Archaelund News

Archaelund's Magic System has been functional for several months, but in the last weeks we have nearly finished the implementation of the spells that will be included in the Early Access release, as well as some other key features such as spell trainers.



Careers grant access to disciplines, which a character improves to a certain rank in order to learn new spells. A strong spellcasting career such as Apprentice or Initiate can learn several disciplines, and on each new level gained the player has to decide which of them to improve, thus accessing new spells, but also being more efficient at casting spells of that discipline. A spellcaster can focus on one discipline to specialize, or raise ranks in different disciplines, to become more versatile. Early Access will include 9 disciplines with around 45 spells in total (up to rank III for now), and eventually the full system will include much more.



Attack spells are not only about damage: you can mesmerize enemies, put them to sleep, charm them, paralyze them... and of course, spellcasting enemies can do the same to you! And of course not all spells are offensive, and some spells can be cast out of combat for multiple purposes.





We decided to share a few random gameplay clips from the Internal Testing since the trailer is already over a year old; please keep in mind it has not been edited nor "staged" as a trailer usually is, because that takes time, and also we cut it short and avoided dialogues or journal peeks to avoid spoiling too much, so this is really not capturing some of the most important aspects of the game. Still you can see the magic system in action, a complete battle and some exploration from the early areas.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



The latest testing has been very positive. Exploration, quests, combat, dialogues... all of it worked well, and the game is very stable. Archaelund is already a playable game, even if a short one until content is completed.

Even if there is still much work ahead, all the complex systems and the main elements of the game are finally in place and working. Our current target is releasing the Early Access in 4 to 6 months. We work hard to reward your patience with a marvellous game, which we can enjoy together for the years to come.

Greetings everyone! No pretty pictures on this update I am afraid, since we have already revealed too many environments and we want all the rest to be a surprise.

Archaelund internal testing revealed that some core mechanics that sounded like great ideas on paper, turned out to be more hassle than fun.

For instance, I implemented Stamina and Fatigue as a limiting resource for the adventuring party capabilities, and in particular magic. I wanted magic to "take a toll" on spellcasters, making them more frail and exhausted when they cast spells instead of using other well-known systems such as spell slots, "mana", etc. My idea was that spellcasters fell sicker and more vulnerable the more they cast.

But testing revealed that this idea, which can be interesting from a narrative or "realistic" point of view, did not work well in a combat-oriented roleplaying game such as Archaelund, where you explore huge dungeons and large wild regions, while involved in many fights. "Stamina" and "Fatigue" mechanics were quickly becoming a burden, instead of providing interesting choices.

Furthermore, too many game mechanics were tied to Stamina (special abilities, magic or even regular attacks), which also caused character progression and itemization to feel wrong, since increasing Endurance trait (from which Stamina derived) quickly became the "right choice" for most builds, be it warriors or mages. All of this required deep changes in the ruleset. After much consideration I found a way to preserve my original intent (magic takes its toll on the caster) but in a way that no longer disrupts playability. Instead of Stamina, magic and some special abilities will now spend "Willpower". Willpower is derived from mental Traits, and is helpful to resist fear, insanity, and mind control. It can also be spent as a boost during battles. This means a depleted willpower can be, situationally, very bad; but it is not as limiting as Stamina was, nor it is linked with physical endurance and doesn't result in beefed-up wizard apprentices. Fatigue still has a place in the game, as a special status, but it is not so central anymore.

Besides this, several other minor adjustments were needed, regarding things like avoidance and armor, or Trait distribution. Together with the removal of an "attack options" system that was extremely confusing and didn't provide the variety it was supposed to. After a redesign of the rules, all seems to have "clicked" in place; it will take a few weeks to have all the new mechanics working and then they will be internally tested again. Eventually testing will involve more people, when we are ready for Alpha and Beta phases. All of this will be announced in due time.

I know what you're thinking. This means more delays for the release. But wait, it gets worse!

Since Willpower was added I got a few great ideas about new additions to the game mechanics, which I am currently implementing. And more quest ideas for the early areas popped in and I am writing them now. What can I do? I just can't pass up on making the game better. Let's hope the world doesn't end before I run out of ideas.

As for release estimates, I just can't provide them at this point. We want to release the Early Access as soon as possible, but it's clear we still need at least a few months of development, plus some testing time. If testing reveals issues, we may decide to delay the release. I am ready to concede on certain things, like not including some areas in the first release if they're not ready yet; but essential game mechanics must feel right. The priority is to give you the best role-playing game we're able to produce, and we will give it all to get there as soon as we can.

I'll try to make another post on December to keep everyone updated. Thanks for all the support, wishlist additions, and encouraging messages! And a special thanks to all the Exiled Kingdoms players.

[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.