Warriorlock - Steam Page Up & September Release

The Warriorlock (formerly known as The Meridian Shard) now has a Steam page and is releasing September 14th.

There's only one way in, and one way out. Can you survive Carrion Road?

The Warriorlock™ is a story-driven dramedy RPG that will take you on an escapism fantasy quest–beyond the mind's eye of a young man trapped in crisis–into the wilds of a dangerous and enchanted realm, where empowered with might, magic and perhaps a few good companions, he may find the strength and courage to battle the darkness within.

Featuring a glorious synthesis of core RPG mechanics, and a visual story presentation teeming with memorable characters, mystery, magic, monsters, merriment and mayhem—this is one tall tale that just must be told.

Key Features

• Interactive storybook presentation with a rich text narrative and character dialogue.
• Detailed journey path comprised of meticulously-crafted, individual scene art parallaxes.
• Optional party members, with up to four characters in party.
• Visible encounter shadows that 'cloak' enemy type and weight until physically contacted.
• Dynamic turn-based combat system with stat-driven turn-order, turn wait gauge, action point-locked talents, bribe option and victory item drops.
• Sophisticated chance spawning system that randomizes item discovery and rare chest loot.
• Convenient 'save anywhere' option, with player restored to exact save location.
• Created, written, designed and developed by one person.

Thanks daveyd!

More information.

- Sophisticated chance spawning system that randomizes item discovery and rare chest loot.
- Convenient 'save anywhere' option, with player restored to exact save location.

Why. Why random generator, why? This leads to savescum.

Visible encounter shadows that 'cloak' enemy type and weight until physically contacted.

Count me confused.

Steam tags:
Sexual content
Dark Comedy

Nice, but I'm still not convinced.


Official site: https://warriorlock.com/

Interactive storybook.. they lost me there.

I get a Dink Smallwood vibe from this one.

After Pillars of Eternity bored me to death with its desperate seriousness (thanks Obam… I mean… Avellone!), I crave for a RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously, like the good old games from the good old days…

"I warrant your attention?! Oh frabjous day, callooh callay!"

Originally Posted by joxer
Why. Why random generator, why? This leads to savescum.

In general, I'd agree with you, as a I'm not a fan of randomized loot… But in this game I don't think it matters all that much. I open a chest and find a drown spell scroll, you might open it and find a fire spell or a piece of jewelry that lets you regenerate… But it doesn't really matter here. The game is short enough and not that hard (unless you solo it like I did) so you'll be fine with whatever. I think it may be set up so that you never receive the same rare item twice (I didn't); either that or there's just a big enough pool of items that the chances are very small… So at least you won't be going "Not another drown spell!", because odds are you'll find one, at most.

Originally Posted by joxer
Count me confused.

It just means you will see all wandering monsters as generic shadows which you can either touch and go into combat with or avoid. Celestian Tales does the same thing.

But once you get into a fight, you can bribe (non-boss) enemies to evade combat if you want. They'll require a certain amount of gold based on enemy type, I think. It's an interesting way to handle it compared to the typical JRPG.. even if a couple slimes taking your lunch money doesn't seem very plausible it's better than the 'try to run with random chance of success' mechanic that a lot of 16 bit JRPGs use.

Originally Posted by joxer
Nice, but I'm still not convinced.

It's obviously not a porno game; no explicit sex or anything. There's just some innuendo and jokes. To give an idea: main character's name is Harry Longshaft. And I think one of the potential party members has comically large breasts.

Originally Posted by Archangel
Interactive storybook.. they lost me there.

Well, I've played the game and honestly don't know what the developer is talking about… There's a few cutscenes with some text descriptions and you'll get to make a few dialogue choices throughout the game, but it's not a gamebook, visual novel, or CYOA by any stretch. Basically it plays like an old school turn-based JRPG. I guess he's talking about the aesthetic because beyond the opening scene it's not a particularly wordy game or anything.

Originally Posted by Winterfart
I get a Dink Smallwood vibe from this one.

After Pillars of Eternity bored me to death with its desperate seriousness (thanks Obam… I mean… Avellone!), I crave for a RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously, like the good old games from the good old days…

"I warrant your attention?! Oh frabjous day, callooh callay!"

I'm hoping that Mutant Year Zero fills that bill. It's looking pretty snarky.

