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KickStarter The Waylanders - historical fantasy time travel RPG inspired by Dragon Age: Origins

Feyd Rautha

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
1,935
Location
Nestled atop the cliffs
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
And it's funded! This game can probably bring something new to the table. It's a bit innovative with both setting and combat, one must recognise that at least.

So I'm positive.
 

kolakosky

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 23, 2018
Messages
19
Really happy to communicate this one :)

UPDATE #17 - 14 de nov de 2018

FUNDED!!! New stretch goals revealed

We are now funded! And we wouldn't have been able to do it without your amazing support!

We want to say just two words:
XYhumYM.png


But it's time to keep working, because there are two important days left! And we want to adjust our stretch goals. Emily have joined our team before we reached the stretch goal, and we also give you the first companion as a present for free. So, the next stretch goal was in $300,000. We adjusted it to… $160.000!
n0yINIv.png


Do you want to know more about Aunes? You already have the info on this update!

And we also want to reveal the next stretch goals:

8n3gYUL.png

Despite his youth, Heraklios is one of the best greek warriors, as good using sword as with his fists. Nobody wants to fight him in pancratio, sport where Heraklios is a brutal champion.

He’s a member of Salamina’s royal family and it’s said that he comes from Teucer’s lineage.

Following the known idea that superheroes are the gods and heroes in a modern mythology, Heraklios is obsessed with greek legends in the same way a modern “freak” would be with Star Wars or superhero comics. During his childhood his parents told him classic greek histories, making him an absolute fan of these legends, being the Trojan Cycle his favorite saga. He could recite from memory all the ships and warriors who joined in the trojan siege, or spend hours in an argument about who would be the winner in a fight between Hercules and Achilles.

He is also obsessed with collecting things related with his favorite legends; his most valuable belonging is a replica of Achilles’ shield, decorated just like the one described in the Iliad. He does not use the shield in battle to keep it intact, in the same way a collector today would never open the package of a rare action figure.

His biggest dream is to get the glory in combat and become an equal to the mythological heroes he admires.

When a group of greek soldiers comes to Brigantia he joins them to follow the steps of his ancestor and go to the land where Teucer spent his last years.

As Brigantia is now in siege, Heraklios finds some kind of similarity with the trojan war and thinks this is the great battle where he can find the fame he is looking for.

URKvXKv.png

p2NfNL2.png

We'll reveal more information about Mal and Khaldun soon!

These three characters will add hours of play to The Waylanders! We want to remind you the important role of the companions in The Waylanders:

Companions are important characters that can join your party, and that you can have close relations with. They’ll provide you with more hours of gameplay, since they have their own character quests (these will have a similar format to Mass Effect’s loyalty missions). If you have a close relationship with them, you will get further quests and they’ll become an important part of your gameplay experience.

So, more companions means more time to enjoy The Waylanders!

Thank you again for your huge support. We'll do our best to unlock the new stretch goals!

Still 48 hours left to go, more info @ Kickstarter
 

The Wall

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Zionist Agent
Joined
Jul 19, 2017
Messages
3,018
Location
SERPGIA
kolakosky Congratulations on funding! Honestly I'm skeptical of your team's chances to deliver fun game and good, engaging RPG but still wish you all the best, your campaign funds to streeetch all the way to the last stretch goal and ofc that my scepticism is misplaced. I issue you a challenge: prove my doubt wrong!

Also I'd like to draw your team's attention toward an opportunity. Opportunity which in less then 24h might be missed. Mutually beneficial opportunity which could help your and another Kickstarter campaign to reach more stretch goals. I'm talking about Codex's RPG darling - Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen and its fight to reach at least 2 additional stretch goals.

It's an attempt to forge ULTIMATE RPG tm using all the best and signiture components from best RPG classics, using modified 3.5 D&D ruleset and adding its own mechanical and story twist to it. Campaign description and video are much better sellers then I am ;)

Shout out, mention at the bottom of next update, twitter recommendation or porque no los tres! Any or all of it would help in these very last deciding Kickstarter hours.

Such noble gesture toward another Kickstarter bro and RPG companrade won't go unnoticed by Codexers and might streeeetch my and quite few more wallets wide enough so that meaty pledge(s) would drop into your money pool. Why not have 2 Inclines in making?
:smug:
I'm convinced that Ceres Games won't owe you, and will turn the attention of their almost 2,500 backers back at you, in return!

