KickStarter Monomyth - A first person action RPG/dungeon crawler - now available on Early Access

[RatTower]

For blocking out blender is probably fine. You can use "level buddy" for that, which is a great doom/quake style editor plugin.

The main problem there is generating the collision for the final level mesh.
You can either use convex shapes for simple collision, which you would have to create for your entire level or you use the mesh's complex collision, which tends to bug out and drop objects through the floor.
Naturally, you don't want that, so in the end, you will probably have to replace major portions of the geometry with modular assets.
It also depends on the environment I guess.

I can also recommend the book "Preproduction Blueprint" for the planning process.

 

[RatTower]

A short recap of the last few weeks and a couple of screenshots:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/908360/announcements/detail/3026956428735308093

Development Update: Full-time focus and the coming months

Hi all!

I am very happy to inform you that Monomyth is now under full-time development! As announced earlier this year I left my academic position in February. I did my final exam last week and now I can entirely focus on this project. I'm glad to report that development is already progressing at a much faster pace! So let's quickly recap what has been happening over the last couple of weeks:

• The main menu was improved and I finally added a full character creation system.
  
• I added a new spell that may not be entirely intuitive at first, but it has its value.
  
• I also added more interactive elements to the environment (chandeliers that can be dropped on enemies, explosive barrels and a couple of other physics-related shenanigans)

But most of the work went into the new tutorial area, which is also the beginning of the game:

The next few months will be quite critical for the development of Monomyth. During Q2 of 2021 you will see three things: A trailer, a demo, and a Kickstarter campaign. The reception of all of these will help me assess the situation and give me a little guidance on how to scale future development.
If the Kickstarter campaign does well I can hire artists to produce additional assets (first and foremost music). If the campaign underperforms, I will have to make some adjustments here and there.
Either way, Monomyth is making good progress and I’m excited for the coming months. I’ll keep you posted (from now on, more frequently than in the past)!

See you soon!
rattower

 

[Gargaune]

A short recap of the last few weeks and a couple of screenshots:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/908360/announcements/detail/3026956428735308093

Looking good! If you don't mind more language feedback, both "First Aid" and "Arcane Connection" give me a modern, technical vibe. If that's not what you're shooting for, maybe "Healing" or "Medicine" or just "Aid" and, respectively, "Arcane Bond?"

 

[Matador]

My mind is blown with this project. Great work!

 

[Invictus]

Hey RatTower the update looks great!
I got into replaying Ultima Underworld and some Arx Fatalis and the influence on Monomyth makes me giddy to see your progress!
Btw playing Arx the Crypt level is probably one of the best designed and paced Immersive dungeons ever... are you going to do a special set piece like that too?

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[HoboForEternity]

When is kickstarter? I made some money from dogecoin my wallet is ready

 

[Gargaune]

Wandering through the underworld...

Heh.

Spoiler

Acknowledge this developer's agenda

 

[Invictus]

That combat has more momentum, reactivity and realism than Skyrim even after all the mods for the last 10 years; see how blocked attack opens the counter, the ensuing blows make the enemy stagger and the way the swings break down into a little combo
This looks and feel almost as if Arkane had continued to develop the combat system of Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Early access then?

 

[RatTower]

Early access then?

Kickstarter for now - likely within the next few weeks. Depends a bit on the availability of business accounts and how mandatory insurances work around here.
But that's just me tweaking my expenses a bit.

As for early access: I was considering EA to make a 2021 release date possible, but only if it meant releasing a content-complete beta during Q4.
I'm no fan of long-winded Early Access phases (in fact I'm no fan of Early Access at all, but then I have also been pushing the release date since 2019 and I don't want to overstay my visit).
We'll see about the development speed till August, where I have the next big milestone planned after the KS. Then I can make better predictions there. Naturally, I'm a bit sidetracked by the administrative side of things right now (preparing the KS, trailer material, planning for grants, etc). I'll probably share some more information about my schedule during the KS.

All in all, things are going pretty much by plan right now. The only thing I keep delaying is a decision on the company name cause all the nice and simple domain names are taken.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The only thing I keep delaying is a decision on the company name cause all the nice and simple domain names are taken.

Rattenturm GmbH sounds like a fun name.

 

[Invictus]

Rattower Productions

 

[Siveon]

Rat Tower sounds like as good of a name as any imo.

I'd likely put in around 300 btw

 

[BlackGoat]

Rattower Advanced Technologies

 

[RatTower]

Also about that company name (I'm keeping rattower as a username):

https://strawpoll.com/j71bf3gd1

Unfortunately, I had to weed out a lot of names due to mundane reasons (domain name availability being one, but also a couple other).
Consider it a bit of a pre-sorted brainstorming session for the moment.

In other news: The kickstarter page is making progress and so is the trailer, which I will release a bit earlier.
I'm also still fixing some stuff in the demo. I hope to have it all polished and ready very soon.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

There's no 'these options sound too generic and I don't like them' button.

I voted for the ones that sound the least generic to me.

 

[RatTower]

There's no 'these options sound too generic and I don't like them' button.

A nickel for every time I hear that. You should have seen the other 200 names I burned through. Unfortunately, I can't delay this much longer.
Perhaps with a bit of feedback it gets easier. And if not: Something generic ain't so bad. At least you can't fall out of love with it so easily (cause you don't care as much in the first place).

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

There's no 'these options sound too generic and I don't like them' button.

A nickel for every time I hear that. You should have seen the other 200 names I burned through. Unfortunately, I can't delay this much longer.
Perhaps with a bit of feedback it gets easier. And if not: Something generic ain't so bad. At least you can't fall out of love with it so easily (cause you don't care as much in the first place).

No problem.

RatTower remains a nice name with some personality behind it. Silver Serpent Software sounds like one of the best options among the provided ones, but it still misses the mark for me, as it somewhat clashes with the brand you've been establishing this whole time.

 

[Wunderbar]

Also about that company name (I'm keeping rattower as a username):

https://strawpoll.com/j71bf3gd1

where is kingcomrade option?

 

[Gargaune]

Also about that company name (I'm keeping rattower as a username):

https://strawpoll.com/j71bf3gd1

I like the Reactive bit, but not so crazy about the Worlds one. I was about to suggest Reactive Interactive, but then I read it out loud to myself...

Spoiler

How about Reactive Images or Reactive Images Entertainment or something like that? A little more pretentious than Reactive Worlds but still relevant. Oh, and I'd probably suggest you avoid the Mythek option - it sounds cool, but it reads identically to Mythic, which might make it confusing to look up over hearsay.

 

[PanDupa]

Cut Silver Serpent Software to SS Software and you'll become codex favourite

 

[V_K]

It's not that they just generic, most of them sound both generic and tryhard. Immersive Simulations is bland, but it's the only one not making me actively cringe.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Mirror Images Studios.

Obvious homage to looking glass

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

ToSoftware.