"Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen" Now on Kickstarter

[mat22]

Seems great what they confirmed so far and i really like:

- turn based combat (they confirmed on their forum that there is already a speed up button implemented if it feels too slow and they also implemented an interesting minion-grouping system where all smaller enemies with the same initiative result moves the same time - to avoid issues like infitive hours of wolf attacks in fallout) and hexagon based combat maps

 

- they use 3.5 (becasue of open licence) but forming it in their own way to avoid some balance issues, add more unique mechanizms. i think that system is all right and not really exploited yet in turn based format. For magic, devs said inredients will need to be used which is freshing up the whole OP magic thing a little bit

 

- The devs showed the game at GC in August and core mechanizms seemed to be already in place that time (there is even a promising gameplay review about it) . The reason is that is partly that they already had assets from earlier projects so now they can be focusing on the writing/gameplay elements in more detail now with KS.

 

- they are thinking in deep system-customization and thats a good thing. In the Campaign description they expressed that they will share the EXACT same Editor which they are currently using to make the game (already during BETA). On the forum the devs empahsised that IF they see they dont have time/resources to include some cool idea the community already express their need for (like the hero's own castle/house/tavern, extra races, classes, weapons, deep crafting and even whole adventures) they at least want to implement a way to do it, so modders can easily add that/extend on it. they confirmed they have a pretty strong engine for that.

 

- they are "copying" Planescape Torments' type of dialogue system which i heard from other devs that its one of the (if not only) best ever

- about the main story they said they dont want a rushy main quest. im okay with that, a little bit tired of rushing/super epic-seem main quests... it should be interesting sure (which is not equal with super epic) but should not rush you from the beginning.

 

- like that you can interact with every item visible (even with spells like Telekinesis!), which is a good base for puzzles and adds to the immersion
 

- you can create the party from scretch from the start if you want (also you can start with only one hero and recruit others later). I wonder if there would be banters and scripted companion interactions we will see.

 

- adventuring on the map seems amazing and dynamic. To me, it has a little Heroes vibe. Love the shipping part as well and that there will be no "random encounters" but moving monsters/travellers/traders with travel schedules/habits. also camping seems interesting with a system decribed as similar to the one in pathfinder KM(but with some unique additions for example sleeping in armor would make the character not rested at all and similar) Also they are aiming to make it responsive to players choices: "If the player destroys a monster lair, or drives bandits out of a fortress, no more wandering enemy groups will spawn from these places. Some quests might even change the function a location has on the world map: an impoverished noble has tasked you to drive out the band of outlaws that has occupied his castle, and if you succeed at his quest, the area around the castle will be patrolled by troops loyal to this nobleman and merchants will now travel to the castle and sell their goods there."

 

- cough " Teleport spells will be there; in dungeons/level/combats as well as on the worldmap (Greater Teleport)."

 

- i agree with their point of view about loot system: "As for hand-placed content, yes, in locations like towns and dungeons everything is hand-placed: encounters, loot, puzzles etc. You won't find generic random loot of a +1 sword, a couple of gold coins and a wooden bowl in a chest at the end of the dungeon, like it often happens in games with randomized loot. Instead, you'll find a unique weapon with interesting magic effects and a history. We find hand-placed encounters and loot to be much more satisfying than randomized ones."

 

- i like the "use your brain a little and connect the dots" style of journal system they shared in the journal update.

 

- day/night schedule and NPC schedules. "Our NPCs aren’t just static quest dispensers, either. They have their own lives, setting off to work in the morning, having a beer at the tavern in the evening, and locking their doors to sleep safely at night. And not every NPC does the same things every day – most workers will stay at home during the night, and a tavern enthusiast may drink at a different venue every night. The alchemist goes out to gather new ingredients once a week."

