by Design1 | Jul 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Meet the Slyth Warden, one of the many dragonkin who vie for dominance in the mountains of the Firewind Coast. Suspicious of the empire, they are likely enemies, but with the right inducements, they could be powerful allies. It’s all a matter of player choice, as they adventure deep into the Drakelands, in service to their emperor. We are proceeding along developing different elements of the game. In Engineering, we’ve been running various elements of combat and movement through prototyping. Checking out how best to implement multiple targets, area of effect attacks, and persistent things like zones. On the movement side, Seven Dragon Saga has a number of methods to move, and we want them to feel different and work clearly. Mystic Leap allows characters to leap up onto areas others can’t, and gain height advantage. Special thanks to junior engineer Sebastian for taking point on the prototype process. Up next is how best for the game to recognize cover, then determine if it is half or full, and convey this in an intelligent manner to the players. Then there are Attacks of Opportunity and the Retaliate ability to work out. Lots of little details where frequent prototype iterations works wonders. In design, we are creating flow charts for story progression, depending on which factions the player is aiding, and which he’s harming. David Shelley pushes a strategic vision, while Edwin McRae drives things from an NPC and story arc viewpoint. This all feeds into the locations we need, and hence the environmental art required. In systems, Paul Murray and David Shelley are...
by Design1 | Mar 20, 2015 | Uncategorized
Where Race give shape to the character, innate toughness, mobility, senses, and link to the mystical; and Class defined the character’s core features; Specialty gives it a final direction. Experimenting with the three pieces is quick and fun, and generates interesting synergies. Here is an overview of the Specialties. Deadly. Extra attacks during the encounter, extra damage, increases to the statistic used for damage, and the Mystic Leap ability to get to where you need to deal damage. Did I say damage often enough? Works well with any character you don’t want focused on support. Tactical. Some damage support, but more importantly, it gives a character access to all the weapons in the game. Prefer your Knight to be sword and board? Make him a Tactical Knight. Want the Scout to be up close and personal with blades? Make him Tactical. Fast. The best Mystic Leaping range of any class, lots of teleports, some extra actions to get extra movement. If you want the character to get where the enemy is weakest, or kite the slow beast, then Fast is a good choice. Shade Elves and Half Shades have an innate Flash Step, which can complement Fast, while the dragonkin races have Surefooted, meaning they ignore difficult terrain. Priestly. This is an overall control and support Specialty. Some healing, anti-magic, harm undead, pin, leadership, a few talismans to toss around, and some good social skills make this an all-around useful choice. Priestly Soultenders get very strong heals, while Priestly Wraith Hunters have the best harm undead. A Priestly Wizard can both cast spells and cancel...
by Design1 | Mar 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
David Shelley, On Races I’ve talked about the specifics of character creation in an earlier update. In this one, I’ll discuss some of the specific Races from a technical perspective. Edwin McRae, our narrative designer will be showcasing them from a Lore perspective. We have eight Races and eight Classes designed, but we won’t commit to having them all in the initial game until we finalize some budget aspects. I’ll talk more about Classes and Specialties in the future. Shade Elf. One of two elvish races, with the Shade Elves living in the deep forests close to the imperial homeland. The are very mobile, fast (Running and Flash Step Abilities), never surprised, and acrobatic. High Elf. Much closer to their Fae ancestors, the High Elves have a close link to the Dreamlands. They can restore their long term health through trance, so they can remain awake through the nights. Sealed doorways are no barrier and High Elves can pass through them without opening the door. They have the Fate ability which reduces the effects of Crticals and Fumbles for themselves and increases them on their opponents. Imperials. The humans who lead the empire, martial and noble. They have a bit of luck, some resistance to damage, both short and long term, plus a bit of combat move to avoid Opportunity Attacks, and Fastdraw to speed up weapon switching. Half-Shade. The Shade Elves are close enough to the heart of the empire to interbreed with the Imperials. As one might expect, they have some resistance to damage, some mobility, still can’t be surprised. Dwarf. From the harsh desert lands, the...
by Design1 | Mar 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
We’ve launched our Kickstarter. Please back us and spread the word. You can find it here. Help us make the best game possible, and give us your insights. ...
by Design1 | Mar 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Gold Box fans rejoice! TSI is launching our Kickstarter this Wednesday, March 11th. Show your support for our exciting single player RPG: Seven Dragon Saga. We’re back from GDC and happy to share details about what we’ve been working on. In case you missed the announcement, GamesBeat did a terrific article on our “Gateway” initiative for transferring characters across games beginning with support from inXile and HareBrained Schemes. Read more about it here:http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/02/ex-ssi-gold-box-devs-go-back-to-the-future-with-tools-to-transfer-characters-across-role-playing-games/ SSI alumni and Gold Box veterans David Shelley and Paul Murray, along with the rest of the TSI team are proud to bring you an exciting new challenge. Whether you remember playing Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and Wizard’s Crown or simply enjoy a quality RPG with tactical combat Seven Dragon Saga is for YOU! But this can only happen with your help. As an indie studio, we are looking to our fans to fund a significant portion of the development through our upcoming Kickstarter campaign, which begins on March 11th. We aren’t shy about our ambitions to make a great game, but that takes additional resources and effort. Beyond funding, we are inviting you in on the making of Seven Dragon Saga. Increasingly fan feedback has been integral to the creative process that gives rise to innovative games. We hope you’ll assist us in this adventure!” We hope you will help spread the word and show your support when our campaign goes live this Wednesday at 10AM PDT. Sincerely, The TSI...
by Design1 | Mar 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
RPG players will be able to transfer characters between RPGs via Tactical Simulations Interactive’s “Gateway” initiative – First games include Shadowrun:Hong Kong and Torment: Tides of Numenera March 2, 2015 – Los Angeles – Tactical Simulations Interactive (TSI) today unveiled “Gateway” – a system that allows players to transfer their favorite characters across supported RPGs. The initiative will be rolled out in TSI’s debut title, Seven Dragon Saga – an original fantasy RPG for PC, Mac and Linux, based upon an original pen and paper role-playing system designed by former Strategic Simulations Interactive (SSI) alumni Keith Brors and David Shelley. Developers inXile and Harebrained Schemes have also announced support for Gateway, with more set to sign on in the coming months. With Gateway, TSI is inviting RPG developers to take part in an initiative that hearkens back to the days of classic RPGs like The Bard’s Tale, Ultima and Wizardry — a time when players could fully transfer their characters and parties into different games, without having to create them from scratch for each game. “Gateway goes beyond being an import/export feature — it represents a development philosophy that I enthusiastically endorse. By proposing and developing a data standard for game characters, TSI is establishing a stepping stone for independent CRPG developers to collaborate and share content and expertise . It is very much in the spirit of crowd funding and independent game development. As a fan of SSI’s titles, I’m thrilled at their return through Seven Dragon Saga and am excited they are spearheading this initiative through Gateway,” said Kevin Saunders, Project Director, Torment: Tides of Numenera...
