KickStarter King Arthur: Knight's Tale + Legion IX standalone expansion - dark fantasy turn-based tactical RPG from NeocoreGames

[Infinitron]

From earlier this month: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3247541

Summer check-in from the Knight's Tale team

Knights,

as we progress in the development cycle, we thought we'd give you a bit of a sneak peek into the work we're doing currently. The next content update is well in the works and should see a release pretty soon (we'll share a date when it is 100% locked), but in the meantime, let's check in with some of the members of the Neocore Team!

Lambert and Peti have just recently finished setting up two of the units you'll see later on in Knight's Tale's campaign.

The Seelie Lord is one of the seelies - a court of magical beings, based on the folklore of various nations, now haunted by the Once and Future King's nightmares.

A brand new hero - who could it be?

We can't reveal much about their abilities or lore within Knight's Tale without spoiling (just yet at least), but we can promise that you'll meet them soon enough!

As for what's next: we're working on a series of Dev Diaries to get you more up-to-date with how things are going around the game's development. This includes multiple videos, the first of which you'll be able to check out very soon. As we mentioned earlier, a new patch is also on the way, and until then we'll keep sharing further sneak peeks from around the studio.

We hope your summer is going well, and can't wait for you to discover what lies in the deepest depths of Avalon!

Until next time, Knights! Avalon awaits.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3247543

Summer Patch Sneak Peek: Sage, Controller support and more

Knights,


the time for the next update is almost here, and this time around we're bringing along a new class, difficulty options, controller support and more. While the dev team is working hard on the remaining story Acts for the final release, the summer Early Access patch is right around the corner. As soon as we have an exact date, we'll of course share it with you all.


Onto some more nuanced details! As we have already discussed it previously, Knight's Tale's sixth playable class is the Sage. You might have seen some of their items in-game, now they're finally usable. Sages utilize frost-based magic and excel at providing utility for their team, be it some extra armor and HP, or straight up changing the look of the battlefield with impenetrable ice walls. We're very excited to see how you play the class!


This next update also adds difficulty settings to the game. No matter if you're looking for a tad bit less punishing knightly quest, or want to see how far you can push facing the truly nightmarish creatures of the Once and Future King, this feature is for you. As things stand now, the higher the difficulty setting, the less forgiving the enemies, and the less healing you get from campfires across the maps. A hero's death is also slightly less punishing on the first difficulty setting, so it's gonna be easier even for those less experienced with tactical games to adventure in Avalon. Of course, this is just the first public iteration of difficulty selection, so we'll appreciate all your input once you get your hands on the patch.

Last but definitely not least for this preview: the first iteration of the controller support will be added in this patch. Knight's Tale will fully support controller play on PC, from the main menu to the adventure map to your most challenging battles. We'll feature gameplay with controllers in one of our upcoming streams, for now here's a very short preview below (the embedded quality might be downgraded, here's a better version of the clip):

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1157390/view/2950408642408586934

Content Update for Knight's Tale - Patch v0.0.5 | August 31​

Updates to King Arthur: Knight's Tale will be released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client (in on-line mode) is restarted.

Knights,

King Arthur: Knight's Tale's newest patch - v0.0.5 - is out now! Compared to our previous big update where we added the maps from Act 1, this one focuses on the first iteration of new features, such as four different difficulty modes, controller support for PC, a new playable class - The Sage - and many minor additions or changes. In the meantime, parallel to this update, we're working hard to finish Act 2, 3 and 4 of the story campaign for the final release of the game.

Just as before, we would be glad to hear your voice on the new changes, whether it's about the controller, the Sage or any other addition. Your feedback matters to us, so make sure to leave a comment (or comments) either on our Steam forum or on our Discord channel which can greatly help us fine-tuning the existing features. But for now, let's see what has been added in this new update.

Spoiler

New

New class: Sage

• The sixth and final class, the Sage has been introduced with this update. Sages are experts at providing utility for their team using frost-based magic, including protective barriers and ice walls.
  
