KickStarter Externus: Path of the Solari - tactical RPG from ex-Infinity Ward developers

[Tweed]

I trust a man of considerable girth and greasy hair to make a better RPG than a rail thin hipster in yoga pants.

 

[Feargus Jewhart]

Based on the awkwardness of this photo and the lack of dressing like actual adults, I predict this game will be brilliant and very deep. Everyone except the guy in the middle have my interest, but he did not have the common decency to tuck his shirt, so I'll give him too the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Werdna's Revenge]

I trust a man of considerable girth and greasy hair to make a better RPG than a rail thin hipster in yoga pants.

Yeah with a crew like that I could see them making a Codex GOTY... who am I kidding some popamole AAA title will win over them if they manage to produce an excellent RPG.

 

[LESS T_T]

Teaser trailer looks pretty different from what I imagined from the initial announcement. Seems JRPG-inspired. Also that "pre-alpha" 2D animations, without proper anti-aliasing at that.

https://www.winterborngames.com/externus-announcement/

Introducing Externus: Path of the Solari

Externus is set in an original high fantasy world first created by Kent Gambill and cooperatively developed with players of his homebrew tabletop game. Externus is designed as a story-driven tactical RPG that will focus on characters and their struggles during their adventures.

Before working at the studio, I was one of the tabletop players that helped craft the world as we played the game over a decade ago. Everyone here at the studio is super excited to be able to release this very small first look at what we’ve been working on here at Winterborn. Thank you guys so much for checking it out, and we plan to release a lot more information about the game soon. We are currently working on a pre-alpha demo of the game alongside a longer complete reveal trailer. We plan to have those out sometime in May.

We are fortunate to be a remote studio working from home, so please stay safe our there during this time and thank you for your interest in our game!

 

[Infinitron]

Externus: Path of the Solari is a character-driven tactical roleplaying game (RPG) adapted from an original tabletop game. We take inspiration from classic tactical RPGs along with modern game development to craft our own story and give you characters that matter. Our approach is designed to allow you to get to know the characters in your party along with strategic combat in full 3D battlefields. We encourage party interaction through our campfire scenes and storybook sequences that pay homage to the original tabletop game.

Features
- Strategic Turn-Based Tactical Combat
- Full 3D Battlefields
- Character-Driven Story
- Storybook Choose Your Own Adventure Sequences
- Death Matters, Each Ally You Lose Will Change Your Story
- Unique Full-Color Artstyle
- Based On An Original Tabletop RPG

Apparently there will be a pre-alpha demo and Kickstarter: https://www.facebook.com/winterborngames/posts/702879856919676

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

A combination of 20 year old 3D and a weebish comic 'art'? Eeeeew. No thanks.

 

[Abu Antar]

Cautiously pessimistic, but I hope to be proven wrong.

I'm always up for TRPGs inspired by FFT and the likes, but looking at some of the character designs makes me think that we'll also get writing that matches that design.

 

[LESS T_T]

Steam page:

We're currently expecting to launch the game in the Summer of 2021.

Gameplay
Externus: Path of the Solari features classic turn-based gameplay. Our battles will take place in full 3D battlefields that allow you to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees. Our character-driven story will be told using those battlefields alongside interactive story sequences featuring custom artwork. You can traverse our world using a map that highlights the two distinct continents that make up the world of Externus. The world map features unique artwork inspired by early cartography.

Externus: Path of the Solari uses a turn-based battle system that takes advantage of our full 3D battlefields to make sure you can see all angles of the battlefield. This will help you weigh all your options from a tactical standpoint. The detailed battlefields feature elevation and other tactical landscapes to use to your advantage when facing your opponent. Sometimes it's just easier to push someone off a cliff, right? Your choices make all the difference in combat.

Our goal for the battle system in Externus: Path of the Solari is to challenge the player so that they feel accomplished in defeating their foes. You should think about the risks and rewards of bringing certain characters and using their specialized abilities. Your actions and choices matter. Think about the world in terms of fate. Was it fate that a character died? Was it a punishment from the gods or just a mistake caused by an error in tactics? Death will be permanent in Externus, how will you react? Let the story play out and see how a character's death affects those who knew them both in positive and negative ways. Maybe it'll even send a ripple effect out into the world!

