"Today, I will build a game." That is what I told myself one day. And so I did.
That was 15 months ago. Today, our team (of which half are volunteers), comprises of passionate people who have been hard at work creating
a strategy war game which we would like to play. Just on art alone, we have more than 20 contributors who have seen the value of our work and have chipped in. Today, we have completed the prototype, and we want to share the fruit of our labor with the gaming community.
We present to you... Dragonlord
Supremacy, our humble PC Strategy War Game!
But let’s
turn back the clock and I will tell you the origins of this project. Some years back, I met Lady Antiva. I was trying to put together an Arthurian
universe. We chatted, and continue to chat
some more. Then the unexpected happened! She took the plunge and went ahead to create
an entire series built upon the death of King Arthur in chapter 1, and spun off a
whole new world.
Enviously
for me, but happy for her, Lady Antiva's ebooks are now on Amazon.com. She was kind
enough to help me write the script for ‘Episode 1: Blue Bastion’, and to
release a brand new eNovel in conjunction with my game! How cool is that? Long live Lady Antiva!
On to the
game design, and where all the hard work began...
- We had very earlier on
decided that the story-driven, quest-driven strategy must offer a different experience from all the games out there. For
the first 6 months, we scoured the world for folks to help us in art,
design and consulted widely. A
local school NYP pitched in, and their interns helped us with the coding
using their ‘Supremacy’ game engine
- Over the next 9 months, we clunked
together a playable demo with the help of the Games Solution Centre and
Camelot Hobbies, and we have since submitted the game demo to IGF under
the ‘Indie Category’, and judging is now underway. Super-cool if we get picked to be a
finalist, and blistering stupendous if we win an award!
- We have put in place all that is needed to create this game, and we now seek the community to help
us take the game to launch. The first few quests have been completed
and included as part of the demo. The founders are committed to
complete the 1st Episode 'Blue Bastion' and seek your help to get the word
out and to complete and release this
episode by November 2014.
- With your contribution, we
will be able to achieve the following: (a) release episode 1 to you,
(b) work on episode 2 'Green Gridlock', (c) release the game on iPads
and Android tablets, (d) work on more
episodes as a stretch target.
This is
our life-quest, and we need your support to make our dream a reality! What’s more, when you ‘share’ this campaign
on your Facebook, you will
get early access to the Game Demo.
Read on to find out about our
‘Share-it,
Test-it, Change-it’ outreach.
Dragonlord Supremacy Overview
Dragonlord
Supremacy is a turn-based strategy game of medieval conquest set in King
Arthur’s era. You are a Dragonlord of Queen Morgana who is tasked to take the
lands using whatever
means necessary. Besides attempting quests to advance the storyline, the gameplay’s unique border
management allows players to strategize campaigns that will ultimately affect
their progress. Game AI will fill the hex map with constant challenges that
make the protection your avatar and units a never-ending dare, as you build,
deploy, attack and bribe your way to victory!
Unlike
many strategy war games that require players to spend an inordinate amount of time on resource gathering, in order
to build and buy - this game allows you to employ strategies around border
enlargement and connection! Extend your
allied settlements by building bastions to stretch the perimeters of your
territory, and strike fear in your opponents!
The game
is turn-based with 2 phases per turn for the player, namely Orders Phase and
Reinforcement Phase. In Orders Phase, players can Move Units, Build
Bastion (using Guardians), Pack Settlement (using Cavaliers), Hire a Hero, Attack
enemy/settlement or Seek Diplomacy from Settlement. In Reinforcement
Phase, players use gold to obtain new combat or diplomatic units.
Move
Units: Players can move both combat and diplomatic/hero units subject to their
movement points. Up to 3 combat units can be stacked on a single
hex.
Build
Bastion: Players can use a Guardian unit to build a bastion to expand is
territory on a hex to connect his borders. Bastions can be upgraded for
units to be deployed there directly during the reinforcement phase.
Pack
Settlement: Players can move an entirely settlement by 1 hex per turn using a
Cavalier unit.
Hire
Heroes: Players may hire heroes to aid combat, but mostly heroes carry special
quests that must be performed in order for the player to advance the storyline
towards completing the game.
