Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Vapourware That Which Sleeps - Vaporware Strategy RP

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingdinosaurgames/that-which-sleeps
Steam Greenlight: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=316173232


http://kingdinosaurgames.com




512.png

"The world has forgotten your name"

Website | DevLog | Twitter | Facebook

Kickstarter Sep 22nd
Kickstarter
Greenlight
Video Dev Log #1
Youtube
Video Dev Log #2Youtube
Video Dev Log #3Youtube

That Which Sleeps...

is a turn based strategy game in which the player takes on the role of an awakened evil from the world's past and must manipulate a living, reactive world from the shadows using a cast of unique corrupted Agents. The player must balance an aggressive approach utilizing his considerable power and eager hordes with the need to remain unknown to the Champions and Heroes of the world. You must be sure that when your name is again spoken by mortal tongues that it is spoken in dread, for it is too late to stop That Which Sleeps.

Features


  • Corrupt, conquer, charm, and manipulate - with a fully realized world driven by thematic AIs that follow their own interests you can pursue multiple paths to victory.
  • Customize the world with your choices at the beginning of each scenario, choosing an Ancient Evil and selecting his origins and what dire deeds he has wrought on the world.
  • Make difficult choices with limited agents, choosing to send your Prophet to rouse the orc hordes or beset Kings with maddening dreams will greatly change the flow of the game.
  • Disrupt the Balance of Power by creating famines in the farmland, stoking the flame of old vendettas, or recruiting pirates to the sea.
  • Watch the fame of your Agents rise and heroes will begin to hunt them down. Let them fall as scapegoats and keep your name secret, or imbue them with dark power and take the fight back to the heroes.
  • Each action you take leaves clues behind that cunning heroes can decipher, eventually leading them to the truth. Kill or corrupt them before they find a receptive ear at court
  • A fully functioning in-game Editor that allows you to create your own scenarios, old ones, heroes, artifacts, and even agents
  • Localization supported for multiple languages and character sets

Screens
ScenarioOldOnes.1.png


ScenarioBackground.png


GUIKingdmo.1.png


agent2_final.png


AventuraHistoryUpdate.png


BarnacleDemon.png


ThatWhichSleepsNewCaledon.png


Peddler.png


GUIMain.png

F.A.Q

What is That Which Sleeps and how do I play it?

That Which Sleeps is a unique turn based strategy game where you play an evil banished long ago who has recently awoken to find himself greatly weakened but filled with a desire for vengeance. You will recruit Agents to perform Challenges in different Points of Interest which can be villages, cities, farmland, and ruins. These challenges will be contested by meddling heroes and champions which may cause your agents to flee or battle, sometimes resulting in their deaths. Succeed in the challenges and you can cause famines, produce slave revolts, and even assassinate kings. Even success breeds danger because your agents leave behind clues that savvy heroes will research, getting closer and closer to the truth that you are rising to destroy the world.

The Game Itself

The game is turn based, with an intended playtime of 3-5 hours - the player acts as an awakened evil who begins the game incredibly weak but grows stronger over time and due to certain actions on the map. The player manipulates the world by recruiting Agents, most of whom can be recruited when certain criteria are met (such as infiltrating a guild, or burning an elf village). Agents move around POIs (Points of Interest) and perform Challenges such as Infiltration, Terrorize, and Ritual - these challenges take multiple turns and have several tiers of difficulty for the actions.

The speed at which the challenge is performed is dictated by the Agents relevant skill for the challenge vs the Regions defense against that particular challenge and any opposing leaders/heroes. While the agents slowly perform these tasks, they generate Threat based on their profile and the type of action being done, a high enough threat attracts random heroes or even worse the attention of the nation itself, which may send a champion to stop you. Heroes and Champions will have to find you in the POI, and at that point a battle may occur.

Whenever you perform a challenge, successfully or not, you leave behind clues which heroes will decipher. Basic clues may only help the heroes hunt down that particular agent, but if you have agents working together or have bolstered them with dark power the clues may suggest even more - which will eventually lead the heroes to learning about the your return. They will attempt to inform the leaders of the world to this fact, and if they are trusted, the world will ally against you to destroy you. Hopefully you have destabilized the world enough by this point that your armies, or agents, can guarantee your victory.

