ArchAngel
Arcane
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Couple of people wanted to do it but they are still waiting for the game to loadis there a review in the works? whos writing
Couple of people wanted to do it but they are still waiting for the game to loadis there a review in the works? whos writing
Have they tried to turn the tape?Couple of people wanted to do it but they are still waiting for the game to loadis there a review in the works? whos writing
This does not answer the question: Can I slaughter elves?
Couple of people wanted to do it but they are still waiting for the game to load
Yes, as an elf yourself, you spend a good part of your time slaying other elves to show them who's the elf bossThis does not answer the question: Can I slaughter elves?CritiestBunny
Could you tell me what libraries you use for the intro/movies? I'm getting a black screen on them in wine.
Hey they are .avi with h.264 encoding for UE4 needs. Can you tell me what OS and version you have? We've had some issues with Win10 but our latest testing has been good on Win10 as well so far.
As to the question about elves, in Attiras the "Vogisi" are elf-like in that they have long ears (that go down instead of up) and are long-lived, but they are also a hive-minded matriarchal race with bony protrusions that look like gills on the backs of their necks.
The Neshalan are the race you and your main character play as, are the result of breeding between the human and volgisi population, thats where the tensions start some few thousand years before the events in the game.
Just on the last page, people reported it and devs admitted it a problem for long time. I just wanted to make a joke from itThis does not answer the question: Can I slaughter elves?
You're a few thousand years too late bub. Your ancestors wiped them out already... in once instance by killing a boat full of children to fuck with the hive mind feeling all that pain at the same time.. As of the vents in Forged of Blood the volgisi are all murdered. Or are they?
Couple of people wanted to do it but they are still waiting for the game to load
In all seriousness, did I miss the reports of loading issues? Do let me know.
Just on the last page, people reported it and devs admitted it a problem for long time. I just wanted to make a joke from it
I'm playing it on linux via wine compatibility layer. I'll poke around when I get some free time and figure it out, probably just a missing windows media codec.CritiestBunny
Could you tell me what libraries you use for the intro/movies? I'm getting a black screen on them in wine.
Hey they are .avi with h.264 encoding for UE4 needs. Can you tell me what OS and version you have? We've had some issues with Win10 but our latest testing has been good on Win10 as well so far.
As to the question about elves, in Attiras the "Vogisi" are elf-like in that they have long ears (that go down instead of up) and are long-lived, but they are also a hive-minded matriarchal race with bony protrusions that look like gills on the backs of their necks.
The Neshalan are the race you and your main character play as, are the result of breeding between the human and volgisi population, thats where the tensions start some few thousand years before the events in the game.
RPGWatch Indie Showcase/ Forged of Blood
by forgottenlor, 2019-08-07
RPGWatch Indie Showcase is presenting the newly released tactical game Forged of Bloodthis time around. Thanks goes out to our member lackblogger for suggesting I do an interview with the game's developers. Thanks also goes out to CritiestBunny for his swiftly written and very detailed answers to my questions and also for taking time to answer individual member's questions in the various news threads about Forged of Blood we've had on our site.
RPGWatch: Tell us a little about your background and experience?
My background is primarily film (directing and editing mostly) and advertising (copywriting and art direction). I spent some time working in New York at an agency and doing the whole startup thing on the side until my visa ran out. After returning home to Jakarta, I picked up a job at a local game studio as the marketing manager, before partnering with my former bosses there to start Critical Forge in early 2016.
RPGWatch: How long did it take you to develop your game?
As of our launch day on August 1st, 2019. It had been three years, five months, and seventeen days since Joe, Milo, Pandu, Fathur, Fauzan and I started dusting off an empty room above a small warehouse in Jakarta. It was just the six of us in those early prototyping days, and it would take a few more months before we expanded the team to start working on the main game proper.
RPGWatch: Forged of Blood was a failed Kickstarter. What inspired you to continue despite that disappointment? What would you have done differently if the Kickstarter had been successful?
An old mentor of mine once said to me: "the only way out is through." Those words stuck with me and have been my guiding mantra for whenever things just start to feel too much. For us, failure and shutting down was just not an option, we had invested too much time and effort into the project that the only way out was indeed getting through to the launch. So we took the Kickstarter failure and planned around it.
