Our free prologue, Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders - Bandit's Trail, is getting a major update soon! Join us for a live broadcast on February 22nd at 9:00 AM EST / 2:00 PM UTC on update day when we feature live gameplay from the prologue! The broadcast will appear on the prologue's Steam page:
No game that features open-world exploration can do without a variety of interesting places for the player to discover and investigate. As outlaws of the Merry Men, we know very well about Robin Hood's Village, hidden away from the Sheriff and Crown's prying eyes. But what is there beyond Robin's Village, in the vast world ripe for adventure? So let's talk about how we make things interesting in Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders through exploring locations!
Environments
To maintain variety in the game's world, we've introduced all sorts of natural settings into it, including:
Verdant forests, dense with all manner of foliage
Rolling hills and fields stretching as far as the eye can see
English moors in full bloom
Treacherous swamps for the most daring adventurer
Well-travelled rocky tracts filled with opportunity for the industrious outlaw
Dark tunnels winding deep into the underground
Different environments are not only pleasing to the eye, but also significant to the gameplay. Depending on where you travel, you can find different resources to harvest. Make sure to explore and discover more information about them through in-game readables!
Regions
The world of Sherwood Builders is separated into several distinct areas, known as 'Regions' in the game. These include:
Barnsdale
Peak District
Sherwood Forest
Midlands
The goal of Robin's quest is to put an end to the Sheriff's tyranny, but he cannot manage it alone. Though he has his Merry Men at his side, he'll still need help from the rightful rulers of the Regions, similarly threatened by the Crown's cruelty. Robin gains Reputation, specific to each of these Regions, by completing quests and helping the people. Once he has enough, he can rally the leaders of the Regions to his cause and fulfil his dream of freedom for all.
Region menu window – There's a lot to do in the beginning...
Locations
Without going into too much detail so as not to spoil the different quests and the outcomes of their stories, the diverse places you'll get to visit in Sherwood Builders will be a stage for its numerous events. To make a list once more, expect such locations as:
Idyllic villages
Quaint farms
Bandit camps
Regal castles
Lone ruins signifying a distant past
The city of Nottingham itself
And many others!
We leave it to your imagination right now and to your exploration efforts in the future to find out what sort of challenges and rewards to expect from these places.
As you play the game and explore Sherwood together with its surrounding areas, we'd love it if you shared lots of screenshots featuring your favorite locations! What kinds of mysterious places are you hoping to encounter in the full version of the game? We hope to see you adventure there on February 29th when it's released!
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Launch Discount Challenge!
Greetings, Sherwood Builders!
Now that we've officially announced the release date of our game to be February 29th 2024, we want to make things even more interesting by issuing a certain challenge to you.
As you know, we wish to aid Robin Hood by having word of his rebellion against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham reach far and wide! To that end, we'd like to make our release offer for the game as appealing as we can. Get us to reach the goals below to increase its launch discount by adding the game to your wishlist and following it on Steam!
We cannot put it into words exactly how grateful we are to those of you already wishlisting or following the game and sticking with us since development started. You can still help us by letting your friends know about Sherwood Builders and this challenge.
Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders is a game created by a core team of 7 developers, so any way you can help us by spreading word about our project will go a long way. The more successful Sherwood Builders is, the better we'll manage to bring our future game ideas to life for your enjoyment!
Check out the goals for our Launch Discount Challenge below:
If you want to check out Sherwood Builders more closely before making your mind up about our challenge, don't forget our free prologue, Bandit's Trail, which is getting a major update on February 22nd.
The full version of Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders is coming to Steam on February 29th. We hope to see you in Sherwood!
Launch Discount Challenge!
Greetings, Sherwood Builders!
Now that we've officially announced the release date of our game to be February 29th 2024, we want to make things even more interesting by issuing a certain challenge to you.
As you know, we wish to aid Robin Hood by having word of his rebellion against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham reach far and wide! To that end, we'd like to make our release offer for the game as appealing as we can. Get us to reach the goals below to increase its launch discount by adding the game to your wishlist and following it on Steam!
We cannot put it into words exactly how grateful we are to those of you already wishlisting or following the game and sticking with us since development started. You can still help us by letting your friends know about Sherwood Builders and this challenge.
Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders is a game created by a core team of 7 developers, so any way you can help us by spreading word about our project will go a long way. The more successful Sherwood Builders is, the better we'll manage to bring our future game ideas to life for your enjoyment!