• Sir Leodegrance is the first Hero, who represents the Sage class. He will join your Round Table right after completing the Bridge of Sorrow story mission so you can simply start playing and testing his abilities. Rest assured, he can prove to be quite handy in dire situations. Utilize him to find his perfect role in your party.

Difficulty settings are here!
If you prefer Classic Mode, then now you can choose from various difficulty settings to find the most suitable level for yourself. The difficulty levels are the following:

Story

• Your Heroes will survive all the battles you fight with 1 Vitality
  
• The Resting place will fully heal your Heroes' HP and Armour
  
• Enemies get a -50% damage output, -20% Vitality, HP and Armour

Normal

• The Resting place heals 75% of your Heroes' HP and Armour
  
• Enemies get a -25% damage output, -10% Vitality, HP and Armour

Hard

• The Resting place heals 50% of your Heroes' HP and Armour
  
• Enemies are just as strong as they were in the previous versions

Very Hard

• The Resting place heals 25% of your Heroes' HP and Armour
  
• Enemies receive +25% damage output, +10% Vitality, HP and Armour

Controller support

• Now you can use your controller to fight your battles in Avalon
  
• The controller can be enabled only from the Main Menu in the Options/Controls window

Misc

• The Training Ground has received further adjustments: from now on, you can send your chosen Hero to a joust to gain experience. This comes with a certain cost and the joust cannot be cancelled. On the other hand, these Heroes won't occupy any training slot at all
  
• New events have been added to give more opportunities to increase your Heroes' loyalty
  
• Scrolls are now displayed next to the Heroes' portrait, similarly to the Potions
  
• Sir Balin's biography has been added
  
• New item enchants have been added
  
• A Restart Mission button has been added to the Exit menu
  
• Reworked various GUI elements, new ones have been added as well
  
• Numerous effects, anims and skill mechanics have been added/improved
  
• From now on, the zero cost of AP will also be indicated in the skills' tooltip
  
• Repositioned the Hide ability of the Vanguard. Now it can be found in the last slot of the Hero's skillbar and received a tooltip as well
  
• Before it was not possible to cancel the usage of the effects granted by Shrines after players clicked on the "Use it!" tab. Now you can still change your mind before choosing a Hero
  
• Corrected the description of the Joust Decree to be more informative

Balance

• The Training Ground's effectiveness was a little too much, hence we decided to introduce a limitation now: You can only train Heroes who are at least two levels below the hero with the highest level in your roster. Consequently, your highest level Hero cannot be trained
  
• Reduced the damage output of the Lightning Bolt enemy skill
  
• Sir Balin's Vitality has been reduced to 15 from 25
  
• Changed the structure of various Heroes' skill trees, consequently, every Hero can unlock 3 active skills on the first tier
  
• Rebalanced several active and passive skills to make them more effective
  
• Bleeding's mechanism was reworked: from now on, targets will suffer 10% damage at the start of the turn, after every action they take and after every 2 movements they make
  
• Poison's mechanism was reworked: from now on, targets will suffer 10% damage at the start of the turn and they deal 20% less damage over the debuff's duration
  
• Reduced the Marksman Alchemist passive skill's Extra Damage value from 40% to 10%
  
• Swapped one event's Morality decisions so they are more in line with the Tyrant/Rightful alignment now

Fixed bugs

• Fixed various crash issues, some of which related to the camera
  
• Fixed various freezes across several missions
  
• Fixed an issue where if one chose not to fight with a neutral group, the game tended to freeze
  
• Using their Hide skill, the Vanguard still triggered enemy Overwatch attacks. This has been fixed
  
• Removed the suffered Injuries and Curses from the Heroes' Inspect window. They can be checked only on the Heroes' portrait now
  
• From now on enemy units cannot move right next to your Heroes and then activate Overwatch
  
• Heroes' portraits no longer multiply when you move them from one slot to another in the Idle Heroes window
  
• Fixed the Archive upgrade of the Enchanted Tower
  
• The dialogue with the Brigand team in the left upper corner of 'The Ancient Throne' mission got triggered after almost every action taken with your Heroes. This has been fixed
  
