Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon News

Adventure begins now! Early Access is live!

Join us in this update to learn more about our approach to Early Access and learn how we plan to work with our community to create an incredible open world adventure together!

Hello adventurers!

We have officially launched Early Access, and we couldn't be more excited (and stressed :D)! Although the game’s still far from complete, we have a full first part of the adventure ready for you to explore, and we hope you'll have a lot of fun doing so!

First, let's watch the release trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Now, let's discuss a few things about Early Access in general, how we approach it, and what we're striving for:

[h3]This will not be a AAA game.[/h3]
It's essential to mention this. We are a small indie team with big ambitions in terms of gameplay, story, and general fun-factor, but we are not striving for AAA quality, especially in terms of visuals. Please keep that in mind!

[h3]Bugs, problems, balance issues.[/h3]
Although we've done our best to prepare for Early Access, due to the scope of the game, we're sure you will encounter some bugs and problems. Our team is on standby, so you can expect fixes coming quickly if anything critical appears.

We also recommend saving manually from time to time – and backing up your saves – during your adventures.

[h3]Early Access - saves.[/h3]
The most important thing to note is that if you want to participate in the Early Access adventure, you need to be prepared for the possibility that your saves may be lost at some point with a major patch.

[h3]Chapter 1: Horns of the South[/h3]
In this stage of Early Access you will have a special, smaller price and access to first part of the game - Horns of the South. There is around 10-15 hours of content there!
More will be coming with big patches and will be added for free to the game!

[h3]How will we work with the community and update the game?[/h3]
There are several ways in which we’ll gather feedback from you, most notably:

We will closely monitor comments here on Steam.
You can chat with us on our Discord server.
We will ask for feedback/opinions on specific things via updates.

In the future, we will also add detailed in-game statistics that will help balance out the game.

In general, you can expect us to read almost everything, but we may not always be able to respond due to being a small team with a lot to do.

But we will try our best!

In our previous Early Access, Tainted Grail: Conquest, we were able to work really close with community to create a great experience and we hope to do even better here!

[h3]In terms of adding patches and content, here is our base idea:[/h3]

Small bug-fixing/balance patches - We'll add these to the game as needed, without any specific timeline.

Small content additions - From time to time, we may add small (not too complicated) content additions to the game. This can include things like more character customization options, some extra art assets, or items for the game.

BIG content patches - The most important way for us to progress the game will be through significant content patches, which will happen in estimated three to six month periods. You can expect significant quality of life improvements and extra large amounts of content that push the story forward.

Language support - We plan on translating to other languages, but we want to reach the 1.0 version of the game first - that is, complete all the content and then move through the translation process.

With that out of the way, we invite you all to join The Fall of Avalon! Tons of amazing adventures await you!

Hello everyone!

Today, we have quite an exciting update for all of you!
While our team is doing the final sprint, doing as much as possible to create a great Early Access for all of you, we thought that it might be a good time to get a small warm-up! We have prepared a demo, that you can play and test the game in action right…about… NOW!

Demo will take you to a prologue of the game and show you around 30-60 minutes of the game. We hope it will give you a good taste of what we are going for in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon! Just please note that due to the character of the prologue, there is not much of “Open World” there yet - don’t worry, once you reach the mainland, you will have full freedom of travel and exploration!

Now, since we are still very much an indie team - we would really appreciate you guys spreading the word about the game and available demo! We really would love to show our work to as many people as possible! So if you enjoy what we are trying to create here - spread the word!


We also have an official Early Access release date - 30th of March! To celebrate that, we have created a special trailer showcasing the newest version of the game.

Check it out!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Now, let’s talk a little bit about Early Access. We previously mentioned it a bit, but since we are really close now, we just want to quickly manage expectations.

We will be using Early Access, as a real tool for creating the game together with you, players. This has both positive and negative sides.

First, let’s start with negatives - don’t expect a fully finished / polished experience.
We intend to work extensively on the first zone of the game, as well as developing all the systems, balancing, bug-fixes, and optimization. In general, what we will present to you in Early Access is the first zone of the game, which should provide around 10-15 hours of gameplay. Expect small bugs, imbalance, and a lack of final polish
Most importantly - expect your saves to be obliterated with some of the bigger patches. In order to make sure we can provide the best game possible, we need to have this possibility in case of bigger changes.

