Lost Eidolons News

Greetings, tacticians!

We're proud to announce that as of 5:50 AM Pacific time, the Lost Eidolons Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded to 115% (what a nice round number), having raised $51,989 of the original $45,000 goal! The efforts of our community in supporting the campaign—whether you backed a tier, told your co-worker at the water machine (while social distancing), or let your cat know—allowed us to successfully meet our goal while also successfully meeting the 1st stretch goal as well.



To celebrate the end of the campaign, ODS Community Manager Pat, Creative Director Jin Sang, and Founder Jae Kim got together to answer some questions and hang out with the community in the closing moments. You can check out the VOD in the link!



[h2]Bonus game features are now selected for development![/h2]
First, we're happy to confirm that due to the success of the Kickstarter, we'll be developing the Permadeath togglable option to be available by Early Access come October this year, as well as the enhanced Hell mode scenario difficulty by full launch in early 2022. As we have additional details and update progress on this, we'll share it in regular updates.

[h2]Fulfillment survey will be coming soon, and your friends can still pick up a copy of the game (+beta access privilige) early![/h2]
Next, regarding fulfillment, our studio will be working with the well-known BackerKit. All backers should expect to see a survey in a few weeks (maybe two or three from now) with questions needed to handle fulfillment, such as what platform you want your copy of the game to be on. If you pledged a tier and didn't get to pick up a physical Collector's Edition and still want to, please wait for a separate survey which will let you pick up the original discounted version of it per order request.

We'll shoot out reminders everywhere once we've done this!

Through BackerKit, we're also able to continue allowing people who missed the campaign to pick up an early copy of Lost Eidolons, or a physical Collector's Edition. This will only be available for then next 32 days, ending on June 22nd. On BackerKit for those who missed the Kickstarter campaign, early bird specials are not available, and the physical Collector's Edition is at full price now(69.99 usd + shipping) for anyone who didn't back the project initially. But you still can get the beta access and also the digital deluxe for the special Kickstarter pricing!

You can find us on BackerKit here: http://bit.ly/LEBackerkit

Keep spreading the word to your friends if they missed the Kickstarter campaign!

[h2]We will continue to provide Kickstarter updates on the development progress![/h2]
During the Kickstarter campaign, we sent out updates nearly daily. As much as we'd like to be able to do that, it's a bit excessive, and it'd probably eventually get filtered as spam in your inbox. So, update posts will slow down a bit, first once or twice per week and later on down to a few times per month. There are a few programs that will be consistent from now until further notice.

• Town Hall: Will be scheduled for every Friday, where we curate new questions and feedback that our community has about the game or the studio. On any given week where there aren't a lot of questions, they'll roll over to the next week until there are enough! You can submit questions and join in on the discussions on our Discord server! You can check out the latest town hall at the Twitch VOD, where we did live commentary over nearly an hour of unedited in-game combat!
• Monthly Milestone Livestream: Every month, we'll have a key livestream showcasing all the new things that our team is working on and accomplished. We'll be looking for your feedback on them so that we can adjust along the way. For example, in the most recent gameplay showcase, one of our community members noticed the animation for the firing of a bow from an archer unit was unrealistic and had too much excessive motion, which we plan to adjust!

We may share additional updates of miscellaneous things along the way, such as if there's fan art we can share or other fun things!

[h2]Where are we along the development stage? What's next?[/h2]
We'll be sharing more information on the upcoming roadmap for Lost Eidolons soon! Stay tuned!

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Overall, while we're elated at Ocean Drive Studio, for today's a day of celebration for a successful campaign, there is little time to rest. We have a game to make, and great expectations from our community to meet. We're aiming to get this game in yours hands in a reasonable timeframe, so you better bet we're going to put our heart and soul every day into realizing our passion project.

Thank you to all the backers and supporters, no matter how grand or how little the gesture, your encouragement has given us a tremendous morale boost.

Greetings, tacticians!

Another merry congratulations on reaching 100% funded, and even approaching the first stretch goal at $50,000! Per popular request our dev team has whipped up some unedited gameplay footage for us to share! We'll be holding a livestream to showcase this footage while Creative Director Jin Sang provides live commentary of it.

We'll also be live during the final 50 minutes of the Kickstarter campaign to hold Town Hall this week and celebrate the success of the campaign! We'll even be joined by Ocean Drive Studio CEO Jae Kim for the finale and have him share a few words to our community.

Check out the details below for both livestream times!



What: An unedited look at gameplay of Lost Eidolons including combat and outgame with live commentary by Creative Director Jin Sang!

When:

• 6:00 PM PDT, Thursday May 20 (US West)
  
• 9:00 PM EDT, Thursday May 20 (US East)
  
• 2:00 AM BST, Friday May 21 (London)
  
• 10:00 AM KST, Friday May 21 (Korea)

What: A countdown to the end of the Kickstarter campaign as well as our weekly Town Hall to answer questions about the game and studio! Featuring ODS CEO Jae Kim as a special guest near the end!

When:

• 5:00 AM PDT, Friday May 21 (US West)
  
• 8:00 AM EDT, Friday May 21 (US East)
  
• 1:00 PM BST, Friday May 21 (London)
  
• 9:00 PM KST, Friday May 21 (Korea)

Holy smokes.

We made it! Thanks to the generosity of over 900 of you that had faith in a brand new studio with no prior repute, we managed to drum up over $45,000 to realize awesome new features for Lost Eidolons. We were already excited to bring Lost Eidolons to fans of the genre, but now we can allocate the needed resources to make Permadeath happen for the Early Access, and there's still time to reach the first stretch goal to gain the funds to develop the Hell mode difficulty.

