Prometheus Wept: The new turn based RPG from the developer of Vigilantes
 

Hi all,

I hope you're safe and healthy in these difficult times.

Demo Link: https://www.indiedb.com/games/prometheuswept/downloads
Kickstarter Pre Launch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects…turn-based-rpg
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1…rometheus_Wept

As you may be aware, since wrapping up Vigilantes, I've been working on another turn based game. The setting could be described as post apocalyptic with a dash of cyberpunk. On a near future earth, a potent virus disables the majority of computerised technology in a matter of hours, casting mankind into a new dark age. The action of Prometheus Wept occurs several generations after the fall. You will assume the role of a classical technologist living among the shattered remnants of humanity, driven to discover and restore the technological and cultural relics of the mythical mid 21st century.

Feature-wise, using Vigilantes as a starting point, the focus will be on improving the depth of combat, crafting, and the character system. There will also be more focus on making meaningful choices and narrative.

Here's the first illustration created for the game.

The Steam page has some early footage, info and screenshots if you'd like to check it out. If you're interested in the game and on Steam, it would be a huge help if you added it to your wishlist.

Prometheus Wept is being co-funded by the Creative Europe Media Programme of the European Union.

https://i.imgur.com/8BHxiFY.jpg

If you have any questions about Prometheus Wept, feel free to ask! It's quite early in development and the design is very provisional, but I'll do my best to answer!

I'll keep you posted. Stay safe.

Daithi

Looks interesting. I thought you ran your last KS project very well, so looking forward to see what you can do with this one.

Glad you like, Ripper. With a few extra years experience and Vigilantes as a base to build on, it'll be interesting to see how far I can take Prometheus Wept.

I'll also be watching the progress on this one, as the first game is solid and well worth picking up. Keep up the great work!

So how close to vigilantes will this game be? Similar layout? What improvements do you see?

One thing that is bugging me, minor I know, is that the screen are white on black for a lot of the info…the UI feels very functional not artistic.

Appreciate the kind words, Carnifex. I'll keep you posted!

Hey rune_74. There will be a fair bit of common ground, but even using the code from Vigilantes as a starting point, it's going to take 3-4 years to make Prometheus Wept.

Broadly, the changes will involve improved design across the board, with a special focus on combat, crafting and character development. Vigilantes is structurally more like the X-Com games and there will be a shift away from procedurally generated combat scenarios to a branching narrative with hand crafted combat encounters. Vigilantes doesn't have very strong role playing elements, so the intention is to beef this area up as well.

For combat system improvements, so far, I've added destructible cover, water tiles, and interactions between fire, water and electricity. This is really only the beginning.

Just my two cents, but I'd suggest maybe not letting the environmental interactions become too dominant a factor. I thought Larian got a bit carried away with that, and it wore thin pretty quickly.

It's a fair point. Unlike Divinity, you won't be able to create water on demand, so you'll only be able to exploit water if it's present.

I can see how having too much interactions with environment could undermine combat, if it offers an easy "win" button, or makes every other approach sub-optimal in every encounter.

I also felt that the few missions I have run that the enemies sort of just come towards you instead of doing what is logical….maybe because they are lower difficulty? Also, facing seems to be a bit messed up, or not taken into consideration.

Most of the enemies in Vigilantes try to close the distance and attack. There are a couple of types that use cover and keep a distance, like the survivalist sharpshooter, mafia hitman and some of the bosses. The cultist enemies will nearly always rush you, as they don't have firearms.

Facing isn't taken into consideration. There's no way to change facing direction without using AP.

Yes I thought of much, one of the issues of them coming to you all the time is that it really doesn't require you to move much beyond the starting location….I have played maybe 20 missions so far and it felt like I was pecking them off as they came in….though a few were interesting like throwing a grenade when my guys were bunched together.

I don't know if I haven't seen this yet, but maybe add some objectives in the maps to get to in order to sort of force movement, or make starting area dangerous to hunker down in.

EDIT: Will you ad facing into the new game? I think it feels a bit weird without it, too simple. This would add a bit I think.