Check out the goals for our Launch Discount Challenge below:
If you want to check out Sherwood Builders more closely before making your mind up about our challenge, don't forget our free prologue, Bandit's Trail, which is getting a major update on February 22nd.
The full version of Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders is coming to Steam on February 29th. We hope to see you in Sherwood!
Release Date
As the misty Sherwood forests surround you, brazen outlaws, be ready for an epic adventure! We are happy to announce that...
🌲 The full game is coming to Steam on February 29, 2024! 🌲
🎁 Add it to your wishlist and share with your friends! 🎁
Add "Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders" to your wishlist, share this fantastic news with your friends and embark on a legendary journey! Get ready for unforgettable moments, new challenges, and undiscovered areas of Sherwood. Countless adventures await! 🏹✨
🌲🏹 Big Prologue Update Coming on February 22nd! 🏹🌲
In other news, on February 22nd, we will introduce a massive update to the game's prologue – Bandit's Trail. However, the scope of the updates means that your current saved game files will not work with the newly updated version of the prologue. Please take particular note of that fact.
We will provide you with a full list of improvements in the prologue on the day of its update, along with some other surprises we're preparing for that day.
🌟 We look forward to your heroic exploits! See you in Sherwood! 🌟
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Devlog #8 - Passive Skill Tree
📣 Hello, Sherwood Builders! 🏹
If you've been following our game for some time now, it's become more than obvious that during his quest to liberate Nottingham and its surrounding lands, Robin Hood is going to face a vast number of threats. These threats will grow in severity the closer Robin draws to deposing the Sheriff. How not to get overwhelmed by your foes? One thing you have to take advantage of is the...
As Robin gains experience points in the game through various means, such as vanquishing his enemies in combat, he eventually gains levels, and with levels come skill points. These can be spent in a special window of the game's menu called the Passive Skills. It's a branching grid that provides an overview of Robin's general abilities and characteristics. Spending skill points here allows you to decide how these advantages are going to develop.
In order to better navigate the available options for character improvements, the tree is separated into several sections:
Path of the Blade – This section mainly includes passive skills that simply increase Robin's raw damage output, whether through the enhancement of regular and special attacks or overcoming your enemies' defences. It also offers some good investments if you're interested in having Robin swing his weapon more before getting winded.
Path of Craftsmanship – Multiple passive skills that specialize in improving resource extraction from the various nodes of Sherwood Builders' world. Also a good area if you'd like to conserve your tools more effectively and increase your carry weight capacity.
Path of the Arrow – A ranged equivalent of the Path of the Blade, albeit with a few additional intricacies. The price of being able to attack your opponents from a distance is the necessity to have better control over the various conditions for using a bow. With a little extra time put into consideration, these passives should help tailor your archery to your needs.
Path of Endurance – Survival is the name of the game and the base health and damage resistance boosts from this part of the tree should help with it indeed, especially on higher difficulties. Seeing as some enemies in Sherwood Builders resort to special damage type attacks,
Path of Shadows – The branch of stealth. These passive skills help you stay hidden more effectively when sneaking, but also make you a more effective assassin with improved execution damage and enemy level threshold for an assassination attempt. Some of these even provide utility by enhancing Robin's Hunter Vision ability.
Path of Dexterity – Passive skills which improve Robin's movement. Speed, whether simply travelling or already in combat, but, what may be even more interesting, enhancements to critical strikes and penetrating enemy armor. What's not to love?
You'll notice that many of the passive skills in the tree offer miscellaneous utility along the way, regardless of the path in which they're placed. These are sure to prove worthy of your attention as well!
We can't wait to see what clever builds for Robin you will all come up with as the game launches, but whatever your choices, we hope you'll enjoy your adventure!
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Devlog #7 - Village Builder
📣 Hello, Sherwood Builders! 🏹
Starting from scratch is often a difficult predicament, one that Robin Hood and the Merry Men face in Sherwood Builders as they're doomed to a life on the run from the Sheriff. But that doesn't discourage them. The brave outlaws found a hideout concealed deep in the woods of Barnsdale and it's up to Robin to help make it grow and bring aid to the oppressed people of Nottingham's surrounding lands, and to do that, he needs to become a...
The game's Builder Mode allows you to construct your own hideout village, complete with various structures that fulfil a range of functions. Expanding this base provides many benefits:
Resource production – A lot of raw materials found in the game's world can also be produced right in Robin's village for easy collection from its Storage after a certain amount of time. Invest right and you might not have to forage as much.
