Prometheus Wept News

Hi all,

After over 2 years work, the Kickstarter campaign for Prometheus Wept is now live. If you'd like to check it out, it's the Kickstarter is here and the demo is here.

Prometheus Wept is a party and action point turn based RPG set in a near-future Earth, in which most of our digital technology has been disabled by a virus. The game offers hardcore squad-level combat, with simultaneous battles between cyberspace and the physical world, meaningful choices, deep character progression and an advanced crafting system. Here's the pitch video:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thanks for reading - if you have any questions or feedback, do let me know!

Hi again!

I hope you're keeping safe and healthy. Previously, I've hinted at a big, unannounced feature of Prometheus Wept. Finally, enough progress has been made to talk about it. To begin, you may be aware that Prometheus Wept takes place in the aftermath of a cyber attack which corrupted most of our digital technology.

The new feature allows the protagonist to digitise their consciousness and enter corrupted computer networks as an avatar. This means that two turn-based battles can occur simultaneously and the actions taken in one battle can affect the other. Typically, this will involve your allies protecting the player character from physical enemies, while your avatar battles the network's security protocols.

Each network is comprised of a number of nodes. Each node controls a system in the physical world, for example a door or defences. When an avatar defeats and captures a node, the player gains control of that system. To make more sense of this, here's a concrete example which will be available in the upcoming demo.


In the company of your first companion, Ferdia Galloway, you discover an underground complex.


You continue along the tunnel until you are accosted by the complex's mysterious guardian.


There's no way you're getting through the door, but there is a terminal nearby. You might be able infiltrate the network and get control of the door that way, however, when in cyberspace, you can't act in the physical world.


Here we are. Cyberspace. The terrain is fragmented, but you can use the portals to island hop. You can use viral projection, a ranged attack, on any hostiles. At the bottom centre of the screen there are six buttons, which correspond to abilities called scripts. Scripts cost power to run and you generate power each turn in cyberspace based on your tech stat.


Using the ScanNode() script, you discover that Node B is responsible for external defences. The other two nodes control the main door and interior defences. Node B is a good place to start, in case you are attacked in the physical world. Spoiler: you will be.


The node's attack range is greater than yours, but you manage to avoid its attacks. You don't have enough AP to close in and make an attack this turn, so you call the SetMemoryLocation() script, which allows you to relocate to a position up to five tiles away.


You've got one last trick up your sleeve. You call the InstantiateCover() script to create cover to help protect from the nodes attacks.


Control returns to the physical world. All quiet... so far.


You've beaten the node and used CaptureNode() on it. You switch on the external defenses. The node will now attack any enemies in range and provide you with power every turn. Even with the cover, your avatar has taken a lot of damage. You use Avatar.Debug() to repair some of the damage and head towards the next node.


And back to the physical world, where trouble, in the form of a group of marauders, has just found you. Thankfully, it's going to take them a few turns to reach you.


The entrance turret is online and two retractable cover plates have extended to offer protection to Ferdia, who readies his weapons, a pipe pistol and a more powerful, single shot pipe rifle. Each ally has a unique set of abilities, so Ferdia has a couple of tricks up his sleeve too, but we'll get to that another time. On the next turn in cyberspace, the avatar can exit, but the player will lose a turn due to transfer syndrome, an ailment caused by the jarring effects of returning to the physical world.

There are multiple ways to handle this encounter: exit cyberspace immediately and fight, try to activate the exterior defences before the marauders reach you, or open the door and try to use the hostile-to-all internal turrets to your advantage.

The intention is to allow players to upgrade and create scripts using the computer science skill and to customise their script selection within the limits of the RAM on their data warfare suite. I'll follow up in the not too distant future with a video of this encounter and some more screenshots of in-game locations.

If you have any feedback or questions, it would be great to hear from you!

Take care,
Daithi

Hi everyone,

I hope you've been keeping well since the last update. The first demo area is very close to complete, with the exception of optimisation, balancing and testing. The more recent focus has been on:

1: Preparing the Hec8 Research Bunker Demo Area
This is the second play area to feature in the upcoming demo. Here, you will have to overcome the bunker's mysterious guardian to gain access to the bunker's secrets. An as of yet unannounced feature of the game, which will distinguish it from other games in the genre, will be showcased here. I'll go into more detail on this in the near future, but for the time being, here are a few screen-grabs from the bunker.





2: Improving the UI screens
I've also been working on the appearance of the UI screens. Prometheus Wept will have more depth than Vigilantes. This creates a need to display more information, which in turn makes creating a clean and clear UI more challenging. Here's the current character screen for the game.



What's next?
After these two jobs, I'm going to add the first permanent ally to the game. In Vigilantes, each ally had a single, unique perk. In Prometheus Wept, each ally will have between 4-8 unique perks and many of these will unlock powerful activated abilities. This will result in a fair amount of extra work, but the pay off will be unique allies who play very differently from one another. I'll update you on the first ally, Ferdia Galloway, a con man and sociopathic mentalist, as soon as he has been added.

