Update #19 Development Progress, Assets, Lore, and Community Votes
Development Progress
Map, Map, Map - the map has remained the priority since our last update. After nailing down the technical specs we began a back and forth with our artists to generate the kind of cartographic aesthetic that the game demands - after some miscommunications we decided that having an integrated
Map Editor tool was definitely a necessity to ensure that the map stayed on track and came out looking the way we wanted it to. While working with the artists we also made a lot of progress on the necessary overhauls for the eventual integration of the stretch goals, allowing us to begin the laborious process of updating the many data types that got modified.
The Good - A
Map Editor soon to be released which has a robust set of features for sharing your creations with fellow map makers. We continue to increase the flexibility of the engine when it comes to dynamic
terrain generation and the additional functionality promises new fiendish ways to bring about your return. We've integrated several of the stretch goal features that are related to
dynamic generation and are
three weeks ahead of schedule with our coding timeline.
Event Assets and
GUI Assets are starting to come in on schedule.
The Bad -
Map Assets are four weeks behind schedule, resulting in a significant delay to the
Map Editor. The decision to tie the
scenario viewer to the new
map engine lead to a resulting delay as well, meaning we still don't have
beta usersreviewing assets though we are at critical decision points.
Unit Assets have yet to start coming in which are the highest priority after the map.
All in all things are looking good - the quality of what we're receiving is very high and though the delays to the map have been stressful the results have been increasingly rewarding. The
map is taking a large percentage of our time but it is where you spend
95% of your time in the game, making sure we capture the feel and functionality properly is worth the extra effort. The
March Beta timeline is on track.
Development Videos
Yes, the return of the
Dev Logs is almost here! While we are currently still working around the clock on the map changes once they are finished we will be using the
Map Editor to recreate the North Burns, and then using the
upgraded Scenario Editor to set it up with all of our new stretch goal settings -
Courts have expanded,
noble bloodlines run through heroic families, new
Underwater and
Underground POIs, and the return of the
Gods, sitting pretty in their planar homes.
Kickstarter Rewards
While the majority of the
Kickstarter rewards will be waiting until the Beta Testers have their hands on the game, we will be opening up a site for submitting names for inclusion into the game. Make sure you
read the options carefully as you will be able to specify where you want the names to crop up.
Take a look at our artist's preview for the
Digital Art Book, you may notice some regions that weren't covered in the
The North Burns videos.
![[IMG]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/003/104/599/bb09573b9753bb99bbaabe47bd5c77e6_large.jpg?1420412517)
The Seeker Revealed
![[IMG]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/003/104/526/9e362c5ee093021b82a03129b80e6041_large.jpg?1420410838)
Before the Fall, in the Age of Horrors, Heroes rose to battle the Old Ones - but their numbers were limited and their mortality telling. One amongst them, wisest of his kind, learned that Heroes need not be born.... they can be made.
The
Seeker was a Sage in the time of the Old Ones who saw in the long struggle for freedom that the nature of Truth was Power. His search consumed him, first the
willing and the
brave gave of themselves but it was in the
innocent that the
Seeker found the sharpest blade. Instrumental to the
Old One's defeat, his atrocities came to light and he was sealed away by the those he saved.
The Seeker is a mid/late Agent who is not to be trifled with - to recruit him you must first exhume his tomb and then break the
Ancient Seals that bind him to the past. He is a powerful caster who excels at infiltration and battle magic with a
Scheme that further diversifies his role. Use it to augment your
Agents and Units or find the weak, spiteful, and envious mortals of the world and offer them
True Power. Surely, it doesn't come with a price?
The Polls
The Polls are closing soon! If you missed the
Holiday Bonus Poll you can still have a few days to go choose one of the least beloved Cultures to get represented. The "What's In A Name" Flayer thread demands some good suggestions if you want to help us defeat the hordes of lawyers that lurk in the deep below.
It seems a cold wing is blowing, and with a
New Old One joining the ranks that means our next poll will be for
Races. We are pretty close to hitting the amount for another inclusion so get ready for some
Minotaur/Dragonkin/Dhaath action in the near future.
http://kingdinosaurgames.com/forum/index.php
Procedural Seas
When we first did the Procedural Generation
PoC we completely ignored the ocean and seas, of course such an affront could not stand so we went back while working on the new map to see what we could add to your lineage of corruption to make the Seas more Interesting.
