Game News Corven - Path of Redemption is an Ultima-inspired RPG with a long history, now on Kickstarter

[Infinitron]

Tags: Corven - Path of Redemption; Lycantic

Everybody knows that Ultima IX: Ascension was a disgrace, and over the years many fans have thought that they could do a better job creating an epilogue to the Ultima series themselves. The old timers among you might remember projects with titles such as Alter U9, Eriadain and Ultima IX: Redemption, none of which ever came close to completion. The latest incarnation in this series is Corven - Path of Redemption, now no longer explicitly set in the Ultima universe but still very obviously an Ultima fan game. Announced at the end of 2016, it's the work of one Florian Kasper AKA Corv, a member of the Ultima IX: Redemption team who assumed control after that project's demise. Corven is what you'd expect from an Ultima VII-inspired fan game - isometric, open world, real-time combat, interactive environments, and a focus on story. I must admit that I didn't believe the game would get far enough to make it to Kickstarter, so as an admirer of legendary vaporware I'm giving it a shoutout. Here's the pitch video and description:

Corven is a story-driven, open world, single player RPG inspired by our favorite RPGs from the 1980s and 1990s, especially Richard Garriott's Ultima series.

We miss Ultima and its design philosophy and so we set out to create something similar.

Corven will let you explore an interactive open world full of secrets and surprises. Maybe even more important than that, Corven will deliver an engaging story with many interesting NPCs.

Our goal is to make you want to know "what happens next?" in the main quest. Or in side quests for example "why is the, married, mayor of this town sneaking over to this other woman's house almost every night?"

This is a shift from many modern RPG's in which character progression and combat are very clearly the main focus. Don't get us wrong, we love those games too, but we want to focus on what made games like Ultima V, VI and VII so great.

We are also very proud to announce that none other than Richard "Lord British" Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, likes Corven and even helped with parts of the storyline. His alter ego, Lord British, will appear in the game and make Corven feel even more like its great inspiration, Ultima.

Don't worry, Corven will also feature a fun real-time combat system which is entertaining, but won't take up most of your play time. You will learn many exciting spells and some of them will even interact. Like a fireball which does 100% critical damage on targets afflicted by your freeze spell. You get the idea.

Richard Garriott about us: "They are working hard to make a very nice game, I look forward to seeing how it evolves!"

Denis Loubet: "It looks amazing!"

We are planning to release Corven on Steam and GOG.
​

Corv and his team are looking to raise $45,000 to make Corven. You can secure a copy for $20 with beta access available at $45. What you might miss if you don't scroll down is that there's also a free demo available on the game's official website. The estimated release date on the Kickstarter page is April 2022, but I wouldn't pay much attention to that.

 

[V_K]

We are also very proud to announce that none other than Richard "Lord British" Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, likes Corven and even helped with parts of the storyline. His alter ego, Lord British, will appear in the game

I'd write a sarcastic comment, but I don't think this even requires one.

 

[luj1]

Looks like generic Garriott scamware

 

[Sinatar]

"Fun real time combat".

The footage proceeding that text seems to wildly contradict said statement. Good lord.

 

[Taxnomore]

Maybe it's expected for me to be mean, but instead I will from the bottom of my heart wish the best of luck to anyone who backs this.

 

[Infinitron]

The Ultima wiki has a history of the Ultima IX: Redemption project: https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Ultima_IX:_Redemption

Development
Ultima IX: Redemption was in production from mid-2001 to early 2016 and, similar to its official counterpart, endured sweeping changes to its personnel and design.

Beginnings (2001–2004)
Redemption was originally conceptualized and co-directed by Scott "Avatus" Nicholas and Steven "Chlorthos" McCrary, two former members of Michael "Moa" Mils' Alter U9 project (later Eriadain) who departed after growing dissatisfied with its creative and technical direction. Like contemporaneous fan projects Ultima V: Lazarus and The Ultima 6 Project, this first version of Redemption was intended to use Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege toolkit. Its proposed storyline drew upon elements of team writer Laura "Shadow of Light" Campbell's Ultima fan fiction, The Black Ankh, and was directly prefaced by events unfolding in Ultima Legacy (a private Ultima Online server set in Britannia fifteen years after Ultima VII), which was, at the time, administrated by Avatus. Design goals included a focus on traditional Ultima hallmarks, non-linear gameplay, extensive world exploration, and multiple story paths.[1]

In mid-2002, the capabilities of the Dungeon Siege engine were deemed insufficient to meet these objectives, and a shift to Bethesda Softworks' similarly customizable The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was settled upon. After one year with Morrowind, the eighteen-person team was reported to be nearing release of a playable demo.[2]

However, a crippling setback occurred in late 2003, when Avatus abruptly wiped the project's FTP server without warning nor explanation, before disappearing from the Ultima community entirely. With a considerable amount of work lost, Chlorthos and another team member attempted to keep Redemption afloat thereafter to little success, and production stagnated for much of the following year.

Titans of Ether (2004–2016)
In late August 2004, Chlorthos was contacted by Florian "Corv" Kasper, project leader of another fan game in development, Ultima: The New King. The two reached an agreement whereby the remaining Redemption personnel would be incorporated into Corv's team, jointly forming the "Titans of Ether". The Titans resolved to prioritize work on Redemption, with Ultima X: The New King planned as a direct sequel. However, it eventuated that a majority of the former Redemption team either resigned or fell out of contact under this arrangement, with the exceptions of Chlorthos and a relatively recent addition, writer Auriel "Direhaggis" Willette.