Yep, it has been mentioned quite a lot. The battles in the next game will be hand crafted, rather than procedurally generated, so there will be more variation on how battles play out.

I'll keep facing in mind. The only thing is, to avoid vastly increasing the amount of work on animation, the characters will need to rotate when attacked. Otherwise, animations have to be in place for every attack type, for every angle.

Here's the first development log for Prometheus Wept. The topic is how Prometheus Wept will improve on the formula set down by Vigilantes.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7yiP9BHxTg
Text: http://timeslipsoftworks.com/prometheus-wept-dev-log-1/

Thanks for the update. Gotta say Prometheus Wept looks more ambitious then your past games. Hope you don't get burned out or spend more then you have to.

Just look at at another game called Copper Dreams.

Hey Couchpotato. Yeah, the intention is to keep pushing the envelope. Prometheus Wept will have a lot of depth, but it won't be super long. Having the code from Vigilantes will drastically shorten development time, but it's still going to take a couple more years.

I'd rather focus on a shorter, memorable experience than dilute quality by trying to make a 40 hour RPG. Will probably end up spending more time on it than intended, but still feeling fresh and highly motivated.

The second development log for Prometheus Wept is out now. This one covers the remaining key areas (with one notable exception) in which Prometheus Wept will improve on its predecessor. Comment, feedback and questions welcome!

Text: http://timeslipsoftworks.com/prometheus-wept-dev-log-2/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1afnKNav7p4

I just gotta say, I'm a sucker for a good game title. Wishlisted.

Let's hope the game is as good as the title :)

Yep! Until the devs decide to change it :P

Hey all. Will use this thread to make some smaller updates between the bigger ones. Comments, questions and suggestions welcome!

This is an early look at the character selection screen, which allows you to name your character, select a model and hopefully, in the future, select skin tone.

https://i.imgur.com/jMfbm9m.jpg

The current aim is to get from the splash screen to the point of starting the game, which includes character creation, both visual and in terms of stats/skill points.

https://i.imgur.com/1lpIcV9.jpg

A first look at a new combat mechanic: the push attack. Here you can see an enemy being pushed into fire. Push attacks will also be useful for dislodging enemies from cover, clustering enemies for explosive attacks, and moving enemies so the environment can be used against them. It currently does half damage and the chance of success is based on the attacker's versus the target's prowess.

Hi again! Visually, the two aspects I'm trying to improve on most from Vigilantes are the environment and UI. Here is the result of some experimentation with lighting, terrain painting and vegetation.

https://i.imgur.com/4AThAOy.jpg

Looking great so far.

Cheers, rune_74. Here are a couple more screenshots of the first mission location from the game:

https://i.imgur.com/LnhCbZK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AS47VJe.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/td95pLi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Kup369s.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PnVVh5s.jpg

Hi all. Hope you're keeping safe and healthy!

At this stage, most of the writing and scripting is complete for the first play area, though the focus hasn't entirely been on these activities. Handling all the events which can happen in-game requires a lot of work on the dialogue system, and in the interest of gameplay variety I've been talking about, a special set of rules has been coded for the finale of this area. The demo will likely comprise this area and one more, but there's still a lot of work to do in terms of balancing, polish and building the infrastructure on which the game will run.

This is all a bit vague, so if you're okay with spoilers, here's some more concrete info on what's happening in the initial play area:

So, Atlas shrugged and Prometheus wept, what did the other ones do? :D

Since @Timeslip is active, ill ask here, can you please put Vigilantes on the Geforce Now service? Real easy to opt in their thing.

Well, Onan masturbated and Heisenberg was completely uncertain what to do.

Hey all. Apologies for slow response - I'm not getting emails to notify me of responses.
@porcozaur - I had a look at geforce now, and based on what I'm reading, it seems like I would need to integrate and configure third party plugins to the game to add it. It doesn't looks like it's just a matter of opting in to the program.