![[IMG]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/003/104/632/301ab39564a39e53466102b40b52c9c1_large.jpg?1420413601)
The
Deep Ones were an obvious choice given their literary origin. In a given Scenario you may see a
Deep One Colony in a shore area, but you didn't have much of a chance to bring about the
Innsmouth Look of infamy. Now you can! By expending some of your power in a slightly corrupted port village you can enact "
Idols of the Deep" which will grow stronger in the POI. If the POI is attacked and taken over the modifier is lost, and it is also lost by certain Religious actions - if, however, it remains until the game begins it will manifest in one of two ways.
1) The POI remained a
Village - A
Deep One Colony will exist with strength dependent on how many ages the modifier lasted. A Deep One culture will supplant the native culture and a very unusual Cult will be present. Danger to heroes is greatly increased in this POI.
2) The POI upgraded to a
City - As above but a Cathedral instead of a Cult, drastically increasing control over the City and the influence of the
Deep Ones on land. The
Deep One bloodline runs through most of the notables of the town and any heroes that spawn from it.
Leviathan - Once
Leviathan awakens in the Second Age you can use your power to move the beast, cutting off an entire ocean. This completely blocks trade, cultural movement, and migration - an effective way to ensure that the people of the world grow distinctly different. It's as much a way to creatively "prune" the world as it is a tactical tool.
We added a few more generic actions, but this was mostly to ensure that complex behaviors are fully supported inside the new map system. As always, these are preliminary changes that may not make it in this form to the final game.
FAQ
We've had a few recurring questions that we'd like to answer here.
Q. What is the stout race you said is now included? Is it Gnomes? It's Gnomes isn't it.
A. Yes, it's Gnomes. A bold race of engineers, don't be shocked if you see the Gnomish Legions marching to war - their logistical capabilities are second to none.
Q. Will we have any human-like Rival Old Ones?
A. The only "human-like" Rival Old One is the Elven Emperor, the Shadow of their Pride - who once lured his people into trading their immortality for the ability to breed. He appears briefly at the start of the Procedural Generation as a Leader but will only ever appear as a Rival in a Scenario if there is at least one Elven Nation present.
Q. Do different human nations look different on the map? What about their heroes?
A. Currently we have six distinct human types for the map and are adding the new cultures that are being voted on. This covers military units and kings. We are still debating the best approach with visualizing heroes but you can expect some method of signifying cultures.
Q. What's the big deal about the Elder Races? What are the other two?
A. Lore wise the Elder Races were designed by the Creator to be balanced aspects of Creation within the world, it was their meeting that spawned Chaos and the remainder of the Primals. Game-wise they each have significant knowledge/powers that can undermine your attempts at return or, if properly corrupted or manipulated, can be the harbinger of the world's destruction. The two unrevealed Elder Races are almost non-existent, having been destroyed by their Penumbra (manifestation of their corruption) or later driven to extinction by the Elves. They exist only as very special Campaigns and Modifiers.
Q. I know that Faith is strength but how EXACTLY do you take over another God's aspect once he's weakened.
A. Every God lives in one of the Seven Planes - getting a foothold into a Plane let's you directly attack the Gods who call it home. There are many ways to do this, such as stealing a Planar Key from one of the God's Avatars or defiling the Cathedral of that God's religions. Your strength in that Plane now depends principally on the faith your religion has generated, and of course you can use some other tricks to strengthen yourself. This has not been balanced properly and may be changed during testing by the Beta Backers.
Q. How do Pantheons work? Is a monotheistic faith less interesting?
A. The Gods themselves aren't the most unique part of a Religion (which may seem confusing) - their are cultural traits associated with the Religion that impacts how your culture behaves. A culture with a Founding Myth of Great Wizards will respond more favorably to magic, another culture which sees the End of Days as just another beginning may care less about your Old One awakening. We try to emphasize the cultural elements over the mystic, so even though two countries may worship the same God they may worship him in entirely different ways. As for Pantheons, expect the kind of bickering and infighting amongst the Gods that you would get in a Feudal Kingdom - just backed up by divine egos.
Q. Where's the Scenario Viewer?
A. Once we saw how different the map is going to be we decided that it would be pointless to have people make judgements on an older system, so we held off on the Scenario Viewer until the new map was done. Unfortunately delays have compounded delays but in the end this is the most efficient path for us to get to a smooth Beta.
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