Game News Sacred Fire, a psychological RPG set in ancient Caledonia, now on Kickstarter

[Infinitron]

Tags: Poetic Studio; Sacred Fire

Sacred Fire is a turn-based, story-focused RPG by Slovakian indie developer Poetic Studio. It's set in ancient Caledonia (AKA Scotland), a land under siege by the Roman Empire and riven by tribal politics. Most historical games take a buttoned-down, simulationist approach to their mechanics, but Sacred Fire is more ambitious. Poetic are calling it a "psychological RPG", in which encounters (combat and non-combat) are based on the manipulation of one's emotional state. The game has been in development for the past several years, and has now reached an advanced enough stage to seek its fortune on Kickstarter. Here's its pitch video:

Rome has sought to conquer Caledonia for as long as your people can recall. Only fierce resistance drove the Romans back behind the great wall marking the boundary of their empire. There Rome is watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

But walls do not bring peace, and the scars of war run deep. Trouble stirs at Dunadd, the seat of power of your people, as Morrigan, a vengeful queen, rises to power.

You may be young, but you have seen enough of war for a lifetime. Will you unite the tribes and bring an end to strife, or will you channel their rage and crush Rome once for all?
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It's a pretty weird-looking game, but the developers do have Doug Cockle (AKA Geralt of Rivia) on their side. Pledge the minimum $18 required to get a copy of the game and he'll send you a note. Sacred Fire is looking to raise $50,000, and its estimated release date is April 2018.

 

[Excommunicator]

Unimpressed

 

[poetic]

Hey there, I am the guy making Sacred Fire. Thank you Infinitron for the write up. Sacred Fire is not an easy game to introduce, as it's true value and design focus is to provide a new role-playing experience, and you have done a good job.

This 29s short defines our 4 elements of gameplay at a quick glance:



And here is an in-depth look at what kind of role-playing experience the game offers:



The campaign is off to a good start, with 20% raised in the first 24 hours and 200 early backer rewards gone. But we are not out of the woods yet.

If you like the RPG experience we are after, please help us make this a reality and pledge now.

Thank you.

 

[Tigranes]

Tries unusual thing, has substantial development before KS, no ridiculous ambitions or dumb features mentioned.

The most likely scenario is that it ends up a fresh but small bite, but I'll take the punt.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

poetic, your web page says 'inspired by ancient Caledonia', which I take to mean more fantasy than historical. Is this correct?

 

[aratuk]

Interesting choice of blurbs, incl "Vince Weller"

Edit: *backed*

 

[poetic]

Tigranes, aratuk Thank you for reaching out and for your support, I appreciate it.

Bumvelcrow The world, characters and conflicts, and the solutions to them, are grounded in reality. There are no mythological or fantasy elements, no monsters, no magic. We just didn't want to claim to be historically accurate, as that would be an arrogant statement to make, as history requires serious research. And while we do our best to use historic and cultural inspirations from Caledonia, the focus of Sacred Fire, and thus our research, lies in storytelling and game design. The story itself is driven more by the characters conflicts than by the setting conflict - something like The Last of The Mohicans.

 

[Ismaul]

Interesting concept and design. Backed.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

We just didn't want to claim to be historically accurate, as that would be an arrogant statement to make, as history requires serious research.

Okay, that's fair enough. I just wanted to know whether I should rage at the historical inaccuracies or just enjoy the game!

Also, the title of this thread says 'SET in ancient Caledonia' rather than 'INSPIRED by ancient Caledonia' so thanks for clearing things up. Infinitron

 

[Delbaeth]

It's set in ancient Caledonia

Where's Julia Roberts?

Oh wait.

 

[Ruzen]

Looks unique enough to back up. Next month I can.

 

[poetic]

Ismaul Thank you for backing and for your support, we appreciate every single fan.

Bumvelcrow Thank you for your understanding, we certainly hope people will just enjoy our game

Ruzen Thank you for your kind words, we are looking forward to having you on board.

