Naturally whenever you're talking about pickpocketing a lot of people are concerned with potential saving/reloading exploits. Our goal has always been to design the system with this in mind. I think as long as the value and number of the items available for pickpocket is not totally outrageous, then the reward should be pretty much proportional to the amount of work done. Plus 100 points invested in pickpocketing is 100 points not invested in black magic or two-handed weapons so that alone pretty much balances it.

One-Handed/Two-Handed Weapons: After we added shields, we split the Melee skill into these two skills to introduce more choice into the game. Fighters and Warriors will now be forced, more or less, to choose between fighting with a one-handed weapon and shield or a two-handed weapon.

Lore - This does several things. First it allows you to identify unidentified items. Second, it allows you to spot and open hidden passages (yes we have hidden passages now!). Third, certain books will have a Lore requirement that must be met in order to make sense of them. And fourth, certain objects will require Lore in order to be used or activated. This skill more than any other really rounds out everything and significantly adds a lot of depth to the non-combat side of the experience.

Overall we couldn't be happier with how things are shaping up. Thanks everyone for your excellent and continues support!