A quick update: The last few weeks I've mainly been building infrastructure to handle changes to the game world, stuff like moving NPCs between locations, configuring and saving them. Trickier than expected, mainly due to the large number of different cases which need to be handled. Today, I starting improving one of the maps for the demo. Nice to get away from coding after a couple of weeks of it. Here's a screenshot.

https://i.imgur.com/z58U9El.png

A screenshot of the resources which can be harvested in Prometheus Wept. The metals are used in armour, weapon and weapon component crafting, while the plants can be used to create combat stimulants.

https://i.imgur.com/VYXhyo9.jpg

Happy new year all! Can't be worse that 2020, right. Right?

Currently working on completing the first of two play areas which will appear in the demo. After that, there's some AI work, some UI work, and balancing work on the second play area. The demo is still expected for Q2/Q3 2021. Here's a screenshot taken during current balancing work on the Drag.

https://i.imgur.com/5xwbZxg.jpg

Hi all. Since the last post, I've worked on improving the appearance of the UI, taught computer controlled characters how to open doors (and not throw a load of errors), and am currently working on the second of two play areas for the demo. You might be able to guess from the updated image below, that this isn't going to be a typical post-apocalyptic RPG which focuses on fighting dirty bandits in a burned out wasteland.

https://i.imgur.com/qleLw0J.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/J4MIgrO.jpg

A refresh of the character screen. Most of the UI screens which will appear in the demo are nearly there.

I like that character screen a lot, a good many categories to keep an eye on, and easy to read.

Hey Carnifex! Cheers - yeah, it seems cleaner to me than the UI in Vigilantes.

Much cleaner, aye. That's a good game though, I enjoyed my first jaunt through Vigilantes and I know I'll be doing a replay at some point.

Hi again! I hope you're keeping safe and healthy.

Previously, I've hinted at a big, unannounced feature of Prometheus Wept. Finally, enough progress has been made to talk about it. To begin, you may be aware that Prometheus Wept takes place in the aftermath of a cyber attack which corrupted most of our digital technology.

The new feature allows the protagonist to digitise their consciousness and enter corrupted computer networks as an avatar. This means that two turn-based battles can occur simultaneously and the actions taken in one battle can affect the other. Typically, this will involve your allies protecting the player character from physical enemies, while your avatar battles the network's security protocols.

Each network is comprised of a number of nodes. Each node controls a system in the physical world, for example a door or defences. When an avatar defeats and captures a node, the player gains control of that system. To make more sense of this, here's a concrete example which will be available in the upcoming demo.

You can find more info and add Prometheus Wept to your wishlist on Steam!

https://i.imgur.com/XU5gnUY.jpg
In the company of your first companion, Ferdia Galloway, you discover an underground complex.

https://i.imgur.com/iiv0Xtm.jpg
You continue along the tunnel until you are accosted by the complex's mysterious guardian.

https://i.imgur.com/J0qy4K0.jpg
There's no way you're getting through the door, but there is a terminal nearby. You might be able infiltrate the network and get control of the door that way, however, when in cyberspace, you can't act in the physical world.

https://i.imgur.com/S5t3eJY.jpg
Here we are. Cyberspace. The terrain is fragmented, but you can use the portals to island hop. You can use viral projection, a ranged attack, on any hostiles. At the bottom centre of the screen there are six buttons, which correspond to abilities called scripts. Scripts cost power to run and you generate power each turn in cyberspace based on your tech stat.

Continued in next post:

https://i.imgur.com/ap35zTx.jpg
Using the ScanNode() script, you discover that Node B is responsible for external defences. The other two nodes control the main door and interior defences. Node B is a good place to start, in case you are attacked in the physical world. Spoiler: you will be.

https://i.imgur.com/KnhweUS.jpg
The node's attack range is greater than yours, but you manage to avoid its attacks. You don't have enough AP to close in and make an attack this turn, so you call the SetMemoryLocation() script, which allows you to relocate to a position up to five tiles away.

https://i.imgur.com/Zw2ANaY.jpg
You've got one last trick up your sleeve. You call the InstantiateCover() script to create cover to help protect from the nodes attacks.

https://i.imgur.com/80dT5ZC.jpg
Control returns to the physical world. All quiet… so far.