Externus: Path of the Solari is a storybook brought to life and your actions on and off the battlefield can change the pages as they're presented. This goes back to our tabletop roots of wanting to tell a collective story that changes based on the players around the table.

Story

The world of Externus: Path of the Solari was crafted through years of playing the tabletop game and was a world created with friends. Fate plays a large role in our as the balance between order and chaos is constantly shifting. We find ourselves in a time where two Gods have been slain by a powerful unknown enemy. Was fate in play here or did the Gods' time end before it was supposed to? Can even the Gods escape Fate or will the world be plunged into chaos?

The story of Externus: Path of the Solari follows Osmund Steele and his sons Alrik and Amante as they travel through the continents of Alcretia and Katrona. Osmund is part of an order known as the Soldat Solari, a tradition he intends to pass down to his sons, that is tasked with keeping balance and order throughout the world of Externus. Our story begins as we follow the Steele family and their companions on their way toward the town of Zyais when they run into unexpected trouble from a mysterious group known as The Monotheists. This group of zealots is led by a man named Gabriel who has a history with Osmund and the Soldat Solari. Was it fate that brought them together on this day? Was it the will of the gods? With Gabriel in the picture and rumors swirling of a larger threat, known only as The Abomination, the Steele family will have a lot of roadblocks in their way as they try to keep the balance of the world from shifting into chaos. Will your choices balance things or plunge them further into chaos? What does Fate have in store for you and your companions? Death matters in the world of Externus and losing an ally can change the story.

About Winterborn
Winterborn was formed by Kent Gambill in November of 2018 to make a tactical role-playing game set in a world he created over 15 years ago as a tabletop game. The studio was founded alongside Moudy Hamo, Jack Steele, Stephen Boilegh, and Trevor Osz to make a game using their unique skills.

As a studio, Winterborn was formed to adapt the original tabletop game that the team played for many years into a video game. We all have fond memories and a lot of stories to tell about our time playing the game. Now is our chance to tell those stories and make the kind of games that we grew up playing.

 

[Jimmious]

Nice looks like another FFT clone. There are never enough so I'm fine with it. The art style seems a bit off though

 

[Darth Canoli]

I've played flash games with better and faster animations.
And that fire spell animation that takes forever ...

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winterborngames/externus-path-of-the-solari

 

[Infinitron]

Pre-alpha demo:



https://winterborngames.itch.io/externus-path-of-the-solari

Pre-Alpha Demo
The Pre-Alpha Demo lets you see the game far earlier in development than expected. We want to show you the early build so that you can see the improvements we make throughout development and also include you in the process as we hope to build our community. We want to keep the collaborative design aspect of the original tabletop game. The demo is also more than just the first few levels of the game, it's a prequel that will lead into Externus: Path of the Solari. It'll give you a little bit of an introduction to the world, some of our characters, and have locations and battles not found in the final game. The Pre-Alpha Demo is best played with a controller.

 

[Infinitron]

Kickstarter is up: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winterborngames/externus-path-of-the-solari

Externus: Path of the Solari is a character-driven tactical roleplaying game (RPG) adapted from an original tabletop game. We take inspiration from classic tactical RPGs like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Shining Force along with modern game development to craft our own story and give you characters that matter. Our approach is designed to allow you to get to know the characters in your party along with strategic combat in full 3D battlefields.

Features

• Strategic Turn-Based Tactical Combat
• Full 3D Battlefields
• Character-Driven Story
• Storybook Choose Your Own Adventure Sequences
• Death Matters, Each Ally You Lose Will Change Your Story
• Unique Full-Color Artstyle
• Based On An Original Tabletop RPG

Externus is a storybook brought to life and your actions on and off the battlefield can change the pages as they're presented. You should think about the risks and rewards of bringing certain characters and using their specialized abilities. Your actions and choices matter. This goes back to our tabletop roots of wanting to tell a collective story that changes based on the players around the table. We encourage party interaction through our campfire scenes and storybook sequences that pay homage to the original tabletop game. Think about the world in terms of Fate. Death will be permanent in Externus, how will you react? Let the story play out and see how a character's death affects those who knew them both in positive and negative ways. Maybe it'll even send a ripple effect out into the world!

We are a group of passionate game developers with over 11 years of experience in making games. We're building Externus using our custom BroadSword Engine built on the MonoGame Framework.

