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[Jalak]

On that note, any chance for some sort of kickstarter backer release? Doesn't need to be as "complete" as the demo, we'll take it. I certainly will. GIVE ME MAH FIX!

[Cthulhu]

Word.  A tester tier with some play-at-your-own-risk immediate alpha access would get my money pretty much immediately.  Wouldn't even have to consider it.

[KingDinosaurGames]

Demo ASAP - but as for a date it's very hard to tell, I have a bug list from testers that I haven't touched in a week and a half and once that gets closed off we have to do compatibility tests which are annoying and time consuming.  In addition, the current build only supports medium and high display values, we've pushed ahead since the last demo build almost two and a half months ago with particle effects and increased transitional flair and I haven't gotten around to placing the replacement markers for people who can't handle our, admittedly modest, special effects.  Then there's the logistics of it all, and opening up support lines with people who aren't already tightly integrated our testing process - which we have someone setting the path for but it's not something that will finalize without some attention from me.   

That being said, it is THE priority for us as having a demo is obvious a huge bonus for the Kickstarter.  A "let's play" video is on the burner right after the KS launches, and if we're not overwhelmed we'll be able to tackle the demo finalization during that first week.  I'll be able to give you a more concrete answer by the end of the first week.

It's one of those strange situations where the worse the KS does, it will probably get the demo out faster since we'll be able to focus on it.  Then again, that's clearly a bad situation for us to be in.  Either way, I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I can give a concrete date. 

There IS a tester tier, but that won't be immediate either - we'd be rolling you into the tester ranks after the KS closes, much more interaction than just a demo and access to builds as they come out.

[lijacote]

Word.  A tester tier with some play-at-your-own-risk immediate alpha access would get my money pretty much immediately.  Wouldn't even have to consider it.

[Jalak]

HUZZAH! THE DAY OF THE KICKSTARTER HAS COME! WHAT, YOU MEAN I HAVE TO WAIT AN EXTRA DAY SINCE I LIVE IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE? Goddammit...

Something I'm confused about how damage effects heroes; when a hero starts losing health does it actually make it harder for them to complete quests and even close off certain things they could do normally (besides being effected by the wound system), or is like almost every rpg ever where they can fight just as well if they had only one health as opposed to all of it? Is it the same for will?

[Cthulhu]

God you really fucking excited me there for a second, making me think the kickstarter was up.  Kickstarter isn't until tomorrow.

[Jalak]

I know, that's why I was screaming at the void when I realized that living in Australia screwed me out of getting games once again...

[Cthulhu]

It isn't until tomorrow in America too I mean.  We don't have it either.  You made me think we did.

[Xantalos]

nnnnuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Ah well, I can just hibernate the requisite number of hours.

Oh, do you guys have a social media page or something like that for the game? That'd probably boost awareness of it a bit.

[Cthulhu]

I've got 480 bucks worth of computer gear coming possibly tomorrow.  An 4ghz 8core processor to replace my 3.2ghz 2core, a GTX 660 3gb to replace my GTX 260 896mb, and 8gb DDR3 RAM to replace 4gb of DDR2.

None of this will matter for a game like this but I'm bringing it up to try to get you to grasp just how fucking hyped I am right now in so many fucking directions.  I can not even.

[KingDinosaurGames]

HUZZAH! THE DAY OF THE KICKSTARTER HAS COME! WHAT, YOU MEAN I HAVE TO WAIT AN EXTRA DAY SINCE I LIVE IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE? Goddammit...

Something I'm confused about how damage effects heroes; when a hero starts losing health does it actually make it harder for them to complete quests and even close off certain things they could do normally (besides being effected by the wound system), or is like almost every rpg ever where they can fight just as well if they had only one health as opposed to all of it? Is it the same for will?

Good question - we originally were going with a Banner Saga combat system (I really liked their innovation in that arena) but without a grid and tactical movement it loses a lot of the oomph and actually restricts our interesting abilities and traits.  So that raises the question, "what is the implication behind doing damage to a hero."

