STYGIAN: Reign of The Old Ones. A Lovecraftian computer rpg.

Greetings Acolytes!

We've always loved written descriptions in CRPGs. Think of the gore descriptions of Fallout or Planescape: Torment's surreal written depictions of its landscape.

There is always something interesting in that text box that adds another layer of immersion to the game. You can learn how the air smells, notice subtle changes in character's faces, feel tingling sensations under your skin... Right text creates the imaginary stimulant that can't be shown with fancy graphics and merge player better with the game's world.



We view this as an extension of the oral practice of Dungeon Master telling the players what's going on around them in tabletop role playing. We love tabletop roleplaying as any decent RPG developer around and we're writing our descriptive texts honoring Lovecraft as the Game Master of Stygian. His style and lexicon will be present in all of our game text to create the feeling of weird fiction's master is actually your game master in Stygian. We shared some examples below:



"Vein Roots are now infesting Arkham."

This strange leafless red ivy grows out from the ground and strangulates all buildings and edifices, seemingly spurting out of every crevice. It's contorted and serpentine form constitutes a threatening appearance."




The Old Eel House

"This local restaurant, once a bright and cheerful gathering place, is now a haven for hoodlums and fools, a de facto clubhouse for the hard boiled denizens of this doomed town. The uneven chatter within speaks of conspiracy, and the dim light reveals just enough to discourage your approach."




The Grandfather Altar

"This towering depiction of one of the Elder Gods perches atop the naked base of a shattered statue. Fashioned from scraps of wood and metal, awkwardly fastened together with nautical rope, it displays the twisted aesthetics of it's makers, men clearly cursed with some disease of the brain."

Greetings Fellow Occultists!

In this update, we'd like to ask your opinion about some of the stretch goals we have in mind.

Before announcing our ruinous plans, we wish to explain a decision we took about the hierarchy of our stretch goals. Since Stygian was Greenlit on Steam, we've been approached both by our brother acolytes and private companies on the matter of language localisation of game content. With the launch of our Kickstarter, interest has escalated, and we've decided to include the localisation process as a natural part of the development of Stygian. With this out of the way, we will now focus our efforts on content, content, and more content!

Let's have a look.

The Town of Dunwich (Expansion Area)

The ramshackle hamlet of Dunwich awaits beyond the eddying mists. This isolated farming village hosts an unspeakable horror somewhere among the warrens of tumbledown warehouses and shacks. Perhaps a relaxing tour of this charming burg would provide a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Arkham...



Can you feel its presence?

We plan to add the Town of Dunwich to the game as an additional area with its own unique quest line, NPCs, items and events.

Dreamlands (New Game Systems and Narrative Content)

Do you think that sleep may offer some respite from the horrors of the Black Day? Not in Stygian. You'll think twice before slipping into the realm of Morpheus, for another world of wonder and terror awaits in the Dreamlands!



Rest you may find, but not in dreams. Rather, in death...

We're planning to implement a set of Dreamlands experiences to add yet another layer of engrossing storytelling and gameplay to Stygian, while giving a unique edge to familiar rest mechanics.

When resting from your exertions, you will be able to enter the Dreamlands and achieve different goals by unveiling the mysteries of your ancestors in this other world.

Dreamlands will include both adventure game elements and puzzle-like combat encounters. The unique perks you gain in the Dreamlands will also be reflected in the waking world of Stygian.

Spell-crafting (New Game Systems)

Would you like to create your own spells to thwart your foes and possibly hasten your own demise? With spell-crafting you'll be able to cobble together your own incantations from the Occult Phrases you've previously learned.



The more you master the Art, the closer to the Abyss you tread.

It will take some time to balance the strengths and penalties of magick spells, but this forbidden knowledge will grant you access to new survival strategies and immerse you even further in the Mythos!

What do you think? Please write your priorities to the comments section below!

Greetings Acolytes!

Thanks for your participation! It's wonderful to see such excitement and curiosity towards what comes next for Stygian

The order of our stretch goals is as follows:



You can click on our Stretch Goals to learn more about them.

