Frontiers - Daggerfall-inspired exploration-focused indie RPG

[Gakkone]

Sure, I could afford to donate something. But I'm not gonna lol so piss off vots

 

[Curious_Tongue]

The resemblance to Morrowind made my heart jump a little.

The knowledge that it's mainly a solo project, and that Morrowind took a team of 40 or so over 3 years to complete makes me less interested.

 

[ColCol]

Game's release date has been changed to "when it's done":

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/06/23/frontiers-delay-elder-scrolls-morrowind/#comments

 

[Crooked Bee]

I completely forgot about this game, but apparently it's coming to Steam Early Access soon-ish.

November Beta Bonanza!

At long last, the beta is nigh! In just a few short days those of you that pledged for beta access will finally be able to play an early version of the game. But first, an update video:



Done? Good. Now for an update peppered with gratuitous screenshots:

Beta WHEN?
In a few days - we're just sorting out key distribution. Once that's taken care of I'll send out a backers-only announcement going over how to claim your beta key.

The first few days after release are going to be chaos - thousands of people are about to play the game for the first time. As we work out tech issues and Steam key issues and so on please be patient and don't feel ignored if I can't get back to you immediately.

Here's what you need to know right now:

• Just so we're crystal clear, the beta is only available on Steam. (This is why we pushed so hard for Greenlight - it's the fastest available way to distribute rapid builds.)
• The beta is currently Windows only - Mac and Linux builds will probably be added later, but I can't promise anything. If / when that happens I'll send out another update so Mac & Linux players know it's available.
• Regarding YouTube / Twitch - you will have 100% permission to record play throughs and to monetize them if you like. Bugs and all. This is in writing on the official site as well.

What's in the beta?
FRONTIERS' story is divided up into three acts. The beta will give you access to the first two (and to a brief prologue.) It also gives you unrestricted access to the entire main continent.

Be warned: The beta is a mess. But it's kind of a glorious mess. It's the mess of a game being born. Quests may break. Inventories may asplode. Characters may glitch. If that kind of thing bugs you (heh) you may want to skip this version, or at least wait a few weeks until I've gone through a some rounds of bug squashing with playtesters. To those that take the plunge: I really hope you enjoy it.

Which rewards are in the beta?
You mean like bars, books, plants, headstones and blueprints? A lot of your stuff is in there, but it's likely incomplete, so don't freak out if you find a mangled version of it or can't find it at all. Plants will show up but may display the wrong properties, for instance. Backer bars are present but their shingles may show up wrong, or not at all, and you won't own them on startup. None of this means that your submission was corrupted or forgotten or something - all your requests are safe and sound, I promise.

What's NOT in the Beta?
Oof, that's a long list! I'll stick to the big ones: Multiplayer is not implemented. Path editing is disabled. Fast travel is disabled, though that's coming online almost immediately. NPC combat is disabled.

The most important thing that's omitted from the beta will stay that way until final release: Act III. The game is broken up into three acts (plus a short prologue). The end of Act II is a natural breaking point; everything after that is intended to be the culmination of what you've learned in Acts I & II. All the balance and testing we accomplish during the beta will apply to the systems in Act III, but I'll test the storyline internally - this way everyone will be able to experience Act III as an unspoiled, well-balanced, bug-free conclusion.

What's next?
The video covers most of it - the biggest news is that I'm finally going for Steam Early Access. No more ifs ands or buts, no more waffling, I'm just going to do it. And I'm going to try like hell to do it right, the way The Forest and Kerbal Space program have done it.

Exactly WHEN I'll be releasing on Early Access, well, I'm leaving that partly up to you folks, the beta testers. If you all play it and say 'Sure it's rough, but totally playable' then I'll probably release it within a few weeks. (I want to give the beta backers at least a few weeks of exclusivity.) But if the consensus is 'It ain't ready for public consumption yet' then we'll spend some time using your feedback to whip it into shape. Not a TON of time - the clock is ticking - but enough to shave off any sharp edges.

Screenshot break!

Once it's on Steam Early Access I'll continue development at the same pace, which is to say 'as fast as humanly possible, though not nearly as fast as I'd like' If it's popular enough to generate some cash flow then I may even be able to speed things up with a hired hand or two (or three).

That's the plan, anyway! But you know the old saying: If you want to make the indie gaming gods laugh, tell them your plans. To be honest, looking over this past year I'm amazed I've made it this far. Sure the beta is buggy - what I wouldn't give for another three months to polish it - but it exists, damn it. It's on Steam. It's getting played, and improved, and updated. The game is happening!

