Indie Archaelund: RPG that combines 1st-person exploration with 3rd-person TB combat - now available on Early Access

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

DavidBVal WHAT THE FUCK DUDE.

Spoiler

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WHADDAYA MEAN CAN'T BE HUMAN? HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS?

Faber est quisque fortunae suae.
Or not.

I don't want a career as goddamn architect goddammit.

Maybe you earn your dirty loincloth and club after trying to calculate structural shear or maximum brutalist oppression, or whatever it is that architects do?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

DavidBVal WHAT THE FUCK DUDE.

Spoiler

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WHADDAYA MEAN CAN'T BE HUMAN? HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS?

Faber est quisque fortunae suae.
Or not.

I don't want a career as goddamn architect goddammit.

Maybe you earn your dirty loincloth and club after trying to calculate structural shear or maximum brutalist oppression, or whatever it is that architects do?

Best architects can do is invade Russia in winter.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[agris]

looks really cool, i'm tempted to buy now to support david.

quick notes from the video:

• minotaur's default pose is weird, looks like he isn't making contact with the ground
• players expect to be able to equip items directly from the "party inventory" and not have to put them in their individual inventory first
• any screen with a "take all" option should have the button next to the "ok" button, the OK button should be re-labelled "exit", take all should be mapped to a hotkey, and once you take all the screen should close (mix of QoL and to help new players not exit the loot screen without looting, like that degenerate streamer above did repeatedly)
• it isn't clear if ranged (bow) attacks are using LoS or not
• character AP should show current/total rather than just current
• actions on the hotbar should have the AP and MP cost directly on the icon, green text for AP and blue for MP?
• the "You gained a skin flute!" messages shouldn't print in the middle of the screen, leave them off to the side or better yet let us disable them
• the combat log needs tabs to filter different types of messages

 

[Whisper]

A lot of fun with this one.

 

[Riddler]

So where are the Gnomes?

There aren't any. In this setting at least things are a bit more refreshing and different (no Gnomes and Dwarves, or fucking Elves). Sorry.

Then who am I supposed to fuck?

Minotaurs?

Tbf the horny level of this game is thankfully low. I encountered a greenskin chick with sideboob on display who seemed down (she was playing a little hard to get), and there was a female dockhand who, I'm speculating, would be a handful in the sack. Mostly it's examining uncanny NPC faces and trying to figure out if they're supposed to be hot. But there are no actual sexcapades, no romancing, no cringey softcore cutscenes, and no sleazy bearfucks and NO GAY SHIT.

Clearly he needs to bring in Tyranicon to consult

 

[Riddler]

Hmmm... first page says early access but that was all the way back in 2019 it so it must be out... oh wait it's actually still in early access. These accesses are waaaaay too early nowadays. Guess I'll see you guys in 2039 when the game comes out if we're even still using computers then, because at that point we could be plugging our brains directly into the cyber realm.

Wasn't the OP just updated to reflect the EA release?

 

[Tyranicon]

Just got this. Not very far at all. Is there a way to position your party before combat (not formation, like the actual squares they start at)?

Also, I find it weird that you can't equip things straight from the inventory, it seems you have to put it in a characters pack first and then equip it?

Liking everything else though. Even the traditional mutual miss-fest that is the first combat encounter.

 

[Johnny Biggums]

That's a lot of views. Happy to see some buzz building but I hope the dev is ready for a boatload of negativity about time til full release. If sales are strong enough, hiring help to expedite is an idea.

 

[Alienman]

Just got this. Not very far at all. Is there a way to position your party before combat (not formation, like the actual squares they start at)?

Also, I find it weird that you can equip things straight from the inventory, it seems you have to put it in a characters pack first and then equip it?

Liking everything else though. Even the traditional mutual miss-fest that is the first combat encounter.

The group icon to the left when pressing tab (I think it is), but you can only place order of characters as far as I know, not formation.

 

[Tyranicon]

Just got this. Not very far at all. Is there a way to position your party before combat (not formation, like the actual squares they start at)?

Also, I find it weird that you can equip things straight from the inventory, it seems you have to put it in a characters pack first and then equip it?

Liking everything else though. Even the traditional mutual miss-fest that is the first combat encounter.

The group icon to the left when pressing tab (I think it is), but you can only place order of characters as far as I know, not formation.

Oh yeah, I meant like choosing what squares they start on the battlemap.

Also two thoughts:

1. Low-level fish have more health than my so-called "adventurers" lol.

2. The first encounters are a little too much of a miss-fest. I'd rather they be deadlier than wait 10-minutes at a time watching things miss.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

DavidBVal WHAT THE FUCK DUDE.

Spoiler

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WHADDAYA MEAN CAN'T BE HUMAN? HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS?

Varannari

Tall and athletic natives from the primeval forests of Varannar are easily recognizable by their green skin and strong, long limbs. Varannari are brave, likeable and loyal, but prideful and temperamental.

In Archaelund:
some Varannari were brought to Archaelund by the Mercians as slaves, but escaped into the forests to form nomadic clans and live once more according to their ancient ways. Most of them, however, are part of human society and have come as colonists or adventurers.
Trait bonuses: +1 Strength, +1 Endurance
Trait penalties: -1 Intellect, -1 Self-Control
Special abilities: Varannari gain a +15 bonus to the Survival and Athletic skills.

