Outcast Tales: The First Journey News

[h2]Greetings, misfits![/h2]

It is finally time to set foot into the perilous wastelands of Outcast Tales! You heard it right: as of this moment, the prologue chapter of Outcast Tales titled Outcast Tales: The First Journey is
out now! So you can pause reading this devlog and go download it right now. We’ll wait.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

“But Mr. Outcast, what is this prologue chapter?” we hear you ask. Here is the rundown, just for you:

[h2]Your first journey awaits![/h2]

More than just a prologue, Outcast Tales: The First Journey features a unique shorter campaign you can sink your teeth into right now! Just don’t get any sand in your mouth.

Assemble your crew, battle your way through monsters and crooks, awkwardly stumble around social interactions, and maybe even defeat some big guy at the end of the run! Not yet an Outcast Tale, but an Outcast Short Story for sure!

The first step towards your own tale awaits.

[h2]Many tales to tell[/h2]

Finishing your first run is just the start of that journey, though. It ain’t a good tale if you don’t want to read it over and over again, after all! And there’s plenty of stuff to keep you coming back: try out the 4 available characters and 5 available personality types, engage in numerous unique events, and challenge yourself with 3 difficulty modes.

Enjoy multiple characters and personality types, with more to come!


Once you finish your first run, you will get access to Contracts to spice up your journey
even more: finish unique tasks and who knows what might happen!

[h2]Old wounds, new looks[/h2]

One can’t attend a big event without putting on something dapper! To celebrate the
game’s sort-of-birthday, we got it some new clothes as well: the UI has been completely revamped for that rustic Western-y look, and the backgrounds have all been given a new life. The Wasteland has also been populated with many more items and deadly enemies. So look around, but don’t dawdle!

[h2]Living to tell the tale[/h2]

The cool thing about surviving is not making it, but telling everyone else you did. To that end, we added Twitch integration for all your backseat gaming buddies. And if you’re more of a lone wolf, The First Journey will have plenty of achievements so you can style on your friends without ever having to lock gazes.

[h2]A reliable narrator[/h2]

One can’t have a tale if there’s no one to tell it. Thankfully, Outcast Tales features a narrator ready to describe all of your ups and downs, failures and successes, questionable decisions and downright awkward moments.

To make the zany and often-ridiculous world of Outcast Tales more cohesive, the story needs to be delivered with all the deadpan impartiality of a British voice, and who could be better for the role than Samuel Barnett? Known for his roles as Dirk Gently and Cyberpunk 2077’s Delamain, Barnett’s soothing cadence is sure to alleviate the pain of failure and make that one sneaky dialogue choice resonate that much more.



We hope all of these arguments convince you to drop everything you were doing and give the game a go right now (aside from the whole prologue thing being free, of course).
All of that and more is just the start of our collective journey as we’re reaching the finishing stretch of development: expect the full game to feature a much longer campaign, tons of new enemies and items, more characters and personality types, and many more of those sweet unique events. Speaking of that…



Now that you’re all buttered up, set forth! And once you’ve had your share of adventure, don’t forget to share your tale on our Discord and Twitter.
See you soon!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2551970/Outcast_Tales/

[h3]Greetings, misfits![/h3]

We’ve been through a lot together. The adventures, the drama, the extensively-written devlogs… And we finally arrived at today, a special day. No, we are not releasing Outcast Tales just yet, but we’ve got just the next best thing for you: the Prologue release date announcement!

Without further ado, Outcast Tales: The First Journey will release on…
[h2]January 29, 2024.[/h2]



That’s right! The release of the prologue chapter of Outcast Tales is just a few days away.
This prologue chapter is releasing free-of-charge, but it is more than a mere demo.

The release includes:
[h3]

• The entire first act of the game's campaign
  
• Multiple heroes and personalities
  
• Tons of in-game content
  
• Surprises for especially die-hard junkyard junkies
  

[/h3]
…and more!

We’ll share more details on the Prologue and the game proper on release day, so stay tuned!

Before you go and share the good news with all of your loved ones, join our Discord and Twitter! The people there are just as excited as you all are.

One last thing: the Steam page for the full release of Outcast Tales is now live, so you can wishlist the game and keep up with all the updates to come. See you around!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2551970/Outcast_Tales/

[h3]Greetings, misfits![/h3]

These past few months, you’ve read many entries about the world of Outcast Tales (formerly known as Ragtag Crew). Now you’re all prepared to brave the wilds and become the best diplomat/cutthroat you can be!
However, this time we’re going a little meta: we know you’ve been clamoring to know more about the current state of the game, and we’ve come with some good news. So here are some answers to questions you asked. Or didn’t. But you probably thought about them in your head anyway!



[h3]Q: How’s the game coming along? What’s taking so long?![/h3]

The game is steadily nearing completion. No specific dates yet, but a lot has been done in the meantime. There are still some things we’re working on, — such as adding more narrative events, balancing the game, tweaking meta-progression loops, adding voiceover, and giving everything that extra polish, — but rest assured: the biggest bulk of the game is done. We’ve also completely revamped the UI and updated the look of the game’s locations, some of which you might’ve noticed from our previous devlogs!