Scenarios

The world maps are custom made, and populated "logically" with interesting and thematic factions. Though this takes us longer to do than having a random setup, the worlds actually enhance the value of replays as you come to learn the characteristics of the world leaders and the map itself.

In addition, you can select from scenario options at setup. Not just the Old One that you will be playing, but also how you fell, what you did as you slumbered, and how your agents worked to bring about your return. This can greatly affect the world, and your strategy to overcome it.

Also importantly, we have a fully-functional in-game editor that makes creating new scenarios a breeze. This means that user-generated content should ideally extend the lifespan of the game for a long time (hopefully).

Values Based AI
One of the best aspects of the game is the Values Based AI, both for leaders and heroes. The AI in the game is playing "The World" and not you, generally speaking you are simply an irritant to most of these powers at the beginning. Understanding how the AI thinks is key to winning the game.

Some examples: a Sentimental Hero will return to his home town if something happens to it, a Vengeful Barbarian will pursue the agent who killed his love against all other considerations, a Glory seeking King may do the right thing often enough but if no routes lead to glory he will create one.

That's not to say behaviors are entirely predictable, Heroes and Leaders have a Spirit attribute that works much like health - the lower it goes the more "unstable" they are and prone to follow their vanities and whims. A high Spirit hero will be much more likely to do "the right thing."

When will it be released?

We are hoping to launch a kickstarter to gain more art assets in the upcoming months, and should have a release shortly thereafter. We estimate Q4 2014 at this time.

How can I help?

Follow us on IndieDB, join our mailing list, get involved on our forums - we appreciate all kinds of feedback and really want to get the community involved in the final crafting of our game.

I recognize those graphics, where are they from?

The map style is licensed from the Jon Roberts Annual using Campaign Cartographer, which creates very beautiful cartography but does not allow us to dynamically alter the underlying map - in other words we have to use it as a flat image. Many of the icons are from OpenGameArt.org, and some of the Menu elements are native NGUI. We love that the community allows us to easily create attractive games, but we're also hoping to raise enough money through Kickstarter to supplement these with some unique artwork. In addition, we are fully commited to giving back to the community by donating to OpenGameArt.org as well as releasing our own art assets (that we are able to) under the CC by 3.0 license.

We unfortunately have no talented artists at our tiny indie studio, so many of the assets of the game are from OpenGameArt.org, the most fantastic site I've found for art-challenged developers. In addition, our menus make use of various basic NGUI assets, and the map is an art style licensed from Campaign Cartographer. Altogether I'm pleased with how things have come along, but we are looking to generate some money from a kickstarter to actually hire an artist to help us with the Agents and Heroes.

Can I take part in early testing?

Anyone who contributes to our kickstarter will receive early access, but otherwise at this time we have sufficient testers for feedback. If you'd like to receive updates if this status changes please join our mailing list.

Why a devlog?


We've been getting the word about our game for a while now, but while we've had success generating interest we haven't found the proper venue to generate real discussion on the game, its development and its several unique mechanics. Hopefully we can get some of that going on here!


Previews:

RPS


That Which Sleeps is a turn-based strategy game in which players are an “awakened evil”, manipulating a world of AI in a gradual effort to corrupt it. You do that by recruiting agents and sending them around the world to complete challenges, inciting orc unrest or spreading famine.

Why isn’t it procedural? Much like last week, the devs walk readers through the process of designing the game’s worldmap: from attempts at procedural generation, to the decision to go handcrafted, to the discovery of a tool that helps do this very thing.

IndieRPGs

The main game takes place on the world map, where you can dispatch agents to villages, cities, ruins, and other places of interest to complete a variety of dynamically generated challenges. Certain agents will be better suited to certain challenges, affecting how many turns it takes for them to successfully complete the task. In the meantime, your agents and their minions may be attacked by meddling parties of heroes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Malakal

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
Messages
10,266
Location
Poland
I love games like this in theory but in practice you usually are too limited either with game mechanics or with retarded AI to really enjoy them. Maybe this will be better. It looks decent who knows.
 

