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KickStarter Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones - a Lovecraftian Computer RPG

Cyberarmy

Love fool
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Smyrna - Scalanouva
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Update about resting, character screen and Grimoire!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1698219403/stygian-a-lovecraftian-computer-rpg/posts/1911130

Rest Activities or How I Learned Getting Ready for the Dark Times Ahead

Greetings fellow Cultists of the Dreaming Sheikh!

In this update, we'd like to share some detailed information about our Rest System. As you probably know, resting in Stygian is not a just a mere tool for refilling your depleted stats in the blink of an eye but a defined side system of preparation, risk assessment and research. We, the folk at Cultic Games tend to do all these before going to sleep, don't you too?

First things first! Let's have a look at our Rest Screen:


Outsider does not socialize


In Stygian resting also represents the idle time your character and companions spend before going to sleep (or leaving for the Dreamlands). Each character has 5 Rest Points to allocate to a variety of activities which are connected to the acquired skills.

The descriptions of our Rest Activities are as follows:

Note: "Gouging your own eyes out" activity is discarded in the current build for balancing reasons.

Socialize: The character spends her time socializing with a companion, increasing the sanity of both party members.

Related Skill: Speechcraft

Keep Watch: The character stays awake and alert to possible dangers. Decreases the encounter chance while resting in Danger Areas.

Related Skill: Survival

Psychological Treatment: The character provides therapy to a mentally disturbed companion, raising the sanity of the target.

Related Skill: Psychology

Medical Treatment: The character provides medical treatment to herself or a companion, raising the health of the target. Requires Doctor's Bag.

Related Skill: Medicine

Weapon Maintenance: The character performs maintenance on weapon to improve its performance until next rest.

Related Skill: Firearms or Melee

Physical Exercise: The character performs a series of physical exercises to improve physical endurance and ease the mind until next rest.

Related Skill: Athletics

Gambling: The character takes part in a gambling session in a suitable rest area, gaining Cigs in the process. If things go right...

Related Skill: Subterfuge

Scout: The character scouts the surrounding area for an escape route in case of ambush. The progression escape route will be opened more easily should the party get attacked.

Related Skill: Stealth

Reconnaissance: The character investigates the area to find the best spot to camp, providing a tactical advantage should the party get attacked.

Related Skill: Investigation

Pray: The character prays to the God of her faith, raising the sanity of the character. Requires a religious item.

Related Belief System: Divine

Read: The character reads a book or other publication in relation with her belief system, raising the sanity of the character. Requires a book.

Medical Research: The character searches for a formula by examining medical components in the inventory.

Related Skill: Medicine

Scientific Research: The character searches for a blueprint by examining science related crafting components in the inventory.

Related Skill: Science

Occult Research: The character studies a chosen tome, manuscript or artifact to gain more insight on the forbidden arts. Occult research is used for learning new spells along with identifying the powers and maledictions of artifacts.

Related Skill: Occult

Rest More: The character spends her remaining idle time by resting more, gaining additional health and sanity points.

Related Skill: None


The report screen you get after deciding on the activities


Our next stop is the updated Character Screen, ladies and gents. We aimed to create a detailed yet streamlined and functional design.


Blue highlights indicate the statistics affected by the character element you hover your cursor over


The right portion of the screen is dynamically designed to allow the viewing of Secondary Statistics, Perks and Abilites or ANGST tabs while preserving the primary statistics area of the screen. With this approach, we wanted to make the attributes, skills and other core character data always visible while checking other statistics such as perks for easier stat comparison and character progression.

No, we're not done yet. We wanted to conclude our update by delving more into the realm of the unknown. At your discretion, we present you the Grimoire of Stygian:


Seeing any "magic torpedos" around?


Nothing further will be discussed about this issue since we already meddled with the dark forces enough...

Until the next update cult brethren!

Continue dreaming the glorious fall.

Team Cultic
 
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Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Apr 24, 2015
Messages
19,118
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
Looks good.

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Z5RWuqLIeKfX-JaCmzjdi5LBOm6f0YbJiQmz2NfHOW-tOt1MaVQ48eDNGhOkB6sRXMBiPvqRXYv9VwM=w1538-h774
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
Patron
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
19,118
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1698219403/stygian-a-lovecraftian-computer-rpg/posts/1963484

Character Creation, Gamescom and More!

