Dark Envoy: Director's Cut - guns n' sorcery RTwP RPG by Tower of Time developer

[Nortar]

The team members are so irreplaceable, that everyone is self-sufficient?
I don't think irreplaceability works that way.

 

[cyborgboy95]

The team members are so irreplaceable, that everyone is self-sufficient?
I don't think irreplaceability works that way.

Someone ask the same question as you did on Twitter and got this answer

 

[cyborgboy95]

"It's been a while since we last reported on the game's development, but a lot is going on in our studio. Production is moving forward, and we thought you'd like a look behind the scenes of Dark Envoy.
Read about our VFX artist and how he became a game developer.
Some pretty VFX awaits you there too

"

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/945770/view/4308254080116063243

VFX UPDATE
Get to know our VFX Atrist​

Hello everyone!

If you are reading this update, you have probably already added Dark Envoy to your Steam Wishlist. If not, you can click the button to give us a treat

My name is Stachu, and I am responsible for the design and creation of the VFX for Dark Envoy. Before I got into the video game industry, I worked as a fashion photographer, but one day I realized that I did not feel challenged anymore. I started learning how to program, and my goal was to become a game developer. After months of practicing and gaining experience, I joined one of the biggest game modding projects, Fallout Cascadia. I went on a few different adventures until I ended up working with the Dark Envoy team. So, here I am - a guy who traded taking pictures of beautiful people in nice clothes, for a deep RPG with guns and spells!

It's been a while since we last reported on the game's development, but there's a lot going on in our studio. Production is moving forward, and we thought you'd like a look behind the scenes of Dark Envoy.

We like to call our game a Guns N' Sorcery action-RPG adventure with flashy real-time combat. But you cannot have combat without stunning visual effects. In Dark Envoy, you will find at least 120 different abilities, 56 passive skills (and about 64 unique equipment enchants). We want the battles to feel unique every time you start a new game.

I will come back soon with more details about VFX for skills, but now it’s time for glitter and sparkles to prove that we take it seriously.

 

[gurugeorge]

Excellent fx, very "solid" looking.

 

[Harthwain]

I know some people around here hate RTwP (or RT in general), but this is a solid-looking title when it comes to using RT as a concept.

 

[perfectslumbers]

I fucking love rtwp so I'm excited for this. Gonna enjoy all the rtwp juice I can get before it goes extinct.

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/945770/view/3133946090935730852

ART UPDATE
Hi!

My name is Michał, but everyone calls me Sowa. I'm responsible for Dark Envoy's concept art and art direction. I've been working at Event Horizon almost since the beginning, and started my career as an illustrator and concept artist for Tower of Time. Before jumping into gaming, I wanted to be an architect and then a chef, but my brother got me into independent mobile development, and that's when it clicked. That was almost 10 years ago now.

Today I want to share with you concepts for one of our low-tier enemies. Manaless believe that any creature with mana is nutritious.

As you can see, we'd many ideas on how this minion should look like, but finally, we decided on a silhouette that represents the destructive influence of addiction. Take a look for yourself...

And here's the final model created by one of our 3D artists, Velmir.

More updates and more enemies on the way!

 

[Abu Antar]

Dark Envoy - Original Soundtrack Teaser
Dark Envoy OST

Hi, I’m Dawid Majewski and I'm the one behind the music for Dark Envoy. I first worked with Event Horizon when I created the OST for Tower of Time. And while I am glad about the way the soundtrack turned out, I am convinced that the musical experience in Dark Envoy is more mature and much better in quality – both in terms of composition and production.



I compose and produce over 90 minutes of music for DE, which is mostly a combination of orchestral sounds and electronic music, spiced with original ethnic instruments from around the world, such as: Asian and African bamboo flutes, Indian Sarangi, Mongolian Morin Chuur, Chinese Banhu, Armenian Duduk, medieval Hurdy Gurdy and many more. All these instruments were recorded live in the studio to create an even more realistic experience.

The principle ‘less is more’ is my motto when I make music. My aesthetic is mostly minimalist and I prefer a spacious, ambient approach when it comes to creating musical landscapes. However, I am also not afraid to use punchier, sometimes even disturbing sound to create matching atmosphere for combat scenes. But the right balance between musical layers and sound design is becoming more and more important for me. I often draw inspiration from the similar approach of Sarah Schachner, Lorne Balfe, Jesper Kyd or Greg Dombowski.

I'm proud of the unique world we've created with the whole team, and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming release.