1 - Wounds are common, taking damage below 50% health has a 25% chance increased by +10% per health point below 50%.  Wounds are long-lasting, the lightest of them take 10+ turns to heal and the higher ones may remove an adventurer from the questing life (he can retire to become a passive bonus to a POI or even an adviser).   They often lower statistics that the heroes use for questing and combat as well.

2 - Even healing takes time, knocking someone down to 2 health will tell them to retreat to a nearby town and rest.  Outside of the expensive Healing Potions there are VERY FEW ways to instantly heal, originally "priests" could heal with miracles back before we gutted the Religion system but with its removal we found it really helped the game.

3 - Lower will restricts spell usage, and low will also induces panic and creates a more "pliable" hero for corruption.  Will damage is fun, absolutely fun, and they get "mental wounds" the same as physical, and if you knock someone down to 0 there's a healthy chance they crakc under the pressure. 

We're on..
Twitter -https://twitter.com/KingDinoGames
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thatwhichsleeps?ref=br_tf
IndieDB - http://www.indiedb.com/games/that-which-sleeps

I really prefer forums, because I get to actually interact with people - but I know Social Networks are important so they're up there but we barely push them.

[Xantalos]

Ah, didn't see that in your sig there. Still yeah, forums are more convenient.

[Jalak]

Is it possible for a battle to go so incredibly badly for the hero that their health and will are both permanently decreased, despite healing whatever wounds they suffer? Can their personalities change and "push" away their friends as a result of this as well?

When you stated that there are some "grey" classes focused on obtaining gold and generally keeping out of the way of doing anything particularly good or evil, can they get worse then that? If you break the will of a grey class hero (which shouldn't be too hard, all things considered) can they degrade to a "black" class that, while not actually on your side, are so damaging to others around them that they might as well be and can be easily recruited later? Like, say, a bandit or assassin class?

Also, I think I remember you mentioning before that heroes change their powers when they get corrupted to fit more in line with yours. If a hero is powerful enough when that happens, can they switch to some high-tier evil class as well, like a lich or something?

[rylen]

You've well answered my modding questions. Thanks. It sounds like balance will be the tricky thing.

Wounds linger and low heath leads to wounds. How long does health stay low?

As you build your shipping system, any chance of piracy? I'd like to temp a beleaguered nation into privateering.

[KingDinosaurGames]

Their are many wounds that are effectively permanent - at this point there are no ways to heal them (like losing a limb) and these permanently reduce their statistics.  You can affect the rarity of this occurrence by having certain traits (Slaughter is my favorite - it forces an upgrade of wound condition per point below half the opponent is reduced to) and prolonged low will can lead to a loss of max will.  Personalities ABSOLUTELY change, this is a measure part of the game - forcing the world to be simply a darker place.   A high will hero will almost never have a personality shift, but if you get someone low enough and then they flee they may push a bit towards cowardice, if they have low will and see another hero get a promotion from their king they may become envious or spiteful - etc etc.  The system is obscured so you don't see the -10 to +10 range on these things, but when their value gets high/low enouhg you'll see the traits appear like "Coward" or "Bold". 

Their are no "black" classes despite our original intent to have them - if we do hit the 'Rival Old Ones' tier we will reintroduce these classes.  However, grey classes and even normal heroic classes can be detrimental enough on their own.

No higher tier evil classes, but again if 'Rival Old Ones' makes it we would doubtless incorporate some element of this.

Health simply stays low, their is no "natural" regeneration - a hero must choose to rest and depending on where he is resting he will regenerate faster or slower.  The lower his health, the longer it takes, for example it could take upwards of 30 turns for a hero who is at 1 health to return to maximum - taking them out of play for a very long time.  Feel free to drop in on them while they're convalescing and rip off their bandages.

Piracy is important in the game, but in general at our current build naval elements are very basic - it's a mechanic that needs to be revisited once we've finished KS.  Currently you can sponsor pirates with gold to either harass or blockade a POI, requiring a quest (if harass) or a naval expedition (if blockade) to dislodge.  It gets more expensive to hire pirates the more they are defeated. 

As for privateering, that does not exist currently but it would make sense once we return to the naval system to offer those options.  Currently the idea of soft power/cold war situations is a major element and we want to ensure that the naval situation has the same range of possibilities.