Game News Solasta: Crown of the Magister Dev Diary - Character Creation

[Infinitron]

Tags: Solasta: Crown of the Magister; Tactical Adventures

We got a sneak peek at Solasta: Crown of the Magister's character creation during the Kickstarter campaign last year and a more up-to-date glimpse in last month's features trailer. Now Tactical Adventures are ready to give us an extended look in the form of a 24 minute dev diary video narrated by our friend Myzzrym. Notable features of Solasta's character creation include racial languages, a customizable class equipment loadout, and a dynamic personality determined by selecting tags based on the character's alignment and background. You can get a preview of your class abilities at higher levels, select a diety from the setting's pantheon if you're a cleric or paladin, and allocate your stats using oldschool dice rolling or point buy.

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Good stuff. It'd be nice if they released an updated version of the demo that includes character creation for the Steam summer festival next week.

 

[NJClaw]

Myzzrym is a man with a manly voice and not a cute anime girl as her his profile picture suggested, guys. This is a vile fraud and we won't stand by it. Solasta is cancelled, everybody go home.

SIKE, I can't wait to play it. I think the out of place Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored since everything else look amazing. Seriously, those classes, backgrounds, deities and domains images are really cool.

 

[Malamert]

That UI is so vile and abhorrent. Legit sickening and vomit inducing.

 

[deuxhero]

The video mentions more classes being added later. Is the game being consiously future-proofed for new classes/race added in updates/dlc/mods so only the actual class has to be made? Examples of not doing this: In Oblivion and Skyrim there's random points in the game where it calls out the player's species with no backup option for none of the above, forcing modders to redo every single one of those if they want to implement a custom one, while NWN2 had some moments in the OC that depended on your class and wound up treating any non-core (mod or expansion added) class as Barbarian (which tended to be a poor outcome).

Is multi-classing in?

I notice the name screen is first and "family". That seems like an odd combonation of words (typical pairing would be "first"+"last" or the unambiguous "given"+"family"/"surname" rather than mix the two). Is family just the chosen synonym for that slot, or will the different races have different fields there (like dwarf having a "clan" name and another race having the second name be "father's name")?

edit: Noticed the thumbnail shows it is indeed "clan" for Dwarfs. Nevermind on that equestion. Still, "Given" or "Given Name" would be the more natural choice to use for the other.

 

[Drowed]

That UI is so vile and abhorrent. Legit sickening and vomit inducing.

Even if I agree with you (though not in the same intensity), I think the UI is the most "disposable" part of the game. I mean, obviously it's great if it's well done and looks nice, but being functional is enough for me.

The game itself is looking pretty interesting so far, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[luj1]

Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored

I wouldn't mind the UI if the game had an actual art direction. It just looks like... nothing. Give me something distinctive to look at, an ounce of style.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored

I wouldn't mind the UI if the game had an actual art direction. It just looks like... nothing. Give me something distinctive to look at, an ounce of style.

How about?

 

[Mark Richard]

Yet another sterile interface. Where's the classy parchment texture to make me feel like my great deeds are being chronicled?

 

[Dr Schultz]

I gotta be honest: Whilst I always roll my eyes at games with bland art direction, over time I came to realize that functionality is king when UI design is concerned.
You spend too much time messing around menus in RPGs for not having a top tier interface in terms of functionality and these guys seem to know what they are doing.
Of course, you can have both functional AND eye-catching interfaces and this is clearly not the case of Solasta's UI.
In my book, though, a generic interface is not remotely a deal breaker as a malfunctional one, so, in the end, I'm pleased with this video.

 

[Van-d-all]

I think the out of place Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored since everything else look amazing.

That clean & minimalist UI is the most distinctive thing this game has grahpics-wise.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I play a lot of ancient retro to just old games and some aren't represented by more than name and numbers. Its the data i am most concerned about not how many freckles i can see. I was disappointed no bust, but, hip, and lip modifier for the chicks; just kinda ugly frodos. She looks just pre-Gollum; one ring away from full-blown.

 

[luj1]

Yet another sterile interface game.

 

[Fenix]

Of course, you can have both functional AND eye-catching interfaces and this is clearly not the case of Solasta's UI.
In my book, though, a generic interface is not remotely a deal breaker as a malfunctional one, so, in the end, I'm pleased with this video.

Exactly.
It's one thing to functional, and completely onther thing to have an idea of beauty which these dev have no idea about or openly reject it.
It's nothibng surprising actually, as signs ofit are seen in how western women are dressing now - they explain it by functionality also lol, but the real reason is they lost en mass idea of beauty, cause women before never were stopped by none-functionality of heels or corsets.

 

[Dr Schultz]

Of course, you can have both functional AND eye-catching interfaces and this is clearly not the case of Solasta's UI.
In my book, though, a generic interface is not remotely a deal breaker as a malfunctional one, so, in the end, I'm pleased with this video.

Exactly.
It's one thing to functional, and completely onther thing to have an idea of beauty which these dev have no idea about or openly reject it.
It's nothibng surprising actually, as signs ofit are seen in how western women are dressing now - they explain it by functionality also lol, but the real reason is they lost en mass idea of beauty, cause women before never were stopped by none-functionality of heels or corsets.

Truth to be told, I kinda like this minimalistic interface PER SE'. Problem is... it is completely at odds with the rest of the game.