I'd travel back in time to golden Kickstarter era when your 2 projects would easily earn a million each. Since I can't do that the least I could is hook up agh I mean connect you two. Such opportunity is too good to be passed. Just...kiss already and we'll throw money at you, ok!
:positive:
Form Pile of Money formation!
:takemymoney::takemymoney::takemymoney:
 
Last edited:

kolakosky

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 23, 2018
Messages
19
The Wall thanks for your kind words, we promise we will give our best to deliver a good RPG, make every backer proud and put more codexers/buddies into #teamWaylanders some day. About that collaboration proposal, thats a nice idea but it wasn't possible in the end, anyway you might wanna know we have half-dozen Realms Beyond backers within our office (and in the opposite side is the same, they back us), it was really unfortunate that we clash during our KS campaigns, but I guess that misfortune lead both projects to give an extra-effort during the campaigns and both succeeded which is the real deal.

Reinhardt One of the companions announced (Mal), which is IMO the most interesting character, is a female one... I'm not sure if she's your kind, but you can take a look ;)
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Mal is a monster hunter, specialized in hunting 'cursed' people, that is, people possessed by a demon. This demon flees once its host dies and looks for a new one, therefore Mal has been chasing the same evil spirit throughout the whole Celtic nation, finally arriving to Brigantia.

She is missing one eye and its socket is covered in Mourian gold paint. In this magical socket she can place either a Mourian eye or the eye of any creature, whose last memories she can see if said creature is dead. These last memories are usually distorted depending on how the creature perceived its surroundings at the time of death. For example, in case of a violent one, the attacker would appear as a demon and the surroundings eerily unsettling.
 

kolakosky

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 23, 2018
Messages
19
12 hours to go!

Update #18

15 Nov 2018

Last 24 hours! Stretch goal unlocked and more info

90d803e3f9bd4d2716accc79ae90d3d4_original.png


Yeah! We achieved the next goal! Aunes is now unlocked and this location will be available in The Waylanders!

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You can read more info about Aunes on this update.

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And now, let's try to unlock the next stretch goal: the companion called Heraklios!

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650296fc5c0a726de3a680deaa5fde92_original.png

In case you missed it, we revealed info about Heraklios in the previous update.

Mal and Khaldun
These two companions will add hours of gameplay to The Waylanders. Also, they will provide with a great variety of situations. Heraklios, Mal and Khaldun will have full detailed personalities, and clearly contrasted between them. If you want to know more about Mal and Khaldun, just keep reading!

ab93675a7b290ec81a7e14449a1577a5_original.png

650296fc5c0a726de3a680deaa5fde92_original.png

Mal is a monster hunter, specialized in hunting 'cursed' people, that is, people possessed by a demon. This demon flees once its host dies and looks for a new one, therefore Mal has been chasing the same evil spirit throughout the whole Celtic nation, finally arriving to Brigantia.

She is missing one eye and its socket is covered in Mourian gold paint. In this magical socket she can place either a Mourian eye or the eye of any creature, whose last memories she can see if said creature is dead. These last memories are usually distorted depending on how the creature perceived its surroundings at the time of death. For example, in case of a violent one, the attacker would appear as a demon and the surroundings eerily unsettling.

28bb1705f997dbc97833d84a08f70fd6_original.png

650296fc5c0a726de3a680deaa5fde92_original.png

Khaldun is an ambitious man, with grey ethics and moral. He has come to Brigantia to complete his training with a Celtic druid.

In Egypt, Khaldun used to practice death magic, and he is surprised by the bad reputation it has in the Celtic society. His lack of understanding makes him arrogant and condescending, and he sees the Celtic culture as one riddled with absurd superstitions that do nothing but slow down his studies.


That's all folks, let's try to unlock more stretch goals to improve The Waylanders!
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
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Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Yeah that's weird. You'd think they would have used him to juice up pledges during the middle of the campaign or at the end. Did the deal with him fall through at the last minute?
 

Feyd Rautha

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
1,935
Location
Nestled atop the cliffs
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Yeah that's weird. You'd think they would have used him to juice up pledges during the middle of the campaign or at the end. Did the deal with him fall through at the last minute?
Or maybe they knew that they would have to reach at least 250k in pledges to be able to afford him (or something like that). And since they probably realised quite early on that they would never come near that sum they just scrapped the idea. Or what do you think the standard MCA freelance remuneration is?
I don't know what they thought but Gato Studios probably hoped to reach 300k or something. But I agree that they could probably have boosted the incoming pledges by invoking his name in the marketing. Some clarification would be nice.

