Unfortunately, we have had to move the release date for the back back significantly. We expect the game to release now between March and June of 2022. The original date was set this year because one of our team members was able to commit 8 - 10 hours a day on the project due to being laid off during the lockdown. This is no longer the case and as we are just a 2 person team, there is no realistic way we could meet the original date.
So instead, our team will be able to work 3 to 4 hours a day, as we have done in past games, and so we think a Q2 release next year is realistic. Sorry for the delay and for not coming to this conclusion earlier. Unfortunately, with job hunting, it's hard to predict things ahead of time and one can go from being unemployed to employed very quickly.
On the positive side, the extra time will allow us to spend more time in development and conduct a longer beta test period so the final product should benefit.
Shadow Elf Character Design:
Moving onto a more positive note, we thought it would be nice to show the designs for the shadow elf character class. We are still fleshing out the design and are considering making her a gunpowder missile class or a rogue class. Let us know which you think would be a better fit for her.
Undead Designs:
Here are some undead we worked on as well. The armour and weapon designs are meant to be that of an older culture so we used bronze and early iron age weapons. Otherwise, fairly typical zombie designs. Hope you like them.
Progress Update - Character Designs
Character Design Preview:
Here are some early design of characters for the game. The vampire noblewoman and druidess are planned as playable classes while the marsh goblin and bandit veteran are for enemy encounters. The marsh goblin is the base prototype for an entire faction that is still being developed so please provide any feedback so we can further refine the design.
Vampire Noble:
This is the second attempt at making a playable vampire class, with the first being the Vampire Knight in Demon's Rise - Lords of Chaos. We hope that a lot of the new game mechanics will allow us to more fully flesh out the concept into a really interesting playable class in this game. The design reflects both her wealthy and noble upbringing and the corruption of her vampire curse on her features. Traits such as the glowing red eyes, pale skin, expensive clothing and close fitting plate armour convey the notion quite well. She will be armed with a dueling rapier with her off hand slot being used to carry either a dagger or perhaps a magical tome or arcane item to bolster her magical powers. She will be very powerful in melee but have inherent weaknesses that she will have to plan around. We may even introduce a vulnerability to light mechanic so she will stronger in underground and night levels and suffer a debuff in daylight battles.
Druidess:
The druidess design borrows heavily from celtic and roman influences. She is meant to be a class of wizard that draws power from nature but exists in the civilized world. Tattoos, a wolf cloak and the skulls on her staff convey the more primitive aspects of her design while the rest of her clothing is more mundane. Her powers will be far more melee focused than other wizards and will involve invoking animal spirits to boost her strength, summoning forest creatures as allies in battle and spells focused around boosting strength, vitality and ferocity of herself and allies.
Marsh Goblins:
Here is the first design for the marsh goblin faction. They will be an enemy found in early levels in swampy areas and forests. They will be physically weaker than humans but faster in melee. They will be able to bring powerful allies such as trolls and other swamp beasts into battle and will employ poisons in their melee and missile weapons.
Veteran Bandit:
Here's the design for another woodland bandit. He has a heavy celtic design influence in his armour and weapons. While not equipped in heavy armour, he brandishes a powerful, two-handed axe that has very high armour penetration, especially when supported by his natural strength. He should be a tough challenge for adventurers in the early phases of the game.
Development Update - Early Battle Levels
Here are some images of early battle levels. The campaign begins with a journey through a northern forest that is full of savage tribesman. Ancient stone circles and abandoned villages are scattered among the trees. The tribesmen practice death magic so will summon undead skeletons and zombies to aid their warrriors in battle.
In this level, the players disrupt a ritual being performed by the savage witches that lead the tribesmen. Wizards in the game are both extremely dangerous and very fragile. Their magical attacks can be devastatingly effective and penetrate the heaviest armor easily. However, even the strongest mage can be felled with a well placed sword blow or arrow so they need to be protected.
Here, the players find an abandoned village that is infested with zombies. They are resilient and strong but thankfully focussed on melee so lack wizards or ranged weapons.
In this level, the players come across a farmstead on the side of the road and discover it inhabited by bandits. The bandit warriors range from untrained warriors to veterans that carry excellent weapons and even reasonably good armor.
