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KickStarter Hidden Pass - a Tactical Turn-Based RPG with elements of 4X Strategy in a Technomagic world - Early Access on February 4th

LostQuest

GG Studio
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Germany
Greetings, Friends!

Hidden Pass is developing by leaps and bounds. February was all about polishing the visuals of the Global map and working on the demo.

Global map.

In general, we have finished conceptualizing the global map. It is going to have two distinct states: default and the Eruption. Each of those states has its distinct features based on the player's successes and failures.



The non-stop rivalry between you, The Player, and The Gates is the basis of Hidden Pass. You will have to deal with sporadic wormholes and tears in reality while you cruise through Elyrium Belt, a very unstable space itself. While your main goal remains and you have to endure the hardships to fulfill your orders. Numerous encounters and the need for expansion are inevitable on your way. Your successes are tied to the power growth of The Gate. The stronger they are, the more the space is warped and more unstable.


Thus, you can tell the power of the Gate by looking at your surroundings both in default and Erupted states. In these trying times of Eruption your faction will face massive challenges, so try to hold back the Gate as much as possible. As a wanderer, you feel when the Eruption is going to happen, so prepare yourself!

Combat​

The rework of the combat is almost done and we are on the finish line to releasing the April Demo. The only question is how much can we implement before the Turn-Based Fest (4-8 April). Right now, we have a more compact and more appealing map ready.



Now our focus is shifted to the player’s movement during combat in the game. As we previously said in DevDiaries, the main idea is that you have to be able to reach every part on the map.Now one can easily move between the map layers. Previously, only flying units had the opportunity to reach the heights of layer 3, now we have added terrain pieces that allow you to reach previously unavailable places. For example, Elyrium Updrafts will launch you from layer 1 to the tops of small Eolites on layer 3.



Thanks to the compactness of the map, you can jump into action right from the get go! No more unnecessary steps to reach your enemy. Sling your spells, let your weapons sing!

Push became an important part of combat. Many spells and abilities (explosions, for example) will now push units in different directions. And if they collide with an obstacle, they take damage based on the power of the collision and the nature of the obstacle itself. For example, your face had a chance encounter with a boulder? Not a big deal. But if you face planted in Elyrium crystal, the damage is the least of your problems and now you will have to cure Elyrium poisoning.



Flight is still in the game, but now it is not free, as it used to be. Characters equipped with Jetpacks will have the option to fly by filling the Elyrium Madness gauge.

Speaking of the devil, Elysium Madness has reached its final shape. If you fill this gauge to the max, you are as good as dead in several turns. The number of those turns is based on the character's Intelect. To save this unit - simply finish this combat before he dies. It’s a good strategy, in general. Besides, Madness grants you temporal boost to your damage before you are no more. Channel your most hard hitting spells, finish combat before you seize to exist and repeat!



GG

Thanks for reading our February DevDiary! We hope you found them interesting.
If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, feel free to leave your comments on our Discord or X (ex-Twitter).

Visit our Website and you can follow us on Steam.

P.S. Don't forget that we're planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign in May 2024, so you can sign up on our Kickstarter page.
 

Baron Tahn

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668
Why does everything have to be so purple? I can handle radiation green grass and snow blindness white but can we all just lay off the purple?
 

LostQuest

GG Studio
Developer
Joined
Mar 31, 2023
Messages
28
Location
Germany
Why does everything have to be so purple? I can handle radiation green grass and snow blindness white but can we all just lay off the purple?
Definitely we are decreasing the purple colour. For example on the screen we have purple fog. It will be completely demolished:

Map.png


So, it would be something like this one:
Automatons.png


And intensiveness of purple will be lowered. We received this feedback about too bright purple.

A huge update is coming in the beginning of April.
 

LostQuest

GG Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Germany
Greetings, Friends!

This is March DevDiaries.
March flew by almost instantly while working on the demo version of the game. And now it is ready. Yes, there are still many mechanics that have not been added, such as pushing and throwing, but the game has already changed significantly. And we begin to actively show it and receive responses.

7.png


Mark April 4th on your calendars! It’s “Turn-Based Thursday Fest”! We are happy to announce that we are taking part in this festival and will probably be streaming our game during the festival. Don't miss it - the start is scheduled for Thursday April 4th. The festival will be available via the link on Steam.

An important point - since we are entering a period when the game will already be available (demo version on Steam), we want to slightly change the format of our diaries and now each individual diary will be a showcase of one specific game mechanic, which will be described in more detail. Plus we will describe its influence on the gameplay and interaction with other important elements of the game.

We wanted to end this format of diaries on a positive note and show in large strokes what we managed to do this month:

- We finished the visuals of the map - we tightened up the skybox, worked on the visual effects of the clouds and generally dimmed the brightness of the colors, especially purple.


- We completed the reinforcements during the battle. Now, when dropping an automaton, the player not only chooses a specific location, but will also deal damage to the enemy if he drops it from the air right next to the enemy.