Going into Kickstarter we had a few big goals. The first massive one was voice-acting. Right now Forged of Blood has 3 faction story arcs and something over 72 side quests, bringing all that to life with actors would have been an absolute dream for me. The funds from kickstarter would have also been used to increase the work into our visual effects, hire an additional writer, and pad out our programming power.
Had the campaign been successful, I would have liked to tick those boxes, and we wouldn't have had to carry on for the next couple years with a skeleton crew.
RPGWatch: What games inspired your game?
The two biggest influences on our game would have to be X-Com and Dungeons and Dragons, especially in the tactical combat layer. The strategic layer started out being inspired by X-Com's geoscape but quickly outgrew that to resemble more of a Total Warmap. From there, we have a litany of games whose influences have affected our designs as gamers and developers that include games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Front Mission, Dragon Age, Crusader Kings, heck even Mount and Blade to a certain degree.
RPGWatch: What's the target audience for your game?
We only had to look in the mirror to see our target audience. We're pretty hardcore gamers, though we still approached games very different at times. With the game's roots so deep in D&D, Pathfinder and X-Com, our core audience will be the veteran tactical gamers who love to min-max and agonize over tactical decisions on the battlefield. If you've enjoyed games like tabletop Dungeons and Dragons and Crusader Kings, then you're likely pretty at home with all the management and character building stuff. If not, you're likely in for a bit of a shock when it's all placed in front of you.
RPGWatch: How would you describe your game to an interested player?
Patience is a virtue. Forged of Blood will not give you an immediate jolt of adrenaline, but will instead ease you into massive and complex world that will reward your patience with the freedom to have some really fantastic tactical fun where character builds, tactics, and magic all combine together.
RPGWatch: I remember thinking when I saw your Kickstarter that Forged of Bloodseemed to have a distinctively Roman influence. Is this true? If so to what degree was Roman history an inspiration for your game.
I'm a lover of military history. Ancient Rome, World War II, and Ancient China being the topics I'm most familiar with and have spent much of my youth reading about. So when I got the chance to worldbuild a fantasy world, I went almost full on Roman - I'd say 75% Roman. Particularly late-Republican / early-Imperial era. For the story I initially drew a lot of inspiration from the Roman Civil War following Julius Caesar's death - Anthony, Octavian, Brutus and Cassius fighting it out, but I eventually phased that story out into one of the early events in Attiran world history that dealt more with the politics. For the events in Forged of Blood, it is more accurately a mix of the Roman Civil War and a little touch of the Chinese Three Kingdoms era, plus a dose of fantasy with magic and ancient races and extraplanar creatures.
I used history as a starting point of the world and the stories that could be told within it, and used the fantasy elements as a veneer of sorts for the politics and racial tension that I wanted to inject into the game. My initial drafts were extremely dark, and as we developed the mechanics and the overworld for the game more, the story was further refined, lightened and shaped to the one we tell in Forged of Blood today.
It's really easy to look at the basic intro and dialogue in the first act and write off the story as just playing a race of powerful oppressors taking back a world from some downtrodden people, because that is at sort of the root of it all, but there is definitely a lot more to it. Also from the storytelling perspective I really did want to present the events in Forged of Bloodfrom the particular perspective of the neshalan race. When it came to exploring the themes of race and bloodlines and the right to rule, the inspiration there was really a hodgepodge of that Roman Civil War and Three Kingdoms sort of political intrigue, mixed in with my own pretty heavy experiences and musings with race, culture and rights. I grew up in two different countries before going to another for my degrees and the start of my career; raised in two polar opposite cultures, and have wrestled with a sense of racial belonging my entire life. I kinda just put all that onto the page and let those tensions grow into the things that started to motivate the different characters in the world.
Ok, I think I went overboard there so, TLDR: 75% ish Roman in terms of world. 25% my own musings on history, culture, politics, and other things I fancy.
RPGWatch: Obviously the focus in Forged of Blood is on the tactical combat. The game also has strategic elements. Does Forged in Blood feature any classic crpg elements such as choice and consequences, branching dialogue, in depth character development, or exploration?