Also if you like what you see and can appreciate a small team fighting for a new game to happen, please spread the word on reddit.
We respect their rules and do not want to self promote, but your posts to our campaign page in the right sub-reddit can go a long way.

 

[Ivan]

Looks dope. Good luck with the rest of the campaign. You have my support.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Hey, cool, someone using C4D for game development. That means I have some chances after all of getting a job in this amazing industry!

 

[poetic]

Ivan Thank you for your support, we take all the luck we can get

 

[Feyd Rautha]

You have my support.

And mine! Backed.

 

[Bastion]

I talked to a guy from a PS4 related site, he told me that they'd received information that the game is going to be available on PS4. Can you confirm it?

 

[poetic]

Maxie It's a valid point and there is a huge change in mindset of a culture and an individual that embraces writing. I wouldn't go as far as to state that they had no ideals, because the ideal of courage, of dying a good death in battle is present in many ancient cultures. Also what we mean with politics are not civic regulations, but scenarios more along the lines of naked power grabs. That being said, as stated above we are not claiming historical accuracy and we will explore contemporary themes like existentialism and search for a purpose.

Apan Thank you for you pledge and welcome aboard

 

[poetic]

Bastion Our current development focus is on the PC version and the Kickstarter goal is about funding and completing the PC version. That being said, the game is developed in the Unity engine and we have plans to port the game after the PC version to PS4 and Xbox One. This is what Banner Saga 3 did with their PC only Kickstarter recently.

 

[Charles Eli Cheese]

This combat looks kind of ridiculous to me. Why can't we have just normal combat in RPG any more?

 

[Xzar]

Story set in Pagan times, yet we're offered to "save the child". Where is "sacrifice child to the Gods" option? Even Rome 2 had it. Looks like Christian ethics is the only option in this game, sadly.

 

[jdinatale]

Any chance for a reward tier where you get a postcard or handwritten note from David Cockle? From what it looks like, the note listed seems to be a digital signature type of thing.

 

[Ruzen]

Story set in Pagan times, yet we're offered to "save the child". Where is "sacrifice child to the Gods" option? Even Rome 2 had it. Looks like Christian ethics is the only option in this game, sadly.

To be fair, we don't know which child that refer to. Nor that the condition of the situation. I am certain that no pagan was sacrificing a child or adult just because: Oh I am pagan! I will sacrifice anyone within sight! Also, why would "saving" concept is a Christian ethic? No pagan was trying to save someone or do good deeds or selfless things before they meet Christianity or any religion?

 

[Xzar]

Story set in Pagan times, yet we're offered to "save the child". Where is "sacrifice child to the Gods" option? Even Rome 2 had it. Looks like Christian ethics is the only option in this game, sadly.

To be fair, we don't know which child that refer to. Nor that the condition of the situation. I am certain that no pagan was sacrificing a child or adult just because: Oh I am pagan! I will sacrifice anyone within sight! Also, why would "saving" concept is a Christian ethic? No pagan was trying to save someone or do good deeds or selfless things before they meet Christianity or any religion?

I wasn't talking just about saving as Christian ethics, but if you actually read KS pitch, there is fight against Christian sins, presented as core part of gameplay and storytelling. Pagans did "good", "evil" and "ying-yang" things alike. They just "did things", to quote Joker. As it looks from presentation at the moment, there are only two paths - humanist and violent anti-authoritarian. But I'd rather be violent authoritarian in this setting, loot, rape and pillage. Not because I'm maniac, but because practically no games do that angle, and Pagan setting is perfect for that. But still, we're offered choice between communism and liberalism even here.

 

[Charles Eli Cheese]

I wasn't talking just about saving as Christian ethics, but if you actually read KS pitch, there is fight against Christian sins, presented as core part of gameplay and storytelling.

Gets better and better. Ugh, why don't they make game about their own country not rewrite reality for one I care about.