Archaelund News

[h2]Bringing the world to life... [/h2]

Since most of the game "systems" are already in place and working, my current development focus is content. Quests, characters, items, encounters, little secrets found here and there... in sum, what you call a game.



This is, no doubt, my favorite part of developing a role-playing game. It is the reason why I am making Archaelund: to tell stories. It is also the hardest part, especially in an open-world game in which things can be done in any order (or not at all!), and when quests are designed to have multiple outcomes, with consequences for the party's choices. I've been writing down many of these quests for years, and now it's the time to implement them into the game!



[h2]Development status, and Early Access goals [/h2]

I'll give a breakdown of what we have, and what is enough to release the Early Access.

The world of Archaelund is divided in outdoor square "sectors", each of them large enough to include multiple locations such as villages, towns, ruins, bandit camps, or entrances to dungeons. Some will be more civilized and include human settlements, others will be wildlands, and typically there will be a number of dungeons accessible from them.

The first of such "sectors" is about 90% ready for the Early Access. It includes a town and many other special locations, lots of NPCs to talk to, a dozen quests and quite a few surprises. Currently it takes ten to twelve hours to create your party and go through that content, although it's hard to estimate the playing time given the open nature of the game.

There are currently another 3 accessible sectors which you can walk around, but the content in them is still only outlined.

We intend to release the EA with three sectors, and at least a dozen dungeons, although these goals may be revised. All these early sectors include towns or villages, which makes them pretty dense in terms of content. After Early Access release we plan to keep adding sectors to the game map, with a goal of 21 sectors when we reach version 1.0.

[h2]Archaelund: The Orchestral Suite performed by live orchestra![/h2]

This evening (19:30 EST) the Georgia Tech orchestra will perform a selection of themes from the Archaelund OST as the opening of the concert. If you happen to be in Atlanta, you can attend this free event at the Ferst Center in Georgia Tech university campus. Otherwise, you can follow it live on youtube!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

After the suite, our composer Laura will perform Beethoven's Fourth Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

This will be a very brief post to let you know we keep working steadily on all fronts. Most of the essential game systems are already working, in this screenshot you can see a few ones that were not present until recently (minimap, camping and other party actions).



The game soundtrack is a very important part of Archaelund, and we wanted to share a video with three of the tracks created by Laura: the game's "Main Title" theme that you can listen to through the main menus, one battle track, and one exploration track.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

That's all for now, I want the next update to be longer and offer some gameplay information, if time allows.

This will be a short post. We just uploaded a new trailer to the Store Page of Archaelund, and Youtube. In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago we also updated all the screenshots.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This is the first time you can see the whole team's work put together, so it seems a fitting opportunity to briefly introduce them:

Programming, writing, game design: David Ballestrino (me!)
Environment artist: Alberto Trujillo
2D art and concepts: Nacho Corva
Creatures artist: Bob Metcalfe (Secretanorak)
Music: Laura Ballestrino
Additional 3D art: Francisco José Retamero
Additional coding and game design: Alejandro Ballestrino

The next post will be a proper "Dev Update" and will be centered in the character development and rule system, but should have a bit of everything.

In the last months, Archaelund has seen a lot of new content: from natural environments, to cities and dungeons full with adventure. From the beginning we faced the challenge of creating a world that was both new and ancient; the broken, overgrown ruins of a highly-magical empire lay next to the mundane (but thriving) villages and towns of the human Exiles, and the alien dwellings of the native Geldryn.

(click to enlarge)




The mechanics and options of the Combat Engine are mostly in place. Character 'Talents' may grant special combat actions or bonuses, which gives each of your party members unique advantages in battle. There are dozens of different Talents to learn, and while most are defined by your chosen Career there's some Open Talents that a character can learn independently. Our objective in combat is making it fast-paced and highly tactical, allowing the player to seek strategies and ability sinergies in the party. Expect different AIs with appropiate behaviors; archers wil fall behind warriors, and might focus on your party's weak spots...

(click to enlarge)


The Archaelund Character System is also seeing lots of progress. Character and party creation is already in place. It was very important to offer endless customization to make your adventuring party unique, yet intuitive and straightforward... you don't need to "study" to make your characters, because Careers work well "out-of-the-box". It is after the first levels when meaningful character development occurs, and by them you'll have learned what you need from the game itself.



I know what you're all thinking... "Neat things but, when does the game come out!?!?". To answer this let me give you the rundown on our "to-do" list.