If you have any feedback, questions, or comments, do let me know :)

All the best,
Daithi

The first development log covered a number of areas which Prometheus Wept will improve on Vigilantes: deeper combat, strong consequences for player choice, more emphasis on storytelling. This follow-up covers the remaining improvements, with one notable exception, which will be covered at a later date.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Note: The content in the video is the same as below.

[h2]A More Intricate Crafting System[/h2]
Vigilantes' crafting system allows for the creation of upgradable armour, medical supplies, explosives and a fairly large selection of equipment. Most weapons can't be crafted from scratch, but can be upgraded. Weapons are mostly linear upgrades with variations in damage, accuracy and AP cost, so higher tier weapons of the same type are usually more effective.

Prometheus Wept will offer a more intricate crafting system. There are two crafting skills: Mechanics (armour, weapons and equipment) and Chemistry (explosives, healing items and buffs). There are two basic crafting resources. Raw materials can be found and harvested (metals, cloth, fuel, plastic, and chemicals) and weapon components, the unassembled parts of weapons, can be crafted or found at multiple quality levels.

• A knife is composed of a grip and blade. Component quality and the type of metal used in the blade determine chance-to-hit, damage, critical chance, chance to cause bleeding etc.
  
• Firearms are created from a frame, barrel and grip, which affect damage, range, accuracy and capacity.
  
• There will be two basic suits of armour (light/heavy) and likely two unique, crafted, high level armours. The type of raw material used will affect damage mitigation, but heavier armour also reduces the chance of evading attacks.
  
• Prometheus Wept has buffs in the form of combat stimulants with colourful street names like Reaper, Armadillo, Stallion and Rook.
  
• An increased skill level in mechanics allows better weapon components to be crafted, and grants bonuses to crafted items.
  
• The intention is to have less weapons than Vigilantes, but to make them more different from one another, and possible to craft at multiple quality levels, to provide a greater collection of viable weapons throughout the game.
  

[h2]A Deeper Character System[/h2]
Given Vigilantes' focus on combat, characters which focused heavily on non combat skills weren't really viable. So broadly, the choice is a ranged or melee character, or some combination thereof. Different weapon types, especially ranged weapons, affect how the character is most efficiently utilised. There are also a very large number of perks and each ally has a unique perk, which only they can own. Skill points are gained from using skills, and after a certain number of skill gains, the character levels up, granting perk, stat or skill points.

In Prometheus Wept, characters will require some combat proficiency, but there will be scope for viable, less combat-focused characters. Social, trade and other skills can allow combat to be avoided, but for the most part, they will create advantages to make combat easier. The addition of an evasion stat along with light and heavy armour will create options for light (evasion) and heavy (tank), ranged and close combat builds.

Instead of having one unique perk per character, the intention is that each ally will have one or more sets of unique perks. These perks provide passive bonuses and high impact activated abilities, to further differentiate how each character plays. The resource used for activated abilities will be resolve points (RP) which are generated every turn, based on the character's resolve stat. This, in turn, allows for the creation of offensive, support and defensive casters.

Like Vigilantes, skill points are gained through use, though completing objectives will also provide skill points. Once a certain number of skill points have been earned, the character will level up. Stat points will be rewarded less frequently than in Vigilantes, but more perk points will be provided, to allow players more freedom to adopt the perks in each character's unique set, and to choose from general perks.

[h2]Greatly Improved Gameplay Variety[/h2]
Gameplay in Vigilantes is focused on combat. The gameplay loop is based around fight → upgrade characters/weapons/base facilities → fight.

Note: The majority of additions discussed until now have been implemented to some degree. What follows will likely be present, but no work has been carried out, so there is a lower degree of certainty.

The tactics skill will provide active and passive skills which are used in combat, and also options to substantially change a combat encounter. Ideas being considered include:

• Luring enemies into an area with more favourable characteristics, such as more cover for the player team and less for the enemy.
  
• Interacting with the environment to create an advantage in combat: for example, damaging a water tower to flood an area occupied by melee enemies, in order to slow them down and make them more vulnerable to electric attacks.
  
• Ambushes and creating distractions to temporarily remove some enemies from combat.
  

I've always thought that gameplay variety is a good part of the reason why Half Life 2 and Starcraft 2's (particularly the Terran campaign) are such amazing games. The basic building blocks of gameplay are well executed, and remain the same throughout, but consistent novelty added through new game mechanics elevated the experience of playing these games for me.

In Half Life 2, in one section you drive a buggy, while in the next you fight zombies with only a gravity gun. Later you lead resistance troops or ant lions against the Combine. In Starcraft 2, objectives change from stopping escaping trains, to pushing forward through enemy lines driven by the destruction of the map behind you by a sun going supernova, to harvesting minerals from a planet which periodically spews lava, destroying anything on the low ground, to raiding an enemy prison with reverse tower defence mechanics.

I'd like to take a similar approach to gameplay variety in Prometheus Wept. The intention is to structure the game into three acts, with each act introducing new gameplay elements and factions, along with a substantial shift in tone. The additional resources required will result in a shorter game, but I believe players will be better served by a shorter, quality experience than a lengthy bland one.