Choice and consequence is a pretty big feature that we tout, and it permeates throughout the game. Permadeath and the insta-loss on the protagonist's death, means that character building is pretty darn important. In the game's narrative, we have branching dialogue and branching story arcs for each of the main factions, and the side quests can have standalone stories with particularly special rewards as well. In all, we have over 64 ending combinations that are derived from the player's choices in their campaign and are directly tied to the tri-axis philosophical index feature we have in Forged of Blood.
As for character development, your character Tavias will develop by your choices, and the world of Attiras will too as a direct result of your actions. The recruits you will hire and the special characters you will meet are yours to customize when you get them under your command as well.
In terms of exploration, there isn't the traditional exploration in this game as it's more about conquest, however going to the various regions will spawn various quests in the world and there are many standalone special quests hidden throughout the land.
RPGWatch: In a huge RPG market, why should players give your game a chance?
I think we're a breath of fresh air, I really do. Where the current trends have been to simplify and hand hold the player to go on this or that adventure, we present our players with a deep and complex system they can explore and master. If you're a hardcore RPG gamer or tactical player and you're longing for challenging and cerebral experience, Forged of Blood is a good place to start.
RPGWatch: You're game has gotten some positive feedback. Is there any player comments you found especially noteworthy?
Hah, we have so many dissenting views I kinda like seeing the outliers from the discussion boards and reviews:
The two people who found it easy:
"Played through the tutorial mission. Apparently the game told me I was too good so I have to start all over again." - First recorded person to beat the unwinnable tutorial fight.
"Completed the game. Is fun however it's a bit easy." - Time played 27 hours. That is an efficient run.
The veteran gamer:
"... it would be nice to create a unique character. Although, I'm no stranger to the old JRPGS and quite like the linear approach. *breathes in the nostalgia, exhales satisfaction."
The oppressor:
"We play the elven oppressors?
Neat. change from the usual fantasy story. I'm gonna like this game."
Of course, we're really grateful to everyone who have been reporting bugs and posing the hard questions for the team and I to think over. The last few days has been incredible and the feedback is humbling and incredibly helpful.
RPGWatch: Do you have future plans to support your game? If not, do you have plans for another project?
Yes, absolutely! Our immediate plans are to hammer through our backlog of refinements for the game and react to ongoing player feedback. It's going to be a tightrope we'll have to balance on for awhile as we go through our goal fixes while making sure that the player's needs are met in a timely manner. Any plans beyond that really comes down the commercial success of the game and the demand for whatever could come next. We definitely have plans beyond Forged of Blood, but the degree to which those plans can be realized is contingent on the success of this game.
RPGWatch: Thanks for the time to answer our questions. Do you have any final words for players who consider starting this game? any words of advice maybe?
Forged of Blood is a marathon, not a sprint, and you will have a long, long war ahead of you. If you're new to the genre or find yourself a little unsure as to what is going on, the tutorial is there to arm you for the very long war that lies ahead. At the end of the day, I really hope that they take into consideration that for a game of that size, the team behind it for the last two years has only been 8 people. We will watch and listen to your feedback and try to implement as many reasonable requests as possible, but certain things will be beyond our capabilities.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share our views and our game. For the team and I, this wasn't just a job - in fact my partners and I all have taken other jobs to sustain the studio and ourselves - this was a true passion project. This is basically what happens when hardcore gamers make a game designed to scratch their own itches.
Tech Raptor 5.5/10:
There is a lot to like in Forged of Blood, but it’s not for everyone. It is clearly a game by tactical RPG fans, for tactical RPG fans. The desire to make the game more complex and free form shows great ambition on the part of Critical Forge, but ambition can only get you so far. Critical Forge put everything into Forged of Blood to try and make it synthesize into a coherent experience. Instead, it is a hodgepodge of good and bad ideas in terrible need of curation. For some, that may be enough the scratch that tactical itch in between sessions of Fire Emblem. For most, the wings have melted away, leaving a bloody mess in its wake.
