this looks very kewllll
It's not good?this looks very kewllll
If the demo's anything to go by, the adage "looks can be deceiving" should be the game's subtitle.
Dread Delusion: Knights, Frights, and Trippy Sights
Previews
Apr 26
Among the many conversations I had with reps throughout PAX East weekend, one that certainly stood out came from my time speaking with the head of productions at DreadXP, Ted Hentschke. While explaining his love for the Elder Scrolls franchise, writing, and grand scale world building, Hentschke also took time to explain the ideas behind Lovely Hellplace’s upcoming retro, psychedelic action RPG, Dread Delusion. Most notably, the esoteric philosophical concepts behind its world.
Set in the aftermath of an event known as “The World Rend”, Dread Delusion’s adventure initiated wandering through the massive floating land structures that remain within its world; discovering cities, speaking with NPCs, and engaging monsters with a combination of weapons and magic classes. The game excels in capturing the player's sense of wonder with its lo-res, gothic, dream-like landscapes and large city spaces. While I personally think combat could stand to feel tighter, what really piqued my interest here was the obvious time and care put into the world and its history. Hentschke explained how the origins of religion, the human species’ perception of the divine, and even metaphysical concepts like higher dimensional planes played a large role in the writing of this world - one that he himself co-writing with the promise of multiple surrealist biomes to come.
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The time hands-on was spent learning about varied magic classes, fighting terrifying enemies with my trusty sword, and brewing potions using a system that was simple to understand yet deep enough to be interesting. However, as a city in the distance caught my eyes, most of my time within the world was spent scouring the unknown. The journey there wasn’t without its obstacles, of course. The trek led me across a sky bridge, down jagged cliff sides, and through large strips of floating lands, all while slaying strange nightmare creatures along the way. Upon arrival, I was able to go into just about every building I passed by while interacting with towns folk and businesses.
One of the more interesting gameplay elements I encountered was ‘fatigue’. Fatigue is a status effect that is built up over time by every single action you take. As fatigue builds up, your stamina threshold will lower. In turn, this directly affects your ability to be efficient in everything from combat to speech to lock-picking. The unique mechanic incentivizes resting which can only be done at inns throughout the world, adding an interesting and organic feeling to the gameplay loop of Dread Delusion. The exact necessity of rest, and by proxy talking to the locals, is what was responsible for discoverability and knowledge about the world itself.
Even in my short time with Dread Delusion, the aforementioned discoverability delivers a sense of reward in terms of gameplay and lore. At the back of an alley, I found a secret path leading to a black market shop selling everything from weapons to banned magics. The merchant there made it clear that the establishment had paid the ruling government to turn a blind eye. It was within this secret shop that I learned more about The Aposatic Union, an organization committed to stamping out remnants of god worship and cultism as now only human made magic is legal under their rule. The hints of world building led me to believe The Aposatic Union was the ruling faction over the city, but in a cliche case of unfortunate timing, my demo ended before I could find the answers I was seeking.
Dread Delusion is set to go into early access within the next two months according to Hentschke. When asked about plans for consoles, he replied, “There’s a strong chance, but I don’t want to confirm anything just yet”. Despite the ambiguity of console play, Dread Delusion will feature full controller support with full button and key mapping.
Written by Justin Hyde
Dreadful Dev Diaries: James Wragg #04
In his 4th Dreadful Dev Diary, lead developer James Wragg explores some of the inspirations that fuels various ideas and designs in Dread Delusion.
Why Early Access?
“We need player feedback to better develop the game's many systems and prioritize future features. Player feedback is the key feature here.”
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“6-9 months.”
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“Constructible houses, fleshed out main quest line (10-15 hours of additional content), higher tier weapon unlocks, many additional spells, further class customization, additional exploration options.”
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“About 70% of the side content is implemented. Functional quests and combat, multiple towns and a plethora of secrets to uncover.”
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“same price”
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
“Community feedback is key. Will be constantly scanning the steam discussion forums for new threads, as well as actively providing the fanbase with weekly developer logs and monthly major content updates. Also big interactivity on our discord.”
looks cool actuallyThat looks like a weird mix of Hexen and Morrowind...
Early Access News #01
So, Dread Delusion has finally dropped into Early Access. Its broken world, full of flying islands and strange sights, is yours to explore!
There's already plenty to see, including the central region of Hallowshire - where zealous knights battle cultists and eldritch horrors.
Further afield, amid rotten knolls and gnarled trees, you'll find the Endless Realm - where its denizens are cursed to linger in an eternal undeath.
And as you roam these lands you can pick up quests, battle foul abominations and upgrade your gear. There are also two towns to visit where you can trade, rest up and even get drunk.
