KickStarter Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones - a Lovecraftian Computer RPG

[Zombra]

Physical stuff.

Update #10

Jun 17 2016

A Closer Look at Our Gifts of Madness

Greetings fellow Arkham residents!

In this update we'd like to give you additional details about some of our gifts and their connection to the game's lore.

Merry Folk from the Stars

Written by the mysterious Edmund Whateley and published by the equally enigmatic publishing house Cultic Press, "Merry Folk from the Stars" caused a wave of hysteria among children across the country. Some see the unholy success that came by the publication of this cursed book as the final nail in the coffin of our society.

Nothing is known about the book's mysterious author Whateley
Parents all over the country reported hallucinations, aggressive behavior, catatonic trances and even worse symptoms displayed by their children who read the book. Further complicating this dismal situation, Merry Folk could only be the beginning of what is yet to come...

Some say the book has a "hypnotic" quality
There is a unique quest in the game concerning the shadowy author of Merry Folk and theclues you'll learn from the actual book will help you complete it.

Merry Folk Figurines

We're proud of these little rascals and wanted to shed more light on their design process. You can check their detailed 3D models in 360 degrees from the link below:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/38282269/merry-folk-from-the-stars

3D designs of our collector figures
Special Edition Game Tome

Some photos of the game tome no.001


From the beginning we had the image of a hand made Necronomicon-like leather game box in our minds for the collector's edition of Stygian. As far as we know, this is a first in video game history. All this magic happens with the experience and the artisan-ship of one person: Master Sebo.

Behold! The re-animator of dead skin is at work.
All the special edition game tomes will be manufactured by the veteran leather worker, Master Sebo. Your tome will be unique to you due to the variations in the leather stocks and the organic nature of the manufacturing process.

And at last; our cultist robe speaks for itself. You may have realized that we're wearing the same robes in our Kickstarter video.

With this robe, you'll get all the attention in esoteric rituals
See you in the next update!

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

 

[Prime Junta]

I really dig the children's book. Not one for collecting ... collectibles, so I'll pass on the robe and the leatherbound special edition, but yeah, I am tempted by the Merry Folk.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

These guys keep churning out updates like there is no tomorrow.

Ill probably go insane and increase my pledge tenfold tomorrow, and go for the innocent lunatic level. Just to give that Turkish artisan craftsman and reanimator of dead animal skin, Master Sebo, some more work.

It better not be a faux leather toxic smelling piece of chemical waste btw.

Also, what species of dead animals are used to create this tome of the undead?

 

[Prime Junta]

rrrr couldn't resist, bumped it up to 50 € for the Merry Folk book (plus shipping, 21 € is a bit much frankly IMO...)

I never could resist a quirky book with pictures. Hope the production quality is as good as it looks in the pictures...

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Bros these guys keep updating their campaign! Last one was about skills and stuff.

Id copy it here but my tablet isnt cooperating.

2.5k till target and 8 days to go so that shouldnt be a problem (except for the stretchgoals.)

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

PhantasmaNL
Here you go.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1698219403/stygian-a-lovecraftian-computer-rpg/posts/1610037

Skills and Perks of Stygian

Greetings fellow practitioners of the dark arts!

Don't we all love skills in RPGs?

Skills reflect your choices, aspirations and experiences in Stygian. Different combinations will open different paths to reach your goals. With twelve skills and numerous perks, players will have many opportunities to shape their own fate and face the challenges of Stygian.

Let's have a look at our Skills along with some of their related Perks.

Investigation: The skill of observing one's surroundings; finding clues, hidden items and subtle connections.

Related Perks: Photography, Tracking, Questioning

Occult: The skill of comprehending the unknown; knowledge of the mythos and the other realities. Occult skill is obligatory for casting spells and performing rituals.

Related Perks: Spell-weaving, Ritual Mastery, Sacrifice

Psychology: The skill of sensing the motives of others, knowing the mechanics of the mind and stabilizing one's and others' mental health.

Related Perks: Psychoanalysis, Mental Barrier, Therapy

Speechcraft: The skill of influencing others with words, creating sympathy or fear in them and performing the art of lying.

Related Perks: Manipulation, Intimidation, Seduction

Melee: The skill of hand to hand fighting and close quarters combat with melee weapons.

Related Perks: Martial Artist, Fencing, Exotic Weapons

Firearms: The skill of operating all kinds of firearms from pistols to machine guns.

Related Perks: Gunslinger, Rifle Expert, Special Weaponry

A player character using his Investigation skill to learn more about the cause of death of the strange fossilized creature
Science: The skill of understanding the rational world, making inventions, grasping the principles of scientific facts and researching mythos beings to find weaknesses in their metabolisms.

Related Perks: Advanced Autopsy, Great Inventor, Metabolism Expert

Stealth: The skill of not being seen and heard, moving without being detected and eavesdropping.