For example, in Act 1, the player will have the choice to overthrow or consolidate the position of the oligarchy which control the rising city-state of Sunny Pines. You'll have the option to work overtly for the oligarchy or the rebels, or try to undermine the other faction from within, for as long as they trust you. While the outcome will be decided by combat, there will be opportunities along the way to recruit allies, neutralise enemies or enemy supplies, or potentially purchase equipment to better equip your faction.

The tone of Act 2 will shift to horror, and gameplay will focus on managing the resources and defenders of a makeshift settlement beset by two very different, but equally deadly groups of enemies. A stretch goal here will be to add upgradable base facilities and the ability to place defences.

That's all for now. You can expect another development log in the next 4-6 weeks. If you have any question or feedback, fire away! Have a good day.

Welcome to the first development log for Prometheus Wept, a turn based RPG set on a near future earth in which virtually all computerised technology has been rendered inoperable by a virus, casting mankind into a new dark age.

Prometheus Wept uses the code from Vigilantes, the studio’s second game, as a starting point, a base camp from which to reach for greater altitude. This development log covers around half of the key areas Prometheus Wept aims to improve on its predecessor. While most of these have been realised to some degree and all are feasible, it’s too early to guarantee everything outlined will be included in the game or exactly as envisioned.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The content in the video is the same as below.

[h2]A Brief Summary[/h2]
Prometheus Wept will move from the combat focused gameplay of Vigilantes towards a traditional RPG, with improved gameplay variety and overall depth. There will be significant consequences for player choices, more emphasis on plot, character and game world development. There will be less combat, but battles will be more varied and the combat system will be more feature rich.
Less Emphasis on Combat

One of the main criticisms of Vigilantes is an over-reliance on combat. Vigilantes has a game loop similar to Xcom: fight → return to base/sell loot/upgrade → fight. I was aware of the potential downsides of this emphasis on combat during development, and a lot of time was spent adding variation to the game loop through crafting, base facilities, different mission types, pre-combat dialogue with skill checks, interrogation and surveillance. These additions worked for the majority of players, as Vigilantes currently has 82% positive reviews on Steam, but de-emphasizing combat will create a stronger, more varied base to build on.

Prometheus Wept will depart from Vigilantes’ potentially infinite number of generated battles, to a smaller number of hand crafted encounters. Less emphasis on combat will make room for greater gameplay variety and player choice will replace combat as the key mechanism for driving the story and gameplay. Further, the shift away from generated battles will allow for the creation of more varied and interesting combat challenges.

[h2]Strong Consequences For Player Choice[/h2]
Player choice in Vigilantes didn’t extend far beyond pre-combat skill checks, and whether to kill or incapacitate enemies, which determined the ending. Vigilantes is a combat focused tactical game, but even in many RPGs, there’s a tendency for main quests to be a series of checkpoints, with only token effects on later gameplay and plot.

The aim with Prometheus Wept is to build more connective tissue than is typical in RPGs, between player choice, gameplay and plot development. The main quests in each act of Prometheus Wept build towards a finale. The intention is that the majority of main quests will provide the player with choices which can tip the scales in their favour (or against) in the finale, and that the resolution of the finale will affect the level of support the faction you sided with provides in the following act.

[h2]More Emphasis on Plot, Character Development and World-Building.[/h2]
The play area in Vigilantes is divided into gang-held city tiles, which could be attacked at any point in the game. However, since pre-combat dialogue was linked to a specific map and gang, there was no way to know when or if the player would hit the required combination. This lead to an abandonment of a strongly interconnected plot for a number of self contained encounters.

Prometheus Wept will move away from this open-ended gameplay to a branching narrative which is more suited to developing a deeper plot, character and world.

[h2]Deeper Combat[/h2]
If you were dismayed by the phrase “less emphasis on combat” – don’t be concerned! One significant benefit of Vigilantes’ focus on combat is that there’s a fairly feature rich combat system in place, which will be further developed for Prometheus Wept. So, while you’ll spend a lower percentage of playtime fighting, the combat will have deeper mechanics and be more varied. The below list of improvements is far from exhaustive. To date, the first two points have been implemented:

• Destructible Cover: this will introduce an additional tactical layer in choosing cover and destroying the enemy’s. Explosives will be very good at this.
  
• Interactions between fire, water, and electricity: water extinguishes fire, but increases the damage taken from electrical attacks. Deeper water will also slow movement, which can be exploited when facing melee enemies.
  
• Environment weapons: Vigilantes had the good ol’ staples of gas cans and oil barrels. The intention is to greatly increase the number of environment weapons and to increase the complexity interactions with them. For example, throwing an explosive into a fire could result in an added incendiary effect, or water containers could be destroyed to put out fires, slow enemies, or make them more vulnerable to electrical attacks.
  

Prometheus Wept is still relatively early in development, so please share your thoughts and feedback on the design. If you have any questions, fire away, and I’ll get back to you!