• Fixed various typos and strings
  
• Fixed an issue where the encounter where the villager NPC needs to be rescued did not trigger sometimes in the Old Monastery mission
  
• Fixed an issue in the Hospice where sometimes the injured Heroes could not be enrolled in for recovery
  
• Fixed an issue where if one Lost enemy unit revived from its reanimation state and once again lost its HP, the remaining Lost units in reanimation state did not get destroyed until you killed this specific unit
  
• An encounter didn't trigger in the Old Monastery mission if one approached the battle from a specific direction. This has been fixed
  
• Fixed a camera issue in 'The Ancient Throne' mission
  
• The buff, granted by the Witch NPC in the 'Thistlewood Ruins' mission was not displayed in the Heroes' portrait. This has been fixed
  
• Bone totems didn't get destroyed if their casters were killed. This has been fixed
  
• The Training Ground's Archery Range ability did not work in certain cases. It has been fixed
  
• The description of the Progressive Trait is now in line with its mechanism
  
• The description of the Conservative Trait is now in line with its mechanism
  
• Voiceover has been added to several dialogues
  
• A few missing icons have been added
  
• Various dialogues have been updated

 

[cvv]

It's only patch 0.0.5? Didn't they say like 6 months ago the game would come out of EA in six months?

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah:

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“We're planning to be in Early Access for around 3-7 months.”

 

[Thorgeim]

For some reason there are a lot of left handed people in the game.

Damn it now its all I can see and its annoying me quite a bit

 

[RPK]

One day, lefties will rule the world.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3302203

September Status Update​

Knights,


Hope you're all having a great September! Here at Neocore, it's been a busy few months for us, as we're preparing content for the next patch and also for the release. Hopefully we can announce the release date very soon! Once again, thank you for all the feedback and support, we're grateful for having a positive and supportive community!

The Black Knight
As shown in our roadmap, one of the next big features being added in the game's Early Access phase will be PvP, a feature unlocked as a Stretch Goal, thanks to you! We'd like to add this game mode as an optional one, not necessarily tied to the main story campaign. But that doesn't mean it won't be rewarding. The current plan - and plans can change - is to let players assemble a team from a wide list of pre-made PvP characters, just to keep things balanced, and have 4v4 battles on various maps. Otherwise things would spiral really quickly into a 4v4 of fireball-spamming Sir Ectors, that's for sure. We'll see! Maybe we'll add some environmental hazards too?


Of course, since it is a multiplayer mode, we will need all of you to test things with us, once it is out, so look out for that. It'll be fun!


Besides working on the next update, our main focus is on the continuation of the story campaign with three more acts, tons of new missions and plenty of new heroes, all coming with the final release. This is something we really don't want to spoil till it's time, but revealing a few new heroes wouldn't hurt. The upcoming story acts will be full of familiar names from the Arthurian myth, just like in Act 1. In our version of the tale, Sir Dagonet will be an arcanist, related to the Sidhe, the Black Knight will look pretty intimidating - even with severed arms and legs - with a tragic back story, and Sir Lucan will be more than just a butler, with a complicated relationship to Arthur and Mordred, traced back to the Battle of Camlann.

Sir Dagonet

Sir Lucan

One more thing. Don't forget to tune in to our Twitch stream tomorrow at 3pm CEST for a casual play and to chat with us.


Avalon Awaits!

 

[Infinitron]

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3320615

Digital Tabletop Fest | Backer Rewards | Sneak Peeks



Knights,


we can't believe October is already here - time really does fly when you're having fun, and we for sure have fun polishing up Knight's Tale for you! As the weather gets chilly (at least around here), it's time to turn up the heat both literally and figuratively by shifting into top gear for the last phase of development.


Digital Tabletop Fest on Steam
Let's start off with something super exciting! Steam recently announced this year's Digital Tabletop Fest, and we're happy to share that we're also part of the event. The festival will run between October 21 and 25, and we'll be joining dozens of other developers for some livestreams. Our panel discussion will be about Arthurian myths in video games, so if you're into the legend, make sure to check it out! You can find the full schedule of the fest's streams over at Steam's announcement page.


