KickStarter Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy - BG1-inspired low fantasy RPG From the ATOM TEAM

[Gandalf]

Pretty poorly led Kickstarter campaign. They could have gathered much more money, much faster. Look at other mambo-jambo JRPG trashy looking games from first time Devs that have ongoing Kickstarter. 200k € in first 10 days. Swordhaven managed in 30+ days less then 40k €. How? Good question to ask


Also Atomboy is nowhere to be seen for 2 weeks during Kickstarter. What happend? Trying to help

It's honestly baffling how many Kickstarter campaigns are poorly managed considering you can literally just copy what the successful ones did for free.

Are there any overly successful Kickstarter campaigns these days in the video game space? Like, I don't even look at Kickstarter for the most part anymore and wouldn't normally back any. This project interested me more than most so I figured I may as well, but it's a far cry from what I'd have been willing to pony up for ten years ago.

There's some japslop from literally whos that's already at 200k Euros (almost 500% of the goal).



They funded it in less than a day, while this took almost a month.

The weeb one has by the book trailer and much more appealing 3d grafix while this one looks like jank everywhere and kinda less atmospheric than any IE game
Your game may be fun but if you don't invest heavily into looks don't expect ppl to notice it.

If the trailer had a pack mule companion in it, it would blow everyone's minds, I think. That's why I proposed pack mule to be in the game some time ago. Pack mule is a REAL game changer.

 

[Litmanen]

Pretty poorly led Kickstarter campaign. They could have gathered much more money, much faster. Look at other mambo-jambo JRPG trashy looking games from first time Devs that have ongoing Kickstarter. 200k € in first 10 days. Swordhaven managed in 30+ days less then 40k €. How? Good question to ask


Also Atomboy is nowhere to be seen for 2 weeks during Kickstarter. What happend? Trying to help

It's honestly baffling how many Kickstarter campaigns are poorly managed considering you can literally just copy what the successful ones did for free.

The way I have seen it, they didn't (don't) want to have too many pressures on this game. To make a great KS campaign, would mean also to have a lot of stretch goals, people demanding, putting pressure etc etc.

I think they have deliberately kept it quiet.

 

[Tenebris]

Glad you made it to your goal! A bit of a shame it happened a bit slowly but it does give you credit that even with your abysmal marketing you still made it. Shows you have a pretty nice fan base. Any chance you'll add some add-ons to help boost the numbers a bit?

 

[rojay]

Pretty poorly led Kickstarter campaign. They could have gathered much more money, much faster. Look at other mambo-jambo JRPG trashy looking games from first time Devs that have ongoing Kickstarter. 200k € in first 10 days. Swordhaven managed in 30+ days less then 40k €. How? Good question to ask


Also Atomboy is nowhere to be seen for 2 weeks during Kickstarter. What happend? Trying to help

It's honestly baffling how many Kickstarter campaigns are poorly managed considering you can literally just copy what the successful ones did for free.

Are there any overly successful Kickstarter campaigns these days in the video game space? Like, I don't even look at Kickstarter for the most part anymore and wouldn't normally back any. This project interested me more than most so I figured I may as well, but it's a far cry from what I'd have been willing to pony up for ten years ago.

There's some japslop from literally whos that's already at 200k Euros (almost 500% of the goal).



They funded it in less than a day, while this took almost a month.

The weeb one has by the book trailer and much more appealing 3d grafix while this one looks like jank everywhere and kinda less atmospheric than any IE game
Your game may be fun but if you don't invest heavily into looks don't expect ppl to notice it.

If the trailer had a pack mule companion in it, it would blow everyone's minds, I think. That's why I proposed pack mule to be in the game some time ago. Pack mule is a REAL game changer.

Snoop Dog as the pack mule, just blowing bong hits and telling you to fuck off when you try to get him to carry your packs. "Shizzle" he could say and the kids would get it and know you are cool for including Snoop Dog in the game.

What's a Snoop Dog cameo go for these days, $80?

 

[Hydro]

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

 

[Beans00]

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

Well I didn't find it cringe, I found it very enjoyable.