Related Perks: Vanishing, Silent Running, Assassination

Survival: The skill of withstanding pain and extreme conditions.

Related Perks: Snake Eater, Camping, Sentry

Medicine: The skill of understanding the human body, curing diseases and stabilizing one's and others' physical health.

Related Perks: Xeno-Botany, Drug Expert, Purifier

Athletics: The skill of moving gracefully, dodging attacks and performing athletic manoeuvres.

Related Perks: Escape Artist, Exceptional Reflexes, Daredevil

Subterfuge: The skill of dirty tricks, lock-picking and stealing.

Related Perks: Cheat, Master Thief, Dirty Fighting

An academic character using his Science skill on a wrecked fire engine to salvage some machine parts
Next Update:

Beauty in Madness: Background Art of Stygian

 

[Infinitron]

Also an earlier one: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1698219403/stygian-a-lovecraftian-computer-rpg/posts/1608230

Tunes from the End: The Music of Stygian

Greetings dear listeners of Radio New England,

In this update we'd like to give you more information about the composing process of Stygianalong with sharing some of our haunted melodies with you. Our composer and long time collaborator Asli Kobaner is working tirelessly on making the auditory world of Stygian blend with the other elements of the game, such as visuals and emotional themes.

Stygian's Composer Asli Kobaner

Let's hear her thoughts on the music of Stygian:

"Hi Friends! I'm Asli, a servant of the Sunken Lord just like you.

The music that shall accompany you in your journey in Stygian will hopefully materialize through my humble agency. I'd like to underline the word “humble” since I can define myself as a humble gamer, though an old and avid Lovecraft fan.

In the beginning, when we started brainstorming about the musical essence of Stygian, we extracted some key words: mystery, haunting, occult, desolation, tragedy... Bringing our lonely, forsaken world to life has been and still is a challenging task to fulfill. Those key emotions that will probably help you being immersed by the strange worlds of Lovecraft also led me to explore their musical substitutes: from dense textures to simple melodies, repeating rhythms to droning ambiances, all kinds of functional material. Especially through juxtaposition of these, multiple layers of distinct material, I aim to emphasize the contrast between the different planes of Stygian, different phases of the Stygian experience, thus depict its colorful diversity.

In this journey, I hope to take strength from the legacy of contemporary composers, as well as some cult examples of vintage game music. And of course, from the dark lore of metal that take its strength from our lord Cthulhu!"

You can find a work in progress theme we share just for our backers below.

See you in the next update!

We'll dance restlessly in the halls of the Sunken Lord.

 

[lightbane]

I hope the Dreamlands stretch goal wins. That setting has not been used much in gaming if I'm not mistaken. The closest thing we have is the Strange Aeons WAD for Doom.

Spoiler

 

[---]

The stretch goals (all) seem REALLY interesting, shame that probably they won't be reached

 

[Morality Games]

The stretch goals (all) seem REALLY interesting, shame that probably they won't be reached

All for the best. I don't think there's been a Kickstarter yet where adding more areas in the initial release did anything to improve the depth of content.

It would be better to develop them as post-release DLC.

 

[Zombra]

The stretch goals (all) seem REALLY interesting, shame that probably they won't be reached

All for the best. I don't think there's been a Kickstarter yet where adding more areas in the initial release did anything to improve the depth of content.
It would be better to develop them as post-release DLC.

Can't brofist enough. Personally, I get pissed off when I see these KSes that triple their goals and say, "Great! Now we're going to take an extra five years to add a bunch of stuff" as if a longer wait doesn't reduce the value of my pledge. If you get more money, hire more staff to get the extra stuff done on time.

 

[almondblight]

Indeed. Part of the problem too is that reaching a stretch goal often means that resources are pulled away from the other parts of the game in order to implement it. So instead of focusing on one location and making it great, you end up with two half-baked locations. It's part of the quantity over quality mentality that leads to developers creating bloated 60 hour games that have 20 hours of content in them.

Hopefully the stretch goals here are just small additions that they don't put much time into developing.

 

[Zombra]

Sheesh, a KS update every day?

Some cool art process stuff.

Update #13

Jun 22 2016

Beauty in Madness: Environment Art of Stygian

Greetings fellow admirers of the macabre!

In this update we'd like to give you more information on the creation process of our environment art along with sharing some images from different stages of production. Our environment artist Elwira Pawlikowska is responsible for breathing life into the eerie landscapes you'll visit in Stygian. Her painstaking, authentic pencil drawing style andbackground in architecture made her the perfect choice for Stygian's backgrounds.

Our Environment Artist Elwira Pawlikowska

Our creative director Can decided Elwira was the right choice after seeing such illustrations of the artist.


Let's hear Elwira's thoughts on the process:

"Hi there lone fighters against the forces of darkness! I'm Elwira - the environment artist responsible for giving the right shape to the Stygian's settings.