 

- skill-check approach (they avoid RNG here to enhance tactical character planning): " The skill checks in our game are deterministic, otherwise people would just reload the game and try again. A char at the 2nd rank in "Sense Motive" always succeeds when talking to regular people but will always fail when talking with someone that has a higher rank in it (or succeeds in his opposing, deterministic skill check). We always have one leading character (who initiates the dialogue) and the dialogue partner mostly reacts only to him/her... but the NPC can react to party members as well which could result into different outcomes. So, sometimes it's better to approach the NPC without your party (just leave them 5 meter away), e.g. talking to the dwarven blacksmith with your dwarf but leave the elfish party member out of sight :)"

- necromancy approach, they confirmed some crucial questions already: "In our game, necromancy turns regular dead creatures to the undead/zombie versions of those. For example, a dead bear returns as dire bear with changed visual appearance, stats and portrait."

 

- they are thinking of a DM mode to implement after release already if the game is sucessful (like Larian did). That would be cool!

 

I just think they are indeed ticking the right boxes. They said there will be more detailed updates incoming so im looking forward to the rest of their KS campaign

[Dark_Ansem]

Are you still crying?

I am, and shaking too, the laughter at your abysmal incoherence and stupidity cannot be controlled. I need a beta blocker!

[Dark_Ansem]

Seems great what they confirmed so far and i really like:

 

- turn based combat (they confirmed on their forum that there is already a speed up button implemented if it feels too slow and they also implemented an interesting minion-grouping system where all smaller enemies with the same initiative result moves the same time - to avoid issues like infitive hours of wolf attacks in fallout) and hexagon based combat maps

 

- they use 3.5 (becasue of open licence) but forming it in their own way to avoid some balance issues, add more unique mechanizms. i think that system is all right and not really exploited yet in turn based format. For magic, devs said inredients will need to be used which is freshing up the whole OP magic thing a little bit

 

- The devs showed the game at GC in August and core mechanizms seemed to be already in place that time (there is even a promising gameplay review about it) . The reason is that is partly that they already had assets from earlier projects so now they can be focusing on the writing/gameplay elements in more detail now with KS.

 

- they are thinking in deep system-customization and thats a good thing. In the Campaign description they expressed that they will share the EXACT same Editor which they are currently using to make the game (already during BETA). On the forum the devs empahsised that IF they see they dont have time/resources to include some cool idea the community already express their need for (like the hero's own castle/house/tavern, extra races, classes, weapons, deep crafting and even whole adventures) they at least want to implement a way to do it, so modders can easily add that/extend on it. they confirmed they have a pretty strong engine for that.

 

- they are "copying" Planescape Torments' type of dialogue system which i heard from other devs that its one of the (if not only) best ever

 

- about the main story they said they dont want a rushy main quest. im okay with that, a little bit tired of rushing/super epic-seem main quests... it should be interesting sure (which is not equal with super epic) but should not rush you from the beginning.

 

- like that you can interact with every item visible (even with spells like Telekinesis!), which is a good base for puzzles and adds to the immersion

 

- you can create the party from scretch from the start if you want (also you can start with only one hero and recruit others later). I wonder if there would be banters and scripted companion interactions we will see.

 

- adventuring on the map seems amazing and dynamic. To me, it has a little Heroes vibe. Love the shipping part as well and that there will be no "random encounters" but moving monsters/travellers/traders with travel schedules/habits. also camping seems interesting with a system decribed as similar to the one in pathfinder KM(but with some unique additions for example sleeping in armor would make the character not rested at all and similar) Also they are aiming to make it responsive to players choices: "If the player destroys a monster lair, or drives bandits out of a fortress, no more wandering enemy groups will spawn from these places. Some quests might even change the function a location has on the world map: an impoverished noble has tasked you to drive out the band of outlaws that has occupied his castle, and if you succeed at his quest, the area around the castle will be patrolled by troops loyal to this nobleman and merchants will now travel to the castle and sell their goods there."

 

- cough " Teleport spells will be there; in dungeons/level/combats as well as on the worldmap (Greater Teleport)."

 

- i agree with their point of view about loot system: "As for hand-placed content, yes, in locations like towns and dungeons everything is hand-placed: encounters, loot, puzzles etc. You won't find generic random loot of a +1 sword, a couple of gold coins and a wooden bowl in a chest at the end of the dungeon, like it often happens in games with randomized loot. Instead, you'll find a unique weapon with interesting magic effects and a history. We find hand-placed encounters and loot to be much more satisfying than randomized ones."