By far though, the best part of this campaign was to gain so many supporters that know about our game and our studio. We always had the funds to make the base game, but it was nerving, uncertain, and outright distressing at times knowing that for many of us, we were starting from zero by forming Ocean Drive Studio. It's something that every new studio has to go through. Now not only do we have funds to make a few bonus features, but we have a community of backers and enthusiasts who want to see us succeed in creating amazing game experiences.

We want to become more. We want to become a studio that people can recognize for their games, so we're going to put our sweat and soul into making each game as great as it can be, starting with what we're hoping to be our flagship title that you're all supporting today, Lost Eidolons.

There are about 40 hours left in the campaign. If there was anyone who might've been on the fence about supporting our project, now's the time to let them know,

"These guys funded their campaign, and there's some cool stuff that we can still work towards".
We're beyond grateful for what you've all supported us with so far. No matter if you invested in us by backing a tier, or so much as sent a Tweet about us, or told your friend over Discord about our project. Everything meant the world to a humbled studio that just wanted to get out there.

The team at Ocean Drive Studio is looking forward to developing Lost Eidolons with your support, feedback, and involvement in the project. Make sure to join our Discord to join in on the conversations with each update!

Greetings, tacticians.

Last week we covered the great general Isoro and the coastal province of Benerio. Today, we’re sharing the last story feature, and the one that ties all of our heroes together. We’re going over the backstory of the ruling empire, headed by mighty conqueror Emperor Ludivictus.

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A generation ago, Artemesia was a land of seven neighboring kingdoms, which coexisted in relative stability. Now it’s the Ludivictan Empire: an oppressive and tumultuous landscape of seven provinces teetering on the brink of all-out civil war.

And the man responsible for it all? Emperor Ludivictus of House Zerpial.

Prior to the Imperial Unification, House Zerpial was the humble royal family of the Kingdom of Liviyu, a remote nation that largely kept to its own affairs. Then Ludivictus was born, and everything changed.

Ambitious by nature and driven by authoritarian philosophies, Ludivictus became convinced of the need for a unified continent, with himself as its leader. In a matter of years, the cunning young lord had sold his family’s modest holdings to cobble together an army of bandits, pirates, and other unsavory characters. Before anyone knew what was happening, the world had been turned upside down, and Ludivictus was crowning himself Emperor.

Instrumental to this campaign of conquest was Ludivictus’s right hand: Kaspar the Viper.

A senior general in the Imperial Army, Kaspar is an infamously skillful warrior and leader, considered the Emperor’s secret weapon. Respected by his men and feared by his enemies, Kaspar leads from the front. He is known as ‘The Viper’ for his tendency to strike only after careful consideration, but always with flawless precision and deadly effect.

Though he wears the trappings of aristocracy like old money, he in fact began life as a commoner. As a result, rebel sentiment toward Kaspar is divided. Some view him as just another Imperial serpent. Others believe him to be a noble man who sincerely believed in Ludivictus’s mission, now caught on the wrong side of history.

In any case, today House Zerpial reigns supreme, issuing an endless stream of oppressive edicts from the capital city of Leroyaure. Kaspar continues to serve as the Emperor’s sword, commanding the might of the Imperial Army in battle, and stamping out dissent wherever it arises.



But as Ludivictus’s absence from the public eye grows increasingly prolonged, whispers and speculation have begun to abound… and the ever-present embers of uprising now threaten to become a wildfire.

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Thus, ends the last story entry in this mini-series. This was put together by our writing team to provide additional context to the people, events, and places in Lost Eidolons, without spoiling any of the game’s story. From the onset of Eden’s campaign in the game, you will encounter new faces, discover new secrets, and ultimately uncover his fate in the grand ordeal that he and his allies are dragged into. What did you think of the bits of game lore? Let us know in the comments and in our community channels!

Clark Aboud is a renowned composer and producer in the video game space and the brilliant mind orchestrating the original soundtrack for Lost Eidolons. His unique and varied style has been seen blending ominous orchestral colours with unique synths in the hit indie game Slay the Spire, in the mix of sampling, lo-fi synths & beats for the BAFTA winning Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to), and bringing lyrical strings and woodwinds to the flowing score of Make Sail. While it's still a little too soon for him to share some of the music that he's been working on, he wanted to share a few words about his creative process.

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"For me, one of the most exciting things about composing is writing themes. Melodies that can join the characters on the ups and downs of their journeys. Lost Eidolons is full of those characters and journeys, opportunities to take humble themes to heroic heights for victories in battle, or to twist them into something darker as the story develops."

"That story needs a soundscape that can both paint the bigger picture of the world of Artemesia and focus in on individual narratives. To capture this, the soundtrack will be recorded with a 40-piece string ensemble, alongside unique instruments like woodwinds, early era strings, and percussion to build out the world with grit and texture."

"And to support the action of the gameplay, Lost Eidolons will take advantage of dynamic music, to shape the score within the game. Dynamic music allows the soundtrack to adapt as the battle shifts and turns, whether growing in intensity for heroes’ attacks or introducing more ominous tones for the enemy turn."

"I’m psyched to continue composing the soundtrack, writing, recording and working with the stellar team at Ocean Drive Studios, and am looking forward to everyone playing and listening when Lost Eidolons releases."

- Clark

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We'll be sharing some of the tracks with everyone as they're completed so that community members can get an idea of the kind of soundtrack Lost Eidolons will feature (especially those who picked up a physical Collector's Edition, which will house the entire OST on 2 LP vinyl records). We're excited to see how Clark can command a live orchestra to help bring the game to life!

• Clark's Website
• Clark's Twitter