Now, the positives! We will be working on this game with you as a community. You will actually be able to take an awesome journey together, and we vow to listen to your feedback. Together we will add content, take some things out, change mechanics, and balance things. From our experience, this will create a lot of awesome stories and memories! While the game will be rough around the edges, we do believe that it is also a really fun RPG with a soul! Additionally, the Early Access price will be cheaper than the full release. You will be able to get the game at Early Access for $29 USD!

Last but not least - check out some new screenshots from the dark but beautiful Avalon! ;)



Ok, this is it for today's update! Enjoy the demo and wish us luck with the last weeks of work before premiere!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466060/Tainted_Grail_The_Fall_of_Avalon/

Hello adventurers,

We have exciting news for you today. We decided to run an exclusive early access test and you may be one of the players who get the opportunity to check the game out before everyone else!

As Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon nears its early access launch, we’d love to show some of the players what the game offers. This is not only a chance for you to be the first to set foot on the island of Avalon, but also a prime chance for us to gather valuable feedback.
We would be really extremely grateful for your help!

Please note that this version, while offering a significant amount of content, will be far from its final polish. For example:

• The voice-over will not be present for the majority of NPCs.
  
• The balance will be inconsistent.
  
• The visuals will lack some polish.
  
• There will be bugs, some possibly game breaking, scattered throughout the game.
  
• Some quests may be broken or missing.
  
• Some systems may not function correctly, such as crafting.
  

Okay, now that all the negatives are out of the way, check out some of the exciting things we are preparing! Take a look at the world of Avalon!





100 players will be selected based on a simple survey (link provided below) and will be given access to the game. After experiencing Fall of Avalon, we will then ask you to fill out another survey to gather information on your enjoyment and technical aspects of the game. Using this feedback, we will strive to improve the game even further before its early access launch.

To apply for participation in the testing, please complete the questionnaire linked below. As this is an exclusive opportunity for pre-launch access, you must also agree to withhold any information about the game by signing a simple non-disclosure agreement. This is crucial to us, as we do not want any information about the game to be leaked prior to its launch. We want everyone to have an enjoyable journey without being spoiled beforehand.

[h3]Survery link: https://forms.gle/RLCgmBBaRPcmJyfF7[/h3]

Those of you who get selected will be contacted by email, so be sure to leave your actual address in the form (no other emails will be sent, marketing or otherwise).

Not to leave you empty-handed at the end, here’s a look at some of the views straight from the game:



















We CANNOT wait to invite you to discover the entirety of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and hear your feedback!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466060/Tainted_Grail_The_Fall_of_Avalon/

Hello everyone!

Today we have some “bitter-sweet” news for you. On the one hand, we have decided to delay the launch of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon in Early Access. BUT! This means that our team will have much more time to put a lot of extra work into the game and it should result in a much better experience in almost every aspect.

So, the most important piece of news: Early Access will be published in March of 2023.

But today we will also talk about:

• General vision for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
  
• What to expect from Early Access
  
• Some very-Work-in-progress things ;)
  

But, before we will go into those points, we have a small trailer (cut from some pre-alpha gameplay footage) for you!

And even BEFORE THAT I have to say that I was just notified by a member of the development team that I will be in deep trouble if I don’t tell you that this footage is “old, already outdated, and the game is in much better state than it was when this footage was recorded”, so, yeah – that was the disclaimer.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
You can also watch said pre-alpha gameplay here (please note it is still very much work in progress)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]General vision for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon[/h2]

First, let's talk a bit about what kind of game we want to create. For us, a great PRG is first and foremost about Adventure. The adventure we aim to create will rely heavily on discovering a grim world filled with fallen Arthurian legends, following on big secrets of this world and learning more about the Age of Conquest and untold tales of Arthur himself.

This means, we want to put emphasis on the following aspects of the game:

• A compelling, complex, morally grey storyline with tough choices that will have consequences – from small personal effects, up to big changes for whole zones of the game.
  
• NPCs full of life, stories, and character.
  
• Huge sense of discovery in the open world
  
• Rewarding progression system
  
• Fluid combat / magic systems
  
• Non-cliche quests
  

These are our focus points and while we are super proud of what our team has accomplished - remember, we’re NOT a huge studio and we don’t have AAA ambitions. We’re not competing with games that have daily marketing spend bigger than our entire development budget.

