KickStarter Monomyth - A first person action RPG/dungeon crawler - now in Open Backer Beta

[notpl]

Probably my most anticipated game of 2022 (or whenever), keep up the good work!

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Narushima]

That is a powerful pot.

 

[Ysaye]

That a powerful pot.

<Elden Ring joke about it being a Jar goes here>

 

[mediocrepoet]

That a powerful pot.

I have some friends who are into powerful pot. They don't break doors though, they mostly just sit around and eat chips and stuff.

 

[Abu Antar]

Barrel in the hole!

Spoiler

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Zombra]

God I hate twitter 30x18px videos.

 

[RatTower]

I'd normally expect a project like this to pick up a couple of months of delay as a given, but reading these updates makes me wonder whether Monomyth might be the first real Kickstarter project to release both in a proper state and on time. Would just be more egg on Underworld Ascendant's face.

I gotta admit the project is slightly behind because of the refactor. On the one hand that irks me immensely cause I knew the risk and I still took it. On the other hand, the additional features are definitely worth it. You can roughly tell how far behind the project is just going by the fact that the beta hasn't started yet and probably won't until the second week of June or so. So, unfortunately, your judgment about "a couple of months of delay" is probably quite accurate. I will still do what I can during Q2 but my current guess is autumn. I will go into this in more detail in the coming updates.

At least the codebase is properly re-usable now, so for the next project, I will hopefully be on time.

God I hate twitter 30x18px videos.

Twitter probably has one of the worst/most bizarre media APIs I have ever encountered.
Apparently, the quality between mobile and desktop uploads is vastly different. The processing is just so intransparent it could as well be random. For the longest time, the resulting quality was absolute trash to the point where you wondered why video uploads even existed in the first place. Lately, it has become slightly better, but nobody knows anything about upload requirements. It goes so far that people assumed the resulting video quality has to do with your upload speed, which sounds like software voodoo to me (and is probably wrong - perhaps it's true on mobile, but even then it would be completely mad).
If it were not for the followers Monomyth has gathered there I would definitely not use that website (also 90% of the content is whinging about dumb shit nobody cares about).

Either way...



(btw, for me the audio is better on the website than in the embedded widget for some reason - another oddity)

 

[V_K]

Wish transfering a pie to the stove were that easy in real life

 

[LudensCogitet]

Wish transfering a pie to the stove were that easy in real life

Clearly this chef is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of Arx.

 

[Narushima]

The weirdest thing is how the Twitter videos inexplicably turn HD when there's just a couple of seconds left...

Clearly this chef is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of Arx.

I was going to say, it really reminds me of Arx.

 

[Gargaune]

I gotta admit the project is slightly behind because of the refactor. On the one hand that irks me immensely cause I knew the risk and I still took it. On the other hand, the additional features are definitely worth it. You can roughly tell how far behind the project is just going by the fact that the beta hasn't started yet and probably won't until the second week of June or so. So, unfortunately, your judgment about "a couple of months of delay" is probably quite accurate. I will still do what I can during Q2 but my current guess is autumn. I will go into this in more detail in the coming updates.

At least the codebase is properly re-usable now, so for the next project, I will hopefully be on time.

Don't fret it, anyone backing a crowdfunded project by now fully expects some slippage in the deadlines, and your regular progress updates will keep customers confident. Like I said, if the initial estimate held it would probably be a first, and I don't think anyone will object to you taking an extra couple of months to do the job right.

 

[Whisper]

When is release planned?

 

[geno]

When is release planned?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/836367155/monomyth/posts/3476624

State of the Game: Current Progress | Beta Date

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

Another month has passed and that means it is time for another quick project update!

First and foremost, I would like to announce that the closed beta of Monomyth will start on the 17th of June. This will also affect the final release date, but before we go into this, let me give you a little overview of the progress that's been made during the last few weeks.

Spoiler

Current Progress

During April most of my efforts went into the finalization of the refactoring as well as level design. By now I have reworked almost all portions of the original codebase and ported the majority of old features to the updated standard. This gave me the opportunity to add some new features, most of which were part of the "Expanded Immersive Simulation" stretch goal. So, even though that goal has not been quite met in the campaign, fishing, blacksmithing, as well as a visible player model, will still be part of the final game.

Talking of which, carrying and throwing objects has been updated to match the visible player model and these features are now a lot more like a similar mechanic in Dark Messiah, one of Monomyth's secondary inspirations.

Certain parts of the environment can be broken by throwable objects as well. Having reworked the AI perception system, NPCs correctly react to the resulting noise.

NPCs also take damage whenever they are hit by a thrown object. The bigger the object, the higher the damage. With enough strength, your character can even throw barrels.

