Please check today's Elemental Land brief: 2 Days before the release of Kaku Ancient Seal on Steam Early Access.
Recently, we received many private questions from would-be adventurers, and decided to share our answers with all of you. Come and take a look!
What is the current form of release for the game?
A: The game is currently released in the form of Early Access. Players who purchase the game during the Early Access stage can enjoy all subsequent updates for free, and their game will automatically update to the official version at no additional cost. When the official version of the game launches, there will be a price increase.
How much difference is there between the planned official version and the Early Access version?
A: First of all, the core gameplay of the Early Access version will be consistent with the final release, but we plan to add more exploration, puzzle solving, and combat for the full launch. The added content is mainly to expand around the existing core gameplay.
Additionally, based on the feedback and suggestions from players during the Early Access period, we will optimize and improve the game, and there may be new game content added to the official version in the future.
What are the future update plans?
A: We will have separate announcement notices for specific update plans.
Does the game support multiplayer online?
A: Unfortunately, we will not be adding a multiplayer mode to the game. Our current plan is to make the game the best it can be as a single-player adventure, and we’re aiming to release the official version as soon as possible. Perhaps we can implement multiplayer in a future sequel though? Time will tell!
Does KAKU: Ancient Seal feature gamepad support?
A: We offer gamepad support, but we haven't adapted and optimized different controllers yet. We plan to complete the adaptation and optimization of various controllers during the Early Access period.
Will there be a console version in the future?
A: We plan to launch on console platforms in late 2023 or early 2024.
How do I report bugs encountered during gameplay?
A: You can report bugs through our Twitter or Discord.
Can I play it with Steam Deck?
A:Basically, it can run smoothly (note: lowering the light and shadow quality level will significantly improve the gaming experience). However, there are still some problems, and we will continue to optimize and adapt during the early access period.
The most important question: When will the early access version of KAKU: Ancient Seal be launched?
As the mist covering the Elemental Land continues to dissipate, the launch of KAKU: Ancient Seal on Steam Early Access draws nearer.
Considering that adventurers are all over the world, we have specially prepared a grand global time unlocking map. Those unsure of the release time can refer to the image below:
Thanks to all the adventurers who have been waiting and supporting us for a long time. On May 4th, Hope you can have fun in your adventure!
Since the demo was released in October last year, we have devoted all our efforts to optimizing and iterating on the game performance and visual effects, as well as localization work. We haven't made any updates to the current demo. Due to the significant version difference between the demo and the early access version, we have decided to remove the demo version.
Here is a comparison between the demo version and the early access version:
In the early access version, players will be able to experience the complete game storyline and gameplay guide. Looking forward to your epic adventure on May 4th!
KAKU: Ancient Seal will be released on May 3rd as an Early Access version!
Adventurers, after years of hard work, the seal of the ancient land is finally about to be released!
We are happy to tell you that KAKU: Ancient Seal will be released at 6pm PDT / 9pm EDT / on May 3rd as an Early Access version, priced at $24.99 / €24.5.
Here is our latest trailer: Adventurers are welcome to play the Early Access version of KAKU: Ancient Seal. Here are some instructions for the Early Access version.（Our demo only supports Chinese and English for now, but the early access version will support 12 languages upon release. Check our Steam store page for supported languages.）
Why Early Access?
First of all, the core gameplay of the Early Access version will be consistent with the final release, but we plan to add more exploration, puzzle solving, and combat for the full launch. The added content is mainly to expand around the existing core gameplay.
The main purpose of our Early Access launch is to optimize and improve the game. During this process, we can fully understand the players’ preferences and listen to their suggestions. This will allow us to better discover the game’s shortcomings and improve them in a targeted manner.
Early Access Game Content
A complete main storyline with over 30 hours of gameplay.
Four complete, massive maps.
Numerous epic boss battles.
Four huge puzzle-solving levels.
Dozens of underground ruins with totally different styles.
A slew of hidden collectables scattered throughout the land, such as chests, sacred stones and essences.
