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

[Melan]

I do like the portraits. They are exactly like something you'd see in a very early 1990s RPG, like FATE.

 

[Abu Antar]

You don't like Steam? Help them with GOG votes.

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[SkaldRPG]

Hi guys! Doing some work on the look of combat. Kinduv a modern allowance but this will allow me to use combat backgrounds in a more expressive way to help make for more dramatic set-piece combats. Note that this is just programmer art.The backdrop could pretty much be anything. Is this a bridge too far in terms of a modern look? Thoughts?

Cheers,

AL

 

[Abu Antar]

I think that it looks great and I love it. I was a bit unsure about the game in general, but the more I see, the more I want to play it.

 

[SkaldRPG]

I think that it looks great and I love it. I was a bit unsure about the game in general, but the more I see, the more I want to play it.

So glad to hear! Honestly the feedback has been great so far so this has really been a charmed project to work on! Having a lot of fun and meeting awesome people left and right!

 

[Morkar Left]

Hi guys! Doing some work on the look of combat. Kinduv a modern allowance but this will allow me to use combat backgrounds in a more expressive way to help make for more dramatic set-piece combats. Note that this is just programmer art.The backdrop could pretty much be anything. Is this a bridge too far in terms of a modern look? Thoughts?

Cheers,

AL

Looks pretty good but I would reduce the animations to actions like attacking alone. Seeing all the bopping all the time can get annoying imho.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Rubbish. Please don't kill the boogie

 

[LESS T_T]

AFAIK this is the third RPG with Swen as a cameo.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20...-skald-says-he-doesnt-care-if-it-makes-money/

The developer of retro RPG SKALD says he doesn't care if it makes money

While I’ve conducted a lot of interviews, I’ve never had one quite like this. The developer of SKALD: Against The Black Priory [official site] asks me to use a pseudonym and doesn’t tell me where he lives, but rather than being a shady character with a burner phone he is a comfortable dad with a lovely blue sweater. He leads me through a long discussion free of hyperbole, emphasising the importance of planning and project management, before concluding that he doesn’t really mind if his classic turn-based RPG game doesn’t make money.

But I don’t think our chat was humdrum, I think it was really good. As was the sweater.

SKALD is another one of those almost-solo-jobs, where developer “Al” has hired freelancers to help with the art and music, spinning every other plate himself. It’s a retro-style roleplaying game which “Looks and feels the way that we remember how games were played,” taking its most obvious influence from the venerable Ultima saga, but also nodding firmly toward the infamous Wasteland and the lesser known Magic Candle. It’s gone through the standard Kickstarter process, collecting 183,000 Norwegian Krone (about £15,500). Don’t get excited by that, says Al.



“It looks like a lot of money, but it’s not as much as you think,” he explains, his first example of “managing expectations.” He tells me much of the money is already accounted for in taxes, a Unity license, a new laptop and in paying those freelancers. “The quality of the art they make is really worth every single penny.”

And then, somehow, we talk for half an hour about project scheduling, the importance of soft skills and even running local football teams. Forgive me if I skip over that for now. Instead, I’m going to tell you that I’ve tried an early build of SKALD and that it offers everything you’d expect, from turn-based combat with spells and swords to custom party creation and sixteen-colour dungeons. I wandered through a port, spoke to a merchant, squeezed into pixelated armour and stabbed my way through a spider-filled sewer.

It certainly reminded me of a particular generation of roleplaying games that I missed out on, their UIs accursedly clunky and their conventions maddeningly arcane. Al describes retro gaming as a “rose-tinted” subculture, and we forget inventory screens that were dreadful lists of text, or inane individual keyboard commands to (q)uaff a potion or (o)pen a door. Al’s created a mouse-driven, icon-based inventory, alongside context-sensitive controls that allow you to OPEN a chest or PET a cat (it hissed at me). He wants you to be able to save your game whenever you want. It’s important to keep that 80s feel, but revisiting the era is a reminder of both the limitations of the time and some very naive design decisions.

“One of the most interesting things you can talk about when you make a retro game is this almost archaeological examination of the genre,” Al explains. “Trying to see why things were the way they were, what’s worth bringing with you or what would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And you don’t want [your game] to be just a gimmick. You want it to be something that comments on the original genre. It should add some level of reflection, some improvement. It’s been really interesting for me to play old games and ask ‘Why did they do this?’ Was this a hardware restriction? Was this because they didn’t know better?’”

Not having to strain against hardware, Al is planning for SKALD to feature the complex dialogue and decision trees that we’re used to these days, as well as numerous side quests including a substantial civil war plot. While the look and feel will remain suitably retro, the cogs turning behind the scenes are shiny and new. SKALD will play more smoothly than any of the old Ultimas, and be a generally quicker game.

“I think the biggest difference between games back then and games now is designing to respect people’s time,” he says. “I think more people play games in short bursts. People will play games sitting on the bus. Or on the toilet.” I have no idea what he’s talking about.



“Games should be easy to pick up,” he continues. “You should be able to save when you feel like it. You should be able to progress through the story without grinding. And if you want to go through the game without exploring every nook and cranny… It doesn’t take away from the hardcore experience to have a critical path you can finish quickly.”