And with your permission we'd like to repeat our decision on Localisation Stretch Goals, in case some of our backers have missed our previous update:

Since Stygian was Greenlit on Steam, we've been approached both by interested professional individuals and private companies on the matter of language localisation of game content. With the launch of our Kickstarter, interest has escalated, and we've decided to include the localisation process as a natural part of the development of Stygian. Now we see the French, German, Spanish and Russian localisations of Stygian as a stronger possibility and decided to focus on additional content. Please contact us via message or e-mail for further information.

See you in our next update!

That is not dead which can eternal be played.

Greetings fellow Arkham residents!

In this update we'd like to give you additional details about some of our gifts and their connection to the game's lore.

Merry Folk from the Stars

Written by the mysterious Edmund Whateley and published by the equally enigmatic publishing house Cultic Press, "Merry Folk from the Stars" caused a wave of hysteria among children across the country. Some see the unholy success that came by the publication of this cursed book as the final nail in the coffin of our society.



Nothing is known about the book's mysterious author Whateley

Parents all over the country reported hallucinations, aggressive behavior, catatonic trances and even worse symptoms displayed by their children who read the book. Further complicating this dismal situation, Merry Folk could only be the beginning of what is yet to come...



Some say the book has a "hypnotic" quality

There is a unique quest in the game concerning the shadowy author of Merry Folk and the clues you'll learn from the actual book will help you complete it.

Merry Folk Figurines



We're proud of these little rascals and wanted to shed more light on their design process. You can check their detailed 3D models in 360 degrees from the link below:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/38282269/merry-folk-from-the-stars



3D designs of our collector figures

Special Edition Game Tome



Some photos of the game tome no.001


From the beginning we had the image of a hand made Necronomicon-like leather game box in our minds for the collector's edition of Stygian. As far as we know, this is a first in video game history. All this magic happens with the experience and the artisan-ship of one person: Master Sebo.



Behold! The re-animator of dead skin is at work.

All the special edition game tomes will be manufactured by the veteran leather worker, Master Sebo. Your tome will be unique to you due to the variations in the leather stocks and the organic nature of the manufacturing process.

And at last; our cultist robe speaks for itself. You may have realized that we're wearing the same robes in our Kickstarter video.



With this robe, you'll get all the attention in esoteric rituals
See you in the next update!

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Greetings dear listeners of Radio New England,

In this update we'd like to give you more information about the composing process of Stygian along with sharing some of our haunted melodies with you. Our composer and long time collaborator Asli Kobaner is working tirelessly on making the auditory world of Stygian blend with the other elements of the game, such as visuals and emotional themes.



Stygian's Composer Asli Kobaner
Let's hear her thoughts on the music of Stygian:

"Hi Friends! I'm Asli, a servant of the Sunken Lord just like you.

The music that shall accompany you in your journey in Stygian will hopefully materialize through my humble agency. I'd like to underline the word “humble” since I can define myself as a humble gamer, though an old and avid Lovecraft fan.

https://youtu.be/VCeFKs2Vc2s

In the beginning, when we started brainstorming about the musical essence of Stygian, we extracted some key words: mystery, haunting, occult, desolation, tragedy... Bringing our lonely, forsaken world to life has been and still is a challenging task to fulfill. Those key emotions that will probably help you being immersed by the strange worlds of Lovecraft also led me to explore their musical substitutes: from dense textures to simple melodies, repeating rhythms to droning ambiances, all kinds of functional material. Especially through juxtaposition of these, multiple layers of distinct material, I aim to emphasize the contrast between the different planes of Stygian, different phases of the Stygian experience, thus depict its colorful diversity.

In this journey, I hope to take strength from the legacy of contemporary composers, as well as some cult examples of vintage game music. And of course, from the dark lore of metal that take its strength from our lord Cthulhu!"

You can find a work in progress theme we share just for our backers below.

See you in the next update!

We'll dance restlessly in the halls of the Sunken Lord.

Greetings fellow practitioners of the dark arts!

Don't we all love skills in RPGs?