In a high fantasy RPG I'd love to see something along the line of Kingdom Come's UI.

 

[NJClaw]

I think the out of place Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored since everything else look amazing.

That clean & minimalist UI is the most distinctive thing this game has grahpics-wise.

Endless Legend UI can be easily ignored

I wouldn't mind the UI if the game had an actual art direction. It just looks like... nothing. Give me something distinctive to look at, an ounce of style.

This looks extremely good to me:

Spoiler

But maybe I'm easily impressed.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Clerics aren't allowed to use crossbows!

 

[InternalRevenue]

Clerics aren't allowed to use crossbows!

Where have you been? Since third edition Clerics can use all simple weapons, a category which at least some crossbows fall under.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Yet another reason to avoid any post-TSR products masquerading as "Dungeons & Dragons".

 

[frajaq]

UI isnt so bad actually

 

[frajaq]

Just realized why I like the class pics in that character creation menu

Always liked this touch in Morrowind, when you were doing the class quiz and could then choose what you wanted

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Yet another reason to avoid any post-TSR products masquerading as "Dungeons & Dragons".

Could you explain why clerics of ALL Gods should abstain from using crossbows? If you answer, please use logic or at least some quotes from "holy books" of any gods in D&D setting, not repeating dumb "Gary Gygax did it,so it should be forever".
Call me naive, but I doubt that Gary was an asshole enough to be offended if rules changed overtime (at least for little thing as crossbows for clerics) so stop it.
I would remind you that D&D has pantheon of Gods, every different from each other and there a little reason to restrict all clerics to wield same weapon and look like they all worship same God.
One god can permit crossbows and one forbid it's only natural.

Wait, I almost forgot, setting of game a bit different from D&D settings that existed at TSR time, so your complain a bit strange.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The cleric class has its origins in horror movies of the 50s/60s featuring a vampire/monster-hunter type character and in the representation of medieval clergymen in Arthurian/Carolingian legends and similar fantasy literature. The OD&D cleric is a representative of good against supernatural forces that can be turned through the power of a holy symbol, and the cleric is capable of divine magic with a selection of spells that are largely Biblical in inspiration. They are prohibited from edged weapons (including arrows) due to the need to avoid shedding blood (blunt weapons supposedly don't).

The cleric archetype persisted in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and later versions of Dungeons & Dragons, though Gygax and TSR now substituted fantasy pantheons of deities in place of an implicit Christianity. 2nd edition AD&D did allow for the establishment of myriad cleric subclasses as "priests of specific mythoi", with suitable weapons available, but it would be a most unusual deity that would have an association with crossbows, and the generic cleric was still permitted "only blunt, bludgeoning weapons".

As for Gary Gygax, by the time he began work on AD&D, he had indeed become a stickler for everyone following his rules precisely as written and interpreted by him.

 

[Nortar]

I kind of agree with Zed's complaint, but in lesser magnitude.
For anyone not very familiar with D&D, at the first glance these images will tell the following:

1. Clerics are associated with a crossbow, so must be a ranged class.
2. Mages are associated with a wine glass.
3. Paladins have smaller swords than Fighters.

All points are false. Well, maybe except for Mages. )

 

[NJClaw]

I kind of agree with Zed's complaint, but in lesser magnitude.
For anyone not very familiar with D&D, at the first glance these images will tell the following:

1. Clerics are associated with a crossbow, so must be a ranged class.
2. Mages are associated with a wine glass.
3. Paladins have smaller swords than Fighters.

All points are false. Well, maybe except for Mages. )

But there's a giant mace in the Cleric picture and a dozen scrolls/papers/pages in the Wizard one.

However, I understand what you are saying. I think the Paladin image could use a shield with a divine symbol and a radiant slightly bigger sword. But they went for a very "generic" feeling with these images, so maybe that would be out of place?

 

[Thac0]

The cleric class has its origins in horror movies of the 50s/60s featuring a vampire/monster-hunter type character and in the representation of medieval clergymen in Arthurian/Carolingian legends and similar fantasy literature. The OD&D cleric is a representative of good against supernatural forces that can be turned through the power of a holy symbol, and the cleric is capable of divine magic with a selection of spells that are largely Biblical in inspiration. They are prohibited from edged weapons (including arrows) due to the need to avoid shedding blood (blunt weapons supposedly don't).

The cleric archetype persisted in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and later versions of Dungeons & Dragons, though Gygax and TSR now substituted fantasy pantheons of deities in place of an implicit Christianity. 2nd edition AD&D did allow for the establishment of myriad cleric subclasses as "priests of specific mythoi", with suitable weapons available, but it would be a most unusual deity that would have an association with crossbows, and the generic cleric was still permitted "only blunt, bludgeoning weapons".

As for Gary Gygax, by the time he began work on AD&D, he had indeed become a stickler for everyone following his rules precisely as written and interpreted by him.

The Vampire hunter trope definitly includes hand crossbows by now. Look at many popular depitctions of Van Helsing. Culture evolves over time.
As for the bladed weapon element - In many rpg systems crossbow bolts deal blunt damage for some reason. I never understood the real life justification behind it (although it makes sense from a gameplay choice to make the change from bow piercing more meaningfull)
but I can see a vampire hunter with silver laced blunt headed bolts as in flavor for DnD.