Songs Of Silence News

Hello from the Chimera team!

Many of you have been curious about Silence - is it the name of a cool faction, an epic hero, or something even more exciting? And why do we make such a big deal out of capitalizing the "S" and using it in the game's title? Well, in this article, we'll dive into what Silence really is, its role in the game world's history, and how it's all connected to Purgatories.

And, of course, if you have any questions or want to chat, head over to our dedicated Discord channel. We're always happy to hear from you!

So let's kick things off by returning to the beginning of time - get ready for an adventure!



[h2]What is Hymn?[/h2]

In the Days of Old, when the world was young and new, there was nothing but a Hymn echoed through the cosmos. It was a song that spoke of every living being, every creature great and small, and the very essence of nature itself - the core of creation, a perfect symphony of life.

It was from this divine energy that many gods were born, each one imbued with power beyond measure. And yet, when they came together on the advent of light, they waged a war unlike any other. Their battle rent the very fabric of the universe asunder.

Out of this war, two new worlds have emerged - one of light populated by Starborn, and one of the dark, where the Firstborn made their home.





The sacred Hymn that once united all now tore everything apart. Its disintegration has caused a rift in the fabric of space, giving birth to an unfathomable chasm - a World Between Worlds with something dangerous lurking in it.

That’s when the Primal Purgatory spawned.

[h2]What is Purgatory?[/h2]

Here’s what’s in the ancient grimoires:

Originally posted by author

“First seen more than 300 years ago, the original Purgatory was believed to be a unique phenomenon for some time. After several realms had fallen to the Silence emanating from deep within the sphere, other Purgatories appeared throughout both worlds - yet, none has grown bigger than the source of it all.”

Purgatories, or so-called Harbingers of the Silence, are a natural phenomenon, manifesting in a moving sphere of energy that consumes everything on its way, leaving the deadly Silence behind.

Originally posted by author

“Though mere splinters of the Primal Purgatory, these smaller variations still pose an immense threat to all life. At first, there were only a few, but over the last three centuries, these unstoppable Harbingers of the Silence have slowly spread their corruption throughout both worlds.”

Purgatories are not only essential elements of our lore but also represent unique game mechanics, as they act as portals from one world to another. They always exist in pairs - if one shows up in the Light World, there’s surely another one in the Dark World. You can travel through them, but prepare to pay the price - there are powerful denizens of the Void hidden in the dark, ready to shred your army into pieces!



Now let’s dig deeper into the Silence.

[h2]What is Silence?[/h2]

This is one of the essential elements of the game’s lore - it affects both races and threatens the mere existence of the world itself. In short, it’s the opposite of Hymn - it’s a state of when Hymn is corrupted, or as it is portrayed in the game: Silence represents destruction and death.

Visually, Hymn symbolizes golden light that turns red when the area is corrupted by Silence.



[h2]Songs of Silence - a story behind the name[/h2]

Now that you are familiar with Purgatory and Silence, it’s time to spill the beans on how we came up with the game’s title.

Here’s what our Creative Director Alexander Kehr says:

Originally posted by author

“Our game’s name was designed to reflect our unique setting: The ‘Songs’ refer to the divine Hymn which is central to our world’s creation myth, and the ‘Silence’ describes the new era, in which this Hymn is fading from the worlds, and the actual phenomenon of the Silence.

The name also piques interest even without knowing of our lore, as it describes an obvious contradiction.

It was also important for us to have a fun and easy-to-remember name and a good abbreviation: SoS! And no, this is not a hidden cry for help from the Chimera office…”

________________________________

That’s it for now! If you liked what we’ve shown you today or have any comments or questions for us, leave a thumbs up and a message down below. And don’t forget to follow Songs of Silence on Reddit, Twitter, and Discord.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_Of_Silence/

Until next time!

Hello from the Chimera team!

In the previous article, we talked about cards in Songs of Silence: why we decided to implement them instead of a more traditional icon-driven UI solution, and how playing certain card combinations can change the outcome of a battle. If you missed that article, please click here to learn more.

Today, we’re super excited to take you on a journey to explore a different side of game creation – the captivating art world of Songs of Silence.



