KickStarter Encased - isometric post-apocalyptic RPG under the dome

[Abu Antar]

My theory is that it's a mid-campaign lull. Two or three last days will hopefully pick up.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2296249

Encased Kickstarter Update #10: New Kickstarter Teaser and Artwork

Hello everyone! We hope you have a good Sunday!

We have posted a new gameplay teaser dedicated to our Kickstarter campaign on YouTube, check it out!

If you have friends who love post-apocalyptic and sci-fi RPGs, and they don't know about Encased yet - this is a perfect opportunity to share with them.

Also check out our latest artwork, dedicated to our dear KS-backers. Thanks to all of you again and again!


These Tier 2 Orange Wing employees are definitely up to something

Project funding info: $55,855 raised by 1,589 backers! This is 55% of the funding goal and we still have 22 days to go! Stay tuned for more updates, next week will be very intense.

 

[santino27]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...d-rpg/posts/2297047?ref=backer_project_update

Encased Kickstarter Update #11: Help Spread the Word!
As of now, Encased has earned more than $58,000 in Kickstarter pledges. We are very grateful for the enthusiastic response. However, money is not the only way you can help us create the exact experience we intended.

We’ve prepared some cool in-game rewards for our community. To get these rewards into the game, we need your subscriptions, likes, and reposts.

Think of every milestone as a small quest. The completed quests award you with achievement points, which in turn unlock the new game bonuses.

Community quests unlock points which open new content for Encased!
Facebook likes: Like the Encased Facebook page and encourage your friends to do the same!

Encased was originally conceived as a game with a rich storyline and fully realized world. We put significant effort into a detailed setting and immersive atmosphere. This is why it’s worth getting acquainted with the world of the Dome on our Facebook page.

Facebook shares: share the Encased announcement post on Facebook.

We publish samples of the game’s lore, art and 3D models on our Facebook page on a regular basis, creating an interesting and welcoming community. Tell other old-school, post-apocalypse and sci-fi fans about our site. By spreading the word about Encased, you’ll be contributing to the development of the game.

Twitter followers: follow @darkcrystal_hq on Twitter and encourage your friends to too.

Our Twitter account is about publishing fun-size concept art, 3D models and game news. Follow @darkcrystal_hq, and be the first to see the details!

Twitter retweets: retweet the announcement tweet from @darkcrystal_hq

The more retweets we get, the more successful our Kickstarter campaign will be. Help Encased become a really huge and cool game!

Twitter likes: Like the announcement tweet from @darkcrystal_hq

For each Like, a raider in the wasteland dies a horrible death, and one more player joins our ranks.

Discord fans: join our Discord group .

In addition to our Facebook community, we also have a Discord channel, where we share the latest game news, reveal our carefully guarded development hints and secrets, embrace our nostalgia for cool RPGs of days gone by, and simply talk to our players.

And don’t forget: Discord is the most convenient way of communicating with developers and sharing your own ideas to make Encased even better.

And now let's talk about the rewards!
4 Points - Community Wallpapers

Our artists will create HD-wallpapers based on the short story developed by Encased writers for our Kickstarter backers.

7 Points - New In-Game Hat Accessory

Before you venture out to conquer the desert, don’t forget to put on your helmet! Or a hat. Or the special item we thought up, modeled, and added to the game.

12 Points - New In-Game item - Veteran Rifle

Every equippable item in Encased has a history. We’re planning an additional assault rifle (to be added to the game with your help) with such as history. It’s an unusual weapon with an illustrious past and remarkable properties.

21 Point - New Outfit - Leather Motorcycle Jacket

A cool leather jacket is an invaluable asset in the vastness of a harsh, dying world. Thanks to your social media activity, it might become available in Encased.

35 Points - New Servoshell Coloring

Who doesn’t like motorized armor? Thanks to our backers, this servoshell might get an additional unique color scheme.

48 Points - New In-Game item - Dragon Katana

This katana will be useful both in close quarters… and in a firefight. The unique weapon of Kimiko Nakamura (head of the New Committee)’s personal bodyguard.

62 Points - Bloodbath Perk

Perhaps the most nostalgic perk of them all. Watch your enemies blast their allies into a pile of red chunks as grenades blow up in their hands… but don’t get too excited: the next critical failure might be yours.

85 Points - Dog the Pal

This ally will follow you into the heat of any battle. A friend in need is a friend indeed, right? Yes, you read that right: more social media activity and we’ll add a recruitable canine companion to the game!

 

[CadmusLabs]

 

[ERYFKRAD]

That could help.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

the obsidian kiss of death

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2298175

Encased Kickstarter Update #12: New stretch goal, social goals achieved

— Yessir, you heard me right, sir: we located a two-engine bomber buried in the sand. It’s almost untouched, sir! Full load of ammunition, seemingly intact. I would give a more detailed report, but the enemy’s closing on our position, and—

— Belay that, lieutenant. Here are your orders: take cover inside the fuselage. Use the portholes as embrasures. You should find two machine guns somewhere in the plane, they were standard issue. That may help.

— Sir, yes, sir!

— And have the sappers prepare the ammunition for detonation. There should always be a plan B.

***
In one of the far western desert sectors, the Kshatryas squad discovered an abandoned bomber, half buried in the sand. Unfortunately, you won’t have time to calmly analyze this find: your sentries have reported the approach of three garbage trucks, manned by Raiders and armored for combat. Worse, it seems like they’ve tapped into your transmission.

Bad news: there’s no fall back position. Good news: there should be a pair of machine guns onboard, and a ton of ammunition to go with them.

A new in-game encounter for our backers: epic battle versus waves of hostile Raiders!

We’re creeping ever closer to our main goal, all because of your support. There’s still another 35% to go, but your active involvement keeps us hopeful and energized. And maybe these new goals will help someone make a final decision to support the project.

Today we’ve uncovered one of the additional stretch goals: a new massive event for Encased. This event will be added to the game if funding reaches $105,000.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll see there are two more stretch goals still locked. We’ll reveal one of them when we reach 2,000 backers, and the other when our funds reach $75,000. It’s not that far. Hit social media, tell your friends, post on forums, let’s do it!

One goal revealed, two more to go
Now let’s talk about some guaranteed game content.

Yesterday, we announced the social media goals. By spreading the word about Encased you help to uncover in-game rewards that will be available to everyone.

In just one day you, our fans, have completed several quests and scored 14 points.
This means the Community Wallpaper, new Hat Accessory and the Veteran Rifle rewards have all been unlocked!

Our artists are working feverishly on the wallpapers right now, so let’s discuss the other two rewards.
*Roger&Roger*

With a dark blue felt finish and a polished skull badge, this hat is a real work of art. The fancy label hidden inside the lining reads *Roger&Roger*. This is definitely no common bit of headwear!

