Vapourware Sui Generis + Exanima Early Access

[Berekän]

He said he was programming on the other screen

 

[Alienman]

Did you get any good secret tips?

 

[Grotesque]

is Avellone writing the story and dialogues for this game?

 

[Siveon]

is Avellone writing the story and dialogues for this game?

No, but from the sparse writing I got from the dungeon crawling mode, it's not half bad.

 

[Berekän]

Did you get any good secret tips?

Nothing too secret I'm afraid, didn't get too far, but helped me realize you have to really look deep for some hidden stuff.

 

[Mikodzi]

You can get it from http://www.baremettle.com/store/ or Steam. Game is super cool. The community a bit less so, as some individuals in there are so hardcore they crap plate-armoured zweihanders.

Can't say that community is bad Sometimes all the fun is on Madoc's beam page.

 

[Mikodzi]

Did you get any good secret tips?

Nothing too secret I'm afraid, didn't get too far, but helped me realize you have to really look deep for some hidden stuff.

Be sure to check everything on Level 3 - there is some hidden gem though

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Mikodzi, That's what I don't like about the community. It's really fragmented and kind of hard to find all the latest info. Right now I'm stalking Madoc on Bare Mettle forums and monitoring his steam posts. I really hope BM improves their PR (or someone from community steps up to help) once they get closer to 1.0 - this game deserves to be made known to wide audience!

Also, welcome to Codex! The customs around here are quite peculiar, and the community is one-of-kind.

 

[Merlkir]

They don't seem to have any hands to spare on PR (which I've recommended some time ago). :/ It really is awesome, but I worry for the future.

 

[Alienman]

Did you get any good secret tips?

Nothing too secret I'm afraid, didn't get too far, but helped me realize you have to really look deep for some hidden stuff.

Be sure to check everything on Level 3 - there is some hidden gem though

I see. How do I get to level 3 though? I'm stuck on 2 currently. Can't find my way out. I do love however how it is connected. Reminds me of Dark Souls, opening shortcuts and what not.

Here is a undead dude I trapped

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

I see. How do I get to level 3 though? I'm stuck on 2 currently. Can't find my way out. I do love however how it is connected. Reminds me of Dark Souls, opening shortcuts and what not.

There are detailed maps in this thread if you want to spoil it a bit...

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

I'm a bit worried about BM doing boring real life stuff as well. Below is a screenshot of publicly available corporation information, you can see they have not put in their fillings on time this year:

boring stuff

I'm not sure what possible trouble they could get because of that.

 

[Alienman]

I see. How do I get to level 3 though? I'm stuck on 2 currently. Can't find my way out. I do love however how it is connected. Reminds me of Dark Souls, opening shortcuts and what not.

There are detailed maps in this thread if you want to spoil it a bit...

I think I have to. Been running around like an idiot for an hour now.

 

[Alienman]

So I made it down and what I found...

Spoiler

Made me shit myself. Almost anyway. I saw some skeletons (heavily armored btw) come running down the corridor, and well... what was chasing them was a horrific sight. A giant beast of some sort. I didn't have any time to escape and when he got up to me he slapped me around like a doll and ended my life right there. Now I'm scared of restarting the game

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Alienman,

Spoiler

the giant beast is on level 4, past the portal. The community calls it "Sir". The skeletons are quite good fighters, but not that armoured - they usually have weak spots on legs and arms.

Just beat Sir, without taking any damage to boot!

 

[Alienman]

Nice hehe.

Is level 4 the last level?

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Currently yes. There will be 10 more maps, that you will be able to explore in a non-linear way. Basically, levels 1-3 are tutorials or character creation. Level 4 is a hub of the main game, as it has four doors that will lead to rest of the maps.

 

[Alienman]

Okay, cool! Problem with EA games (if they are good) is the constant waiting for more content.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Done with Level 4! Have a map - dark red chests have extra good loot (one is kinda secret), white doors are leading to content not in 0.6, black gate is a mystery to me.

Level 4 Map

Level 4 Map Notes

<2,2> Not in 0.6

<5,7> Battle Axe, When I took this Oath Note, Roaming

<5,14> Burn it, burn it all! Note

<7,14> Bracelet! in the latrine

<9,14> Dassi, keep a watchful... Note

<13,14> Key in the Desk

<14,4> Flanged Mace

<16,2> Not in 0.6

<19,9> Sir, roaming

<19,22> What terrible place is this! Note

<19,27> Portal to Level 3

<20,11> Flanged mace, roaming

<20,14> I have never been so terrified Note

<21,11> Two-handed Mace, roaming

<21,13> Sword

<21,14> I fear I don't have long left Note

<22,12> Two-Handed Sword, roaming

<22,13> Pole Axe, roaming

<23,12> Sword, roaming

<24,13> Our glourious hero Note, Venerable Aderon Note

<24,21> Possibly unopenable

 

[Jinn]

I love your maps, Yaar! Seeing them is getting me pretty hyped for the full release of this.

I played a little of this right when it came out on early access and found it quite enjoyable. I could tell that once more of the full content was fleshed out it was going to be something special. Also, an open-world game with this engine like Sui Generis is going to be fucking amazing.

Anyone have any idea how much longer this is suppose to be in development? I'm starting to get antsy.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Jinn, thanks! The Devs are quite tight mouthed on when will be the next release. They did let us know what will be in it, namely arena improvements. Some kind of monetary system will be in, you'll be able to buy/sell stuff and hire NPCs. You can fight with your char with support of others. I wouldn't hold my breath for something before Christmas.

