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1428: Shadows over Silesia News

Live developer stream of 1428: Shadows over Silesia (in Czech) @ Steam NEXT Fest

After three long years of development, a public demo of 1428: Shadows over Silesia has been released as part of the ongoing Steam NEXT Fest. Come celebrate together on a live stream with the developer and join the chat! You have a unique opportunity to ask anything you're interested in.

This stream will be in Czech. There will be one more stream on another date, and that one will be in English:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1228500/announcements/detail/3370394584469109013

I look forward to seeing you!

Direct link to the stream:
https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561198030803154
https://twitch.tv/sirdoenny
https://twitch.tv/kubidev

Don't forget to add the game to your Steam Wishlist! The release date is coming soon. It's set for September 6, 2022.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1228500

Nominations in all Indie Awards categories at Game Access 2022

This year's Game Access 2022 conference in Brno, Czech Republic not only brought a lot of interesting presentations from leading European developers, but also featured sixty upcoming games in the Indie Showcase. 1428: Shadows over Silesia was among them!

More information about the conference: https://game-access.com/conference/



At the end of the event, the Game Access Indie Awards took place. Attendees chose the best of all presented in three categories - Best Gameplay, Best Art and Best Game overall. I'm happy to announce that 1428: Shadows over Silesia has received nominations in all three! In addition, there was one more unexpected surprise. It also received a nomination for Best Game of the Show from the Czech gaming website VisionGame.cz.

I didn't manage to win, but I still appreciate this honor very much and take it as a commitment. I'm glad you like the game! Many thanks also to the organizers for their great work. I am looking forward to next year.

Full accessibility for the blind gamers

It was bound to come at some point. It has come now! A new era of gaming for blind gamers is about to begin, and it will kick off with 1428: Shadows over Silesia. It may seem strange that a small one-man studio from the Czech Republic would come up with this, but when none of the world's leading developers was going to seize this opportunity for a long time, I decided to take up the challenge.

Today I am proud to announce that the upcoming action-adventure game 1428: Shadows over Silesia will be fully accessible to blind players. This will make it the first game ever on PC and the second overall (after The Last of Us Part II) to bring full blind support to an adventure of this scale.

We're not talking about just some of the in-game text being read or about some kind of rudimentary navigation. The game will bring all-new revolutionary elements that will allow the blind to enjoy a full experience not only of the story, dialogue and exploring the environment, but also stealth or combat, including large scale battles! Although the accessibility in TLOU2 was a tremendous success and won numerous awards, Shadows over Silesia takes everything to a whole new level never seen before.

To mark the occasion, a new audio trailer for the visually impaired has just been released! The very first of its kind:[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Special site for the blind: https://blind.shadows1428.com

[h3]Brief summary of the accessibility features the game will offer[/h3]

Full narration of all in-game text
  • Including reading pop-up hints, character properties, active quests, journal entries and inventory
  • Closed captions in cut-scenes
  • Subtitle narration for non-dubbed languages
  • Ability to skip forward and backward in text
  • Support for different screen readers
Special environment descriptions
  • Most locations have their own text descriptions, so even the blind can enjoy the game's dark atmosphere while receiving additional information they would otherwise miss
Advanced navigational features
  • Navigation to important story points, characters and even custom points that can be added on demand in an unlimited quantity
  • Reporting of the remaining distance to the destination
  • Compass narration as well as a coordinate system
  • Assistance with turning towards objects or characters
Sonar
  • A revolutionary feature that allows the blind to freely explore and navigate the game world
  • Sonar also includes friendly and enemy characters and determines their locations
  • Alerts for traps or destructible barriers
A large number of audio cues
  • Alerts for objects and interesting interactions. Many of these provide additional sounds to let the player know what is around them right as they first hear it
  • Alerts for the beginning and end of cutscenes, low health, leaving an area, and many other situations
  • Warnings about enemies
  • Signals to attack or defend
Optional simplification of some mechanics
  • Accessible combat, including large scale battles
  • Accessible stealth that maintains its atmosphere as well as difficulty
  • More time to complete timed events

And a great deal of other extra goodies

Successful crowdfunding campaign. Last chance to get early access.