We’ll start by sharing the main artistic principles we applied to bring the unique art style of this game to life. Then we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating our beautiful illustrations of Lorelai and reveal some of the fascinating meanings behind the symbols and icons in the world of Songs of Silence.

Before we continue - have you followed and wishlisted Songs of Silence yet? We’d love to bask in the warm glow of your support! Also, don’t forget to join our official Discord server if you don’t want to miss weekly news, WIP drips, F.A.Q. sessions and more!

Now…let’s dive in.



[h2]INTRO[/h2]

Songs of Silence is a labor of love for us at Chimera - we really put our hearts and souls into it. Our goal is not just to develop an amazing strategy video game, but also to craft an entirely new and captivating fantasy world - complete with its own compelling storyline and stunning, high-quality art style.

From UI elements to hero portraits - all elements are hand-drawn and created from scratch by our art team. Sometimes it takes 10 concept variations to create a single unit, sometimes we spent hours on Slack viciously discussing if the hero should have a mustache or not :)
It’s ok to have different opinions and we respect all your comments and suggestions. Hope you enjoy this art drop as much as we enjoyed creating it!



[h2]ART PRINCIPLES[/h2]

Songs of Silence’s striking and unique visuals derive directly from the grand Belle Époque, strongly influenced by Czech painter Alphonse Mucha and other amazing artists like Gustav Klimt or Toulouse-Lautrec. Songs of Silence visuals are based on Mucha’s techniques to establish a great visual narrative, with our own interpretation of his visual language to adapt to the needs of a modern video game.

When creating art style, we followed 4 main principles:

1) Zeitgeist. Zeitgeist is literally translated as ‘spirit of the age’ from German. It refers to the general trend, outlook, and feel of a particular period. For us, it means that the game’s art style needs to be consistent and contemporary, yet recognizable and unique.

2) Clarity. We strive to create a clear visual hierarchy and differentiation between background, armies, units, and landscape features.



3) Visual excellence. Songs of Silence is a highly stylized video game with exceptional attention to details, objects, and landmarks. For us, it’s important to assure exceptional artistic quality in every single illustration.

4) Authenticity. The Songs of Silence world and its war-weary inhabitants are marked by conflict and territorial claims. All people and factions in the game have a distinct historical origin. Hence, all materials, fabrics, tools, heraldry, and beliefs or religions need to look convincing and authentic.



Although we absolutely adore iconic strategy games, graphics aren’t always their strongest feature. We have an ambitious goal for Songs of Silence to marry quality game design and development with pristine art and creativity.

Every unit and location in the game has its unique story and beautiful visuals to match. If you look closer at the game art, cards, and UI elements, you might notice small details and symbols that tell the story of the game world. Every cape, sword, emblem, plant, or creature is well thought-out and in place for a reason.

Let’s look at the Lorelai illustration creation process and how her look helps to reflect her unique storyline in the game.

[h2]STEP-BY-STEP ART PROCESS - LORELAI[/h2]

The art process for each character and location illustration starts with concept creation. Then we work on a thumbnail and create a full illustration, including lineart, coloring, polishing, and post adjustments.



The art process requires close collaboration between game designers and artists, starting from a detailed briefing and finishing with a number of iterations and final tweaks. As there are various factions in the game, each of the heroes or units' portraits has unique story features coded in the illustrations.

Let’s look at the process of creating the iconic look for one of the Songs of Silence heroines: Lorelai. She’s a noble leader and the last survivor of her high house’s ruling family on a journey to find a new realm for her people. We wanted to portray a strong, slightly tomboyish female heroine with a realistic figure and confident posture together with one of her companions - falcon or war bull.

Our original idea was transformed into the sketches below, and after many iterations, we decided to choose a bull for the final portrait.



Lorelai is on a journey to find her new home, thus her outfit is light, practical, and well-suited for traveling, with leather elements and a light armor plate. Two keys locked over a closed crest on one of her sleeves symbolize her home banner. We also decided to add a pipe as a signature element representing her free spirit.

Here are some more iterations and the final result:



[h2]SYMBOLISM AND HIDDEN MEANING IN SONGS OF SILENCE[/h2]

Songs of Silence is a highly stylized strategy game. All units and locations boast stunning artworks meant to depict their stories and support our visual storytelling approach. Each of the factions in the game has its own distinctive iconography, symbols, and hidden meanings.