Skills reflect your choices, aspirations and experiences in Stygian. Different combinations will open different paths to reach your goals. With twelve skills and numerous perks, players will have many opportunities to shape their own fate and face the challenges of Stygian.

Let's have a look at our Skills along with some of their related Perks.

Investigation: The skill of observing one's surroundings; finding clues, hidden items and subtle connections.

Related Perks: Photography, Tracking, Questioning

Occult: The skill of comprehending the unknown; knowledge of the mythos and the other realities. Occult skill is obligatory for casting spells and performing rituals.

Related Perks: Spell-weaving, Ritual Mastery, Sacrifice

Psychology: The skill of sensing the motives of others, knowing the mechanics of the mind and stabilizing one's and others' mental health.

Related Perks: Psychoanalysis, Mental Barrier, Therapy

Speechcraft: The skill of influencing others with words, creating sympathy or fear in them and performing the art of lying.

Related Perks: Manipulation, Intimidation, Seduction

Melee: The skill of hand to hand fighting and close quarters combat with melee weapons.

Related Perks: Martial Artist, Fencing, Exotic Weapons

Firearms: The skill of operating all kinds of firearms from pistols to machine guns.

Related Perks: Gunslinger, Rifle Expert, Special Weaponry

http://i.imgur.com/tt2JV3b.gifv

A player character using his Investigation skill to learn more about the cause of death of the strange fossilized creature

Science: The skill of understanding the rational world, making inventions, grasping the principles of scientific facts and researching mythos beings to find weaknesses in their metabolisms.

Related Perks: Advanced Autopsy, Great Inventor, Metabolism Expert

Stealth: The skill of not being seen and heard, moving without being detected and eavesdropping.

Related Perks: Vanishing, Silent Running, Assassination

Survival: The skill of withstanding pain and extreme conditions.

Related Perks: Snake Eater, Camping, Sentry

Medicine: The skill of understanding the human body, curing diseases and stabilizing one's and others' physical health.

Related Perks: Xeno-Botany, Drug Expert, Purifier

Athletics: The skill of moving gracefully, dodging attacks and performing athletic manoeuvres.

Related Perks: Escape Artist, Exceptional Reflexes, Daredevil

Subterfuge: The skill of dirty tricks, lock-picking and stealing.

Related Perks: Cheat, Master Thief, Dirty Fighting

http://i.imgur.com/4Q7pPNR.gifv

An academic character using his Science skill on a wrecked fire engine to salvage some machine parts

Next Update:

Beauty in Madness: Background Art of Stygian

Greetings fellow admirers of the macabre!

In this update we'd like to give you more information on the creation process of our environment art along with sharing some images from different stages of production. Our environment artist Elwira Pawlikowska is responsible for breathing life into the eerie landscapes you'll visit in Stygian. Her painstaking, authentic pencil drawing style and background in architecture made her the perfect choice for Stygian's backgrounds.



Our Environment Artist Elwira Pawlikowska



Our creative director Can decided Elwira was the right choice after seeing such illustrations of the artist.


Let's hear Elwira's thoughts on the process:

"Hi there lone fighters against the forces of darkness! I'm Elwira - the environment artist responsible for giving the right shape to the Stygian's settings.

What was needed was a hand drawn 2D world reflecting the mood of Lovecraft's universe, saturated with decay, hopelessness and madness.

The first step was "research" ie becoming familiar with book and newspaper illustrations "from the era" (1920s), analyzing approach to contours, shading and texturing. It also meant browsing through plenty of images related with US industrial districts from the prohibition time and ... photos of extremely weird mushrooms.









The next step was making precise pencil drawings of my own designs (buildings, vehicles, plants, environment in general). After scanning them it was time for "digital inking" with a graphic tablet, which enabled the graphic crew to work freely with all the files, but also helped to maintain a retro feel.





Many visual aspects were already carefully thought out by the game designers from the beginning, however there were still space for my imagination! The best moment was elaborating all the tiny little details of the ruined city, indicating, that something dreadful has happened there. As an architect of education I'm much more accustomed to creating than devastating. Thus creation of devastation for Stygian awoke dormant areas of my consciousness..."



It's great to have Elwira on board!

