FeelTheRads
Arcane
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2008
- Messages
- 13,716
Maybe Fargo could mention this in an update. You know, kicking it forward and so on...
Probably they will get the heeded money in the last three days at worst, but dropping the ball so hard means that they still don't get it how things work.Only 11 days to go and still 22k missing till it gets funded. I have to admit I'm a bit buffled about their lack of updates. There were only three and only one is actually really about the game.
That's questionable, there's only so much a person is willing to spend on a game. And the way Hero-U looks now is waaay different from what they proposed in the original kickstarter, it could very well generate more interest with the somewhat less hardcore crowd.considering the 1st campaign backers are the primary demographic
Brian Fargo @BrianFargo 2m2 minutes ago
I just backed Hero-U Fantasy Adventure on @Kickstarter http://kck.st/1cLDypg Here's to giving Corey a chance to finish his game.
They aren't exactly the first, o defender against slippery slopes.But it sets a dangerous precedent - if you fail just kickstart again until you succeed.
Unity.I wonder what engine they're using because it does look good. The grid reminds me of how RAIN AI looks after you create a navigable mesh that lets the AI know where to go.
Unity.
Wait, there is already a name for the sequel, and pre-order option for it?!
Creating the Catacombs
A Section of the Catacombs
The Catacombs is a huge underground complex where for centuries the dead of Sardonia have been entombed. Once a final resting place for heroes, now the Catacombs is filled with the restless Undead. Only the bravest of explorers or the most foolhardy of tomb raiders dare enter this realm of death.
In the modern world, the Catacombs of Paris are underground warehouses for the storage of bones. In medieval times as cities expanded, old cemeteries were dug up and the bones were stacked in abandoned limestone mining tunnels. These are estimated to hold the remains of six million people. The catacombs of Hero-U are a cross between an ossuary and an underground graveyard. There are tombs, sarcophagi, and crypts throughout the Sardonian Catacombs.
Bring out Your Dead
While Hero-U is an adventure rich with character interactions and story, it is also a turn-based combat role-playing game. The Catacombs provide an eerie setting for exploration and unravelling of mysteries as well as an opportunity to test Shawn’s wits, skills, and equipment against the creatures that defy death.
Slaying the dead is risky business.
But the Catacombs isn’t just a place of doom and gloom. Amidst the blood-craving revenants and the hateful wraiths, there are the ghosts of the heroes.
Memento Mori
School Spirits
In our original Kickstarter, we offered School Spirits and tombstones as reward add-ons. This means they will have epitaphs on tombs and perhaps a free-roaming vapor haunting the Catacombs and the school.
Twenty-six people wanted to be ghosts in the game. Another 28 wanted to have tombstones. This meant we needed to have an extensive Catacomb to contain them all.
The Catacombs consists of twelve different areas to explore, including one major Boss Monster, a Monster Lair, and the Thieves’ Guild Fence. There’s a lot of exploration and excitement buried here.
School Spirits
In our original Kickstarter, we offered School Spirits and tombstones as reward add-ons. This means they will have epitaphs on tombs and perhaps a free-roaming vapor haunting the Catacombs and the school.
Twenty-six people wanted to be ghosts in the game. Another 28 wanted to have tombstones. This meant we needed to have an extensive Catacomb to contain them all. Thus, the Catacombs consists of twelve different areas to explore, including one major Boss Monster, a Monster Lair, and the Thieves’ Guild Fence.
We’re currently creating the Catacombs, transforming the lush concept art into a 3D environment. Ghosts, ghouls, epitaphs, and Undead have to be carefully arranged to create this moody and dangerous region of the game.
There are secrets as well as dangers hidden in the shadows of the Catacombs. Will Shawn be able to explore and uncover the treasures of lore and wealth without sharing the fate of the catacombs residents? Only you can determine Shawn’s fate when you play Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption.
User In-Yer-Face
Cidney and JP have been working hard on improving the look and feel of Hero-U. We’ve evolved a long way from the early demos, and want the user interface to match the theme of the game.
The Hero-U Main Menu
Hero-U is all about conversation and your relationships with the NPCs in the world, so we updated the interface to emphasize that aspect of the game. Character portraits are larger and show more expression rather than being confined to a small box. Conversation menus have a less boxy and more storybook-style look.
Screenshot of the conversation UI from April 2015. We used a boxier layout and rectangular portraits with a heavy font.
Conversation UI, as of September 2015. Lighter, more fantasy-appropriate typeface, portraits larger and taken out of the box.
New Conversation UI, September 2015
The improvements might seem subtle, but they set the tone of the game. Conversations should feel real, and the environment should be as rich and interactive as we can make it. Shawn needs places to buy school and adventuring supplies, and to sell things he finds in the dungeons – or acquires from their hapless former owners.
Two Current UI Examples - School Store and Mr. Terk's Office
In most modern games, you click on something and a fixed action occurs. Hero-U is much more complex, as we try to give the player choices as often as possible. Also, in the Quest for Glory tradition, the passage of time is critical.
For example, students might discuss adapting to school life in the first few days, but later on they have much more important – at least to them – topics. As a result, each character has hundreds of dialogue lines, varying according to the player’s actions and outside events.
The goal is to make you feel that you are Sha