Dread Delusion - retro open world action RPG - now available on Early Access

[ghostdog]

I hope there's an option to do away with the floating, wobbling textures/geometry that tries to emulate the PSX.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I wish I would have bought all the portable playstation devices. Emulation better work.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I forgot about this.

OPTION 3 PUBCRAWL ITIS!!

 

[Sykar]

Why does it look like this is playing in an underwater world? Those wavy objects seem to float away any second.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ethereal pocket warped dimension at the edge of the universe and the edge of sanity.

 

[HoboForEternity]

this looks very kewllll

 

[udm]

this looks very kewllll

If the demo's anything to go by, the adage "looks can be deceiving" should be the game's subtitle.

 

[HoboForEternity]

this looks very kewllll

If the demo's anything to go by, the adage "looks can be deceiving" should be the game's subtitle.

It's not good?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Demo on playstation disc or the later demo? Maybe its the colors and story that has me a bit charmed here. Charmed With walking which is rare for me unless it is hiking irl...

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.sixoneindie.com/read/dread-delusion-knights-frights-and-trippy-sights

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

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I for one am liking this trend of more first-person RPGs from indie developers. Compared to boomer shooters, good first-person RPGs from the middle of the '90s are few and far between.

 

[cyborgboy95]

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.

 

[LESS T_T]

Out on Early Access:

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.”

 

[Cryomancer]

HOw is spellcasting in this game?

 

[Skdursh]

I've played about 2 hours of the EA release and also did pretty much everything available to do in the older alpha demo that was released like 9 months ago. Been following this one for a while as I'm a sucker for new games with PS1 era graphical stylings, but this one has some legs beyond just visual gimmicks. The worldbuilding is good, there are tons of neat environmental oddities and off-the-beaten-path secrets to find and it just feels good to explore and interact with the world and its creatures and characters. Obviously still missing a lot of content, don't think the main quest is implemented into the game much at all yet, but it seems to still have plenty to do in the current state with exploration and side quests. Maybe check out the demo that released a while back before purchasing to see if it's your kind of game, though I'm pretty sure they took the demo down off Steam a few months back, so if you can't find it anywhere else and want to check it out in a pre-EA/alpha sort of state, I still have an archived copy of it and could post it up somewhere for a bit for any interested parties.

 

[luj1]

That looks like a weird mix of Hexen and Morrowind...

looks cool actually

and reminds me of Brigand which is another cool new game (its like a hybrid of Deus Ex and Morrowinnd)

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1574240/view/3353506719969350848

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.

 

[ADL]

First time hearing about this surprisingly and it looks cool as hell. Glad to hear it's not all style over substance.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Played an hour of it today, and its pretty good. Not mind-blowing, but its good enough that I've been enjoying myself despite its flaws. It plays sort of like a first-person Zelda-like RPG if you threw in a weird stamina system. Its not really like one I've seen in any games before, its more like a soft timer on how long you can roam around at one time. Fighting people drains it faster, and I think running around does too. Experience is called delusions here, and you get it from either completing quests or finding some around in the world, and if you play it, focus more on stamina than strength early on, because you have to wander around a lot, and for a while it seems like the only resting place is one where you have to pay money to rest in.
Combat is okay, its simple back-and-forth for the most part. Stab the enemy, walk away while he counterstrikes, stab again until someone is dead. Two enemies have thrown a curveball to this though, a giant enemy and an archer. The giant I can't do the back and forth on, while the archer just stands there pelting me with arrows. There is a dodge command, which works, but as of yet doesn't seem to be helpful. Spells at this point don't really have much to do with combat, one is a teleport back to save point and the other is a speed spell. For spells, it seems like you just hold down the right mouse button until it's cast.
Graphically, its very nice, probably one of the best of these retro PSX-style games. The art design is fantastic and the scenes in the game just look great. Great view distance to start with. Outside of the obvious Morrowind-inspired wilderness, its also got some very nice looking steampunk elements to it. Lots of flying ships and strange mechanical devices. Fits well with the theme of a dying world.
The cons to it so far is that with the stamina meter you have to return to your resting place a lot, so you can only very slowly advance. Enemies respawn and while they drop items, it feels a bit like busywork. Turning speed is ass even on the highest speed setting.

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1574240/view/3347879934142921337

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:

• 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

Balancing:

• Boosted spell damage & Spellcast skill damage multiplier
• Minor tweaks to stamina's relation to physical damage
• Minor tweaks to fall damage calculation

Miscellaneous:

• 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

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed calculations regarding stamina and attack damage
• Fixed certain materials not displaying accurately
• Fixed minor enemy navigation issues

---

Don't have Dread Delusion Yet? Pick it up Now!

 

[Hobo Elf]

Been playing this game for some time now, got 8h clocked into it. So far the game is, imo, mostly a big pile of shit. The recent update that came out took it into the right direction as far as combat goes (they made Guile scale player speed less so now you are more likely to take hits from enemies and upped the damage of spells so that they are actually a viable choice) but the list of problems this game has with its RPG systems is just too great for me to ignore. The game plays more like a walking sim with collectibles than an RPG. Combat is pointless apart from 2 instances where you have to kill some enemies to open a door, otherwise you're encouraged to just run past them as there's no reward or point to killing them and the combat itself just plays so poorly that there's no enjoyment in engage with it for its own sake either.

I wrote a review of the game on Steam yesterday so I don't want to rehash too many things that I've already got written down, but to try and boil down my main issues with the game is that there's no real character building, no real character fantasy to engage with. You'll amass enough delusions to nearly max out all your stats and whenever presented with a stat check you can't pass you have gear that inflate the stat needed to pass those checks easily. And usually your reward will be more delusions that you use to pad your stats some more just to pass slightly more difficult stat checks and so on. You're essentially amassing stats so you can open doors to get more stats to open more doors. And even then the equipment you buy and upgrade give you such a massive boost in stats that you don't really need more than a minimal investment. The RPG part of this game is more or less meaningless but I won't say that the game completely without merits. The setting is cool, although sometimes it does feel like they are forcing the weirdness of the setting too hard for my tastes, almost as a crutch. The game loves to barrage you with words that sound weird to try and convince you that this is a really alien world. Too much telling you about stuff and not enough showing. But in a few quests they managed to be a bit more subtle over the ethereal strangeness of this world in ways that really did surprise me in a way that was fun and cool. My favorite quests so far were the one where you find the missing airship for the merchant and the cursed castle.

 

[cyborgboy95]

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.

 

[cyborgboy95]

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!