-A lot of work has been done to refine the abilities of all units, as well as visual effects for them. It was truly a difficult task, but now they work correctly and look presentable.


-We worked on optimization. Now the demo does not freeze and does not have a large drop in FPS on computers with medium specs. Yes, there is still some work to be done, but the result is already good.


-The balance has been completely reworked and tested many times. A huge amount of work, which is absolutely necessary for a turn-based game like ours.


GG
Thanks for reading our March DevDiary! The last in this format. We hope you found them interesting.
If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, feel free to leave your comments on our Discord or X (ex-Twitter).

Visit our Website and you can follow us on Steam.

P.S. Don't forget that we're planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign in May 2024, so you can sign up on our Kickstarter page.
 

mediocrepoet

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Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
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Took couple tries before I managed to clear both levels.
Visible movement grid as an option would be nice.
Didn't you have the grid like I have below
Main-Screen-Battle2.jpg
I did, but square grid that was always visible would make visualising possible unit movements and areas of effects easier.
I think.

I was quite adept at dropping meteor shover skill at ogre's own head while hunting flying enemies.
 

LostQuest

GG Studio
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EB8B1D32F9695DD20511D0CB166241321B714AC7

Took couple tries before I managed to clear both levels.
Visible movement grid as an option would be nice.
Didn't you have the grid like I have below
Main-Screen-Battle2.jpg
I did, but square grid that was always visible would make visualising possible unit movements and areas of effects easier.
I think.

I was quite adept at dropping meteor shover skill at ogre's own head while hunting flying enemies.
You mean the possibility of switching on the whole greed on the map? I think we already done this option for the current level in setting, but it isn't in the demo right now.

"I was quite adept at dropping meteor shover skill at ogre's own head while hunting flying enemies" - yer, it could be harmful. By the way, there is an option to knock the flying unit down and to kill him there
 
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Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-based-rpg-with-base-management/posts/4113762

We have reached the Goal! Thanks to your support, we carry on with our Campaign! Stretch goals are here, check them out!​

Here are our nearest goals:

0fec921383070ad349f8551b4ee11d1b_original.png

Don't forget - our Demo version is out and you can play it any time on Steam.

6d276d34f248af648f98f0f81ef8189d_original.png

Check out another Campaign that's currently live!

We love finding great projects, especially for fascinating gameplay and that's why we are cross promoting Oyster Wars: A Dystopian Grappling Platformer! Check out these fellow guys and their game!

9ef3b644bd152467077e097b152cdf9a_original.jpg

The link on thier page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joeq/oyster-wars-a-dystopian-platformer-about-the-middle-class

With the best wishes,

GG Studio Team.
 

LostQuest

GG Studio
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Messages
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Germany
What's up, guys!

We take part in SteamNextFest, check out our streams where we explain Hidden Pass mechanics closely.

For this festival we prepared a big visual update - like below on the screen (map borders and we have finished the bottom part).
Platform_.png

So, we nearly finished the visual part of combat. Only couple of things left.

Here is a Let's Play from a YouTuber, to take a look how a man from the outside plays Hidden Pass:


Only 5 days left of our Kickstarter Campaign, we hope you join us as backers.
 

Infinitron

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https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2430170/view/6780818423215657984

Hidden Pass charts the course for Early Access launch!

Greetings Expedition Leaders!

We are happy to announce the Hidden Pass Early Access date! It is 4 February 2025!

For this special occasion, we have prepared a gameplay video with the showcase of new classes that will be available in the game, elements of the global map and the construction of your base - Wanderer's Tower.

Very soon (early September) we are planning to release a part of our game on Steam. It will be called Hidden Pass Skirmishes.There you will be able to try most of the game mechanics in different situations! There will be three battles of increasing difficulty. You will have access to 4 sets of Squads. Using the strengths and neutralizing the weaknesses of the Heroes within the Squad, your task is to defeat the enemies on 3 different maps.


doc_2024-08-15_16-42-48.png


Good luck, Wanderers!
 
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LostQuest

GG Studio
Developer
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Messages
28
Location
Germany
I haven't written about the development progress for a long time, but there are a lot of changes to the build version 0.4.8. And in anticipation of the release of a small part of our game under the code name Hidden Pass Skirmishes (follow, wishlist, well, you know the drill). For those who are reading about our game for the first time: Hidden Pass is a Tactical Turn-Based game like Into The Breach, but with an emphasis on using abilities like in Divinity OS 2. In many ways, we were inspired by these two games when working with combat mechanics. We took many elements from Heroes 3 and Songs of Conquest in terms of Base and Global Map.

Grur_s_Rage_Dark.gif


30% of Hidden Pass is basebuilding, resource management and exploration.

Lets start from Wanderer's Tower. It is your powerful mobile fortress and home-away-from-home. A flying base where you produce fresh units, upgrade their gear and research new technologies. Your tower can also move between clusters of islands, giving it access to ever-shifting resource pools.

