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Vapourware That Which Sleeps - Vaporware Strategy RP
- Thread starter Kem0sabe
- Start date
The "Old Ones" allow for a lot of freedom in their direction - while most of them remain conceptually aloof their are two that more "standard fantasy." One being a quick to awaken Orc God of War type, and the other being a former mortal.
They can also be very easily modded with the in-game editor, we can't legally put Sauron in but hey... someone else can!
They can also be very easily modded with the in-game editor, we can't legally put Sauron in but hey... someone else can!
Drax
Arcane
Well, that's why I'm asking for "a Dark Lord", not "the Lidless Eye". Good to know about the Orc God and the ascended mortal *and* modabilty though. Variety is good. And if the mortal ascended by way of undeath, you will get many shekels from me.
Take a look at our first Video DevLog, it should give you an idea of what Old Ones we're supporting in the initial demo. There are two more (a Lord of Death and an Old One that summons Avatars of himself) that will be in the final release.
Funny, I was about to suggest a video to give a proper feel for the game. Would be nice to have a higher quality mic but otherwise it's a good demonstration.
EDIT: Do those background picks also count as difficulty modifiers?
EDIT: Do those background picks also count as difficulty modifiers?
Last edited:
Monstrous Bat
Cipher
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
- Messages
- 638
So, when is the demo coming?
Background picks can absolutely impact the difficulty, we left it somewhat open like KoDP where there's an element of 'what exactly are the repercussions to this choice' .
Yeah that mic though - what the hell happend there, I just bought it and its total crap. I actually talked to our music guy yesterday and he told me what to buy so I am good to go, going to re-record Video 2 when I get it (though it's already in the hands of some sites).
As for the demo, we're working hard on getting that to a state we feel comfortable releasing while working with the videos. I'll be honest, adding in all the new GUI elements really destabilized a lot of the core elements of the game because as a Strategy game so much pivoted around the GUI - yes it looks a LOT better now and it is more functional but we may have errored in putting these in now instead of after the demo like we originally planned. So we're cranking it out, worst case it's going to be another month for the demo, best case I think two weeks.
The big question for us is, Kickstarter before or after the demo? Apparently if you wait beyond September your kickstarter is essentially doomed, so we may have to launch and release the demo halfway.
Yeah that mic though - what the hell happend there, I just bought it and its total crap. I actually talked to our music guy yesterday and he told me what to buy so I am good to go, going to re-record Video 2 when I get it (though it's already in the hands of some sites).
As for the demo, we're working hard on getting that to a state we feel comfortable releasing while working with the videos. I'll be honest, adding in all the new GUI elements really destabilized a lot of the core elements of the game because as a Strategy game so much pivoted around the GUI - yes it looks a LOT better now and it is more functional but we may have errored in putting these in now instead of after the demo like we originally planned. So we're cranking it out, worst case it's going to be another month for the demo, best case I think two weeks.
The big question for us is, Kickstarter before or after the demo? Apparently if you wait beyond September your kickstarter is essentially doomed, so we may have to launch and release the demo halfway.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 14,960
If you think you can reasonably mirror the games experience in the demo then defiantly before or along with the start of your kickstarter campaign.
This September, or any September?
haha, well apparently the stats are post September people have less money to spend due to looming Christmas spending, as well as major releases scheduled around that time.
I really know nothing about marketing, but I'm trying to follow along with the metrics of the various Postmortems people have posted. I would really... really... really... like to have the money to upgrade the Agent and Hero art assets, so we're trying to get in the Kickstarter in September if at all possible. We're looking at 12k as a budget for the art, which I'm optimistic about given the following we have.
I really know nothing about marketing, but I'm trying to follow along with the metrics of the various Postmortems people have posted. I would really... really... really... like to have the money to upgrade the Agent and Hero art assets, so we're trying to get in the Kickstarter in September if at all possible. We're looking at 12k as a budget for the art, which I'm optimistic about given the following we have.
InspectorRumpole
Prophet
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2010
- Messages
- 1,525
Btw will there be any random events that you will have to adjust to/exploit?
Cant imagine it otherwise, some uncertainty is required for games to be enjoyable.
Also speaking of events they should be numerous and varied, even game changing (perhaps as an option like in GalCiv). Since those types of games are ultimately glorified solitaire they should at least provide some unfair challenge coming from battling overwhelming odds.
"Events" are core to the game, and to an extent the majority of them are unpredictable in that they are chosen by the AI Leaders - figuring out how an AI leader will react to a situation based on his personality is extremely important to your strategy. In addition, Heroes launch Campaigns and Quests based on certain logic which may seem random - the results of which can range from minor to game changing. Reacting to the Heroes moves is another core component to the game, just as important as forcing them to react to yours.
