Indie Dead Monarchy: Open-World | Turn-Based | Mercenary Management | RPG - Fully Released May 19th 2023

[Bantichai]

Today I did more work on the player base, did some more editing on the building models. The starting condition of the base will roughly look like this, I'd say about 65% of what you see will stay this way. The stone paths are ripped out and only the basic foundations for the buildings are in place. The player's base isn't exactly a "castle", rather it is more like an experiment in town design that was never completed, when I start discussing story and world details it'll make more sense. I wanted the base to more or less be flat and structured with clear paths. It is designed more like a Roman city, neat and orderly as opposed to say a medieval town filled with winding muddy paths. There will be lots of things to upgrade in the base that will of course affect the gameplay but the base itself will also gradually look "grander" over time. Roads will be paved, buildings will go from wood to stone, grass will replace the mud. For now though, you start out in a shithole.

Also here's what it looked like at the start, when I first started out

 

[Bantichai]

Just a quick update, as I'm quite excited about this. I've been working on map generation and reworking some of the terrain to work with the new system. So firstly elevation tiles now use actual "elevation tile models" as opposed to being created with Unity's terrain system. So the result is the elevation levels should be clearer to see, especially on lower resolutions that halves texture quality. There was also a boost to performance with the switch to elevation tiles, as it is essentially just a cube. With elevation tiles being separated from the base terrain, I could begin work on an algorithm for random map generation or at least partial random generation.

So things like blocked tiles and elevation tiles can be randomly generated and the trees and shrubs that spawn with the tiles can also be randomly generated. I've also decided to look into something that I suppose you could call a "plot and parcel" system. This is where I would design set pieces of say elevation, rocks and trees, crumbling ruins and then define an area of the map that could spawn that set piece or other random elements.

Aside from that, I've been continuing my work on the base management and I've updated the interface look and changed the font too something more consistent, will show that later but for now here's a picture of the updated terrain

 

[Bantichai]

Hey guys,

Here are some initial pictures of the tundra/snow environment. It shows the initial implementation of map generation features. So as mentioned, maps are now partially randomly generated. In this case, I haven't gotten around to implementing randomization for the main ruins in the center, but in the future there will be different layouts that will spawn and each "biome" will have its own unique architecture for the ruins.

In these maps, the cells around the ruin centerpiece are marked for random generation however each section of the map has its own set of rules. IE since elevation must be spawned like a staircase, what I've done is marked out certain parts of the map that must follow this rule and then the bordering cells have no restrictions. So basically this results in some consistent "pieces" in each section of the map with variation in between so I don't have terrain that is broken. These are several permutations of a single map and I plan to make several maps per biome, so the major terrain pieces will also change. I'm hoping that the end result feels like you are playing on unpredictable terrain but at the same time, it isn't completely broken.

No close ups and no fancy lighting in this either, I just wanted to show off the differences

EDIT: I think it's time to show off a new armor set too. Inspired from Ottoman/Turkish armor.

 

[Bantichai]

Here is a tundra level that has been randomly generated. I am also slowly implementing the "monsters" now. They'll get a proper reveal later on, but on the right are some "ratmen" still haven't decided on what to properly call them yet. There was one thing I wanted to get across quite early on and that is humans are more or less inferior to everything else, we are at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. As such, I'm thinking about introducing gunpowder to the non-human enemies. I don't want to lean too much towards it and start delving into the "late medieval period", I'd rather just sprinkle it here and there and portray gunpowder in its primitive stages. It'll basically be something completely alien to the player, akin to "magic".

EDIT: In terms of the player's "technology" level, it ranges from antiquity to medieval, minus gunpowder. In other words, you are still firing arrows and bolts at creatures that you can't comprehend.

Here's some more pictures, still playing around with the lighting and shadows.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Rattkin and Umpani should never breed.

 

[vazha]

Aw aw aw, can you implement two-rank shooting for the musceteers? would be awesome!

 

[Bantichai]

Aw aw aw, can you implement two-rank shooting for the musceteers? would be awesome!

Currently that is how ranged LOS works, so yep the rat gunners behind in the second line would be able to fire so long as they are no further than 1 tile away from an allied unit. If the backline rat gunners moved further away say 3 tiles away and tried to fire at an enemy unit directly behind another allied unit then LOS would be blocked.

I suppose it'll just come down to nailing the particle effects, animations and sound effects to really drive that feeling home. I probably wouldn't go as far as to make the frontline kneel down, but yeah the backline can definitely fire over. Glad you seem excited

 

[Bantichai]

There's going to be more updates from now on. They'll be smaller updates, but I'll be posting every week now. Every Wednesday, I'll showcase a new armor set and every Saturday, I'll showcase a new enemy. Also, I'm going to try for a new devblog every month. Some of the armor sets you might have seen already but in most cases they've been slightly edited to fit the new armor system. I'll be showcasing all the armor sets in the "cloth armor" tier for a couple of weeks. There will be extensive customization options in Dead Monarchy but I won't spoil it all, I don't plan on showcasing any of the legendary armor sets.

A quick review of how the armor system works. You have two armor slots, helmet and armor (body). Each armor piece protects against attacks that are aimed towards the head or body. Helmets can be permanently lost if completely broken, armor will just be unable to be equipped again. There will be around 10 tiers of armor, but within each tier of armor there will be several variants. Some variants will just be retextured, but others are completely different models. I think this strikes a nice balance between improving your gear but also giving you options of creating unique characters.

Cloth Armor Set 1-4:

 

[vazha]

These are some thicc calfs on dem peasants tho. Are there no horses in the world of Dead Monarchy?

 

[Bantichai]

These are some thicc calfs on dem peasants tho. Are there no horses in the world of Dead Monarchy?

