For almost nine months, we have been shifting our efforts toward a new expansion, which is really more of an entirely new game. We would like to introduce Septaroad Voyager, a free expansion and total conversion mod for Himeko Sutori.
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We are very grateful for the opportunity to make Himeko Sutori. Himeko Sutori was the first video game that anyone in Rockwell Studios worked on. We would like to thank you for believing in us enough to try the game, and to make it possible for us to live the dream of creating video games for others to enjoy.
As a first project, Himeko Sutori has some flaws, some that run deep and will be very difficult to change. We want to keep improving and expanding the game however, and we decided that starting over with a mod known as a "total conversion" would be the best way to push forward.
You should be able to see right away from the gifs here that Septaroad Voyager is a very different kind of game from the Himeko Sutori main campaign. You still see all of the charming sprite characters from the base game, with the sprite-layering system that changes how your characters look based on what they have equipped. But the similarities end there.
(Here you can see the kind of fast-paced, dynamic, and chaotic battles you can expect from Septaroad Voyager.)
Septaroad Voyager isn't the huge strategy RPG that Himeko Sutori was. Septaroad Voyager is a party-based RPG where you program your party members with custom tactics to follow in fast-paced real-time combat.
And to go along with the faster pace, Septaroad Voyager is 100% controller-compatible, with text input available using Steam Big Picture mode. All of the gifs in this post were recorded while lead developer Nathaniel played using only a controller. But if you prefer mouse and keyboard, those work perfectly well too.
(When you're not fighting, you'll be able to travel the world, visit shops, and recruit allies into your party.)
(The ability to customize characters was a frequent request, so that was one of the first features we implemented in the expansion.)
The main idea behind Septaroad Voyager was the gameplay of an MMORPG, but where one player can control the whole party. Hopefully with the tactics system and huge variety of conditions, abilities, and interactions, we can deliver something close to that premise.
(Early in the expansion, you'll assign your characters' actions one at a time.)
(Eventually you'll want to assign tactics to your characters so that they can without your input.)
The expansion isn't finished yet, but there's a playable vertical slice of the game ready for anyone who wants to try it. Septaroad Voyager is accessible from the main menu of Himeko Sutori, under "campaigns."
(Even in smaller battles, your party will react faster with a list of tactics to follow.)
There is still plenty of work for us to do, and we are posting updates at least a few times per week. In the near future, we will be implementing the threat mechanic that most enemies will use to choose their targets. Along with the threat scores that the enemies track, we will add abilities to manage threat, increasing threat for your heavily armored knights and paladins to get the enemies' attention, or reducing threat for your less hardy clerics, mages, and warlocks.
(In Septaroad Voyager, you can level-up your characters in 14 different character classes, each with its own unique abilities and skill board.)
(Earn skill points by defeating enemies, then unlock stat bonuses, equipment, character classes, abilities, and tactic slots on the skill board.)
After that, we will implement the enrage, reflect, and confusion abilities. After that, the steal, trophy hunt, and dismantle abilities, which will get you additional treasure from the enemies you face.
And we will keep building the world of Septaroad Voyager, adding more towns, shops, enemies, and allies, across a vast variety of maps, from woodlands to deserts to tundra.
We hope that you enjoy Septaroad Voyager and we look forward to hearing your feedback. Right now our plan is to develop this into a full adventure that will span several hours at least. And maybe one day we will spin it off into an entire standalone game with its own cards, achievements, and mods.
But no matter where we go from here, our success depends in large part on you. If you like what you see here and would like to support our continuing work, please tell your friends about it. Please share news, links, images, and videos on your social media and please tell your favorite streamers to give Himeko Sutori and Septaroad Voyager a try.
Thank you everyone for being part of the Himeko Sutori family and thank you for your ongoing encouragement and support. We will be back soon with plenty of updates and patches. See you then!