Nothing says “a blood-soaked wasteland” like that rustic UI look

[h3]Q: Wasn’t this called Ragtag Crew? Why the name change?[/h3]

True, it was: the game changed the name from Ragtag Crew to Outcast Tales. We feel that Outcast Tales is more than just a roguelite with loot and numbers going up, and really want to focus on the storytelling part of the experience, as well as the numerous stories (or “tales”) your characters will encounter along the way.
At its core, it’s still the same game you’ve all been looking forward to, just bigger and better.

[h3]Q: You’ve been working on it for too long! Hope the game lasts more than a couple of nights, at least…[/h3]

Expect Outcast Tales to have lots of content and replayability. The game now boasts many characters, possible archetypes, and events. There are numerous ways to mix-and-match it all, so the number of possible variables and thus unique runs is somewhere in the thousands.
More than that, the heart of the game lies in its unique events, and rest assured we’ve got plenty of those (totaling up to 160k words and counting!). But don’t fret: you don’t have to read all of it thanks to all the narration we’re putting in! And with the many possible endings on offer, you aren’t going to be stopping your adventure any time soon…

[h3]Q: So that’s it? You got anything more… exciting?[/h3]

You got us. No one likes leaving empty-handed: it’s a holiday, after all. Here’s one last piece of good news:
[h2]The Prologue Chapter, Outcast Tales: The First Journey, is coming out Q1 2024![/h2]


…And while you’re getting that sweet taste of wasteland massacre, we’ll be putting the finishing touches on our game.
Expect the Prologue to support multiple languages as well, such as English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
There are a couple curious tidbits we still wanted to share with you… but now you’ll just have to play the Prologue and find out on your own!

Whew, now that was a load off our chest. We hope this update answered some of your more pressing questions and got you excited for what’s to come. Now sit tight as we put the finishing touches on the Prologue!

And if you want to share the hype, don’t be shy and hop on in to our Discord and Twitter.

See you all very, very soon!

[h3]Greetings, misfits![/h3]

Last time we took a peek at the various personalities of Outcast Tales and took some guesses on what kinds of interactions might arise from these hellish concoctions.

This time we are diving even deeper into the banter, the contemplation, and the eleventh-hour backstabbing.🗡

As you venture through the Wasteland, it’s not just mindless goons and loot that await you. There are also events, encounters, sticky situations, and all manner of shenanigans to block your path forward. Will you shoot ‘em with your gun or strike ‘em down with the pure, unadulterated power of your mind?

Ah, witch hunting. Your run-of-the-mill moral dilemma.

Some dialogues are tied to in-game mechanics, such as shops. But unlike many other games, accepting or declining the offer ain’t your only choices…

The famous 30% off stare-down.

Still, some choices are more complex than that…

Child’s play indeed.

Not only are there skill checks, but you can choose between personal and party checks as well. Really puts all that character creation you did in the beginning into perspective, doesn’t it?

Dead bodies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?! The horror!

Beware: failing skill checks might put a damper on your morale, among other things. And nobody likes a party pooper. But hey, at least you'll have your two trusty (and deadly) sidekicks to bail you out, just try not to make them regret tagging along with you in the first place.

If only our parents saying that came with a perk…

As in life, failing at something can also come with experience of its own. No pain no gain, right? Not all encounters are one-off affairs, by the way. Some are multi-phase events that just keep going as you keep traveling. But just like in reality, actions have consequences. So don’t expect being a weirdo not to catch up with you.

This road sign just won’t let up!

So many people, so many stories! Sometimes you meet a kind stranger on your way, sometimes you get indoctrinated into a weird cult. Stuff happens. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, so we hope you join in for more soon! And do expect a bigger update just around the corner. 👀

Finally, here's something to chew on for dessert: a couple of dialogue snippets you might or might not run into during your adventure. Don’t forget to join us on Discord and Twitter while you’re chewing: they say it’s good for you.

That’s right! Outcast Tales will take part in the Roguelike Celebration Steam Event taking place on October 19 through October 26. You know, Outcast Tales is not just an exercise for tactical masterminds, or a story of many choices, or a gritty post-apocalyptic tragicomedy. It is also, coincidentally, a video game of the roguelite variety that you can play. And play it you will!

In the spirit of the event, let’s take a couple of (carefully curated) peeks at some of the things that make Outcast Tales a roguelite.

You grow as one does in most RPGs. However, this game being a roguelite contractually forces us to turn progression into an irreversible choice…

…Still, you continue to grow even after you finish your run…

…No run ever ends without pain, though…

…Which is still worth it, as you might unlock something much bigger than a typical 0.1% damage boost.

We hope that our use of the scientific method has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that Outcast Tales is, indeed, a roguelite, and thus deserves to take part in this milestone event.

We’re looking to celebrate it with you, so join the festivities on Discord and Twitter and share your impressions of Outcast Tales and other cool rougelik(t)es you find (just don’t forget to play our demo while you do that). Sit tight, some bigger news is coming up pretty soon.

See you out in the Wasteland!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/882590/Outcast_Tales_The_First_Journey/