Scrawled said:

Greetings fellow admirers of the macabre!

Click to expand...

I'm sold! Please take my money

Greetings fellow heretics!

It seems we have reached our funding goal! We'll see what the last week will bring but you should know one thing: We've achieved this together! Your support and enthusiasm always motivates us to do the best. Thank you!

Now, does this mean the updates will stop? Of course not! Let's continue with our portrait and concept artist Ege Bilgen and what he'd like to share about his work on Stygian:





A previous work of Ege Bilgen

"Greetings worshippers and fanatics!

Perhaps some of you have noticed that a magnificent twilight is upon us.

Yes, it is indeed the sign of our encroaching doom; a beautiful storm of sweet, all-encompassing sorrow. As the maddening end draws ever nearer, let me express dear fans and supporters, what an honour and pleasure it's been for me, your humble portrait artist Ege Bilgen, to have taken part in this dark journey thus far.



All of our portraits are hand drawn by pencil before being scanned for the digital coloring process

That's right, I have been... innocently requested, shall we say, to create character portraits for Stygian (There wasn't any form of dark ritual involved of course, let me assure you). Now you might inquire, how does one exactly proceed with such a task? What kind of process goes into capturing the tragedy of a burdened and afflicted soul?



Final Version


Well, it all starts with an idea, a conceptual insight for a character. "An honorable yet beaten man, at the end of his ropes." the dark voices whisper. "A woman, proud and wise, yet she underestimates." Now the voices cackle gleefully. "This one's a naughty one. He's a natural. " The voices hang heavy in my mind.



I receive many such depictions. After a slight moment of feeling sorry for what the Old Ones might have in store for them, I immediately begin to imagine. I imagine these souls first at their best. I see a heroic nod of assuring stoicism, or a euphoric smile of untainted joy perhaps. Then...well, then I take it all away.



The innocence fades, their dreams vanish, and dwindling hopes of absolution become ash in agonizing cries. Now in my mind's eye I look at these characters again. I carefullly look to see what's left of them, and what precisely made them to go on. Sometimes the answer is quite reassuring, and sometimes... not so much. With a heavy heart then I try to make you witness as well, as far as my humble talents allow me to do so.



A strange and hopeless twilight of madness is upon the world of Stygian, and as the characters there somehow keep fighting on, I tried to imagine them staring right into it. Some of them endured many grave losses which cannot be easily compensated. Some of them found new strengths of frightening darkness and intensity. As the portrait artist of Stygian, I hope I was able to capture and reflect all of this adequately, and you will enjoy what I have created for you, dear supporters."



It's a privilege to have talented Mr. Bilgen on board

Greetings Denizens of the Doomed Earth!

In this update we'd like to share more information on the advantages and side effects of Mental Conditions in Stygian's challenging combat scenarios.

As we emphasized before, sometimes it helps to be mad in a world gone mad!




Mania

Increases Action Points but gives the character a small chance to lose control and attack the nearest enemy unit in combat.

Paranoia

Increases Reaction but gives the character a small chance to attack an ally in combat.

Schizophrenia

Increases Mental Resistance but gives the character a small chance to enter a catatonic state and lose a combat round.

Psychopathy

Increases Critical Chance but gives the character a small chance to lose a certain amount of Sanity after killing a foe.

Depression

Increases Supernatural Defense but gives the character a small chance to lose his Physical Defense bonus entirely for a turn.

Obsession

Slightly increases the success chance of a repeated combat action but gives the character a small chance to automatically repeat a failed combat action until getting a success or passing a High Difficulty Will check.

Please note that all these effects are subject to change and are still being tested.

Thanks a lot guys!!!

Your interest and support has been essential for our kickstarter campaign. Now that the campaign is successful, you'll be hearing a lot from us in the months to come.

It was and will be a pleasure.

You'll learn more on our thoughts concerning expansions in today's update!

Our Best Regards,

Well done all! I backed this game and I'm happy to see it come to life (or un-life

I look forward to seeing the "fruiting bodies" of your labour

Congrats Scrawled and the rest of the team! I'm happy to be part of the kickstarter backers. Sorry to see you were just off the Dreamlands goal. You think there is any chance you might still add it to the game considering how close it were?