The workshop responsible for this item was never on the Committee’s official suppliers list, but Roger Zaretski, its founder, is a well known eccentric. The same eccentric who discovered gold in the sands under the Dome, built his own brewery, and is currently plotting to restore Spire station.

All that, and he makes great hats too.

*SVT-40, "Frau Svetlana"*

Otto Fasmer and the troops under his command have been missing since the end of the Korean War. The fourteen Wehrmacht veterans vanished from the 38th parallel in February of 1953, as if anticipating the end of hostilities.

From that date on, any accounts you may have heard of Fasmer and his men are strictly the unofficial stuff of military lore.

It has been said Fasmer and his squad relocated to South America. They were also witnessed at all the major hotspots of the Vietnam conflict. Whatever the fate of these die hard Germans, Otto's rifle, originally obtained on the Eastern Front, might be the single proof that Fasmer is a real living man, and not simply a myth.

His SVT-40, reworked and customized, has turned up under the Dome. Does this mean that Otto is still alive? If so, what is he doing here? The rifle raises many questions, and the same weapon must be the key to the answers.

Let’s push it, friends! The more Likes and Shares Encased receives, the more new content will be unlocked.

Project state info: $65,352 pledged by 1,740 backers. Hooray!

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2299402

Encased Kickstarter Update #13: Design Corner I - Vehicles

In this update, we’re going to tell you about the various vehicles that roam and/or rust in the desert under the Dome, as well as the backstory of the company manufacturing them for CRONUS.

On this truck you both arrive at the HQ and ride to your first mission
Although the Dome is far removed from civilization, its motor pool is diverse and extensive. There were approximately 5,500 functioning vehicles before the incident. By the time of the main story around 2,000 of them are still on the road, since a vehicle’s lifespan is significantly reduced without access to parts. Some vehicles were stripped, some destroyed in conflicts, and others were completely redesigned and thus not counted in the official statistics.

Aside from the Dome’s dozens of research facilities, many small towns were built as well. CRONUS employees enjoyed white block houses, supermarkets, movie theaters and, of course, cars. With generous salaries, many employees enjoyed a personal vehicle.

The main supplier of both civilian and work vehicles was Stanton Motor Company. Established 17 years before the Dome’s discovery, Stanton was a big name with great ambitions in the industry, and a rather odious head honcho.

Stanton Motor Co. is our concept of a company which miraculously survived the oil crisis of the 70’s. Its history is counterintuitive, its end predictable, and that’s done on purpose: we want every detail of Encased’s setting to build on the atmosphere of the game and create a real feeling for the era.

Stanton is made up of two divisions. One is called Marks and Manfred Trucks; it specializes in manufacturing trucks, buses and other heavy work vehicles using a universal chassis.


Click to download hi-res version
The most renowned vehicle of MM Trucks is already on display in our screenshots and concept art — an orange transport designed for delivering research teams to remote desert facilities.

But if Marks and Manfred Trucks is the dutiful workhorse of the corporation, then its second child, Jupiter Moon, is the scandalous black sheep. Jupiter Moon stamped out small cars, known as Type 72, with a high emphasis on quantity. Type 72 was infamous for its underpowered 4-cylinder engine (6-cylinder available in the luxury model), climate control in the form of a triangular quarter glass window on the driver's side, leatherette upholstery destined to crack and discolor, a "kicking" gearbox, and several other nasty surprises.

Despite all this, the machine became fantastically popular, and remains so even after the catastrophe: you will see Type 72 regularly converted into mobile storefronts, rental accommodations, and insanely painted tanks. The variety of applications for machines not even fit for spare parts is truly limitless: houses, fences and fixed fire points made from old Jupiters are a common sight across the world of Encased.

We are still putting the finishing touches on Type 72. We want this car to be memorable, a true symbol of the mass-produced family vehicle of the Dome.
***

It can be said with certainty that the success of Stanton Motor Co. changed the face of the world under the Dome. And everything, from its rapid rise to every triumph and failure, the company owes to its founder, Stanley Stanton.

In the first act, Stanley is 62 years old. He is a thin, unpleasant man with red hair fading to gray, a long nose, the gold teeth of a gypsy, and the general appearance of a washed-up comedian. At first he makes a quite positive impression: joking and smiling with an easy confidence. Stanley has the air of a reliable business partner, a man you can count on to fulfill any order and solve any problem.

But after a longer acquaintance with Stanley, different qualities come to the fore. His business is growing rapidly due to optimistic investors, profitable contracts, and aggressive PR. Maybe too rapidly. Deadlines are regularly missed and scheduled deliveries delayed. Cars often arrive incomplete, or in such poor shape they must be scrapped for parts. Though MM Trucks have a more or less consistent level of quality, Jupiter Moon has a well-deserved reputation as a manufacturer of rolling (sometimes) trash cans. The enterprise by some miracle does stay afloat however, and the boss perseveres.

The true face of Stanton is an arrogant, insolent grifter, an expert at making bank on other people’s trust. He thinks himself a genius salesman and wheeler-dealer and in a sense he is right, as long as the profits continue to offset his infamy. Unlike almost every other corporate executive, the man himself relocated to the Dome and transferred a large part of his production there. Even the incident couldn’t turn Stanley Stanton into anything but a businessman, though his business now has shifted from production to repair. In the game, you can even visit the Stanton Motor Co.’s decrepit main plant, and a huge warehouse full of dusty Jupiters.

Project funding info: $67,078 pledged by 1,787 backers and 19 days to go! Thank you, friends, let's keep it up!

Important (and funny) shout out!

Love Esquire is a romantic-comedy visual novel/dating simulator, with a nostalgic touch of old-school RPG combat.

In this game, you're not a famous knight, but a good-for-nothing squire who's on a quest to find man's greatest pleasure. Getting the girl won't be easy though, since most of them are waaay out of your league!

To make things worse: you have a few months left before this huge war happens, and the only thing you know is how to milk cows. Good luck cramming years worth of training into four months! If it's any consolation, you get a medal if you die. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

No one believes that a lowly squire can save the world while banging – err, bagging – the girl of his dreams... but with a shitton of dumb luck, well... you might just prove them wrong!

Welcome to the world of Love Esquire, and may the fertility god have mercy on your virginity.

Support Love Esquire on Kickstarter!

 

[Infinitron]

Twenty minute gameplay video:



https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2300119

Encased Kickstarter Update #14: Choose your own adventure

Hello from Dark Crystal Games! We’re live with a new update, and we’re glad you’re here. Today we’ll be talking about how the narrative for Encased is intertwined with role-playing mechanics, and how player choices dramatically affect both the story and the gameplay.

