Project Myrsky

Project Myrsky, as it is tentatively called, is the first of a hopefully long series of anthro-centric video games created and published by Clouds of Glass Games. As it stands, the plans for it are for it to become something of an sandbox, action adventure game centered on the continent of GoldWrath, which will bend to the choices and whims of the player, both intentional and non. 

The game will feature at least a dozen or so anthropomorphic races; from the humble mouse to the towering giraffe. Through game play, you will be able to interact and guide or destroy any given civilization that you come across; creating allies and enemies at your leisure. 

As the game progresses, the ages will as well. From your humble beginnings, you will guide your civilization from hovels to huts to homes. At the end of each era, the game will flash forward, transporting you to another time, now playing as your former character's descendant (who you will be able to redesign if you would like, of course.)

Ultimately, my team and I are hoping to create quality, anthro-centric games for those that enjoy such things, as we feel that the genre is a bit under-represented as of now. 

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A bit about me:

My name is Lucas Cady, as I'm sure you can see on the side bar up there somewhere. My experiences in storytelling and game systems run deep. I started young, DMing for my group of friends and acquaintances (3.5, D&D, for those that care.) I was never given a respite from doing so, never once was I allowed to actually play within the system, so I learned to love changing and warping it however I liked. It was almost like playing a character. 

After high school, I took my love of storytelling and attempted to write a book. It did not end well. Failure to communicate between myself and my co-author at the time lead to it being rushed to production through some self publishing platform that I cannot recall the name of at the time of this writing. I did not write with him again. 

I had given up on anything related to that, life took me hither and thither, meeting my wife and being whisked away to the ancient, magical land of Finland before I knew what was happening. 

I thought my love for the craft was dead, but about a year and a half ago, amidst some turmoil, I found that spark once more. I began writing a new series of books (which may or may not ever get finished :p) centered in the land of Xeren, a land filled with only anthros. Through the course of writing this I developed a character that I loved very dearly, and a land from whence he/she once held inconceivable power - GoldWrath. 

Our story here, will begin several hundred years before the happenings within the series. From him/her the idea formed, the basis for the entire story for Project Myrsky. And, no, I'm not revealing who it is.

Before Project Myrsky, I had not once touched a 3D development tool, but that has, of course, changed.

Currently, I have been doing the lion's share of the work: modeling, animating, texturing, coding, world building; and as such I have quickly gained a moderate understanding of all of these fields. I generally work around six to eight hours a day on Project Myrsky on my days off from my tedious, menial minimum wage job. Most of the good, unique ideas come from my wife, however. :p

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Project Myrsky Now:

I have dabbled with RPG maker and it's ilk before - this is not that. We are developing using Unreal Engine 4. All of the 3D models are being created using Blender, though we have plans to upgrade to Maya as soon as the funds for the studio become available. All textures and the like are made using Photoshop v.6. 

Most things within the game lack polish, as one could expect. Our technical build is still Pre-Alpha, as only about 20% of the wanted features have been programmed in. I've managed to get all the basics one would expect from an rpg: a working, robust inventory system, equipment systems, save systems, and combat systems. The systems used for upgrading your civilization or hindering your enemy's is also alive and well, along with a reputation tracker. We've got random drops, random spawns, and quests. 

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Project Myrsky Then:

Some of you may have played a little, old game by the name of Lost Kingdoms, or its successor Lost Kingdoms 2. All of the magic within Project Myrsky will be handled through cards. We have currently planned for three genres of them:

Magic:harmful, benign, and helpful,

Summons,

and

Transformations.

The idea is to have them function similar to how they did in the aforementioned games, leveling up and transforming down different trees based on whatever you decide that you like better. And the best news about this is that the system itself is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from being finished - only a few widgets remain and it will be included. 

We would also like to add a followers system, one that can utilize real, living things and summons bound to you via your local shrine to the Wind. 

Mounts are also a must and their lack of inclusion has more to do with my inability to make a satisfactory mount model as of yet than anything difficult within the coding.

 I'm sure that I am forgetting something that I wish to be included, but my mind is not working as well as it could be as of now. 

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I will update about this and that whenever the mood strikes or I design something that I would love to share. I will at least update once a week with a technical post, why not on Fridays? I leave you with a screen shot.

-Lucas Cady

Project Director