Combat:
Different units can be used to attack enemy and NPC units, and also settlements.
The attack and defence stats are compared after determining if a hit is
successful, and damage is dealt accordingly. A dice roll aids to add some
randomness to the ‘hit’ ability. This game has an 'old school'
pen-n-paper, or board game feel to it, something not common these days.
Diplomacy:
Gold is used in seeking alliance with settlements by a Diplomatic Unit and dice
rolls are used as a chance factor, alongside hostility rating of the
settlement.
What we need & What you get
Here's
how your contribution will be utilized for the Break project in more detail:
- The first $5,000 will go
towards completing Episode 1: Blue Bastion. As you can see from the video
of the actual gameplay, the Demo is already done!
- The next $10,000 will go
towards building Episode 2: Green Gridlock. We have created the
necessary engine codes, modules, art etc so that the process of developing
episode 2 will go on without any hiccups!
- At the same time, we know
there are gamers out there who would like to play this game on their iPads
and Android tablets. Because we have coded the game in Cocos2D-x, we
are confident that the port to these platforms will work just fine. We need an additional $12,000 to achieve this.
- Finally, every $10,000 hereafter
will go towards the creation of 2 more episodes, in cooperation with backers. The team
believes in sharing the fruit of our work with you, the superfans!
We have a range of unique
perks just for you, our ardent supporters! Please have a look :)
Because of our commitment to this life-quest, even
if we do not reach our targets, we will continue to work on this game, though this
means we can only work on it after office-hours and weekends. But we will
not rest till it is done! Lady Antiva took a 2 year hiatus from work,
scrimping and saving to release 'The Camelot Prophecies' ebook series, and the founders
must emulate her generosity and determination!
Other Ways You Can Help
Check out
our perks and be as generous a backer as you can – stand up and be
counted!
Fly on the wings of a dragon and help us
get the word out through our outreach: ‘Share-it, Test-it, Change-it’
-
Change It: Give
us comments how to make the game better, and if your comment is implemented,
we will add your name on our Credit Roll as ‘Game Curator’!
Help us
make some noise about our campaign and get us in the news!
Release
Green Gridlock upon reaching $15,000 mark
Once we
have completed and shipped 'Blue Bastion' to all backers in Nov 2014, the team
will proceed to code Episode 2: Green Gridlock. We hope to achieve
backing of $15,000 so that the funding received can go towards the realizing of
perks for naming rights and art rights of 'Green Gridlock'. In case this
target is not met, we will still commit to release a 'special edition' that
will be shipped to backers at Benefactor tier and higher.
Release
Android and iOS version upon reaching the $21,000 (iPad) and $27,000 (Android Tablet) mark respectively
Dragonlord
Supremacy is designed with multi-platform in mind from the onset. The
current build is for the PC platform. The user interface has been
optimized for use on Apple iPads and tablets that run on the Android
operating system. The team estimated that it will cost $6,000 for
Development and QA each per platform.
Release 2
more episodes of Dragonlord Supremacy upon reaching the $37,000 and $47,000
mark respectively
Dragonlord
Supremacy is designed as an episodic game based on the story grid which Lady
Antiva has drafted. The storyline comprise both linear and concurrent
events, allowing for the narrative to flow smoothly, diverge where necessary
and then merge back for episodic transition. To be prudent, the team has
budgeted $10,000 per episode to be developed.
Risks & Challenges
We are
game developers, script writers, artists but NOT marketers. We have very
limited networks and can only enlist help through platforms like Indiegogo to
reach out. But when we start something, we will complete it! The
Demo proves that we have both the expertise and the will-power to complete this
project. We believe there is little risk for our supporters as far as Blue
Bastion is concerned.
- We have already written the
draft script for 'Green Gridlock' and accumulated a large portion of the
required artwork. The funds raised will be used mainly for
level-design and incorporating the new quests for campaigns in the new
'Green Gridlock' map
- We have recruited a
committed pool of freelancers who have helped us put together Blue
Bastion. We value their partnership to continue working with us for
Green Gridlock. The project will not be at risk due to resignations
or overheads (rentals, asset purchases etc) as ALL the monies received
will go directly into the project.