The first take of the opening cutscene for Wellspring: Altar of Roots.

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After 3 years of development, we're ready to start making the actual game (kinda kidding, but kinda not) For #screenshotsaturday, here's a part of the very first cut-scene players will be greeted with, sans a few other opening shots.

Work on the opening cutscene is about a third of the way done, barring major revisions--while a lot of RPGs are exposition-heavy early on, we wanted to throw the player into combat and eventually character control as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, here's what we've got so far--still a work in progress, and very much open to critique or suggestions!

A large development update for Wellspring: Altar of Roots.

So I know it's been awhile since we've given an official update, but we're still alive, kickin' and developing Wellspring: Altar of Roots! In case you missed the last update, we're no longer Bevontule and have opted to go with a marginally more-decipherable name--we're still growing into it, but I think it'll work out!

Before we jump into what we've been up to, I know that we had mentioned re-launching our Kickstarter around September. Long story short, we're going to focus instead on continuing to develop the game, with a potential re-launch much further along the horizon.

We've already devoted a large portion of time developing the fundamental mechanics of the game, which should allow us to adopt a more measured and methodical approach towards future development. At the same time, having full-time jobs (yes, we're working for the man again) allows us to filter more money back into the project.

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Thanks Farflame!

Bevontule has had a name change to Wellspring: Altar of Roots. In addition the developers have updated their demo which you can find on the Steam page.

Wellspring Pre-Alpha Demo 1.3.2 is LIVE!

10 April - Multithreaded Games

Hi everyone! We've been working hard to update, optimize and fix some of the issues reported in our most recent pre-alpha demo and we have a new build available! We're looking for any and all feedback, so if you're feeling up to the challenge, dive right in: there's over three hours of content, loads of skills, items and equipment, and plenty of challenging encounters! You can download it from our store page here!

Since we've changed our name from Bevontule to Wellspring, if you want to keep your old save files and configuration settings, you'll need to do a few things, as the application data folder has a different name:

• Find the AppData folder for Bevontule--this is usually found at C:\Users\<your_user_name>\AppData\LocalLow\Multithreaded Games\
• Run "Wellspring_Demo.exe" and close it before choosing configuration options from the built-in Unity dialog.
• There should be a "Wellspring" directory in the same directory as the previously-mentioned Bevontule folder.
• Open the Bevontule folder and copy all of its contents into the Wellspring folder--make sure to overwrite anything if prompted.
• Run the game as normal!

Here's a full list of all the changes:

Improvements

• Removed references to "Bevontule"--new title is "Wellspring: Altar of Roots"!
• Improved cloth performance by up to 80%
• Increased Bodom's field movement speed by around 10%
• Reduced enemy AI calculation time up to 10x in some cases (most noticeable with the Drone enemy)
• General graphical optimizations
• Optimizations related to character/enemy movement on the field
• Updated some resource/item spawns
• Tweaked a few enemy battle formations so that they were closer to allies
• Rebalanced certain enemy attributes, skills and drop rates
• Reduced 'ghosting' (motion trails) on characters when moving
• Significantly reduced the chances that an enemy might move slightly out of its movement radius in combat
• Removed Kickstarter references and replaced with newsletter signup

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue where Voltaic Whelp could fail to land on the ground
• Fixed rare issue where Voltaic Whelp battle could lock up the game
• Fixed issue where highlighted collectibles could become 'frozen' when entering combat
• Fixed issue where scene fade-ins could trigger twice in a row or not trigger at all
• Fixed audio volume issues
• Fixed excessive sliding for skills that cause targets to be knocked back
• Fixed issue where minimap wouldn't appear after first cutscene if the pause menu was opened
• Fixed issue where minimap could sometimes be opened during cutscenes and battle
• Fixed issue where Klyph would require 20 more iron to see the 'black market' if the player exited the current scene and returned
• Fixed UI issue where right-clicking to cancel, when hovering over a character panel, would fail to work
• Fixed UI issue where EP/AP costs would sometimes disappear in the Skills menu
• Fixed issue where Blightculler could not be used to attack in certain circumstances
• Fixed issue where Bodom's passive skill Risk and Reward was applied to items as well
• Fixed issue where Moroch's passive skill Tourniquet applied to items as well
• Fixed issue where characters could sometimes be revived in battle to full HP instead of just 50
• Fixed issue where revived characters would not be placed on the ground until moving
• Fixed issue where area projection for line-based skills was displayed incorrectly
• Fixed issue where certain characters would orient themselves improperly when using skills

The Bevontule Kickstarter was not successful, but the devs have promised to come back:

Farewell... for now!

Hi everyone! Let me start off by saying how incredibly grateful we are to have had such a warm response to our Kickstarter--as two indie developers who don't necessarily have the 'star power' associated with other campaigns, we've been absolutely humbled and amazed by the positive response and feedback we've received. Even though we didn't make it, we still went 60% of the way! No small feat! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all very much--it's meant a lot to us.

While it definitely sucks to throw in the towel, and unless someone wants to make a $20k pledge (any takers??! :P), with only four hours left, this seems to be the end of the road--for now. But please know that we've fought every step of the way to make this Kickstarter a reality, and by extension, the idea of Bevontule, which is something we've both wanted to do for practically our entire lives. The unfortunate truth is that we simply underestimated what would be required to raise the necessary funds to take the game to completion.

Where there have been mistakes, there have also been amazing teaching moments and lessons learned. Even with all the preparation, second-guessing, analyzing and sleepless nights, you simply cannot know how it will pan out without taking the plunge. And having taken the plunge, we know way more about the process than we did starting out, which makes us all the better-equipped if we decide to re-launch.