More traditional random events also occur, though you will only be aware of them if you have infiltration where they are occurring or if they are sufficiently catastrophic.
One of the Old Ones, Belial, has the "Will over Fate" ability tree which allows him to perceive random events in advance, and as he wakens he can magnify or distort their effects and even change where they are occurring.
More traditional random events also occur, though you will only be aware of them if you have infiltration where they are occurring or if they are sufficiently catastrophic.
One of the Old Ones, Belial, has the "Will over Fate" ability tree which allows him to perceive random events in advance, and as he wakens he can magnify or distort their effects and even change where they are occurring.
When you're doing your KS, a stretch goal (or core goal) I'd be very interested in pledging for is "proper" random map generation. As far as I can tell, the current maps are generated with campaign cartographer or a similar tool. Even if it's moddable, you'll eventually run out of permutations of map-evil guy to play. Especially since many people (me at least) tend to stick to a narrow subset of abilities that mirror their preferred playstyle. If the game could generate a random landmass and fill it with random cities, guilds and people it'd add a lot of longevity for the game.
It's feasible, but I'm guessing we'd incur around 3-5k in art asset work - the technical work of building out a map from tiles is trivial but then the "genealogical" construction of a world requires so much testing and effort to get right. It would at best be a "after we release" feature, but I'll talk to my partner and see what he says.
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2004
- Messages
- 6,924
Since you're planning to run a KS to improve the game (art), are you looking at how D:OS or Serpent in the Staglands ran their campaigns? I'm worried that if you launch a KS and just say it's for art, you might have a hard time drawing people in.
Thanks for that link, looks like they had a similar scope (principally looking for art assets). I'm surprised I never heard of that game, looks right up my alley.
We will be presenting some hopefully appealing Stretch goals, mostly I want to get Gods, Religions, and Cults back in the game but the monetary and time investment is pretty large.
We will be presenting some hopefully appealing Stretch goals, mostly I want to get Gods, Religions, and Cults back in the game but the monetary and time investment is pretty large.
Kem0sabe
Arcane
More than a demo a great KS needs a great presentation in both their page and especially it's pitch video.
Spend the time on the video and it will be like cocaine for fantasy strategy fans
I think it'd add a lot of longevity. It's a problem that's been solved many times before (dwarf fortress springs to mind), so it's possible a copypaste of other peoples solutions could avoid many of the pitfalls of procedural map generation. Also "Procedurally generated, infinite maps, no two games the same!" etc. are good campaign buzzwords. 3-5k sounds reasonable enough for a stretch goal though. Something to strive for.
This is where events come into action. And perhaps adding random elements to the pre generated maps. Like nations - perhaps it will be possible to have other types of nations every game. Then there are events.
Changing the subject, will our Great Evil have competition? Some gods, perhaps other Evils?
The big three features that routinely come up that we had to cut are:
1) Random Map Generation / Genealogical Construction
2) Religion/Gods/Cults
3) Other Great Old Ones/Evil Competition
These all got stripped out early in development, because they're such "meaty" components to the game. They ABSOLUTELY would add a lot of value but it came down to what could be done with the savings we currently had.
I've love to see all three of these make it back into the game, and I talked with my partner and he agrees we should budget them out and present them as stretch goals. Even if these goals aren't met I hope I can somehow afford to get them in at a later date, it would definitely bring the game to the next level.
To specifically answer your question, as it stands you are the only Ancient Evil arising - while there are other "evil" powers none of them are on your level and they won't be competing to win the game, though they will be doing their best to fulfill their agendas - which usually involves burning civilized nations to the ground. Gods, and religions as a whole, couldn't make it into the game because of the complexity of what we wanted to accomplish. The ideas we had for the religion system are, I think, fantastic - and maybe if we spell them out we can rally enough support to be able to afford to implement them.
1) Random Map Generation / Genealogical Construction
2) Religion/Gods/Cults
3) Other Great Old Ones/Evil Competition
These all got stripped out early in development, because they're such "meaty" components to the game. They ABSOLUTELY would add a lot of value but it came down to what could be done with the savings we currently had.
I've love to see all three of these make it back into the game, and I talked with my partner and he agrees we should budget them out and present them as stretch goals. Even if these goals aren't met I hope I can somehow afford to get them in at a later date, it would definitely bring the game to the next level.
To specifically answer your question, as it stands you are the only Ancient Evil arising - while there are other "evil" powers none of them are on your level and they won't be competing to win the game, though they will be doing their best to fulfill their agendas - which usually involves burning civilized nations to the ground. Gods, and religions as a whole, couldn't make it into the game because of the complexity of what we wanted to accomplish. The ideas we had for the religion system are, I think, fantastic - and maybe if we spell them out we can rally enough support to be able to afford to implement them.
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