I hope you'll enjoy the soundtrack.
Till later’ (in your headphones)!

Dawid

 

[Jack Of Owls]

The music for the steam trailer sounds rather decent. I get a 28 Days Later vibe from it.

 

[LESS T_T]

This will be published by Asmodee Digital

 

[Infinitron]

This will be published by Asmodee Digital

For those who have lost track, that makes this another Embracer/THQ Nordic game.

https://www.gamespress.com/ASMODEE-DIGITAL-EVENT-HORIZON-WILL-PUBLISH-THE-GUNS-N-SORCERY-RPG-DARK

ASMODEE DIGITAL & EVENT HORIZON WILL PUBLISH THE GUNS N’ SORCERY RPG DARK ENVOY IN 2022
Dark Envoy, developed by Event Horizon, will launch on PC and consoles this year

PARIS - May 04 2022 – Asmodee Digital, a leading video games publisher, announced today that it will publish Dark Envoy, a Guns N’ Sorcery RPG developed by Event Horizon. The game is scheduled for release in 2022 on PC and consoles. It will be playable in single-player mode or in online co-op for up to 2 players.

Dark Envoy is a Guns N' Sorcery RPG-adventure with tactical real-time combat and online co-op. The game merges a rich, non-linear story and tactical, party-based combat with dynamic gameplay flow and high-quality visuals and effects. It blends modern concepts with classic genre tropes, creating a distinct and unique RPG gaming experience.

In Dark Envoy, the players embody Malakai and Kaela, two children of war refugees. They are living the day-to-day life of adventurers as they seek ancient relics and forgotten places. Soon they too will have to learn how to survive in the chaos of war, as blood and tragedy will mark the beginning of their true journey.

"We are delighted to partner today with the gifted Event Horizon team to publish Dark Envoy, an innovative tactical RPG" said Nicolas Godement, Head of Operations at Asmodee Digital. As we are expanding our editorial scope towards new genres and new audiences, Dark Envoy fits perfectly with our desire to offer players increasingly varied and immersive gaming experiences. We look forward to allowing players to discover the unique world of Dark Envoy and are excited to support Event Horizon throughout this journey."

"For Dark Envoy, we were looking for a publisher that shares our utmost respect for the gaming community and is willing to experiment with gameplay mechanics and look for ways to refresh the RPG genre," explained Krzysztof Monkiewicz, CEO of Event Horizon. Asmodee Digital is focused on delivering high-quality entertainment, and that fits perfectly with our mission to make our games a unique experience for all players.

Dark Envoy is scheduled for release in 2022, on PC (Steam & GOG) as well as consoles.

You will find all the visuals and PR materials available here

Related links: Steam - Facebook - Twitter - Discord

More information about Asmodee Digital on: Web, Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dark-envoy-pixel-magazine-event-horizon-games/

Dark Envoy in Pixel Magazine​

• Published on June 22, 2022

Published in PIXEL MAGAZINE, 06 (80) / 2022 / JUNE AUTO-FIRE SECTION

Event Horizon​

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The year 2022 will bring us Dark Envoy, an isometric RPG from a Polish studio, Event Horizon. Szymon Góraj interviewed Event Horizon’s founder, Krzysztof Monkiewicz, and the Asmodee Digital’s COO, Nicolas Godement, who represents the game’s publisher.
Maybe we can start with some Dark Envoy universe lore?
Krzysztof Monkiewicz: It’s a world in which technology, represented by the human Empire, confronts magic used by the League of Old Races. The League consists of elves, although quite different from the Tolkien ones, and a few other races of our own design. Humans appeared in this world a thousand years ago, and the older races were fascinated with them at the beginning. The newcomers had little to no magic potential, but they’ve compensated for that with their knack for technology. Nowadays, technology is powered by magic. It’s not steampunk nor atompunk. It’s more of a magipunk. Time has passed, and the races started to clash and fight for resources. After a handful of wars, the Empire pushed away the remaining races to another continent, and the final showdown seems to be in the air.