As you already know, you’ll be playing as an employee of CRONUS, masters of the Dome. You’ll be asked to choose your Wing - the part of the company you’re joining. Your choice will dramatically affect your experience of the world inside the Dome.

Black Wing. Military, security, special forces, and police, providing security and keeping the police under the Dome.

White Wing. Scientists, researchers, and medical personnel. Your job is to study the amazing technology of the Dome - for the good of mankind, yes, but mostly for corporate profit.

Blue Wing. Mechanics, computer scientists, engineers, builders. Blue Wing employees build and maintain company infrastructure.

Silver Wing. Directors, managers, and financiers. You and those around - and above - you run the corporation under the Dome.

Orange Wing. Unskilled labor, recruited from the world’s prisons. The lowest of the low.


Click to open hi-res
Choosing your wing at character creation is one of the main parameters determining how you experience the world under the Dome. Blue and White are the working elites, respected from the beginning. Orange employees arrive in handcuffs, under the watchful gaze of the suspicious Black and Silver authorities. Each Wing and the characteristics and skills that they bring bestow limitations… and bonuses.

The choice of Wing affects the unique choices available to you - not just in dialog, but in the way your adventures unfold. The engineer sees the Dome as a mechanism, to be broken down to find out how it works. The scientist may see it as a mystery of unknown origins, to be solved that it may divulge its secrets. The soldier sees a threat to be met - and looks forward to the fight. The director sees a resource to be exploited, and profit to be made. And to the ex-prisoner in the orange jumpsuit, the Dome is a step up from Hell, where survival is everything.

One obvious effect of your choice of Wing is your level of access: Blue employees can walk into technical areas, Whites into laboratories, and Blacks into command posts and armories. Each Wing employee also has different skillsets - for example, a Blue Wing engineer or a technically savvy Orange will be able to hack a terminal and avoid registering at the reception desk on arrival at the Dome. This can be useful.


Click to open hi-res
On top of the customization available at character creation through the choice of Wing, we’ve also added an option to create the character’s back-story. At times, the hero will remember who they were in their lives before the Dome, and that choice will open unique game situations, dialog options, and even NPC reactions as the character reacts to learning the truth about your past. Who knows, perhaps your crazed colleague, on discovering that you were a surgeon, will stab you to see if you can save yourself. Or maybe that rebellious Orange with the big gun will change their mind about shooting you because their mum always wanted them to marry a doctor.


Click to open hi-res
Inspired by classic old-school RPGs, Encased gives you extensive options - and your choices will have real consequences. Which is exactly how it should be. Using the available skillsets, attribute values and starting bonuses of your chosen Wing, along with the choices you make along the way, Encased lets you choose your own unique experience of the world under the Dome and its stories.

Welcome to Encased. Welcome to the Dome. Welcome to your adventure.

Project funding info: $68,273 pledged by 1,830 backers.

Thanks for your support, we’ll be back with a new update soon!

 

[Fenix]

Sorry, everybody's busy with PathfinderKingmaker...

 

[CadmusLabs]

Sorry, everybody's busy with PathfinderKingmaker...

Which makes sense on the website where people actually play RPGs

 

[conan_edw]

SOLD

 

[curry]

That Russian narrator is hilarious.

 

[Jimmious]

I really like the concept of different "factions" that have completely different access levels etc
Will probably make different playthroughs... really different

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2303288

Encased Kickstarter Update #15: New social goal unlocked, livestream Q&A announced!

The new week starts with good news! You were really active in Facebook and Twitter, and we are happy to put another tick in our Social Goals section. The nearest delivery will bring a batch of unique motorcycle jackets to the world under the Dome.

We have reached the mark of 33 Community Points

Darren's troops jacket

In the times of the Dome being actively explored, Darren Sherman, one of the Black Wing’s generals, proposed the creation of motorcycle detachments for rapid response in case of emergency.

Motorcycle Leather Jacket unlocked
The idea was close to the embodiment: a batch of powerful motorcycles was delivered to the Dome, and the uniform of the biker squads was designed from the ground up, taking into account the most stringent requirements for ergonomics and safety.

And then the Maelstrom broke loose so that the idea of the motorcycle squadron had no chance to become the reality. They say that the choppers are still stationed in one of the deserted warehouses, with odometers, stuck at around a couple of dozen miles. The jackets were much more fortunate: they can still be bought from wandering merchants or looted from bandits robbing old arsenals…

***
Thank you for your activity once again. We remind you that your likes, shares and follows are more important to us now than ever. A little more than two weeks remain till the end of the campaign, and we would really appreciate if as many people as possible could learn about Encased by that time.

We've already gathered more than $71,000, and this all could be possible only due to your support. Shares, likes and follows in social media are of much greater value to us, than it may seem, and each one of you can cope with it easily.

Check out previous updates and learn more about social goals and what was unlocked in previous updates (in case you missed them).

Encased Kickstarter Update #11: Help Spread the Word!

Encased Kickstarter Update #12: New stretch goal, social goals achieved

Thanks in advance for your help and understanding. Together we can make Encased a really great game.


Follow to get notification about the stream

And now - pay close attention! October 5th at 7 PM CET / 10 AM PDT we are going to have a dev stream, where we will show the inner kitchen of game development, answer your questions and make Encased and Dark Crystal Games merchandise giveaway.

You can ask questions right here, under this update, or in our Twitter account, but we will also answer everything asked during the stream time.

Waiting for you October 5th at 7 PM CET / 10 AM PDT. Our channel link: https://www.twitch.tv/darkcrystalhq.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2304587

Encased Kickstarter Update #16: Behind the Storyline

There is almost certainly no game genre in which the storyline plays a greater role than in the RPG. The storyline creates the ground under the hero's feet, motivates his decision making, and drives a person from the safety of his Vault into a perilous quest for a water chip. In today’s update we will not simply relate Encased’s storyline, but also explore it, try to comprehend its origins, and imagine the place to which it will lead the player. We will also hear from people behind storyline development for the game.

The game takes place in the 1970’s, a decade with many similarities to our own history but with one tiny twist: the discovery of the Dome.

[... both helicopters from the search group were wrecked, only one crew member survived. He said that one of the vehicles allegedly crashed against an "invisible wall" and, falling, collided with the second helicopter.]

[... like the Bermuda Triangle, except that it’s not really a triangle. A sergeant broke his nose against this thing when they set up camp near the crash site.]

[...an unpleasant surprise. Yes, the parachutes opened and our people successfully descended into the Dome. It's not even that one of them died in a gravity anomaly: this is a calculated risk, we also lost robots this way. But who could have guessed that the dome is semi-permeable and our people won’t be able to come back out?]

