Descending - Curse of the Blood Crown - Alpha

DISCLAIMER: CURRENTLY IN ALPHA STATE. 

Features are missing and broken. This is still mostly a testing build that is publicly available to make distribution easy. (currently working on completing starting quest line and content to add more "game" to the game.)

I am a solo/hobbyist developer and this is my attempt at the modernization of my favorite old time RPGs like Bards Tale and Might and Magic. My goal is to create an atmospheric, world-spanning, fantasy epic with a little but of old school feel and modern features and bring Aeldrath to life in a low poly 3d world. Descending will have a heavy focus on exploration, combat and character progression. There will be lore available in the world, but it will not be a story heavy game. Stories and lore are intentionally simple, to evoke a feeling of a simpler time in gaming.

 I am also developing a full map editor which will allow players to modify or build new maps, this editor will be used to build the entire world and all of its content. A data editor will also be included which will allow most content in the game to be edited and created, greatly extending the lifetime and replayability of the game.

Steam demo and release planned as well as free alpha and beta builds here on itch (instead of doing early access). Rough goal is to have a Demo released early 2025 and full release at least a year later.

  The Crowned One has awoken from his long slumber, silently taking control of the once great city-state of Drakullovska. The profane crown he bears grants him immortality and must be destroyed. You will gather a party of adventurers who are brave, hardy or lucky enough to survive the upcoming trials. They must travel the Known World to find and unlock the secrets of the Elemental Shrines -- Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Life, Death, Order and Chaos -- and receive the blessings of the gods themselves. Only then will they be powerful enough to defeat The Undying Tyrant, his legions of followers and destroy The Blood Crown once and for all,

CONTACT INFO

arkytoothis.descending@gmail.com

DISCORD SERVER

https://discord.gg/YTbqTMh9

CURRENT FEATURE LIST

• First person, grid based movement and rotation with an unlockable camera for freely looking around
• Turn based combat with ranged attack options for most heroes
• Build a party of up to 6 Heroes from 18 different fantasy races (Human, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Half Orcs, etc.) and 6 Professions (Recruit, Mercenary, Scout, Thief, Apprentice or Acolyte). You currently start with a 3 or 4 hero maximum. This number will be upgradable throughout the campaign.
• Masteries - Secondary classes that have various requirements and grant unique abilities. (e.g. Soldier, Paladin, Wizard, Pyromancer, Cleric).
  
• Randomly Generated Heroes can be hired and swapped in and out of the active party. Currently up to 12 inactive heroes can be saved and kept. This number will likely start at 2 to 4 and be upgradable throughout the campaign.
• Deadly dungeons full of monsters, traps, treasure, hidden rooms and ancient secrets.
• Day/Night cycle with weather, fog, sound and particle effects.
• Hero Death, Wounds and Aging - When a hero is killed they can be resurrected through magic or healer NPCs. Wounds are semi-permanent attribute debuffs that can also be removed with spells or by healers. Heroes will age and receive attribute debuffs as they grow older. 
• Camping - prepare a meal (meals add attribute buffs), cast rituals (powerful buffs or healing spells), boost party morale with an uplifting tune (coming soon) and if your luck holds, avoid random encounters (coming soon).
  
• Random Item Generator creates items with a Quality Modifier, Prefix Enchantment and Suffix Enchantment (e.g. +1 Flaming Long Sword of the Bear)
• Hand crafted, tile-based Fantasy world made with the included Map Editor. World is made up of a grid of smaller maps (approximately 75 maps total), each up to 50x50 tiles. 
• World will be built in chapters. The Demo will be the first chapter (4 overworld maps, The Ironsworn Isles). Each chapter will have a more or less self contained story that will fit into the greater campaign. There will be 14 in total each ranging from 4 - 8 overworld maps.

ROUGH GAME CHAPTER LIST

1. Ironsworn Isles
2. Empire of Man (Order Shrine)
3. Valaria
4. Aldar (Life Shrine)
   
5. Highgaard (Earth Shrine)
   
6. Sky Tower (Air Shrine)
   
7. Southern Reach
8. Ahkatun (Fire Shrine)
9. Aina'Ola
10. Sunforged Dominion
11. Sunken City (Water Shrine)
12. Fae Realms
13. Marsh of Madness (Chaos Shrine)
14. The Darklands (Death Shrine)

RELEASE SCHEDULE TRACKER

• .1 Alpha Release - CURRENT
• .2 Critical Importance Alpha Features Complete - Dec 24
• .3 Moderate Importance Alpha Features Complete - Jan 25
• .4 Minor Importance Alpha Features Complete - Feb 25
• .5 Beta/Demo Release - April-May 25
• .6 Critical Importance Beta Features Complete
• .7 Moderate Importance Beta Features Complete
• .8 Minor Importance Beta Features Complete
• .9 Pre Release Polish/Balance
• 1.0 Full Release

ALPHA FEATURE LIST / ROUGH ROADMAP

8/30 ALPHA FEATURES IMPLEMENTED - 27% TO BETA

Currently missing features that will be added during Phase Alpha, in order of importance (not the order I will be implementing them, I will jump around as I need/want)

IN PROGRESS FEATURES

• InProgress - Complete first map quest line and add Chapter 1 content
• InProgress - Game Settings - more video options
  
• InProgress - Audio pass
• InProgress - Multi Level Dungeons
  

UPCOMING ALPHA FEATURES

• Critical - Save Slots
• Critical - Hidden Rooms and Tiles and Illusionary Walls
• Critical - Game Settings - Difficulty, Keymapping
  

• Moderate - Weather Effects - Party buffs and debuffs based on weather
• Moderate - Item Identification
• Moderate - Guild Halls - Fighter, Thief, Divine (churches) and Mage Guilds
  
• Moderate - Fast Travel - Worldwide Portal system
• Moderate - Lockpicking, Trap Disarming
• Moderate - Mastery and Skill Trainers - must be discovered across the world
• Moderate - Levitation and Flight
• Moderate - More Traps - Teleport, Gas, Ceiling Spikes, Falling Rocks, etc.
• Moderate - Pit Traps including dropping to lower dungeon levels
  
• Moderate - Anti-Magic, Anti-Teleport, Buff and Debuff Zones
• Moderate - Summoning Abilities, Hero and Enemy
• Moderate - Implement two handed weapons and dual-wielding
  

• Minor - Current Level Retraining - instead of full respeccing
• Minor - Map Borders
• Minor - Terraforming - changing tiles through spells, abilities and events
• Minor - Map Pages - Saved maps can be viewed from others maps
• Minor - Debug Options for Trailer Making - Spawn Objects, Switch Maps, etc.
• Minor - Implement Hero Backgrounds - simple modular backstory that will grant attribute bonuses, starting skills, and starting equipment

UPCOMING BETA FEATURES

• Artifacts - Items that gain exp and unlock powerful new abilities
  
• Cursed Items
  
• Item Sets
  
• Ability Tiers - unlockable effect upgrades
  
• Underwater Maps
  
• Bestiary
  
• Game Stats Page - kills, steps, total damage, etc.
  
• Tutorial/Shipwreck Map
  
• Fully 3d Map Editor
• Tile Elevation
  
• Upgradeable camp storage
  

Features that i may implement depending upon time/motivation/feedback. May also be post release features.

• Maybe - Customizable and Upgradable Ship/Airship, Castle or Sky Tower
• Maybe - Potion Brewing
• Maybe - Item Enchanting
• Maybe - Spell Builder
• Maybe - Ironman/Bronzeman modes
• Maybe - Procedurally Generated Dungeons
• Maybe - End Game Maps

CONTROLS (key rebinding coming soon)

• W,A,S,D to move
• Q,E to rotate
• Press Left Alt to toggle Free Look Camera
• C opens Character Window
• J opens Journal Window
• M opens Map Window
• ~ Opens Debug Window
• Esc opens Menu screen
• Click enemy to attack or Hero portrait after selecting an ability
• Spacebar ends hero during combat
• 1-9 to activate top bar actions
• shift + 1-9 to activate bottom bar actions