I don't know what MCA:s role was supposed to be but if the deal was to hire him for a year or something they would need to hoist up some dough.
 

HoboForEternity

sunset tequila
Patron
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
9,175
Location
Disco Elysium
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Well, this is interesting. Sure the source inspiration arent exactly inspiring game, but aim low, get higher, right?

Anyway on a more serious note, this legit looks interesting, will keep up with the news.
 

Feyd Rautha

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
1,935
Location
Nestled atop the cliffs
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Anyway it got funded yesterday and stopped at $168,999. They will continue collecting pledges through paypal and the incoming funds will count towards the remaining stretch goals.

THANK YOU and Paypal

The Waylanders Kickstarter campaign is over! It has been an exciting, enriching and quite hardcore experience and we can’t thank you enough for all your amazing support. To all of you who backed us, but also to the ones that shared our project or message us and send us your love and support.

So far, we have unlocked the following stretch goals:
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Emily was an early unlock!
PAYPAL
But this is far from over! Many people have requested an alternative way to support us via Paypal, so we have put together one for that purpose. Also, just so you know, any pledge received via Paypal will also count toward reaching the Kickstarter stretch goals! (surprise!)

You can pledge via Paypal here:

http://thewaylanders.com/paypal

Some rewards were limited and exclusive for Kickstarter backers, so we won't offer them anymore.

STRETCH GOALS
So, with Paypal opened, you can still help us to unlock these stretch goals! Share the link with your friends and help us to unlock more content!

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We hope you have enjoyed the Kickstarter ride, but we aware, our journey is far from over! During the following months you will receive often updates on the project and we’ll keep you posted with new information. Stay tuned!

And again, from all the team...

73d340ae70d22fffb3b9fceabe694f08_original.png
 

Heretic

Cipher
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Messages
844
So just out of curiosity, who is this Emily Grace Buck?
A former Telltale writer, "she/her, bi" who tweets about "life under a capitalist economy" and the freeing revelations of "non-exclusive romantic arrangements".
:prosper:
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2371233

New stretch goal unlocked!
Posted by Gato Salvaje (Creator)


Greetings backers!
We have an important announcement: Paypal pledge is already active and… we reached the next stretch goal!

db5b50a7e6d12bea03da2cccb8947683_original.png

650296fc5c0a726de3a680deaa5fde92_original.png

So, Heraklios will be available in the game as a companion!

If you don’t remember Heraklios’ background, here it is:

Despite his youth, Heraklios is one of the best greek warriors, as capable fighting with his sword as he is with his bare hands. Nobody wants to fight him in pancratio, sport Heraklios is a brutal champion of.

He’s a member of Salamina’s royal family and it’s said that he comes from Teucer’s lineage.

Following the idea that superheroes are the gods and heroes of the modern mythology, Heraklios is obsessed with greek legends in the same way a modern geek would be with Star Wars or superheroe comics. During his childhood his parents told him classic greek histories, making him an absolute fan of these legends, being the Trojan Cycle his favorite saga. He could recite from memory all the ships and warriors who joined in the trojan siege, or spend hours in an argument about who would be the winner in a fight between Hercules and Achilles. He is a greek geek!

He is also obsessed with collecting things related with his favorite legends; his most valuable belonging is a replica of Achilles’ shield, decorated just like the one described in the Iliad. He does not use this shield in battle though, to keep it intact, in the same way a collector today would never open the package of a rare action figure.

His biggest dream is to achieve glory in combat and become an equal to the mythological heroes he admires.

When a group of greek soldiers comes to Brigantia he joins them to follow the steps of his ancestor and visit the land where Teucer spent his last years.

As Brigantia is now in siege, Heraklios sees some kind of similarity with the trojan war and thinks this is the great battle where he can find the fame he is looking for.

Pledge manager
In a few days our Paypal campaign will be over and at that point we’ll open the pledge manager on BackerKit. When it gets activated, you’ll receive an email with more information so you can select the rewards and add-ons you have acquired. We’ll also notify you through an update, in case someone misses our email.

Mike Laidlaw
Some of you have asked us about the recent news on Mike Laidlaw, who has joined Ubisoft as a Creative Director on an unannounced project. So, a couple of things on this:

First things first, we are super happy for Mike and we would like to congratulate him on this amazing new step in his career! We are excited about the amazing projects that he is going to make!

Second, you’ll be happy to know this will not affect in any way the development of The Waylanders. After 1 year of closely working with Mike on both the pre-production and the pre-alpha, his work in our project is done! As a consultant, he has contributed in many ways: he has laid down the base for the entire story of The Waylanders. He has also helped us figure out production, organization and he has provided us with fresh ideas to create a really innovative RPG. For all of this, thank you, Mike!

In any case, this doesn't mean that Mike has completely abandoned the Waylanders project. As he mentioned in his official statement, he just won't be able to collaborate with us full time. In his own words: “I won’t be able to work with them full time, but I firmly believe they are in great hands now that Emily Grace Buck has joined the team and is taking over many of the parts I was handling”.

In regards of the development of the rest of the story, Emily Grace Buck, Josué Monchán and our secret (for now) top notch scriptwriter are hard at work on it and we are super excited about how promising all of it already looks. We cannot wait to tell you more in future updates!

Oh! And happy holidays from the Gato Studio team!

Chris Avellone still a secret.
 

Xeon

Augur
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,858
I hope it will be good.

I think I only played 3 games with time travel, The Chornos games and Radiant Historia I think, loved them. Will be great if they could make something good or even decent.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2399970

New race info & pledge manager
Posted by Gato Salvaje (Creator)


Hi everyone!

We are setting up the pledge manager with a trusted and experienced company called BackerKit. Most of you will surely know it if you've previously backed other campaigns on Kickstarter. So we'll notify you when The Waylanders pledge manager is available.

Meanwhile, we want to show you one more race from The Waylanders: Humans. Enjoy reading!

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Humans are the most common race in The Waylanders, and they are also by far the most diverse.

There is no one human culture or way of life. Among the humans, there are multiple types of governments, societies that reflect varying cultural mores, different religions, starkly opposed values, and opinions as numerous as the waves on the sea.

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As a trading hub and a culture known for its openness, Brigantia reflects humanity’s beautiful diversity. You will meet human characters in the game who represent many nationalities, sexualities, ethnicities, and beliefs. Their personalities and ethics will be fiercely individual, but always informed by their personal histories and cultural identities, just as with humans in our world.

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Many of the humans you meet in the game will have deeply personal connections to their land, from belief in magicks particular to the natural wonders of their hometown, to a violent desire to protect the home of their ancestors.

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If you choose to play as a Human in The Waylanders, you can pick between one of four different origins. Each origin will have an associated stat boost.

Let's take a look to these four origins:

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Celtic Soldier
The Celtic soldier has been training in the ways of combat since they were a teen. They grew up in the Celtic culture and faith, but spent their early adulthood traveling around the world as a mercenary. During that time, they gained knowledge about other cultures and fighting styles that has made them more open to different ideas, good at cross-cultural negotiations, and very valuable on the battlefield. They’re now an honored, decorated member of King Ith’s personal guard.

If you play as a Celtic soldier, at the beginning of the game, you’ve been asked by King Ith to protect him and assist him during his meeting with the Tuatha de Danaan. The chance to guard your kind is an enormous honor that you’ve been working towards for your entire career.

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Celtic Druid
The Celtic druid is deeply ensconced in the Celtic culture. Born with a natural aptitude for magick, they were sent to the druidic circle in Dumbriga when they were a small child in order to develop their skills. The other druids at the circle are their main family and cultural touchstone. They’ve become a respected and valued scholar, known for their devotion to the Celtic faith, and their ability to wield the natural elements. The trees, the stones, the birds, and the sea are as alive and important to them as other people. Their understanding of other cultures and religions might be severely lacking due to their focus specifically on the Celtic ways.

If you play as a Celtic druid, you’ve been brought along on King Ith’s journey to meet with the Tuatha de Danaan as a representative of the Celtic faith and way of life. It is the first time you’ve left Dumbriga as an adult- but the chance to meet your gods, the Tuatha, is an absolute dream come true.