 

- i like the "use your brain a little and connect the dots" style of journal system they shared in the journal update.

 

- day/night schedule and NPC schedules. "Our NPCs aren’t just static quest dispensers, either. They have their own lives, setting off to work in the morning, having a beer at the tavern in the evening, and locking their doors to sleep safely at night. And not every NPC does the same things every day – most workers will stay at home during the night, and a tavern enthusiast may drink at a different venue every night. The alchemist goes out to gather new ingredients once a week."

 

- skill-check approach (they avoid RNG here to enhance tactical character planning): " The skill checks in our game are deterministic, otherwise people would just reload the game and try again. A char at the 2nd rank in "Sense Motive" always succeeds when talking to regular people but will always fail when talking with someone that has a higher rank in it (or succeeds in his opposing, deterministic skill check). We always have one leading character (who initiates the dialogue) and the dialogue partner mostly reacts only to him/her... but the NPC can react to party members as well which could result into different outcomes. So, sometimes it's better to approach the NPC without your party (just leave them 5 meter away), e.g. talking to the dwarven blacksmith with your dwarf but leave the elfish party member out of sight :)"

 

- necromancy approach, they confirmed some crucial questions already: "In our game, necromancy turns regular dead creatures to the undead/zombie versions of those. For example, a dead bear returns as dire bear with changed visual appearance, stats and portrait."

 

- they are thinking of a DM mode to implement after release already if the game is sucessful (like Larian did). That would be cool!

 

I just think they are indeed ticking the right boxes. They said there will be more detailed updates incoming so im looking forward to the rest of their KS campaign

Why thank you, this is a brilliant summary.

[Epaminondas]

yeah, I much prefer turn based combat *and* real positioning. Granted, a lot easier to flank/back stab in Kingmaker, but I like the rules. 3.5 is my favorite even still. The do like streamlining the skills, though. With a good DM, all those skills could be put to good use, but even PnP it's tough, let alone in a CRPG.

[Volourn]

Love their necromancy idea.

 

 

So new + = necromancy style

 

So new - = wizards are now basically sorcerors

[Epaminondas]

Wait... What? Wizards are niw sorcerers? Hmm, I thought this was a 3.x game?

[Dark_Ansem]

Wait... What? Wizards are niw sorcerers? Hmm, I thought this was a 3.x game?

 

There are only spontaneous casters AFAIK.

[Volourn]

Which is the big difference between how wizards and sorcerors work. Not an absolute gamebreaker but rather poor decision. All this goal to make a legit 3E game only to completely change a fundamental part of a particular class. IIRC They have all their casters as spontaneous.

 

That said, teleport. That is enough of a siren call....

[Epaminondas]

Yeah, that's a real bummer. Makes me wonder what else they'll change. On the other hand, I've learned to temper both my expectations and my ire pre-release. Hell, with everything being released early all the time, I've learned not to care. If It's really important that it not be buggy, I just wait until the 'official' release day.

 

Anyhow, my favorite class will always be a fast talking wizard, but I'm willing to overlook one or two twists if it gets the bulk of 3.5 right.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Did you like Deadfire, Battle Brothers, Age of Decadence?

 

Well, here's a stretch goal for you!

 

Two weeks into the campaign, almost 2/3 funding achieved and that’s a good occasion to reveal our next stretch-goal!


When reaching 115,000 EUR in funding, Casey Hollingshead and Scott Hamm, lead writer and contributing writer of the turn-based tactical RPG masterpiece Battle Brothers by our fellow indie dev friends at Overhype Studios, will join our writing team!

 

 

 If you like challenging turn-based combat within a strategical open world map, you should definitely take a look at Battle Brothers! (official webpage, Steam)

Besides their work on Battle Brothers, Casey also contributed to the widely praised RPG Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Steam) while Scott is known as a writer for the indie RPG gem Age of Decadence (official webpage).

Edited October 29, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[Melusina]

I think they'll fail, unfortunately.

[IndiraLightfoot]

I think they'll fail, unfortunately.