High Tier Backer Rewards
We've sent out messages for some of our higher tier backers ("Enchanter" tier and above) regarding their upcoming in-game digital rewards - such as the "Design an Artifact" or the "Name an NPC" rewards. If you're among these backers and haven't seen our message yet, be sure to check your inboxes. We need your input! Some of you ("Tactician" tier and above) are also eligible for some PvP fun with us. We'll have more on this once the next patch - with the PvP feature - is about to be implemented.


Sneak Peeks
Our other departments have been hard at work too, and we're once again ready to reveal some amazing art. This time around of the Red Knight, who will join your Round Table once you hit enough points in Tyranny on the Morality Chart. Looks menacing, doesn't he? He might even accompany you to some of epic battles against Avalon's most fearsome bosses. The environment concept below might look serene at first, but rest assured that it is home to some of the mightiest monsters - be prepared!

Red Knight

An epic boss battle awaits
Last but not least, let's peek into our composer's studio which has recently been filled with the enchanting sounds of violins! We'll share some of this music soon, and you'll be able to hear it all in its full glory in the final release.

Oh, and while we're talking about the final release… We're still discussing things internally, but we're positive that we'll be able to announce a date when you can get your hands on the full version of Knight's Tale very, very soon!


Avalon awaits!

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Acrux]

Why? Why? WHY? I'd been looking forward to this; I can accept some pretty big changes to Arthurian legend - changes to the mythology have been part of the legends for centuries. I saw an undead Tristan and thought "weird, but I'll roll with it". Making Mordred the MC and an anti-hero: not my cup of tea, but okay. But this makes no sense and turns a very nuanced character into a boss monster. What a disappointment.

 

[Infinitron]

Coming February 15th:



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3335103

RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCEMENT (AND MORE)!

Knights,


it's about time we sit down at the Round Table again, we have important matters to discuss! Without further ado, let's get to it, shall we?


FULL RELEASE DATE
The most important thing first: we're happy to share with you that Knight's Tale is leaving Early Access and launching as a full release on Steam on FEBRUARY 15, 2022. As you already know, we have 4 Acts lined up, with over 30 heroes from 6 classes for you, and we can't wait for you to continue your journey in Avalon!


Until then of course, we will be releasing one more update: the PvP mode, unlocked as a Kickstarter stretch goal last year, is coming alongside a few other things this December.


NEW DEV DIARY ENTRY - CLASSES AND CHARACTER MANAGEMENT IN KNIGHT'S TALE
We're continuing our video series about the intricacies of Knight's Tale, this time around with an in-depth overview of the game's classes! If you want to know more about what we had in mind when designing our heroes, check out the video here!

THE FISHER KING
And now, a new piece of concept art of a mighty foe, with a bit of lore as a cherry on the top!

The Fisher King

The Fisher King is the monarch of the terrible Wasteland. He is a crippled, tortured soul, suffering from a wound that cannot be healed. His mystical connection with his kingdom in Avalon affects the lands around his castle: when the king suffers, so suffers the realm with him, and the blight that destroys forests and villages is spreading uncontrollably.


The Fisher King is a mystery – some say that his wound is quite fresh and his suffering started when the apocalyptic Storm raged through Avalon and brought darkness and destruction to the otherworldly island. No one knows the answers, but one thing seems to be certain – he must be stopped before his illness engulfs the entire land.


THE STEAM DIGITAL TABLETOP FEST STARTS TOMORROW

Last but not least, a few words about the more immediate future! Steam's Digital Tabletop Fest starts tomorrow at 7PM CET/10AM PST, with some amazing panel discussions. We're very excited to be part of Tabletop Fest, as well as participants of the Myths of King Arthur Roundtable, where we will be discussing how the Arthurian myth intertwines with stories of various video games. The broadcasts start on Friday, and will be on repeat all weekend, so make sure to catch us and the other fantastic devs over at Steam!

As always…

Avalon Awaits!

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neocore/king-arthur-knights-tale/posts/3356056

November Check-in | New Ivory Defender Skin​

Knights,

It's time for our next update! We don't really want to spoil everything, but as we're getting the next Early Access patch (and the full release as well) ready, we can still talk about a bunch of new additions and changes.