Crafting – Not all item production can be done by hand. If Robin's to upgrade his gear, he'll need the right workshop.
Training – Another category of buildings will allow Robin to improve his various skills, both those related to combat and not.
Decorating – Surely, many don't want their creation to be bland and strictly just functional. The denizens of Robin's hideout will feel much better if you add a touch of aesthetics to the community with some decorative elements.
All the advantages don't come with no effort and if you wish to reap the benefits of the Builder Mode, you'll need to face several challenges as well:
Caring for the people – All the fruits of your village's labour won't come from thin air. You need people loyal to your cause to put their backs into it. Recruit new villagers from the surrounding lands through various events, house them, feed them, and give them jobs if you want your hideout running the way you picture it.
Securing the materials – Buildings are not only constructed, but also upgraded. The more advanced your structures the better the advantages you can gain from them. But progress 'will' require increasingly more sophisticated resources. Secure them first while campaigning through the Regions and maybe you'll afford yourself the opportunity to generate them yourself later.
Space management – It may seem like you have the whole forest to yourself, but a hideout won't be quite that hidden if it just sprawls endlessly. There's technically enough room to secure all the Merry Men's needs and also get creative, but first you'll need to wrest it from the thick forest by cutting down its trees.
Robin's village is essential to progressing through the game, but we've made sure all the rules of this gameplay aspect are transparent and the interface for managing everything for it is easy to follow with the right stats and indicators. We can't wait to see your versions of the hideout!
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Devlog #6 - Stealth
📣 Hello, Sherwood Builders! 🏹
Yuletide is just around the corner. Countless merrymakers around the world get into the spirit of gift-giving, so do we bring you fresh development news about Sherwood Builders all the while wishing you all the best for the upcoming Holidays!
Stealth
Stealth builds, sneaking mechanics, critical surprise attacks. We've all seen the many different ways in which stealth mechanics are employed in games, so it stands to reason that Sherwood Builders, a game about outlaws in hiding, just wouldn't do without them.
Invest your skill points, gained by levelling up, in various portions of Robin's skill tree that will enhance his stealth-related abilities and offer you unique challenges, which will be well rewarded if you do everything right. Mind the amount of noise you're making with your movement speed or veil yourself in night's darkness to further improve your chances.
Stealth benefits:
Go unnoticed: Not every direct confrontation can be won, not every odds will be in Robin's favor. Sometimes the best course of action for accomplishing your objective is to avoid the fight altogether and well-developed stealth abilities will enable you just that.
Eliminate enemies: Few things are as satisfying as thrusting defeat on your foes before they even realize they're in a fight. Sneaking in Sherwood Builders enables you to instantly kill enemies in melee assassination or dropping down on hostile characters from above. It can also significantly increase damage with arrows when they're fired at unaware opponents. Beware, however! If your target's level greatly outweighs Robin's, the assassination will fail, with damage dealt as your only benefit of the attempt.
Seize treasures: Not all valuables lie out in the open. Sneaking around, breaking locks, and taking down security mechanisms will be the only way of getting your hands on them. A stealthy burglar will witness many rewards as they complete the many, many Sherwood Builders quests.
Stealth challenges:
Risk of discovery: The closer you are to enemies, the higher the risk of being noticed. Sneaking requires caution and patience, as carelessness may end unpleasantly for you. Do this correctly and make sure you upgrade your skills well or you may find yourself suddenly surrounded by enemies eager to fight you and well aware of your presence. Keep a 'plan B' on hand.
Using the environment: Stealth means a demand for perfect awareness of your surroundings. You have to use your surroundings to your advantage by hiding in dense foliage and behind objects to remain unseen and staying still if you're making too much noise. Your Hunter Vision ability will prove useful to find out which way your enemies are looking and whether they can hear you. Study their patrol routes carefully if you want to pull it off.
Skill investment: How well you sneak about is not a finite deal, not by a long shot. The 'Path of Shadows' part of Robin's skill tree features many upgrades to how you can take advantage of the game's stealth features. If you want to reap the benefits, the challenge lies in choosing the right options between levelling up stealth skills and Robin's other abilities, such as those related to combat and crafting.
We hope that the sneaking mechanics in Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders will provide you with even greater excitement and challenges. We encourage you to share your impressions and suggestions on our community forum. Thank you for your support, and we're already working on further enhancements!
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Devlog #5 - Minigames and Puzzles
📣 Hello Sherwood Builders! 🏹
As the game's premiere continues to draw near, we return to share some more details about its various features. And today we focus on...
