Basilisk Games - The State of Basilisk

Basilisk Games have given an update via their forums about the next game they are working on (science fiction rpg) and its current state of development.

The State of the Basilisk, Summer 2017

Just a quick update to let everyone know what were doing (this is so much easier than answering individual emails and messages).

We are currently working on our Next RPG. Maybe you haven't heard, but we're making a sci-fi RPG and it's coming along splendidly.

As of this week, we are "engine complete"! That means things like combat, stats and skills, item management, environment interaction- all that is done. The first 20 minutes are playable! There is still much to do in terms of game content, but overall we kicked a lot of ass over the summer coding marathon. It's exciting to finally see this new RPG up and running!

This sci-fi RPG is really unique in several aspects, in that nothing quite like it has been done before as far as I know (certainly I'll be told otherwise when it's released). But more than that- this idea really predates Eschalon. The original ruleset that birthed Eschalon was a pen-and-paper sci-fi game that I worked on in the late 90s, so some form of this sci-fi RPG has been brewing for many years and it's finally starting to look like something now!

And nope- I'm not ready to announce anything, not ready to show anything, and not even ready to tell you the name. When the time is right I'll announce the game with a full spectrum of screenshots, gameplay video, game description and features, release date, etc.

Update on Zodiac and the Marauders of Sol
I get a lot of messages on this game, and I want to make it clear about what it is, and where we are at with it.

So Zodiac began as a learning project about 2 years ago. After taking a break from the release of Book III, I started learning Unity- following tutorials and such- you know the drill. Out of that experimenting and learning phase, I developed a space shooter / adventure hybrid type of game, never intending to release it. I just kept adding to it as I continued to better understand project structure in Unity. Meanwhile, I was also laying out the framework out for the new RPG engine.

But after a couple of my regular testers tried Zodiac and gave me very positive feedback, I decided to put all my efforts into it for 6 months to finish it, as a way of providing much needed financial support during the period of time between RPGs. I felt like the extra time spent building Zodiac would aid me in making a stronger RPG engine, as well (and it did!).

So I produced a logo, spoke to some people about helping with graphics and music, and switched over full time into Zodiac development. The problem was that I dove head-first into development without a project plan. Anyone who knows project management could see this was not going to end well.

I've mentioned in a few other posts what happened: after 6 months the project was feeling like Frankenstein's monster. Without a proper scope, development went off the rails and I was left with a bunch of incomplete/broken modules, and a game that needs at least a year of full-time development to salvage.

So is Zodiac dead? Well, no... but it's showing no signs of life at the moment. The project has been packed up and moved off my development workstation while I focus on the next RPG. I'll likely eliminate references to it on the main website to avoid ongoing queries about it. I'll review the project again after the new RPG is released.

SO WHAT IS NEXT? Well, I will finish out 2017 transforming years of design notes into content for the new RPG. With the engine finished, it's all about content now. Don't expect too much out of me anytime soon- I probably won't have much to say about it for a few months, but rest assured that I will be here in the lair working hard on the new RPG.

I'll be happy to answer any questions here that I missed above.