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[chrismdp]

Hey all,

EDIT: Ealdorlight didn't hit its funding goal and development is paused for the moment - see this update for details.

Here's the campaign page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chrismdp/ealdorlight

Thought I'd mention Ealdorlight as it may well appeal to DF fans...

Some detail: single player RPG set in a medieval kingdom where magic is rare and mysterious. The game has turn-based combat with a realistic damage system that models bones, muscles and organs. It also procedurally generates a new kingdom history, society and people every game. Each time you play you'll meet different characters with different backstories.

You discover at the beginning of the game that you were found lost as a small child, and the identity of your real family is unknown. Soon after, you meet the Ealdorlight, a legendary supernatural being not seen for centuries, who tells of darkness in the kingdom and invites you to take the King's place. You must leave your adopted home and travel the land, gaining connections, title and influence in order to discover your real family, and to win the throne: through honour, intrigue, or force, or a combination!




Some concept images:

[Retropunch]

Looks interesting PTW. By the way I think you have a spelling error on your website ('strangle' instead of 'strange dialect'). It'd be kinda good to know more about the actual 'flow' of the game - is it going to be similar to Pillars of Eternity/Baldurs Gate where you're wandering around doing quests in real time between Turn based fights or is it something different?

[chrismdp]

Thanks for spotting the typo - fixed

The game will alternative between visiting particular locations and longer travel via the map view (a concept of which is shown), which will take a realistic amount of (speeded-up) time to move between places. Time is a resource in this game, and the history will keep on generating as you play the game (unlike Sol Trader, where history was only generated before the game's start). If you spend months travelling around, time will pass, characters will live and die and opportunities will come and go...

[Malus]

I backed Sol Trader, so I was aware of Ealdorlight thanks to the last backer update, but from the description I got the impression it was more of a traditional/linear RPG rather than a "living world" kind of thing, so I wasn't interested. Nice to see it's more ambitious than that. I'll be backing day one. The combat system looks particularly exciting.

[chrismdp]

I backed Sol Trader, so I was aware of Ealdorlight thanks to the last backer update, but from the description I got the impression it was more of a traditional/linear RPG rather than a "living world" kind of thing, so I wasn't interested. Nice to see it's more ambitious than that. I'll be backing day one. The combat system looks particularly exciting.

Thanks! Did you form that impression from the private questionnaire I sent out?

I've honed the game summary hugely since then, in no small part thanks to all the feedback!

[Retropunch]

Good to hear, it's nice to know it's a bit different than just standard RPG + different health system.

One thing I'd say, and a particular bugbear of mine is the 'floating message log' - please, please, please put it in a proper docked UI window. It's pretty hard to read and it looks like it'll be vital to gameplay.

[chrismdp]

Good to hear, it's nice to know it's a bit different than just standard RPG + different health system.

One thing I'd say, and a particular bugbear of mine is the 'floating message log' - please, please, please put it in a proper docked UI window. It's pretty hard to read and it looks like it'll be vital to gameplay.

The GUI is only a prototype right now: don't worry, I'll make sure that it's easy enough to read, and to go back to earlier messages should you need to. Thanks for the feedback!

[DFNewb]

Looks interesting. How is character growth gonna look like?

Aka will you start the game as a regular person, how strong can you get, will there be magical stuff or something to boost your character past human levels?

Will 5 guys always be able to beat 1 with equal equipment.

I am interested in knowing stuff like that.

[SOLDIER First]

ptw

[Nirur Torir]

The name confused me - I thought it was another game in the Eador series.

[chrismdp]

Looks interesting. How is character growth gonna look like?

Aka will you start the game as a regular person, how strong can you get, will there be magical stuff or something to boost your character past human levels?

Will 5 guys always be able to beat 1 with equal equipment.

I am interested in knowing stuff like that.

You start as a regular person. The growth centres around your identity: I want to explore the question: "what would you be capable of if you truly knew who you are?" Therefore finding out your true history will be very important to allow you to become more powerful. Same with items: the knowledge of a sword's past deeds will allow you to unlock its power. It's very low fantasy though: no potions or instant healing. Magical effects are incredibly rare and treated with suspicion.

You'd have to be a very skilled fighter to be able to take down 5 others. Death isn't the only outcome of a battle though: you might spend six months in captivity for example...

The name confused me - I thought it was another game in the Eador series.

You're the second person to say that. Very difficult to choose a name these days that has no connotations!

[Mephansteras]

I don't do RPGs much these days, but this does look interesting. If nothing else I'll pass it along to my friends when the kickstarter gets going.

[Retropunch]

You'd have to be a very skilled fighter to be able to take down 5 others. Death isn't the only outcome of a battle though: you might spend six months in captivity for example...

That's something I think hasn't really been explored in games before - losing a battle without dying. Captivity is one way about it, losing all your stuff/getting robbed is another, having to recover from serious injury etc would all be more interesting than just 'die and reload'.

[chrismdp]

That's something I think hasn't really been explored in games before - losing a battle without dying. Captivity is one way about it, losing all your stuff/getting robbed is another, having to recover from serious injury etc would all be more interesting than just 'die and reload'.

Yes, exactly. As long as the story is continued in a interesting or challenging way, people hopefully won't die-reload too much. Losing might actually make you better or be useful, too.

[Mephansteras]

People do tend to learn more from failures than they do successes, which is not something often reflected in games. Perhaps that could factor into it?