KickStarter SKALD: Against the Black Priory - retro RPG inspired by Ultima

[AdolfSatan]

For upcoming streams we’ll be talking to some of the awesome people at my publisher, Raw Fury, to learn more about what they do and how the collaboration between developers and publishers look. I can guarantee you it’ll be worthwhile if you’re interested in the indiegame industry.

Doesn't sound forced at all.
SkaldRPG blink twice if you're in danger.

 

[Tyranicon]

SkaldRPG was last seen: Jun 15, 2021

Did you guys scare another one away?

Codex and alienating devs, name a more iconic duo.

 

[Infinitron]

SkaldRPG was last seen: Jun 15, 2021

Did you guys scare another one away?

Codex and alienating devs, name a more iconic duo.

I don't think anybody was rude towards him in particular back then. Well, except bandersnatch!

 

[Tyranicon]

I don't think anybody was rude towards him in particular back then. Well, except bandersnatch!

I dunno, I'm seeing the rumblings of codex discontent towards Skald now.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[V_K]

This one angled chest in an otherwise top-down scene weird me out.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

SkaldRPG was last seen: Jun 15, 2021

Did you guys scare another one away?

Codex and alienating devs, name a more iconic duo.

I don't think anybody was rude towards him in particular back then. Well, except bandersnatch!

Is that why the Snatch is a postergeist now?

 

[mindx2]

I don't think anybody was rude towards him in particular back then. Well, except bandersnatch!

I dunno, I'm seeing the rumblings of codex discontent towards Skald now.

What? Nah, every time I post here it's to say how gorgeous this game looks and I WANT IT NOW!! I only get little green checks for my comments.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Is that cursor giving us the bird?

 

[mindx2]

Is that cursor giving us the bird?

My first thought was of something a little lower anatomy-wise...

 

[Infinitron]

A copy of the recent stream with me and Fiona (media manager at Raw Fury)! We play the "old" Skald demo and talk about it and it's upcoming bigger brother.

 

[Abu Antar]

Nailed the feel of the zweihänder connecting a hit.

Spoiler

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

YEAH! KILL THOSE DAMN RATS!
KILL EM ALL!!!

Yeah...i hate rodents so it is with great pleasure seeing them thrashed. I hope the sound is equally crunchy.

oh yeah.

I'll probably just kill rats in an attempt to rid the world of them.

<WANT KILL COUNTER>

 

[Abu Antar]

May update is here.
https://www.skaldrpg.com/2022/05/project-update-may-2022/

Project Update May 2022

Ho there travelers!

Hope spring is finding you all well! We’re having days in a row with no snow up here in northern Norway and that’s something I guess.

The upside is that “inside weather means more work is getting done on “Skald: Against the Black Priory”!

The Teaser and Demo
The teaser is a wrap! You’ll have to wait a bit more for it as we’re saving it for a festival this summer!

The cold, dead stars hate you!

It’s a bit of a challenge to find a format that does justice to the crisp pixel-art of Skald and I think we’re getting very close to cracking the code in this teaser. I can’t wait to show it off and hope you like it. A big thanks to Sarah Gonidec and Roland Smedberg for all their hard work and endless patience!

The new demo will be out in mid June if all goes according to plan! The aim is to polish the game-systems as much as possible so that the demo represents the final game as much as possible in as many areas as possible.

In particular, we’ll be digging deep on combat and the general UI.

I’m going to add more of a button and icon-based UI in the cases where it makes sense – such as in combat.

I’m adding in a lot more animation frames in general. Both for creatures and specific weapon attacks.



There is still some work on the timing aspect as some animations are a bit too fast or “off” but I can see this will go a long way towards making the game look a lot more varied.



Adding more detailed monster models also makes everything look a lot cooler. I really hope we’ll have the multi-tile monsters fully up and working by the time the demo launches as they have quite a battlefield presence.



Also note how the fire above has a new look! All the flames in the game will now be made by procedural effects. This includes props like camp-fires and torches as well as spell effects. Stay posted as we show off some of the flashy and arcane magics that will be at your disposal!

As the demo comes out, just keep in mind that it will be shorter in content then the current demo – at least in the beginning. It’s very important that what we put out is polished and making it short and sweet is the priority to begin with. Stay assured though: We’ll be padding it with more content as we go!

Spoiler

Streams
In case you missed it, Fiona and I recently did a stream with my producer at Raw Fury: Daniel Jonsson. We had a little round-table about what the day-to-day collaboration between developers and publishers looks like and I warmly recommend giving it a watch.


Coming up, on May 12th at 4PM CET at Raw Fury’s Twitch channel, we’re having a talk with Raw Fury’s rock-star scout Johan Toresson!

We’ll be talking about how scouts work for publishers and how and why you should pitch to them! This is a must for fellow game developers or anyone who is just interested in how the industry works!

If you love indie-punk, ramen with an attitude and new curse-words, Johan is your man (May 12th, 4PM CET at Raw Fury’s Twitch channel)!

Keep following this devlog, my twitter and the Skald Discord to stay posted on our awesome quest to bring you more retro-RPG awesomeness!

Cheers,



AL

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Oh holy fuck!

Do these guys have a spy satellite to my parents yard?

Awesome footage.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Does this have an anticipated release date yet? I will be most displeased if this is vaporware.

MOST displeased.

 

[Ladonna]

I like how all the characters look like they are bopping to music, even the monsters.

 

[bandersnatch]

Does this have an anticipated release date yet? I will be most displeased if this is vaporware.

MOST displeased.

Umm, not vaporware, but I do believe this game has had a release date just about every single year since their kickstarters. That was until the devs got a publisher. The dev has said they are planning on releasing another "demo" into early access maybe by the end of this year. But not to worry... it's a "new" demo, not just the old one. Whatever that means? I honestly don't know why you would even need demos anymore when you have a publisher, but maybe since they are still busy working on game tools and changing just about everything with the game, the publisher wants to make sure it's going to sell?

If the publisher goes this route, I'd expect another "demo" in early access and then possibly releasing more dlc every six months to a year to milk it for what they can. Publishers really love the idea of a "subscription model" for games now and I think this approach may be getting more and more traction. I'm not a fan of this approach but at least the dev won't have to worry about people whinning about release dates because now there will be another expanded demo or DLC release to buy each year! Welcome to the new-school rpg approach bitches, get used to it.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

But.... the demo is free.

They're keeping us updated and for that... I salute them.








Waaay better than being left in the "unknown."

 

[bandersnatch]

But.... the demo is free.

The next one surly won't be. The only type of games publishers release for free in early access are free-to-play games. You know, the ones where you buy in-game items. But maybe you're right, that type of mobile game style may be a better fit for this game. Maybe that's what the publisher is going for now?

 

[Acrux]

In the May update, he said the new demo is planned for a June release.

I wasn't too impressed with the publisher choice, it hasn't seemed to change much so far.

 

[PEACH]

It's taking longer than I thought but I'll live. I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've played and haven't been offput any by what I've seen since so at this point I'm fine being patient.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

IIRC the main reason behind delays and getting a publisher was simple: the developer was working on the game in parallel with his day job until late 2021, which resulted in slower progress than initially expected, and the developer is adamant about making 1.0 release as good as possible even if it takes more time.

I do know that the delays are causing concerns, and I made sure the developer knows about them.