Tags: Cleveland Mark Blakemore; Cyclopean Chasms; Golden Era Games; Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar; Post-Atomic; Vaxxination
The legendary Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar, which was in development by Cleve Blakemore for an unbelievable 20 years, was actually released a few years ago. And it made it to the 22nd place in the RPG Codex's Top 101 RPGs of all time.
Not bad for a one-man studio.
In the not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future we have new RPGs from the resident Neanderthal to look forward to. Cleveland Mark Blakemore has been keeping us up-to-date on the development of his upcoming games, which seem very relevant to our interests.
Here is a short overview:
POST-ATOMIC
Post-Atomic is a post-apocalyptic turn-based blobber "with a unique comic book feel to it just like Grimoire except in true 3D," according to the man himself. The game promises up to 40 hours of gameplay as well as a party of four characters.
According to the latest update (December 2020), the development is progressing well.
VAXXINATION
Vaxxination, formerly known as Apocalypse Bugout, is a real-time party-based RPG with a top-down view, and it's also set in a post-apocalyptic environment. One of the screenshots above shows the overland map. Not much else is known about this game yet, however.
In the latest update from January 2021, Cleve writes:
CYCLOPEAN CHASMS
This long-anticipated Lovecraftian survival horror game by Cleve is "a hybrid adventure game / turn based RPG". It features 1st person solo exploration, as well as character perks that can be acquired and unique elements such as visions:
Currently, the development of Cyclopean Chasms is on hold in favor of the two post-apocalyptic RPGs.
And on that note, we are still waiting for that Matt Barton interview, Cleve.
(Thanks to Lady Error for the news)
The legendary Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar, which was in development by Cleve Blakemore for an unbelievable 20 years, was actually released a few years ago. And it made it to the 22nd place in the RPG Codex's Top 101 RPGs of all time.
Not bad for a one-man studio.
In the not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future we have new RPGs from the resident Neanderthal to look forward to. Cleveland Mark Blakemore has been keeping us up-to-date on the development of his upcoming games, which seem very relevant to our interests.
Here is a short overview:
POST-ATOMIC
Post-Atomic is a post-apocalyptic turn-based blobber "with a unique comic book feel to it just like Grimoire except in true 3D," according to the man himself. The game promises up to 40 hours of gameplay as well as a party of four characters.
The travel between locations will be represented as map trail as in FALLOUT with occasional random encounters.
I intend to standardize this "Cleve Blakemore's RPG Blobber interface" so that it will be familiar and comfortable no matter what the genre, fairly identical with a different UI theme for Cyberpunk, Horror, Pulp Noir or Lost World. I want to respond to all the criticism of Grimoire by getting the UI really sleek and easy to use this time around.
Once I get the blobber engine in place for this post-apoc, I am literally going to be reskinning it and releasing it for different genres. A half dozen hardcore RPGs with different settings should do it for my ambitions and then I will have some time to work on vanity projects like my shooter, a platformer and other half-finished piles I have sitting on my hard drive.
About halfway through big exposition of cutscenes showing the chronology of the Post-Atomic world and where all the strange critters and human mutations occurred naturally during the prolonged warfare of WW3 and WW4. Very effective quick education for the player in the character classes and castes.
I also want to add that there will be more than thirty real TRAITS in this RPG, drawing on both the Fudge/FATE system as well as some original personality quirks. This produces real options in conversation based on the personality of who you are speaking to. So there will be some actual roleplaying in this RPG having to do with individual personalities.
This is going to be one of the best games I have published yet. I can feel it and it is really coming along quickly.
I intend to standardize this "Cleve Blakemore's RPG Blobber interface" so that it will be familiar and comfortable no matter what the genre, fairly identical with a different UI theme for Cyberpunk, Horror, Pulp Noir or Lost World. I want to respond to all the criticism of Grimoire by getting the UI really sleek and easy to use this time around.
Once I get the blobber engine in place for this post-apoc, I am literally going to be reskinning it and releasing it for different genres. A half dozen hardcore RPGs with different settings should do it for my ambitions and then I will have some time to work on vanity projects like my shooter, a platformer and other half-finished piles I have sitting on my hard drive.
About halfway through big exposition of cutscenes showing the chronology of the Post-Atomic world and where all the strange critters and human mutations occurred naturally during the prolonged warfare of WW3 and WW4. Very effective quick education for the player in the character classes and castes.
I also want to add that there will be more than thirty real TRAITS in this RPG, drawing on both the Fudge/FATE system as well as some original personality quirks. This produces real options in conversation based on the personality of who you are speaking to. So there will be some actual roleplaying in this RPG having to do with individual personalities.
This is going to be one of the best games I have published yet. I can feel it and it is really coming along quickly.
According to the latest update (December 2020), the development is progressing well.
VAXXINATION
Vaxxination, formerly known as Apocalypse Bugout, is a real-time party-based RPG with a top-down view, and it's also set in a post-apocalyptic environment. One of the screenshots above shows the overland map. Not much else is known about this game yet, however.
In the latest update from January 2021, Cleve writes:
It's real time but has a party with stats and skill trees you can improve. Top-Down third person, you can control all of the party members and have them fight as a team or stay close to the transport. Lots of stealth encouraged, in many areas even firing a gun will bring down so many zombies/soldiers/people on your head you'll wish you didn't. You can crouch as well as crawl under obstacles.
CYCLOPEAN CHASMS
This long-anticipated Lovecraftian survival horror game by Cleve is "a hybrid adventure game / turn based RPG". It features 1st person solo exploration, as well as character perks that can be acquired and unique elements such as visions:
In Lovecraft's reality, death is the easy option. Becoming a mote of consciousness owned by one of Lovecraft's creatures, still fully aware and sleepless but unable to do anything observe for all eternity. Lovecraft horror posits things much worse than death in his stories.
There is no point in doing a game inspired by Lovecraft without a journey into the eldritch realm, so of course already been doing a bit of work on that - including the wild geometry.
You should also see some of the writhing tentacle experiments I have been doing. Looks pretty good for an indie. I spent a bit of time building tentacles with horrible textures and making them flail about wildly, including attaching them to some enemies.
I want to show that the gun is hardly a cure-all although it can be used in dire circumstances ... only against some ghouls, revenants and fairly minor encounters. Other creatures should require stealth, brainpower or simply fleeing to survive.
There is no point in doing a game inspired by Lovecraft without a journey into the eldritch realm, so of course already been doing a bit of work on that - including the wild geometry.
You should also see some of the writhing tentacle experiments I have been doing. Looks pretty good for an indie. I spent a bit of time building tentacles with horrible textures and making them flail about wildly, including attaching them to some enemies.
I want to show that the gun is hardly a cure-all although it can be used in dire circumstances ... only against some ghouls, revenants and fairly minor encounters. Other creatures should require stealth, brainpower or simply fleeing to survive.
Currently, the development of Cyclopean Chasms is on hold in favor of the two post-apocalyptic RPGs.
And on that note, we are still waiting for that Matt Barton interview, Cleve.
(Thanks to Lady Error for the news)