Externus: Path of the Solari features classic turn-based gameplay. Our battles will take place in full 3D battlefields that allow you to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees. Our character-driven story will be told using those battlefields alongside interactive story sequences featuring custom artwork. You can traverse our world using a map that highlights the two distinct continents that make up the world of Externus. The world map features unique artwork inspired by early cartography.

One of our early 3D levels

Externus: Path of the Solari uses a turn-based battle system that takes advantage of our full 3D battlefields to make sure you can see all angles of the battlefield. This will help you weigh all your options from a tactical standpoint. The detailed battlefields feature elevation and other tactical landscapes to use to your advantage when facing your opponent. Sometimes it's just easier to push someone off a cliff, right? Your choices make all the difference in combat.

Our goal for the battle system in Externus: Path of the Solari is to challenge the player so that they feel accomplished in defeating their foes. You should think about the risks and rewards of bringing certain characters and using their specialized abilities. Your actions and choices matter. Think about the world in terms of Fate. Was it Fate that a character died? Was it a punishment from the gods or just a mistake caused by an error in tactics? Death will be permanent in Externus, how will you react? Let the story play out and see how a character's death affects those who knew them both in positive and negative ways. Maybe it'll even send a ripple effect out into the world!

Externus: Path of the Solari is a storybook brought to life and your actions on and off the battlefield can change the pages as they're presented. This goes back to our tabletop roots of wanting to tell a collective story that changes based on the players around the table.

 

[LESS T_T]

Funded. $51,128, little over the base goal.

 

[Abu Antar]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winterborngames/externus-path-of-the-solari/posts/3451572

The Debbie Downer Update

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for the long delay in the updates. We have had some major development issues and I wanted to ensure we had everything 100% figured out before sharing the news.

The team was hit with some major health issues in January and February (primarily COVID), which slowed us down. Thankfully, our team and their families are all healthy once again, but this has unfortunately caused a major development roadblock. After the sickness exacerbating some existing financial troubles, our artist Moudy is unable to continue his work with Winterborn so he can focus on other more immediate forms of revenue. The long delay in updates was a result of us exploring many options for him to stay on and keep working with the company, but unfortunately as of March 1st Moudy is no longer working with Winterborn.

The Path for Externus
Realistically, after Trevor's passing last year and Moudy's leaving, we do not currently have the required resources to complete the game. The primary issue is being unable to create any new art assets (characters, 3D Levels, spells visuals, and much more) beyond what we currently have.

However, after a lot of discussion, the remaining members of Winterborn have decided that we will continue development of Externus, rather than abandoning it. We will be finishing the game using temporary art assets, while also exploring options for being able to get funds to hire a new artist to get the game to a finished state.

The major changes to development and schedule are:

• Updates are likely going to come every 3 months or so instead of every month. This is primarily because we will have nothing that can really be shown since everything will be developed using temporary / grey box assets. We will post as we hit any major milestones, and most importantly, once we have secured funding for an artist.
• During development, I will also be looking for new avenues of funding to secure the artist. The funding from his backer campaign went to animation for existing assets (and reserved for the backer rewards still incoming), but we need to more content - primarily 3D levels and 2D characters. As of right now, our first plan is to find a publisher who will work with us to provide the funding and some additional perks (localization, marketing, etc) but we will be looking into any and all options to secure funding so the game can be completed.
• We will be delayed. Prior to this setback, we had planned to release near the end of summer this year, but having lost all ability to create art, this is not a realistic date any longer. Unfortunately, I do not have an exact date to provide as that will depend heavily on how long it takes for us to find funding for the artist. Rest assured I will send out an update as soon as I have further information on this. The Prologue Demo we were working to release is also going to be delayed, so we can focus our attention entirely on finishing the game and securing new funding.

I am extremely sorry to provide bad news such as this to our backers as I hate to disappoint you. Please bear with us during these difficulties, and know that the remaining team are doing our best to ensure Externus not only sees completion, but also hits the quality bar we are demanding of it. We knew this was going to be difficult going in, but we definitely did not plan for the loss of team members or just how difficult these last few years have been for the entire world.

If you have questions, please feel free to message me on Discord and I will do my best to respond in a timely manner. I often have my head down in development but will do my best to schedule a bit of time for questions several times a week.

 

[Late Bloomer]

This is how I want all game devs to look. No way this game is pozzed. Right?