I know we've been relatively quiet lately, but we've actually been working on a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that I'm sure you're excited about because it's going to positively impact our workflow from now on. Let's dive right in.
1 • Character artwork: I'll start with the most personally exciting thing for me. Character artwork is something very important to the world of Mortis. It conveys the essence of the character and shows the details that our small sprites can't physically fit into. After all, these guys are only 12x22 pixels. You may have already seen Evander drawn on our Steam page, but there are more characters to come. I will now show you some cropped artwork that we feel is appropriate to share at this time. These are Evander and Trevor, two of the three currently playable characters. We still remember our promise to release a limited data book, both digital and physical, and that's where this artwork will go.
2. Pixel-perfect movement: This is a bit of old news for those who reside in my Discord server, but I've decided to use a pixel-perfect movement engine created by Rosedale_Studios. It makes creating maps much easier and less tedious, as it fixes the problem I hate with RPG Maker’s built-in map editor - empty space clipping. For many years, the RPG Maker developers failed to provide an eraser tool, which was not a problem before MZ. Now when you try to erase something with an empty tile, it stays in one of the 4 map layers. Do you know why this is a problem? Because the empty tiles have their own passability, resulting in walk-through walls or stuck-in-texture scenarios. The plugin by Rosedale_Studio fixes this problem and completely ignores empty tiles and their passability. It also provides pixel-perfect movement, opening up more possibilities for map creation! Every little stone, every little corridor - you will feel it all!
3. Weapon animations: A problem you probably wouldn't care about arose when we switched from RPG Maker's generator to custom sprites. I didn't foresee this myself, but each of the playable characters got different weapon use frames. Swing, thrust, and missile. This means you have to manually move and change the weapon sprites to match them and somehow, somehow, get the game to show the sprite you want. It was very annoying, time-consuming, and spaghetti-like. Now we sacrifice a little bit of individuality to get rid of all the above problems. Mind you, all the other animations will remain character-specific, but those three sets of frames will have to go. With this change, we are also happy to announce that there will now be more different weapons in the game, with some being added retroactively. The final part of this particular update is that Tale of Cowardice will now use custom, tailor-made sprites for weapons. You're going to love them!
4. Frozen Tundra: Frozen Tundra is the new in-between location between Tempex, its Glacial Passage, and the new town of Palazzia. It's a massive frozen thicket with new, dangerous enemies crawling around, ready to tear you apart at a moment's notice. Frozen Tundra is also where you will encounter a brand new Diablo-esque mechanic. Yeah, I love those. From now on, every more or less important dungeon will have a mini-boss waiting for you. These mini-bosses are a sight to behold, trust me. They will appear directly on the map and will start chasing you or otherwise behaving strangely once they notice you. These minibosses will always spawn as Leaders and will have unique combat mechanics. The proof of concept for the first miniboss, the Vargr, is already complete. The Vargr was the last enemy to be created for Frozen Tundra and is currently in active development. All I can say is that it's loosely related to the infamous Father Agunim... Perhaps you'll learn more about them in the new build of the game.
5. Palazzia: Palazzia is a little less rich in news. In fact, I'd say there is almost none. It is still a long way from being implemented in the game, so most of the things that are happening with Palazzia are behind the scenes. Obviously, I can't tell you anything about the plot, but it has seen some very impressive developments in the not-so-distant past. You'll love the central character of this arc! His name is Quincey and he's a lowly archivist, a fifth in his dynasty. Although he has no arcane abilities, Quincey is very good at his job and can decipher powerful magic scrolls at a moment's notice. One of them is called 'Darkest Day' and... Oops! That's a bit too much information for you! He'll be playable, of course, but unfortunately, you won't see him in your party again once you finish your business in Palazzia. He'll be the first of several temporary characters to appear in Tale of Cowardice. But don't ignore him! You'll have plenty of time to customize him, and trust me, you'll want to upgrade his equipment and skills! With the dangers lurking in the Palazzian dungeons, Quincey won't stand much of a chance in the fierce battle ahead. But with proper care, he'll become a valuable asset. His character art is currently in progress, and may be finished by the time you see this update on Kickstarter.
6. The music: Our brave composers work non-stop to create the best possible original soundtrack for Tale of Cowardice. In the new update, you will hear both new tracks AND old pieces revisited. I'm afraid I can't show you anything without spoiling the whole thing, but believe me - new compositions are a kind of divine ambrosia to the human ear.
And that's it folks! I know it may not seem too grand or epic, but believe me, our current situation unfortunately does not allow us to do much more. Some of us still live in Russia and I personally have some problems with my studies. It's pretty hard to interact with the rest of the team in such a state. We sincerely hope that we'll be able to speed up development and show you more cool stuff later on! Take care and stay tuned!
Join us on Discord
Attention friends,
Whether you backed us on Kickstarter, discovered Mortis on your favourite gaming magazine or played our demo during last October's Steam Next Fest, we want to invite you all to our official Discord Channel.