 

[titus]

TL;DW: Developers and their dreams. Dude ran out of money. Promises he'll eventually deliver. Hopefully.

 

[Jools]

TL;DW: Developers and their dreams. Dude ran out of money. Promises he'll eventually deliver. Hopefully.

I hate the feeling when I find out about potentially juicy KS games and then I realize it's from ages ago and it's all gone FUBAR. At least I didn't waste money on it... :/

 

[LESS T_T]

Heh, he opend a public Github Repository for modders.

http://explore-frontiers.com/?p=468
https://github.com/AADProductions/FRONTIERS

 

[Railboy]

TL;DW: Developers and their dreams. Dude ran out of money. Promises he'll eventually deliver. Hopefully.

Don't count me out just yet. The beta was sent out to a thousand backers or so last month and we're kicking it into shape pretty quick.

 

[Visperas]

TL;DW: Developers and their dreams. Dude ran out of money. Promises he'll eventually deliver. Hopefully.

Don't count me out just yet. The beta was sent out to a thousand backers or so last month and we're kicking it into shape pretty quick.

More detailed first impressions would be nice? How is it?

 

[Railboy]

More detailed first impressions

Sure. A few backers are saying that it's just what they'd hoped for, which is great to hear.

Some backers are disappointed - they're not saying so outright but it's easy to read. Nothing could live up to what we were hoping for, even with all the qualifications I attached to it, so that's expected.

The majority seem to feel that it's fun overall but needs tweaking & bug fixing. And I'm happy with that reaction. I was worried it would need a total overhaul to be playable.

Steam tells me that a few play sessions are < 5 minutes (which I assume means they either hit a game-stopping bug or just hated the feel of it), most are around 1-3 hours, and then a few are 20-30 hours. Again, I'm happy with that, seems about right.

The beta forums are public so you can eavesdrop if you're interested. You can't see the play stats but the rest is visible: http://steamcommunity.com/app/293480/discussions/

 

[garren]

Nice beard.

Spoiler

 

[Railboy]

Nice beard.

Spoiler

Enjoy it while it lasts because it's coming off the instant we launch.

 

[Visperas]

Shit! I didn't saw the developer tag. I'm sure are interested, mostly about something you (I guess) said in some interview about quests and how the player will be asking things from NPC instead of the other way around. Could you elaborate on that?

 

[Railboy]

Shit! I didn't saw the developer tag. I'm sure are interested, mostly about something you (I guess) said in some interview about quests and how the player will be asking things from NPC instead of the other way around. Could you elaborate on that?

Haha no worries.

Sure I can elaborate. I guess I'd say it's not so much that NPCs don't ask you for things - our NPCs are always asking for things, just like most RPG / adventure games - it's more about where the urgency comes from. Ryan (lead writer) and I would talk a lot about how other games try to make you feel like it's super-important to get such-and-such done right this minute - characters say things like 'You must hurry, the fate of the [x] depends on you.' But what if you want to explore a mountain for a few days? The fact that [x] isn't actually urgent makes me feel like I'm disconnected from their reality.

So we tried to write a story where the player is the one hurrying (or not hurrying) everyone along, and not the other way around. I compare it to an old point-and-click adventure. You can slowly click around every pixel on every screen OR you can try to get stuff done as fast as possible. But either way the story works fine, you know?

 

[LESS T_T]

Released on Steam Early Access (two days ago): http://store.steampowered.com/app/293480/

PSA: Do NOT buy this game as Christmas gift

Hello, everyone - Lars here with a friendly developer PSA.

A lot of folks have told me: I'm buying this game for my kid/friend/spouse for Christmas, they love exploration games! And I say the same thing every time: DON'T!*

The only people who will love it are players who seek it out for themselves, because it's NOT FINISHED. Your kid/friend/spouse will just be annoyed with you. I'm proud of this game, and with everyone's help I believe it's going to be great - but it's not great yet, so in the meantime get your kid/friend/spouse Dragon Age or The Binding of Isaac or something, trust me.

The December release date unavoidably puts Christmas gift in people's minds. That's why I'm only releasing a trickle of press copies till after the new year. People are prone to impulse buy right now, and you don't want people impulse buying an Early Access game, especially not for others.

On the other hand, there is one situation where it's an appropriate gift: for yourself! If you love exploration and don't mind bugs, by all means treat yourself. (Just make sure to stop by theforums first so you know what to expect.)

Cheers,
- L

*(After I say 'thank you' of course. What am I a savage?)

 

[thesheeep]

 

[garren]

Kinda tempted to try this, but I'll wait for some impressions.

 

[getter77]

That's definitely an uncommon attitude to put forth---reflects well indeed on the prospects for this game in the long haul.

