One thing we haven't talked much about is the world and setting in which the Folks reside in. We've heard people ask if they are vikings - or what specific time period Folklands is trying to represent, so it's high time we talked about it.
Folklands is set in our own fantasy world - a world we have been building and working on for the past
10 years: The land of Erendor, where creatures like dragons once lived, but are now a thing of legend.
Keen observers may have noticed something unusual about the berry bushes already, or heard about Erendor from our previous game, Dragon Evo. As the development of the game progresses you will start to see more and more creatures from this world roaming the lands - such as the mysterious Drak Eagle.
Although the game is set in this fantasy world, the lore will not directly affect gameplay as much, at least not yet. However, this is a good opportunity to introduce you to the three major kingdoms - or factions - battling it out for control over the world in which your folks live. It is the time after a great war, where a frail peace exists between these three kingdoms.
This brings us to ...
Diplomacy, story and missions
As mentioned, there are 3 major factions in Folklands, which you'll encounter throughout the game. In the full game (after Early Access), we plan on having specific story-based campaign missions, but the progression, prosperity and happiness of the folks in your settlement will be driven by the interaction with the surrounding factions.
The factions are: The Rutai Empire, The Highwind Nation and the Hologev Resistance.
The three factions have their very own personality, desires and goals, and how you interact with them will heavily influence how your game plays out.
Fulfilling quests and missions from The Rutai Empire will reward you with plenty of gold - in return the missions become increasingly more difficult - and the Empire increasingly more demanding as you become increasingly involved as their trusted ally.
The Highwind Nation will task you with complex quests that unlocks new buildings, resources and improvements. Their mission is making you succeed, as a happy ally will be more than willing to lend a helping hand when special situations occur.
The Hologev Resistance will ask for help to rebuild their own faction and in turn give you temporary or permanent bonuses to production. While appearing united, you will soon realize their many shortcomings and you might even start to feel empathic towards them and their mission.
Obviously - interacting with one or more of these factions will influence how the other factions sees you - as well as impacting the happiness, production and progression of your own settlement!
Raiders and AI
The peaceful mode of the current Folklands demo may feel closer to a sandbox mode where your choices don't matter much, than a story rich game where your choices influence the progression and world around you. In addition to the mentioned factions, the Early Access release will also see Raiders becoming a part of your day to day life as your settlement grows. Fend them off by building walls and sending out patrolling guards, or - if you dare - ask for help from the Rutai Empire.
In addition to Raiders, you will also encounter one or more optional minor settlements on the map - either competing for valuable resources and land, or roaming around asking to trade.
We'll expand more on these features in a later devlog, but if you have questions or feedback, feel free to join our Discord or leave a comment in the Steam forums. We will also make sure that these settings can be tuned to maintain the peaceful experience we want the game to be - while we still offer a challenging and fun game that feels fresh every time you play it.
Stay tuned for our June update where we'll show you more screenshots and the current state of the game!
