The devs state:
The game will be available for Windows, Mac and Linux for $12.99/£9.99 with a -10% launch discount. We’ll be adding modding support in the form of a campaign editor, which we’re hoping to release very soon after the game is out.
Perhaps most excitingly, they’ve released a new launch trailer. Ordinarily, those things are released at, you know, launch–but I won’t fault them for jumping the proverbial gun a bit:
The narrative premise:
Discord reigns far and wide throughout the lands of Borealis. Ancient alliances have crumbled, while new pacts have been forged. Clans are locked in a battle for power and supremacy as the factions wage war over the valuable resource Crystellum, rare crystals that have been infused with the power of the Magi.
…
Battle through the campaign from the perspective of either faction, or take your army online to clash with enemies, vying to become the true champion. War is here. Are you ready?
Empyrios features eight different races, and will have 40 different units total. (The Math Fairy tells me that this means each race will get something like five distinct unit types to play with.)
Combat is turn-based and hex-based. Each character has 3 abilities, all with a varying ‘power’ cost, and each turn they regenerate a small amount of health/power.
Empyrios is planned to ship with two campaigns, one for each of the two factions (the “Mystic Covenant” and the “Shadowlord Pact”) in the storyline. Woynillowicz states that the campaigns each show a different side of the same narrative, and that they’ll require different strategies to succeed.
Empyrios is planned for release for iPad, Windows and Mac sometime in the latter half of this year.
Specifically, Spanish developers Numantian Games have made the beta version available with pre-order of the game–however, at $45, it’s a bit on the pricey side. Windows only for now.
Indie developer Pyrodactyl Games recently provided me with a pre-release build of Unrest, a wRPG based in a sort of mythological version of ancient India. I’ve been intrigued by the sound of this one for some time, so naturally, I gave it a first look. Here is what I found:
My thoughts?
It’s been a few weeks since our last Back to Back–let’s see what’s new in the world of indie RPG crowdfunding!
Of the games we posted about last time, Beloved Rapture, Omori, Shiness and Witchmarsh met or surpassed their funding goals; Celestial Tear: Demon’s Revenge, Deadrock Divide, and Endless Fantasy The Goddess Story were not so lucky. (I’m still surprised that Deadrock Divide didn’t make it, frankly–I’m not sure what to make of that.)
As for new projects, things seem to have calmed down from previous months, but we definitely have a few promising ones in search of funding and glory! (Mostly funding, really.)
The narrative premise:
You are a local peasant (Edmond) from a small village called Mosscroft. Everyday seems ordinary and dull until you are set on a mission by the village noble which leads to unexpected adventures.
He is given the task to travel to the neighboring village called Fairbridge to find new seeds for sowing. Eager to find some change in his life he gladly accept the task; anything to get away from the farming shores and errands. However, Edmond quickly realizes that life is not so easy on the road. Bandits raid the country side, attacking supply caravans and unproven travelers. He must build up his skills if he is to survive in this unforgiving world…
Medieval Story features isometric graphics, an open world, non-linear progression and branching dialog. So far, so wRPG. However, Medieval Story does not feature experience points or levels; progression occurs through buying better equipment and finding hidden buffs and abilities scattered throughout the game world in true Zelda style.
Olofsson describes the game’s combat like so: “Combat is played in real-time. Each attack and block has to be timed to be successful. However, equipment also plays an important role in the outcome of a battle. Insufficient armor or a dull sword is not advised.”
Here is a trailer showing how all of this looks in action:
Some of the game’s planned features:
Medieval Story is in alpha right now; there is an IndieGoGo campaign running right now to help fund the remainder of development.
Medieval Story is being developed for Windows, with a planned release date of early 2015. In the meantime, there is an alpha demo available if you want to try the game for yourself.
The premise:
The great Exodus has ending and the splintered Star Trader Factions are lost, tired of the endless travel, or too slow to keep pace with the main fleet. Alone, and without the protection of the mighty Templars, you must step into the position of leadership to guide the Factions to their new homeworlds among the stars. You must take command and help carve out a new Quadrant, and lead the refugees from near-extinction to prosperity in a turn-based empire building game. As a political and military leader, the you must use all of your diplomacy, spy-craft and economic savvy to build a winning strategy. Facing both internal and external threats, the player defends the empire from infighting political factions and hostile alien creatures.
Here’s the trailer:
The list of features includes:
Star Traders 4X Empires follows the usual Trese Brothers pricing scheme, with a free basic Android version , a free basic iOS version, and a $4.99 “Elite” Android version.
A desktop release for Windows, Mac and Linux is planned for the future. To that end, Star Traders 4X Empires is on Steam Greenlight; you can upvote it there if you’d like to see it come to Steam.
The narrative premise:
Deep in the mountainous ranges of the Drakalor Chain, Chaos has broken through into Ancardia and it’s up to you to decide the fate of the entire realm. You control a single character with a wildy varying set of skills, talents, spells and other abilities. Customized equipment makes each race/class combination a very different experience. Explore a mostly randomized underworld, fight monsters, loot treasures and uncover the many secrets lurking in the world of Ancardia.
So what’s “new-ish” about this? Well, y’see, ADOM had a successful Indiegogo campaign back in 2012 that allowed Biskup to expand it with lots of neat new features, including graphical tilesets and 3D support. You can see the fancy new graphical presentation in ADOM’s new trailer:
So that’s that–this game is old as dirt, but the new version is, y’know, new. What’s more, after a whopping 20 years of active development, Biskup has just successfully concluded his campaign to get the game onto Steam, where it will presumably be available in short order. In the meantime, you can download the latest version of the game for free from this page. It comes in Windows, Mac OSX and Linux flavors.
Also, one last thing: even though I am manifestly terrible at roguelikes, I will be trying this one out in the near future! (And probably dying. And recording it. Sigh.)
