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,

The world of Aeldrath was made using the Eight Elemental Forces. Each element is ruled by a Greater Deity who embodies the element it represents. Each deity has 2 forms, it is unknown which is its true form, its humanoid form or its dragon form. They only appear on the physical plane in their Dragon forms, but since they are vulnerable when doing so they will only do it when necessary.

  The Gods have battled each other for eons, and though they have been at relative peace for an Age, the world still bears the scars left from their petty squabbles and selfish wars. Some still scheme and manipulate while others look to help heal the wounds they have left behind. They seem mostly content to keep the peace and allow civilization to flourish. But many wisemen and oracles say that the end of the Age of Peace is coming, that chaos and destruction will once again ravage Aeldrath and its people."

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)

5/41 ALPHA FEATURES IMPLEMENTED - 12% TO BETA

ALPHA FEATURE LIST / ROUGH ROADMAP

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 - Difficulty, Keymapping
  
• InProgress - Audio pass
  
• InProgress - Finish implementing Resistances (reduces damage as well as acting as saving throws)
  
• InProgress - Data Editor - create and modify game data, enemies, items, abilities, etc.
  

UPCOMING FEATURES

• Critical - Save Slots
• Critical - Multi Level Dungeons
• Critical - Hidden Rooms and Tiles

• Moderate - Weather Effects - Party buffs and debuffs based on weather
• Moderate - Item Abilities
• Moderate - Item Identification
• Moderate - Cursed Items
  
• Moderate - Ability Tiers - unlockable effect upgrades
  
• Moderate - Skill Progression - skills will have their own ability trees
• 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 - Upgradeable camp storage
• Moderate - Summoning Abilities, Hero and Enemy
• Moderate - Implement two handed weapons and dual-wielding
  

• Minor - Fully 3d Map Editor
• Minor - Current Level Retraining - instead of full respeccing
  
• Minor - Underwater Maps
  
• Minor - Map Borders
  
• Minor - Artifacts - Items that gain exp and unlock powerful new abilities
• Minor - Item Sets
  
• Minor - Terraforming - changing tiles through spells, abilities and events
• Minor - Tutorial/Shipwreck Map
• Minor - Hero Builder Customization - Name, Face, Hair, etc.
• Minor - Bestiary
  
• Minor - Map Pages - Saved maps can be viewed from others maps
  
• Minor - Game Stats Page - kills, steps, total damage, etc.
• 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

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 - Tile Elevation
• Maybe - Item Crafting
• Maybe - Item Enchanting
• Maybe - Spell Builder
• Maybe - Ironman/Bronzeman modes
• Maybe - Procedurally Generated Dungeons
• Maybe - End Game Maps - destruction of the crown will have world changing consequences. Post destruction maps will likely be a post release or DLC feature.

CONTROLS (key rebinding coming soon)

• W,A,S,D to move
• Q,E to rotate
• Hold Left Alt to enable 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 after selecting an ability
• Spacebar ends hero during combat
• 1-9 to activate top bar actions
• shift + 1-9 to activate bottom bar actions

CONTACT INFO

arkytoothis.descending@gmail.com

THE EIGHT ELEMENTS

FIRE

• Warlord Ignarath/Fire Dreagon
• Titles - The Ember Sovereign, Lord of Ash 
• Domains - Fire, Melee Combat, War, Destruction, Demons
• Abilities - Fire damage, damage over time, attack and damage bonuses

AIR

• Arial The Fairy Queen/Fae Dragon
• Titles - The Trickster, Mother of Elves
• Domains - Air, Lightning, Movement, Ranged Combat
• Abilities - Shock damage, stuns, finesse and accuracy bonus, teleportation, flight, levitation

WATER

• Tide Bringer Nymorax/Sea Dragon
• Titles - Bringer of Storms, Sleeper in the Deep
• Domains - Water, Ice, Storms
• Abilities - Cold damage, area damage, freezing, push spells, life and stamina buffs, regeneration

