To everyone wondering is Arcadia still in development or has it fallen into the typical Indie void. The answer is yes it is still being developed.
I started this project years ago with a very ambitious plan. I was playing a lot of Kenshi, WoW, Divinty, and I thought to myself, you know what I want to take the best parts of each of those and combine them into a new title. I want the squad based combat and base building of Kenshi, with the stylized art style of WoW/Overwatch, and the story line and lore of Divinity. Obviously a lot for just a one person development team.
Despite the challenge, I was making a lot of progress and was able to get the game into a demo state for one of the Steam events. I'd say I got the game 90% of the way there from a technical buildout, the rest was populating it with content. This is where things got even more complicated. After a lot of failed attempts to get outside designers and artists to help support, I started to second guess myself and the "fun" factor of the game. I then started to cut corners as the release date become more important than stability of the game and it's core features.
So I halted it, put up a TBD on the release date, and took a step back from the development. You can say that I'm now going back to basics to focus on the core aspects and to reduce the overall scope of the game into a more manageable package for a solo developer.
So with that, what I can definitively say is two things. Number one, yes I'm still working on it and I'm going to work towards providing more regular updates on progress. Number two, the game will most likely look and feel different than it did during the steam festival demo and in the screenshots you see. My hope is obviously that it will be better, but it will certainly be different.
To give an idea of the changes, the biggest thing is the controls and camera. In my current development build, I've switched to first person controls with a third person camera (much like WoW and others), instead of a top down mouse click style. This allows me to create a much more interesting environment and allows the player to connect more to their character and their party. You will still have a party and base building, as those are core mechanics, but the top down Kenshi style control movement was not really working out.
Thank you all who have had this wishlisted since the beginning and have watched and waited. I'm still here, Arcadia is still here, and it will be released!
Steam Festival Success!
Thank you all who participated in Steam's Autumn Festival and downloaded the demo of Arcadia!
While this was just an early look, the festival did provide a great opportunity to receive feedback on the current state and to identify areas to improve.
The demo will remain active for the remainder of the week, but then it will be deactivated. Don't worry though, it will return with new features and a fully unlocked prologue experience, while of course remaining free!
Thank you as well to all those who attended the livestreams during the event. I've posted a recording of the livestream on the Thoranar Gaming YouTube linked below. I look forward to doing additional streams in the future!
[previewyoutube="VASluN9RK94;full"]
If you haven't already, please consider joining our Discord to remain up to date on all the latest developments of Arcadia.
Demo of Arcadia available now!
I'm pleased to announce that a demo of Arcadia is now available!
This free demo acts as a prologue to the main story, allowing players to experience the events that lead to the original Crystal Wars. With a unique story line, the demo off players an introduction to some key characters that will play important roles in the full game, as well as start to explore the mysterious of the Ancients and the Crystal.
Even though Arcadia is still in development and not all features will be made available in the Demo, players will still be able to fully explore the prologue island complete with a day/night cycle, story and side quests, recruitable characters, and more.
The demo includes:
Tier 1 base building
Tier 1 crafting of armor and weapons
Resource harvesting
Character development and skill system
Active and Passive talents
Main story and side quests
Two Boss level creatures to defeat
Secrets and treasures to discover on the Island
The demo will be available free to play during the event beginning Wednesday, October 7th, 10AM PST to Tuesday, October 13th, 10AM PST.
While there will certainly be the need to tweak, fix bugs, balance, etc. during and after the demo, my hope is that everyone will enjoy this introductory look at Arcadia: The Crystal Wars.
I've created a sub-forum here on the community hub for discussions and feedback. I would also love to see your own screenshots as you play the game! You can hit F11 to hide portions of the UI in order to take a nicer screenshot.
Join the Arcadia Livestream with the developer Thoranar!
I hope you are as excited for Steam's Autumn Festival as I am!
As this will be the first time players will be able to see and play Arcadia, I'd like to invite you to sit with me by an Arcadian Campfire and join my LIVE developer stream at 12:30PM CST here on Saturday October 10th.
During the stream I'll talk through the history and lore of the game's story, what players can look forward to in the initial full release, as well as showcase some of the tools and technology behind the scenes!
As you may know, the Autumn Festival runs from October 7th through the 13th, and a free demo of Arcadia will be fully playable during this time.
So mark your calendars for Saturday, October 10th at 12:30PM CST and I look forward to speaking with you all there!