Greetings Relentless Pursuers of the Dismal Man!

In this update we'd like to share all the aspects of our Character Creation System, inform you about Cultic Games' participation to Gamescom and finally talk about some dates for the backer demo and release. Get ready for a long and (hopefully) thrilling journey!

Character Creation consists of the following steps:

0. Indoctrination (Optional)

This is the step you say good-bye to your loved ones, shut all your doors and windows, fanatically repeat your "Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh" prayers and fast for weeks until you remove the last traces of your current identity.

1. Gender Selection

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The horrors of Stygian do not discriminate based on your character’s gender.
The world of Stygian reacts to your gender. Different genders will have different relations with some NPCs but from a statistical point of view, both genders are identical.

2. Age Selection

In Stygian your character's age is not just a cosmetic element. It plays two important roles. First, your age changes your starting statistics, second it changes the reaction of the world to your character.

eb9c4b07dbd7ae053f097fe11438b663_original.bmp

[OUT OF TUNE SINGING] I know what it is to be young but you don't know what it is...
Young: Young characters are in their physical prime and get 1 bonus point to Physique, Agility or Senses, but due to a lack of experience start the game with 2 fewer skill points.

Adult: Adult characters have the default number of points for attributes and skills.

Old: Old characters are in physical decline and get a 1 point penalty to Physique, Agility or Senses, but in exchange get to spend 2 extra skill points during character creation to reflect their additional life experience.

3. Archetype Selection

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Jungian archetypes or Stygian archetypes?
This where you select your Archetype and its related background. You can have more information on Stygian's archetypes from our campaign page, here. With your support the Explorer (our first stretch goal) is now added to the roster as well.

We've designed our Backgrounds to give you more options in defining your characters. What kind of an Investigator are you? An occult detective who specializes in paranormal cases or an ex-cop who earned his living by chasing criminals in the past? It is all up to you. Each Archetype has at least three unique backgrounds to choose from. Let's have a closer look!

Academic Backgrounds

Scientist: Default background for the Academic Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Physician: You graduated from Miskatonic School of Medicine and spent the last several years away from physical conflict.

+1 Medicine, -1 Melee Attack, -1 Ranged Attack

Psychiatrist: You have a diploma in Psychiatry. For a long time, you believed the supernatural existed only in people’s minds.

+1 Psychology, -1 Supernatural Defense

Researcher: You were a research associate at Miskatonic University. Years of physical inactivity has taken its toll on you.

Faster Scientific and Medical Research, -1 Physical Defense

Aristocrat Backgrounds

Patrician: Default background for the Aristocrat Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Prodigal: Your inherited a considerably large legacy from your parents and had the chance (or the misfortune) to afford being repulsive.

Starts the game with extra jewellery, lower Sex Appeal

Bankrupt Royalty: Your family went bankrupt and lost almost all of its property. You had to learn the facts of life the hard way.

+1 Survival, starts the game with less Cigs

Cursed Bloodline: A terrible sin committed in the past still haunts your family. You meddled with the occult to lift the curse to no avail.

+1 Occult, +3% Critical Failure Chance

Criminal Backgrounds

Gangster: Default background for the Criminal Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Thief: You have a past in thievery and excel at moving silently but you often choose to run away when things get hot.

+1 Stealth, -1 Melee Attack

Con Artist: You can persuade people into believing you are the prince of Arkham but often shy away from physical conflict.

+1 Speechcraft, -1 Physical Defense

Hitman: You were a hired gun for the mafia. You carry the weight of the dead bodies you left in your trail.

+1 Firearms, +50 ANGST

Explorer Backgrounds

Adventurer: Default background for the Explorer Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Big Game Hunter: You were a trophy hunter, seeking glory in conquering the wild. You learned to keep your prey at a distance and shun the opposite scenario.

Higher damage to beastly enemies, -1 Melee Attack

Pathfinder: You used to earn your living as a guide in uncivilized territories. You prefer to move with a lighter load for better mobility.