The story is, as you can see, way too dark to be high fantasy. Our main characters are siblings who work as relic hunters. They didn’t pay much attention to the conflict as of now. When they end up dragged into it against their will, they learn the laws that govern war, together with the three main forces fueling it – two of which were already mentioned, the third one being a neutral participant. On top of that, countless moral dilemmas they inevitably have to face now. In the end, they will have to choose the side.
So we are going to get a lot of replayability potential?
Yes. Our first game, Tower of Time, was really long – too long. This time, we want to focus more on making a title that keeps in mind those people who don’t necessarily have the time to play a 50h/100h game. That’s why the main campaign will be completable in about 15h, with the sidequests possibly doubling that time. What is important, is that a multitude of optional quests is tied to, for example, each of the fractions. That’s why it is impossible to complete them all during one playthrough. And on top of that, four main professions, each one with different specializations – four of them, to be precise, all allow more experimenting.
We start in a group of two, but, correct me if I am wrong, there will be companions?
We will meet potential allies on our path, all of them with defined classes, but we can also reset them if so we please. Companions will also have their own questlines, similar to Mass Effect. As we progress, there will be quite a group to choose from, but you can only take four of them on a mission with you.

I’ve read that the game’s world will be explored via a skyship. It kind of resembles Pillars of Eternity II, with the obvious change in the mode of transportation.
Yes, we were aiming to show the conflict’s scale by utilizing that. Those are two continents, half of the world to traverse. It’s a logical solution, considering the differences in terrain. The skyship also becomes our base of operations, our mobile home.
And what will the coop experience look like?
We are preparing an experience similar to that of Divinity: Original Sin 2, which entails a chance for multiplayer exploration and story competition – both the main one as well as the sidequests. There will be a lot of differences as well, starting with the fact that our game will be a real-time combat experience with an active pause, which is not turn-based gameplay. During the coop, players have to be far more coordinated, otherwise, there is a risk of one of them perishing far away with the other one arriving too late to save them. This bears more resemblance to Dota 2.
Dark Envoy will be a standalone project, or maybe there are some expansions already being planned?
Nicolas Godement: Well, although the game itself will be a finished storyline, the universe is so interesting that we can maybe count on something more.
How did the collaboration even start, the one between Asmodee Digital and Event Horizon?
The announcement might have been very recent, but we’ve been in touch for over a year now. As for now, it is going great. We are impressed with the Dark Envoy’s universe and we can’t wait to share it with the players.

 

[The Wall]

Steampunk Dragon Age: Origins? Might be not bad, in the end

 

[Grunker]

Steampunk Dragon Age: Origins? Might be not bad, in the end

Have you played Tower of Time? The gameplay is very janky. It's kind of a cool game and while it's clear they've got a much bigger budget this time, I wouldn't expect DA:O polish from this

 

[gurugeorge]

Steampunk Dragon Age: Origins? Might be not bad, in the end

Have you played Tower of Time? The gameplay is very janky. It's kind of a cool game and while it's clear they've got a much bigger budget this time, I wouldn't expect DA:O polish from this

I've kept trying to play Tower of Time a few times but I never get very far

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Tower of Time was a pretty good indiejank game, kinda underrated imo.

It's basically the only game similar to Aarklash: Legacy, so it's worth playing if you liked that.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Steampunk Dragon Age: Origins? Might be not bad, in the end

the combat in tower of time isn't like DAO beyond looking like it at first glance, significantly more tacticool. Up there with Aarklash for "damn, RTwP can actually be kinda fun".
going to guess they probably stuck with the same-ish kind of combat

 

[Grunker]

Tower of Time is only underrated in the sense that it's not rated at all. I enjoyed parts of it, even the combat with its weirdo pseudo RTS-style setup, but ultimately it was more promising than actually great to play.

It also has a decent soundtrack:

the combat in tower of time isn't like DAO beyond looking like it at first glance, significantly more tacticool. Up there with Aarklash for "damn, RTwP can actually be kinda fun".

Got to disagree with you there, if for nothing else then because the game barely has encounter design. The combat more or less breaks down completely after a certain point.

Here's my little mini-review of the game if anyone is curious:

So finished this on Epic now and lol that ending

Spoiler

You didn't though. In fact, the writers of course had you do the exact opposite: go to as great lengths as possible NOT to tell me about something that logically would greatly improve the odds of your plan's success. Not because there was a good reason, but because despite the plot's lofty ambitions the writers had the skills of creative teenagers with a cute idea and just heaped contrivances on top of it until it kindda-sortta worked. So no, you didn't "try to tell me", because if you had, there would have been no reason not to just simply reveal the entire truth at levels 6+, and maybe even before the game started. Lolpolacks I guess

Anyway, the first 3 or 4 levels of this game are downright cool and a really nice play. The combat works at the low level and the exploration does to. Like Blackguards, the game is hyper-focused to its benefit, and the first few levels are fairly open while still giving you the pleasure of exploring something hand-crafted. The item system is both too simple and needlessly complex: there are 4 (!!!) different, seperate upgrade systems for all items besides being able to craft every possible combination of item as well. However what it really boils down to is just a Diablo-style generation of every possible combination of stat, neatly divided into tiers. Such a system would be sweet in a Roguelike, but here it seems like a baffling inclusion at odds with the rest of the game's core designs.

