Citizens!
It’s been a while since the last Devlog (“or any new screenshot!” - the crowd says), but there’s been a lot going on lately.
Here’s a brief summary:
- We’re getting publisher support. Will they handle the Queen’s moods?
- Cartographers present the World Map. We finally know if it’s flat or not
- Capital City was voted citizens’ favorite travel destination during Blightstorms
- The work on Meta Progression is… progressing!
- Trade routes are a thing. Stonks.
- A mushroom biome was discovered. Farmer Maggot would be jealous.
- We’re unveiling human fashion trends for the upcoming Drizzle
- New Year, same Storm Cycle. We explain how it works
There are a lot of topics to cover, so we decided to break them down into three Devlogs. Enjoy the first part!
IMPORTANT: Everything you’re about to see and read is a work in progress art and design. It consists of some “Developer art” or early ideas and does not represent the final quality of the game.
Funding
The main reason why we went under the radar lately is that we are focused on finding funding for Against the Storm. For the last year, we’ve been working on the game after hours and we believe it’s finally time to make it our full-time job. It will allow us to significantly speed up the production and stay closer in touch with you.
It’s a time-consuming process and requires a lot of effort from the entire team. While we can’t disclose any details, it’s safe to say we’re on the right track!
Here’s an exemplary slide from our pitch deck which helped us get some attention. Thank you for re-sharing our tweet, it helped a lot!
(Not following us on Twitter yet? You’re just two clicks away: Twitter.com)
Artstyle section of Against the Storm pitch deck
Keep your fingers crossed for us and await more good news!
World Map
In the meantime, we had our hands full with work on the World Map Layer of the game. This is where you’re going to make the decision on where to settle next.
World Map
The World Map is made out of hex fields. Each individual field is a potential place for you to start a new settlement. Each hex also belongs to a certain type - a so-called Biome - which defines many starting conditions, resulting in very different playthroughs depending on the initial choice. It was designed to modify the way you approach each game.
At this point, it is important to distinguish two layers of the game:
- World Map Layer - where you pick your next destination and develop the Capital
- City Builder Layer - where you play in real-time and manage your colony of beavers, humans, and lizards (the kind of gameplay that was teased in the demo)
The map features in the City Builder Layer are generated depending on the biome to which the field belongs. After selecting the hex field on the World Map Layer, a more detailed description will be displayed. It includes:
- The biome’s name
- A short description
- A set of statistics
Hex field (settlement) information panel
Special modifiers (pawns, which represent additional structures available in the particular game) are placed frequently on the World Map.
Biomes affect the content of the map and the type of terrain. Some specific biome-dependent elements are:
- resource nodes and tree types
- rewards on the glades
- threats on the glades
- Queen’s Orders pool
- fertile soil
- terrain
- duration & the intensity of seasons
- initial effects (perks, resolve)
- new inhabitants (quantity and species)
- and more.
Biomes will primarily differ in terms of the presence of resources, threats, and rewards. Some will have more food, some will have none, and some might have some specific type of resource that is exclusively found there. Some biomes may have very dangerous threats, others none at all, and so on.
Royal Woodlands
Until now, you were only able to see the basic Royal Woodlands biome. It has a more or less balanced amount of food and resources, a certain amount of fertile land guaranteed, and a lot of trees. Lately, we have also introduced a new mushroom biome on which we’ll shed more light in the next devlog.
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We interrupt this broadcast to remind you, that if you want to stay up to date with everything Against the Storm (and support us) you can follow the game on Steam and add it to your wishlist
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Citadel (the Smouldering City)
The Citadel (aka the Capital or the Smouldering City) is located in the center of the World Map. It occupies 7 hex fields - the central hex and 6 hexes around it.
Citadel with some purchased Upgrades (placeholder/conceptual assets)
In the Citadel, you can buy Upgrades, which grant you various bonuses. Upgrades are never lost between games and are not mutually exclusive.
Trivia bank:
From the beginning, the world has been regularly haunted by the Great Storm. The only mainstay for the surrounding lands is the Citadel (the Smouldering City). The eternal fire burning on the top of the mountain around which the Citadel is built seems to ensure safety, but the rains are merciless to everything outside its protection. Every few years, citizens go out into the world to explore lands, build settlements, and acquire supplies.
Occasionally, remains from the previous Storms can be found: road debris, destroyed buildings, or the remains of an unlucky caravan that did not reach the shelter on time.
But there always comes a time when the raindrops get heavier and the air starts to smell too light, and each of the Scorched Queen's subjects must return to seek shelter from the impending destruction.
Coming up next...
The Capital (or the Citadel) is a form of an avatar of progress. You will invest in it and develop it between runs, leaving a permanent mark on the World Map. We will cover the meta progression in the next Devlog, so make sure to check our Steam page from time to time. You can follow the game to stay up to date.
Time for your feedback
Did you enjoy this issue of Against the Storm Devlog? Let us know what you think of the new features! Also, if there are any other topics you’d like us to expand on, let us know in the comments or on our Discord server.
May the storm be gentle on you.
Eremite Games
Check out previous devlogs:
Devlog #2 - Feedback Summary, Plans, and More!
Watch the gameplays from the demo, discover reactions from the game, and learn how we plan to assess your feedback.
Devlog #1 - It’s alive!
Discover the design ideas behind the Dense Forest system, get to know the Beavers, and learn more about building modules.
Join other villagers on our official channels:
