So we've been rather busy as you may have guessed from the radio silence the last week or so... Here's what we've been up to!
First of all, our KickStarter is going amazingly. Still a few days left but after asking for $6,000, we've gotten over $21,500 in pledges and it's still climbing! Wow! Because of the high rate of pledges we've got some stretch goals in mind. Namely the first expansion pack, which will include some cool stuff...
Like new weapon classes!
New underground cities!
New characters to play as!
New dimensions to travel to!
So that's... You know... Exciting... And we have the budget now!
Also, we've got a few new pledge levels for if you would like to STAR IN THE GAME!!! But there are limited slots available:
$150 will net you a heap of digital goodies plus your face (redrawn by our art team) used in a painting that can be found in the game.
$250 will get you all of the digital goodies plus your face (redrawn by our art team) used as one of the shopkeepers in the game (so it'll be seen quite regularly by everyone playing it)
and $350 will get you all of the digital goodies plus your face (once again, redrawn by our art team) used as a playable hero character in the game!
So if that tickles your fancy, head on over to the KickStarter page and pledge! You only have a few days left!
In other news, we've brought on a couple of new writers. In addition to our existing team of Jordan Glew, Saxon Bell and Thomas Martin, we've brought on board Uriah Groves and Ryan A Span. Ryan may be familiar to some of you as the author of the scifi series 'STREET' and also has writing credits on titles such as Mount and Blade, so we're super stoked to have such a great writing team.
As we've mentioned in the past, we really want to have a lot of written stories in the game, and currently we're on track for having over two hundred books in the game (possibly even more) for you to find!
To whet your appetite a little, here's an excerpt from one of the stories by Ryan A Span for the game:
Acolyte Corvin, Blade Scribe
36 Custodis, 921 Anno Gladii
I am alone. Clergyman Sount has cast me out of the tower. My old notebooks have been taken and burnt. Everything I own now fits into the small knapsack I carry on my shoulder. I used to think Sount was made of liver spots and hot air, but now . . .
Maybe I deserve to be cast out. I defied my elders in researching the Lost Guardian. Maybe it was for the best. There is only so much I could have learned in the tower, and my exile has only made me more determined to discover the truth. What is it about the Lost Guardian that the world is not supposed to know?
I've decided to head for the old library in Iroka. It has a number of ancient books and scrolls that might contain references to her. Her! Even her name is a mystery!
All anyone knows is that there was a time between the death of great Bae-Aern in 378 AG, and the incarnation of Frea in 384 AG, in which another Guardian must have lived. My research in the tower archives leads me to believe that this Guardian was female, and that although her life was brief and tragic, she fought several great battles with far-reaching consequences. That is all. We have hundreds, perhaps thousands of fables and legends about these others, but any record of the Lost Guardian appears to have been deliberately expunged. Removed from the world, even from Clergy archives. Someone has gone to great lengths to keep her life a secret.
I am being followed. Two figures in strangely-coloured cloaks have been shadowing me for the past two days. Whether they simply intend to rob me, or if it has something to do with my research, I must take precautions. I am making several copies of this journal and hiding them wherever I can. That way, if the worst should come to pass, at least something will remain. I live in hope that someday, someone will find them and make sure we are not forgotten.
Not her, and not I.
Your humble servant,
Corvin
Postscrpt. I am recreating this poem (incomplete, 'Barth's Almanac of Fables' (578AG), mildly burnt) from memories of my destroyed notes. I beg your pardon for the poverty of my transcript.
Her hair is like midnight
And in her ___ shines fire
In battle she dances
___ inspire
So that's all for now. Be sure to keep checking back on the KickStarter over the next few days! Just click the image below!
Also don't forget to check us out on all of the social networks!
Reads: Like new weapon classes!
Me: Oh nice.
Reads: New underground cities!
Me: Oh **** yeah awesome.
Reads: New characters to play as!
Me: Okay, guess that's nice too.
Reads: New dimensions to travel to!
Me: Mmmh that's cool.
So yeah my opinions on the expansion pack.
haha you're most excited about the underground cities? The hell dimensions are AWESOME! :D
Alternate dimensions may be awesome, but as they say on the Internet - and as you yourselves have proven ;) - pics and text or it stinks.
For the new characters, will they, in effect, be skins, or will they actually be noticeably different from the characters in the base game?
Also, with all the new stuff you'll be adding, how do you plan on preventing the game from becoming a "quicksand box" (a very large, open-world game which thrusts the player into the game world with little to no guidance) for new players who buy and install both the game and its expansion at the same time?
Otherwise, congrats on the marvelous change of fortune!
The point to Malevolence isn't to make a game people play forever. The point is more to make a game that people can play for as long or as little as they'd like. So unambitious players that just want a quick dungeon romp can do that, but at the same time, players that want a long-lasting and rich RPG experience can do that as well. Remember that at its heart, Malevolence is a roguelike - only played from a first person perspective!
After seeing what you guys have developed already... I know the alternate dimensions and underground cities will be amazing!
I have no doubt in your abilities to create plenty of eye-candy and vast areas to explore.... Keep em coming
Thanks booman! There will indeed be more to come, but as this new content is from the upcoming expansion pack, we've gotta get the main game out of the way first :P
so... AXES !!!! good
new classes... good
good stuff for money.. good
alternate dimension.... hum......"""" YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sign me on, when do we start?
We'll be starting work on the expansion as soon as the main game is finished :)
oh; by the way, About kickstarter.... I won't be able to help :( KICKSTARTER DOESN'T TAKE PAYPAL!!!!.... so , is there any other way that I can use to donate you the 20 bucks needed for the game ?
Sure can! Head to the official site (www.msoa-game.com) and go to the FAQ section. Send us a message on here telling us what you pledged and we'll put you down for the correct reward :)
However, we'll still be taking pre-orders on Desura about 3 months away from release if you'd prefer to wait for that!
peerrffeecct :3
To Ryan, I really enjoyed that short journal entry. Very intriguing, and one could assume that as the player learns of this guardian and the secrecy, he can start to follow up on it and such? :)
At any rate, sure whet my appetite!
Keep up the amazing work team!
Dbn404: My bad for not noticing your question earlier! I only just signed up to IndieDB, and haven't quite figured it all out yet.
This particular story arc is sort of a warm-up to the coming expansion. There are going to be a few of those (not all about the Lost Guardian, but related to her story in one way or another) in order to make people want to follow the plot in the expansion. As far as I know (and I may be wrong) the traditional over-arching quest chain will be part of said expansion, and if you're lucky Alex may contract me to write it!
If he behaves himself! :-P
Nah, I feel super lucky to have a writer of Ryan's caliber on board!