Erannorth Renaissance

[NotSweeper]

Nietzsche’s most striking contribution to ethics was his denial of morality.

That's only true assuming God doesn't exist, which is a flat out wrong presupposition.
He was however 100% correct about the untermensch.

 

[Katerina]

Whether an indie solo developer with a limited budget should or should not use AI-generated images in their game is beyond the point of the thread, which was my missed point. They could leave them blank for all I care. It is up to them to decide. On the other hand, we can vote with our wallets based on whether the game meets our individual requirements. Knowing his games and work ethos, I would support their effort either way.

What I hoped to read in this thread instead was more information about the game itself. A game, in which art is a tertiary factor at best.

As for 'AI', it doesn't really exist (yet). What we have is software created by humans. LLM uses our collective knowledge to predict text or image patterns. Technological advancements, like AI, are tools that extend our capabilities and help push our civilization forward. Whether that is a collapse or a Utopia, we'll never know till it's too late. Using these tools to create is just part of our human evolution. Like the Industrial Revolution and the internet before that.

Nietzsche, like most philosophers, was a man of his time. His views were a product of his experiences. Philosophy, inherently, is never right or wrong. It simply reflects our collective contemplations. His stance on morality goes deeper than the presence or absence of God and is often oversimplified to fit various agendas. He merely challenged the intrinsic values of our traditional moral codes, suggesting they are conditioned by history rather than universally applicable. He also never used the term 'Untermensch.' This term was coined later in ways that contradict entirely his philosophical explorations.

Nietzsche would probably view 'AI' as a tool for 'transvaluation'—creating new values and ways of thinking. But he isn't here to tell us, is he? And we aren't here to discuss him, are we?

 

[Kabas]

What I hoped to read in this thread instead was more information about the game itself. A game, in which art is a tertiary factor at best.

Judging by the videos and devlogs your abilities and equipement operate by the same rules as cards from Erannorth Chronicles. There are skill requirements in order to use them or bring out their full power like that dagger that requires some points in intrigue for the "Bleed out" ability.
Not as radically different from the previous games despite switching to a grid based combat. Kinda liking what i am seeing here so far, hoping to see some cool synergies.

Surprised that nobody here discusses the romance aspect.

Dev seems to be placing a lot of focus on this one.

 

[lukaszek]

Katerina your posts reeks of intellectual masturbation.

It inspired me to create this piece

 

[Katerina]

@lukaszek
You are absolutely right. I think I'll boob down the stairs and leave you boys to it.

Nah. Gosh, that's one of the ugliest 'AI' art I've seen. The tools doesn't make the artist, but keep trying, you may get there. Xoxo

 

[Damned Registrations]

If that's AI it's been clearly retouched by an artist. I'm honestly surprised how many artists are on the "AI stole our jerbs train!" instead of "AI is a useful tool that will allow us to do more."

It's like when some artists thought Illustrator and Photoshop were the devil.

I think a lot of people just plain weren't around when digital art first became a thing. I remember the days of people arguing anything not drawn on paper and scanned in shouldn't be allowed on sites like DeviantArt or whatever. There was backlash against photography back in the day as well, and probably people turning up their nose at commercially available paints.

I think it's fair to hate on the people just churning out crappy AI images that are barely curated, let alone retouched. It's just as obnoxious as people posting 30 variations of the same image with incredibly minor changes, which seems to get a free pass for some reason? I suspect the smart artists are using AI as a tool and retouching it without giving it any credit. I can't imagine such a thing would be easy to detect even by another artist, let alone laymen.

Re: the game; I'm okay with the card game mechanics being removed. They were fun, but also lended themselves to certain types of degenerate playstyles. What I'm really hoping to see is just a lot more content. What put me off replaying the previous two games a ton was seeing the exact same 'some dudes are burning a 'witch' event every hour or so. Hopefully he's either written a lot more content or gotten AI to do it for him are editted out the gibberish. Was watching a review of same game the other day and saw someone make the same point; there's really no excuse for having repetitive background chatter/npc barks these days, even for indie games. It's a trivial amount of work to get a computer to spit out 100 different perfectly fine variations of small talk about the weather, banal death threats in combat, or shopkeep banter. It might not be able to write a novel yet, but it's perfect for making filler text the same way Speedtree can make a forest instead of needing some dude to hand place hundreds of thousands of trees, rocks and bushes.

 

[Kabas]

What I'm really hoping to see is just a lot more content. What put me off replaying the previous two games a ton was seeing the exact same 'some dudes are burning a 'witch' event every hour or so.

He did add a bunch of new events in Chronicles.
Granted, at the start of each playthrough you will be seeing the exact same random events you saw for a hundred of times anyway. Need to go a bit out of your way in order to see something new by focusing on completing the repeatable areas past the early game.

 

[lukaszek]

this is the second game to impress me visually through smart ai usage, 1st one was secret of darkwoods.
I assume that non crappy VO will follow soon. Basically we will be getting nearly AA quality gaymz done by single devs.
I got a thing for people being smart with their time.

 

[cyborgboy95]

Development Journal IX - Progress and Thoughts
Hi folks,

The development of Erannorth Renaissance is progressing smoothly. Oh, and I've updated the Early Access details and the store page. That'll be all

Are you still here? Did you see how long this text is !? Hmm, let's see.

In the latest development journal, I briefly mentioned my first game, Erannorth the Unfinished Tales. I want to dig a bit deeper into that story, but feel free to jump to the main dish below.

Back to the Future II

I first embarked on the journey to create Erannorth the Unfinished Tales in mid-2013, driven by a blend of passion and audacity. We indie developers are akin to gamblers, staking our time, energy, sanity, and often our financial stability on the dream of creating something unique and impactful. More often than not, we face various degrees of failure. Of course, I wasn't an indie developer back then, and I didn't know that years later, I would be calling myself one.