The magic system is designed but not implemented, and the same can be said about several game elements like Traps and about half the Talents and Skills. Environments have advanced a lot, but we have about 70% of what we wanted for the first release. Many quests and dialogues are already written, but over half of them are just sketched. And then there's the polishing, the testing, the adjustments, which in a game like this may take a few months.

We could probably have rushed a release this Christmas but, as we've explained before, for us the priority is making the game as good as we can. We will extend the development into 2022, and make sure Archaelund Early Access is everything it should be.

Greetings! I am David, the programmer, writer and designer of Archaelund. In this update I want to share with you the progress of development as well as more details about the scope of Early Access.

My previous game was mostly a one-man project, but Archaelund has become a far more ambitious adventure; a team of renowned artists put all their talent and effort to make the game look and feel as unique and alluring as I envisioned it. With this new scope in mind, and after months of teamwork, we've set a realistic goal for the Early Access release: Summer 2021.

Please take into account that all the information and screenshots in this post refer to an unfinished product. Everything is subject to change and will probably look better in the released game.

[h3]Archaelund takes shape[/h3]

More areas are being created steadily, and details added to existing ones. The concepts drawn by Ignacio Corva based on my Lore are then made into scenery by our lead Environment Artist, Alberto Trujillo. Below you can see some examples of the early game areas (click to enlarge).



Corva's drawings also cover the many denizens of Archaelund, which are later turned into 3D characters by our "Master of Creatures", Bob Metcalfe (SecretAnorak). Below you can see side-to-side concepts and development screenshots of the Goblin playable race and a small critter called Norrax.



In regards to Music, Laura Ballestrino is composing and producing an amazing original soundtrack for the game, with specific music for each of the many areas of Archaelund. It is the final "magic touch" that breathes life into the world, and we'll be sharing some of it soon.


[h3]The Lay of the Land [/h3]

Archaelund is divided in square map sectors, each of them large enough to get lost in. Sectors include dungeons, secrets and encounters with a variety of peoples and creatures, especially those including a town or village (and in the Early Access release, most will).



Archaelund is a non-linear game, so locations are not set "in order"; they can be visited or explored at your convenience... if you can handle the challenges in them, of course. There will be a "logic" on what kind of encounters you face in each location, but the difficulty will not scale to your level and surprises may happen. Explore carefully!

The Early Access release will contain several map sectors including at least four towns, many dungeons, and dozens of different quests. These initial sectors are part of the Southern March, the most "civilized" region of Archaelund where your adventure will begin. Future planned updates will cover many more sectors, further to the North, East and South.


[h3]All Fun and Games [/h3]

Archaelund is very focused in its gameplay mechanics, and in particular we've been working extensively on Character Development and Combat.

As you probably know already, Archaelund's most unique feature is the "dual perspective". First person exploration combines with top-down tactical battles where you'll often face hordes of enemies.



Combat is turn-based, yet fast paced. Your party will have a variety of possible actions to overcome your enemies... maybe exhaust their stamina and bid your time? distract them using a Talent, then have another character stab them? Weaken them with spells before charging in? Or, of course, just blast them out of existence with your magic, if you have that kind of power.

More about combat will be detailed in future posts, but in this one I want to outline for you the basics about party creation and advancement, and what is our plan for Early Access in this regard.

At the game start you'll create a merry band of four adventurers but up to two extra companions may join you permanently later on, so the typical party size will be six unless you choose to do with fewer. Companions are fully under your control just as any of your other characters, although they retain some autonomy during dialogues and other situations.

The character progression system is based in Experience Points and levels, but it offers great flexibility with a system based in dozens of Careers. Careers don't define your character capabilities forever; As an example, one of your characters could be a Squire, and after completing the seven levels of that basic Career, he may either decide to become a Knight, or leave behind his chivalrous aims and become a Mercenary. Every choice allows you to either specialize, or to make more versatile characters. "Completing" all the levels in a Career often offers a worthwile bonus.



Many of the Basic Careers are not particularly "heroic": your starting party may feature Apprentice Wizards, Bandits, Labourers or Hunters. They are common men and women that want to leave behind their old lives and become adventurers. Maybe even heroes!



The Early Access gameplay will cover the first 8-9 levels of character advancement, and 21 Basic Careers will be available, plus several Advanced ones.


[h3]What's next? [/h3]

From now onwards I'll make more regular posts about our progress. There will be some relevant gameplay topics that will get a full update, like Combat, Skill Checks, Quests and Dialogues, Itemization, Magic and others.

A final word: Thanks for all the kind emails, for the thousands of "wishlists" of the game, and for all the posts expressing excitement about Archaelund; all of it is very encouraging for the whole team, and we can't wait to show you more!