***
Why the 1970’s? Because the 70’s were a highly controversial period around the world, and many of the conflicts of that time end up reflected in the world under the Dome. Within the confines of this mysterious anomaly, the details begin to look a little bit... different.

The Dome is the major enigma of the world of Encased. An enormous, artificially engineered structure, with a vast network of underground facilities, full of sentient machines, traps and weird gizmos, the ultimate purpose of which the player will have to decipher on his own. This otherworldly artifact is the foundation of the main storyline, which sets the tone and background for the entire narrative.

But all this comes much later. In its initial stages, the conquest of the Dome was an unqualified success. Naturally, an undertaking of this size and complexity could not come to be without financing. The organization both backing and implementing the research, the CRONUS Foundation, recouped their investment by auctioning, on a global scale, some of the fantastic relics and technologies recovered from the Dome.

As the wealth of CRONUS grew, so did its political influence: as the brainchild of the world political elite, the foundation employed lobbyists around the world to promote its interests.

***

However, this story is not just about some giant corporation: in the game, CRONUS is simply one of the major factions, and nothing prevents the player from examining events under the Dome from an unofficial point of view.

The game is divided into a prologue and three acts. While the prologue relates the game’s backstory, inter-act transitions connect key moments of the main storyline. Each of these transitions marks an irreversible change in the world, and it’s for the player to decide exactly what that change will be.

***

The post-apocalyptic setting is a rich stage for storytelling on any topic. In our case it’s a story about progress, the riddle of long dead civilizations, and creatures from other worlds. It is also a story about human greed leading to strife, and ultimately world war.

***
We like to think of our plot as a Fallout-like story tailored for lovers of classic science fiction. After all, Fallout’s unforgettable backstory is about building a brand new world. Such inspiring science fiction leads us to a thought experiment: try to answer the question “How will people behave in conditions impossible in our reality?”

On the one hand, Encased is a story about hopes and ambitions. We put a lot of effort into the development of our factions and their leaders, seeking to create fresh and unique personalities with believable motivations and visions for the world they are building. On the other hand, Encased is about an inexplicable force that leaves in its wake a desert full of mysteries, artifacts, and strange, frightening things. Every contact and every interaction with this world leads to more questions than answers.

Interview with our guest stars!

You joined the work on Encased later than the main team and you are still getting into the details of what we have in mind. What do you like the most about the setting or the world of Encased?

I like the incredibly original setting (not just another post-nuclear-blast modern nation) and the faithful but warped 1970s sci-fi aesthetic. Encased has fantastic design backing its very original premise.

We like the idea that any element of the game could be a tool in the creating a story (and the means to tell it). I’m referring to things such as item descriptions, level design, recreating the consequences of an event, etc. What things can you suggest to be the tools of storytelling? Perhaps it will be something very unexpected?

Anything can be a tool of story design. Due to budget constraints, modern game designers are very reluctant to include content the player might miss, so that everything, even minor sidequests, tends to be connected geographically or story-wise to the main quest line. I love to stumble on things in an RPG, an uncharted cave with its own complete story unconnected to any other quest. Great level design could give the player cues to a secret area in an underground bunker. Hiding a breadcrumb leading to a quest in an item description is a great idea.

You write for games, but you've also written for movies and TV. How is writing for games different? What are the particular challenges of writing interactive stories?

The obvious difference between TV and games is that games are interactive - in TV you write one version of the story (ideally the best version) but in games you need to write several versions of the story, and they all have to be awesome. More than that, the player has to feel like their choices are unlimited, even though there's no way in the world you can write every possible version. (This may be a challenge - but it's also an advantage. You get to explore a number of different versions of the same story. That's really attractive for a writer.)

Many of the story-telling principles remain the same, but another big advantage of story-telling in games is that the player controls the protagonist. In some ways this makes it easier to reach the audience emotionally - in TV the viewer is passive, in games the player is active. If the bad guy wins a fight in a TV show, the viewer might feel bad, but the story goes on. If the bad guy wins a fight in a game, it's generally game over. This means that the player isn't 100% focused on the story, because they have to be focused on the gameplay. Gameplay has to come before storytelling. The story has to rise from the gameplay. It's no coincidence that so many role-playing games are set in the world of heroic fantasy, because the core gameplay - exploration, combat and puzzles, usually - is easily served by a story that's simple and easy to tell. Stepping outside of heroic fantasy is a brave move, but it's going to make for a fascinating journey.

Now there is a clear trend for games with a rich history and Encased claims to be such a game. Do you think this is a temporary trend, or is the industry doing what it should have done a long time ago?

I don't pay a lot of attention to trends, in games or elsewhere, but having worked for Swen on Divinity: Original Sin 2, there's a lot to be said for taking the games you love and trying to do better. That's what creators do - we take bits of other people's work that we loved and mix it up with a bit of innovation, and this is how we move the culture forwards. We create from our own experiences, but also from the parts of the culture that connect with us. I know my own work is influenced by Stephen King and Metallica and the McDonagh brothers and Red Dwarf and Asimov and The Sopranos and 80s action movies and... well, the list is never-ending. Point is, all of those influences, combined with my life experience, make me who I am as a writer. Encased may be particularly inspired by Fallout 2, but Dark Crystal's passion for that game is going to mix with their love for Roadside Picnic, and DOS2, and all the other things they've known and loved over the years, and that will mix with their particularly Russian viewpoint (and that of their Irish and American guest writers) - and when you bring it all together, you'll get something new and unique and wonderful. Players who also loved Fallout 2 will be inspired by Encased, but there'll be players out there who've never played a Fallout game who'll love it too, because it'll be something new in and of itself.

If anything, this is a purer creative endeavor than, say, taking an existing IP and making yet another sequel to it, just because you know it'll be easier to market. (Nothing wrong with this, of course, studios have wages to pay!) But while Encased is inspired by old-school games, it's a new IP of its own. A new thing to add to the culture. And with a bit of luck, it'll inspire someone in years to come to make their own new thing. It's a thrill to be part of it.

Project funding info: $72,194 pledged by 1,983 backers and we still have a little less than two weeks. Thank you all!

 

[bataille]

Cool sleeve on the dude. Almost there, too. Russkies keep delivering.

 

[Tacgnol]

Most projects get a big burst of funding in the last day, so I'm sure they'll hit the goal.

Probably a good thing if they don't hit stretch goals, I find the projects that just hit funding tend to have less feature creep and actually get released in a reasonable time.

 

[CadmusLabs]

Most projects get a big burst of funding in the last day, so I'm sure they'll hit the goal.

Probably a good thing if they don't hit stretch goals, I find the projects that just hit funding tend to have less feature creep and actually get released in a reasonable time.