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Egyptian
Since the beginning of time, Brigantia has been deeply connected to Egypt. The two societies have traded goods and culture for as long as anyone can remember, and many Egyptians reside in Brigantia. Queen Escota herself was born in Egypt, and openly follows the Egyptian religion. A few years ago, Queen Escota and Prince Lugaid made a diplomatic visit to Egypt, and met the Egyptian player character. The Prince offered them a position in his entourage, and they have been traveling with him ever since as a trusted advisor and friend. Though the Egyptian is far from home, they may still follow the Egyptian religion, and believe in the Egyptian magicks- providing offerings to their gods, keeping a deep reverence towards death, and believing in the Egyptian afterlife. Conversely, they may have fully accepted the Celtic religion and way of life. Or, they may do a little of both, like many Egyptian immigrants. That’s up to you.

If you play as an Egyptian, you’re joining Lugaid and his father, King Ith, on their visit to the Tuatha de Danaan. Your unique point of view is seen as deeply important to the negotiations, since you are one of the few people on the voyage who may see the Tuatha de Danaan as humans instead of gods.

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Greek Scythian Mercenary
Brigantia has recently begun trading with some regions of Greece, especially Scythia. When he was a young teenager, Prince Lugaid was sent to Scythia to study their advanced combat tactics. The Scythian player character is his instructor from his time there. The Scythian believes strongly in the glory of battle, and has years of training in the art of war. They specialize in the shield & spear fighting style typical of Greece, but are also extremely proficient with a bow and arrow, and are known for being one of the best skirmishers in the world. Everything they know about Celtic culture and society has come second-hand from Prince Lugaid- this is their first time ever visiting Brigantia. So, they have very little personal connection to the Celtic religion or way of life, and may find it rather odd compared to their own.

If you play as a Scythian, you have traveled all the way from Greece at the request of King Ith on his to meet the Tuatha de Danaan. Ith is paying you handsomely, because he knows you’re one of the best fighters in the world, and he trusts you completely. He also knows that you won’t be intimidated by the Tuatha, as you don’t see them as gods.

Which one of the four human origins do you prefer? Share your feedback in the comments!
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
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Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2442801

Weapons, Backerkit and... PAX East!
Posted by Gato Salvaje (Creator)


Greetings adventurers,

We have some news and announcements. Here we go!

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If you followed the previous updates, you'll know about the three exclusive weaponsincluded in the +$80 reward tiers:

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Well, the weapons have gone from concept art to finished 3D models. And this is the result!

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Werewolf bow

Werewolves represent the traditional way to craft a weapon, as they scavenge and combine present-in-nature materials. In this particular case, the bow is made with antlers.

Werewolf weapons are usually finished with some leather, ropes, and even metallic ornaments. They intentionally paint these weapons with dark colors to give off a rougher vibe.

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Mourian sword

Mourian weapons provide a counterpoint to the werewolves' style. They use smoother shapes and elegant ornaments to embellish their weapons. Gold and precious metals reflect the power and wealth of this race. They fight with style!

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Fomorian rod

Intimidation and strength are the best words to describe Fomorian weapons. Given their limited access to quality materials, they mostly use bones as a base for combat-oriented objects.

They’ve perfected the art of bone-carving, and for good reason; animal skulls and feet are a good way to make durable and devastating weapons.

BACKERKIT & PLEDGE MANAGER
We are working hard to find the best shipping option. Not only to find good prices, but also to guarantee a good service.

Also, we've prepared the pledge manager platform with Backerkit.

For technical reasons, the platform doesn't allow us to send you the pledge manager until we include the shipping costs and charge the payments. So, unfortunately we have to wait for a while to collect the info with the pledge manager. But don't worry, this only means you'll receive the link for the pledge manager later, and will change nothing in practice :)


PAX EAST @ BOSTON
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We have great news. We are proud to announce that The Waylanders will be one of the featured projects in the Kickstarter booth at PAX East! We are very grateful for their confidence in our Project.

So, we'll be at Boston from March 28th to 31st, 4-6pm in the Kickstarter booth. If you are at PAX East, we invite you to try our playable pre-alpha demo! Don't miss this oportunity to be one of the first people who plays The Waylanders!
 

Jimmious

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 18, 2015
Messages
5,132
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I like how there is "Celtic Soldier", "Celtic Druid", "Greek Scythian Mercenary" and... Egyptian.
Because Egyptian is a nationality AND a class.

"Wow look at him, he is good with the sword! Is he a fighter or something?"
"No, he is... EGYPTIAN"
:eek:
 

Infinitron

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Jan 28, 2011
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https://www.onlysp.com/waylanders-interview/

How Waylanders Aims to Exceed Expectations — An Interview With Gato Studio

When brothers Fernando and Sergio Prieto set up Spanish studio Gato Salvaje, they had an idea to make an RPG with a twist called The Waylanders. Their game would have lore just as complex and intricate as the best of the genre, but it would also seek to innovate, both narratively and in terms of gameplay, expanding on pre-existing ideas to build something with a unique focus.