What was needed was a hand drawn 2D world reflecting the mood of Lovecraft's universe, saturated with decay, hopelessness and madness.

The first step was "research" ie becoming familiar with book and newspaper illustrations "from the era" (1920s), analyzing approach to contours, shading and texturing. It also meant browsing through plenty of images related with US industrial districts from the prohibition time and ... photos of extremely weird mushrooms.

The next step was making precise pencil drawings of my own designs (buildings, vehicles, plants, environment in general). After scanning them it was time for "digital inking" with a graphic tablet, which enabled the graphic crew to work freely with all the files, but also helped to maintain a retro feel.

Many visual aspects were already carefully thought out by the game designers from the beginning, however there were still space for my imagination! The best moment was elaborating all the tiny little details of the ruined city, indicating, that something dreadful has happened there. As an architect of education I'm much more accustomed to creating than devastating. Thus creation of devastation for Stygian awoke dormant areas of my consciousness..."

It's great to have Elwira on board!
Projects We Like!

Andromeda

By Andromeda Project
We are fans of Super Metroid here in Cultic Games so when we saw Andromeda and its take on the Metroidvania formula we wanted to share it with you. The game promises a hardcore 8-bit experience in an open galaxy! Draw your DNA-Guns!

Andromeda is on Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metalscale/andromeda-there-is-no-god-up-here-0

See you in the next update!

Beware the stranger who walked the earth behind a thousand masks.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Pledged.

Can't really see myself whining about Cyclopean being cancelled and then not supporting this game.

 

[xxxCatholicKillahxxx]

Elwira, Mistress of the Art.

Nice amount of non-combat skills though I wonder what perks are in this game. They seem to be a subset of skill instead of an extra passive ability or bonus.
The song is quite noice.

 

[Abu Antar]

A couple of hundred bucks left before it gets funded. They will most likely reach the first stretch goal.

 

[---]

C'mon, only 500$
Maybe you guys are right about the addition of new areas, but I still hope that the Dreamlands goal will be reached with the final pledges

 

[HoboForEternity]

$200 left to be funded.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Funded, congrats Cultic and good luck.

Dunwich would probably a nice stretch goal since it seems more realistic within the time frame (compared to Dreamlands).

 

[---]

?
They ask 75k for Dreamlands, while 90k for Dunwich
Dunwich could be easily added via DLC/expansion, while Dreamlands is a feature that would be nice to have already in the main game

Anyway, congrats Cultic Games!
Probably the most interesting Kickstarter of this year

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Yeah i noticed this a moment ago...

It just seemed to me that succesfully creating something like Dreamlands would be more of a challenge than a down to earth backwater inbred hellhole like Dunwich.

Apparently Cultic disagrees, well more power to them i guess

 

[tormund]

Congratulations guys!

I hope the Dreamlands stretch goal wins. That setting has not been used much in gaming if I'm not mistaken. The closest thing we have is the Strange Aeons WAD for Doom.

Spoiler

I think that Dreamlands stretch goal is realistic, especially with the funding boost that is bound to happen near the end. It's a p underused background even outside of video games, AFAIK Dreamlands stories from post-Lovecraft authors are next to nonexistent which is p disappointing considering the amount of new mythos fiction that gets released every year...

 

[---]

At least the Explorer is pretty much sure, an extra class with a specific prologue and exclusive dialogue/combat options is always welcome, especially for replayabillity purposes

 

[Prime Junta]

New update on portrait art. I think it looks pretty damn rad, several cuts above usual cRPG fare.

Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1698219403/stygian-a-lovecraftian-computer-rpg/posts/1613287

Well, it all starts with an idea, a conceptual insight for a character. "An honorable yet beaten man, at the end of his ropes." the dark voices whisper. "A woman, proud and wise, yet she underestimates." Now the voices cackle gleefully. "This one's a naughty one. He's a natural. " The voices hang heavy in my mind.

I receive many such depictions. After a slight moment of feeling sorry for what the Old Ones might have in store for them, I immediately begin to imagine. I imagine these souls first at their best. I see a heroic nod of assuring stoicism, or a euphoric smile of untainted joy perhaps. Then...well, then I take it all away.

The innocence fades, their dreams vanish, and dwindling hopes of absolution become ash in agonizing cries. Now in my mind's eye I look at these characters again. I carefullly look to see what's left of them, and what precisely made them to go on. Sometimes the answer is quite reassuring, and sometimes... not so much. With a heavy heart then I try to make you witness as well, as far as my humble talents allow me to do so.

(edit: also, funded. Yay!)

 

[Zombra]

Man, these mothers had a plan. They really are going to do an update every day until the end, aren't they? I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they had their updates all written in advance before the KS even launched. Great job, Scrawled and Cultic!