Basilisk Games have given an update via their forums about the next game they are working on (science fiction rpg) and its current state of development.

The State of the Basilisk, Summer 2017

Just a quick update to let everyone know what were doing (this is so much easier than answering individual emails and messages).

We are currently working on our Next RPG. Maybe you haven't heard, but we're making a sci-fi RPG and it's coming along splendidly.

As of this week, we are "engine complete"! That means things like combat, stats and skills, item management, environment interaction- all that is done. The first 20 minutes are playable! There is still much to do in terms of game content, but overall we kicked a lot of ass over the summer coding marathon. It's exciting to finally see this new RPG up and running!

This sci-fi RPG is really unique in several aspects, in that nothing quite like it has been done before as far as I know (certainly I'll be told otherwise when it's released). But more than that- this idea really predates Eschalon. The original ruleset that birthed Eschalon was a pen-and-paper sci-fi game that I worked on in the late 90s, so some form of this sci-fi RPG has been brewing for many years and it's finally starting to look like something now!

And nope- I'm not ready to announce anything, not ready to show anything, and not even ready to tell you the name. When the time is right I'll announce the game with a full spectrum of screenshots, gameplay video, game description and features, release date, etc.

Update on Zodiac and the Marauders of Sol
I get a lot of messages on this game, and I want to make it clear about what it is, and where we are at with it.

So Zodiac began as a learning project about 2 years ago. After taking a break from the release of Book III, I started learning Unity- following tutorials and such- you know the drill. Out of that experimenting and learning phase, I developed a space shooter / adventure hybrid type of game, never intending to release it. I just kept adding to it as I continued to better understand project structure in Unity. Meanwhile, I was also laying out the framework out for the new RPG engine.

But after a couple of my regular testers tried Zodiac and gave me very positive feedback, I decided to put all my efforts into it for 6 months to finish it, as a way of providing much needed financial support during the period of time between RPGs. I felt like the extra time spent building Zodiac would aid me in making a stronger RPG engine, as well (and it did!).

So I produced a logo, spoke to some people about helping with graphics and music, and switched over full time into Zodiac development. The problem was that I dove head-first into development without a project plan. Anyone who knows project management could see this was not going to end well.

I've mentioned in a few other posts what happened: after 6 months the project was feeling like Frankenstein's monster. Without a proper scope, development went off the rails and I was left with a bunch of incomplete/broken modules, and a game that needs at least a year of full-time development to salvage.

So is Zodiac dead? Well, no... but it's showing no signs of life at the moment. The project has been packed up and moved off my development workstation while I focus on the next RPG. I'll likely eliminate references to it on the main website to avoid ongoing queries about it. I'll review the project again after the new RPG is released.

SO WHAT IS NEXT? Well, I will finish out 2017 transforming years of design notes into content for the new RPG. With the engine finished, it's all about content now. Don't expect too much out of me anytime soon- I probably won't have much to say about it for a few months, but rest assured that I will be here in the lair working hard on the new RPG.

I'll be happy to answer any questions here that I missed above.

Basilisk Games has an updated website, and news from Thomas Riegsecker celebrating that he has been in business for ten years now as an indie developer.

So here is my next interview this week, this time with Thomas Riegsecker that was requested by Gilliatt on my suggestion thread in the forums. So enjoy everyone.

Couchpotato:  Congratulations on releasing Eschalon: Book 3 last year. How has the game been received, and did the launch errors affect sales?

Thomas Riegsecker:  Thank you. Book III has done as well as the other two games, although yes, the botched launch negatively affected the first week of sales, which is arguably the most important. To counter that bad launch, we ran some early promotions on Steam and GoG which was good for unit sales, but of course the amount earned per game has be notably less. It has sort of all balanced out now.

Couchpotato:  Last year there was talk about a new expansion for Eschalon: Book 3. It that still a possibility, or has it been scrapped?

Thomas Riegsecker:  Anything is a possibility down the road. Eschalon has been good to us, and we'd love to give fans some of the updates and additional content that has been discussed over the years. The plan right now is to continue developing our next game, and after that we will absolutely consider giving the trilogy a fresh update and add new content. We'll let the Eschalon fans decide if an updated trilogy with new content is something they'd want us to spend our resources on.

Basilisk Games posted a thank you to all their supporters for a great year in 2014.

Dearest Fan/Customer/Friend:

The staff at Basilisk Games want to thank you for a wonderful 2014. The final Eschalon game was launched last February and marked the end of a long road for us. Thank you for being part of it!

As for 2015 and beyond, all we can say right now is that a number of projects are brewing here in the studio. We’ll be working on a few smaller titles outside the Basilisk Games label while we continue to develop our next RPG franchise. There is also a growing number of requests from fans to see the Eschalon series rebuilt with a HD widescreen engine, additional content and extended storyline. Anything is possible; the future is bright with unlimited possibilities, much like it was when we started Book I development back in 2005!

Thanks again for your support. We will see all of you next year!

Thank you Black Rune for sending in the link.

The entire Eschalon: Trilogy from Basilisk Games is 50% Off on Steam for $9.99. You can also purchase each episode separately for half off also until June 30th.

Basilisk Games has a new post on the company's forum with news on the studios future, and why the developer has gone silent. Don't worry though it's not all bad news.