Turn based combat with an interactive story, hmmm. Well, if it's implemented like, say, the Trails in the Sky games, I might give it a whirl.

the music on that steam video is EPIC !!
back to the 80s …

Looks bad, but hey it might work out. Will wait for reviews, though.

description sounds like the kind of thing one writes 2h3n fluffing up th3ir resume to make it seem more important.

Originally Posted by aweigh
description sounds like the kind of thing one writes 2h3n fluffing up th3ir resume to make it seem more important.

That could very well be, but then I think most game developers do that to some degree. They are trying to sell a product after all, and in a very crowded market.

I posted longer impressions in awhile back in a Meridian Shard thread. I think it's a pretty good game; nothing amazing, just "good for what is is". And if you read my impressions I missed out on all of the party members; as I accidentally soloed the game

However, my biggest complain was that the game was rather short… Although the developer is planning to do expansions and DLC (which was apparently part of the KS rewards for higher tiers), it feels like the first chapter in story that should be longer. We don't yet know what the launch price is, but I would say anything more than $10 would definitely be overpriced.

Finally another game I backed many years ago was released. Seems to be a good week with projects considered vaporware have suddenly come to life again.

Hello fellow rpg and otherworldly ladies and gents. I am the writer/developer of The Warriorlock. First, I want to thank Dave aka daveyd for communicating these updates and 'news' on his own time. This is very humbling for a guy working all alone in the darkness for years to manifest his creations. I feel completely insignificant most of the time, until I see efforts by people like Dave. Thank you!

To help communicate further to others interested in this little gem, and in the spirit of absolute honesty, and not as a salesman, I will lay it down here straight from the guy who made the game.

The Warriorlock is all about a story. Not just some text wall lore that takes itself far too seriously, but a story with characters that the writer actually has true endearment for; a real emotional investment. As you read through the scenes and dialogue, you will get a sense of my meaningful intentions. I wanted to create an experience where the player feels as though they're walking through the pages of an isometric picture book, while interacting with its characters and creatures. And of course, have some of those characters be ridiculous. I really just want to make people smile, and hopefully even get a laugh out of them along the way. It's a small thing to many, but it means a lot to me.

This is a real and true passion for me; writing stories and bringing them to life through interactive games. I can't even tell you honestly how many hours went into the concept, story, programming and art assets, as I lost track long ago, but it is into the 1000's. It has all truly come from the heart.

Regarding the game's features, they are very simple, as I work alone, but I do try very hard to implement as many basic rpg-ism's as I can with the little $ and resources I have. Things like randomized loot were implemented because I found over the years that for me personally, I didn't really like knowing exactly what was inside each chest, or around every corner. I liked the idea that the other person playing the same story/game as me on the same day would likely have collected completely different items, which would alter our experiences slightly. I took great care to try and ensure that there were no 'useless' items and that the rare items were really rare and unpredictable in their availability.

Using shadows to represent enemies was my compromise at moving away from classic random encounters toward something in between, where you can 'see' the enemy, but you can't know what they are until you actually make physical contact with them. I feel that this really satisfies the players on either side of the fence. I personally find most random encounters trying and at times jarring, but I understand that many people love them dearly. So what can you do to please everyone? Nothing, but you can at least try to find a middle ground.

The story of The Warriorlock can be played through in a few hours, as I also wanted each player to actually get from start to finish in one play, like watching a feature-length film, or mini-series, where you digest it all together at once. Also, it takes years of rendering and composting to make each of the background parallaxes and scenes necessary, so to implement additional content will take time, but I am working on it.

All in all, I'm really, honestly pleased with The Warriorlock for what it is; a lighthearted turn-based dramedy story with basic rpg mechanics and great characters. I will continue writing and developing games, and am already working on the DLC and extra areas for a future update of The Warriorlock in 2019. I plan to have a standard price point of $14.99, as this rate will be sustainable over time for me so I can develop more content and future titles. Steam takes a chunk of that $14.99, and then taxes & fees leaves me in the end with about $9 CDN per game sold at full price. I believe I'll be very lucky this year to sell 5000 units. Much of these funds will go toward the next game, and staying alive while I get us there. It is an investment in creativity, and I do not take that lightly. I am always very grateful for your support in any shape it comes in. If you play and enjoy the game, then please share it where you can. I have no marketing budget, and I am still learning each day how to better communicate my work with others.

I want to thank you all for your feedback, and for taking the time to read this text wall of lore.

Cheers!

Justin