Speaking of this, can someone insert the latest update which is about stretch goals
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2305805

The level of this spell is just a bit too high for me to master.

 

[Jinn]

Oct 3 2018

Encased Kickstarter Update #17: New stretch goals revealed
4 Comments

Once again, we would like to begin our update by thanking our backers: thanks to you, we’ve already raised $81,894. We’re in the home stretch now. We only need another little push to make the campaign a success.

Yesterday we have surpassed 2,000 total backers and raised funds in excess of $75,000, we will lift the veil of secrecy over the two secret stretch goals. Thanks again!

New goals unlocked
We will also talk about additional content to be added if pledges exceed $110,000 and $120,000 respectively.

Read about Stretch Goal #1: The Fallen Fortress in Kickstarter Update #12

Stretch Goal #2: Free play mode with new content ($110,000)

To us, one of the most interesting gameplay opportunities is to allow the player to continue in the world of Encased even after the main storyline has been resolved. After all, there are always outstanding quests you might want to solve, unexplored locations and hidden secrets that you will want to revisit after saving the world (or watching it drown in the abyss of chaos).

But no matter how much we love this style of play, we have to admit that when it is implemented it often ends up rather boring: no new content, no more reactivity, the world just carries on.

Therefore we are opening up a new goal for Encased - post-game free play with new content! Here is what awaits if we meet this stretch goal:

- The world itself changes, depending on how the core game ends.

- Bonus gameplay mechanics.

- Many new quests and random events available only after the main plot is resolved.

Stretch Goal #3: Mobile Player Headquarters ($120,000)

In the early 70’s, just after the Dome was discovered, the first group of scientists (not yet united under CRONUS) began to brainstorm different methods of exploration. When they discovered that entering the Dome is a one-way ticket, many proposals were put forward for autonomous exploration. But only one of them resulted in a functioning prototype.

This is how a huge machine came to be crawling through the sands of the Dome: Project Ursula.

“Ursula” is a futuristic, desert-traveling locomotive. She is powered by not only an eighteen liter engine, but also an electric motor and even a small reactor fueling the heart of the machine, a self-teaching onboard computer also called Ursula. In addition, an entire working laboratory is contained within the vehicle, with its own dock for research drones.

Despite her purely scientific purpose, Ursula is not defenseless; she is outfitted with multiple weapon systems. The machine guns are loaded and dusty viewfinders scour the horizon, but as of yet her combat journals remain untouched. Ursula’s mainframe moved the train into an uninhabited sector soon after the incident. There she lain ever since, lights out and systems dormant, hidden in the sands. Finding and capturing her won’t be easy...


Game Design Prototype
Taking over Ursula will add a lot of additional fun features, a bit of management and solid core gameplay: the machine will act as your HQ, where you can recover from your wounds and store your loot.

The design of the road train also includes a stationary defense mode. The armored hull can be disassembled and turn your parking space into a makeshift camp.

And of course you can use Ursula to travel across the desert. But it’s worth remembering that the ground train will need spare parts to continue functioning smoothly, and also fuel, because the reactor’s supply of plutonium won’t last forever.

***

Additional cars for Ursula may be found in secluded corners of the desert, waiting patiently for the player.

Adding cars will add functionality: an advanced medical compartment, a workshop with machine tools, a training complex, or a platform with large-caliber weapons will appear in your base. The last one will once and for all put an end to any issues with security.

Each new train car also increases fuel consumption and requires the hiring of additional crew members.

***

Managing this huge machine requires employees of different expertise: Blue to watch over the engine and systems, White to control high-precision equipment, Black to drive and man the guns, while Orange may be found crawling around the undercarriage with a plunger syringe greasing the suspension and cursing loudly.

If you manage to recruit a Silver Wing officer to the crew, he will take on the role of Commander in your absence, and you will be able to send the train on missions, the details of which are still classified.

The crew is in constant communication: the player can order Ursula to any point where she has access.

***

Since we’ve mentioned the possibility of using the machine in various quests, it is worth mentioning that Ursula-related random encounters will only occur if the player has already captured and is using the ground train.

One day, a battered drone with a tightly sealed container will fly to you from the deep desert. A weird, robed stranger will arrive to take a post in the depths of the engine room. While parsing Ursula’s files, a Blue crewmember will stumble onto a map of the Dome with a previously uncharted location. Or maybe the machine will make you and your people its captives...

There are many stories, and they all start in the desert lands at the far flung edge of the Dome, where Ursula dozes, and the on-board computer counts down the last minutes before she wakes.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2306635

Encased Kickstarter Update #18: Justice System

The light of a flashing TV screen in a dark room makes your eyes sting. When your eyes have adjusted, you recognize the logo of the Dome Police Department soaring over the pale pink sands of the desert - seems like the colors are slightly off.

The desert is replaced with a massive wooden table in a bright room. A large, dark-skinned man in a brand new police uniform is leaning slightly towards the camera.

Sergeant Major James Keppler himself



“Greetings, cadets. I'm Sergeant Major James Keppler of the Black Wing Public Supervision Department. We perform police duties throughout the New Committee zone, as well as in friendly, neutral, and uninhabited areas of the Dome.

Get your pens and pencils ready. In this tutorial video, I’m going to tell you about our criminal code and about the measures we take against offenders.”

Keppler is a great storyteller, but let’s let him have the floor a bit later. In today's update, we discuss how the law works in the world under the Dome.

The world in post-apocalyptic settings is often one of absolute lawlessness, but Encased is an exception to this rule. In any civilized corner of the Dome, the player will have to think twice before killing a merchant or robbing a defenseless traveler, for there is a Justice System in the game which includes the following concepts:

Infamy: the motivation of the police to capture you. Ranges from 0 to 5.

Tension: the degree to which crime will be tolerated in the region. The lower the tolerance level, the more Infamy points the criminal will get for each transgression. In fact, it is an Infamy “multiplier." The Tension of each region ranges from 1 to 3.

Statute of Limitations: the time frame in which a criminal may be prosecuted. Varies from a few hours of game time to infinity.

Area: ranges from the spot on which the victim stands to the whole territory under the Dome.

The most important of these measures is Infamy. Infamy determines the intensity of the pursuit and the severity of his punishment.

In the video, Keppler limps as he makes his way around the table. It seems he hasn’t fully recovered from a recent leg injury.

“Law abiding citizens have an Infamy level of zero. However, we strictly monitor all crimes under the Dome and punishment will follow even a minor offense. Minor theft without bodily harm is an estimated 0.5 points of Infamy. Significant theft of money or valuables, as well as bodily harm to the victim, 1 point. Robbery and GBH, 2 points. Bank robbery, shoplifting and murder, 3 points. Mass murder, 4. In exceptional cases, a particularly egregious offender will receive 5 points. This will result in a search throughout the whole territory of the Dome.”