There are still many paths forward for Bevontule--there's nothing stopping us from coming back to Kickstarter later in the year. We've received a lot of interest from publishers from this campaign--we've received a lot of public interest in general. We could always set up a Patreon page or similar. This particular campaign isn't seen by us as a failure, but simply another rung in the latter.

Rest assured, no matter what, that Bevontule will continue on. Simply put, we've invested far too much of our lives in this game to completely give up--sure, development might slow down somewhat, but regardless of what happens, we'll finish the game, one way or another. The interest is most certainly there, we just need to refine our presentation.

Once again, to all of our nearly 650 backers and supporters--thanks again for believing in our vision and trusting in us to execute on that vision! We'd love for you to continue following our progress as we very much value your feedback, input and suggestions! There are plenty of ways to stay up to date!

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The Bevontule Kickstarter is 30% funded - OnlySP made a video preview:

Content Tourism: Bevontule's Cocktail of Influence

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Bevontule is the debut game from the tiny indie team at Multithreaded Games. The project has lived in various forms for more than 20 years, and it's currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. OnlySP's Matthew Falconer took an extended look at the demo of the game.

Thanks Farflame!

The Kickstarter campaign for the tactical RPG Bevontule has started:

Bevontule: Altar of Roots

Bevontule is an eclectic fusion of Western, Japanese, and strategy RPGs, with stunning 3D visuals and challenging tactical combat.

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Bevontule is a tactical role-playing game that occurs primarily on the surface of the continent of Onich – a vast and isolated landmass surrounding a central ocean known as the Inner Sea. Discovered some 1,500 years ago by a number of refugees fleeing their own war-torn homeland, it quickly becomes clear that – despite its welcoming appearance – Onich harbors dark and deadly secrets that were presumably left alone for good reason.

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Thanks Farflame!

Rjshae spotted on ModDB that the Kickstarter for Bevontule will be launched on January 29:

Kickstarter Announcement!

News article describing Bevontule's upcoming Kickstarter launch.

Hi all! Today we wanted to formally announce that we will be launching a Kickstarter campaign on January 29th!

Bevontule has been in development for over two years, primarily by just two people and while we have made an incredible amount of progress and wouldn’t trade it for anything, it’s come at a price that we could have never anticipated.

But after five pre-alpha demos, several conferences, thousands of positive comments and ten thousand hours of development, we’re confident that we’re in a place where we can put ourselves out there—and with what we’ve accomplished, I firmly believe that not only will we raise the necessary capital, but we’ll absolutely shatter our fundraising goal!

With your help and support, come January 29th, we’ll be embarking on the largest, most difficult, and potentially most rewarding leg of our journey and we hope to see you all there!

And once again, a big thanks to friends, family, and fans for your continued support!

Bevontule continues to make progress with its visual and skill tree elements.

Welp

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Finished implementing the skills and visual effects for one of our many optional 'superbosses!' Pretty pleased with how this turned out, (especially the "Storm Surge" skill) but might make another quick pass to clean everything up! Would love to hear your feedback :)

Skill Tree Updates

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We've spent a lot of time fleshing out the 'front-end' for our skill system and I think we're starting to get somewhere! This is still a work-in-progress and we're open to any feedback or suggestions on how we can improve the user experience and presentation. (Sound effects are, by no means, final)

The open-world tactical RPG Bevontule has been greenlit:

We've been greenlit and couldn't be prouder! A BIG thanks to everyone who voted and supported us!

Congratulations!

You can vote for open-world tactical RPG Bevontule on Steam Greenlight now:

Bevontule

Bevontule is a modern take on the role-playing genre, inspired heavily by Japanese, open-world and tactical RPGs. While we draw from and are happy to list our many 'golden age'-era influences, Bevontule maintains a strong identity, presenting an array of unique gameplay elements that expand upon and innovate beyond many of the systems we ourselves loved as children.

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KEY FEATURES:

• Mature and highly-detailed plot spanning thousands of years, inspired by games like Xenogears and Shadow Hearts.
• Unique and challenging tactical, turn-based combat system where proper positioning and timing are critical.
• Beautiful 3D environments to discover, explore and conquer, including a massive, JRPG-style overworld.
• Free-roaming enemies with a wide variety of movement patterns, behaviors and habitats; avoid or engage at your own discretion!
• Unrelenting and highly-intelligent enemy AI that can be scaled to various difficulty levels.
• A large cast of interesting characters with defined roles, yet deeply customizable skillsets, with multiple builds for each combatant.
• Enemies learn and level up as you do, accessing new skills, tactics and other ‘enhancements.’
• Unlock, learn and equip from hundreds of combat skills, attribute bonuses, and world-based buffs.
• Scavenge, create and upgrade items with our original skill-based crafting system.
• Integrated bestiary system that rewards discovery, experimentation and exploitation of enemies for rewards.
• Loads of side-quests, optional bosses/areas, and minigames!

Game Jolt suggests that you check out the the demo for the upcoming turn based RPG Bevontule:

Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of different types of role-playing games, Bevontule is an upcoming computer RPG with a large emphasis on plot, lore and character development, as well as combat, customization and progression.

Featuring a deep, challenging and innovative turn-based tactical combat system, Bevontule's primary emphasis is on the many ways in which characters can master the nuances of their available skills and equipment setups to best dispatch the varied and highly intelligent enemies they will encounter.

At the same time, progression is driven by a very tightly-written and mythology-deep storyline that has been decades in the making and is codified in many short stories, maps, sketches and even its own wiki. Not only is the main storyline arc of the game solidified, but so too is the extensive history and setting in which the game occurs.

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Some gameplay by GoGamerGo:

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