 

[Junmarko]

From www.rpgwatch.com

Frontiers: New Balance Update

Lars Simkins latest update for Frontiers has information about a new Balance patch.

Balance Changes

• Food & Water - Even the hardcore survivalists agreed these were punishing. So at normal difficulty you can now survive while drinking only once every three days & eating only once every week. Many new water sources have been placed in the game to make finding water easier, and you can now drink from lakes. The Civilization bonus you get from following paths and staying in populated areas is more potent so eating / drinking isn't a concern until you're in the Wild. (Note: In the future you'll be able to reverse these changes using custom difficulty settings.)
• Temperature - This system has been overhauled. Temperatures are milder in general and more consistent with climates. Structure interiors are always comfortably warm and cave temperatures are now suitable for shelter. Clothing can no longer cause you to overheat.
• Clothing- Shirts, pants, boots & gloves have been added to the game, and more varieties are incoming. You'll start the game with a basic set of clothing and you can craft more.
• Crafting - You no longer need to select blueprints before crafting. Several items have been reworked to be less expensive to craft (like the Canteen). You now start the game knowing how to refine metal and I've placed forges in the University area for public use. Charcoal is dropped by nearly all burnable items.
• Money - It's a lot more scarce. Purses contain considerably less money than before. Luminite no longer respawns indefinitely. Your cash is automatically converted to base currency when buying things.
• Animals - You're far more likely to find leather on dead animals. Many creatures are easier to kill in general. You can shear sheep for wool, pluck chickens for feathers and milk cows.
• Reputation - Damaging another person's goods will cause reputation loss. The rep system will play a bigger role now that money is more scarce.
• Paths - Several more arterial paths have been laid down in the South. More are coming.

He also mentions what bugs he is fixing for the games Beta.

Major bugs I'm still working on:
Not really related to balance but I might as well give you an update.

• The post-prologue crash is still happening for some of you. I'm still seeing more success cases with every build, and your reports have helped me pinpoint the exact cause, so thank you for that. I'll keep at it.
• Darkness Issue - The game is unplayably dark on a handful of machines. I'm frankly mystified by this one. I've made no real progress in figuring out the root cause. Hopefully the new brightness settings will help in the meantime.
• Disappearing buildings - the cause is known so now it's a matter of fixing the problem without causing more bugs in the process. I'm still seeking / interviewing programmers who can focus solely on this issue while I handle everything else. (Feel free to email me at frontiers.game@gmail.com if you're interested.)
• That one bug you really hoped I'd fix in the next update because it's way more important than balancing hunger, and besides how hard can it be to fix anyway? Yeah, that one's still in there. But seriously: don't assume that time spent on balance means bug [x] is getting forgotten or ignored. I know it sounds weird but that's not really how it works. A lot of these bugs have to get fixed a little bit at a time so the fixing doesn't break everything else. It's a l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶m̶a̶r̶e̶ long and difficult process. (Just kidding it's not so bad.)

 

[mindx2]

Uh oh..... who would have thought

Let's make mobile virtual 3D games for Oculus and makes millions to finish this game you've already paid for.

#68
Breaking the Cycle - Introducing ALPHA WAVE
Posted by Lars Simkins
Time for a big announcement. Before you get excited: No, the game isn't finished. That's actually what I want to talk about.

You all know that the original pre-Kickstarter release date was January 2014 (LOL). Once we hit all the stretch goals this was immediately pushed to Q2 2014, but it became clear that was a farce and I decided that Early Access plus a 'when it's done' approach was the best way to move forward. I've been plugging away ever since & stretch goals have been getting implemented one by one (with VR support / controller support being the latest domino to fall). But here's the thing: development is still taking TOO DAMN LONG.

Why? Because I'm still the ONLY PROGRAMMER WORKING ON IT. I'm stuck in a cycle of slow development, which I've conveniently illustrated for you:

Kind of a drag, right?
The main problem is the sheer size of the project. There was a time early on when any helpful programmer with a dash of Unity experience could say, 'Why don't I hop onto the project and fix some bits & bobs until it's tickety-boo? Tally ho!' There was at least a chance of that person accomplishing something in a few days or weeks (despite being inexplicably British) but those days are long gone. Nowadays help requires nothing less than a full-time commitment for at least two months, not to mention advanced Unity know-how. That all adds up to $$$, which means - well, you saw the graphic.

After months of being stuck in this loop I started thinking: This is nutbar. I need to do something different and break the cycle. But what? I have moral problems with the two most obvious solutions - there's no way I'm running another Kickstarter because that would just be gross, and I can't justify aggressively advertising FRONTIERS yet because it's simply not finished.