The Infamy level is a dynamic value, decreasing the farther you are from the crime scene. Prosecution for minor transgressions does not extend beyond the town sector or game location, while a criminal with an Infamy of 3 will be hunted throughout the whole city. At level 4 they will stalk the violator throughout that entire faction territory. If you reach Infamy 5 you’d better sleep with both eyes open. At that point, you’d be better off hiding out in some remote area until the threat has passed. But no matter how far you run, there is always a chance the authorities will come for you.

You might be able to hide, but most likely you will get caught.

***

“In most cases, we will let the offender off with a fine. This has proven quite an effective deterrent. However murder or serious injury to the victim requires imprisonment. If convicted, extremely dangerous criminals will be executed in accordance with New Committee laws."


***
Any character who consistently violates the law will end up in prison sooner or later. The imprisonment period is a whole new “game within the game.” The player can try to display that he’s been rehabilitated, plot an escape, bribe a guard or a judge, or even provoke a riot! Alternately, a hero with high Persuasion can argue his innocence in court with a fiery speech, or try to intimidate the judge in private.

But sometimes you will be unable to speak convincingly and running is not an option. In such cases the protagonist is forced, as in the Middle Ages, into the stocks in the town square, or to “do time” behind bars.


***
In the territories outside the New Committee zone, the punishment is more severe: the guilty are cast into the Labyrinth of Death.

Keppler walks to the overhead projector and inserts a slide. A disturbing image appears on the screen behind him: the dancing light of torches, an armed mob, and a gate opening on the grinning mouth of a metal beast.

“Write this down, Cadet: the Trial of the Labyrinth is a cherished tradition in the wild. The convict must navigate a cruel maze filled with traps, the autonomous combat systems of the Forefathers, and other desperate convicts ready to kill and devour newcomers."

It is a cruel tradition, but in spite of all its horror the labyrinth offers a faint hope: occasionally a lucky convict will pass the gauntlet alive.


Enter the labyrinth of death
Officer Keppler turns the projector off and stands by the table again, hands behind his back. The screen goes black, replaced in the darkness by quivering bands of interference.

A reminder!

Tomorrow - October 5th at 7 PM CET / 10 AM PDT we are going to have a dev stream, where we will show the inner kitchen of game development, answer your questions and make Encased and Dark Crystal Games merchandise giveaway. You can ask questions right here, under this update, or in our Twitter account, but we will also answer everything asked during the stream time.

Waiting for you October 5th at 7 PM CET / 10 AM PDT. Our channel link: https://www.twitch.tv/darkcrystalhq.

 

[YanBG]

The fallout vibe looks pretty good. They need 8k$ to make it and have 11 days. Inserting an old legend to the team would have helped them :D

 

[Infinitron]

Interview by CSH Picone: http://www.cshpicone.com/interview-dark-crystal-games

Too bad he didn't ask them whether the game was influenced by LOST. The fact that it's set in an alternate 1970s makes the parallel between CRONUS and the series' Dharma Initiative even more obvious. Would be surprising if it was a coincidence but who knows.

Dark Crystal Games
AN INTERVIEW

Today we welcome Viacheslav Kozikhin, Dark Crystal Games’ creative director, who joins us for a discussion about his new company, his experience with Larian, and of course his new Fallout-inspired RPG Encased, which is on Kickstarter and set to smash its funding goal any day now. Also, his name is practically unpronounceable for us English folk, so he likes to go by the name Slava, which is a cool nickname when said with pronounced with a thick pseudo-Russian accent.

***

CHS: Where did the name Dark Crystal come from? It seems unusual for a Russian company to have an English name.

Slava: Yeah, there is a small story behind it. Basically, we all play a lot of RPGs, including some of the multiplayer ones - World of Warcraft, Lineage 2, EVE Online and many others. When we were thinking about the company name, we really wanted to find something medieval or noble or epic, with fantasy or sci-fi vibes, because we focus on making games with interesting worlds and stories. We were thinking for a while, and then someone proposed Dark Crystal, because Dark Crystal is one of the most famous magical sets of equipment in Lineage 2, and several of us spend a lot of time in this game. So we just added Games at the end, and that was it.

CSH: Tell us a bit about your team? Do you have all bases covered, or will you need to call in outside help for voice acting, localisation, that sort of thing?

Slava: The core team is actually more than 15 members now. Those are split up into code, art and design areas. Since we are indies anyway - some people wear several hats and know how to do multiple things. Our mentors and experts are mostly from the design and writing departments. The game is being developed in Russian (with English in mind) and there are multiple writers and narrative designers which help us to adapt it for an international audience and make it really smooth. Several other indie RPGs from our region were struggling to do this, so I had it in mind from the very beginning. There are also talks with other people who are very experienced and will add high-level project expertise, but we will announce that later.

CSH: Effective English conversion is crucial, for sure. I know I’ve backed a couple of games that were extremely promising but proved nigh unplayable because of dodgy localisation. It would be a damn shame to see Encased fall in the same trap, so I’m happy to hear you’ve factored that issue in right from the start.

Anyway, the team boasts an incredible portfolio! Your website lists Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2, Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and a number of other high profile games. That’s pretty damn impressive. Any favourite projects or teams?

Slava: The game industry is fascinating and hardcore and ruthless at the same time. There are good and bad times during every development cycle, but there are thousands of post-mortems, articles, and analyses written about that already. Our team’s professional stories are no different in this regard: there are sad cases of cancelled projects or projects which got a mixed response, there are gems that are warmed by the love of critics and players alike. There are projects where our staff members were the driving force and made a great impact and there are projects where we were thrown to plug the holes and do monkey work.

But this all is part of the experience. Experience and hardening, and that’s exactly what you need to pull off a new, complex project. Most of us worked at different companies but there is a small core which were involved with Larian Studios’ latest games.

For me personally, my time with Larian remains the perfect memory of a great team with incredible love for what they are doing and their creations. If not for the dream and happy possibility of launching a new studio and directing my own creation, I could hardly be imagine a better place to work than Larian.

CSH: If most of you worked for different companies, how did you all meet, and how did the project come about?

Slava: I've known some of the team members for many years, and some I’ve only met since creating Dark Crystal Games. But the industry is basically very small, everyone knows each other, even if they did not work together. Acquaintances acquired during my work helped me to assemble the team. Also, having a clear idea of the time frame and scope and scale of the project really helps. And since I’ve had prior experience working on RPGs, people were more willing to agree to such a risky venture.

CSH: For all the dreamers out there, what was it like working for a big company like Larian?

