Druidstone - Into Beta

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest has entered beta.

Druidstone has reached beta!

Petri Hakkinen April 10, 2019 Uncategorized
Having worked super hard on the game for the past weeks, we are proud to announce that Druidstone has hit beta and is well on its way to release this Spring. Before you ask, the beta will be a closed one and we will work with a few chosen betatesters we know. This has worked well in the past and we'd like to continue the tradition. Below is an official press release we just sent out. We'll blog more about the beta and about recent happenings on the development side later this week.

Until then!



### DRUIDSTONE BETA PRESS RELEASE ###

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest has reached beta!

ESPOO, FINLAND - APRIL 10, 2019. Indie game developer Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd., founded by the co-creators of the critically acclaimed Legend of Grimrock games, is proud to announce that their upcoming tactical RPG, Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest is getting close to launch. By reaching beta, the game now includes all game features, enemies and levels present in the final game. "Druidstone is a brand new IP for us and we are excited to see how the fans of Grimrock will react to our take on the turn-based formula," says Juho Salila (co-founder/artist). "The game is already very near shipping quality and the feedback we get from beta testers will allow us to polish every aspect of the game until everything is perfect and shining," continues Petri Hakkinen (co-founder/designer-programmer). The beta will be closed, with access given to a carefully selected group of people. Keeping the beta closed allows the developers to personally interact with the testers, and thus get more accurate feedback.

Ctrl Alt Ninja has been working on the game in various forms for four years. The success of the creators' previous titles provided the team the luxury of trying out different game ideas and working on several prototypes before they decided on Druidstone: the deeply tactical turn-based game of their dreams.

Druidstone, to be released in Spring 2019 for Windows, is a labor of love for its makers, who grew up playing old school computer and tabletop games. A tactical, single-player, turn-based roleplaying game, Druidstone combines the best qualities of modern RPGs with the elegance of tactical boardgames, presented in lush, colorful graphics that make its fantasy world come to life. Every action counts, and careful tactical thinking is a must, as players fight their way through the game's painstakingly hand-crafted missions, which are as beautiful as they are challenging.

The peace and quiet of Menhir Forest is threatened by a cancerous corruption that spreads through it. Caught in the flow of events are Aava, the missing archdruid's daughter, who must now shoulder her father's responsibilities, Leonhard, a Warden of the forest with a mysterious purpose, and Oiko, the failed Red Priest who is living proof that one may be very smart without being particularly wise. Along the way, they meet companions and villains, whose unique personalities and abilities make every encounter memorable.




Get ready to venture forth and uncover the secrets of the Menhir Forest!

More information.

I'm looking forward to this game. I enjoy playing Druids as I get older. Never played them when I was younger in crpgs or table top rpgs. Also, a good old forest is one of my favorite settings.

I wonder when they announce it will be Epic Store exclusive?

I hope not; but a gog exclusive would work for myself
--
Would be interesting if they offered on all three major platforms and then a few months later gave sales number per store

Originally Posted by Gokyabgu
I wonder when they announce it will be Epic Store exclusive?

Yep, I'll bet one of Epic's Chinese agents is stacking bundles of crisp bills into a suitcase as we speak.





But seriously, I think this looks good, and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

When, when, when? I want it! Well not the beta, the released game.

I'm all on board for this being a great old games exclusive!!! Make it so!

Good developers, I'm sure this game won't disappoint.

never played the original. any good? is this an arpg?

Wow… it's like they hit every point I love seeing in a video game. Can hardly wait for this one!

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
never played the original. any good? is this an arpg?

Original? It's a new IP from the makers of Legend of Grimrock and it's not released yet.

It will have:
- turn-based combat
- a party (you start with premade Leonard, Aava and Oiko, who are the main characters, but there are companions that can join later)
- a classless progression system***
- non-combat puzzles
- hand-crafted content (aka no procedural map or missions)
- the website also talks of a custom level editor for mission/campaigns.

There is a few months old gameplay trailer here.

Also, when Rock, Paper, Shutgun tried it 4 months ago, they faceplanted… (it's actually a good preview)

edit:
*** The website says classless, but I get the impression reading other things that the characters have a limited pool of abilities they can invest "points" in that aren't necessarily available on all characters.

I'm thinking of this then

Hmmm I believe I played that one in maybe nineteen ninety five or so? I remember it being pretty difficult, not sure if I ever replayed it.

Originally Posted by SSIGuy
Wow… it's like they hit every point I love seeing in a video game. Can hardly wait for this one!

I know, right. yes! YES! YES! but without it being tickbox design.

Originally Posted by azarhal
- a classless progression system

Oh for ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff fffffff…

Originally Posted by azarhal
- a classless progression system***

edit:
*** The website says classless, but I get the impression reading other things that the characters have a limited pool of abilities they can invest "points" in that aren't necessarily available on all characters.

Ah, pheeeew. That was a close one.

Even still though:

Originally Posted by azarhal
(you start with premade Leonard, Aava and Oiko, who are the main characters, but there are companions that can join later)

Is a bit annoying, was hoping it would be character creation over forced story characters. Optimisism level reduced from 95% to 55%. Hopefully when we get to see exacly how the character building system works that will raise up a bit though, buzzwords can be very misleading.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
Is a bit annoying, was hoping it would be character creation over forced story characters. Optimisism level reduced from 95% to 55%. Hopefully when we get to see exacly how the character building system works that will raise up a bit though, buzzwords can be very misleading.

It currently have character levels and you get to buy a new ability at level up from the character's abilities pool (which expand as you level up) and you can improve those abilities via new gear and a type of missions rewards (similar to skill point rewards). One dev said on Steam that you can change the characters's names though, but appearance seems static.

They already altered it a lot so it might still change, although I expect the premade characters to stay considering they are tied to the story.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
Is a bit annoying, was hoping it would be character creation over forced story characters. Optimisism level reduced from 95% to 55%. Hopefully when we get to see exacly how the character building system works that will raise up a bit though, buzzwords can be very misleading.

I hadn't realised it was a party of fixed protagonists. My interest has now dropped as well. Still curious about it though given Grimrock was great.

Considering how good the Grimrock games were, I'm pretty certain this one will be well worth playing. Turn-based, tactical, and a story likely as rich as either of their earlier games, this one will possibly be far superior to the Grimrock offerings, at least for me. Fingers and toes crossed!

They have learned their PR lessons. Hype, hype, hype.

original???? This developer are the folks who made grimlock (1,2). Game is unrelated to grimlock.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
never played the original. any good? is this an arpg?

Originally Posted by you
original???? This developer are the folks who made grimlock (1,2). Game is unrelated to grimlock.

Again, I thought it was a remake of Druids and probably mixed it up as a portmanteau of it and Bloodstone.