Revolution: The Spark - turn-based steampunk RPG set in alternative 20th century

[LESS T_T]

Spoiler

Survive a revolution and try to come out on top in this tactical, turn-based RPG where your actions directly affect your journey. Take on the role of Alex, a soldier who survived the Great War and is trying to make sense of the widespread destruction he witnessed from the frontlines. Recruit, train, and lead a team of allies as you explore the Capital of the strongest Empire in the world that is on the brink of revolution. Start a violent revolution or work to keep the peace in the capital of a steampunk, corrupt Empire. Will you become a tyrant like those you seek to depose or will you forge a more just society for all citizens of the Empire? With dwindling resources and enemies at every turn, what will you do to win?

The story is set in an alternate steampunk world in the early 20th century in the Capital of the strongest Empire in the world that is on the brink of revolution. The game tells a story of a military veteran, Alex who becomes increasingly frustrated with the growing corruption of the monarchy, and the exploitation of the common folk. When Alex's direct family gets involved, and his brother gets arrested for an attempted coup, Alex will have no choice but to take on a more hands-on approach. It appears that a concentration of power lies in the hands of a powerful few. But there is more to this than meets the eye.These few are being manipulated by supernatural beings that feed off of the fervor, lust, and wrath of humankind. A spark of revolution will change it all.

KEY FEATURES

• Forge Your Own Path – Your actions shape the future of a corrupt Empire. Choose how you want to solve conflict. Will you conquer all or reason with your foes? Every decision you make in travel, conversation and combat has a meaningful effect on the outcome as your story unfolds.
  
  
• Explore 9 Dynamic Locations – From the mines to the noble villas, you must fight your way to the steps of the Empress’ palace itself across 9 exciting, beautiful, hand-drawn isometric locations.
  
  
• Strategic Turn-based Combat – People are your greatest assets, so take care of them. Those who fall in combat will need time to recover.
  
  
• Recruit up to 25 Allies across 7 distinct Classes – You’ll need all the help on your journey to unseat the Empress. Beware, some of your companions might not like others.
  
  
• Discover secrets, and Unlock 5 Different Endings. – Explore and talk to everyone. You never know what you might find. There are many routes, and options that will help you to get to the end of the story.
  
  
• Steampunk Victorian Culture – Master the weapons of the early 20th century in this alternate reality where things aren’t what they seem.
  
  
• Decide what you fight for – Peace? A new world order? Or do you just want power for yourself? Everything is possible in Revolution: The Spark

The developer seems to based in US.

They also did some web comics based on the world of the game too: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-spark/list?title_no=354072

 

[Bester]

Cringy dialogue on the screenshot. Nobody talks like that.

 

[Infinitron]

Some videos from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesparkgame/



Looks like an announcement trailer is imminent.

 

[guestposting]

Don’t want to get my hopes up, but this is a cool concept.

 

[Bester]

Don’t want to get my hopes up, but this is a cool concept.

What exactly is cool about it?

If the line "Wake up Alex, what I say goes!" was replaced by "Wake up Alex, I'm the cartoonish villain with no needs or wants as a character" would that be better or worse?

 

[guestposting]

Don’t want to get my hopes up, but this is a cool concept.

What exactly is cool about it?

If the line "Wake up Alex, what I say goes!" was replaced by "Wake up Alex, I'm the cartoonish villain with no needs or wants as a character" would that be better or worse?

I’m not talking about the dialogue. 1917-18 revolution the RPG is a good concept.

 

[Bester]

Don’t want to get my hopes up, but this is a cool concept.

What exactly is cool about it?

If the line "Wake up Alex, what I say goes!" was replaced by "Wake up Alex, I'm the cartoonish villain with no needs or wants as a character" would that be better or worse?

I’m not talking about the dialogue. 1917-18 revolution the RPG is a good concept.

1- Why? What makes a good concept or a bad one, and why is this one good?
2- By the way, this game's setting and the short description have nothing to do with the Russian revolution, zero similarities. So before you even start answering, get that idea out of your head.
3- Why are you "not talking" about the dialogue? What's wrong with discussing dog shit writing?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

1917-18 revolution the RPG is a good concept.

Someone tried to make that game, but project seems dead
https://www.legion1917.com/

 

[AwesomeButton]

I really hope this isn't another attempt by a socially engaged English major to wake me up to the plight of racial minorities in the anglosphere by means of an original and thought-provoking allegory of our world.

 

[Bester]

English major would know the basics of dramatic character.

 

[LESS T_T]

Ah, they added a combat screenshot since:

 

[Bester]

Is this the exact copy of beamdog's decline HP bars? Curious that they thought this was a good thing to steal.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[rusty_shackleford]

can I play as the good guys?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Looks good so far.
They should work a bit on the dialogs though.

"Wake-up Alex, what i say goes" looks like an unfortunate mix of modern and period way of speaking.

 

[LESS T_T]

The developer seems to based in US.

Oh, they are based in Azerbaijan?

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/1334230/view/2488750270033429576

Development Update 1
Our very first post here (so special!)

Hey everyone! Novruz is here!

