Zdravím,
Which means "Greetings" in Slovak language, and Slovakia is where my new project is taking place, well almost. We need to get back to 9th century, time when Vikings raided coasts of North and Baltic seas, Byzantine empire was nearing its biggest glory and Great Moravia was established.
My [Untitled] game is taking place exactly there, in Great Moravia, where political and religious turmoil, accompanied by constant threat of Huns from the south is on daily basis. Although these socio-political issues give shape to the game world, these are not what the game is about. Peasants, soldiers, artisans, live their everyday lives, oblivious to the "big picture" in history. And that's what this game will be about. Exploration, people, small world around our main character.
Exploration
At its core, this game will be about exploration. Although the world won't be big, it will be full of interesting places to visit, people to talk to, mysteries to unravel. This fictional land in between Danubian lowlands and Carpathian mountains will offer wast thick forests and fertile fields surrounded by mighty rivers, all for you to explore.
Combat
This part of the world, however beautiful, is not the most safe. Old Magyars constantly raiding from the south, pagans still upholding their old gods, fighting Christians, bandits waiting for their next ambush on unsuspecting traders and occasional bears who find their way here.
That's why combat comes hand in hand with exploration in my game. The goal is to create complex enough combat to keep it challenging and fun, while not being too hard and daunting. At your disposal will be an array of weapons from that time period, from swords and axes to spears.
People
On your travels through the world, you will meet a lot of people. Perhaps a traveller from the north, telling tales about giants. Maybe a girl who needs help finding her lost father. Or a monk, who came to share his knowledge but fell in love. You choose who you decide to help, who you let help you and who becomes your enemy.
Every person has its own place in this world. There will be no sheep without shepherd, no tavern without a drunken man.
Gameplay
The game will be played from the first person perspective, making it easier to immerse into the world. As I've already said before, the main focus of the game is to explore, to make friends and foes. This will be very individual, no map markers will be there to guide you, only landmarks you can actually find in the world. Same goes to any quests. There will be a main story line, but it will not be mandatory although some locations will be available only in some quests.
Visuals
As a single developer, I know that making game look good is as important as making it fun to play, maybe even more so in some cases. My goal is to make the game look as good as possible. I have chosen the low poly, flat style, simply because it gives enough detail to not break the immersion while being easy enough to produce. The whole scene on screenshots took about 2 days to make, while not complete, it gives an idea of the final looks.
Farming carrots
That's it for an introduction! I will be adding more devlogs in the future, to take a closer look at each part of the game and the progress of the development.
Please let me know what you think about this concept, all comments and ideas are welcome. Also please understand that this is an early pitch for the game, everything is subject to change, including screenshots, mechanics and even core ideas.
Thank you for reading!