He’s considering a “narrative only” difficulty level for those who want to focus on the plot and, by keeping the game modest in scope, he avoids feature creep or the grandiose visions of more grandiloquent developers. He gets to respect his own time, too, and attributes this to his public sector project management skills, including “[having] to manage people, manage projects and manage money. Being professional. Being cordial. Not being an asshole online! That’s a tall order for some.” He’s clearly not a dramatic man and speaks more like a producer than a developer, which is rare amongst first-time indies. He sees SKALD as much as a project with a timescale as he does a game with content. It could be the first in a trilogy. It could be a failure. He’s very calm. His sweater is great.

“I don’t have to sell a lot of units to make money, but the money is what allows me to take a few weeks off work and rationalise to my family that I’ll be spending more time doing game development. And if it doesn’t pay off, no problem. It’s been an excellent ride.”

And this is where we circle back to what else is happening in Al’s life. He’s a family man with two children, somewhere in the “high north, a very, very rural part of Norway,” a town of only a few hundred. He doesn’t talk to his public sector colleagues about his secret life as a developer, saying they might be shocked if they found out. SKALD is the latest in a series of spare time projects “completely for my own enjoyment.” It just happens to be one headed for release.

“A large part of the time I spend doing this is time I’d spend programming anyway,” he says. “Playing computer games, or watching TV. In a sense, it’s still just a hobby… You could be a board member on a local football club. You could be anything. For me, it’s game development.”

Isn’t it unusual to be in your mid-thirties, making games but never putting them out there? “There’s a lot more developers out there like me than you would probably think. They want to make a game, because that’s the most enjoyable part. They don’t want the hassle of putting up a Steam page, setting up a Kickstarter, or fielding questions on social media. I really think there’s a lot more people out there with a game sitting on their computer that they keep polishing.”

Perhaps that’s my next quest: to find more of those games. And more of those sweaters.

 

[Abu Antar]

For those that care.

 

[SkaldRPG]

Hi there! Needless to say, yesterday was a great day due to the "Rock Paper Shotgun" article! Hope you'll check it out if you haven't already ;-)

Also we got a little boost on GOG wishlist as yuo can see above and for the moment SKALD is 3rd on the list:

It's a silly little thing but it's fun to have something to rally around and I was kind hoping to piggy-back the "Red Dead Redemption 2" train by calling them out. They didn't bit but oh well ;-)

It might make someone at GOG take notice and who knows!

Anyways, have a great Friday all of you! I'll try to post something on screenshotSaturday so stay posted!


AL

 

[taxalot]

Everyone cares about money.

 

[Abu Antar]

Everyone cares about money.

He's a billionare and this is just a passion project.

 

[taxalot]

Everyone cares about money.

He's a billionare and this is just a passion project.

I do not care about money but here's a link to my kickstarter.

edit : Not that I imply that the game is done FOR the money, and that it's not a passion project because it definitely looks like it. I just wish the fiction about "not caring about money" would be already over with in this day and age.

 

[Abu Antar]

Of course. Every indie wants that

 

[SkaldRPG]

Everyone cares about money.

He's a billionare and this is just a passion project.

I do not care about money but here's a link to my kickstarter.

edit : Not that I imply that the game is done FOR the money, and that it's not a passion project because it definitely looks like it. I just wish the fiction about "not caring about money" would be already over with in this day and age.

I suppose the point Paul was trying to make is that since I'm fully employed, making money off of SKALD is not the driving force. I would be making the game no matter what. And in regards to the Kickstarter I would say you don't MAKE money on a Kickstarter - you just get funding for your project. At least that was the case for me. All of the funds go into freelancers and rewards (which is awesome - don't get me wrong) but "not caring about money" does not mean "not caring about the financial aspect of project management"

 

[SkaldRPG]

Hi there!

“SKALD: Against the Black Priory” is coming to IndieGOGO “InDemand”! Soon!

This means all of those who missed the Kickstarter now get a chance to back the game and secure either a discounted digital copy or one of the exclusive physical editions.

The campaign goes live sometime between 12 – 15th of November.

After the Rock Paper Shotgun interview, SKALD is getting a lot of attention. I’m getting daily requests from people who want to know how they can support the project and if it’s still possible to get their hands on a physical edition of the game.

This is fantastic and I would love to swell the already awesome community even more!

Adding more funding will also allow me to take more time off of my full-time dayjob. This means that the game will be much more polished at release and that post release features (such as modding support) will arrive much sooner!

I’ll announce the launch of the campaign on all my social media platforms and as long as you follow me on twitter, the devlog or Discord you’ll get notified.

Cheers!


AL

 

[someone else]

 

[Outlander]

 

[Syme]

 

[SkaldRPG]

No one asked the most important question: are there romances?

Let's see how the indieGOGO goes

 

[Dorateen]

Some of the best role-playing games, and legendary developers have used IndieGoGo. Your campaign will be in good company.

 

[moleman]

Will there be a 20 min. Indiegogo campaign video where you heavily breath in your mic? I've heard that helps.

Anyhoo: