Updates:

We are currently running a closed alpha test for all funders. If you become a funder, you will get an invite key to join the alpha. See the updates tab or the forum (link at the bottom of the page) for details.

Budget details have been added below.

Gameplay and Setting: Freedom and Consequences

In Might & Fealty, players take the role of one or more nobles, all of whom are active in one persistent sandbox world similar to that of our own Middle Ages. You will march, form armies, conquer villages, build them into towns or cities; swear fealty to and fight alongside a large number of other players and possibly even create kingdoms. The point where other games end is the point where Might & Fealty really begins:

This game is all about empowering you to play as you want to play, and allowing you to make infinite choices. But every choice comes with consquences. Choosing to be a hero to some, might make you a villain to others. Natural resources are inherently limited, so choosing to expand your villages will mean someone else gets less. Choose to be a loyal friend or choose the path of betrayal. Choose to spread your holdings by sword, - or by trade and diplomacy. Choose to be a loving spouse or an unfaithful lover. Infinite choices, but always with consequences.

Play as a landless knight who wanders the world, a small-time lord, or the monarch of a huge kingdom. Get married, have children, and see your family stretch through generations. Choose any path you want, and it all depends on your skills and nothing else. Might & Fealty will never block your ambitions - but other players might! Interaction with other players is the core of the gameplay, and they all have their own ambitions and choices to make. Best of all, every player will create their own unique story as they play and that will be recorded in the game world. There will be a living, evolving, history that is made by the players as they play.

Highlights

• Economy
  Manage villages, towns, and cities with options to construct more than 30 unique building types, including weaponsmiths, archery schools, mines, alchemists, town halls, temples, and more! Trade and build within an economic system designed to balance itself so you don't need to constantly micro-manage everything. Defend your towns by constructing walls, towers, and castles. Will you be happy with wooden palisades or will your goal be the mighty stone castle?

• Evolving History
  Everything that happens shapes the game world, and it's all recorded on an in-game history.  Your actions in the game become part of the history of the world, and that history is never lost. Sophisticated options allow research into the past of characters, cities, or Empires.

• Military
  From recruitment to funeral, your army is more than a collection of statistics, and it will travel the world with you. The game models individual soldiers, down to them having names and a home to return to when their tour of duty is over. Want to know how Hans fared in the last battle? This game will tell you. Total freedom to customize every soldier with a combination of different types of weapons and armour, including swords; axes; spears; shields; javelins; bows; leather, scale, or plate armour; and the feared warhorses. Recruit NPC specialists to your warband, such as scouts, spies, prospectors, heralds, merchants, and more - each with unique abilities.

• Politics
  An entirely free-form hierarchy system unlike anything you've ever seen before: built around oaths of fealty entered into by nobles of different players - or even between those nobles you yourself control. Build your relationships with other players in any way you want: You will need others to fight beside you - or to fight for! Have your holdings form a county, a duchy, a barony, a kingdom or an empire with hundreds of other players as your vassals. Plot, scheme, fight, or marry your way to power! Your social skills will be as important as your gaming skills if you want other players to support your ambitions.

• Sophisticated Maps
  Might & Fealty uses one of the most powerful mapping systems you've ever seen in a game. It uses real geography and there is huge scope for players to make it their own - rename towns, build roads, bridges, and watchtowers. Or destroy them! Explore a huge world that features multiple different terrain types, such as grasslands, scrublands, mountains, and deserts.

• Educational Value
  While Might & Fealty is not a medieval simulation, the politics and diffuse relations between acting parties come much closer to real history than most other games. Teachers and even professors have shown an interest in the predecessor (BattleMaster), and Might & Fealty will be even deeper as a tool to understand diplomacy and politics in a setting where real ambitions and proper constraints force even the kings hand.

• Multi-Lingual
  The game is designed from the ground up to be both playable in several languages and also allow interaction between players who don't speak the same language. I don't consider language barriers to be barriers at all, but something to be integrated into the gameplay. Recruit an NPC translator and you can send automatically translated messages to other players.

Gameplay
The game is turn-based with every turn representing one day in the game world and every real-life day having 4 turns/days of game time. The actions you can take fall into three broad categories, each with dozens of possible actions within them.

Some actions are simply resolved immediately, such as sending messages or disbanding troops. Some actions are started immediately, but take time to complete, such as the construction of buildings or the recruitment of new troops. And finally, some actions are queued and resolved at the turn, mostly those that potentially conflict with other players, such as battles or plundering your enemies villages.

Turn-based gameplay was picked intentionally to remove the need for being "always on" to react to enemy actions. In addition, the game is getting a sophisticated reaction system where you can specify how to react to events without the need of clicking the button yourself. For example, you can define a list of enemies that your troops will attack if they move into attack range. This way, the enemy can not sneak past you while you are asleep in real life.

A deep event system informs you about events that happened to your characters as well as within settlements under your control or realms you are a member of. You will also be able to get important events sent to you outside the game (via email currently, other notification systems may be added in the future).

Who am I ?
I'm a computer security expert with an internationally renowned reputation. Creating games has been a passion of mine for most of my life, and I've created several board, roleplaying and computer games. Most importantly, I created a browser game that is the spiritual predecessor of Might & Fealty, and I've been successfully running it for over 12 years now. It's called BattleMaster, and it's been enjoyed by thousands of players all over the world.

I have over 15 years of experience with free-form gameplay like this, and Might & Fealty is the dream project I've wanted to create for the last two decades. Now, both the technology and my personal development have met at a point where it can finally be made. Might & Fealty will be a commercial game because a proper budget allows me to pay for the graphics artists, user-interface designers and additional coders that are needed to make a game of this scale a reality.
Crowdfunding is the solution to the investor problem - I have a clear vision for this project and I don't want it to be compromised for corporate marketing or portfolio reasons.


Current Status

An alpha prototype version of Might & Fealty has already been through two early testing phases, with over a hundred volunteers forming realms, waging wars and marching armies across a small test map with just 600 villages and towns. I've been working on this game for more than half a year already, and it is getting close to beta status.

That is why the campaign has a flexible target. I'm so passionate about this game that it will happen even if I have to fund it myself over the course of years. But this is my dream project and I want you to be able to play it this year. That's right! Given successful funding here, I have plans in place to launch in (late) 2013.

The current development focuses on gameplay, not graphics. The initial game client will be browser-based for two reasons. Firstly, this allows for the most rapid development; and secondly, it's a good stepping stone towards a full 3D standalone client as the current game client can later be turned into the server backend for the standalone client.

I've assembled a small team of supporters who help with everything from forum moderation to video editing, and I have two graphics artists who are already looking forward to working on the game.



Funding and Budget Plans
My first goal is for 40 000 €, which is the money I need to continue development at full-time speed as well as for graphics and user interface design, some software licenses and a bit of marketing.

This is the seed money for the project. A game of this size and complexity is not complete in a few months. I plan to keep adding features and improving gameplay after launch for years to come. My other project BattleMaster proves this development model.

Here is how the funding is intended to be spent:

If the goal should not be reached, I have two reduced budget plans, for 20k and for just 10k:

Should the goal be exceeded, additional money will be spent mostly on graphics and marketing.

Starting at 100 000 €, there will be enough in the budget to begin development of a 3D standalone client using the Unity 3D engine. I have some experience with this engine and I've used it in a number of smaller projects already. It is well-suited and can deliver to all platforms I want (PC, Mac, iOS, Android and soon Linux).

Might & Fealty is an ambitious sandbox game unlike anything you've played before. Do you want to create history? Do you want to experience total freedom and its consequences? Do you want to be those consequences for other players?

Then join me and make Might & Fealty a reality. Spread the word and support my crowdfunding. Check for the cool perks I have lined up and decide upon your level of contribution.

Thank you.