I briefly looked into taking on a few VFX jobs for some quick cash, but one glance at that shell-blasted no man's land of an industry had me backing away slowly - believe it or not, the hours and the pay has gotten even worse since I left.

ALL WAS LOST. But as I was polishing my seppuku blade I had an idea. A good idea.

Who says I have to do this myself? Right now I'm sitting on a mountain of game assets, half of which are unused / not used to their fullest potential. My rolodex is stuffed to bursting with programmers, artists & writers. Why not assemble a team and let them develop some tiny ultra-low-budget, super-inventive games while I continue to focus on FRONTIERS? Tiny games which require little to no time from me, but which also won't require endless months of time from them? Games which (if even modestly successful) could help FRONTIERS break free of this cycle of slow development?

I've illustrated this brilliant concept with perfect objectivity:

Wow! I mean really, is there even a choice here? QUICKLY all the way, please!

The next questions are obvious:

• Who's going to make these games? (Cause I'm a little busy, remember)
• Who's going to want these games?
• What will these games be like?

Who wants tiny little games, anyway?
Mobile users! And guess what? There is NO WAY IN HELL I'm getting into mobile games, because that market is tougher than boot leather. I have mad respect for anyone with the courage to try, but I just don't have the stomach to watch six months of work sink to the bottom of a 1000 page queue and yield pennies on the dollar.

Thankfully there's an alternative - an emerging medium that's hungry for tiny little games, one which I'm deeply excited about.

Virtual Reality is turning out to be a weird new medium. It's not what most people expect it to be, which is 2D video games plus immersion - my implementation of Oculus support in FRONTIERS was a lesson on that score. No, it's something entirely new. Trying the tech demos for the VIVE prototype is what really convinced me of this. There's a massive design space out there waiting to be explored, and each new idea will have to be implemented simply & on a small scale. Perfect for our purposes - and the best part is there's absolutely no risk of these games failing! Just kidding it's risky as hell. But it can't possibly be worse than mobile, and even failures have a decent chance of breaking new ground.

The upsides of diving into a new medium are self-evident. The downsides are numerous, and the biggest downside of all - namely that the number of people playing VR games is currently tiny and will stay that way for a while - is obviously at odds with the goal to support FRONTIERS. So for a while it would be wise to choose ideas that are at least playable without VR until those numbers can support exclusivity. Other downsides include the strict requirements for simple controls and near-perfect performance / optimization, but this has a silver lining: simple controls means simple gameplay, and simple + good performance makes VR games contenders for post-conversion to mobile devices. (So I guess in the long run I may end up dipping my toe into mobile games after all...)

Who's going to make them?
There's obviously no way I could be project lead on another game regardless of how tiny it is - the point of this whole endeavor is to support FRONTIERS, not bleed it dry by stretching my time even thinner. So I need a project runner who can supervise the day-to-day of development and help me to limit my own contribution to the bare essentials.

Enter Ryan Span. You all remember Ryan. Of all the people who've worked on FRONTIERS, Ryan has devoted the most time to it apart from myself - not only did he write the whole story and all the game's dialog, he's also been patching up dialog in response to playtesting for over a year now, and that's on top of writing his latest novel. In short, Ryan is a busy bee, so it's no surprise that he jumped at the chance to develop these games - and with his focus on storytelling he's the perfect antidote to the tendency for VR games to be little more than glorified tech demos.

Introducing Alpha Wave's first three games

Alpha Wave is AAD Productions' new VR department, and they will be be producing three games to start with. If those go well, they'll continue to make more - if they don't, we'll write the whole thing off as a fun failed experiment and find some other way to support FRONTIERS.

Here's Ryan's pitch / synopsis for each:

Euclidean

Click to embiggen
Behind our comfortable, familiar dimensions, beyond the timeless depths of space, there is a Place that mankind was not meant to know. A Place hostile to all life. We do not belong there. We cannot survive there. At least, not for long...

Euclidean; a game of geometric horror; a slow descent into the dark, into madness, futility, and despair, where Things greater than you watch and wait and dream. Struggle for every second of life you have left… Even knowing you’re better off dead.

Ariadnes' Thread

Click to embiggen
The Daedalus Skein is a place of inscrutable mystery. Who built it? Why? What is it doing on its endless journey among the stars? Why are its insides covered in a giant hedge maze of plants as tough as steel, with no way out but through?

We’d probably know more if anyone who entered ever made it out alive. Maybe that’s why we turned it into a prison, with a shuttle docked on the other end promising freedom. But hey - at least you’ll have a chance.