BlueMoonGame 7.7/10:
Forged of Blood is a somewhat unrefined product that shows good potential. It has some flaws, most of which I tried to point out in here, but it is a rough Diamond. It would take some polish before I could recommend this game to everyone. However, if you are a fan of the genre it is worth keeping an eye out for this game. If Critical Forge invests more time and fixes at least some of the issues than the game is definitely worth the time and money investment.
Thumb Culture Gold Award:
Forged of Blood is a very good Xcom-like game, using a lot of different new mechanics. Overall, I like the difficulty of the game, and the art style isn’t hard to look at, making for long sessions of “just one more turn”. A lot of the little things about it, really make it unique, from the spell crafting, to how you can level up using a classless system. The gameplay is very tough, but when you win, you have a feeling of satisfaction. I’m going to give Forged of Blood the Thumb Culture Gold award, as it may not appeal to a lot of people, but fans of tactical RPGs are going to love it.
Softpedia 6/10:
Long story short, Forged of Blood is the best example of a project which was meant to be big but ended up being small. I wouldn't have been so disappointed if it was a “good” small rather a than “bad” small.
Digitally Downloaded 3/5:
Forged of Blood is ambitious well beyond its means, and it has so many systems at play at once that there are moments where, mechanically, they fall down. Thematically, however, it’s a gorgeous blend of complementary fantasy genres and approaches, and it's done differently. We need to see more original and different games being made, and it’s great to see something of this vision and presentation coming out of emerging game development nations like Indonesia.
Sick Critic 7/10:
Forged of Blood is a great addition to the turn-based tactical RPG scene. With a few fixes, it could well be on it's way to greatness. For now, it's an addicting tactical game with its own flaws and issues.
According to Lilura, Jagged Alliance 2 is the greatest CRPG of all time.I still think this thread, this game, belongs to the "Tactical gaming" sub-foro, with Jagged Alliance, Battle brothers, XCom and all those games. It is more a tactical game than a RPG.
Still playing the game. Second run. It is harsh with player´s mistakes, as it should be.
I like how there are lots of options to customize the game in the game options menu. I got rid of some things I do not like much the first time.
Pretty odd choice to have your companions dip out so much. Kinda makes leveling feel pointless. Also, boo campaign time limits.
Ahh i have no problem with the campaign time limit,but the timed quests are bugged and many times spawn with time that is impossible to reach. Even few of the big quest lines have that problem and end up breaking them,i stopped playing after the quest where i had to take the read haired noble chick to the capital broke in such a way. Most of those quest don't even have a reason to be timed lol. Also as a suggestion i would recommend adding a skill that improves/speeds up the map movement,maybe add it only to the main hero's party.Pretty odd choice to have your companions dip out so much. Kinda makes leveling feel pointless. Also, boo campaign time limits.
The companion leaving is a design decision that reflects the challenges of leadership - having to weigh your desires versus that of your followers. We've got a slider implemented that will increase the Distance Threshold that will be in the next patch if you're feeling that the shifts are a little too drastic.
As to the campaign limits, I'm staying pretty firm on the decision behind that as it does tie directly with multiple narrative and mechanical events in the game and removing that would really ruin the entire campaign. As it is, the main game lets you explore one of the main arcs to help you win but will not give you a win outright (and winning and losing also comes in other forms depending on your choices.)
Now, what we have been doing in response to the torrent of feedback on the issue is to implement an "Attiran Conquest" mode that removes the time narrative pressures and lets you do full on conquest in a sort-of sandboxy way. No faction arcs, no Conclave, and no Brother arc, just you and your mates against the world.
I had hoped to push that out over the weekend, but I didn't as much a chance to polish it as it needed to be so we're pushing that to some time later this week pending another round of testing.
Ahh i have no problem with the campaign time limit,but the timed quests are bugged and many times spawn with time that is impossible to reach. Even few of the big quest lines have that problem and end up breaking them,i stopped playing after the quest where i had to take the read haired noble chick to the capital broke in such a way. Most of those quest don't even have a reason to be timed lol. Also as a suggestion i would recommend adding a skill that improves/speeds up the map movement,maybe add it only to the main hero's party.Pretty odd choice to have your companions dip out so much. Kinda makes leveling feel pointless. Also, boo campaign time limits.
