Blade Prince Academy News

[h3]Hi fellow assassins![/h3]

Time to explore the concept of the first two sectors of the game. Blade Prince Academy is a tactical RPG set in a blend of dark fantasy and cyberpunk influences and we aimed to transcribe this atmosphere while making memorable and challenging enemies and creating visually cool environments. We wanted to share some insights on how their concepts and ideas shaped the game.

[h2]Sector 1, an introduction to the universe of the game and its gameplay[/h2]

Sector 1 is the first area you will explore after witnessing what happened at the Academy. You start the adventure facing the miscreants and the misfits of the city who teamed up to disrupt the missions and security of the Academy. Making this sector accessible to new players is then necessary so that you can learn and experiment with the game mechanics. Therefore, some enemies that are too difficult have been deactivated for the beginning of the game, like the berserker and the bombers, which are quite challenging when starting the game.



Sector 1 follows the Acid Pills Gang in its first part, the ones responsible for the carnage at the Academy where the tutorial takes place. Phoebos and his team track down their leader, Acid Hair, to avenge the Blade Princes and keep the honor of the Dark Mages intact. They discover that Acid Hair and his boss are linked to the Brotherhood of Torment, an organization that serves to foreshadow the upcoming battles and the enemies we will meet in Sector 2.



The main inspiration for this sector was Borderlands for the Shallows, as it mixes a lot of technologies and landfills. The Acid Pills gang can be compared to Borderlands characters with human or animal bodies, with cyberpunk upgrades to help them destroy you! We really like Acid Hair's room in this sector, it represents his personality well. Details like the cathodic TVs you can find in the environment are a sign of the not-so-advanced technologies they have in this area.


[h2]From Sector 1 to Sector 2, going deeper into the conspiracy[/h2]

The Catacombs are the second part of the story, contrasting in atmosphere and visuals. But also on the gameplay part, there are more enemies using ranged attacks, with a greater focus on magic damage. This second sector follows the progression of the learning curve. Many curses and afflictions, like bleeding and burns, will be inflicted on the heroes. We wanted to make the fights even more challenging after discovering and getting the hang of the game mechanics. In this sector, we focus on the impact of alterations. Whereas in Sector 1, we had only one alteration, here we have three, which are very present. There are some specific enemies waiting for you, and they are much harder to defeat.

In the level design, we also have more variations of settings than in the first sector. You will also unlock new characters in this sector, you will therefore have new tools and these characters will let you make interesting choices on team composition at the start of the mission. This sector is the home of a quite challenging and complicated boss.



The story of Sector 2 revolves around the Brotherhood of Torments and its leader, Poison. The Blade Princes must fight against hordes of Cultists to uncover hidden truths about the Brotherhood, the reason why they are involved in the attack against the Academy and their eagerness to take down the Black Mages. They will have to chase Poison throughout the sector, fighting powerful cultists and demonic abominations along the way.

For the Catacombs, the intention was to do a more classic dungeon to contrast with the first sector. The inspirations were Darksiders and the classical dungeons in the D&D franchise. Cults are important in this sector, so you can see various statues and altars. We are really proud of the parts where the cults are the center of attention. For example, we have a room with a huge statue of the God of Destruction.



If you can’t wait to learn more about the world of Blade Prince Academy and want to discuss the game with us, join our Discord! Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook to stay up-to-date, and you can also subscribe to our Newsletter!

We have a lot more exciting news to share with you in the coming months! Stay tuned for more content, development updates and other insights into the development of Blade Prince Academy.

- The Blade Prince Academy Team -

[h2]Hello Blade Princes,[/h2]

[h3]New challenger approaching![/h3]

One of our Kickstarter stretch goals was reached during the campaign in June. As a result, the backers were able to vote for the next hero! We've received many votes and are thrilled to share the result today.

The new Blade Princes who will join the Academy is... the Cultist 🔮



We can't wait to share more about this character and their backstory, and abilities... So stay tuned!

[h3]September demo[/h3]

The demo Strategy Fest is over and we carefully read all your feedback. Thanks for sharing it, it's extremely valuable for us. We want to make the best game possible and you're essential for that!
More playtests and demos are to come in the future.