Play Arcadia during Steam's Autumn Festival!
I'm pleased to announce that a demo of Arcadia will be made available during Steam's Autumn Festival.
This free demo acts as a prologue to the main story, allowing players to experience the events that lead to the original Crystal Wars. With a unique story line, the demo off players an introduction to some key characters that will play important roles in the full game, as well as start to explore the mysterious of the Ancients and the Crystal.
Even though Arcadia is still in development and not all features will be made available in the Demo, players will still be able to fully explore the prologue island complete with a day/night cycle, story and side quests, recruitable characters, and more.
The demo includes:
Tier 1 base building
Tier 1 crafting of armor and weapons
Resource harvesting
Character development and skill system
Active and Passive talents
Main story and side quests
Two Boss level creatures to defeat
Secrets and treasures to discover on the Island
The demo will be available free to play during the event beginning Wednesday, October 7th, 10AM PST to Tuesday, October 13th, 10AM PST.
While there will certainly be the need to tweak, fix bugs, balance, etc. during and after the demo, my hope is that everyone will enjoy this introductory look at Arcadia: The Crystal Wars.
Feature Spotlight Series #1
The first choice you have when starting Arcadia is determining your starting character. Each character offers unique starting strengths and weakness, as well as abilities that are unique to each species.
Regardless of which species you select, your initial skills and attributes will begin at the bottom. You will enter the world of Arcadia with only a small set of starting equipment and food stores, so one of the first tasks you'll want to undertake is gaining experience!
Attributes and Skills
A character’s progress is based on the level of their primary attributes and of their skills. There are currently 4 primary attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Knowledge.
Strength - Increases damage done while unarmed and while wielding strength based weapons. Also increases maximum carrying capacity.
Dexterity- Increases damage done while wielding dexterity based weapons. Also increases critical strike chance and dodge chance.
Vitality - Increases maximum health.
Knowledge - A unique attribute that directly reflects the character’s understanding of the Arcadia Crystal. Each level grants new Magic or Tech related abilities, as well as increasing the power of those abilities.
In addition to the 4 attributes, each character also has 13 skills that fall into one of four categories; Offense, Defense, Crafter, and Worker.
Almost every action taken in Arcadia offers opportunities for your characters to gain experience and increase their attribute and skill levels. Even if a character loses a fight and get's knocked out. As long as they are revived, they will rise stronger, with slightly more Vitality and defensive experience.
Examples of common actions that grant experience:
Harvesting trees, stone, or ore will increase the character's experience in Strength and Labor.
Attacking an enemy with a one handed strength sword increases experience in both Strength and one handed weapons, while attacking with a ranged dexterity based weapon will increase experience in ranged weapons and Dexterity.
Taking damage from an enemy grants Vitality experience based on the amount of damage taken, as well as experience in Light, Medium or Heavy armor depending on what the character has equipped.
Character Advancement and Talents
As characters gain attribute and skill levels, they will unlock passive bonuses such as increased damage done, decreased harvesting speeds, or unlocking new crafting recipes. In addition, characters also gain experience in the Combat, Worker, Magic, or Tech talent groups. When enough experience is gained, the character will unlock tier levels within those groups which grant access to powerful Talents.
For example, within the Combat group you will find active use abilities such as powerful AOE attacks or passive bonuses such as bonus to damage done or overall maximum health. The Worker group, on the other hand, is where you will be able to unlock special buildings or crafters such as the Grindstone, which allows the character to upgrade weapons. Other Worker talent choices may include additional crafting options such as the ability to craft Legendary quality armor.
The Magic and Tech talent trees are directly tied to the character's Knowledge attribute. These unique trees offer the most powerful, and dangerous, abilities. While these abilities will certainly turn the tide of any conflict, or unlock some of the most powerful crafting recipes in the game, they also come at great risk of Corruption to the character. More on this feature in future spotlights!
The choice of how you level your characters is completely up to you.
Dynamic Growing World
NPCs, including wild animals and creatures, both friend and foe, also utilize this same skill system, gaining levels with every encounter. Pick a fight with a guard and lose? You may gain Vitality experience and defensive related skill points by surviving the encounter, but beware that the guard will also gain experience and power as well.