The companion leaving is a design decision that reflects the challenges of leadership - having to weigh your desires versus that of your followers. We've got a slider implemented that will increase the Distance Threshold that will be in the next patch if you're feeling that the shifts are a little too drastic.
As to the campaign limits, I'm staying pretty firm on the decision behind that as it does tie directly with multiple narrative and mechanical events in the game and removing that would really ruin the entire campaign. As it is, the main game lets you explore one of the main arcs to help you win but will not give you a win outright (and winning and losing also comes in other forms depending on your choices.)
Now, what we have been doing in response to the torrent of feedback on the issue is to implement an "Attiran Conquest" mode that removes the time narrative pressures and lets you do full on conquest in a sort-of sandboxy way. No faction arcs, no Conclave, and no Brother arc, just you and your mates against the world.
I had hoped to push that out over the weekend, but I didn't as much a chance to polish it as it needed to be so we're pushing that to some time later this week pending another round of testing.
August 23, 2019 - 1.1.4502
Hello, we’ve got a big update this week as we’ve compiled all the fixes and changes we’ve been working on since the last patch into this one and there is just so much to cover so I’ll stick with the marquee updates that we’ve included here and start with a small disclaimer:
Disclaimer:
1. With the implementation of so many updates and fixes, there is a minor chance that your main campaign saved games can be corrupted.
2. In order to address the most common cause of game crashes, we’ve had to remove the image loader for the loading screens for the time being. We will be using the default black with three white boxed loading markers, while we narrow down on the issues causing these crashes.
Now, on the good stuff.
Attiras at war, your sandbox.
Let’s start with the biggest and most requested feature: the sandbox mode. One of the most highly debated topics in our game is the presence of the timers that drive the game narrative and pacing. While I remain steadfastly behind our design and narrative decisions to have them there, I also recognize that it is not for everyone and have taken measures to address it via the implementation of our sandbox mode, titled: the Attiran Conquest.
The new Attiran Conquest mode is a new mode that players can enjoy free from the narrative and time restraints that are present in the main game. Upon completion of the first act, players can start a new campaign that jumps straight into the war without any preamble. For this mode to work, all faction and character arcs have been removed and while certain events will remain in the game, no additional events will happen past the main game’s end date - but the player is free to continue questing and conquering the world until the end. This also means that this mode will only have one outcome: outright victory or death.
Note that this mode is not the original intent of the game or the narrative, and thus certain aspects that remain in this mode may feel out of place.
Through thick and thin.
Our second biggest implementation is in direct response to many players who found the rigors of command to be particularly taxing and were plagued by desertion. Of course, our intent with this system to highlight those exact challenges faced by those in leadership positions - constantly on the razor's edge of your own personal ideals and that of those who follow. To that end, the implementation of a slider that allows players to enlarge the Philosophical Distance Threshold in their game empowers them with the choice to set the challenge they want. And yes, for the masochists out there you do have the option of reducing the threshold as well.
The future that awaits.
Now I’ll leave the myriad changes for you to browse below as they are a bit of a mouthful and I would like to address some of the things we have in the pipeline.
The codex is top priority and the sheer bulk of all the systems, mechanics, and lore that we are compiling for it is rather staggering - so, know that it is coming but it will take some time. As always, we are pretty active on the community hub and discord if you have any questions so that remains an open line of communication for those who are keen to talk to us.
We are also working on a new mechanical feature that would allow players to play the game with our balanced settings but not be too severely punished for their philosophical choices. This will also take a hot minute to implement and test, but it should provide a lore friendly way to alleviate our player’s frustrations.
Finally, I am very happy to confirm that achievements are coming. We will have over eighty in all and we are awaiting final implementation and testing for the triggers.
And with that, I’ll end it there. Thank you so much for your patience and continued feedback. This patch is a long time coming and we’re thrilled to push it out tonight.
Cheers,
- Igor
The codex is top priority
Achievement testing going live
Forged of Blood achievements will be live for testing, but cannot be earned yet.
Hey everyone,
We have a short update today to announce that the 87 achievements we currently have listed will be going live for a short period this week while we do some final testing. This means that you will be able to see the listed achievements but you will not yet be able to earn them via in-game actions.
