23.12 Update

Hello, all! Today's update isn't a game update, exactly, as I have been having trouble getting UE4 to do anything. Though, it seems that the problem may have something more to do with my processor and less to do with the engine itself. More testing is needed to verify anything certainly, but...

I have been working in blender for the majority of the week, creating new meshes for building, mostly. I have started the scythe weapon class, the first scythe has been finished and the idle is up and ready for import. More than anything though, I have been thinking about the game itself and theory-crafting ways to implement the game play elements that I have been thinking of this past week.

I want the game's ultimate goal to be up to the player. I loved the way that the stories were implemented in the game series Mount and Blade. The stories existed, but they didn't really get in the way of the game play, if that's not what you wanted. I have thusly decided that the player will not have to complete any “main” quest at all. All of the quests within the game will be side quests, as it were. Storylines will exists, of course; this, this, this, and that all moving forward, leading toward a conclusion, but that entry and ultimate conclusion will only exist if the player really wants them to. I'm not sure about you, but the main quest generally gets in my way more often than not; the quests are far too structured, they drag on and on, and they never quite seem to be as interesting as the minute-to-minute game play. I like the structured sandbox.

Advancement through the Ages will not be tied to any questline, but to the advancement of the players civilization. Well, the option will be tied to it. The player will be able to ultimately decide when they want to proceed through to the next Age.

I feel like I'm rambling, another long week of shitty retail-hell.

I've an example of the game play that I am trying to create in Project Myrsky. To the south of the player's home is a displaced civilization, the as-of-yet-unnamed lizard race. They've been driven from their ancestral home by the also-as-of-yet-unnamed lion race. The Lions are currently the dominant force within the continent of Goldwrath. Now, you, as the player, can decide to do absolutely nothing about that if that so tickles your fancy. But doing so, and advancing ages, may end up badly. Leaving the Lions to their own devices, they decide that they've enough problems already and do not feel the need to deal with the Lizards, knowing full well that they will want their lands back eventually. The Lions will eliminate them. That little Lizard encampment south of your burgeoning civilization will now be a Lion's war-camp. And if you leave it as it is after that, who knows?

Consequences. Choices and consequences. Cause and effect. That is what I really want this game to be about. I love those choices that have far reaching, unknowable consequences.

You've slain the Lion's chieftan, their cities but hot ash, along your travels you find a lone Lioness, carrying a babe. Her clothes are tattered and it seems she is malnourished. If you leave her as she is, she will likely starve, the child along with her. You could end her, spare them the slow death, or you could be merciful; you are the mighty Wind Carrier, after all. The world respects you, and watches you. This Lion child could be a powerful ally, but what of his children? Or his children's children? Only time and the Winds can tell.

Another aspect that I have been considering is that of diminishing belief. In the young years of Goldwrath, all know and revere the Wind Carrier, but as centuries roll on, it is hard for some groups to believe in him at all. Those that are touched by the Wind Carrier, those that are helped, those that are harmed, they know; and they won't forget. But those that are ignored? Unseen? Neglected? They will come to lose their faith, they will stray, their mages growing ever stronger by the day. Why do they need faith in a miracle so far away, when they themselves can do as the Wind Carrier is said to be able to.

Your people should come first, however. But, they needn't. If the needs of the wild call you, Wind Carrier, it is up to you to answer them. Who are those simple folk to stop you when Indariil needs its shaman?

Grandeur, I know. I have no delusion that this game will be an easy feat, nor do I believe that it can be accomplished by just me in any decent amount of time. This will be a long-running project, I don't know what I'll do with myself once it is finished. :p

As always, a couple of screen shot:

One of the aforementioned "buildings" that isn't really a building. I have no idea why I wanted to model a raft... but I did.

A single frame of the scythe idle. I assure you, however, that it does indeed move. :p

With Christmas just around the corner and UE4 not wanting to be a nice, little game engine and just work with me, the progress for next week will likely be minimal. I will work more in Blender, I am sure and work more on theory-crafting. I spend almost all my free time at work writing this little notebook that my wife bought for me at one point. It'll soon be full. :o

Something that I was working on and wanted to share. The aforementioned Lizards, their elder asks your help with a bit of an issue, not being entirely straightforward with their intent. She wants you to slay a pesky serpent that has been keeping her men away from a nearby grove that would provide enough wood for them to expand for generations. Should you slay the serpent, you may return to the elder for your reward, increasing your influence over them and opening yourself up to several more options. With the grove snake free, you can simply build your own lumber camp within it, effectively blocking the Lizards from its use, but giving your civilization the boosts from it. This will, of course, cause some animosity, but are your people more important to you than the Lizards? 

If you leave the camp unbuilt, at the begging of the next age, you will find that they have built their own camp, along with a massive expansion to their civilization. And now, you'll find it hard to expand anywhere south of your home, blocking yourself off from further advancement in that direction... unless of course you do something else about it... You could always just let them be, they certainly won't do anything to anger the Wind Carrier, even when their space begins to butt right up against yours, right?

Anywho, I can feel that damn sleep-fairy tugging at my eyelids; the little hoe. Until next week..

-Lucas Cady

Project Director