This vision was not possible for them at first, but eventually, with the aid of a successful Kickstarter campaign and a lot of help from both their team and famous figures in the industry, it is coming to fruition. OnlySP caught up with the pair to discuss their start in gaming, their idea for The Waylanders, and much more.

BEGINNINGS
Of the pair, Sergio was the avid gamer from a young age and was keen on the idea of making video games very early on. Nevertheless, Fernando admitted that he definitely had a role in fostering that ambition. “I am guilty that he got to design video games because I convinced our family to let him study animation and 3D design. I personally never expected to be involved in the video gaming industry, but I think for Sergio, for all his life, he was trying to design games.”

“I began to create games as an amateur at 12,” explained Sergio, following up on Fernando’s comment. “It’s interesting because my brother and I have come full circle. He introduced me to gaming since he let me play my first video games on his computer, and then when I built the company he was working for a big bank. It was curious because he introduced me to gaming, and later I brought him into the company. He placed the first stone for it when I was 11 or 12.”

Needless to say, they were both big gamers, but the idea of starting a company in their native Spain was a challenging one, and the timing was not great either, as Fernando explained. “I always thought it was a good industry to work in, but not in Spain because there isn’t a big scene here. We have nice companies making good video games but our industry is not as big as the industry in the UK or in France or Canada, so it’s more difficult always to produce games and to take them to the market.


“I remember very well when the conversation was; it was when I went to take Sergio to the airport. In that moment he told me he wanted to create a company. It was 2009, so I told him he was crazy because it was in the middle of the financial crisis, and everything was very difficult, not just making games. Even despite that he didn’t pay any attention to what I was saying and he created a company anyway!”

Soon Fernando decided to help his brother out and use his experience in the finance industry to help make the company more viable. “One thing is to develop video games, another thing is to be an entrepreneur and to manage a company,” said Fernando. “It was a very good mix because now we have the managing and the creative aspect together through both of us. It was difficult to get to this point where we are developing a big project for us, and a big project in Spain like The Waylanders, especially since in today’s market it’s very difficult to get renown for the small games that you might create. It was a path, and we learned step by step, but it wasn’t planned at all. We learned it the hard way, but I think that’s the best way to learn.”

CRAFTING THE WAYLANDERS
The Waylanders is a big project, and so the brothers had to work their way to it, even though it had been in their heads for a long time. Other, smaller projects came first. “Ark is a point-and-click adventure game, and, in the beginning of the company, point-and-click adventures were an easy choice because my previous jobs and studies are from animation, so I selected a genre without most of the programming part,” Sergio told us. “Waylanders is more about all the things we want to put in a video game when we started the company. We first learnt, as Fernando said, how to do video games, and right now is where we feel that we’re in the right moment to try to tell the great story that we have in our mind.”

Since Ark, the company has expanded significantly, growing from a very small team to one more suited to designing and releasing bigger games, as Fernando said. “When we were developing Ark, there were seven or eight people in the company, and we realised that to survive in the video gaming industry we had to grow. It was very difficult to survive without growing because we need to make bigger games to actually get anywhere. I saw a graph at GDC that said that in 2016, more than 80% of the games were below the $19 tier in terms of their retail price, but 80% of the money is made in the $20 above tier. So where would you rather be? Small games and small money, or big games and big money.

“Obviously we thought we had to be in the latter, we had to design and develop a bigger game. Also, because of that, we had the idea for the Waylanders game. We know that RPGs are in a very good moment in the market, there are a lot of gamers that want more RPG stories. In that moment we didn’t even have enough people to hire in our region so what we did was we talked with the local government, and we convinced them to make courses and give information for the people to learn to design video games.”


This was no easy task, and took a lot of cajoling and persuading, but eventually, they managed to get somewhere. “We made the courses, we phoned more than 60 people, and we selected them from the best CVs that we received,” said Fernando. “After that we selected from those 60 people the 24 that we hired for the company. At the end, there were people had never designed a video game but many of them had the right training. They were programming engineers, artists, they were animators, and we told them ‘you can do it if we practice a lot, if we design a good production pipeline, we can do it.’

