Hello! Thought I'd post some new art and character information. We've been working on developing many of the enemies and writing their back-stories. The way I see it, the more back-story that we create for the characters in the universe, the more invested you can (hopefully) become in the 'game mythology'. Some of the back-story may never make it into the game but will be used to inform the creation of missions and characters (it will help in map design, weapon design, AI movement, character dialogue etc.). So, that said, these two characters are pirates. They're part of a crew of about twenty humans on a recently stolen cruiser packed with contraband (weapons and substance) called The Belt. The ship about the size of a seven-story apartment building. All aboard the cruiser, as part of a ritual to join the crew, have given up most of their organic bodies and have replaced them with a specific design of armor-plated mechanical suit. The carapace of the suit clasps the persons head and holds their key organs, which are integrated into the circuitry of the suit to control movement as well as automatic functions like breathing and circulation. The inventor of the suit, a member of the ship's crew and their lead physician, calculated that the suit would allow them to live almost a century longer than they would with their complete organic bodies. The suits are also built to allow the wearer to add or remove repositionable weapons and tools in addition to a variety of legpieces.
I really can't get over how beautiful the artwork is, it reminds me of the all the comics I read as a kid.
Thanks! There's something missing in much of the art found in many 'contemporary' games (and comics for that matter) now-a-days. Art in a lot of games is so tight and controlled and clean that you lose the artist's hand, no rough lines and flowing colors. I'm a big fan of Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame and his character designs and artwork.
Amano is an excellent artist. If only more American art followed the traditions of Japanese art. Any ways, keep it up man, I am truly anticipating Galactic Keep. Is there going to be bionics and such, or I guess my question is, will it be as deep as a RIFTS campaign?
Honestly, I don't know too much about Rifts. I know that it takes place in a future apocalyptic world which is a completely different set up than that of Galactic Keep... Depth is something that's difficult to gauge...but we're trying to make something that's pretty deep that allows players to dig in deeper if they want. On the other hand, we want the game to be fast and the choices you make to have consequences which can lead to rich but shallow play. It's a balance. There are somewhat 'finite' elements to the game: you can only carry one weapon per character. This means that if you find another weapon you have to decide on the spot whether you want to use it and get rid of the one you are currently using or get rid of the one you found (you will be shown both weapons side by side). Each character will have one unique special attack. There are ways to switch this attack with a new one in some cases but they are rare. The idea is that each character will play slightly different...but they will still ultimately be customizable if the player wants to change them. There will be characters who are part robot (Some sects of the culture require it), plain old robots and robots that use organic limbs. There's no magic in this universe, just science. There's no telekinesis or psionics. There are, however, natural 'elements' that humans have never seen before that can be controlled by a variety of different beings.
As someone who was around and playing D&D (I think I even still have my laminated paper chits!) when it first came out, Galactic Keep looks incredible, something truly unique. Dev please don't lose sight of the planned coop support and for the single player mode it seems the more ways key encounters can be randomized the better.
Right on, thnx for the info man. I like the idea of a strictly science based RPG. Rifts was a mix of magic and futuristic science (bionics, robots etc..) This sounds amazing, and I am looking forward to it. A definite instant buy.
Coop will not be forgotten ...but it is a whole other can of worms. Exactly: having encounters randomized is certainly one of the things we're focusing on. The branching story will help. Story paths will be opened/triggered by going to certain places on the map, leading you to new key encounters/characters/enemies/stuff and (of course) new story events. Sentient enemies will, for the most part, be distinct characters (with names, specific abilities, favored weapons etc.). They will move around (on their turn) and you may or may not be able to see them on the map depending on their abilities. There will be certain beings (some non-sentient robots, creatures) and enemy groups (the 'Night Tangent' an underground and secretive quasi-military order; and a group calling themselves the 'Android Enclave') that will have 'masked identities' and that may appear in groups. Lots of enemies, lots of things to find, lots of decisions to make!
One of the benefits of creating a game with a style that's similar to a 'dice and paper tabletop game' is that...it's easy to actually play-test and balance the game using actual paper and dice on a tabletop! So that's what we've been doing. We're taking actual game maps and mission story outlines (including decision trees) and we're developing the characters, enemies and tweaking the maps using the game rules and dice in a 'true' paper game simulation. This makes it much easier to play, re-test and balance game components like maps, an infinite number of experimental weapons, special attacks and general gameplay mechanics. It's quick, cheap and (somewhat) easy to figure things out this way! That said, give shot at creating some interesting weapon types or special attacks for characters. Post them here and we'll pick a few to test out in the paper version of the game and let you know/see (right here) how they fare! We'll pick three weapons and three special attacks to test (translating them into the 'game universe') and give them to a couple of characters that we've pre-rolled to try them out against one another. There's a good chance they may even end up in the final version of the game. We're hoping to see some devistatingly awesome and other-worldly creations!
ok, my idea for an attack is a ball lightning gun (or spell for a magic user) and you launch the projectile out as a small cohesive ball of lightning and when it lands, it essentially does electricity/shock damage in an circular area of effect, it could cause enemies to become stunned as well...i guess player's skill, plus item stats could determine strength of the attack, duration, distance the attack could be launched Hmmm, a name for the attack, I dunno: Devil's Defiler? another idea is a touch-based psionic attack, if successful causes the target to attack a target of the caster's choice, strength of the attack could determine the number of turns the command holds, once the duration ends, the victim has to roll intelligence to snap out of it and maybe they try to run or stand there confused if they fail the roll and their mind is trying to figure out what just happened.
weapon: For anyone that can catch one, the Pixie Launcher. A slingshot at heart, this weapon has an enchanted leather "seat" for the projectile especially good at holding pixies - until you launch them. No one likes pixie guts smashed on their forehead, but everyone enjoys that little scream before they SPLAT.
A really great start! The idea of having a weapon that launches an 'organism' of sorts that causes physical damage in addition to screaming to its death is pretty cool. A weapon that fires a pulsing electric singularity core, causing a 'stun' effect could be pretty cool too. Don't forget to give them unique names...like 'Pixie Launcher'!
Extreme Rolls I'm not sure about the rules in all versions of tabletop games, but in my circle there are effects of rolling a 1, as well as a 20. (max/min of any roll). The max is usually a 2x modifier, or special, but the 1 is always a personal disaster. With the Pixie Launcher, the Pixie would become free, and become another enemy in the fray - or a backfire occurs, blinding the player due to excessive pixie guts in his/her eyes. Anyway, Face Scraper: Originally used in the days of yore to remove the rough husk of coconuts, this modified tool is made for your enemy's face. Best used from behind an unsuspecting target, the tool locks on the skull like a mask, then with simple twists of the handle, scrapes the face off any smile. Roll a 1 and you'll be missing a thin layer off your own nose.
WOW. You guys are putting some work into this one. Im really liking the unique art and the idea of (*gasp*) following up on your game!!! will most-likely be picking up this one. Nice work guys!!
Yep, we're working on having 'critical hits' and 'critical failures' with rolls of 1 and 10. Each roll will bring up a randomized hit or failure that will be based on the weapon type (blade weapon, blunt weapon, projectile/firing weapon). For a 'special weapon' like this it would make sense to have a special critical hit/failure or two that could happen in an attack.