Additionally, the master file, storyline, and other data remaining from the former iteration of Redemption were retired, excepting recent work on character dialogue and certain aspects of the original premise (which, although never made public, remains archived). The Titans of Ether moved forward with a predominantly new foundation and plot treatment, while also expanding available gameplay options (e.g. mini-games reminiscent of the Final Fantasy series, intra-party conversations, multiple methods of solving quests, crafting, etc.).

Development was subsequently able to continue uninterrupted for several years, and by July 2010 exterior world-building had reportedly been completed, with the core narrative also said to be nearing full implementation. Assets pending at this time included interiors, side quests, and minor characters for some remaining areas.

OpenMW
In 2012, the Titans of Ether encountered major obstacles involving Redemption's party system within the confines of the Morrowind construction set, which they hoped to overcome by moving to develop instead with OpenMW (an open source reimplementation of Bethesda's aging title). Production was postponed until this more flexible engine was judged to be in a usable state. However, in April 2013, the team instead announced they would circumvent the issue by removing the party system altogether, thus enabling them to continue without OpenMW.

A period of silence ensued until the following October, when Redemption was declared to be on indefinite hiatus as a result of persistent technical issues compounded by team instability. Activity resumed within months of this announcement, with the launch of a redesigned website and recommitment to OpenMW.

Two preview videos were released in 2015, the first showcasing various locations around Britannia, and the second a demonstration of the game's crafting system.

Cancellation
In December 2016, it was announced on the Titans of Ether website that Ultima IX: Redemption was officially cancelled, with the team having restarted earlier in the year on an original, Ultima-inspired role-playing game titled Corven: Path of Redemption.[3]

And here's Moa AKA taxalot's side of the story: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...elled-ultima-ix-fan-game.112840/#post-4914850

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I will have to throw some money at this just because Ultima.

 

[Tweed]

Writing and endorsement by Richard Garriott, creator of the Ultima series. That's enough to make anyone be wary!

 

[Taxnomore]

OT but I like how U9 redemption was restarted in 2004 using Morrowind's engine and in 2012 they find out the party was not working.

 

[Cryomancer]

The footage proceeding that text seems to wildly contradict said statement. Good lord.

The combat will probably improve.

 

[Taxnomore]

In 2030 the game will be canceled when it's somehow deleted from Google Drive.

 

[The Avatar]

Visually doesn't look half bad for a Unity game. They just need to tone down the saturation a bit.

 

[Grauken]

In the back of our minds, we all know this most likely will crash and burn, but I actually wish them success and hope I'm wrong about them failing.

Not that I'm fool enough to give them money

 

[Taxnomore]

I'm tempted to back the minimum to get the Discord access but the drama in the Kickstarter comments is going to be enough.

Especially when it comes to Kickstarter updates and quality of content presented, when Ultima fans are going to argue against normal people.

 

[mindx2]

Had to pledge for a boxed copy and an NPC name... *

*

Spoiler

 

[V_K]

Kickstarter comments

normal people

Yeah, right.

 

[Taxnomore]

Kickstarter comments

normal people

Yeah, right.

I get your point.

But have you seen Ultima groups ?

 

[V_K]

Kickstarter comments

normal people

Yeah, right.

I get your point.

But have you seen Ultima groups ?

I meant comments to this particular kickstarter. Who on Earth is desperate enough to back it other than rabid Ultima fans?

 

[Taxnomore]

Kickstarter comments

normal people

Yeah, right.

I get your point.

But have you seen Ultima groups ?

I meant comments to this particular kickstarter. Who on Earth is desperate enough to back it other than rabid Ultima fans?

Misinformed people who randomly found the game. It happened with SOTA, marginally , granted.

 

[Eirinjas]

 

[DeepOcean]

They didnt bother to place some stone props to improve the geometry of the bodies of water and the lighting is awful, the combat is cancer, if they are going for such low effort on the pitch, let alone on the final game, this is a scam.

 

[V_K]

Misinformed people who randomly found the game. It happened with SOTA, marginally , granted.

That needs hype. Where are indie nobodies gonna bet some?

 

[Alfgart]

Everyone loves some drama, so here is some:

Corv, creator of this thing, and one of your typical Lord British fanboys, was Community Ambassador or something like that in the Shroud of the Avatar forums. But he was one of the few people who dared to call the game for the piece of shit it is. So, after a discussion with some staff members, they kicked him out, and he became pretty active in a SotA subreddit with other banned/disillusioned/scammed SotA players. Corv started to show a lot of contempt for SotA and Lord British in particular, calling him Lord Shittish and such, fairly typical stuff of that subreddit tho. But one day he wrote he was tired of that, that SotA was no longer worthy of his attention, and he dissapeared. A few weeks passed, and he posted again, in another SotA subreddit, to promote this game, proudly announcing Lord British was involved. Obviously, some users were quick to point out how until a few weeks ago he was trashing him and started calling him out... Corv did not respond, and ended up deleting his reddit account

Obviously some people had some screenshots saved. Here is one, pretty sure there are plenty more. Enjoy!

 

[Taxnomore]

"It's not a scam if I am also doing it !"

 

[Taxnomore]

It's not especially Corven related, but there is something puzzling me budgetary wise in the case of this game.
Might just be the taxman thinking, BUT...


The team is clearly a couple of people. 4, or 5 at most.
They are targeting a 2022 release.
They are asking for 40 000 € .

Something is off :
* 40 000 euros is not enough for the team to make a living out of Corven's development.
=> They are doing this in their free time (which make the possibly of making a game that ambitious even more dubious, but you know, whatever)

... Therefore, why are the 40 000 euros required to make the development ?

Have they stated why they need the money ? It looks like they are trying to "gauge interest", or that's, at least, the reason I suspect. It's a convenient reason to try to make money out of a shitty Unity demo and then not be tied to the actual finished product for having benefits.