Slava: There are advantages and disadvantages, of course. Bigger companies are normally more financially secure and can provide more bonuses, which is obviously good. You can work on your part without worrying too much about the bigger picture - there are other people to take care of that, which makes life easier. But at the same time, this is a disadvantage - your personal contribution to the project is lower and more blurred, decisions are often made elsewhere and you just have to adapt. Also, a bigger studio means way more people, which means that you will rarely speak to many of them. Maybe even never, if the studio has different offices in different countries. And even in your own office, you are often limited to the bubble of your department. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it has been a refreshing change for me to work in a really small and tight team. We all sit together, we all have an extremely huge impact on the project and the feeling of brotherhood is much stronger. I think for most of teams it is better to start small and gradually increase in size over the course of the projects and years.

CSH: Any funny or memorable moments that stand out?

Slava: Funny moment to remember: I’m very proud of Divinity: Original Sin 2 and once said that if the game sells more than 1.13 million copies, I will tattoo DIVINE on my back. Honestly, I was happy to lose this bet.

CSH: Has the team always worked in the gaming industry?

Slava: This is our first game - which is a surprise, actually. In our region, companies often need to work on multiple projects to stay afloat. E.g., have their own project and do some outsourcing as well. Right now, we have a window of opportunity where we can focus on Encased one hundred percent, and hopefully, things will stay that way. Our Kickstarter campaign will help us a lot with that.

Individually, however, many of our employees have enjoyed rich experiences in and out of game dev. We have journalists, lawyers, cooks, technical support workers, auto mechanics, and multipliers. We are rich in life experience! But all this is easily explained, given that the average age of people in the team is 30+ years.

Spoiler

CSH: Has Encased been influenced by this extensive life experience in any way?

Slava: The key word here is "experience". We believe that we need to know those things that we mention and depict. And here our past helps us: our people are experienced with gunfire – how it sounds and its impact in reality. We know a little bit about military structure, how to disassemble AK-47s, and how 4-stroke generators are different to 2-strokes. We know how manufacturers compete with each other (sometimes with questionable methods). There are people who have experienced how the morning in the desert feels, and know that it there is more to a desert than just sand - there are also flowers, wild and beautiful. There are people who have seen how Pripyat looks like after Chernobyl disaster. I can go on.

CSH: Life experience is so often undervalued, but it is crucial if authenticity is the goal. As if we weren’t excited enough already. Tell us a bit about Encased?

Slava: Well, that’s easy in some sense. We are just making a perfect “Fallout 2.5”, if you wish. There is nothing wrong with later games of the series but we are building our own alternate timeline, where Van Buren did not happen and Fallout 3 didn’t exist yet. We analyse and take all the best aspects from the original games and then return to our reality and implement those features with all our soul and best efforts, keeping in mind that this is 2018 and certain things need to be modernized a little bit.

And the more formal description is: Encased is a post-apocalyptic isometric role-playing game in the setting of science fiction and post-apocalypse.

CSH: Give us some insight into some of the main characters?

Slava: First of all, we believe that characters move the story forward. In our case, such characters are the leaders of the five main factions fighting for power under the Dome after Maelstrom broke free. All these guys are very expressive and typical: “Iron Lady”, managing the New Committee; a cunning strategist and tactician, who calculates everything many moves ahead; the commander of the Special Forces with a huge guilt complex; an ever-quarrelling married couple; and a crazy bandit queens. And then the player arrives...

CSH: Encased involves a post-apocalyptic 70s retro-future setting, under a dome. Of all the settings you could have chosen, why the 70s? Why retro future? Why post-apocalypse? Why the dome?

Slava: We like the Seventies because it was such a controversial period. On the one hand, the seventies were expressive and bright, but on the other hand, it was a time of conflicts, protests, and crises. In our opinion, the fiction of the 70s is very introspective, drawing much more attention to the inner essence of things, rather than their external manifestations. And retrofutures are cool. The dome helps us to limit and isolate the world, and because it is not what it seems, but more will be revealed about that later.

Post-apocalypse is an important plot-creating instrument. Encased is not about the player killing some boss and everything becoming good again, it is about building a new world. And where else to build a new world, if not on the ruins of the old?

CSH: What makes Encased more than “just another Fallout clone”? What sets it apart? With a game so similar in concept to Fallout (isometric RPG set in a post-apocalyptic retro future), how have you tackled the issue of nostalgia vs innovation?

Slava: Fallout fans especially appreciate the feeling that it creates: an open world, freedom of action, atmosphere, style and a variety of options. Actually, we are trying to preserve this sweet feeling with all our strength, but otherwise, Encased is a different game.

CSH: Just like Fallout, you’ve elected for an isometric RPG with a turn-based combat system and a single protagonist. Aside from modern graphics, what other modern features can we expect?

Slava: Modern usability and modernized mechanics. No encounters where enemies are just bunch of critters (e.g. rats) attacking you. Improved level design, where all the locations are not just flat - there are different “floors” with hidden corners and more rewarding exploration. Dozens truly unique random encounters, with minimal repetition. The list goes on, we are not done yet.

CSH: Has the game been inspired by any other media?

Slava: Yes. A number of films and books have played a significant role in shaping the background of the story and the language of the story itself. We love Wells, Strugatsky, Rushdie, Harrison, and even adore hyperrealists like Fante and Bukowski (although they are completely far from fiction). Also, serious movies in the spirit of Interstellar, Solaris and Arrival, and crazy movies like Doomsday, Mad Max, Bad Batch, etc. have all had an influence.

CSH: I imagine your work on Encased must feel all-consuming, but even the most dedicated need a break every now and then. What do you do with your down time?

Slava: We are geeks (in an exclusively positive sense). We love books, board games, good movies. The animator has two beautiful fluffy cats, and the writer collects computers and weaves bracelets to cope with stress.

Your question about the hobby raises one important problem: game development always takes a lot of time, especially if it's a small team and a project that we sincerely love. And we also have families and friends and we spend our free time with them, we owe them a lot for the support they provide to our passion.

CSH: I expect the Kickstarter to go well, both on its own merits and the efforts of your team, as well as Larian and RPG Codex’s recent support. If you bring in enough backers to make Encased as amazing as your wildest ambitions, what could we expect?

Slava: We will do our best to make Encased the way we planned it: a real RPG, where the dialogues are filled with hidden options and inaccessible variants (they will be available when passing through the other wing and a fraction). Where do you dismantle a dozen guns, and then assemble just one, but which is really cool. Where your companions will quarrel over the last can of canned food.

Wait for the game that will never reveal all its secrets at once. A game where player actions really change the world.

CSH: It’s only early days yet, but what do Dark Crystal have planned for the future?