Starborn factions populated the Light World. They are a family-based hierarchical society consisting of Noble Houses that are engaged in a never-ending war with each other. This is a human faction of warriors and high priests guided by Celestial gods. The star symbol on their clothes and armor represents one of the gods - the Guiding Star. Thus this symbol is presented on their mantles, armors, buildings, and ornaments.



Our goal is to use environmental and visual storytelling as much as possible.
All heroes, units, and locations can be inspected to bring up more detailed artwork. Instead of showing the units in typical battle scenes, we chose to put them in different contexts, which really allow a glimpse into the lives of the people inhabiting our world.



Character gestures, the items, and gear they are carrying have been carefully designed to let players discover hidden stories.



To this end, we also use a lot of crests, symbols, and icons, as well as our own alphabet to add even more “secret” content to be discovered by the community. For example, Lorelai has two keys locked over a closed crest on one of her sleeves to symbolize her home banner, while a High Lord has a very different crest meaning that this character can be (and spoiler-spoiler IS) a potential rival.



________________________

We hope you enjoyed this journey with us! If you have more questions or perhaps would like to throw a few ideas our way, then join Songs of Silence on Discord, and follow us on Twitter and Reddit!

Thank you,
Chimera team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_Of_Silence/

Hello from the Chimera team!

In the previous article, we addressed the most frequent questions we’ve received from our community and revealed some new ‘behind the scenes' facts and artworks. The main focus of that article was to explain our vision for the game design and how we see Songs of Silence developing in the future. Hopefully, you enjoyed it and are hungry for more!

If you missed the Songs of Silence F.A.Q., it’s a great place to start. Please click here to learn more.

In today's update, we’d like to shed more light on the cards that you might have seen briefly in the trailer (If somehow you missed it, have a look here). We’re going to show you what sort of cards you can encounter when playing and how to use them.

These cards are beautiful and powerful, but they don’t work in the way you might expect! Read on to find out more ;)

Follow and wishlist Songs of Silence on Steam and don’t forget to join our official Discord server. We’d love to hear your voice and feel the support!

_________________________

[h2]Why did we choose to use cards?[/h2]

Songs of Silence is a strategy game on a grand scale, with carefully crafted gameplay mechanics and an immersive storyline that promises to test your commander skills at the highest levels.

The game is complex, with tons of different scenarios and variables. There are multiple factions and heroes, each with a set of special abilities that can be used to rebuild their realms and unleash powerful effects during battles. Additionally, certain locations will also grant unique options: recruit rare units, grant blessings, or impose devastating curses.

These abilities are represented by cards - actions which can be taken by heroes or at locations you control to utilize the powers they represent - as long as you have the proper resources! Heroes and locations in the game can also increase or downgrade in strength, or be influenced by in-game events, affecting the available cards.

Cards represent actions and are available to players from the beginning until the end of the game. There is no way to collect cards in an inventory or to organize them into ‘decks’ - Songs of Silence is a turn-based strategy game, not a deck-builder.

Instead of being drawn into ‘hands’, our cards are always available to the hero or location which owns them. To add to these cards, you can level up your heroes and pick which new skills to unlock to create your unique build.

With so many options and combinations available to the players we wanted to be able to conveniently modify them when needed. That's why we chose a "hand of cards" UI solution that is flexible and adaptable. Playing certain cards will help you to dominate the battlefield and crush your opponents, but the wrong choices can lead to a miserable defeat and losing the game. Choose carefully!

The other rationale we had when designing our card system was even more straightforward: we want our game to be visually stunning and aesthetically pleasing. Cards showcase splendid artworks, something a more traditional icon-driven UI can’t replicate easily.



[h2]How does the cards system work?[/h2]

Cards of Faith represent the unique actions granted by heroes and locations. Select a hero or location, and you can utilize their cards. Think of it as your favorite tabletop game where a designated tile on the board has a specific stack of cards to pick from. Cards provide an extensive selection of fascinating combinations. Each faction and hero has their distinct way of playing and they're more likely to succeed with specific types of units and resources.

Depending on a campaign map, your faction, hero and location you can choose from more than 100 cards! Keep in mind that other players have their own cards to use against you when you’re in a multiplayer mode, so make sure to strategize well if you want to come out on top.