Also, about maps - I really hate how there are no curved walls in Grid Cartographer! And how you can't have have half tile filled with some background. I had to edit that last map in paint.net to make it look presentable.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Latest scoop on next patch:

It will be released the moment we think it's complete enough for a release. No sooner, no later, no other factors involved. Hopefully before xmas. We've been working towards quite a lot of stuff, but now we're focused on getting the arena update out and we're quite far along.

And some other interesting tidbits:

At the moment it's not possible, but we do have some (still incomplete) plans to allow the same weapon to be wielded in multiple ways. We thought it would also be interesting to allow using different parts of weapons such poleaxes or warhammers, and even changing grips and fighting styles in more significant ways.

The main reason we haven't added thrusting to release builds yet is because we want to develop a smarter targeting system for it, which is similar to what we will use for ranged combat and some thaumaturgy.

As for how it's used, yes, you hold a modifier key and then left click. The same modifier key with right click would perform a bash. We're also experimenting with other manoeuvres using the same modifier key.

Short answer is that virtually nothing we do for Exanima isn't also useful for SG, and we go well out of our way to do things in ways that support what we need for SG rather than just what's good enough for Exanima. We are building Exanima as SG.

A recent example of this is how we have a shop in the new arena where you can buy weapons and armour. To do this we finalised the system behind trade and industry in SG so that the shop can dynamically determine what it should stock from any object that exists within the world based on target market, availability and numerous other factors. Obviously this includes shops that sell completely different things (that may not be of particular interest tothe player) or a craftsman selling the goods they produce. We've even developed a very detailed system for how every item is produced or obtained, the skills and materials involved etc.

We will combine different compatible pieces of weapons (e.g. hafts, handles, pommels, heads, blades...) to generate different shapes, also modify their proportions somewhat and use a procedural material system.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Beta of the next update is up on Steam! You can opt-in the usual steam way, no need for any codes. I've just played it for an hour or so, and it's freaking awesome!

Lot's of cools stuff, I'll just paste dev lead of Exanima post' here:

So, the new arena mode is not quite complete yet, but we're almost there and it's quite functional, so we thought we'd provide it optionally in its current state for everyone to play.

Most of the planned features for the first iteration are implemented or almost, notably the following things are still incomplete:

• You cannot yet hire NPCs to fight with you or for you
  
• Only some of the match types are implemented
  
• Things like values, ranks and points still need adjustment
  
• Some assets are incomplete, missing or placeholders
  
• Many tweaks and ease-of-use enhancements to come

In case you missed the original post, here's the list of features we promised:

• Persistent arena mode with progression
  
• Create a main character who manages your affairs, but can also fight
  
• Bid into matches and lose your bid or win more money
  
• Numerous match types with varying participants and teams
  
• Character and equipment rank system for match participants
  
• Hire NPCs to participate in matches with you or for you
  
• Recruit additional player characters to play
  
• Shop for items using the money you earned
  
• SKill progression for player and NPC characters
  
• Permanent death. Rest characters who are seriously injured or risk their death
  
• Procedural characters. There are always new characters to fight or hire
  
• A variety of arenas for matches to take place in
  
• Pugilism matches

There are numerous other improvements to the game in general. We've improved lighting and other effects, made optimisations, improved AI, fixed many issues and added many new items and nice little features.



GETTING STARTED

The new arena mode is fairly complex, there will be some in game instructions to explain how everything works, in the meantime please consult the following text to understand the basics.

You will start in your base of operations. For now there are three main things of interest here: a shop, a roster and a match board. The roster and match board appear as notices pinned on wooden boards, click on these to open them.


ROSTER

This is where you can view and manage all your characters. Select a character or and click manage or simply double click them to get a detailed view.

When managing a character you will see their match loadouts, their inventories, an arsenal where you can store and manage all your gear and their skills.

Your character will progress a rank for every two skill techniques trained. A higher rank will give you access to higher rank matches in which you can use higher rank equipment. There is an equipment loadout per rank, even when you achieve a higher rank you can still participate in matches with reduced equipment ranks and the corresponding loadout will apply. Every rank also has a point limit towards which every piece of equipment contributes.


RECRUITS

Recruits are additional player characters that you can control yourself during matches in place of your own. It is useful to cycle between characters so that the others have time to heal. When a character suffers full red damage during a figh they will die and be lost forever, if this is your main character you will lose everything.


MATCHES

The match board is where you can view and choose what matches to participate in. Select a match and then enter characters into it by dragging them into the space on the bottom right, then click "Enter" to begin the match.

Characters must meet the rank requirement of the match to enter. This rank is also indicative of what rank equipment is allowed in the match. If the rank requirement is suitably low, you can enter higher tier matches, these however feature more skilled and experienced fighters, but also award larger prizes and provide faster training for your skills.

Be careful entering high tier, low rank matches as these can be the most deadly, also challenger matches which are devoid of rank restrictions. Elimination matches work similarly to the old arena, but with five consecutive fights and no red bar healing inbetween. These present a very tough challenge but also great rewards in prize money and experience.


THE SHOP

This is pretty self explanatory really. Drag items you want to buy from the shop's stock on the centre right pane, items you want to sell on the left. The paperdoll on here is so you can try items on and view them before you buy them.

Invest your money wisely and as early as possible, even basic clothing can offer much needed protection and all rank gear is useful throughout the game.


That should hopefully be enough to get you started. We'll be updating all this soon with many improvements and new features.


Happy new year!

 

[Hugh Vagoth]

Is this game going anywhere or is it vapourware?

 

[Siveon]

Is this game going anywhere or is it vapourware?

It just updated.

I don't know about the full RPG game they're planning (Sui Generis), but the dungeon crawler/arena simulator game (Exanima) they're going with right now is doing awesome. All I've played so far is the arena (there are dungeons) and I got my money's worth.