Adventuring across a land filled with opportunities for daring deeds and skilfull feats of combat is a staple of the open-world RPG. We wouldn't really have such games without these features, so they're all well and good, but a proper open world still needs even more variety than that. Their design in RPGs is enriched through various means, a popular choice among them are "games within the game." Sherwood Builders also features such solutions.
Puzzles
Exploration ought to reward the curious, as long as they overcome the challenges that come with it. However, not every one of Sherwood's treasures lies under the watchful eye of an armed guard. Sometimes the enterprising outlaw will have to best special mechanisms to reach their bounties:
Combination mechanisms
Lights and mirrors
Musical sequences
Combination locks
Just some of the game's puzzles you'll need to solve if you really want that good loot...
Minigames
Medieval times are hard enough, but life under the Sheriff's rule is as far from idyllic as it can get. So, the denizens of Sherwood have come up with some diversions to make their dreary existence just a little better. And no, there's more to it than ale. Plus, Robin can freely participate in these activities:
Dice games
Drinking contests
Archery tournaments
Some other activities that are somewhat secret and we don't want to spoil for you
Try your skill! It might just be a great way to supplement the resources at the Merry Men's disposal. Or to jeopardise them...
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
DevLog #4 - Real Gameplay Difficulty | Full Release in Q1 2024!
📣 Hello Sherwood Builders! 🏹
Release News
Are you still following us here like we suggested? If you are, good for you, cause you won't be missing out on this juicy bit of news:
Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders, the final version of the game, is set to have...
:pointdown: Add the game to your wishlist so that you don't miss our grand premiere! :pointdown:
And keep following us for a more precise date in a news post to come!
Gameplay Difficulty in Sherwood Builders
Many games don't manage their difficulty design in a fair way, especially when it comes to combat. This is mostly done by having the difficulty setting modify the stats of characters and creating so-called damage sponges – enemies who force you into a slog of being battered for a long period of time until they're finally defeated. While at it, the fight doesn't offer much in the way of new combat gameplay and only either shorterns or lengthens the loop that's already in place.
We wanted a different approach, one that would address gameplay challenge through combat and, consequently, actually mean something to the player. And so, the three different difficulty levels of Sherwood Builders: Rogue, Outlaw, and Legend affect the way enemies behave alongside several other combat-related conditions:
Damage caused by enemies
Frequency of enemy attacks
Number of enemies willing to attack at the same time
Chances of various enemy responses, such as blocking and dodging
The rate at which Robin gets fatigued by fighting
The timing window for the player to parry attacks
Item drop chances
With these solutions combined, we intend for the game difficulty to engage the player's skills, reward how much practice they've had with the game, and how great a challenge they wish to face as they complete the quests and follow the story.
Which feature of the game would you like us to write about in the next update? Let us know in the comments below!
More news to come! MeanAstronauts Team
Devlog #4 - Real Gameplay Difficulty | Full Release in Q1 2024!
📣 Hello Sherwood Builders! 🏹
Release News
Are you still following us here like we suggested? If you are, good for you, cause you won't be missing out on this juicy bit of news:
Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders, the final version of the game, is set to have...
:pointdown: Add the game to your wishlist so that you don't miss our grand premiere! :pointdown:
And keep following us for a more precise date in a news post to come!
Gameplay Difficulty in Sherwood Builders
Many games don't manage their difficulty design in a fair way, especially when it comes to combat. This is mostly done by having the difficulty setting modify the stats of characters and creating so-called damage sponges – enemies who force you into a slog of being battered for a long period of time until they're finally defeated. While at it, the fight doesn't offer much in the way of new combat gameplay and only either shorterns or lengthens the loop that's already in place.
We wanted a different approach, one that would address gameplay challenge through combat and, consequently, actually mean something to the player. And so, the three different difficulty levels of Sherwood Builders: Rogue, Outlaw, and Legend affect the way enemies behave alongside several other combat-related conditions:
Damage caused by enemies
Frequency of enemy attacks
Number of enemies willing to attack at the same time
Chances of various enemy responses, such as blocking and dodging
The rate at which Robin gets fatigued by fighting
The timing window for the player to parry attacks
Item drop chances
With these solutions combined, we intend for the game difficulty to engage the player's skills, reward how much practice they've had with the game, and how great a challenge they wish to face as they complete the quests and follow the story.
Which feature of the game would you like us to write about in the next update? Let us know in the comments below!