Lower chance of random combat encounters, lower inventory capacity

Mountaineer: You tested your endurance in the past by reaching the peaks of tall mountains. You rarely leave things to chance and act cautiously.

+1 Athletics, -2% Critical Success Chance

Investigator Archetypes

Detective: Default background for the Investigator Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Ex-cop: You have a past in law enforcement. The things you witnessed on duty left their mark on your mind.

+1 Firearms, -5 total Sanity

Occult Detective: You encountered the supernatural in some of your past cases. Those experiences still haunt you.

+1 Occult, +50 ANGST

Bounty Hunter: Your bounty hunting past taught you how to approach your targets unnoticed. For the right amount, you brought them, dead or alive...

+1 Stealth. Can only be chosen by Materialistic characters.

Occultist Backgrounds

Secret Society: Default background for the Occultist Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Depraved Occultist: Like Crawford or Rasputin before him, you have an unholy aura of sexual magnetism but tend to neglect occult studies in favor of carnal pleasures.

Higher Sex Appeal, slower Artifact Research

Alchemist: You are adept at the esoteric art of the alchemy and focused your medicinal studies solely on transmutation.

Considerably higher Medical Research Rating. Medicine skill can’t be used in game’s challenges.

Demonologist: You summoned a daemon in your past and learned forbidden knowledge from this infernal being.

Starts the game with “Children of Pazuzu” spell, -5 total Sanity

Mesmerist: You were a practitioner of Mesmer’s magnetism techniques and learned a lot about psychology from your former patients, along with their darkest secrets...

+1 Psychology, -5 Total Sanity

Performer Backgrounds

Actor: Default background for the Performer Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Juggler: You earned your living as a juggler for a long time. Your moves tend to be more flashy but also riskier.

+2 Throwing, +3% Critical Failure Chance

Busker: You were a busker in your past and know how to survive in the streets though you never had much of a wealth.

+1 Subterfuge, starts the game with less Cigs

Movie Actor: You had some roles on the silver screen. You have “it” but also have a tendency to fall into addiction easily.

Higher Sex Appeal, lower Addiction Threshold

Soldier Archetypes

Private: Default background for the Soldier Archetype. No special advantages or disadvantages.

Marine: You served as a member of the Marine Corps. Screams of your fallen squad mates still echo in your mind.

Starts the game with “Aimed Shot” ability, -5 total Sanity

Military Intelligence: You served in the Military Intelligence. Your position kept you away from active duty for the last few years.

+1 Subterfuge, -1 Physical Defense

Sniper: You served the US Army with your marksmanship in numerous situations. In combat, you take your time but you eliminate your targets eventually.

+3% Critical Success Chance with Rifles, -1 Reaction

4. Belief System Selection

2d3936b5935c5247fddf80eda4615ef0_original.bmp

Think like your character, act like your character.
As you probably know, Belief Systems determine how your character gains her lost sanity in the doomed Arkham along with providing you new ways to role-play your character. You can have more information on them here.

5. Portait Selection and Character Identity

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You'll be able to choose the portraits of some Stygian backers. Devoted cultists they are...
All of our portraits will be open to both genders.

6. Stat Allocation

f2ccf2beb5f8dfd03c95bd45c9219420_original.bmp

Please roll three six sided die and write the results to the back of your character sheet.
This is the step you finally get into the fantastic world of numbers and shape your character's attributes and skills according to your taste. Only the skills your background contributes to can exceed 2 points at this stage.

7. Character Summary

At this final step, you'll be able to have a look at all your choices one last time and make the necessary changes if the need arises. We're good to go now. Let's begin our journey of </HORROR, LOSS and MADNESS! </voiceofmadnessfont>

Good news everyone! Stygian will be on Gamescom with a playable demo this year. Sorry to inform you this late but we've been tackling with visa problems lately and didn't want to give any false hopes until it's %100 certain.

You can visit our booth in Bahcesehir University stand and try our Gamescom build at Hall 10 / Floor 2, area E-033. Come visit us so we can talk about the dreams we've been collectively seeing... We're thrilled to communicate with our community once again and would love to hear your opinions on Stygian! You know the best ideas are the "borrowed" ones ;)

This brings us to another important topic, our backer demo. The demo is ready and in internal testing for some time now but we've decided to give it more time in external testing to be sure it'll work smoothly on different systems.