[h2]What are the types of cards in the game?[/h2]

Our cards are divided into three color-coded types:

* Battle Cards (red)

* Strategic Cards (blue)

* Recruitment Cards (gray)


Let’s take a closer look at each of these groups:

Battle Cards are used during combat. These cards enable you to manage your forces, call for reinforcements or defend your units; put in place special effects like teleport, and other strategies to gain the upper hand on the battlefield.

Battles are automatic and fast-paced, so when it starts the only way to affect the possible outcome is to play the right Battle cards. However, they can only be played as much as their cool-down time allows, so don’t hope to simply spam your opponent to death. Each hero begins with at least one battle card and can unlock more powerful options as they level up.

Strategic Cards are used on the map. These cards are used mostly for kingdom management and exploration as they represent impactful actions, such as burning down locations, constructing specialized city quarters, or even more exotic ones such as controlling Purgatories.

With the right Strategic Cards in your hand you can make really bold moves that can change the course of the game in your favor!

Each hero starts with at least one Strategic Card and can unlock even more as they level up. Keep in mind that these powerful cards come at a cost and can only be played once per turn, so use them wisely to outsmart your opponents!

Recruitment Cards are used on the army management screen. They add new units to your army or location, sacrifice units or upgrade existing ones. Whether you want to utilize brutal force to dominate the map, protect your capital from other factions or explore locations to gain rare artifacts - Recruitment Cards help to enlist troops and build your forces.

Like Strategic Cards, Recruitment Cards also require resources, thus limiting the number of cards that can be played during the same turn.

Generally, Recruitment Cards are linked to locations rather than heroes, and the number of accessible cards grows as the area's prosperity increases.





[h2]Card Tiers [/h2]

The cards in the game are divided into three quality tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each card has a decorative frame to reflect its current level.

Instead of unlocking a new card when heroes reach a higher level, players can upgrade one of their cards to a greater tier. Cards of higher tiers possess more potent effects or stronger units, providing a greater bang for your buck when used wisely.



Have more questions for us? Join Songs of Silence on Discord, follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to wishlist and follow the game on Steam!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_Of_Silence/


Thank you,
Chimera team

Greetings from the Chimera team everyone! It has been some time since we announced Songs of Silence, and we’re blown away by the incredibly positive reception we’ve had from players worldwide. Thank you so much for supporting our game, sharing your feelings and thoughts, and following the development of Songs of Silence. We noticed there were many questions regarding the game itself, its lore, and some of the game mechanics.

We’d like to share a few essential points and answer some of the most frequent questions about Songs of Silence!

[h2]What is the game about?[/h2]

Songs of Silence is a turn-based strategy game with real-time auto-battles, offering an enthralling dedicated single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode with skirmish battles on procedurally generated maps for up to 6 players.

The game story is set in two distinctively beautiful fantasy worlds. These worlds are threatened by the spread of Silence, a world-devouring and seemingly unstoppable force. Multiple factions wage war over the remaining land, too engrossed in petty dispute to effectively act against their approaching doom.

As a player, you command a faction and conquer your rivals through military might, subterfuge, or arcane means. Choose your heroes, lead mighty armies, and manage precious resources to rebuild the ravaged land and defeat your rival kingdoms

Our game offers a unique blend of turn-based kingdom management, exploration, real-time battles, meticulous decision-making, and card-based gameplay.




[h2]What’s the inspiration for the game?[/h2]

We took inspiration from some of our all-time favorites:

- Ogre Battle, Kohan, and Warlords are good examples of focused strategic warfare
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and Kohan are examples of real-time battle simulations

Songs of Silence is not trying to remake those games directly. It will be its own distinct experience. How exactly? You’ll see when we release more material ːsteammockingː

[h2]What’s the art inspiration for the game and UI?[/h2]

Our original inspirations came from the Art Nouveau style, especially the character illustrations by the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha and others like Gustav Klimt.

For Songs of Silence we created our authentic art style emphasizing complex characters, sharp outlines, and eye-catching framing. Songs of Silence is a highly stylized strategy game, all units and locations boast stunning artworks meant to depict their stories and support our visual storytelling approach.