Rich and diverse bestiary of foes.
Thanks again to all the adventurers who have been waiting and supporting us for a long time. On May 4th, look forward to your journey in the ancient land of KAKU!
Happy New Year to all! Wishes everyone good health.Ahem... this devlog is late but still come.We have received numerous feedback from players regarding KAKU’s art style, so our artist is eager to share some ideas with you.Here we have our artist and scenic editor!
The following is a summary:
1.Why did KAKU adopt realistic scenes and cartoon characters?
Artist YIP:In fact, we initially tried a variety of settings to find the right style of KAKU. Finally, we decided on this style that few have tried: the combination of realistic scenes and cartoon characters.
Artist YIP:In terms of realistic scenes, it allows the players to enjoy the game in a not-so-strange world.In terms of cartoon characters, it is cuter and more affectionate. We really look forward to the spark of combining these two.
2.Could you share some ideas about scene design?
Scenic editor Snake:To be honest, all the scenes in KAKU have been polished by us for a long time.For each area, we designed it with a certain texture, such as the gradient of the hierarchy, and its ABCD area.
Scenic editor Snake:The initial scene is relaxing in the freehand as the tone, let players play with a relaxed mind. But as the player explores, the environment will become more and more dreary, gloomy, and tense.
Scenic editor Snake:It is worth mentioning that each area has its corresponding different weather effects, which bring about various environmental changes. The richness of the area, with the realistic scene style and rich animation color,I believe it will become the favorite point of players.
3.Will there be female characters in the game?
Artist YIP:Our protagonist is an ignorant teenager who lives in the snowy mountains all year round. This image has also had several iterations.In fact, a female persona of KAKU did exist. But due to the development cycle and cost, we still decided to produce only the male version. What a pity!
Artist YIP:When designing KAKU, we also referred to many images from movies and TV series.We wanted our character to be a cartoon image with the characteristics of a primitive man, which makes him more affable.In fact, during the design process, there were many other versions of KAKU, but most of them are only in the design draft.
There is no end to the optimization of art.We want to create a more realistic scene, endow KAKU's world emotion and ecology, and make it more attractive.We will continue to respond player's expectations and bring a more detailed KAKU: Ancient Seal.
And that’s everything we've got for today. We will be sharing more news and updates about the game in the near future! Please let us know what you think about the game in the comments below.
What's more fun than only discussing how to make a game's combat?Get everybody moving!Come to battle.
Like everyone, we are both developers and players. During the development of the combat system, each member has their own persistence and difficulties. It is undoubtedly the best to be verified in actual combat. We can also keep fit and relieve pressure (Fact: Whoever wins is the king). Let's take a closer look at the combat system：
https://youtu.be/e7bs8tDpzek For the battle mechanism in KAKU: Ancient Seal, we aim to provide players with fast-paced, casual and fun gameplay.Its battle design was inspired by action games such as Samurai Warriors.
Unlike other hardcore action games,to allow more players to quickly learn how to play and familiarize themselves with the game's combat mechanisms, we prioritized flexible character controls, real-time feedback and cool, freestyle battle mechanics when developing this game.
Battles in the game have reduced punishments for incorrect actions, allowing players to enjoy a high error tolerance.No matter whether you are action game veterans or beginners, you can attack enemies at own pace and enjoy the thrill of battle.
1.Design of three types of weapons
Players can use three types of weapons in the game, including a main weapon (Stone Blade), secondary weapon (Wood Shield) and a ranged weapon (Slingshot).
The Stone Blade features a fast attack speed and balanced damage. It's frequently used in battles,and is the foundation of attacks.The Wood Shield is a slow and heavy attack weapon. It inflicts an extra Resistance reduction effect on the enemy. In short, the Wood Shield is a weapon that combines both attack and defense.
The Slingshot is a fast ranged weapon and plays an important role in exploring and solving puzzles. Unlimited Stone Shots are mainly used for collecting materials and puzzle solving. The damage dealt in actual combat is very low. However, it has elemental projectiles with various properties.
