New CCG/RPG/Board Game hybrid- Duels of the Runemasters -w/ weekly development update

Wow, Vern, thanks for the support. WE love our fans! But you should know that Kyle Poole is behind Shadow Era. I (and most of the mobile gaming community) have a ton of respect for him as a developer and have been playing his games on one platform or another for many years. He's the guy behind the iPhone version of Battle for Wesnoth, in itself an OUTSTANDING strategy game. You can bet if Kyle's behind Shadow Era it's going to be something great. Personally, just from the images I've seen and Kyle's name being attached, I'm waiting anxiously for this one.

Again, we really appreciate the support for Duels of the Runemasters and love vocal, outspoken fans, but give Shadow Era a chance too, I'm betting it will be incredible.

 

We've been discussing that since Apple's announcement of the iPad. To be honest, we haven't decided on an approach yet, but we will doing something to support that device as well. The larger screen certainly opens some interesting possibilities for a game like Duels of the Runemasters. We'll certainly post something more definitive once some decisions have been made, thanks for asking!

 

Hi Vovin,
Sorry we haven't updated with more news lately. We know there are many of you out there who are looking for more information. There really hasn't been much new to share over the past few weeks.

We're hoping to be able to release at least a few more pieces of game art in the weeks ahead and perhaps a small update on the development progress, but we're at a particularly slow moving stage of development. Lots of work being done behind the scenes and not much of interest to players, unfortunately.

But rest assured, we're still out here, and we're still working away on bringing Duels of the Runemasters to the iPhone.

We promise to add any exciting new info, images or video to this thread when it's available. Until then, we really appreciate your patience. We know it will be worth it when you're finally able to play!

If there are any questions you'd like answered, please don't hesitate to post them here, PM me, contact us via our website, twitter or facebook. We're here and we will respond. You have my word on that!

 

**UPDATE** Our main web site www.realmsapart.com is down, but the blog site is still up. Sorry for any inconvenience, our host company assures us they will have the problem with the main site servers remedied as quickly as possible.**UPDATE**

We've posted a new development update on our blog (http://portal.realmsapart.com/blog/) for anyone who's interested.

A brief summary of the good and bad news in the post:

Bad news: We've had some delays in development due to Apple's new terms and made some hard choices about how to move forward with DotR development.

Good news: We've hired new artists and developers to help move the project along and help us get development back on track with our goals.

We'd also like to thank the TA community for your support and to assure you that we're just as anxious and excited to get this game out there as you are. But we won't release an unfinished or unpolished game, and we hope you wouldn't want us to! Thanks to you all for your excitement and your patience.

 

Hello Everyone! It's been a while since we've shared any news, so I wanted to drop by and share a new Game Play description (I know, we've been a bit cryptic so far), and some new images, updates to several game components and three of the cards that appear in the game. Unfortunately the artwork presented ont he cards right now is placeholder stuff, not the final art, but the designs of the cards are current as well as the other components. We're also including a mini-faq in this post to address some of the most frequent things we're asked via emails and PMs. We're still hard at work and really hope you enjoy the new info and images below...

Duels of the Runemasters is a new kind of Customizable Portable Game (CPG as we like to call it). It's part Customizable Card Game, part board game and part Role Playing game all rolled into one awesome experience played between two players.

Each player takes the role of a Character in the game world of Moridia, very similar to a character in a traditional role playing game (RPG). The Character has certain statistics such as Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity, as well as combat stats such Attack score and Life Points. The Character's stats will determine which cards can be used as well as which advantages and disadvantages are applied during the course of a game.

The cards provide the magical spells and equipment the Character will use in his quest to defeat the opponent. The cards themselves require resources to be brought into play. Those resources take the form of different types of energy supplied by Runes.

Each Character is equipped with a pouch of 24 Runes which provide anywhere from 1-3 units of energy in one of three "schools" of magic. Players will tap these Runes for their energies in order to create equipment with which to arm their Character or cast spells ranging from damage to healing to manipulating the game environemnt. Each Rune also has a special ability, called a Cantrip, which is a magical ability that can be used only once, after which that Rune is destroyed. The Cantrips can be used at any time and when used wisely can provide game turning advantages.

