SKALD on Rock Paper Shotgun!

It’s happened: SKALD is on “Rock Paper Shotgun”! Check out the awesome article by Paul Dean today!

Be sure to show some love in the comment-section on RPS to let them know that SKALD has the best community in RPGs!

I’ve done some freshing up on the UI, including the combat screen. The new perspective might look a bit modern but it adds tons of opportunities for making really epic battlefields!

Also, we’re making some real progress towards getting SKALD on GOG.com (all I can say for now) but it would sure help a lot if you’d take the time to wishlist SKALD on GOG!

State of the Project

In terms of development I’m starting to see the end of alpha development. This means that the game engine is slowly approaching a state where I’m not going to be making big changes to it. This also means that the last weeks have been spent doing “under the hood” work such as optimizing the draw-pipeline to allow for bigger and more complex maps. In the end it will make the game look a lot more striking whilst maintaining the old-school look and I can’t wait to show it off. 

It’s also time to start digging back into the narrative of the game. As an old tabletop GM this is the part I really enjoy and I can’t wait to start exploring the setting with you!

As always, join our Discord to get engage with the development on a more day-to-day basis!

Anyways, this was a short one but I just had to share the “Rock Paper Shotgun” interview while it was still fresh!

Have an awesome Halloween and talk to you soon!

AL

Oktoberfest: Major demo update and Ultima goodness!

Hi!

It’s time for a new SKALD-update! Fueled by a diet of running and prog-rock, development on SKALD is going great! Currently in the Alpha stage of development, the focus is on adding features to the game and engine. If I manage to keep up the current rate, the game will enter the Beta stage of development by end-of-year (right on schedule) and the focus will shift to adding content to the game. 


This little gem has been running red hot for the last week.

Alpha Demo Update: Boat Edition

A new version of the alpha demo is ready for testing (use the link I gave you). This one adds a bunch of new features:

  • You can now construct the “main” character in a basic character creator (though it’s still very crude)
  • The interact prompt (‘Q’ key) highlights whenever there is something to interact with
  • F5 turns the music on/off
  • You can now “talk”, “trade / steal” or “attack” all friendly NPCs
  • NPCs belong to factions that react to your actions 
  • Pressing “M” on the overland map opens up a larger map
  • Added a day-night cycle
  • Inventory is now icon- and grid based
  • Added mouse-movement on the overland
  • You can now board a boat and sail around (though there’s not a whole lot to see)

As always, adding new features means the game enters a rougher and less stable state as the new features mature through testing. There’s also not really a lot of new content but that’s not really a priority until we near Beta-testing. 

For now, you playing the demo is my best source of play-testing and I would appreciate any feedback you have!

Hot Kickstarter tip: “Through the Moongate 2”

If you supported SKALD on Kickstarter, chances are you’re gonna love this as well:

Through the Moongate is the ambitious two-volume comprehensive history of the Ultima series, Lord British, and Origin Systems at-large. Part I was successfully Kickstarted on October 16th, 2018 and covered Richard Garriott’s humble beginnings up through Ultima VIPart II covers Ultima VII to Portalarium and includes Wing Commander and other important Origin titles.

Check out their Kickstarter today!

That’s it for now. Hope you all have a great fall and that you’ll keep engaging with the project. As always I would love it if as many of you as possible joined the SKALD Discord to discuss, and stay updated on, the SKALD project and all things RPG-related in general! 

Cheers,

AL