Wizard Worm checked out the Early Access title Archaelund:

Archaelund - The Hidden Gem of Fantasy RPGs! (Party-Based RPG)

A Week of Adventure: Archaelund's Journey So Far

It's been a week since the first of you set foot in Archaelund, time to share some news

Hail, Adventurers!

It's been a week since the first of you set foot in Archaelund, and what an incredible journey it's been so far! I'm thrilled to share the best news with you all.

Firstly, the response from you, our players, has been nothing short of phenomenal. Reading so many positive reviews means the world to me, after five long years of developing a classic RPG with so many unique angles. Always wondering if, outside my head, it still sounded like a good idea. The question was always there, hanging. "Yeah but... will it be fun?" and finally I got my answer!

Having said this, please know that I won't fall into complacency. No one sees more flaws and shortcomings than myself, and in case I miss something, I have your invaluable feedback. You have already made the game so much better in just seven days!

Sales have been good, and I hope they'll hold; I certainly want to give the game a more unique look in some aspects, and make it as beautiful as possible. But what's even more astounding is the surge in wishlists – they've doubled in just one week, reaching over 40,000! This surge in interest is very reassuring about the future of the game once it comes out of Early Access.

But I am using too many words, when just one suffices: thanks.

Looking forward, I'm more motivated than ever. Archaelund is going to get much bigger, it is going to get much better, and it's going to be for you to enjoy, forever.

You can check what's ahead in our Roadmap, or see the insane progress of game updates in the Changelog.

Take care, and watch out for those spike traps!

David.

Thanks Couchpotato!

For Rock Paper Shotgun Archaelund is a mix Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy Tactics:

New RPG Archaelund is Elder Scrolls with its foot stuck in Final Fantasy Tactics

Out now in early access

A tower viewed from a distance in Archaelund from 4 Dimension Games against a lovely blue sky

I have a sneaking affection for slightly jarring genre hybrids - games like the relatively recent Disintegration and the much older Battlezone 2, which smush action mechanics together with real-time strategy, or the rather more elegant Puzzle Quest, in which you roll around a parchment landscape fighting wizards using the power of match-3. New open world RPG Archaelund, which launched in early access this week, and was brought to my attention by RPS supporter cpt_freakout, has something of that curious enchantment to it.

You'll explore its landscape in first-person, roving sandy plateaus and frontier towns that remind me of Morrowind, at times. Bump into a foe, however, and your first-person perspective undergoes a fission reaction, splitting into a full group of warriors who are controlled in top down.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Mortismal Gaming checked out Archaelund:

Check Out: Archaelund

Learn more about Archaelund - the party based RPG will be released into Early Access on January 8:

Getting ready: Party creation, playable races

In these few days before Early Access release I'll share some key game elements. Let's begin with party creation. Before the adventure begins you need to do two things: create a party and choose a difficulty.

Creating an adventuring party

A standard party is formed by 4 adventurers. You are allowed to make a smaller party, but be warned... you'll get beaten. Badly. Later on, up to two companions can join your party. It doesn't matter if you have a smaller base party; you can never have more than 2 companions joining you.

The proccess of creating a character is straightforward. I don't like the games where you are forced to make a lot of uninformed decisions at the beginning, but of course this is still an RPG with a lot of depth, and some choices must be made. The good news is most of the choices will come later on, as you level up. And in character creation you can know how everything works by just hovering over stats.

If you're in a hurry to get into the game you might just create a random party with one click, which will automatically create a reasonably balanced party of four with at least one decent fighter, one decent healer and one spellcaster (other roles may vary). By "reasonably balanced" I mean exactly that: it can face the dangers ahead, but as you learn the ropes of the game you might probably do much better.

A good thing about random parties is they can be edited. You can go through the characters one by one and adjust some details, or completely redesign the characters.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Internal Alpha Testing video for Archaelund from 4D Games.

A few random gameplay clips from the Internal Testing. We cut it short and didn't include relevant locations, dialogues or journal peeks to avoid spoiling too much, so this is really not capturing some of the most important aspects of the game. Still you can see the magic system in action, a complete battle against Mirmeks and some exploration from the early areas.

Development Update #6 for Archaelund announces changes to the ruleset for magic and a few more months before Early Access.

Development Update #6
Internal testing and updated ruleset

Greetings everyone! No pretty pictures on this update I am afraid, since we have already revealed too many environments and we want all the rest to be a surprise.

Archaelund internal testing revealed that some core mechanics that sounded like great ideas on paper, turned out to be more hassle than fun.

For instance, I implemented Stamina and Fatigue as a limiting resource for the adventuring party capabilities, and in particular magic. I wanted magic to "take a toll" on spellcasters, making them more frail and exhausted when they cast spells instead of using other well-known systems such as spell slots, "mana", etc. My idea was that spellcasters fell sicker and more vulnerable the more they cast.

But testing revealed that this idea, which can be interesting from a narrative or "realistic" point of view, did not work well in a combat-oriented roleplaying game such as Archaelund, where you explore huge dungeons and large wild regions, while involved in many fights. "Stamina" and "Fatigue" mechanics were quickly becoming a burden, instead of providing interesting choices.

Furthermore, too many game mechanics were tied to Stamina (special abilities, magic or even regular attacks), which also caused character progression and itemization to feel wrong, since increasing Endurance trait (from which Stamina derived) quickly became the "right choice" for most builds, be it warriors or mages. All of this required deep changes in the ruleset. After much consideration I found a way to preserve my original intent (magic takes its toll on the caster) but in a way that no longer disrupts playability. Instead of Stamina, magic and some special abilities will now spend "Willpower". Willpower is derived from mental Traits, and is helpful to resist fear, insanity, and mind control. It can also be spent as a boost during battles. This means a depleted willpower can be, situationally, very bad; but it is not as limiting as Stamina was, nor it is linked with physical endurance and doesn't result in beefed-up wizard apprentices. Fatigue still has a place in the game, as a special status, but it is not so central anymore.

Besides this, several other minor adjustments were needed, regarding things like avoidance and armor, or Trait distribution. Together with the removal of an "attack options" system that was extremely confusing and didn't provide the variety it was supposed to. After a redesign of the rules, all seems to have "clicked" in place; it will take a few weeks to have all the new mechanics working and then they will be internally tested again. Eventually testing will involve more people, when we are ready for Alpha and Beta phases. All of this will be announced in due time.

I know what you're thinking. This means more delays for the release. But wait, it gets worse!

Since Willpower was added I got a few great ideas about new additions to the game mechanics, which I am currently implementing. And more quest ideas for the early areas popped in and I am writing them now. What can I do? I just can't pass up on making the game better. Let's hope the world doesn't end before I run out of ideas.

As for release estimates, I just can't provide them at this point. We want to release the Early Access as soon as possible, but it's clear we still need at least a few months of development, plus some testing time. If testing reveals issues, we may decide to delay the release. I am ready to concede on certain things, like not including some areas in the first release if they're not ready yet; but essential game mechanics must feel right. The priority is to give you the best role-playing game we're able to produce, and we will give it all to get there as soon as we can.

I'll try to make another post on December to keep everyone updated. Thanks for all the support, wishlist additions, and encouraging messages! And a special thanks to all the Exiled Kingdoms players.

A new development update for Archaelund:

Development Update #5, and soundtrack premiered by Orchestra!

We're adding more and more content to the game. Also, Archaelund's OST played live by orchestra in Atlanta!

Bringing the world to life...

Since most of the game "systems" are already in place and working, my current development focus is content. Quests, characters, items, encounters, little secrets found here and there... in sum, what you call a game.

This is, no doubt, my favorite part of developing a role-playing game. It is the reason why I am making Archaelund: to tell stories. It is also the hardest part, especially in an open-world game in which things can be done in any order (or not at all!), and when quests are designed to have multiple outcomes, with consequences for the party's choices. I've been writing down many of these quests for years, and now it's the time to implement them into the game!

Development status, and Early Access goals

I'll give a breakdown of what we have, and what is enough to release the Early Access.

The world of Archaelund is divided in outdoor square "sectors", each of them large enough to include multiple locations such as villages, towns, ruins, bandit camps, or entrances to dungeons. Some will be more civilized and include human settlements, others will be wildlands, and typically there will be a number of dungeons accessible from them.

The first of such "sectors" is about 90% ready for the Early Access. It includes a town and many other special locations, lots of NPCs to talk to, a dozen quests and quite a few surprises. Currently it takes ten to twelve hours to create your party and go through that content, although it's hard to estimate the playing time given the open nature of the game.

There are currently another 3 accessible sectors which you can walk around, but the content in them is still only outlined.

We intend to release the EA with three sectors, and at least a dozen dungeons, although these goals may be revised. All these early sectors include towns or villages, which makes them pretty dense in terms of content. After Early Access release we plan to keep adding sectors to the game map, with a goal of 21 sectors when we reach version 1.0.

Archaelund: The Orchestral Suite performed by live orchestra!

This evening (19:30 EST) the Georgia Tech orchestra will perform a selection of themes from the Archaelund OST as the opening of the concert. If you happen to be in Atlanta, you can attend this free event at the Ferst Center in Georgia Tech university campus. Otherwise, you can follow it live on youtube! 

Laura Ballestrino has shared some of the work she is doing for the OST of Archaelund.

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I made this montage at my home studio to share with you a bit of my work on Archaelund's Original Soundtrack. I'm very excited about this project! Stay tuned for more videos and announcements...

A new trailer has been released for Archaelund. The Early Access date on the Steam page now lists 2022.

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Explore a vast open world and crawl through dungeons in first person, then fight tactical turn-based battles from a top-down perspective. Guide your adventuring party through Archaelund, mankind's last frontier, and uncover its many secrets.

Archaelund is still in development; an Early Access version will be out in fall 2022, allowing players to participate through their feedback.

Development Update #2 for Archaelund shares the latest progress and promises more regular updates.

Greetings! I am David, the programmer, writer and designer of Archaelund. In this update I want to share with you the progress of development as well as more details about the scope of Early Access.

My previous game was mostly a one-man project, but Archaelund has become a far more ambitious adventure; a team of renowned artists put all their talent and effort to make the game look and feel as unique and alluring as I envisioned it. With this new scope in mind, and after months of teamwork, we've set a realistic goal for the Early Access release: Summer 2021.

Please take into account that all the information and screenshots in this post refer to an unfinished product. Everything is subject to change and will probably look better in the released game.

Archaelund takes shape

More areas are being created steadily, and details added to existing ones. The concepts drawn by Ignacio Corva based on my Lore are then made into scenery by our lead Environment Artist, Alberto Trujillo. Below you can see some examples of the early game areas (click to enlarge).






Corva's drawings also cover the many denizens of Archaelund, which are later turned into 3D characters by our "Master of Creatures", Bob Metcalfe (SecretAnorak). Below you can see side-to-side concepts and development screenshots of the Goblin playable race and a small critter called Norrax.

[...]

The Lay of the Land

Archaelund is divided in square map sectors, each of them large enough to get lost in. Sectors include dungeons, secrets and encounters with a variety of peoples and creatures, especially those including a town or village (and in the Early Access release, most will).



Archaelund is a non-linear game, so locations are not set "in order"; they can be visited or explored at your convenience... if you can handle the challenges in them, of course. There will be a "logic" on what kind of encounters you face in each location, but the difficulty will not scale to your level and surprises may happen. Explore carefully!

The Early Access release will contain several map sectors including at least four towns, many dungeons, and dozens of different quests. These initial sectors are part of the Southern March, the most "civilized" region of Archaelund where your adventure will begin. Future planned updates will cover many more sectors, further to the North, East and South.

All Fun and Games

Archaelund is very focused in its gameplay mechanics, and in particular we've been working extensively on Character Development and Combat.

As you probably know already, Archaelund's most unique feature is the "dual perspective". First person exploration combines with top-down tactical battles where you'll often face hordes of enemies.



Combat is turn-based, yet fast paced. Your party will have a variety of possible actions to overcome your enemies... maybe exhaust their stamina and bid your time? distract them using a Talent, then have another character stab them? Weaken them with spells before charging in? Or, of course, just blast them out of existence with your magic, if you have that kind of power.

More about combat will be detailed in future posts, but in this one I want to outline for you the basics about party creation and advancement, and what is our plan for Early Access in this regard.

At the game start you'll create a merry band of four adventurers but up to two extra companions may join you permanently later on, so the typical party size will be six unless you choose to do with fewer. Companions are fully under your control just as any of your other characters, although they retain some autonomy during dialogues and other situations.

Archaelund has been officially announced and now has a Steam page and a gameplay video.

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Archaelund is a roleplaying game with deep classic roots but also exciting innovations to bring you the ultimate adventure.

• Exploration as you remember it: you can play Archaelund your own way. Take your party of adventurers through a vast open world and explore as you wish, find awesome secrets and run into unexpected trouble, get involved in conflicts or just pursue your own goals and discover what lies beyond the horizon.
• Unique dual perspective: just as the best classics did, you'll be able to explore the world of Archaelund in immersive first-person, wondering what lies behind each corner of the dungeon. When combat starts, the view seamlessly changes to top-down perspective, and you'll issue orders to your party, placing them over a battle grid to face your enemies in a deeply strategic turn-based combat.
• Deep and engaging character progression: a career-based system will have your characters start out as street ruffians, squires, hunters or even beggars; later on you can move into new career, including advanced ones like Knight, Loreseeker, Assassin or Battlemage. A character might leave behind its humble origins, but those days might bring in unique talents to your advantage!
• Deadly battles with a focus on strategy: a non-inflationist, bounded system will ensure that every battle matters, and every opponent is scary. When your characters advance in levels, you'll gain new tactical options to defeat your enemies, not just increased numbers.
• An expansive world, handcrafted in detail: Archaelund is big enough to lose yourself in; yet everywhere you go you'll meet people to talk to, unique quests to complete, mysteries to solve and, of course, battles to fight and treasures to loot.

Background: the Fall and the Exile

The Andorian Empire united the whole human race under the same proud banner for millenia, until a magical cataclysm brought the Horrors from another world. The Empire and most of the human race was annihilated in just a few days; only a few hundred ships could escape to the savage island of Varannar, a distant imperial colony beyond the western ocean. The refugees endured the hardships and tried to rebuild their old civilization, but never again stood united under the Imperial banner.

The newly founded Exiled Kingdoms bore the scars of the Fall, each of them in a different way. Varsilia, the mightiest and noblest of the Kingdoms, became grotesquely obsessed over Imperial history and preserving its traditions. Ilmarans turned into fanatical zealots of a new faith, while in Thuram, the remnants of the Imperial Wizards established a magocracy that disregards all matters except the arcane, and quickly declined into endogamy. On the west, the Kingdom of Mercia had emerged from the surviving Imperial Legions, establishing a nightmarish rule based on slavery and arbitrary discipline.

The four Kingdoms held irreconcilable views and ambitions, and locked together in a small and hostile land as they were, they often plotted against each other or even clashed openly in the battlefield. It seemed as if a perpetual cycle of war, famine and misery would become mankind's unavoidable fate.

Archaelund, mankind's new frontier

The future of the Kingdoms, however, brightened up generations later when a sea route to the old continent of Andoria was discovered, and it was proved that the Horrors were no more. Most of the old continent appeared to be an uninhabitable wasteland, but finally a vast and fertile coastal region was found: Archaelund.

For the first time in a long time humanity left aside the old grudges and obsessions and looked up to the future. Expeditions were arranged, and thousands of colonists, soldiers, adventurers and rogues embarked to Archaelund. The promises of land, riches and Imperial relics excited the imagination and ambition of thousands, from mere farmers to noble second-sons.

The re-colonization of Archaelund went on but the Exiles had to face many obstacles they had not foreseen. The Horrors may be no more, but they left behind a scarred world where eldritch energies and warped monsters roam the lands, and imperial ruins are often an unpredictable arcane hazard. Conflict between the Kingdoms is still very alive, and to make things worse, a subterranean race called the Geldryn (once slaves to the Andorian Empire) now aspires to inherit the surface world, and raise against the Exiles with increasing might.

Despite all the dangers, Archaelund is still a land of adventure and opportunity. Just like many others before, your party of adventurers has finally saved up enough money to embark and sail East. The Silver Star has crossed the Andor Sea for two weeks, when you catch the first glimpse of the ancient land of your ancestors, unimpressed by its mundane visage. Little you suspect that, very soon, you're going to get involved in a plot that traces back to the terror of the final days of the Empire, and now threatens to destroy the remnants of civilization...

Thanks Kordanor!

Party based tactical RPG Archaelund has been announced on Steam.

Archaelund! Screenshots and more information about my next game

Today is the first anniversary of the Steam release of Exiled Kingdoms, making it a great time to make an announcement about Archaelund. For those that don't know, since last October I've been working on this project.

Archaelund is set in the Exiled Kingdoms world, but is a very different and far more ambitious game. Party-based, with far more options and possibilities and featuring tactical combat, but with the same open world concept and design philosophy you loved in EK. An Early Access release is planned for Q1 2020.

DISCLAIMER: many of the 3D models in these screenshots are temporary placeholders that will be replaced with better ones before release.





Archaelund, at a glance

• Exploration as you remember it: take your party of adventurers through a vast open world. Explore as you wish, find awesome secrets and run into unexpected trouble, get involved in conflicts or just pursue your own goals and discover what lies beyond the horizon; the world is being handcrafted in great detail, just for you to discover. You can play Archaelund your own way.
• Tactical combat, but also immersive dungeon-crawling: just as the best classics did, you'll be able to explore the world of Archaelund in first-person perspective. But when combat starts, perspective seamlessly changes to top-down, and you'll issue orders to your party, placing them over a battle grid to face your enemies.
• Deadly battles with a focus on strategy: a non-inflationist, bounded system will ensure that every battle matters, and every opponent is scary. When your characters advance in levels, you'll gain new tactical options to defeat your enemies, not merely bloated and meaningless numeric stats.
• Career-based character progression: your party members will start out as thugs, ruffians, scavengers, hunters, beggars or fortune-tellers; initial Career will be chosen semi-randomly. Later on you can reach the more "heroic" Advanced Careers, leaving your ignoble origins behind... Archaelund features over 60 Careers divided in Basic, Advanced and Elite.

Story Introduction

Humanity has survived, and now has returned to its ancient Homeland: Archaelund.

Two centuries ago, a magical cataclysm brought the Horrors upon our world, and the Andorian Empire was annihilated in a matter of weeks. The few survivors fled to the savage island of Varannar, a distant Imperial Colony. For generations the Exiles endured the hardships of this new life, although they never again stood united under the old Imperial banner.

The Exiled Kingdoms were born, but the scars left by the Fall were still painfully visible in them, for the Kingdoms were mere grotesque parodies of what humanity had once been. Varsilia, the mightiest of the Kingdoms, became morbidly obsessed over Imperial history and preserving its traditions. Ilmarans turned into fanatical zealots of a new faith, while in Thuram, the remnants of the Imperial Wizards established a magocracy that disregards all matters except the arcane, and quickly declined into endogamy. On the west, the Kingdom of Mercia had emerged from the surviving Imperial Legions, establishing a nightmarish rule based on slavery and arbitrary discipline. The four Kingdoms held irreconcilable views and ambitions, and locked together in a small and hostile land as they were, they often plotted against each other or even clashed openly in the battlefield.

But the in-fighting ceased when, generations later, a route back to the old continent of Andoria was discovered, and it was proved that the Horrors were no more. For the first time in centuries humanity looked at the future with optimism, and many left aside the old grudges and obsessions. Expeditions were sent, and thousands of colonists, soldiers, adventurers and ruffians embarked to Archaelund. The promises of land, riches and Imperial relics excited the imagination and ambition of thousands, from mere farmers to noble second-sons.

They quickly found they were not the sole claimnants of Archaelund, and re-colonization has not been peaceful nor easy; the Horrors are gone but they left behind a scarred world, eldritch energies and warped monsters roam the lands, and a subterranean race called the Geldryn, once slaves to the Andorian Empire, now aspire to inherit the surface world. Because of all this, Archaelund is a land full of danger, adventure and opportunity.

Just like many others before, your party of adventurers has finally saved up enough money to embark and sail East. The Silver Star has crossed the Andor Sea for two weeks, when you catch the first glimpse of the ancient land of your ancestors, unimpressed by its mundane visage. Little you suspect that, very soon, you're going to get involved in a plot that traces back to the terror of the final days of the Empire, and now threatens with destroying the remnants of civilization...