But what's next? Well, we're eager to hear your feedback so we can make Dread Delusion's strange world the best it can be. We already have a ton of cool stuff lined up for updates in the weeks and months ahead.
The next big region we'll be releasing is the Clockwork Kingdom. It's a cold, harsh land where a machine monarch enforces its tyrannical rule with state-controlled magic. Outside the walls of its central town, machines run riot and a foul corruption is spreading unhindered.
But we'll also be fleshing out the existing zones. Expect to see new quests, new locations and new secrets added to Hallowshire and the Endless Ream in the weeks after launch. We're also working on brand new mechanics, like the ability to purchase and upgrade your own personal dwelling.
We'll continuously be fleshing out the combat - adding new weapons, combat moves and enemies - as well as ever tweaking the enemy AI. Plus, we'll be expanding the faction system to grant the player more rewards and possibilities.
And further ahead? We'll be adding the main quest - a lengthy adventure that will see you tracking down the notorious sky-pirate Vela Calose, even if it means venturing to the cursed, inhospitable ruins of the world's surface.
So, I hope you're excited for what's on the horizon; because we can't wait to share all these new features with you. Until then, enjoy the game and - peace out.
The Big Faction Update!
Greetings, Prisoners!
I hope you've been enjoying your saunterings in the strange world of Dread Delusion. We're excited to put out a rather large content update, with a focus of deepening the Faction systems and giving players more to explore and see. So let's get started!
First up, we've added a sprawling mine complex to the underbelly of Hallowshire, designed by the fantastic Aaron Taecker-Wyss. This not only adds a more intricate dungeon-space that was lacking from Hallowshire, but it provides a new way to gain crafting upgrades for your weapons!
Speaking of which, crafting has been overhauled. You will now need more ores to upgrade weapons, and we've added a shiny new weapon tier; Emberian.
(Please note that, because the Emberian weapons are meant as late-game upgrades, they're pretty hard to obtain at the moment. Hard, but not impossible.)
Speaking of resources, across the Oneiric Isles you'll encounter a new resource, encased in an emerald conch of sorts. These 'Godlets', as they're called by the locals, can be used as a currency to further your standing with factions. (Cute little buggers, aren't they?)
Next up we've added a new flying island to the skies of Hallowshire. This is ruled by the mystic Wikkan Coven of the Worm and features a bunch of nooks and crannies. Expect more peculiar denizens to pop up here in the future, including a moth-related deity...
We've also added a load more lore books to the world, and each one features a bespoke illustration by the amazing comics artist Artyom Trakhanov, whose style is simply sublime. I've been following Artyom's work for a while now, and the chance to include his work in the game is really humbling.
And that about wraps it up for this post! There's still a lot in store for the future of Dread Delusion. We've been listening closely to the great feedback our playerbase has been giving the team. Mechanics like music placements, stat-weights, and player interaction are just a few of the things we've been looking into, so stay tuned!
And as always, please post any issues you come across or feedback you may have in the Discussion Forums.
Patch Notes
Major:
Balancing:
- Added New Location: The Wikkan Isle
- Added New Dungeon: Hallowshire Mines
- Added New Spell: Spectral Flachette
- Added New Weapon Type: Emberian
- Added New Ore Type: Emberian Ore
- Added "Faction Collectors" - NPCs who will buy Godshells for cash & faction rep
Miscellaneous:
- Boosted spell damage & Spellcast skill damage multiplier
- Minor tweaks to stamina's relation to physical damage
- Minor tweaks to fall damage calculation
Bug Fixes:
- Added a new type of teleporter: Mirrors! These will serve as a quick way to exit dungeons and other areas as well as a robust way to move around environments.
- Changed crafting/upgrade and item coding
- Added lore books around the world, complete with illustrations
- Thread-based clothing now upgrades 3 Levels instead of 2
- Added chests and redistributed certain pieces of loot across the isle
- Added Godshells pickups around Hallowshire
- Added a big vertical shell to the swamp area of Hallowshire
- Tweaks were made to the movement system
- Increased what the max sensitivity can be set to
- Added a tab in the menu for tracking the player's reputation with different factions
- Changed all beds to be either 'restable', 'unsafe' or 'owned'. Using unsafe beds may result in the player being mugged or awoken by an enemy.
- Minor UI tweaks
- Fixed calculations regarding stamina and attack damage
- Fixed certain materials not displaying accurately
- Fixed minor enemy navigation issues
Dreadful Dev Diaries: James Wragg #05
In his 5th Dreadful Dev Diary, lead developer James Wragg talks about Dread Delusion after launching in early access and what's to come.
Dreadful Dev Diaries: James Wragg #06
In his 6th Dreadful Dev Diary, lead developer James Wragg explores the inner workings and early versions of Dread Delusion!