Drax

Arcane
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Messages
10,986
Location
Silver City, Southern Lands
Also, if I'm a "long-ago vanquished Evil" I want to rape, maim, and shout silly buggers at people...
Political correctness and MUH VALUEZ will kill this game...
 

KoolNoodles

Arcane
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
3,545
Just play Dominions 4 as an imprisoned God of one of the "evil" nations, and role-play that shit.
 

kris

Arcane
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Messages
8,835
Location
Lulea, Sweden
Also, if I'm a "long-ago vanquished Evil" I want to rape, maim, and shout silly buggers at people...
Political correctness and MUH VALUEZ will kill this game...

Ancient evils seldom did much raping actually. They just generally destroy everything, making the world dark ang gloomy. Like petulant EMO monster.

Would be cool if you could make people hate each other and have war started.
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
Best way to play an ancient evil type in a game is to create an immortal character in ck2 and play the long game of being the ultimate incest ridden douche
 

Agesilaus

Antiquity Studio
Patron
Developer
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
4,456
Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex USB, 2014 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Sounds interesting, but I'm not going to pay any attention until they release something substantial.
 

KingDinosaurGames

King Dinosaur Games
Patron
Developer
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
143
Location
Austin
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Gentleman! Developer of That Which Sleeps here, I've made a note that "Rpgcodex.net wants more rape in the game" gotcha! No but honestly I'd never heard the expression "Silly Buggers" before and I'm going to make sure that The Hermit says that at the start of every fight, no idea what it means but I'm sure it's perfectly civil.

We will have a demo out approximately end of the month, I'll let you guys know when it's released so you can give it a whirl. It is significantly different from Dominions (great game) and the AI is pretty unique, even if it still does some horribly stupid things from time to time.

Mandatory marketing links: IndieDB, Subreddit, Join our Mailing List
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
From their latest indiedb update:

Orders, Guilds, and Cabals


We've already seen how you can manipulate the various nations and states of the a That Which Sleepsscenario but there are also other factions that further complicate the world. Orders, Guilds, and Cabals exist throughout the world, headquartered in a POI and spreading their guildhouses, chapterhouses, and cells to other POIs. These international organizations pursue agendas, some of which are beneficial to you and many of which are not. Let's take a look at some of these.


Guilds

Guilds are the most common structures and pursue a single agenda based on their type, the Gold Coin(pictured above) is a Merchant Guild and wants to be in cities with a lot of trade. Guilds are able to grant you influence based on their type, a Merchant guild can give you a huge influence boost in a state that has a lot of trade. Guilds build guildhalls to expand and do so often, they do not coexist pleasantly with other guilds of the same type. Guild wars are a great way to cause large scale disruption of civic life, lowering stability without attracting attention your way.

Guilds come in four archetypes

  • Merchant- Favor Trade, help produce wealth
  • Underworld- Like cities with gold production, increase crime
  • Adventurer- Help train and recruit adventurers, improves relations with natons
  • Mages- Increases lore, allows easy research of spells
Guilds can be infiltrated easily as a Tier 2 Infiltration challenge, and once infiltrated provide a spy in every POI with that guild in it. An infiltrated guild can be Overthrown with a Tier 1 Infiltration challenge at theGuild Headquarters POI, resulting in the display above. Your decision on how to overthrow the Guild is important, the stronger your control the more suspicious it is and the more clues generated for heroes.Once in control of a Guild you will be able to determine what actions the Guild takes at certain intervals, or perform a Tier 1 infiltration challenge to immediately force an action. The longer you are in control of the guild, the lower the costs of taking the actions.


Orders

Orders are founded with specific Agendas in mind, and receive three of them that determine the general cause and abilities of the Order. This makes them far more malleable than Guilds, but also more powerful in the hands of your enemies. Orders are generally more difficult to infiltrate and overthrow than guilds, and do not have the same global spy infiltration bonus that Guilds do. However, an infiltratedChapterhouse of an order will lower order in that POI and give you support during any combat with heroes.

