Fantasy World Engine - Development Update

OK, this isn't so much an update for Knights of the Chalice 2 / Fantasy World Engine as a heads-up for those who missed what is going on. Heroic Fantasy Games has updated their front page and, as fans will know, we're waiting for them to finish work on an RTS before getting back to the good stuff:

Since I'm cleaning up my website's files I might as well update this (very irregular) announcements page. Considering how the Fantasy World Engine is such a huge project, I've set myself a shorter-term goal, to make a 2D real-time strategy game with a map and campaign editor.

I've worked on this for a good while now. All I have left to code is the function of buildings, win and lose conditions, some interface for game and campaign saving and loading, a minimap, help files, and all of the artificial intelligence.

And after that I'll have to paint a set of good maps with the editor, playtest them, finalise Windows, Linux and Mac versions, update the website, release the game, do the marketing, and then finally I may be able to work on Fantasy Work Engine - with the advantage of having more experience and a lot of flexible classes ready for re-use.

More information.

work on an RTS

Such a waste of talent.

If it helps them make a better KotC 2 then it's not a waste. Sometime it really helps to step away from a project and do something different for awhile.

KoTC2 cannot come soon enough. The first was simply incredible.


-Carn

Does KoTC ever go on sale? I'm tempted, but I don't want to jump in at full price and immediately regret it. Is it available anywhere but from them?

Cute graphics, reminds me of Ultima 7 a bit.. Too bad they seem to have problems with the perspective, it's horrible in this pic for example.

Originally Posted by DR490N
Such a waste of talent.

Because everything that isn't an RPG is a waste.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Because everything that isn't an RPG is a waste.

indeed!

Originally Posted by turian
indeed!

Alright! Time to move out of mom's basement!

Originally Posted by killias2
Does KoTC ever go on sale? I'm tempted, but I don't want to jump in at full price and immediately regret it. Is it available anywhere but from them?

KotC has never gone on sale and you can't get it anywhere else. Pierre has his product locked down! Maybe when he releases his second game…

I'm also disappointed at this apparent detour from the stunning awesomeness of KotC, however it's not just a side project. The smaller RTS game is supposed to contribute fundamental code and assets to KotC2.

I've been trumpeting his first game since it was just a handful of screenshots and I think he's a great guy, but I wish he were a little more aggressive and creative in pushing his product and making it more widely available at a lower price, like through third party distribution. If KotC ever got on Steam or the Apple Store he could probably retire.

Some people are great at back office stuff, but not so good on the sales / marketing stuff. He may have good reasons, but I agree. With the proper channels the game could have done a lot better commercially.

Could care less about the RTS, but as long as he doesn't get discouraged when it doesn't sell and then decide not to make KoTC 2, everything will be okay.

<opinion>
Blue Salamander isn't in this for the dough. He's not stupid enough to miss out on all the extra money going through other channels, he just doesn't seem to care. KoTC made enough to allow him to feel it was worth the effort to make another game.

I wonder if he could port the original to Ipad? it would be great for me, and it seems the type of game that would sell very well on there. It would also play like a dream on the go.

I don't want to put words in the man's mouth, but I think the issue isn't that he's some kind of free spirit hippie who doesn't care about money. He just cares a lot about maintaining control over, and not compromising, his IP.

Originally Posted by vurt
Cute graphics, reminds me of Ultima 7 a bit.. Too bad they seem to have problems with the perspective, it's horrible in this pic for example.

Looks like a pretty standard old-school 3-D Isometric perspective, IE just fine to me.

Yeah, I've seen much worse.

Originally Posted by blatantninja
Looks like a pretty standard old-school 3-D Isometric perspective, IE just fine to me.

No, look at the apple(?) trees to the far right, i dont think i've ever seen a game with such messed up perspective, same with the lizard on the lower part of the screen. The perspectives are all over the place hehe. Too bad since it looks so nice otherwise.

Still not seeing it. Give it a try, perhaps, rather than staring at Apple trees.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Because everything that isn't an RPG is a waste.

I tell my boss that all the time!

Originally Posted by vurt
Cute graphics, reminds me of Ultima 7 a bit.. Too bad they seem to have problems with the perspective, it's horrible in this pic for example.

I played the demo and found the stat/spells screen difficult to read. Even slightly better graphics would have made all the difference.