First and foremost, after talking to many of you about curses and injuries, we've decided to redesign the Enchanted Tower. Instead of dealing with various curses, this building will now be focusing on Artifacts with some cool and exciting upgrades. This means curses might be fully removed too, or have their roles reduced significantly - not that they played a big part in the game at this stage anyway. We're still in Early Access, so things can change of course.

The eagle-eyed of you might already have noticed in our latest dev diary video that a new item type appeared. We're adding Essences: these powerful, rare, not sellable items will grant your Heroes permanent bonuses. Essences can only be used once, and the maximum amount a character can receive is five. You'll be able to get your hands on them through tough hidden challenges, so make sure to keep an eye out for the most mysterious corners of Avalon. These challenges will be added to secret locations across story missions and during the Endgame. The Journal will also be extended with a new section to keep tracking the number of Essences you have gathered (also shown in the previous video).

Based on your feedback, we're tweaking Very Hard mode right now, and it will most likely be nerfed a bit. If you're a hardcore player, don't worry: it will still remain pretty challenging, but as things stand now, Campfires will heal 50% of your Heroes' HP and Armour instead of 25%.

IVORY DEFENDER COSMETIC SKIN AND A NEW WEBSITE

We've also redesigned our website[neocoregames.com], and launched a newsletter with it too. Those who sign up to it, will receive an exclusive IVORY DEFENDER skin for Sir Mordred upon the full release.

We'll be back soon with more info on the next Early Access patch, and don't forget, the full release is coming out on Steam on February 15, 2022!

Avalon awaits!

 

[Hassar]

Why? Why? WHY? I'd been looking forward to this; I can accept some pretty big changes to Arthurian legend - changes to the mythology have been part of the legends for centuries. I saw an undead Tristan and thought "weird, but I'll roll with it". Making Mordred the MC and an anti-hero: not my cup of tea, but okay. But this makes no sense and turns a very nuanced character into a boss monster. What a disappointment.

I try to be hopeful about games based on mythology but this one seems to fall into that pattern where elements of the myths are just reskinned on top of traditional RPG franchise tropes. We’ll see. I like tactical games and think this could be mechanically good even if the story might not be completely original.

 

[Chippy]

Why? Why? WHY? I'd been looking forward to this; I can accept some pretty big changes to Arthurian legend - changes to the mythology have been part of the legends for centuries. I saw an undead Tristan and thought "weird, but I'll roll with it". Making Mordred the MC and an anti-hero: not my cup of tea, but okay. But this makes no sense and turns a very nuanced character into a boss monster. What a disappointment.

I try to be hopeful about games based on mythology but this one seems to fall into that pattern where elements of the myths are just reskinned on top of traditional RPG franchise tropes. We’ll see. I like tactical games and think this could be mechanically good even if the story might not be completely original.

They did a good job with the first King Arthur game. Second one was also pretty good story-wise. I'm just a bit concerned that the writers might have changed, or they've been told to modernize things a bit because the writing in this seems to have a different tone. Which I think can ruin the game, even if the story is good.

 

[Acrux]

Agree. I liked the first King Arthur pretty well, even though I'm not a fan of Total War types of games. It does seem like it's a different group working on this one.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

The fae folk in Knight's Tale are not necessarily the nicest of Avalon. If you don't believe it, check out these cool (and rather gruesome) pieces of prop concept art, and don't say we didn't warn you!

 

[KateMicucci]

Why? Why? WHY? I'd been looking forward to this; I can accept some pretty big changes to Arthurian legend - changes to the mythology have been part of the legends for centuries. I saw an undead Tristan and thought "weird, but I'll roll with it". Making Mordred the MC and an anti-hero: not my cup of tea, but okay. But this makes no sense and turns a very nuanced character into a boss monster. What a disappointment.

Yes, I am also getting real sick of our ancestral myths being hollowed out and worn as skin suits. Nothing wrong with the myths being adapted, that's what they're for, but damn tired of them being deconstructed, subverted and diversified.