These improvements also tie into environmental interactions. By throwing objects onto pressure plates you can trigger their connected mechanisms. At least, if you, unlike me, can actually hit them. Please observe these incredible trick shots ("First try!"):

Besides throwable objects, I also worked over the cooking system and added further recipes. You can now change the form of dough with a rolling pin (which can also be used as a makeshift club) and bake some tasty pies.

In terms of level design, I spent a lot of time working on Lysandria, the game's main settlement. The lower parts of the inner fortress are filled with opportunities and shady characters.

Speaking of characters, I also added a couple of modular character accessories. These will of course also be available for the character creation reward.

Beta Date

As mentioned above, Monomyth's first closed beta phase will start on Friday, the 17th of June. Those of you who backed the game on the "Seventh Oath Cleric" level or higher will receive a beta invitation via mail. I will probably go into more detail on the testing mode during the next update, but we will likely use Steam's integrated beta testing feature.

Of course, June is already the last month of Q2, which unfortunately means that we will have to delay the final release a bit. The refactoring, while making numerous new features possible, also had its cost. Schedule-wise it was a gamble and I am sorry that it took so long in the end, but I still believe that it was well worth it. Besides a solid new architecture, the refactor meant a complete inventory overhaul, modular characters, a proper foundation for AI infighting, custom item properties, and many, many other things. I am confident that a streamlined codebase like the one I am working with now, will also simplify future debugging, which will be essential for the beta. During the first beta phase, we will mostly focus on core feature testing as well as some early game content.

The targeted time frame for the release is currently autumn 2022. The final release date will of course also strongly depend on the beta tester's feedback.

For the next few weeks, I will intensify my efforts with regard to content creation and feature polishing. Hopefully, this will make testing as smooth as possible. As always I will keep you updated on the project's progress. Until then!


Best wishes,

Michael

 

[curds]

I cannot wait for this game

RatTower, what is the game listed under your influences on the Kickstarter page with the Japanese(?) title and the egg(?) on the cover?

 

[RatTower]

I cannot wait for this game

RatTower, what is the game listed under your influences on the Kickstarter page with the Japanese(?) title and the egg(?) on the cover?

That's "Angel's Egg", a Japanese animation from 1985. You should be able to find it on Youtube.
Worth it if you have an hour to burn and want to see a movie designed by the guy that does Final Fantasy's cover artwork. The soundtrack is pretty good too (actually my favorite part). Just don't expect a sensible story. As far as I remember not even the director really know's what's going on there :D

It's also been a major inspiration for Dark Souls 3's Ringed City DLC:

Spoiler

 

[Hobknobling]

I remember when this game was just a babby's first Unreal 4 project in the game development discussion threads at another site. Glad that you have kept going!

 

[curds]

I remember when this game was just a babby's first Unreal 4 project in the game development discussion threads at another site. Glad that you have kept going!

Have you got a link to those threads? I love looking at really early dev posts for indie games, like the Underrail and AoD threads on this site from years ago.

 

[Kalarion]

Have you got a link to those threads? I love looking at really early dev posts for indie games, like the Underrail and AoD threads on this site from years ago.

Sure, here you go.

 

[JDR13]

RatTower Will all backers have access to the Beta or just those above a certain tier?

 

[curds]

Have you got a link to those threads? I love looking at really early dev posts for indie games, like the Underrail and AoD threads on this site from years ago.

Sure, here you go.

I remember when this game was just a babby's first Unreal 4 project in the game development discussion threads at another site.

Yeah, good one man.

 

[Kalarion]

Yeah, good one man.

Hmmm, I missed that part. My bad.

The fact remains, RatTower has been posting regularly in this thread from the start of his project. Just go back and read it from the beginning, you can see his first material, gamedev discussion, his mullings on whether or not to try his hand at a Kickstarter, ramblings about setting up a small business in the EU, trying to decide what to name his company... it's all here.

If you clicked my link and got upset because the first post was his Kickstarter notification/advertisement, don't be deceived. He edited that post when the Kickstarter went live. Just skip it and start from post #2, which was from July (I think) of 2017.

 

[curds]

Yeah, good one man.

Hmmm, I missed that part. My bad.

The fact remains, RatTower has been posting regularly in this thread from the start of his project. Just go back and read it from the beginning, you can see his first material, gamedev discussion, his mullings on whether or not to try his hand at a Kickstarter, ramblings about setting up a small business in the EU, trying to decide what to name his company... it's all here.

If you clicked my link and got upset because the first post was his Kickstarter notification/advertisement, don't be deceived. He edited that post when the Kickstarter went live. Just skip it and start from post #2, which was from July (I think) of 2017.

I've read most of this thread, been following it since before I had an account here.

I just wanted to see some potentially earlier stuff, like the dawn of the project.

Apologies for getting mad, I thought you were just being a smart ass.