We've been keeping everyone up to date on the game's development progress in there, including showcasing new music, artwork, and general game-dev updates.
Whether you're seeking to connect with fellow future players, or curious about the latest developments straight from the developers, we'd love to see new faces in our community!
Prepare to delve into an epic journey of bravery, strategy, and magic as indie-studio Radiance Digital and neo-publishers Noovola proudly announce the release of Mortis Chronicles: Tale of Cowardice demo on Steam!
The world of our retro inspired JRPG is finally playable again, after last year’s successful Kickstarter campaign. Our indie project is deeply rooted in classic inspirations of the genre, promising a memorable JRPG experience that will challenge both seasoned adventurers and newcomers alike.
Mortis Chronicles will remain playable throughout the scheduled Steam Next Fest starting on October 9th and will close to the public on October 16th. This window provides 11 days to explore the game's short but detailed demo, learn more about the intricate mechanics, unravel the storyline, and hone some strategic combat skills before the release of the full game.
In Mortis Chronicles: Tale of Cowardice, the fate of Arcadia hangs in the balance as formidable demons besiege the realm. Rally your allies, harness the power of turn-based combat, and uncover a realm brimming with secrets and challenges.
Prepare to Live a saga that pays homage to JRPG classics while introducing innovative gameplay elements!
Manipulate Turn Order: Gain a tactical edge by manipulating the sequence of turns in combat. Utilize distinctive magic spells and character-specific Crests to gain the upper hand against enemy forces.
They’ve got your back: Craft your ultimate team by selecting characters with distinct combat abilities, from masterful sorcerers to wise healers and wild tactical fighters, you’ll be casting spells, throwing punches and kicking demon ass!
Boost Your Strategy: Unleash the potential of boosted skills, and uncover synergistic effects that can sway the tide of battle in your favour
Master the Art: Progress through skill trees and unlock powerful abilities using magical Crests. Transform your characters into entirely new forms and unleash devastating attacks. With Class Mastery Points earned by toppling foes, the game encourages experimentation and mastery of diverse combat techniques.
Immerse in Mortis: Traverse the enchanting landscapes of Mortis, exploring six unique Guilds and forging bonds with your party members. As you prepare for the ultimate showdown against the Grand Demons, dive into the stories of your companions and make choices that will shape the outcome of the adventure.
The destiny of Arcadia is yours to shape - are you prepared to rise to the challenge?
The Kickstarter is FULLY BACKED!
As we type this post, we still can’t believe what we’ve achieved over the past few months. Your support has made all the difference in making this project possible. It’s hard to put into words how everyone on the team feels, but we’ll try.
Thank you so much for the support you’ve given us. All the hard work and effort behind the scenes to make this project come to life, in such a short amount of time, has been 100% worth it. We would be nothing without this amazing community and your support, so we will make sure without a shadow of a doubt to create a game you’ll all be proud of!
What’s next for Mortis?
By the end of next week we’ll sort out questionnaires and surveys to start the process of sending out rewards, so keep an eye on your inboxes!
We’ll also begin contacting suppliers, as well as remaining available to answer any of your questions or queries about the campaign, which will be posted on the Kickstarter page.
And finally, we’ll make sure to keep everyone in the loop about everything Mortis, via the links in our linktree below, and of course continue game development for our scheduled release in Q3 2022.
These last couple of months have been hectic beyond our wildest dreams, but the craziness has only just begun. 2022 is going to be the Year of Mortis, and we can’t wait to reach our next milestone together!
That’s all for now folks. We will speak again very soon! Thank you again for your support.
Best Wishes, Mark Lecarde & Noovola -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure to check out the brand new Linktree, https://linktr.ee/mark_lecarde, which houses links to the Mortis Steam and Kickstarter page, the official Mortis Discord server, and Mark’s Twitter account!
Help Mortis Chronicles’ Indie Game dreams become reality: Back our Kickstarter!
Hey Folks,
My name is Mark Lecarde and I can’t believe I’m in the position of having Mortis Chronicles: Tale of Cowardice, a 2D turn-based RPG, here on Steam!
This month myself and Noovola, an Indie-Gaming PR Firm located in the UK, have been hard at work in making my Indie Game Developer dreams a reality by putting the Mortis Kickstarter campaign together, which you can find here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mortischronicles/mortis-chronicles-tale-of-cowardice
We’re currently 47% of the way there, but we need the community’s help more than ever to finish this thing off! How can you help?
By using the link above, you can back the campaign yourself!
Wishlist the game here on Steam.
Share the campaign and Steam page across the web, and get in touch with anyone you think would be interested in supporting this game.
It’s a dream come true to be sending this message out on a platform as large as Steam. I’m hoping that the belief I have in Mortis is strong enough for you to help out and support.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I can’t wait to see how the coming months will unfold!
Best Wishes, Mark Lecarde -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure to check out my Twitter here, https://twitter.com/Lecarde17, and Noovola’s Linktree here, https://linktr.ee/noovolanetwork, which houses links to their social media accounts and official website!