I beg to differ. They look right on track.

[Dark_Ansem]

 

I think they'll fail, unfortunately.

I beg to differ. They look right on track.

I hope you're right, but they need more exposure. Can you please help? How do you think I'd get more people to talk about this?

Edited October 29, 2018 by Dark_Ansem

[IndiraLightfoot]

From what I've seen, you've been doing a lot of good already!

 

I mean, reaching out to various active and reasonably game-related forums is a given.

But for it to take off, Ceres Games needs to have a few youtuber game critics/personalities try out their alpha combat, for instance, and this pretty much stat. I recall how Larian worked like around the clock, with the help of the community, just badgering the right peeps, from Angry Joe and TotalBiscuit to lesser known influencers. Still, back then, Kickstarter was reasonably hot and fresh, and right now, it feels like Kickstarter's been hibernating for quite some time, so it's not so easy to wow KS-weary gamers anymore.

It just takes the right people to spread the word. As soon as Larian did, we clearly saw the effect it had on the Realms Beyond KS, yeah? So, perhaps contacting a few game devs of the right kind would do the trick?

[Messier-31]

I think they'll fail, unfortunately.

 

Still trending toward 130%

 

https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/ceresgames/realms-beyond-ashes-of-the-fallen/

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by Messier-31

[daveyd]

Well, the middle of Kickstarters is almost always very slow.  Things will likely pick up in the final week and last 2 days especially since the 48 hour reminder emails go out. 

 

Hopefully there will be more shoutouts.  Josh Sawyer / Obsidian, Brian Fargo, and Sven Vickne has all tweeted about it in support so perhaps there will also be a shoutout in the next update of their own crowdfunded games. 

Edited October 30, 2018 by daveyd

[Epaminondas]

I keep looking at this thread. You guys are wearing me down. I might actually throw a few shekels at this kickstarter.

[daveyd]

I keep looking at this thread. You guys are wearing me down. I might actually throw a few shekels at this kickstarter.

 

While I really hope they're able to make a great campaign with an interesting enough story and well designed quests I think what excites me the most about RB is that they're releasing the toolset / editor with the game.  We can hope that this means players will create a lot of modules for it, similar to what was done with the Neverwinter Nights games.  I don't even like the combat in NWN, but I've probably sunk more hours into NWN 1 & 2 than any other CRPG because of some great user generated content....   

 

As long as Realms Beyond has decent combat and the toolset is relatively user friendly this could potentially become my favorite RPG (even the OC itself ends up being medicore). 

[Dark_Ansem]

From what I've seen, you've been doing a lot of good already!

 

I mean, reaching out to various active and reasonably game-related forums is a given.

But for it to take off, Ceres Games needs to have a few youtuber game critics/personalities try out their alpha combat, for instance, and this pretty much stat. I recall how Larian worked like around the clock, with the help of the community, just badgering the right peeps, from Angry Joe and TotalBiscuit to lesser known influencers. Still, back then, Kickstarter was reasonably hot and fresh, and right now, it feels like Kickstarter's been hibernating for quite some time, so it's not so easy to wow KS-weary gamers anymore.

It just takes the right people to spread the word. As soon as Larian did, we clearly saw the effect it had on the Realms Beyond KS, yeah? So, perhaps contacting a few game devs of the right kind would do the trick?

I wish I'd do more, but I am well aware of how unimportant I am.

[rjshae]

Unfortunately this style of game is a bit of a niche market. Still, it should succeed given the expected last minute surge.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Info tidbit from Ceres Games, to whom it may concern…

 

"Teleportation is already in (as well as Greater Teleport for world map).

Invisibility is still under consideration."

[Dark_Ansem]

They also said they want to support the game for some time.

[bringingyouthefuture]

I donated!!! 

[Dark_Ansem]

I donated!!!

Thank you kind sir

[daveyd]

Well they're now at 84% with 8 days left so I think reaching they will in all likelihood reach the goal and probably a few stretch goals as well.  Disappointing how the gaming news media has completely ignored this game but I'm not surprised.

Edited November 7, 2018 by daveyd