After we have made sure that the achievements are triggered properly we will be including them into our upcoming patch.
There will be a lot of fixes and additions coming up, in addition to the big addition of our achievements and codex features. We thank you for your patience and continued support throughout the last few weeks.
Thanks,
Igor
Expanding on the World of Attiras, Patch 1.3.4613
New Codex, Spell Save/Load system, Bribe mechanics, and Achievements
September 14, 2019 - 1.3.4613
Hello!
We’ve been fairly quiet in the last few weeks as we focused on implementing a number of big features that pushed our game out to 1.3. While we would have liked to push out the 1.2 patch earlier, some of the systems are already tied together so we had to power through and make sure everything works together in our latest patch, and here we are, so on to the big updates.
The Codex
One of the largest features we’ve implemented in this patch is the inclusion of the Codex - a repository of lore, mechanical definition, and tutorial entries that are searchable and interlinked. This was a pretty massive undertaking as it required the implementation of a new system and complete overhaul to much of the lore text to fit our intended format, as such this is something we will continue to edit, expand, and refine as we go along.
In this patch we’ve included a bit of the ancient history of Attiras and provided some additional lore context to the creatures, factions, and our main protagonists. We’ve also entered in a pretty comprehensive list of definitions and mechanical explanations of the many features and mechanics in the game along with the main tutorial slides from before. As mentioned, we will be adding on to it in the coming patches, and while we have our own backlog, your comments will help us prioritize what entries need to be put, edited, or elaborated on.
Spell Saving and Loading
Having implemented a spellcrafting system as massive as ours, one of the most requested quality of life features has been the ability to save a spell that you have crafted for use on other characters. This was a bit tricky but we’ve managed to make it work with the caveat that saved spells can only save that particular instance of the spell; which means that you will still need to manually level up your customs spells, and if loading the spell into a character with a lower magurite control stat, you will need to adjust the levels accordingly. This is of course due to the custom spells being custom to each player’s making.
For returning players, you will note a slight change in the Spellcrafting UI with the Save/Load section being added on the bottom. Spells will need to be crafted and confirmed as before, once the name is confirmed, clicking the Save button with the spell selected will open the Spell Save menu. This will function just like the game’s Save/Load function from here on out. Loading a spell will overwrite the selected spell, and saved spells will only be available to the appropriate energy type. Once saved, spells can be used across multiple characters and campaigns as they will function much like a saved game. Happy crafting!
Bribes.
Now, to address the many concerns that have been expressed by players regarding the brutal nature of our Philosophical Index and the Distance Threshold for each character, we’ve been working on a couple options that are more in line with my lore and game design intent. While we work on the much larger and time consuming feature we have planned, this patch adds a couple “bribe” options to the warning dialogue that pops up when you followers are unhappy. You will now have the option to respond, and with enough gold in your treasury you will also be presented with two tiers of bribes to alleviate your follower’s discontent over your decisions. As they say: money talks - even in Attiras.
Achievements.
Finally, we have also put in the achievements many have been waiting for! There are 87 achievements in total for you to earn in-game.
Known issues:
Random dialogue threads leading out from the PDT warnings may trigger a null response with the wrong portrait and character name, but the chosen shift will still take effect. You can verify this by checking the character PP position in the Tri-axis Philosophical Index once the dialogue is over.
PDT warning values are still undergoing testing internally and may be subject to change in future patches.
Certain achievements that only need a specific numerical checks will be earned when loading a saved game (e.g. Number of territories or gold amount in treasury). Other achievements that require a specific event will require that event to be triggered again to earn (e.g Finishing Act 1, or completing a specific quest). Also, most achievements can be earned via the War of Claims and Attiran Conquests, with specific exceptions called out in the descriptions.
With this patch focusing on implementing the biggest new features we’ve been working on for weeks, we will go through and deal with the litany of smaller bug fixes in the coming week. The addition of new features will also bring a small chance that older saved games may be corrupted - our internal testing has proved otherwise but we would be remiss in not accounting for that possibility once the patch is out en masse.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you will enjoy everything we’ve put into this patch. It’s been a few weeks of non-stop work to get everything together.
Cheers!
Igor