I have to admit, you just caught out on a pet peeve of mine. I told the modeller I'm working with to beef up dem bois. Currently no horses, but it's a wish-list thing similar to how elevation was a wishlist but I decided to take the dive and get it implemented. If you ever see stick legs or someone called the "filly fiddler" - Overhype Studios, then you'll know I've decided to put horses in. In all seriousness though, I do want to look into it but if I did it would be much later. Currently it would causes complications or extra work with ironically the elevation features. IE should being on a horse convey extra bonus elevation and then things like syncing attacking animations, since there is quite some distance between a horse and an enemy character, all I can picture right now is attacking the air. There's a whole list of other questions that I'd need to address to make "horses feel right", but yeah it's on the wishlist never say ̶n̶e̶i̶g̶h̶ nay.

 

[Mastermind]

If you're gonna make a medieval setting game that isn't entirely indoors, horses are not optional. Get to work.

 

[Bantichai]

If you're gonna make a medieval setting game that isn't entirely indoors, horses are not optional. Get to work.

The filly fiddler chased them all off for now.

 

[Bantichai]

Also, devblog 4 is now out. Briefly covers the player base and the process of map generation. Will be diving deeper into the player base later on

https://www.indiedb.com/games/dead-monarchy/news/dead-monarchy-devblog-4-forest-biome-player-base

 

[Bantichai]

Here's the first monster reveal. I'll be going into more details in each faction reveal, when all monsters are covered for each specific faction. For now though, here's a few screenshots of the "Rodent Gunner", something that never got the spotlight a couple weeks back.

Monster Name: Rodent Gunner
Special Ability: Heavy Shot, a ranged knockback ability.

The majority of knockback abilities are all done within melee distance, so 1 tile away. The gunner likes to keep enemies at a distance but it can also be used aggressively to disrupt formations, knocking your units back, away from allies and exposing their flanks.

 

[vazha]

I'm lovin' it (c) Pls put in more Renaissance stuff!

 

[Bantichai]

I'm lovin' it (c) Pls put in more Renaissance stuff!

Thanks for the kind words vazha and yep, there's a few more renaissance esque enemy types to reveal!

 

[funkadelik]

I'm lovin' it (c) Pls put in more Renaissance stuff!

Thanks for the kind words vazha and yep, there's a few more renaissance esque enemy types to reveal!

Good luck, friend!

 

[Bantichai]

Just dropping in with a few more models that have been finalized. There are a few more models in this tier, then I'll be moving onto finishing the next tier of armor which is "Padded Armor". Cloth Armor 5-7:

 

[rusty_shackleford]

shoes look odd tbh. material looks like leather, but it's creasing like cloth.

immersion ruined

 

[Bantichai]

shoes look odd tbh. material looks like leather, but it's creasing like cloth.

immersion ruined

Thanks for the feedback. I can easily turn down the normal map on the shoe textures. In amazed you pointed that out.

 

[vazha]

Any idea yet what's the setting / world will be like?

 

[Bantichai]

Any idea yet what's the setting / world will be like?

The world of Dead Monarchy is verging more towards "post-apocalyptic", in that you enter during a time where any sense of an established world with laws is non-existent. If I could think of one game that is similar in terms of the world, I'd say Thea: The Awakening. There are no roads, established trade routes and humans are in the minority and live in small isolated pockets, while strange creatures and monsters roam the world. AOD was another great game with a non-modern post-apocalyptic setting, but to me the world still felt like it had some order and interaction between various human communities. I'm trying to take it back even further, cut it all off where your community believes that you are all that is left of humanity. You'll have to fight tooth and nail with creatures clearly superior to you in order to survive.

First I'll develop the core game, so the base management and combat systems. At that point, you'll have a base and you'll embark on missions that take you to 5 different biomes to gather resources to upgrade your base. Upgrading your base is essential as the base will come under siege from enemies that grow stronger over time, so it's an arms race you need to engage in, whilst managing things like gold and food and dealing with the random events that could occur in your base.

Once that portion of the game is done, I'll start moving towards implementing the world map, which takes the linear nature of mission selection and puts it into the world. So rather than selecting from a menu what mission you want to take, you'll have to travel to the location and directly interact with it. At that point, the game will also open up as I start implementing more human communities and start to create random and world events. Then the last thing I'm hoping to do is to strip the base away from the player and make them earn it, so you start nomadic and have to work towards a permanent base of operations.

 

[vazha]

So its Rimworld meets Battle Brothers meets Heroes? I'm salivatin', hand me a 'kerchief somebody!

 

[Bantichai]

So its Rimworld meets Battle Brothers meets Heroes? I'm salivatin', hand me a 'kerchief somebody!

In terms of the world itself, Rimworld is actually another pretty good example, as the world is pretty much "untamed" or overrun with nature. I wanted to move away from the standard fantasy settings and into something a little more alien but still retaining some sort of familiarity. Will gradually be showing off more of the world as time goes on

 

[Bantichai]

Here's another monster reveal for the Rodent Clans.

Monster Name: Rodent Stalker
Special Ability: Quick Step, an ability that allows the user to disengage from melee combat without triggering an AOO (Attack of Opportunity).

By default whenever a combatant disengages from melee distance, that combatant will be subjected to an AOO. AOO attacks will bypass helmet/armor rating but only deal half damage, that said it is still extremely dangerous. With the Quick Step ability, the stalker will be able to quickly flank and move around enemies without being subjected to an AOO attack. Flanking an enemy from behind also grants several bonuses which include increase hit and critical chance and also a flat damage bonus of +5 which will bypass armor. In short, the rodent stalker is a highly mobile flanking unit.