But do not worry! Right from the beginning you will have the opportunity to start training your character by completing quests, harvesting resources to craft your first pieces of gear, or hunting wild animals in the woods for food to survive. As you progress, you may choose to recruit additional characters, bringing strength in numbers, as well as develop a base to feed, train, and equip your growing faction! We will look at these unique features in future spotlights.
In the next spotlight, we will dive deeper into each of the character types to learn more about their unique history and place in Arcadia.
As always, we want to hear from you! What are some of the features you are most excited about or would like to learn more about?
Join our community Discord and let us know your thoughts as we continue to develop out Arcadia! https://discord.gg/Zuxefyv
Join the Arcadia Discord Community
As Arcadia continues to develop, I'd like to welcome everyone to join the official Arcadia Discord!
The community is the place to get first hand updates on the overall game state and progress, as well as a place to ask questions and discuss gameplay related topics. I look forward to meeting everyone!
Announcing Arcadia: The Crystal Wars
As the first news post on the community hub, I’d like to first thank you for taking the time to check out Arcadia: The Crystal Wars and (hopefully) adding this title to your wish-list. We are beyond excited to bring this title to Steam and to share what we feel is a truly unique RPG/RTS experience.
Arcadia is an open-world, squad based fusion of role playing and strategy, combining traditional RPG elements with engaging real-time strategy.
Character Development
Stepping into the world of Arcadia, you choose your starting character from four unique character types; each unique in their own right. No matter your choice, you start without skill, equipment, or money.
A character’s progress is based on the level of their skills. While your character has no overarching level, each one of your skills level as you use them. In order to increase your skill level, you simply have to perform the actions associated with those skills.
NPCs and Mobs, both friend and foe, also utilize this same skill system, gaining levels with every encounter. Pick a fight with a guard and lose? You may gain Vitality experience and defensive related skill points by surviving the encounter, but that guard will also gain experience and power as well. The next fight may be more difficult!
But do not worry! Right from the beginning you will have the opportunity to start training your character by completing quests, harvesting resources to craft your first pieces of gear or hunting wild animals in the woods for food to survive.
Building Your Faction
As you explore, you may also find other characters throughout the world that would like to join you. This is where the squad based aspect comes into play. Recruit up to 20 characters and specialize each however you see fit. Train a specialized group to be armor and weaponsmiths, or farmers and warriors, the choice is yours.
As you recruit more characters, however, you will need to find a way to provide food and equipment to them. Starting with your first camp, developing eventually all the way to a full city, having a base or bases of operation equipped with forges, farms, and houses will be the key to expanding your power within Arcadia.
But beware, Arcadia can be a harsh world, especially with the ever growing corruption of the Crystal and the ongoing war. Your base will eventually become a target, and you will need to defend yourself.
Combat In Arcadia
Combat in Arcadia is squad based and real time. If one of your characters health reaches 0, they will be knocked out, unable to move, but also immune from further attacks. While knocked out, there is a small percentage every second, increased by the character’s skill in Perseverance, that they will recover naturally on their own and continue the battle. They can also be rescued and recovered by allies and other player controlled characters. If time expires and they are not recovered however, they will die. If your last character dies, the game is over.
In order to increase your chances of success in battle, you will need to train your characters in various offensive and defensive skills. As you gain experience in these skills, you will start to unlock special abilities, both passive bonuses and active use abilities.
Unlock Magic and Technology
The ultimate power, however, will come from the Crystal itself. Fragments of the Crystal can be found in the most dangerous areas. Once collected, you have two choices. You can use powerful magic to purify and consume the fragment, unlocking magical powers and abilities for a single character, or you can have the fragment infused by technology and unlock technical abilities. Unlocking magic power will allow for characters to cast powerful healing or damaging spells, as well as summoning power familiars to aid the caster in combat. Unlocking technical power, however, will allow the use of advanced machines including deployable turrets that heal nearby allies, or continuously damage enemies, as well as deploying advanced emitters that do massive damage to single targets.
The choice of how you use the fragments is up to you. With each fragment used, you will advance the particular character’s knowledge and power in magic or tech. Beware, however, as the power of the crystal has been known to corrupt and change even the most loyal of characters!
As long time fans of the RPG and Strategy genres, we wanted to create an experience that fused my favorite elements of each. What I’ve laid out here is just a high level overview of the features you will find in Arcadia. Over the next months, leading up to the February 2020 release, I will be publishing a series of showcases on each feature in detail. I’m also working on developing gameplay trailers as well as a demo that will be free to play.