On the one hand, nothing is wrong with the system as such but on the other, it doesn't really fit, which is a real fucking shame, because there's a lot of depth and a few cool uniques, so one can't help thinking they should have spent all that systems design energy on just hand-crafting most items and placing them in set containers. Seeing as how the rest of the game is all about going through hand-crafted stuff with a hyper-focus, it's weird how it stands out.

The town and buildings is also feature creep if I ever saw it. There is just no reason for this game to have a simple-yet-still-needlessly convoluted system of blueprints and building management, leveling up with gold, instead of just handing you XP that you spend.

Anyway, like I said, the system is well balanced for fun and enjoyment on the first 3-4 tower levels. From then on out, sadly, the game really degenerates. Firstly, the levels become super-linear, even if the game tries to hide this in various ways. Secondly, it stops feeling like an RtwP RPG and starts feeling like you're just playing Warcraft 3 except you control 4 heroes. The enemy is still just waves of more or less generic units. Floor 5 and 6 are pitifully easy even on epic, to the point that you just auto-walk through most fights. Then 7, 8, 9 and 10 pick up in difficulty again, but it's the sort, at least on epic, that doesn't make you rethink strategy that much. Rather you just optimize the shit out of some OP team comps and win that way. Besides the Orc Warleader (what a great cunt, loved him), the only time I switched tactics after level 4 was around level 7 when I switched out Kane for Kaela, making my team Kaela, Whisper, Maeve and Aedric. That this team comp can steamroll epic should raise a huge warning-flag in itself. At this point the game can almost one-shot all these characters if you don't put points into Life (which you shouldn't, unless you're a n00b), but it doesn't matter: 2x op single target, 1 op area clearer and 1 op healer can crap on the hardest enemies because on the off chance something attempts to damage them - they can just summon or kite. Level 7+ could have been an adventure in fast-forwarding and creaming the game with that strat if I didn't elect to swap around and play with different comps to force myself to get the difficulty higher. And all the game really needed to push me off such cheeese would be more movement for enemies.

It ties to combat itself not being designed for high level fighting at all. Skills at that point become divided into 3 tiers: horrible, useless stuff that you'll still take because even with only 4 skill slots per character, with the exception of Whisper (who just slots in 4 AoE-spells and spams them on cooldown) only 1 or maybe 2 of them will be important and make a difference. Then there are those one or two, which are "steoroids" that will make your character God-like. And then there's the third kind: "good spells" which may look different but boil down to stacking AoEs of different colors on top of each other and watch everything blow up. Even on Epic, you can safely ignore the games superflous Resistance-system (armor against non-physical hits), because AoE-casters are going to stack their skills on top of each other anyway, and if one doesn't do much the others will still rape anything from elites to bosses.

Lol, and I almost forgot, which is kind of a point in and of itself: remember that fun "you can draw spells" mechanic? Yeah it's only used on 3-4 skills and none of them are that good since you can instead just use ACTUAL AoE spells that cover a giant area. On the first couple of levels where the gameplay still functions, Kane's Wall-spell is very powerful to control the battlefield. Later it becomes completely useless as waves of HP-sponges require optimized damage-outputs: control is completely useless.

Also I

Spoiler

never fought Sleath after the reveal - probably missed something I guess?

Final score of this game is meh+/10. I enjoyed the first couple of levels, the effort put into the game and what it attempted, but in the end it is nowhere near as good as other, similar games like Blackguards. However, though the story is poorly written past a certain point when the complexity buries the inadequate writing team under its weight, there's a bunch of really cool ideas in there that still has you interested leaving you to sort of forgive the jank. At least if you, like me, enjoy really campy oldschool RPG-type stuff that tries very hard to be different. It's just really too bad that the weirdness is introduced so soon rather than just filling up the last couple of levels (like Wiz and M&M typically handled sci fi in fantasy). The characters are at points genuinely interesting and get you hooked on their specific designs, I especially enjoyed the weird take on the frost giants. This is how you do "it's-like-D&D-but-it's-not", Josh Sawyer. Well except for Miss Edgy (Whisper), she can just go fuck herself. Maeve and Kane's relationship is the most vanilla of the stuff, but it's actually really sweet and aaaaaaaaaaawwww at times, until it degenerates into complete Teen TV-show levels of WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY.

But the final score reflects the fact that after level 4, your enjoyment of the game will be wittled down more and more until at the end you're just slogging through it to finish it.

 

[Nortar]

Steampunk Dragon Age: Origins? Might be not bad, in the end

the combat in tower of time isn't like DAO beyond looking like it at first glance, significantly more tacticool. Up there with Aarklash for "damn, RTwP can actually be kinda fun".
going to guess they probably stuck with the same-ish kind of combat

Trust Codex to be the place where people know and like games like Aarklash: Legacy. /respect
It's definetely one of the best RTwP tacticools.

 

[cyborgboy95]

Dark Envoy grows bigger and better every day, and hopefully new #screenshots do heighten the appetite!

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/945770/view/3378282860050953300

Dark Envoy: Lore Update

The conflict between the League and the Empire is far more complicated than public opinion sees it. But to help the perception of this animosity, let me picture it like that, my friends, a tad simplified: a group of friends, that will be our representation of League, lives on a farm. They let a stray into the barn, be it from pity or curiosity. You don’t need me to tell you who the stray represents— you follow my allegory, I hope. However, the stray seems to be quite an ingenious one and takes the barn as its own, arms it, and gathers materials to formally challenge the group of friends’ ownership over the whole farm. The stray believes that if it was to dictate the farm’s pace, it would prosper way better. Current owners disagree.

That, my friends, is how the Empire seeks to take the hegemony from the League.
And who are we? We are just the poor cattle, watching the conflict unravel.
– An excerpt from an academic lecture

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[Zariusz]

With this mix of steampunk technology and magic, i wonder if devs will take some inspiration from Arcanum.

 

[Infinitron]

This game was quietly delayed to next year last month: https://steamdb.info/app/945770/history/?changeid=U:32097816

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/945770/view/3342255406622609671

Record of the big battle
Dark Envoy: Lore Update #2

My chest tensed, and I realised that never before had I felt such disorientating numbness. The time has come. We are off to fight.

The man next to me looked composed, relaxed even. Maybe a few years my senior, face crossed with scars and burns. He must have been there before. He must have clashed with the League in the past. He came back for more.

'Be careful with that rifle, keep drummin’ that finger of yours and the ammo might explode,' he said. I jumped in my seat, startling a few battle-ready companions.

'I'm sorry, it's just—'

'Overwhelming?'

'A bit so, yes.'

I could feel my pulse thundering in my ears, but the man didn't seem to be bothered by my display of anxiety.

‘Think about it like this, kiddo. Every elven head you blast off brings us one step closer to winning this war,’ he said. ‘So make sure to aim for their heads, right between those stupid ears.’ His confidence, while not as contagious as he probably thought it was, felt grounding.

‘Alright. I won't forget why I am here.’ I sincerely doubt I’ve sounded competent at all.

‘That’s the spirit, soldier.’

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news...-J_QAFki9Z_scSqJwFHS-PBtan14q_qpcwHRZeopEg5HA

Record of the big battle - the League
Dark Envoy: Lore Stories #3

‘You’re slouching, Arel.’

The captain’s voice startled me. I must have lost track of time, staring at the crackling fire. He sat next to me on a hollow, collapsed tree trunk. My back straightened on instinct.

‘Sorry, sir.’

‘Today it matters not,’ he said with a smirk. ‘But tomorrow I expect perfect execution. Anything less might get you killed.’

I didn’t know how to respond.

‘But I know you will do well. You are a great warrior, wise beyond your age.’

The captain tore off a fragment of the dead tree’s bark. He lifted it to his face, examining it in the soft glow of the campfire.

‘Why are you not resting, Arel?’ he asked, still transfixed on the piece of wood. ‘Your squadmates are already dreaming about tomorrow’s victory.’

‘I try to get into the proper headspace.’ It was a lie, but I would never admit to my captain that I am scared. Scared of the rows of faceless Imperial riflemen. Of their bullets that shred armour like cloth, to which I am not as used to as common arrows.

‘It sounds rather useless, frankly’ he chuckled. ‘But whatever makes you feel ready for what happens tomorrow, young one.’

‘A swift victory, that is.’

The captain threw the bark into the campfire. Dry as it was, it was engulfed immediately, joining the firewood in the pit.

‘Off the back of our joint effort to preserve the League’s world.’