Developer Q&A
[h2]Who are we?[/h2]
Exis is a small indie team made up of developers from various studios. In the past, we've done a lot of AAA projects, but now we're focusing on making our own indie title, Dragonhold. We've always loved fantasy games, and wanted to create something unique for players to experience.
We’ve drawn on our experiences from working on games like Fear 3, Bioshock Infinite, Xcom, Civilization and upcoming games like Delta force, to really dig deep into what makes Dragonhold special.
At the end of the day, we’re a small team who loves the game, so we’re going to do our best to give you all something awesome.
[h2]What is the game?[/h2]
Dragonhold is about movement. It’s about the freedom of flying over a vast landscape and challenging powerful opponents. We have two main game moves, PVP Supremacy, and PvPvE extraction.
In Supremacy, it’s your team against another set of Dragon riders; with a twist. There are some places dragons can’t go, and some places humans can’t reach, but together they cover the gamut. You can transform from dragon to human and back at any time, so you have to use both forms to accomplish your goals in Supremacy. One group will stay to guard your core rooms, while the other group goes out on the attack. It’s a multi-staged team dragon and land battle.
PvPvE is an open world that you can explore by yourself, or with friends. It allows up to 30 other players to hop into the game world with you, so in addition to all of the creatures and bosses in the world, you need to watch out for other players. The cool thing is you don’t have to queue in line for hours waiting for other people to play with, you can jump in whenever you like, and more players will populate the server as time goes on.
There’s multiple main points of interest like En Gilan, a mega fort on the fringes of the Januvian Empire, and Skellmore, an underground cave system/village that’s home to the animalistic Skell. Each POI has a major boss battle, in addition to smaller boss battles all around the map. Add to this the ever-present threat of roaming monsters and enemies, and you’ll have a lot on your hands. It’s not all combat though; there’s a lot to explore, like the coastal town of Whitebreak or the floating library of Bel’En.
You can explore, fight, find loot, and fight bosses; either by yourself or with friends.
[h2]What inspired the game?[/h2]
Back in 2013 I busted my spine pretty badly, and was bedridden; unable to walk. Laying there was horrid, and soon I started to dream about what it would feel like to be able to walk again, how it would feel to move and dance around, and eventually I started to fantasize about flying. Frankly, when you’re stuck staring at the ceiling, flying is the most freedom you can imagine. And what was the most powerful thing in the air? A dragon of course.
I eventually healed up, but that longing for cool forms of movement never went away. I wanted to make my dream of flight come true, and share it with others; so I got to work on Dragonhold with some friends.
[h2]Will this be paid or free to play?[/h2]
It will be a paid game; there’s already a lot to explore and do. And we’ll keep adding to it.
[h2]What stage of development is the game in?[/h2]
Game is currently in alpha. We have a lot to polish, a couple of nice performance passes to do as well. So we’ll keep working to improve the quality and performance as we go.
[h2]How many people can play at once?[/h2]
Depends on the mode. Supremacy(PvP) is 10v10, PvPvE allows up to 30 people into the open world, but you can hop in by yourself or with 2 friends. It’s not 100% set right now anyway. We’ll keep working on it, testing, and checking in with the community as things progress.
We love this game, and we have a lot to do. We’re a small team but we have the experience to deliver something awesome, and that’s what we aim to do. Join us on our discord so you can help shape the game and see stuff nobody else sees 😊