“In the end we also hired a lot of experienced people as well, in order to help those that are new become very good developers. Nowadays, we have those 24 people that we found in the company, and the rest of the company is made up of more experienced people that have been developing video games for years, so we have a mix of experience and I think it’s working. Especially because everyone who came to make video games with us are so involved in the project. They are so happy developing video games, and you can see that in the game that we’re making.”

With recent developments in video game studios like Telltale and Rockstar around overwork of employees, the brothers are confident that their team is large enough and also has enough time to complete any tasks they have at hand.

“I was very proud because we reached the pre-Alpha demo without any need of crunch. It’s not easy, but in my point of view the people that work happy end up producing a better game. I think that at this moment we don’t have any problems with that,” said Sergio, and Fernando agreed.
WHAT IS THE WAYLANDERS?
So what is the game? It is clearly an RPG on an epic scale, and one that will be crammed with rich lore and a plethora of options for the player. Sergio explained that the story is based on the brothers’ homeland, Galicia. “Waylanders was born because we travelled around Galicia, as well as a good part of England and Ireland,” explained Sergio. “There is a very good background and history. It’s a very beautiful environment. Our land is very special because it is known as Celtic, but it is not one of the Celtic nations, yet we still have a lot of Celtic legends here. There is a lot of magic and mystery in the legends, so we thought a lot about what we can discuss in an RPG. Obviously it’s a very fresh mythology.”

Fernando expanded upon that basis with some more historical context about the medieval setting. “We knew about the story, where it was going to be set and that it was going to use Lebor Gabála Érenn, an Irish book that talks about how the kingdom of Ireland was created in around 500 BCE. It’s a story that tells us about how people from Galicia went to Ireland, so we thought it would be cool to look at that. It is a story that certainly hasn’t been told in video games before, and even hasn’t been touched by cinema, and it involved a lot of magic, a lot of mythology, a lot of fantastical creatures. We thought it was something that would be good to explore be in an RPG, and that’s when we began to grow our idea that could be the perfect idea. The perfect story for the game.”

“The main thing I wanted to talk about in the story was magic and its relationship with religion as two major forces in the game, will be two forces that can’t be together, there is a conflict” added Sergio.

This conflict between magic and religion extends through more than one time period, and as such the game will also explore other relationships and track how they progress through multiple ages, using a take on Celtic legend to allow players to travel through time, Fernando explained. “We wanted to introduce something that makes the narrative very interesting, which is the idea of reincarnation: a major concept for the Celts. They can be reincarnated, and your main character will have to wake them up in the future, in the medieval ages. They can be completely different from what they were in the Celtic period but they will remember who they were so you could be a big warrior in the Celtic period and a housekeeper in the middle ages, for example. This is something we wanted to explore so we can look at all contradictions inside the character in the different periods. We wanted to dive deep into that aspect, and I think it’s going to be quite enjoyable to discover that part of the game as a player.”


What of the antagonist? Understandably, both Fernando and Sergio are coy, but Fernando did offer a little more background. “I think that the most important thing is that the characters at the very beginning will feel that strength and energy, but the bad guys will possess a dark energy that will change people and go through their characters, changing their history. The first thing that they will feel as a character is that the story is not on the correct path, and the main characters will need to fix that. The reason that we went to the Middle Ages is because all that strange energy comes from that moment, an energy that started in the Middle Ages that wants to change the past.”

Fernando’s explanation alluded to quite a complex, intricate story, and, to make sure it did not get out of hand, they sought someone out to help to reel the story in and allow it to maintain its epic sensibility while remaining intelligible. That person, initially, was ex-BioWare creative director Mike Laidlaw. Fernando explained how he came to be involved in the project:

“Five minutes after we heard about Mike resigning from BioWare at the end of 2017, he had an offer from us. He participated in our first crowdfunding campaign in 2013, and we had his private email so we sent him an offer and we explained to him what we wanted to do. After that it was very easy to convince him; we were in fact told by Mike when he first came to our city in January that he loved to see that everyone was so involved in the game, and we are very proud to have the opportunity to work with him because he has a lot of experience when building a game like this and has helped us to design the high-level narrative, which is very important because when you have that you can concentrate on developing it rather than making sure it doesn’t get out of control.”


“He helped us a lot to simplify the ideas we had in that moment. So he took the whole thing and helped us to focus in the things that were special and to clean the things that would be best. He was very involved, and without him the story wouldn’t be the same. A lot of him is in it,” added Sergio.