[h2]Who’s shown in the main artwork?[/h2]



This is one of the key story heroes - Lorelai, a young queen ruling over the fallen High House of Ehrengard. We first encounter her in the game as she leads her surviving people through a war-torn world pursuing a new abode.
Behold her steadfast and loyal war bull: Our world is populated by several species of bull-like creatures, which are revered as sacred offspring of the mythical Primordial Urak.

[h2]Is this game going to have any 4x mechanics?[/h2]

Yes. The core gameplay revolves around exploring a map (we also offer procedurally generated maps), conquering locations to secure resources, and ultimately fighting for dominance against other factions.

Our design philosophy:
Players should be able to complete a full map in a few hours.

We want players to focus on strategic, high-level decisions. Songs of Silence game flow is designed to run swiftly, with turns proceeding quickly from the early game to the end and combat sequences that are thrilling but, at the same time, last over a minute or so.

We're striving to make sure the game is engaging and entertaining, rather than tedious and bogged down in calculations so that players can focus on significant choices and fully immerse themselves into the game. Our goal is to design a grand strategy game with a perfect combination of enjoyment, intricacy, and tremendous replay value.


[h2]Do you plan to have multiple game modes?[/h2]

Yes.

One of the modes is a fully voiced single-player campaign telling the story of our worlds and a few key heroes who live through the “Age of a Thousand Kings”.

We also offer randomized maps for up to 6 players (which can be enjoyed solo against the AI).

Our goal is to provide as much replayability as possible. Randomly generated maps are certainly part of the plan. Still, we are also offering a wide array of unlockables, including different factions, characters, maps, artifacts, and much more to keep you motivated. A few more map variants are in the works, but we can't divulge the details yet. We are keen to ensure that this game can be enjoyed long after its release.
Who knows what the future might bring?





[h2]What does progression look like in this game?[/h2]

The primary progression is based on heroes: They gain experience and can level up to gain access to new powers and bigger armies. Hero progression is carried over in the campaign.

Units can gain different "veteran status" ranks, but they don't progress in the same way that heroes do with added abilities. We don't want to put the player in a difficult spot if they suffer losses.

There’s a fully realized location prosperity system in place. Every location in the game has a level of prosperity that will alter its appearance on the map - it can expand or be reduced in size. It can even be destroyed, creating a haven for monsters. They can also be burned down entirely, providing fertile ground for monster nests, or fully restored - unless affected by the devouring Silence…






[h2]How to win a map? Are there multiple winning conditions?[/h2]

Our primary win condition is for you to seize control of the capitals belonging to everyone else on the map. If you lose your own, you have lost the game.

The campaign features several victory conditions, like evading your pursuers or obtaining powerful artifacts.

Achieving those victory conditions largely depends on the faction and heroes you are playing. Each has a distinct play style: While the Thousand Kingdoms are expansionist and defensive, relying on well-protected locations of high prosperity levels, the Crusade acts like a swarm of hungry locusts, leaving a wholly ravaged map in their wake.





[h2]When can I play the game?[/h2]

We haven’t finished the game development and can’t really say now. Please follow us on Steam and Discord to stay up to date with news and important announcements.

[h2]Are you going to market the game or GoG, or other digital platforms?[/h2]

This is something we haven’t decided on yet.



[h2]How can I join beta tests?[/h2]

At the moment we don’t host any closed beta-testing sessions, but that might change in the future. Please join our Discord server and follow the news and announcements there.

[h3]Join Songs of Silence on Discord[/h3]

[h2]I’m a content creator, where can I get your game logo and art?[/h2]

If you go to Songs on Silence's official website songs-of-silence.com and scroll down until the end of the page, you’ll see a link to Press Kit. There you can find a press release, game screenshots, a trailer, and much more.
Also, subscribe to the Beta Access waiting list if you wish to receive a key later on.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_Of_Silence/

Hope we answered some of your questions and cleared up any concerns you might have had about the project. If your question does not fall into any of the categories mentioned above, feel free to leave a comment under this article or start a new thread in the Discussions section or on the Discord server.

Thank you,
Chimera team

Songs of Silence is a new strategy game being developed for PC by Chimera Entertainment that takes players to a beautiful fantasy realm of Light and Dark, each filled with warring factions, and both oblivious to the creeping invader that threatens to destroy them all...
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