Finally, the game is played out on a map consisting of 19 hexagonal tiles. Two of these tiles, called Keeps, are directly opposite each other on the game board and provide the home base for each Character. The other 17 tiles are randomly placed at the start of each game and represent various types of terrain. They remain unexposed until they are landed on by one of the Characters at which point they are revealed to all players.

Four of the terrain tiles are a special type, called Discoveries. Each Discovery is unique and provides the occupying Character with a small benefit or bonus while they occupy that tile. Players pursue one another around the Map in an attempt to either engage in combat or to overthrow the opponent's Keep.

Play consists of moving around the Map, using Runes to create equipment such as swords, helmets, armor, shields, a multitude of other weapons, and more or to cast spells such as powerful lightning bolts, equipment shattering blasts, healing, enchantment removal, and much much more. Players also have the option of sacrificing Runes in play to use their cantrip abilities which can be either very helpful or incredibly disruptive.

Players must think on their feet, adapt their strategies to not only their opponent's physical movements but also the equipment and magic in play. Strategic thinking, planning, adaptability, and cunning will be a player's best allies on their quest to defeat their opponents. With close to 300 cards in the First Edition set and 24 Runes, the possibilities are practically endless and we plan to bring many more expansions in the months and years ahead!

Mini FAQ:

Q: Will it be multi-player?
Emphatically YES. We're planning to provide a variety of multi-player options including local wi-fi, internet and hot seat, to name a few.
Q: Will it be expensive?
Absolutely NOT. One of our primary objectives is to provide a great Customizable Card Game experience that provides an almost absolutely level playing field. Our pricing plans are not final yet, but we can promise the game will be absolutely affordable and acquiring every single card in the first edition set will not only be extremely easy, but very, very cheap!
Q: Can I have multiple copies of a card in my deck?
Yep, sure can. You can have up to 3 copies of any card in your deck at a time. The best part is, as long as you've got the card in your library, you can include as many copies as you want (up to 3) in a deck without having to purchase multiple card packs. Having a card means you can use it as many times as you need in as many decks as you need. Isn't digital card printing great?
Q: Can I be a beta tester?
Well, we'll have to wait and see about that. When we get closer to a launch date, we'll post a request for beta testers. One way to help ensure you are considered for testing is to follow us on twitter (twitter.com/realmsapart). We'll be giving beta copies to our Twitter followers first.
Q: When is it being released?
There's not a great answer to this yet. We're still heavy in development with a LOT of work still to be done. On the up-side, we're expanding our development and art teams in a effort to move things along a little faster. This is an indie effort, after all, and it takes a lot of time to make a game like this and do it right. We can promise you that it won't be released before we're certain it's ready and really, really polished.
Q: Can I see some screens or videos?
Not yet. A lot of the art is not final yet and what we're working with is not pretty. We've released a few very early concept pieces on our web site which are now completely and wildly out of date. We'll put up more when we've got a better overall set of artwork to show you. For now, we'll include some of the latest designs for the game components like cards and runes, including three cards which appear in the first edition (with place-holder art-work for now, sorry).
Q: What the *$#& is taking so long?
We're a small indie studio making a very BIG game. Our goal is to be the next evolution in customizable gaming and mobile gaming. That takes time, effort, and practically infinite patience. We know you're anxious, so are we! We do promise that we're working as fast as we can to get the game out to you!
Q: What if I have more questions?
There are a lot of ways to contact us. You can always email me directly (mark at realmsapart dot com), PM me on Touch Arcade (username Quorlan), visit our web site, leave comments on our blog, join or start a discussion in our forums or follow us on twitter. You can also check out our full FAQ page.

 

More info coming soon. Things have been progressing nicely the past few weeks, just with behind-the-scenes kinda stuff that most folks here (non-devs at least) would find boring and a waste of time.

To hold you over, a new image from one of our new artists... full announcement coming soon....

This image is the in-game Character portrait for a male Dwarven Wizard! Enjoy! Many more images coming soon!