The Flame Shot dealing high damage to a single enemy unit and its explosive attacks also deal AOE splash damage; the Poison Shot has a continuous HP deduction effect on enemies within range; the Lightning Shot features a powerful AOE control ability, which deals chain lightning damage to monsters within range and also paralyzes them.
2.Skill tree and special ultimate
All three types of weapons have their own unique "skill tree". Players can freely learn a variety of combat skills, and can specialize in a single type of weapon or a combination of all three. We designed the way that skills are used based on derivative gameplay, and basically, all basic attacks have various skills to choose from. Each type of weapon has its own special ultimate, which players can enjoy discovering.
3.encourage to take the initiative to attack
The game features an energy bar. Displacer moves and skills both consume energy. But players shouldn't worry about low or zero energy leading to hard battles. The battle mechanism is designed to encourage players to take the initiative to attack. In KAKU, players cannot only recover energy by eating Mushroom Skewers, but they can also do so by continuously attacking monsters. If players maintain good attack combos, they'll continue to gain energy, making them braver and braver!
During the game's development, in addition to technical issues, what kind of battle methods and styles can attract players a lot? We have been thinking about this question a lot, but still haven’t got a clear answer. So regardless of battle designs or other designs, we will keep polishing them to bring players a better gaming experience!
The above is the content of the second dev log. If you want to know any other content related to our development, please feel free to leave your comments.. We will continue to share the latest development content for you from time to time. I believe that when we meet again, we will all be better!
Make sure to wishlist the game now and follow us on social media to stay up to date with all the announcements!
Since the release of the demo in October, we have received many feedback and suggestions from players. The question we are often asked is how is the progress of the game development?When will the game be released? Will the demo be updated? So we will update regularly to introduce more development content of the game and share our progress. If you have other questions you want to know, please leave a message in the comment area, and we'll answer some of your questions.
KAKU:Ancient Seal is expected to be released in 2023. We are looking forward to the game launching as soon as possible, but no matter how urgent the mood is, we will first ensure the quality of the game and the player's game experience.
The demo version will not be updated for the time being. We have received feedback from players recently, and some of them are in the optimization plan for the official version. At present, we are fully developing the game.
The video below is our answer to recent players' questions and wondering about the latest developments in our game.
If the video is slow to load, you can watch the condensed content under the video first.
Q：What is the design concept of the poster？
A：We have two major posters. The poster on the left is to manifest game elements of free exploration, we adopted a bird-view composition of the game world to maximize the presentation of the vast continents in the game.
The poster on the right was designed around the leading characters of our KAKU Team aiming to highlight the gaming feature of role-playing. In this sense, a large part of the image is used to underscore the characters themselves and present their features and personalities in KAKU.
These are also natural scenes that are really visible in the game. and some scenes even offer an opportunity for exploration.
Our concept designer is still outputting new concept designs (this sentence was added by concept designer).
Q：Will there be the main storyline plots in the official version?
A：The Demo we have released is a standalone experience package fitted with temporarily allocated plots and quests, which are provided for the purpose of guiding players to understand the gameplay, features and progression routes. Basically, they act as a tutorial.The official version will offer diverse character relations and world events in terms of the storyline.
Q：Is the same mode applied to all relics challenges?Will there be more diverse and challenging passes？
A：In this demo,we only released small relics in the Flame Mountains. The whole game contains 40 medium and small-sized relics and 4 large-sized temple.
Q：Will the combat experience be improved?
A：Our fights are designed around a delightful fight experience, with avoidance of hardcore gameplay and a combat mechanism that determines life or death in just one move.
Every fight that we design involves special action patterns and weak point counterattack mechanisms.If you fail a challenge once or twice and still haven't found a certain pattern, you can reinforce your attributes to overpower them.
Don't worry, we have been working hard to balance the data through repeated tests.
The Armored Bear is a subordinate wild boss in the Flame Mountains. In the most remote area of each element continent is a leader guiding the element spirit. They freely manipulate the force of elements and destroy everything before their eyes.