Slava: We are far from completion. Early Access is in sight, but overall there is A LOT of work ahead. This company was initially founded with an ambitious goal to create many good games and compete with the best. To establish a respectful developer in our region, which is not related to free-to-play games, mobile, gambling or just pure outsourcing work power. To give a home for those who dreamed to make a change for a while, for years, who almost abandoned games because there is often was no bright spot in sight. So yeah - we are together for a while and hope to show our full potential.

***

Cheers for the chat, Slava! The Kickstarter campaign’s still nearly at the funding goal already, and you’ve still got more than a week left on the clock, so I look forward to watching you smash out the stretch goals on what already looks like a very promising RPG.

Find the website here: http://darkcrystalgames.com/

The Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darkcrystalgames/encased-old-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg

And why not have a crack at making your own Encased NPC?https://cronus.darkcrystalgames.com/en/

 

[CSH Picone]

I only ever watched a couple of episodes of lost, so I didn't even know who Dharma Initiative was to ask the question. I did ask Slava after your post though. His response: "No, I'd say Lost is not any major influence "

 

[Darth Canoli]

Twenty minute gameplay video:



https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2300119

The font is just big enough so it's readable but small enough so you'd rather play Russian roulette rather than reading pages of text. (around 3 minutes from the beginning of the video )

Maybe it comes with the form too ...

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2308402

Encased Kickstarter Update #19: 10 days left, new social goal unlocked!

We love items with a great backstory: not just an energy pistol, not just a visor or Blue Wing cutting torch, but something with a past, with scars that can be read.

A suit of gray, high-tech body armor is peppered with bullet marks and burn patterns from explosive charges, as well a custom paint job and a thin coat of desert dust. Standard gears and hydraulics have been replaced with handtooled mechanisms… This armor remains locked in a bunker for several years.

And then the player finds it.

Remember that we unlock additional content when certain social goals have been met. Each new share, subscription, or Like on Facebook and Twitter earns our community achievement points. These points grant access to rewards we will add to Encased.

Together we unlocked 36 points
Read more about the system here: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-school-isometic-turn-based-rpg/posts/2297047

Today, our community reached another reward - a special servoshell color scheme!

Servoshel coloring is now unlocked
A gloved hand snaps away a dusty tarp with Black Wing insignia. Lamps flare a little brighter, illuminating acrylic painted armor. Chrome servo hoses shimmer in the dim light.

The original soldier’s name and rank have been erased. In black, it now simply says “Mike”.

***

Far out in the uncharted desert there is a database center containing CRONUS employee records. If you open the personnel table, you will find a total of 43 people on the Committee named “Michael,” and four more registered as “Mike”. Narrowing the search to Black Wing employees gives you four “Mikes” in total. Their employment status was updated to “Deceased” soon after the incident with Maelstrom.

Because the right Mike, the Mike who made this armor, is not Black Wing. Nor Blue Wing (eight people, one dead), nor White (twenty-three), nor Orange (seven surviving, two dead).

Mike is a Silver, perhaps the craziest Silver under the Dome.

***

Michael Hurd Jr. could have written a book about his life if he had been able to hold still long enough. He did try writing a book once, at the age of fourteen, when he wished to become a writer. He also loved sports and planned to become a professional baseball player, as well as a sailor, a surfer (as if the climate in New England is conducive to surfing!), an automobile designer, and a financier. In the end, it was that last profession which led Mike to the Dome, and the financial department of Silver Wing.

After a year of working for the Committee, Michael realized he was in trouble: he lacked the perseverance and discipline needed for career advancement, and without the right education there was no way to transfer to a different Wing. Mike would have preferred to leave the Dome altogether, but of course that was not an option.

But in the midst of a gray depression, Mike came up with a plan: rob the vault at his base, occupy one of the hundreds of cozy, uninhabited objects in the distant desert, and live life the way he did before, exactly as his whim would have it.

After considering the many different angles, he declared his plan flawless. Now came the execution.

Well actually there is more than one, but which one you like the most?
On the appointed day, Mike removed the beacon from his CaerOS so that he could not be traced. Then, using a stolen management override, he breached the vault and seized close to 1,700,000 combonds. Overnight he became the wealthiest Silver on the base.

But no matter how perfect the plan, the unforeseen can always derail it: in the midst of the heist, the base’s electrical systems flickered and died before switching to emergency mode. The alarm linked to the vault, which Mike had previously deactivated, rebooted. The moment he touched the door, the sirens began their terrible song...

Mike fled, but ended up cornered in a warehouse. While the engineers were readying equipment to break through the doors, the administration was gathering all available forces just behind them.

The security doors fell in with a hollow boom. Mike stood before his former colleagues in a servoshell which for some reason he had wrapped in a dozen CRONUS-issue synthetic warehouse storage bags.

As it reads in the operations log, M.Hurd Jr. responded to their offer of surrender with his middle finger. With negotiations now over, Black Wing forces unleashed a storm of gunfire and the great chamber lit up with a dozen powerful flashes. Mike had planned a couple of surprises however. Beneath his robe of bags were two additional layers of security. The first was a carpet of bulletproof vests. The second was a necklace of flashbangs, which defanged the gunmen immediately.

The ops log went on to say that Mike came out of this exchange completely unharmed. The servoshell had deflected both bullets and the effect of the flashbangs, while the thick wads of cash stuffed between his clothes and the armor no doubt helped to dampen the concussive effect of the grenades.

In a smoking armor suit, now a walking vault full of money, Mike exited the base.

And immediately got lost in the desert.

Project funding info: 10 days left! We still have time to wrap it, and maybe even touch some stretch goals. We are 93% funded, with $93,012 pledged by 2,152 backers! Thank you! See you next week with new exciting info about the game! Don't hesitate to ask questions in the comments section.

If you don't have enough of Dark Crystal Games check this interview article by Chris Picone! Thank you for reaching out, Chris!

Important shout out:


Check out Insomnia on Steam
INSOMNIA: The Ark is a grim post-apocalyptic RPG about the slowly degrading remnants of human society attempting to survive on an abandoned space metropolis. Their homeworld burnt in the flames of nuclear war. Lost and forgotten, these people are drifting somewhere in deep space, fighting over food and ancient technology.

INSOMNIA: The Ark was inspired by the classic Fallout series and famous sci-fi novels, as did Encased. After working on the game for 8 years, the team has finally launched it on Steam.

To celebrate the event, a special offer is on the table for anyone who buys INSOMNIA: The Ark during the first 2 weeks of launch (September 27th - October 11th). A Deluxe Edition will be given with your purchase instead of the standard game version. The contents of the Deluxe Edition include an art book, OST, a comic book and a special armor set.