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Sovereign Syndicate - isometric narrative RPG set in steampunk fantasy London

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
https://www.crimsonherring.com




https://af.gog.com/game/sovereign_syndicate?as=1649904300

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From Canadian studio Crimson Herring Studios.

Description is not quite specific about combat, I wonder if all actions, including the combat, are involved around skill checks.

Explore an open world in this Victorian steampunk cRPG. Choose from three playable characters with branching stories that intertwine. Investigate, interact, and take action to leave your mark on the world and its inhabitants. No random stat points here, use your skills to level them up, and trust your fate to our tarot card chance system.

So, how will you solve your problems? Combat, persuasion, magic, explosives? The choice is yours and all your cards are on the table; but be careful, the docklands aren’t for the faint of heart.

TarotGif.gif


Tarot Card Chance System – Leave your dice at home as you interact with a variety of characters. NPC’s react to your gender, race, appearance, and choice of dialogue, so you’d better look and act the part if you want the “right” results. But not everything is certain, luck plays a role and it’s all in the cards with our tarot card chance system.

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Skill and Etiquette System - The skills you use will improve your ability, while ignoring others will cause them to stagnate. Master the skills you choose and learn more about the world and its inhabitants to unlock special dialogue and skill-check options.

So go, see, do! And don’t be afraid to try the unconventional. Drown yourself in gin? Sure, provided you’ve got the constitution for it. Smoke that opium? Certainly, but be careful not to doze off— it might not be safe here. Put it all on black? You only live once, as they say. Even in failure you learn something…

A Rich Open World to Explore - A steampunk fantasy-inspired Victorian London awaits; filled with interesting characters and locations. Explore the back alleys, opium dens, brothels, and more at your peril, or relax and enjoy their simple pleasures. Investigate, interact, and take action to forge your own path.



ThreeCharacters.png


Three Characters, Three Different Stories – Play as one of three characters with stories that intertwine through the city’s docklands and unfold based on your choices.
  • Atticus Daley, an orphaned minotaur magician crawling out of the bottom of a bottle to find a sense of belonging, and his next fix.
  • Clara Reed, a corsair with a checkered past, and a cunning woman with a rebellious streak. Follow her on a search for vengeance, and the courtesan killer.
  • Otto, the trusty automaton and companion of engineer Theodore Redgrave. More than just the sum of his parts, Otto wants more to life than servitude and utility.
Each character has their own mix of skills, equipment, and expertise, and they might just have to work together to succeed. Will you trust your companions, and should they trust you? Not everyone is a hero after all.

Features:
  • A large open world to explore, 20 different locations spread over the city’s east docklands
  • Three playable characters
  • Three intertwined stories to experience
  • Branching narrative and dialogue system
  • Character customization
  • Tarot card chance system
  • Single-player
  • Optional Hardcore mode
  • Multi-language support

Devlogs:



https://www.crimsonherring.com/devlog-1/

https://www.crimsonherring.com/devlog-2/

Interestingly developer tried to license a Shadowrun game but didn't know where to look:

But I still really liked the Shadowrun IP and thought there was a market for more games so I reached out to HareBrained Schemes and their parent studio Paradox Interactive to see if I could license their engine and the IP. Mitch Gitelman from HBS was good enough to get back to me right away, but basically told me that they had licensed the IP from Microsoft and that an unknown developer likely wouldn’t have a good chance of securing the IP license. Also, that Paradox doesn’t license any of its code or tools. So, I was basically out of luck on that one. Hard feedback to hear but looking back I appreciate the reality check.

Not being one to give up so easily I did some research on what it would take to start my own studio and develop my own IP. I mean, how hard could it be right? Lol.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Rahdulan

Omnibus
Patron
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
5,104
Using cards as chosen resolution method instead of dice is an interesting choice I'm kinda surprised more RPGs haven't used to stand apart. After all, it's not like practice is unknown in tabletop roleplaying.
 

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
12,618
Using cards as chosen resolution method instead of dice is an interesting choice I'm kinda surprised more RPGs haven't used to stand apart. After all, it's not like practice is unknown in tabletop roleplaying.
notable examples would be colony ship and star traders. If anything everyone wants to add more dices for the 'feel', even in cyoas.
Obviously discarding those weird card games that disguise themselves as roguelite/rpg
 

Johnny Biggums

Learned
Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
223
Using cards as chosen resolution method instead of dice is an interesting choice I'm kinda surprised more RPGs haven't used to stand apart. After all, it's not like practice is unknown in tabletop roleplaying.