Enjoy your green skin.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

DavidBVal WHAT THE FUCK DUDE.

Spoiler

View attachment 45410


WHADDAYA MEAN CAN'T BE HUMAN? HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS?

Varannari

Tall and athletic natives from the primeval forests of Varannar are easily recognizable by their green skin and strong, long limbs. Varannari are brave, likeable and loyal, but prideful and temperamental.

In Archaelund:
some Varannari were brought to Archaelund by the Mercians as slaves, but escaped into the forests to form nomadic clans and live once more according to their ancient ways. Most of them, however, are part of human society and have come as colonists or adventurers.
Trait bonuses: +1 Strength, +1 Endurance
Trait penalties: -1 Intellect, -1 Self-Control
Special abilities: Varannari gain a +15 bonus to the Survival and Athletic skills.

Enjoy your green skin.

Humie or bust.

 

[ProphetSword]

It's been a really long time since I felt like someone built the kind of game I really love. But, holy crap, I think this could be it. It's like if someone took games like Might & Magic and Wizardry and then mashed it together with a Gold-Box combat engine.

I didn't want to quit the session I was in, I wanted to play all night, but my party got brutally murdered in a combat. Totally worth it.

 

[mediocrepoet]

It has minotaur PCs? Fuck yeah!

 

[Tyranicon]

The real question ERYFKRAD should be asking DavidBVal is what is this?!

Straight up the first equipment you get for a fighter is this setup you can find on the beach. And the pose!

Very

Dude should be packing more in those briefs though, I mean come on there's nothing there.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The real question @ERYFKRAD should be asking @DavidBVal is what is this?!

Dude I ragequit at chargen.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The real question ERYFKRAD should be asking DavidBVal is what is this?!

View attachment 45425

Straight up the first equipment you get for a fighter is this setup you can find on the beach. And the pose!

Very

Dude should be packing more in those briefs though, I mean come on there's nothing there.

That's ma'am!

 

[Lhynn]

DavidBVal WHAT THE FUCK DUDE.

Spoiler

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WHADDAYA MEAN CAN'T BE HUMAN? HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS?

Reviews are out, its a:

Fix this shit/10

 

[Sloul]

Played about 12 hours, had to stop because a spell got reworked, and it completely screwed my party (well really, it was a core spell for me, so once it was poof, the whole party felt naked).
That's to tell it's early in its early access phase and should be played as a sort of alpha-test demo.
And that's a good thing because it put me on stop, and otherwise I would have devoured every inch of this EA and possibly killing the fun of discovering the full game at its release.

That's certainly a heavy hitter and the kind of game that I put way above all the nonsense that gets released these days. Archolos is the last thing I played that sucked me like that.
I don't have the same taste than most codexers when it comes to writing but here I would say that it's serviceable. And exploring/adventuring and interacting with the world is actually where the game is at.
I didn't find anything in the game that took me off guard, no specific mechanic that I found particularly impressive, nothing that made me wow; but I found something that I could play on and on and where time becomes abstract.

My favorite parts were:
- its party creation (while I still hope for some improvement), because there are a ton of options and you're faced with some tough choices.
- exporing its world in first-person view while combat are top down and per-turn, i don't know if it sounds gimmicky for some, but it's one of the best feature of the game.
- and just the whole pack of adventuring: exploring a world, skillchecks at every turns, finding hidden objects or rooms, evading from tough opponents, paying attention to rations...

 

[Modron]

exporing its world in first-person view while combat are top down and per-turn, i don't know if it sounds gimmicky for some, but it's one of the best feature of the game.

Shouldn't sound gimmicky to anyone who played an RoA game.

 

[Nortar]

exporing its world in first-person view while combat are top down and per-turn, i don't know if it sounds gimmicky for some, but it's one of the best feature of the game.

Shouldn't sound gimmicky to anyone who played an RoA game.

Or Betrayal at Krondor.

 

[Sloul]

Btw, is the narrator, the same as in King Arthur 2: the rp wargamme?
https://youtu.be/2vVT3jhRCew?si=F3s9E1M_HpN7GORy&t=220
https://youtu.be/1m5ABu2ELOE?si=eEMvak3AZl7Ksmha&t=209

 

[Johnny Biggums]

My favorite parts were:
- its party creation (while I still hope for some improvement), because there are a ton of options and you're faced with some tough choices.
- exporing its world in first-person view while combat are top down and per-turn, i don't know if it sounds gimmicky for some, but it's one of the best feature of the game.

Yeah so far the game feels more like a refreshing and solid oldschool experience than a big innovator. That said, rehabbing the 1st+3rd person combo, which to my knowledge has not been tried in years, is if not an innovation at least a bold move. And when the level cap is raised I predict the class, leveling and progression system will receive some kudos for originality. I base that off my experience in Exiled Kingdoms. It's hard to articulate (and doesn't help that I haven't played EK in years) but this dev knows how to make a system that's coherent, flexible, and deceptively deep.

Another facet that isn't very available yet, but I predict will end up unusually rich, is the faction system.

 

[0sacred]

Bought it.

I was very hyped to play but a lot of stuff isn't in yet. Will wait a while.

first thing you might want to fix is tooltips actually showing up somewhere in the middle of the screen, rather than at the very bottom so the text is cut off.