Thanks to all the backers, we managed to raise the target amount in a crowdfunding campaign on the HitHit server! The game has thus received the funding necessary to complete development and will be released in 2022. Once again, the video game community has proven its worth! To celebrate, open a bottle of your favorite beverage and toast! You're great!

Clean your keyboards, mice, controllers, the first playable version will arrive to backers at the end of the year. In addition, it will be possible to try the demo at the Game Access Connect event at the Brno Exhibition Centre, Czech Republic. If you show up, I'll see you in person.

If you haven't joined the campaign yet, consider it now! Be part of the story:
https://www.hithit.com/shadows1428

With three days to go, you have one last chance to get early access. Every extra amount can help us make the game better and move it forward! The bigger the financial cushion, the more we'll be able to jump in and bring more interesting features to the game that we might not have time for.



PS: Don't make anything of Hynek and Lothar's expressions in the picture. The Hungarian wine on the table doesn't smell good to them and these two are not easy to please. I am very happy!

New Official Trailer, Info and Crowdfunding Campaign

[h2]Trailer[/h2]
After a one-year hiatus, I'm finally coming out with a new three-minute trailer that shows a lot of footage directly from the game and reveals what the game itself will look like.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The trailer reveals for the first time that the game's story is told from the perspective of the two playable characters: Hynek, a grumpy Hussite hetman who doesn't hesitate to swear or mess around with anything, and Lothar, a Hospitaller knight, a man of good education and manners who stands alongside his brethren in the front line of the Silesian defense. Each has their own motivations and views of the world around them, different equipment and abilities. Their fates will soon become intertwined. Will they face one another, weapon in hand, or forge a fragile alliance to stand shoulder to shoulder against a far worse enemy?

[h2]Crowdfunding campaign and early access[/h2]
The development of the game has reached its midpoint and the originally planned scope has increased by a third. The game will be divided into thirteen chapters, with which you will spend 20-30 hours of playtime. So far, everything has been funded solely from family savings. But now I need your help to bring the project to a successful conclusion. I'm launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise the amount of money needed to complete the development.

You get a unique opportunity to not only pre-order the game and support the developement, but also to get exclusive early access to the demo, alpha and beta versions of the game. You can find the campaign and more information here (HitHit is the Czech variation of Kickstarter): https://www.hithit.com/shadows1428.

[h2]Key game features[/h2]
Finally, I'll summarize all the key features:
  • Isometric graphics - The graphics are inspired by classic RPG games. They are isometric, stylized, and a bit fairytale-like. The action often takes place underground, in the rain, or at night, which serves to amplify the dark atmosphere and focus, which is mostly placed on the contrast of light and shadow
  • English and Czech voiceovers - All dialogues will be fully dubbed in both English and Czech.
  • Challenging riddles - The original riddles you will come across on your dangerous journey will most definitely be challenging. Classic adventure games of the 1990s were a big inspiration. You will have to take advantage of your surroundings, look for objects, obtain information, and solve puzzles or encoded messages. Some problems can be solved in multiple ways, or they can be cleverly worked around.
  • Sneaking in the shadows - Sometimes you'll have to blend into the shadows and sneak past enemies to avoid being detected. Following their patrol routes and habits will help you find the best path. Or you can try to quietly take them out, one by one.
  • Complex combat - The combat system is easy to understand but it takes practice to fully master it. Remember one thing: being outnumbered is a problem! If three or more opponents attack you at the same time, you will die! The key is to take advantage of their mistakes, wait for the right moment, and then attack. You will face not just knights, villagers, and robbers, but also various supernatural beings - and you shouldn't underestimate them.
  • Diverse environments - During the game, you will move around on foot as well as in the saddle. You will visit various real as well as fictitious places in medieval Silesia. You will plunder villages, doggedly defend the city walls, and explore places such as secret dungeons, abandoned mines, or forbidden parts of monasteries. For example, you can look forward to visiting Röwersdorf, Nysa, the Brzeg monastery, or the Rabesberg castle.
  • Hidden coins - You will have the opportunity to search for two kinds of hidden coins. Only the best of the best will be able to collect them all. Not only will you fill your wallet with them and unlock unique achievements, but you can also occasionally use them to progress through the story.
[h2]Other useful links[/h2]

Thanks, and best regards!

Petr Kubíček aka KUBI Games