Agendas can be swapped out if you control the Order Headquarters, but causes suspicion and sends discontent through the order based on the number of Chapterhouses you have infiltrated. Own them all, however, and you can turn a Demon Hunting order of Paladins into the most feared Inquisitors on the continent. With the proper Ritual skills you can take the corruption even further.

Heroes join Orders and gain new classes and abilities from them, but if you are head of the order you can call a Grand Summit and bring all the heroes together. Good to distract them from a hunt, or possibly to lure them together to end a threat once and for all.


Cabals

Cabals
are the last of the independent organizations, and are the simplest but often most powerful. Cabalsare mystical organizations that support their particular Agenda, but mostly are landmarks for lore bonuses, gaining new spells, and quest points.

Infiltrating and Overthrowing a cabal can be difficult, requiring Ritual challenges but can be particularly rewarding for the Old One. You can direct spell research to something useful for your agents, summon powerful minions, or spread a devastating cell of the Cabal to a vulnerable POI.

Cabals, when independent, are often one of the stages for quests. Heroes may destroy the cabal, recruit them to the Alliance, or simply use them to gain magic items or spells.

Summary: We wanted to have some more fun ways to interact with the world that both round out the strategic options but also are extremely thematic. Infiltrating a thieves guild, turning them into an assassin's guild, and then recruiting a horde of murderers is FUN and that's all I need to know.

Personal Note: Finally all moved in to the permanent place in Austin, Texas - back to full time development.
 

Malakal

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
Messages
10,266
Location
Poland
Oh, researching spells is in? Hopefully you will be able to give dangerous dark magic spells to power hungry mortals and laugh as they consume themselves with them.
 

KingDinosaurGames

King Dinosaur Games
Patron
Developer
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
143
Location
Austin
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Oh, researching spells is in? Hopefully you will be able to give dangerous dark magic spells to power hungry mortals and laugh as they consume themselves with them.
You been reading our top secret design document?!?!? So their are certain areas where Heroes go to "learn spells", and yes... you can substitute one of those spells with one of your own design, it has to be powerful enough that they'd choose it so it will be useful to them but the drawbacks can be... amusing to say the least.
 

Malakal

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
Messages
10,266
Location
Poland
Oh, researching spells is in? Hopefully you will be able to give dangerous dark magic spells to power hungry mortals and laugh as they consume themselves with them.
You been reading our top secret design document?!?!? So their are certain areas where Heroes go to "learn spells", and yes... you can substitute one of those spells with one of your own design, it has to be powerful enough that they'd choose it so it will be useful to them but the drawbacks can be... amusing to say the least.

Well its a classic isnt it. Going for the usual "infernal dark power makes fine print contracts with ambitious mortals" cant be bad.
 

KingDinosaurGames

King Dinosaur Games
Patron
Developer
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
143
Location
Austin
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Oh, researching spells is in? Hopefully you will be able to give dangerous dark magic spells to power hungry mortals and laugh as they consume themselves with them.
You been reading our top secret design document?!?!? So their are certain areas where Heroes go to "learn spells", and yes... you can substitute one of those spells with one of your own design, it has to be powerful enough that they'd choose it so it will be useful to them but the drawbacks can be... amusing to say the least.

Well its a classic isnt it. Going for the usual "infernal dark power makes fine print contracts with ambitious mortals" cant be bad.

Agreed! Heroes have Willpower as well as Health - push their Willpower low enough and it affects their AI as well as their resistance to your dark entreaties. Bring them to 0 and you can drive them insane, or possibly corrupt them to your cause.
 

Cyberarmy

Love fool
Patron
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
8,451
Location
Smyrna - Scalanouva
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Hımm, this one sounds like Plague Inc. meets Middle Earth. With much more detailed gameplay of course. Gonna keep an eye on this one.
 

OSK

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
8,004
Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
If you're looking for a name, how about Dicksmash McIroncock?
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom