Update 27 was just put out~!
Progress Update 8/27 (Backer Only)
Hey guys, this past month has been really great for us in terms of progress. We're still iterating through graphics, going through the stuff we don't like or that we don't feel fits the style, trashing it, and making it anew. The style is coming together incredibly well and we're pretty excited. As we've mentioned previously development is taking longer than expected (I'm told by fellow devs that this is normal), and we're officially pushing back the release timetable to the first quarter of '14. That means the alpha and beta will either be very late '13 or else early '14. You guys have been quite patient and we really appreciate it, thanks.
So I'll be playing it sometime next year.
They also briefly go over what they've been up to and working on, unfortunately like their prior updates, it's very light on images and details.
We've been focused on adding lots of little touches, like flying birds which randomly fly around certain areas (including a vulture which circles overhead above corpses in the desert area). We also added outdoor chimneys with smoke effects and a will-o-the-wisp that will lead players to secret areas. We've also extended the dialog system quite a bit, it's become remarkably sophisticated. Certain dialog options will only be available if you have the required alignment, charisma (we changed barter to charisma which now controls barter plus affects dialog options), race, quest prerequisites, levels and of course there will be intimidation, bribery and all that stuff.
Interesting choice with Charisma there, I approve since the prior information we've received about the "barter" skill pretty much painted it as a total dump stat.
It sounds great, almost can't wait. I'm a bit sceptical of the will-o-the-wisp feature though, would need to see how it plays out, it can be nice if it's either late-game or rather gimmicky, or it can ruin exploration to some degree.
They also introduce what I surmise is a new feature they're relatively proud of.
Of course, if you want to know what it is, you should've been a backer!
no spellcheck, will-o-the-wisp is not spelt as "run-of-the-mill"