However, we want to create a game that will take you to a heart of re-imagined Avalon and offer you a journey full of memorable stories, adventures, and discoveries.

[h2]What to expect from Early Access [/h2]

Now that we got this out of the way – why, exactly, do we want to launch in Early Access and how will it look like (more or less)?

The reason is pretty simple – even though we are “pretty big” as a Board Game publisher, we are very, very much “Indie” when it comes to video games. Early Access is a great way to share our work faster with the community, gather some extra funds for development, but – most importantly – create this ambitious game together with you.

Working hand in hand with the community is at the heart of Awaken Realms, it’s one of the most important values we cherish as a company. We are doing it every time with our board games, but also followed this – for example – with our over 1 year long Early Access of Tainted Grail: Conquest.

We deeply believe that creating great board games requires input from gamers and we always treat their feedback very seriously.

[h3]What benefits can people taking part in Early Access expect?[/h3]

• Much better price compared to full release
  
• Well… Early Access to the game :D
  
• Taking active part in the process of shaping up the game. It can be quite a fun journey!
  

[h3]For Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon’s Early Access we are aiming to create a following experience:[/h3]

• Deliver the first full game zone, called The Horns of South
  
• Around 15-20 hours of story-related content (split between the “main” storyline and sidequests but please remember that this is just a blind estimate for now, it’s absolutely impossible to count hours of gameplay in an open world RPG and we’ll be able to give better estimates early next year)
  
• Full voice over (English only)
  
• Most of major gameplay systems (there will be some we’d like to add later and some we’d like to work on together with you)
  
• Good optimization
  
• No serious bugs
  

…but here are other aspects of EA:

• You can expect issues with your save games, mostly because of compatibility issues with story-related progression between various patches. We’ll do what we can to avoid forcing you to delete saves but we just can’t promise it will never happen (or we’ll heavily encourage you to start over once more content is added to the game)
  
• There will be general lack of polish here and there
  
• Balance might be off
  
• (A lot of) small bugs (and probably some major, too)
  
• Obviously: it’s nto a full game so your adventure will not be complete
  

[h2]Some very-Work-in-progress things ;) [/h2]

Now, with all that out of the way, let us share with you some things our team is working on right now!

One super important note here, though! Everything you see is heavily Work in Progress – so definitely don’t take it as a final quality, it's not even near!

Day and night cycle:

We will have quite a solid day and night cycle that will create a dark and gloomy atmosphere on Avalon, you can see our latest experiments below. Coming soon: weather. You can’t have dark fantasy without rain, right?



We have A LOT of work in front of us when it comes to our combat systems – but they’re getting better and better every single week.

One of the most important systems in the game is, obviously, combat and we will be putting A LOT of work into it, so that the general “feeling” of it will be great. We have a lot of extra things planned, such us:

• Special perks and talent trees
  
• Variety of weapons
  
• More and better animations for the player (combos etc.) and enemies
  
• Special effects on visual and audio side
  

Here are some general current tests, but again - you can expect much more!







[h2]First steps at UI and UX[/h2]

Managing your character will be crucial - we will have A LOT of different options when it comes to equipment, talents, skill combinations, and so on.

So, obviously, we need a great UI for all of that and we are making some first steps in that direction ;)



… and obviously we are creating TONS of assets that later will be fully featured inside the game. Here are just a few out of many, many examples!



















OK! This is it for today – we REALLY cannot wait to fully invite you to discover Tainted Grail and while it is a bit sad to move the Early Access premiere, we feel this is a very good decision that will result in a better game.

From now on, you can expect more frequent updates (about once a month) with deeper dives into different parts of the game.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466060/Tainted_Grail_The_Fall_of_Avalon/

Hello everyone!

Just a super quick update for all of you who are following the game. For the past few months, we have been working super, super hard on The Fall of Avalon - so it is definitely NOT dead. If anything, it's just the opposite ;)

While we are not ready to show you more in-game footage yet (but this should happen soon-ish) - we premiered a short cinematic trailer with IGN today, just to get the setting in ;)

So, without further ado

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hope you will like it - if you do, please spread the word and share it with your friends! Cool things are coming ;)

Take care and hear you soon!