Indie RPG News: June 26
Remember the days when Computer Role-Playing Games (CRPGs) were created by very small teams passionate about the genre, rather than giant, detached team working for a publisher more concerned about "limiting risk?" When the RPG was more of the artistic vision of one passionate (if geeky) individual rather than directed by a marketing department? When it was all about the game and what was cool, rather than what would appeal to the widest possible audience?

You should! Because those days are back! Here's this week's round-up of indie RPGs, role-playing games built "the old fashioned way." This week contains the usual suspects (the Soldak and Planewalker Games guys are great about sending me updates), plus more goodness from the worlds of indie roleplaying games. If you hear more news from other games, please fill me in!

Eschalon: Book 1
As I mentioned in Sunday's article, there's an interview up at GameBanshee about Eschalon: Book 1. The interview focuses game mechanics - how spells are handled, inventory, the skill system, and so forth. Since things have been quiet about this game lately, I was pleased to hear that progress is still continuing.

And they are planning a Book 2 and Book 3 at some point. He's hoping the first game is awesome enough to make sequels a no-brainer!

Depths of Peril
The Saurian and the Naga are now profiled in the Depths of Peril monster page. Steven's blog also talks about the fickleness of influence in the late stages of one of his test games - how the combination of the actions of the other factions plus random events and rumors amongst the townspeople caused him to lose his commanding lead in a matter of minutes. He does advise that this is uncommon, and of course the game is still very much in development. But it sounds like the "strategy" action can be pretty fast and furious in this strategy / action RPG.

The Broken Hourglass
Jason Compton and company have provided us with a look at customized spell creation in The Broken Hourglass. I don't know many games (other than the Elder Scrolls games) that let you do anything like this in the game. Tinkered spells involve an elemental magic source (fire, earth, air, water, and "physical") and a spell effect.

They have also provided a tutorial for potential modders on creating a "joinable" NPC - a character who can join your party and assist you on your adventures. By default, Planewalker Games is providing nine joinable NPCs (with full dialogs & other fun stuff) in the game, but if you just can't find the perfect person to round out your party, you can create your own.

Age of Decadence
RPGWatch plumbed the depths of the Age of Decadence message boards to pull together several news threads containing evidence that the project was not dead --- in fact, they've been cranking away on the combat system and UI updates over the last six months.

Cute Knight Deluxe
As mentioned last week, Cute Knight Deluxe is now available from Rampant Games. This is less of a hardcore game than the above titles, but it's a fun combination of some very old-school dungeon hack & slash with a cute "sim" game in the style of Princess Maker. The Deluxe version includes new artwork, new equipment, new secrets, and (it is rumored) a new ending or two (out of the 50+ endings that were already there to begin with). Reminder: If you have already purchased the original game, Cute Knight, from Rampant Games, you can upgrade to the deluxe version for only $5 by following the instructions on this page.

Come on, you know you want to play a pink-haired 18-year-old girl! :)

Aveyond II: Ean's Quest
Not much news on the Aveyond II front, but apparently Amanda is filing paperwork to convert Amaranth Games into an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) in preparation for future expansion. It sounds like Aveyond has done very, very well for her.

(No, I'm not jealous. No. Not one bit... ;) )

Amanda also reports that the art and music is about 50% complete. She's still pushing for a September release date on Aveyond II: Ean's Quest.


That's about it for this week! Got anything else? Please post about it in the forums, or drop me an email!


(Vaguely) related Indie RPG Stuff:
* Fastcrawl: A Quick Take on the 2006 Indie RPG Award Winner
* Interview with Amanda Fitch, Creator of Aveyond
* Interview with Georgina Bensley, Creator of Cute Knight
* Interview with Jason Compton, Producer for The Broken Hourglass
* Indie RPG News, June 15th

Check out the Forum Discussion on Indie RPG News!

Labels: Indie Evangelism, Indie RPG News, Roleplaying Games

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