Q：Will it be better to optimize in the official version?
A:First of all, we apologize for any inconvenience caused to players by game breakdowns or running disruptions, and we can definitely count on us to make further optimizations to address these issues. We hope that players who open the black screen of the game for the first time wait patiently, maybe you can enter the game.
These are the contents of today’s dev log.If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave your comments. We will pick up some of your questions and answer them in subsequent dev log.
Welcome to follow our official account and communicate with us at any time. Thanks every player for your understanding and support to us! See you in the next time.
Make sure to wishlist the game now and follow us on social media to stay up to date with all the announcements!
We decided to start the second dev live tream on October 8th at 2pm GMT+8.
Players who missed the last live stream can follow our second live stream and welcome to make valuable comments and suggestions on the demo, and we will select some to answer during the live broadcast! We will also try to answer some of your concerns outside of the demo this time, looking forward to you watching our live stream and interacting with us.
Want to learn more about KAKU: Ancient Seal? Here you can!
KAKU: Ancient Seal’s demo will be released on September 29th 9pm PDT. We made a brief QA for players for better gaming experience.
1:The screen is black for a long time after opening the game, is the game crash？
There may be a long loading time when you open the game in first time. It is not the game crash. Please wait patiently for the game to start.
2: I want to know how many contents we can play in this demo.
(1) First, there are fire, water, wind, and earth, four element continents, and each continent has several areas for players to explore. For this free demo, players can enjoy part of the fire element continent -Flame Mountains, which include Holy Ruins、Riddle Forest、Hot River Valley and White Tree Springs. You can not just explore this continent, but also search for the hidden treasure box, challenge the underground relics, and fight with the lord of the beast.
(2) The official version of KAKU: Ancient Seal will have four element continents for players to explore, and every small size underground relic and huge element temple are going to be unlocked for you to challenge. Please look forward to our follow-up news.
3: What’s the solution for graphic error and low fps ？
（1）We recommended your computer’s configuration is no lower than [processor: INTEL CORE I5-4440 or AMD FX 6300，graphic card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050TI or AMD Radeon R9 280x] in order to get the better gaming experience. Please check your computer’s config before play.
（2）When you start the game, system will automatically adjust the setting based on your graphic card to get the best performance. But if there are any graphic error and the game is not running smoothly, we recommend changing from full screen mode to window mode, adjust resolution, lower the shadow’s quality, and turn off anti-aliasing. You can also close other big Windows application, like Wallpaper Engine, to improve the experience. We couldn’t test all the possible hardware environment, if you have any other questions, please join our discord and we can communicate in time, thank you for your understanding.
4:What should I do if I encounter some bugs during the play?
We have been tested our game for many times before we release the demo, but maybe there are still some bugs existed. Please let us know if you find any other bugs or you have any suggestions on Here,or jion our Discord.
5: I didn’t see any cut-scene or story in this demo, will the official version has the same problem?
KAKU: Ancient Seal is a role play adventure game, story is very important. The official version will have a full main story and many side stories to enrich the Kaku’s worldview. But in the current demo we have adjusted the story. Don’t worry about the story, the official version will bring a full and fun story experience to all the players, please look forward to our follow-up news.
6:About the tutorial of the control, weapon, skill and items in the current demo.
In order to provide a complete experience, we have unlocked many skills for Kaku at the very beginning of this demo, and we used some simple ways for the tutorials of those skills. But in the official version, all the skills will be unlocked step by step, and the tutorial will be more specific and comprehensive.
7: Our game supports both controller and mouse.
Our demo supports both controller and mouse, and players can customize the button of keyboard and mouse, but we don’t have enough time to optimize controller at this moment. In the official version, we will optimize controller, and let players customize the layout of the button on controller.
This demo does not represent the final quality of our official version.
Please let us know if you find any other bugs or you have any suggestions on Here,or jion our Discord channel.
Friendly remind: please don’t quit the game after you beat the armored bear, there are still many places for you to explore after boss fight.