I'm quiet because this is a transitional period for Basilisk. I am trying to secure future promotional agreements for Book III (bundles and spotlight promotions), and I am switching the studio machines over to new software- Unity3D is replacing BlitzMax, Blender is replacing 3DSMax. There is much to learn, and the next game will require a new design process since I will be working with additional people.

Not to mention that I will likely need to secure additional funds for the next game since Book III is probably going to fall a bit short of our first year estimate by about 20%. This is, coincidentally, how much Book III's sales were down our first week compared to Book II). I dislike Kickstarter, so I am looking into private financing.

And yes, to a lesser extent, I am pretty burned out on Eschalon. I regret promising three games from the start. I should have switched over to a new engine after Book II and made a different game, and only now be starting on Book III with a fresh engine. I am sorry to all you hardcore fans that I did not do this- it would have been a great way to end the trilogy.

So...I will likely be quiet for a while, but I do come by the pub every couple days and read through the more active comments. I still do a lot of email support and correspondence, so that is another way to quickly get in touch with me if you need something.

From the Basilisk site:

2013 Mega Sale!

We received quite a few emails from people upset that we missed Steam’s annual Holiday Sale. Sorry about that- we just didn’t get the information to them in time. To make up for it, we are having a 4-day sale here on our own website!

Eschalon: Book I  for  $2.95

Eschalon: Book II  for  $4.95

Basilisk Games holiday sale has begun. You can get Eschalon Book 1 or 2 for 50% off. Unfortunatly the DVDs for Eschalon Book 2 are currently sold out, but you can still get the download version for $12.50. Book one is priced at $9.95.

Another minor item - it doesn't seem long ago that Basilisk was writing they were scaling back for Summer - but now they're back to it in full swing:

It’s funny- when you post something like “we’re relaxing a bit this summer” people assume that you mean you’ve left the building and shut off the lights. Not so at all! We’ve been here, just working more in a “part-time” fashion. Now that Summer is showing herself to the door, we’re back in the studio moving full speed ahead. We’re putting together the information needed to announce the next game, and working with Steam on a fix for the Lion + Steam + Eschalon bug that has popped up a few weeks ago. More info soon!

Basilisk has kicked up an update on what they have been doing - enjoying summer, is the answer:

Lots of people have been emailing us to find out what’s going on. Well, it’s summer! Honestly, to avoid complete burnout we pretty much halt development over the summer months so we can get in family vacations and synthesize some vitamin D via contact with the sun.

With the end of summer slowly approaching, we’ll be back in “full development mode” soon enough. That means the official Book III announcement (and some early screenshots) shouldn’t be too far off.  Until then, get outside and enjoy these hot, lazy days!

Basilisk's Thomas Riegsecker has been interviewed at Gaming Irresponsibly about developing indie RPGs and their approach. Here's a snip on Book III:

There hasn’t been any news regarding Book III lately. Without any spoilers, what are some of the concepts that you think will go into its development?

With Book III, we are looking at what made the first two games successful and build upon those elements. While that seems like an obvious response, the truth is that it’s often difficult for developers to acknowledge this and give current fans “more of what they want” instead of pushing the gameplay in a new direction,  looking to acquire a larger audience.

I’ve always said that Eschalon is not intended to be a ground-breaking reinvention of the role-playing genre. On the contrary, we want to make a solid, memorable, and thoroughly enjoyable game built on the established fundamentals of what made those classic RPGs so fun.

Book III will feature more of everything our fans love- hundreds of additional items, more quests, more puzzles, and more story. We will further balance character stats and skills using feedback gathered from Book II. Players can expect a multitude of hidden areas and secrets that will take months to uncover. Book III is the final game in the trilogy and we want this to be a fulfilling ending for everyone who has gone on this journey with us.

And finally, we will be releasing some of our development tools as well, so that players can work on their own maps and share them with the community. This, more than anything, is what I am looking forward to: playing maps made by other people!

Basilisk has posted an update on their projects - Eschalon: Book III is a given, of course, but apparently they have a sci-fi design kicking around:

Book III remains officially unannounced, but we are certainly hard at work on it. For the final game in the trilogy, the size of the team has grown and we are giddy with excitement to show you what we are working on! However, don’t expect to hear much more or see any screenshots until we make an formal announcement later this summer. As for a release date, it’s definitely not going to be this year, so let’s just go with “when it’s done.”

There are always other projects simmering here at the studio, and we hope to make an announcement regarding our first post-Eschalon project soon. Many of you have heard rumors that we have been working on a Sci-Fi based RPG for quite some time, and that is true, though we are not prepared just yet to say that is what’s coming next. Just keep an eye on our forums, Twitter feed or Facebook page because those are the places we tend to “slip” information about what projects we playing around with day-to-day.

Basilisk Games had some temporary problems with their official site earlier today and let us know the details in this thread posted by the Wrangler in Chief. Apparently, it appears to be a configuration problem rather than hacking.

The site is back up now barring some intermittent problems as per Thomas's udate in the thread linked above.

The Basilisk site site has news they'll replace their forums with shiny new ones next Monday...given they've previously said they might "officially" unveil Eschalon: Book II around May, we're hoping this is a sign they're getting ready.