As a qucik introduction: We are a small indie video game team/studio from Azerbaijan, and we've recently started developing our first game project that is currently getting ready for an Early Access Release. We are a team that's focused on creating beautiful games focused on narrative, and telling meaningful stories, while keeping the game interesting from mechanics perspective.

This is our very first post here, and we're excited to have the game closer to release, and finally have more time to focus on interactions with the community.

I'll keep our first devlog short - we're currently working hard on getting a trailer ready to get you guys hyped up as much as we are. Until then we want to showcase the art-style of our game. We've finally decided on the style we want to go with our isometric story focused game about the revolution of the masses in the Victorian era.

Going back to our roots with the very first screenshot of our game we shared. Now, with a better ground texture, and character models. Hope you guys like it as much as we do! Let us know what you think about our style, and what kind of updates do you want to get in the future!

Additional Info about the game, and the lore
More detailed information about the plot can be found in our webtoon: Click me!
The Facebook page of our game: Click me!

 

[Nortar]

The combat screenshot reminds me of Banner Saga.

 

[luj1]

Saw the title and immediately thought *Arcanum spiritual successor* , but alas huge signs of decline were aparent

Cel shading
Squares for combat
Cartoony cowboys art direction

Writing and story dont look too promising either

 

[cyborgboy95]

Announcement trailer is up:

 

[AwesomeButton]

I read the visual novel. It's hilariously bad, stay away from this game.

The artwork looks like traced photos. English Major would be a compliment for the writing. In fact no one on the team is a native speaker, and it shows.

The story would have been much more interesting if they had set it in a setting they know better - like the Saudi regime or some other Middle East dictatorship. Instead they have tried to pull off this pseudo-Russian Empire setting. The characters are cardboard cutouts.

Ash of gods was also basic but it was somewhat interesting in the "what happens next" way, and its artwork was good.

 

[Infinitron]

Early Access in August/September:

 

[Infinitron]

Oh hey, Early Access on October 15th: https://steamdb.info/app/1334230/history/?changeid=U:18992663

 

[Rahdulan]

Seems like demo is out.



https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/1334230/view/2926735484242180212

The Steam Game Festival: Autumn Edition
Revolution: The Spark "Demo"

We are happy to announce the demo release of our first game: “Revolution: The Spark”.

Here at MOR/ANN games been working hard for slightly more than a year. Our team has been through thick and thin together. On top of the Covid-19 that everyone experienced, our country has also been through a war, and we have been through the stress that comes with it too. However, we did everything that is in our power to provide you with the game where you can explore parts of the beautiful city we have created. In rushing to do so, we didn't manage to meet all our goals.

I'd consider this version, early beta at best, it's very raw. So please, adjust your expectations. That said, we at our team still believe that the game has a huge potential, and we are passionate to reach the best end product that we can share with you guys. Overall the game is in desperate need of polish, and finishing touches to get it to the level it deserves to be at. Please support us if you can, and don't judge our game by its current state.

Our game is intended for PCs, is being developed in Unity, and is planned to release mainly on Steam. The game is called Spark, and it’s an isometric, story-driven, "open-world" RPG, where you can explore the city rather than walking on a pre-determined path. The story is about the revolution of the masses in the Victorian era in a turn-based tactical battle genre.
Now we know we can't expect ourselves to get anywhere close to the level of big companies given how most of us in the team lack experience, but we all try our best.

Here is a little bit more about the story. I think the heart of our game is the journey of the protagonist (Alex) caught in a world of extremely high income inequality where he has to decide whether to continue to live minding his own business, or to try create a better future for his family, and specifically daughter. Along Alex's journey, the player will have to make game changing (at least the narrative, but sometimes the strategy too) decisions that will impact the world. We plan for around five very different endings.

The story is set in an alternate steampunk world in the late 19th century in the Capital of the strongest Empire in the world that is on the brink of revolution. The game tells a story of a military veteran, Alex who becomes increasingly frustrated with the growing corruption of the monarchy, and the exploitation of the common folk. When Alex's direct family gets involved, and his brother gets arrested for an attempted coup, Alex will have no choice but to take on a more hands-on approach. It appears that a concentration of power lies in the hands of a powerful few. A spark of revolution will change it all.

Additional Info
More detailed information about the plot can be found in our webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-spark/list?title_no=354072
The Facebook page of our game: https://www.facebook.com/thesparkgame/

 

[Infinitron]

Weird. The Steam Game Festival ends today, do they intend to keep it up for a single day? I also see that the Early Access release date was changed to October 23rd: https://steamdb.info/app/1334230/history/?changeid=U:19105405

I guess it'll be the same build at first?

 

[Nortar]

Weird. The Steam Game Festival ends today, do they intend to keep it up for a single day? I also see that the Early Access release date was changed to October 23rd: https://steamdb.info/app/1334230/history/?changeid=U:19105405

I guess it'll be the same build at first?

I don't know how they are going to release an EA in 7 working days, as what they have in Demo is not even beta-ready.
Especially in comparison to EA quality of BG3.
There's just no content, even the base stats are not translated to English yet:

Spoiler

The first (and only I've seen) battle is started by clicking on a blue-cube placeholder, aaaand... it does not work. This screenshot is all I could get from the combat tutorial.
So the game has ways to go before becoming playable, let alone sellable.