Greetings Fellow Acolytes of the Sunken Lord!

Let's start our update with highlights of an in-depth interview by David McWilliam of the Twisted Tales blog with Stygian's creative director Can Oral.



DM: Are there CRPGs that you particularly admire and take inspiration from? Or do you draw more from the imaginative worlds created for pen and paper RPGs?

CO: I can say that we draw from both worlds. At the CRPG side, we have been analyzing titles of the early 90s like Dark Sun and Ultima Martian Dreams to the more contemporary CRPGs like Pillars of Eternity and Shadowrun. We aim to create a unique experience with Stygian but we are very interested in how other teams crafted their worlds, created a sense of progress, approached their systems, etc.

I believe if you know where to look and have some patience, you can unearth incredible mechanics, approaches, and solutions from the history of CRPGs. On the other hand; tabletop role-playing, with its endless variety and freedom, is also an equally productive exploration field for Team Cultic. I can easily name settings like Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, WoD, Nephilim, Call of Cthulhu, and such among my pen and paper inspirations for Stygian.

DM: This is a very unusual take on post-apocalyptic settings and reminds me somewhat of Curst in Carceri from Planescape: Torment. However, it feels as though there is more of a sense of slow-burning dread than a frenetic fight to save the town. How have you approached pacing in Stygian?

CO: A very true observation. Stygian's human characters have already accepted their doom. The surviving folk in Arkham lost any hope of seeing the sunlight or their loved ones again long ago. Most of them also lost their minds while trying to face this unbearable truth. Others struggle to hold on to their miserable existences by going to the extremes, whether in belief, in pleasure, or in power... The pacing of Stygian will come from the player character's urgent need to reach the mysterious Dismal Man before losing his tracks forever.

DM: Stygian is described as a game of horror, madness, and loss. How do you explore these themes while allowing the player to make progress?

CO: We like to emphasize that Stygian is not about winning, but about “enduring” in terms of progression. From the beginning, we wanted our players to feel the sense of progression in continuing the journey somehow, rather than owning the game's meta. If you are alive, not completely insane, and still going, that is progress in Stygian. I believe there is a survivalist (and maybe a bit masochistic) satisfaction in that kind of design and balancing approach.

You can read the rest of the interview here



We have heard your calls brother acolytes and have taken the necessary steps to work alongside with HumbleBundle to make Stygian available for pre-orders through our website. You'll also be able to donate to Stygian via PayPal with this system. We'll share more on this matter soon.

Project Delegation

As most of you know Cultic Games is an Istanbul based development studio. In order to start our Kickstarter campaign we've chosen a team member who is residing in a Kickstarter approven country (Germany in our case) for project ownership.

Due to legal reasons, our current project owner Ata Bugra Ucertas is delegating the project ownership to another Germany residing team member Senem Gokce Ogultekin who is aiding Team Cultic with the musical compositions of Stygian.

Thanks for your efforts Ata!

A big applause to Gokce!

See you in the next update!



On PayPal and Slacker backers

Greetings from the fathomless catacombs of İstanbul!

We now announce the "Cultist of the Week" contest which will start at December 5, 2016 and last until February 27, 2017.

All we want from you is to send us your unusual photos (or videos) depicting you as a member of the Secret Society in your own way.

In this thirteen weeks period, we will select a photo (or video) every week from the pool of your submissions, just like the gif of the cultist on the hoverboard located below this description. At the end of the contest, one of the thirteen contestant cultists -whom will be chosen by you- will receive the dark gift: Your portrait as a cultist in Stygian. The proclamation of the damned will be at March 13, 2017, 13:00 (3:00 PM, UTC +3, Turkey).

The story behind the submitted art must be creative in order for the contestant to be competitive among fellow cultists.

Submit your photographs and videos to info@culticgames.com with your name attached. Feel free to leave a message to us if you wish.

Dark regards from Team Cultic

Greetings Fellow Dreamers of our Glorious Fall!