Come hang out and chat with us on Discord!

- The Blade Prince Academy Team -

[h3]Discover the brand new demo of Blade Prince Academy for the Steam Strategy Fest![/h3]

Play the demo from August 28 to September 11!

After a busy spring with our successful Kickstarter campaign and the Steam Next Fest, we're back with some changes. We've listened carefully to your feedback and ideas and are proud to share a new demo!



This new demo will contain some changes and many improvements regarding Quality of Life, but also bug fixes. The main novelty is the introduction of unique heroes! Learn more about their stories and personalities in the demo!

[h3]Content flow[/h3]

• Learn the basic rules of combat in a tutorial mission
  
• Play the first 2 blade prince missions and discover the threat of Abjectalia
  
• Play up with 4 characters having their unique spells & skills
  
• A dozen of small dialogue scenes to discover the premise of the story
  

[h3]Exploration of the Academy[/h3]

• Meet new blade princes
  
• Start exploring relationships
  
• Craft new types of potions in the lab
  
• Rest in the Nursery to regain forces
  

Your feedback is important, feel free to share it on Discord and fill out this form!

[h2]Meet O’ren, the powerful Sniper![/h2]

[h3]Why this choice of making a cute character so powerful?[/h3]
Originally, there was no desire to combine its cute design with its power. It's true that now it makes us smile.

This character represents physical power at a distance, and her spell kit is also very strong. She's a sniper, so it's only natural that she has the highest physical damage stats. Her spell kit includes many projectile spells and a few support spells, making her an excellent character for most missions.



[h3]Why did we choose to change her visual novel recently?[/h3]
We wanted O'ren to be in her animal form, rather than her elf form, but she had to be different from the sniper too. So we chose to do a more puma-like color scheme and make her design match her personality: round ears and fluffy tail to show that she is kind and good-hearted, but she stays a feline and can be deadly with her claws when needed. Her green outfit reminds nature, of where she comes from, and strongly loves it.


[h3]Where does she come from to master that great weapon?[/h3]
O'Ren was kidnapped in the Baayos jungle and raised in Abjectalia by a couple of Skadrons, a military militia under the Black Mages' orders. With her education came early training in combat, shooting and operational work.

With her animal talents and physical faculties, especially her vision, O'Ren mastered the sniper at a phenomenal speed, even surpassing the best of the best Skadrons. After her adoptive parents' death, Black Mages took an interest in her insane shooting ability and early field experience, taking her into the Blade Academy.



Come chat with the developers on Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- The Blade Prince Academy Team -

[h2]Hi fellow assassins![/h2]

We wanted to share with you some information about a core feature of our game, the real-time with pause combat system!





[h3]Why did you choose to integrate the RTWP in BPA?[/h3]
The vision that we had at the beginning of the project was a mixture of genres including tactical rpg in real-time. The impact of real-time on the fights is dangerous, and you have to be careful not to fall into hack-slash, which can happen if the player doesn't use the tactical pause and how he manages this pause as well as the real-time phases.



[h3]What problems did the RTWP bring?[/h3]
Two issues came up, one of which is still ongoing

The first one: At the very beginning of the project, we had a time slowdown instead of a complete pause, but the rendering didn't suit us, and the player spent more time in the slowdown. He was reacting, instead of being a strategist and programming his actions.

The second one, which is still relevant, we worked a lot on it, and there is still work to do. It's to put forward the tactical break, so the player must use it.
We put access to spells during the tactical break, queueing, information like moves/stats etc.
And also visually, we must see in tactical break, it passes on the interface, the visual, the sounds...






[h3]What techniques have you implemented to make the RTWP not too messy?[/h3]
In the interface, there are some elements that appear in real-time and others that disappear in tactical pause. We had to make a choice on some interface elements. There is a great work of reflection, of test on what works / not works.

The fact that we are also in real-time adds a lot of constraints on that.



Paying attention to the game mechanics, some have been changed/removed for readability.



We hope you've enjoyed this news about the real-time with pause system in Blade Prince Academy! Let us know if you'd like to see more! Thank you so much!

- The Blade Prince Academy Team -