We're bringing our own hardware to Gamescom which guarantees better stability within a controlled environment but we want to be sure about the performance and experience on different hardware and operating systems through more testing before we share it with you. This will also give us more time to polish some systems with the help of Gamescom feedback.

So we've decided to share the demo with you on 25th of September. It takes between one to two hours to complete depending on your approach and curiosity (we see you completionists!) and showcases all the major systems including character creation, exploration, combat, dialogue, inventory management, journal, spell-casting, panic states, in-game cinematics and more.

But, if you'd like pay a visit to our backyard (without digging out any corpses of course!) and help us with the demo testing, feel free to send a mail to culticgames@gmail.com with "KS Tester" and your Kickstarter user name written to the subject section. Our esoteric operators will return to you with details in September.

Last but not least, we'd like inform you about the current state of the project. You pay our bills after all, don't you?

From the engineering perspective, we've completed almost all of our core systems along with the several tools we need to breathe life into the world of Stygian. The rest mechanics have still some way to go, coding for crafting has not yet begun and the voice of madness dialogues will have a systematic overhaul in the following months but the baby steps are far behind us. This beast can run now and its hungry!

ea3d1e0812231ee62804c8c491a81b5a_original.jpg

The stage is set and our actors are playing their roles.
The whole content of the first chapter is complete. Thousands of lines of dialogue have been written with alternative approaches exclusive to certain archetypes and belief systems. Hundreds of characters have been designed with modular heads and outfits enabling more variation. All the animations of the male player model are complete along with hundreds of NPC and enemy animations. Lighting, shaders and environmental effects are working beautifully. Almost a dozen tracks have been composed for different situations and areas. We've been recording our own foley effects for months to meet the unique sound needs of the project and the list goes on.

1e10b2958ff2c99bce6c736a7ac12966_original.png

We've updated all of our background graphics after the Kickstarter campaign.
We are proud of the work we've done so far and believe that we're achieving what we've been longing to play as gamers ourselves. On the other hand, we've also realized that Stygian, with all its intricacies and interconnected systems, will take some time to complete. With our current attention to detail and quality standards, it seems unlikely to see the release before the end of 2018.

We will continue to do our bests to make Stygian retain its unique identity. We believe that it will worth the wait, but after all, you'll be the ones to decide.

We want you to see Stygian in its best shape: Our beautiful doom among the stars...

Until we meet again...

Team Cultic
 

PrettyDeadman

Guest
Looks good, but I would've much preferred if it was more typical rpg like arcanum where you just click on mouse and go there you want.
What I see right now reminds me a lot about newer game which replace proper exploration and other mechanics with menus.
Like if you compare Wizardry with Etrian Odyssey they just deleted all town exploration/npc interactions with a bunch of menus, you can't explore town and stuff freely, you cna only explore dungeons.
Probably just need to play the game to get accustomed with that style of gameplay and it won't see as limiting.
 

Prime Junta

Guest
Hey Infinitron, the backer demo is out. Worth a newsbit?

Edit: and whoa holy shit but is it cool

Hey Stygian people, the NDA was kind of hardcore, is it OK to post screenshots at least?
 
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Prime Junta

Guest
Very brief impression of the demo:
  • Production values are much better than I expected, it looks and sounds and feels really good
  • Atmospheric and Cthulhu as fuck
  • Combat is TB jRPGey, nothing too fancy but OK for what it is, although IMO there's too much of it -- I slaughtered like a madhouse full of madmen for the demo and it felt a bit excessive TBH, not every screen has to have a mob in it
  • Very cool how they've worked role-playing into the mechanics -- they reward playing the role matching your selected background... although it does railroad you a bit
  • Loading screens, ugh, fucking Unity
  • Pathfinding could use some work
All in all I'm super-stoked for this, it's looking really good and I can't wait to play the whole thing.

Also, it's like meeting old friends really, having a brew with the Fungi from Yuggoth and hanging out with Nyarlathotep. Good times
 
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