What I'd like to know is whether the different tarot cards would lead to a spread of qualitatively different outcomes in a way that rolling a d20 wouldn't. Something besides success/failure/critical failure, something thematically related to the card drawn. If so, that sounds like it could be interesting (and tough to create). If not, it's just a cosmetic change.
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
5,861
I feel like steampunk is always one of those videogame genres that never get enough love. It's niche, but it's not exactly one of the hyper profitable niches. From what I've seen, Steampunk games never get as popular as more mainline fantasy or scifi games of similar quality.
 

The Avatar

Pseudodragon Studios
Developer
Joined
Jan 15, 2016
Messages
336
Location
The United States of America
I feel like steampunk is always one of those videogame genres that never get enough love. It's niche, but it's not exactly one of the hyper profitable niches. From what I've seen, Steampunk games never get as popular as more mainline fantasy or scifi games of similar quality.

See, if you want mainstream acceptance, you need to combine steampunk with fantasy- like Arcanum. Or steampunk with sci-fi, like Outer Worlds.
 
Last edited:

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
5,861
I feel like steampunk is always one of those videogame genres that never get enough love. It's niche, but it's not exactly one of the hyper profitable niches. From what I've seen, Steampunk games never get as popular as more mainline fantasy or scifi games of similar quality.

See, if want mainstream acceptance, you need to combine steampunk with fantasy- like Arcanum. Or steampunk with sci-fi, like Outer Worlds.

But Arcanum arguably didn't find mainstream success, and Outer Worlds is garbage.

The fact that Outer Worlds sold over 3 million copies should tell you everything about modern RPGs.
 

The Avatar

Pseudodragon Studios
Developer
Joined
Jan 15, 2016
Messages
336
Location
The United States of America
But Arcanum arguably didn't find mainstream success

Maybe not, but Arcanum sold well.

Wikipedia said:
The game proved a commercial success for Troika following its release, selling over 200,000 copies and generating revenue of over US$8.8 million, being deemed the fourth best-seller for video games within the period of its launch by NPD Intelect.
 

fantadomat

Arcane
Edgy Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
37,083
Location
Bulgaria
I feel like steampunk is always one of those videogame genres that never get enough love. It's niche, but it's not exactly one of the hyper profitable niches. From what I've seen, Steampunk games never get as popular as more mainline fantasy or scifi games of similar quality.
Are there any actually good ones outside of arcanum....you know the numba won on the codex?!
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
movie-max-vp9.jpg


omg heckin yes more DISCO ELYSIUM but this time in heckin steampunkarino yasss can't wait to tell all my reddit friends about this. I hope they make a funky pop...
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Regarding the combat: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1674920/discussions/0/5501694039544598449/

Hi Moagim, thanks for the question. We're still working on that but right now leaning towards combat as dialogue like Disco but definitely want to lean in to it a bit more than they did, have some stealth sequences as well. But it's definitely combat de-emphasized and won't have as much combat as Shadowrun, we like non-combat options in most situations too.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
Patron
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
11,468
Location
Combatfag: Gold box / Pathfinder
Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Regarding the combat: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1674920/discussions/0/5501694039544598449/

Hi Moagim, thanks for the question. We're still working on that but right now leaning towards combat as dialogue like Disco but definitely want to lean in to it a bit more than they did, have some stealth sequences as well. But it's definitely combat de-emphasized and won't have as much combat as Shadowrun, we like non-combat options in most situations too.

Well, that was certainly a quick turnaround between on and off my radar.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
Regarding the combat: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1674920/discussions/0/5501694039544598449/

Hi Moagim, thanks for the question. We're still working on that but right now leaning towards combat as dialogue like Disco but definitely want to lean in to it a bit more than they did, have some stealth sequences as well. But it's definitely combat de-emphasized and won't have as much combat as Shadowrun, we like non-combat options in most situations too.
can someone ask if they will have a funky pop please
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
5,861
combat de-emphasized
Good God. Why would anyone say that unironically?

It appeals to... wait, who does it appeal to?

People who like honesty? I feel like in many ways "de-emphasized combat" just means "we didn't want to spend time on combat systems because we're bad at it/or lazy."

Which, fair enough. I'm bad at building combat systems too.
 

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