The Everton Experiment

Click to embiggen
How much fun can you have in a locked room with nothing to do but press a button?

The Everton Experiment is a psychological adventure/thriller created to answer this crucial question. The heavily story-driven experience centers around placing the player’s only possible action in a unique context. How will you decide to use the power of the button? Can you resist it when you should? Will you do as you’re told, or throw the script out the window to exercise your own will?

The Experiment is waiting for you to decide.

How far along is this first set of games?
Euclidean is getting close to finished (85+%), Ariadnes' Maze is in early development and The Everton Experiment is in the prototype phase. (No release dates yet.)

On Euclidean the team consists of Ryan (writer / design lead), Nathan Jensen (programmer) and Curtis Rochelle (artist / level designer). For my part I'm contributing some tools, some know-how and a lifetime of HP Lovecraft enthusiasm. Want to see some screenshots? Yeah you do:

Click to embiggen

Click to embiggen

Click to embiggen
Let me tell you, this game can get tense... and in VR it borders on terrifying.

As you can see the art style is blocky and polygonal, which perfectly fits the theme - and which makes creating assets much simpler / faster. The project also makes liberal use of tools & assets originally developed for FRONTIERS. Go efficiency!

So far Euclidean has been a success. The team has hit some bumps here and there, especially with communication (everyone lives in different time zones, and there's a strict 'no schedule' policy) as well as design (protip: when working remotely simple doesn't mean an up-to-date design doc isn't needed). But the small-ness of the project has kept everything on the rails. Best of all, I was able to contribute my part without feeling like I was being pulled away from my work on FRONTIERS, which continued at roughly the same pace.

Time will tell if that remains true as Euclidean enters the latter stages of development (and as The Everton Experiment & Adrianes' Thread move out of the early stages). But that's the beauty of keeping it small & low risk - if we have to shut one of them down for me to keep pace it's not the end of the world.

How will these games be distributed?
I was going to cover distribution in this update because we have some fun ideas, but this is getting over-long so I'll save it for another day. Suffice it to say that Steam will likely be involved, but the games WILL NOT be Steam-exclusive, and DRM will be nowhere in sight. You can also expect all code written for these projects to be open-source just like FRONTIERS.

Reception
Now that I've finally revealed this long-running master plan I'm curious about the reception. Is it sheer genius or is it as nutbar as the cycle I'm trying to escape? Are we going to be successful beyond our wildest dreams, or will we all die in a fire? Speak your mind in the comments or in a KS message, I love ignoring feedback and just doing what I was going to do anyway. (I kid, I kid. I've actually taken some of your tips to heart over the past few years, and it's saved my bacon more than once.)

What's going on with FRONTIERS?
Actually lots. Expect another KS update sometime this month - I'm working on a new Focus Update called You Are Not Alone, and it's going to be a fun one. Here's a teaser screenshot:

Click to embiggion
Until then,

- L

 

[Mustawd]

Necessity is the mother of invention.


Good luck Lars

 

[Leitz]

The biggest problem of this game might be...that I've never heard about it. I like the survival subgenre a lot but in all my searches I never came across this title. How could I miss it?

 

[Mustawd]

The biggest problem of this game might be...that I've never heard about it. I like the survival subgenre a lot but in all my searches I never came across this title. How could I miss it?

Agree. That's the biggest issue. There was some buzz around the kickstarter or whatever. But then radio silence for months and months at a time where no one was bumping the thread. To be honest I can honestly understand it. I mean...this is a TES inspired game? You mean...like all the other open world RPGs out there recently?

I think at the end of the day the dev is definitely adding some more love to his open world RPG, but it's hard to argue that there's huge pent up demand for that on the Codex.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Kickstarter can be an isolated archipelago at times, most projects you won't hear about until they are 700% funded. You need someone to take the time and post a "hey have you heard of this" thread if your chosen news site doesn't link to the game.

on another note, lol steam

http://steamcommunity.com/app/293480/discussions/1/620713633858005627/

 

[Mustawd]

Kickstarter can be an isolated archipelago at times, most projects you won't hear about until they are 700% funded. You need someone to take the time and post a "hey have you heard of this" thread if your chosen news site doesn't link to the game.

on another note, lol steam

http://steamcommunity.com/app/293480/discussions/1/620713633858005627/

FFS.....what is wrong with people?

I have recently bought this game and am not impressed...Bugs,bugs,bugs,,,,
Running around the university and keep on freezing when i try to get in doors. The gameplay leaves much to be desired as well. vthink i will just go back to Syrim and Fallout....

You gave it 6 minutes man.....