In the case of Unfinished Tales, "Unfortunately, I didn't have the finances to support its sole server running back then, and it never kicked off." This translates to: I dedicated about three years of intense labor to finishing that game, often working 12-hour days, fueled by the vision of what the game could become. This period was exhilarating and grueling, a true test of endurance and commitment. Despite the immense effort and the dream driving it (financially), the project flopped spectacularly.

Having worked for free for three years and paying money on top of that to do that, and then thinking, let's do it again! It is something only a special kind of idiot does.

Or someone who doesn't want to have regrets in their life. The only way for that is to be true to yourself.

But anyway take your pick.

Here's a random screenshot to break up the monotony of the text wall.

Seven

Today marks a significant milestone—seven months since I started working on Erannorth Renaissance. It's been a thrilling journey filled with challenges, doubts, and breakthroughs. So, what was done, and what is still missing for you to get this game in your hands finally?

In the early stages of development, the idea was crafting a fully narrative-driven experience centered around a main campaign within a somewhat open-world setting.

As someone accurately put it, "Hand holding? How lewd."

But, let's be honest: the primary reason was that starting development from zero is a tedious process without considering all the other moving parts; for convenience, let's sum them up as content.

However, as the development progressed and the parts started to click, it became evident that a narrative-driven approach within an open-world format was fundamentally busted. The more the world opened up, the more the structured narrative felt constrained and forced.

This led to a pivotal decision. I could either reduce the game's scope, with no map or open world, in the true or tried Visual Novel style and tell my story. I would be done with working for free, there would be no Early Access headaches, you'd have a game to play, and we could all move on.

Because we all know that a) Early Access doesn't fund anything, and it shouldn't. b) Early Access paints the game in a darker shadow and limits sales. c) VNs are a less niche market than this.

Or: increase the game's scope, use the whole of our beautiful world map (it did took time to paint it), work a few more years (in practice for free) and instead tell our story.

Here's another random screenshot to build anticipation for the obvious decision.

The jury's back and the verdict is...

Of course, I picked the red pill.

I've decided to broaden rather than narrow the experience. The main story is still here but serves as a (long) introduction to Erannorth's sandbox world rather than the main dish.

After completing this story, you won't see the credits (my name in a hundred roles) rolling, nor will you save the world from a terrible threat.

Instead, you'll find yourself in the shoes of someone living in Elos.

If you could be anyone whom you'd be?
Erannorth Renaissance will let you answer this question instead of telling you.

Choosing what story arc to pursue next is entirely yours. Whether you delve deeper into the lore I've woven into every corner of the map, take on new quests, or explore and interact with the environment and its inhabitants, the world of Elos will adapt and respond to your decisions.

This shift from a primarily linear campaign to a more dynamic sandbox approach reflects my fundamental belief in creating games emphasizing player agency, what you've come to expect, and what most of you are here for. Right?

Presenting our final random screenshot of the day!

Detailed Progress Update: Recap

As we gear up for the new chapter in the development of Erannorth Renaissance, the part you come in, let's recap the significant strides made across the game's core systems in the past seven months.

These are all completed systems in the current build 0.4.77, not the final feature list.

Introductory Storyline

The initial campaign, serving as your gateway to the vast sandbox of Erannorth, is fully fleshed out and playable. This storyline offers a concise yet rich experience, lasting about 3 to 4 hours with multiple paths and companions to discover. It's crafted to be an engaging introduction without overstaying its welcome. Still, it remains optional, allowing you to choose how deep you dive into this narrative or live your life in this expansive world.

Exploration and Interaction

The overworld map is a dynamic playground where:

• Fog of war conceals unexplored tiles.
• You can engage with roving warbands in tactical combat.
• You can set up a camp to talk to your companions and harvest resources.
• Tiles can spring random events leading to mini adventures, lore fragments, or loot.
• Tiles can contain fixed stories or let you follow up on quests.

Custom Quest and Relationship systems

Initially, I tried to use the Dialogue System's two sibling systems, which could have significantly reduced the development time. Still, I ended up developing homebrew systems that better suited my needs.

Combat System

• Turn-based combat that takes place on a hex grid.
• A variety of action effects, tactical choices and diverse play styles.
• Opportunities to harvest resources post-battle / quick looting of enemies.
• Automatic shortcuts for each action.
• Panels to inspect actor status and actions.

Town Dynamics and NPC Interactions

Towns have evolved into hubs of activity where you can:

• Build relationships, whether friendly, romantic, or adversarial.
• Barter and purchase equipment.
• Receive new quests and tasks.

You can track and review all your relationships through a tab in your character sheet.

Character Progression

Your party characters can grow and evolve:

• Level up systems to enhance your skills and acquire new abilities.
• The perks system will offer new capabilities and gameplay dynamics.

Itemization and Equipment

• Core systems for itemization / large variety of equipment slots.
• Drag and Drop inventory system.
• Free trading with your companions.
• A diverse array of items and actions will provide numerous strategic options in and out combat.
• Consumables.

What's missing to open the flood gates?

While the structure is solid, there are still areas in need of development before you can dive into playing.

• I am still working on the early-level perks, equipment, and actions.
• I still need to finish the initial "Woodlands" and "Generic" event packs covering the early game environments.

Once these are done, the Early Access can start. I had to re-evaluate my original plan to keep the game in Early Access for a year. The new estimate is at least for 2 years.

If you wishlisted the game before, please check the new store page and Early Access information to make sure it's still a project you want to support.

That's all folks! If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to share them below!