Not only has Laidlaw joined the team, but noted Telltale alumnus Emily Grace Buck, who has led narrative design in the likes of Telltale’s Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy series, also took a shine to the idea and has joined the team too, with the help of Kickstarter backers. While Laidlaw will be focused on high-level narrative, Buck will add meat to the bones of a vital aspect of any RPG: the character interactions and interpersonal relationships. “Emily is a specialist in romantic relations as a writer and we want that in the game, someone more concentrated in interpersonal relationships to give a deeper element to that aspect,” said Fernando. “She has helped with all of the close interactions, because right now we have all the epic stuff, but Emily had allowed us to explore the characters more deeply and go closer in,” added Sergio.

Another crucial part of any RPG is the gameplay, which allows the player to delve into the intricate lore woven for them. Originally, the gameplay was not too different from some major titles in the genre, but soon Sergio had come up with an innovative mode for combat and started to formulate a large part of the gameplay around that.

“Our first objective was to have fast gameplay. We wanted to have a combat pause option, so you can pause the game and have all the time you want for the choices you want to make, but when you turn it off the game will be very fast. We wanted slow to decide, but fast to see how your decisions affect the game. So in that view the game is pretty fast.

“The combat formations, the tactical point of view […] are more tactical than is normal for the genre. The combat formations I think are original. I can’t think of a reference; only games like Baldur’s Gate that has formations from a position point of view, but this form that you can take your character and form a phalanx with the others and that phalanx is very powerful, I think our game is unique from that point of view.”

The game does not only focus solely on combat in gameplay terms. It also has a complex system of dialogue choices that do not play out quite like one would expect, as Sergio also explained. “We don’t have a system of morality for the choices. We will have more like a system of perks, like when you are talking […] you will have a lot of choices during the game and those choices will affect the companions, not from a moral point of view, more depending on their personality and situation. It will affect how they react to things. Another thing we wanted to do is more similar to something like Mass Effect, which explored it well. Companions’ loyalty missions. The closer you are to a character, the more loyalty missions you will receive. It will be impossible in the game, in one playthrough, to play all the loyalty missions, because some decisions will make it so that some characters are not as close to you than others, but our intention is not to have characters that have problems with you, but to explore all the loyalty missions you need to be close friends with your companions.”

KICKSTARTER AND FAN RESPONSE
The Kickstarter campaign for The Waylanders raised USD $168,999 over its duration, allowing the team to hire Buck and also providing valuable resources to develop the game. Fernando told OnlySP that although it was at times a taxing process, he would not have done it any other way.

“We wanted to try on Kickstarter from the very beginning, not only to make money, though it’s good for that, but also to help to validate our idea. You receive a lot of feedback from your potential players, and, if you analyse it well, you receive a lot of very useful information for your development. Obviously another characteristic of Kickstarter is that it lets you build an audience, which is important because we want to make a game that people love. If you want to do that, you cannot go to your tower, develop your game, and release it to the market in two years without checking-in with the audience once. You have to be close to the public, close to the gamers, and talk with them, hear what they have to say, and be able to adapt some things about your game if you realise that they are not working very well.


“I think it’s good for the project and I think we are very happy at the moment because many of the innovations that we are using in the game are very well received. Now they are mad at us because we don’t say much about the story! That’s good, they want more from us! And we will give you more, but step by step!”

The game is still a long way away, but Fernando is already sure of the kind of experience he wants fans to have with it. “A role play game is a big story, usually it’s over 40 hours of playing, and hopefully enjoying, the game. If after they finish the game they want more, or if they feel that they want more games like this, we will feel very happy. Hopefully, we will have some humour in the game, some excitement, plot twists, all of that. You need to have a mix of everything.

It’s not just an epic game, it’s not only about fighting, it’s not only about battles. You need more, you need conversations, you need to fall in love with your companions. It’s a mix of all that. It’s like life, sometimes you’re happy, sometimes you’re sad, sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. It has to be the same. We are trying to mix the best writers and best people to give players a fully-rounded experience, and hopefully we will be able to do it.”

The Waylanders is currently projected for release in Q1 or Q2 of 2020 on Steam, and may appear at a later date on consoles. The game’s pre-Alpha demo showcased at select conferences in late 2018. For updates on the game’s progress, you can check out the Kickstarter page here.
 

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