As you know, true art can only come from suffering (lot's of hard work is a plus though). We've decided to make this update all about the new art assets of Stygian that we developed after the success of our campaign. For better or worse, you're responsible for them! Take credit dear cultist.



Archetypal PC models with various stages of detail



Textures and shadows are absent except the Investigator

As you can see we're altering our characters to fit better with our vision of a more classically stylized game world.



And here you can see our new approach to character animations. We've changed our animation software, we're now working full time with more animation artists and we're extremely excited about what's to come!

On the downside, we often find ourselves doing crazy looking body movements and gestures to express our characters to animators. We warn you, don't make your best deep one moves in a glass office partition. People look...



No texturing, test coloring.

Speaking of the deep ones, let's check the evolution of our interpretation of the iconic creature. As you can see, the gills took most of the time!

Basic Lighting Tests in Riverside (VIDEO):

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/014/743/954/696625d7560de941971e71c5dac7beab_h264_high.mp4

Without darkness, there can be no light. On second thought, forget about the light. It's boring and almost non-existent in Stygian.

We're working on a light engine for dark areas such as catacombs and crypts. Get ready to enter some combat scenarios holding your pistol on one hand and your good old lantern on the other!



Honest Bill's Pawn Shop

There can not be an art update without a glimpse of our backgrounds, right? Just don't ask about the fate of Honest Bill, we prefer not to talk about it...

And we'd like to conclude our update with a character portrait. Since we're working on his dialogues these days, let us introduce you the owner of Schmidt's Antiques, Isidore Schmidt. He has a thing for keys...



Thanks for your support and interest!

By the way, if you would like to participate the "Cultist of the Week" contest, please visit the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/stygianthegame/posts/1816509095295189

We'll meet amidst the black seas of infinity.

Team Cultic

Welcome to the Fathomless Depths of Stygian's Inventory System!

Greetings Fellow Collectors of Eldritch Artifacts!

In this update we'd like to share Stygian's inventory system.

Let's start with a video showcasing the system, and then talk more about its features and our design approach.

https://youtu.be/rrlcfVUgjhQ

Stygian's inventory consists of the following sections:

Paper Doll - shows all the items the player currently has equipped, including weapons, outfits, artifacts, a backpack and things of that sort. We are pretty sensitive about customization and aim to display the player's choices with as many visual representations as possible. We're also designing unique models for special items such as rare weapons and gadgets. We are keenly aware of the fact that we RPG players love to play with our dolls, preferably voodoo dolls...


Statistics - shows almost all of the secondary statistics which affect combat and exploration. Potential effects of the items will be displayed as a tool-tip in the form of colored numeric modifiers.

We haven't forgotten you Min-Max scholars
​

Party inventory - shows all items in the party's possession. Stygian uses a shared inventory system so you won't need to spend time shifting carried items from one character to another. Less item management, more black magic, count us in!

Did we tell you that we're also fans of adventure games?
​

Item category tabs - grant easy access to all the items you'll need to prolong your hopeless struggle against the shapeless horrors of the abyss. Tabs are divided into the following categories: Weapons and ammo, outfits, consumables, tools and gadgets, artifacts, books and tomes, quest-related items, miscellaneous, and of course the favorites tab, which can be customized by the player.


Quick items - allows you to set certain items to be instantly available during combat and exploration. Don't forget to add your favorite smokes to one of the quick item slots. Cigarettes are essential for reducing stress but remember not to smoke them all because the Cigs have become Arkham's rising currency!


As you can see, we tried to build upon the inventory features typical of western role playing games while balancing convenience and thematic flavor. We also chose to use larger icons for our items in order to include more detail, increase immersion, and show off the efforts of our talented artists.

Finally, for the closure of this unholy update, Cultic Games present you the talented leather artisan, Master Sebo, working on our Special Edition Game Tomes! These hand made books of madness will bring doom to your neighborhood when the game is out.

No human skin was used in production of our special edition tomes
​

So please share your opinions with us fellow cultists and seekers of the forbidden knowledge. Are we walking the path of desolation gracefully?

Until we meet again, sailing through the tides of the black unknown...

Team Cultic