EARTH

• Gromm Stone Eater/Stone Dragon
• Titles - The Great Maker, Master of the World Forge, The Brewmaster
• Domains - Defense, Crafting, Industry, Earth, Stone, Metal
• Abilities - Physical damage, acid damage, armor and defense bonus, alcohol buffs/debuffs

LIFE

• Mother Gaia/Nature Dragon
• Titles - Forest Mother, The Peacemaker, Keeper of the Tree of Life
• Domains - Nature, Healing, Neutrality, Peace
• Abilities - holy damage, nature damage, healing, resurrection, pacify

DEATH

• Morghul/Undead Dragon
• Titles - Lord of the Dead, The Endbringer, The First Lich, The Chained King
• Domains - Death, Curses, Undead
• Abilities - Unholy damage, poison damage, hexes and curses, raise dead

ORDER

• The Adjudicator/Sun Dragon
• Titles - The Hammer of Justice, Shield of the Shieldless, The Golden Knight
• Domains - Order, Day/Sun, Diplomacy, Justice, Protection
• Abilities - Sun damage, physical damage, healing, armor and defense bonus, protect allies

CHAOS

• Mystra/Moon Dragon
• Titles - The Dreamweaver, Mistress of Shadow, Bearer of the Cosmonomicron
• Domains - Chaos, Night/Moon, Illusions, Shadows/Darkness, Dreams, Magic
• Abilities - Random damage, magic damage, darkness, sleep, arcane abilities and items

GREAT KINGDOMS OF AELDRATH

Empire of Man

• Ruler - Empress Alexandra
• Races - Mostly Imperial, other human races, very few non humans
• Capitol - Pax Imperialis
• Specialties - Religion, Farming, Fighting Evil
• Terrain - Forests, glasslands, mountains

Crimson Vale

• Ruler - Crimson Blades
• Races - Mostly human, very few non humans
• Capitol - North Hold, South Hold
• Specialties - Defense, Protection, Combat
• Terrain - Forests, mountains, ancient battlefields
  

Sunforged Dominion

• Ruler - Merchant-King Salazaar
• Races - Mostly Southerner, many other races
• Capitol - Sekhetopolis
• Specialties - Trade, Shipping, Exploration, Technology
  
• Terrain - Desert, tropical, volcanic
  

Ironsworn Isles

• Ruler - Decard Ironheart
• Races - Mostly Ironsworn, other human races, some non humans
• Capitol - Castle Ironheart
• Specialties - Mining, Smithing, Defense, Freedom
  
• Terrain - Forests, glasslands, mountains
  

Highgaard

• Ruler - High King Draldak Irontoe
• Races - Mostly Dwarven, very few humans
• Capitol - Blackiron Citadel
• Specialties - Mining, Crafting, Industry
  
• Terrain - Alpine Forests, mountains, tundra
  

Frostheim

• Ruler - Grand Chieftain - Ulgar Iceheart
• Races - Northmen, some dwarves
• Capitol - Bjornholm
• Specialties - Raiding, Shipping, Combat
  
• Terrain - Alpine Forests, mountains, tundra
  

The Darklands

• Ruler - The Crowned One
• Races - Human, no non humans
• Capitol - Drakullovska
• Specialties - Raiding, Occult, Slavery, Blood Sacrifices
  
• Terrain - Haunted Forests, desolate plains, tundra, marsh

Valaria

• Ruler - Archmage Valtrex
• Races - Mostly Valarian, few Humans and Elves
• Capitol - The Occularium
• Specialties - Magic, Medicine, Knowledge
  
• Terrain - Thick Forests, mountains, rocky islands and cliffs

Aldar

• Ruler - Aerendil and Elowen - King and Queen of Aldar
• Races - Mostly Elven, very few Valarians
• Capitol - The Silver Haven
• Specialties - Nature, Defense, Poetry, Craftsmanship, Knowledge
  
• Terrain - Enchanted Forests, mountains, grasslands, hills

Fae Realms

• Ruler - Forest Queen Lyrielle
• Races - Wild Elf, other elven races
• Capitol - Ethergrove
• Specialties - Nature, Peace, Music, Laughter
  
• Terrain - Mushroom Forests, mountains, enchanted swamps, fungal gardens