Tower_Steam.gif


Global Map in Hidden Pass is more like lightweight Endless Space 2 (or Fort Triumph, who played). Basic idea is to explore and improve your faction. And the main resource here is Elyrium, which is both worth money and helps your engines plus magic carry on. The economy will drive your expedition. Seek out and battle rivals to claim your share of Elyrium, but don’t neglect other useful materials such as Wood and Metal. Enhance your tower and construct units capable of delving deeper into the Elyrium Belt.

eol.png


Tactical combat takes up about 70% of the game and is extremely variable.

Largely due to several levels of heights - in essence, the player on each map plays in 3 planes at once.

DwarfFlyPush_Best.gif


As you can see above the characters can freely move between levels - and in this example the Dwarf actually took off using the JetPack. Although he could easily climb up as shown below



This is exactly about the variability of Hidden Pass. You can go up using a jetpack and increase your Elyrium Poisoning (inverted mana, more on that later), or you can just climb, which does not give poisoning, but also does not give bonuses in attack. And the point is the following - when using a jetpack, you are given a bonus for magic attack.

And that’s how it is. The correct positioning of the unit is extremely important - being on a hill, long-range units attack with full damage at a longer distance (by the way, there are no misses in the game, characters can either not see the enemy at all and then there is no attack at all, or hit, but depending on the distance either with full damage or not. Like Heroes 3 style ), and being on mini eoliths (floating rocks) you also get a small increase in magic attack. But tactics are tactics - there are no win-win combinations, so being at a height it is extremely likely that your hero will be thrown from this height. Painfully. Perhaps even against a stone, which will add more pain. And if you slam into a crystal, you will also be poisoned.

Kick_by_Ogre_to_stone.gif


We tried to balance the combat with this sacred rule in mind - for every action there is a reaction. And if something seems imbalanced to you - you’re 100% wrong. Let's say, if your hero is a melee fighter, then you will try to get close to the enemy - this is advantageous, because we have attacks of opportunity (it is especially nice against a weak spellslinger). But there is always an opportunity to kick the enemy and throw him away. Maybe even with damage.



In general, moving in Hidden Pass is a separate kind of tactical art. We built each map with maniacal love, trying to make them as diverse as possible, and sometimes even like a labyrinth. So that somewhere you can hide, somewhere you can fence yourself off with traps (if you are a pathfinder), and somewhere you can use astral movement (if you are an astral mage). This way you won't get bored. And the maps will be in different styles. We recently added a new type of map with dark tones (not the final version, we are still finalising it)



Our combat is ability-oriented.

Therefore, the second pillar of our game is Elyrium Poisoning (EP). In simple terms, it's inverted mana. That's right - I didn't write about going crazy in the title for the sake of it. In essence, the mechanics are simple - you have an EP scale and it grows as you cast various abilities. That is, you get poisoned more and more. And the trick is that the higher the scale, the more lethal your magic is. But there is a nuance - as soon as you reach the maximum, you fall into a state of Madness and now all your casts will take away your health. Well, as a cherry on the top - your speed decreases with increasing poisoning. In general, the decision here is also up to the player - you can make yourself a lethal killing machine, but slow-moving and extremely vulnerable. Or you can balance on the edge, as shown below





Character leveling and game dynamics.

To finish the outline of the Hidden Pass mechanics, I also want to talk about our main weapon - diversity. The game currently has: 4 races, 7 classes, 21 specialisations and quite a lot of expertise. That is, you can collect a HUGE number of variations, even despite some restrictions (for example, Ogres cannot be engineers, sorry). At the same time, levelling up is most similar to the Heroes of Might and Magic series. Getting a lvl up - you can pump up one of the expertises (either a new one or pump up an already taken one) and increase the characteristic.

image.png


Each class has unique abilities, giving the opportunity to play differently. Do you like to play through DD - here is a rogue assassin with strong damage to 1 enemy and invisibility to boot. Do you prefer to keep the enemy at a distance and control the map? Astral Mage of Space is your choice - a bunch of forced movements, debuffs and stuns. Do you like to trick and lure the enemy - take a ranger-pathfinder. You can take a look here



Summoner classes, that's a whole separate element and world. Like a Necromancer and a Chaos Adept. And Engineers are guys who work through replaceable automaton units. Automatons are also a huge part of the game. Not only is it not a pity to lose them - they can be built in a factory, but engineers also know how to repair them in battle and apply all sorts of buffs. At the same time, they cause very real damage.



GG

In a few words, I tried to explain what the Hidden Pass game is - I hope you found it interesting. In mid-September, we plan to release a small part of the game, namely a new game mode - Skirmishes. They will be free and we invite you to play and share your impressions. As soon as everything is ready, I will make a separate article, and it is best to follow the updates on Steam. I will be grateful for your wishlists, they motivate us a lot.

store_capsule_header.png


If you have questions or want to share your thoughts with us - we are waiting for your comments here. We are always available on Discord or Twitter. Our website and page on Steam.
 

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