First of all, since I'm only one person doing this for now - that's me, Michael List aka Scarfront - all of the updates or texts that appear here or there are going to be quite personal for the most part. Hopefully the team being directly involved with the development of the game will grow beyond of what it is now, but that's another story.
Speaking of the game, that's what this post is actually about. Some rough information can be seen in the short description above but I'll do my best part to further comment on that.
A word about Inspiration (somewhat)
Sorcademy is basically one of those building and management games, where the player starts with either a plane surface type of land or potentially something more fleshed out and keeps adding on to that. It's the kind of game I always enjoyed playing since it had some creative and constructive elements in it that allowed for the feel of creating part of a world that one could call his or her own, watching it flourish and thrive in the process. That's not the only thing though, as there are many other aspects that inspired me to finally set out and take on the adventure of doing my part to contribute to this world.
About the game
The game itself is set in a fantasy world, a place of mystery and magical beings filled with all kinds of things that are just waiting to get discovered and investigated. Of course this world is also inhabited by humans and many others who are only too eager to learn about all that fascinating matter around them, some of them looking for a way to do so in a relatively save environment, without getting stomped or burned to ashes by a giant fire-breathing dragon.
That's where you kinda come into play. Taking on the role of a headmaster (you know, the CEO of schools :D) the player now gets to build a place from the ground up (or take over one that's already there), a school of sorts, an educational institution where students who are willing to learn about the world they live in are affiliated, given accommodation, a place to stay. You get to construct the entire thing if you so wish, wall to wall, from every tree to each single window. You can lay out the halls, the class rooms and the offices. The students as well as the rest of the staff are gonna need a place to sleep so make sure to place some beds where it's not to noisy. Canteen and infirmary are probably just as important, after all people are going to get hungry and need to eat, also some will get sick or hurt sooner or later. Be it libraries or music halls, there'll be lots of different things to do.
All of this goes hand in hand with the curriculum (that a word) in one way or another. Those people aren't just there to stare at walls all the time, they most likely want to be educated and given some freedom to experiment on their own. Learning from the old is nice and good but there's always more we can explore. For one thing this means that you'll need to hire those that already possess some of that knowledge and the ability to pass it on to the next generation (or perhaps it's even the same, who knows). All of what they know they'll teach to others, those that actually show some interest. This is when it gets important to decide who gets teached what, by whom, in what room (or out in the open), to what time and so on. It's not just the various forms of magic that are going to be on the schedule. You want alchemy or mechanical enginerring? Sure thing! What about music and history you ask? If that's what you and/or your students want, and if the right people and resources are available then that's all in the realm of possibility.
This is what surrounds the core concept, and of course that's what is planned right now. Lots of things, some bigger than others are there to further enhance this general ideal. Many things are planned or being thought of and the possibilites are quite enormous, at least the ones in my head.
About the project
If all of this sounds big already, I can assure you it looks even more so in my own imagination. Now, I don't wanna get carried away here and I'm only too aware that this isn't gonna be a cakewalk (too bad, I really do like cake). As I mentioned earlier I'm just one guy for now but I don't plan on keeping it that way, though nothing shall be said about how exactly this is going to work out, we'll see. I only recently started truly doing the whole game dev thing, lived behind glass all the time. While I ain't got much to show yet it's not like I'm totally new to the game. From the current situation it looks like I'm simply gonna work on the game and adapt to whatever opportunities the future holds.
I don't even want to get started about detailed stuff like engines and all that, not like I don't mind or don't think about it but that better be some other time. It's set to be released for PC, so that will hopefully include Windows, Mac and Linux. I can't say anything about pricing because I don't exactly know and I won't even try giving an estimated release date as it's way too early and uncertain to do.
What I can promise though, is that I won't stop carrying on until my work is done.
Regarding things like a website, blog or anything related to social media I'll make sure to take care of those too and put some links to what is already there at the end of this wall of text. I want the development process to be as open as possible, keeping a strong connection to the community that will hopefully evoke over time, since I don't have the slightest intentions to go on this journey solely on my own.
Well, I guess that's all for now.
Thanks, (and sorry for the wall of text :p)
Michael
Personal Twitter: Twitter.com
Game Twitter: Twitter.com