 

[Tacgnol]

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

Well I didn't find it cringe, I found it very enjoyable.

Same. I mean sure, it wasn't a perfect game, but what game is?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

Well I didn't find it cringe, I found it very enjoyable.

Same. I mean sure, it wasn't a perfect game, but what game is?

Realms of Arkania HD

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

UI works is top notch. Loving the demo so far.

 

[The Wall]

edit: by the way did anyone know oblivion had a goblin war mechanic that spanned the whole continent? Now that's something I'd try...

Yeah, it was FANTASTIC little mechanic...had it worked and had Bethesda not fucked up the code in one of the patches before or after Oblivion 1.0 version. Idea was to have Goblin shaman totem (stick with stinky goblin head that shoots lighting out of its dead eyes) given to every Goblin tribe in Cyrodiil. There were 7 tribes in total, each had their HQ cave, their Shaman, Warchief and bunch of stinky goblins with different ranks (bersekers, archers, rat farmers etc). If Player was to steal shaman totem staff and place it inside cave of another goblin tribe or inside any Human city, goblin tribe without shaman staff would gather search, retrieve and destroy party and go on war path. That would give Players many opportunities to play with goblins or point them towards other factions (Bandits, Mages, Guilds...) by dropping their precious goblin totem there and kickstarting ethnic goblin wars. Very fun Infinitron role-play

Or not

Please do. I'm programming for almost 2 years and these things ain't that hard to program. Especially considering that framework how that should be organized in code has been set up by previous games with World Simulation. Bottleneck is design, you just need to design it so it's immersive and fun aka gives Players new opportunities for role play and if Player doesn't want that telegraph any such system spilling into Player's game world (for example goblins are teaming up to attack village in which you do questing) by giving multiple warnings to Players via rumors and other NPCs as goblin horde approaches, and if Player doesn't want or have time to engage offer opportunity to spend some of Player's horde of gold on defenses, Majesty style let Players invest into such emergant random events into one or other side and each outcome should give Player nice rare item as reward, if his side wins. He can participate or go somewhere else and it will play off in the background

 

[The Wall]

Backgrounds could be nicely tied into such emergant events. Bandit could team up with goblins and raid village treasury and women. Later on people would speak about unusually large goblin leading goblin raid, too bad it was night and they couldnt have seen such rare creature better

Horses, trade caravans and ships moving around would be enough to distinct you from others. In most RPGs you're just drawing your decisions inside Potemkin painting. You're only "real" part of that World

 

[The Wall]

Think about World Simulation. Maybe it's outside your design vision, maybe it overlaps. If you want you can make stretch goal be increased overlap, increased World Simulation. I'd be happy with Stronghold-style animated world

 

[Litmanen]

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

I understand you couldn't possibly like it but, I mean, you played another game.

ATOM is a very nica game and I find it also better than Trudograd (some parts of the gameplay were useless in Trudograd, but better graphics for sure)

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

I'm still drooling over how good the UI is in this game... holy.. shit.

Minor "complaints" (nitpick): is this BG enhanced edition font? also more tactile sound on clicking "Continue" during dialogue would be much better I think. Overall, UI design and UI effect is absolutely 10/10.

That being said, music is less than "kinda meh". Is it realistic to ask music to be offered into stretch goal? I think it lacks identity, it feels generic, it's forgettable.

The writing is 6.9 (not quite 7) if that make sense. It's like Baldur's Gate 1 writing. Juvenile, Banal....? Basic? Maybe because the set up is just kind of boring to be quite honest.

The graphics are also Okay but not quite good either. It feels like it's one point away from being accused as Asset flip game. Colours are too vivid and looks like every other developer first unity top down CRPG. (I forgot to check my graphic setting, maybe it's defaulted to "Medium" or something like that).

Anyway, I backed, and waiting.

(If anyone wondering, it's playable on Linux via Proton).

 

[Hobo Elf]

I've recently played and finished ATOM RPG for the first time. If this is indicative of the kind of game we are getting but in a fantasy setting then sign me up.

 

[Atomboy]

How much AI models like Co-Pilot for code writing and DALL-E and similar AI art tools help you in your game development? If not at all, do you expect in future AI tools to be great helpers in making Devs' Vision materialize on the computer screens much faster and increase weight of Devs bank account?

You're one of my indie GameDev GOATs. 4 Real

The joys and tribulations of game development are in... well, development. AI sucks the fun out of it! +It's not very good at this point in time.As for the future of gamedev, I dunno. AI algorithms are already being used to help in development, or so I've heard. However, I doubt that this will change the scene in the near future, except perhaps for those weird mobile ca$h-grab-games that are promoted in YouTube ads. You know the ones I'm talking about.

Also, BRING ON world simulation. Not too much, but some for sure. Stronghold Crusader with all the animated inhabitants of Castle going, working and plausibly in-setting goofing around your stronghold brought immersion level skyhigh. Anyone who played that Game remembers it till this day. Power of charm

That's probably more scripted world simulation then compared to let's say original Stalkers and Rimworld world simulation. Maybe some happy medium? With a pinch of rare Oblivion's accidental silliness

Yup, a happy medium would be the best outcome, but this still remains to be seen.

Pretty poorly led Kickstarter campaign. They could have gathered much more money, much faster. Look at other mambo-jambo JRPG trashy looking games from first time Devs that have ongoing Kickstarter. 200k € in first 10 days. Swordhaven managed in 30+ days less then 40k €. How? Good question to ask


Also Atomboy is nowhere to be seen for 2 weeks during Kickstarter. What happend? Trying to help

It's honestly baffling how many Kickstarter campaigns are poorly managed considering you can literally just copy what the successful ones did for free.

Are there any overly successful Kickstarter campaigns these days in the video game space? Like, I don't even look at Kickstarter for the most part anymore and wouldn't normally back any. This project interested me more than most so I figured I may as well, but it's a far cry from what I'd have been willing to pony up for ten years ago.

There's some japslop from literally whos that's already at 200k Euros (almost 500% of the goal).



They funded it in less than a day, while this took almost a month.

The weeb one has by the book trailer and much more appealing 3d grafix while this one looks like jank everywhere and kinda less atmospheric than any IE game
Your game may be fun but if you don't invest heavily into looks don't expect ppl to notice it.

If the trailer had a pack mule companion in it, it would blow everyone's minds, I think. That's why I proposed pack mule to be in the game some time ago. Pack mule is a REAL game changer.

That's the stuff we usually don't even think about, but it's pretty much true. A cool animal sidekick or a sexy lady provide much more views than the opposite of these things. That's why marketer is a profession, I guess. You live and you learn. I should've asked for more babes and maybe a capybara mount in the promo materials. We'll have dinosaurs though, that's pretty sick I guess.

Pretty poorly led Kickstarter campaign. They could have gathered much more money, much faster. Look at other mambo-jambo JRPG trashy looking games from first time Devs that have ongoing Kickstarter. 200k € in first 10 days. Swordhaven managed in 30+ days less then 40k €. How? Good question to ask


Also Atomboy is nowhere to be seen for 2 weeks during Kickstarter. What happend? Trying to help

It's honestly baffling how many Kickstarter campaigns are poorly managed considering you can literally just copy what the successful ones did for free.

The way I have seen it, they didn't (don't) want to have too many pressures on this game. To make a great KS campaign, would mean also to have a lot of stretch goals, people demanding, putting pressure etc etc.

I think they have deliberately kept it quiet.

I'm glad it looks that way ;----D Because IRL we like did EVERYTHING WE COULD to promote it...
Ohh the joys of being poorly prepared!

You just haven't updated in a while. ATOM is very playable and very not cringe!

Sorry but it is cringe and is unplayable. An absolute caricature of a world building, unbearable writing, uninspiring character development system, bland music and absolutely zero distinct style. Its only selling point was muh Soviet Fallout and you fucked it up making it more of a gimmick.

Eh, I get that a bunch of people see the game like that, but I just can't agree. It's a huge matter of taste of course, like, if you didn't like the music, I can't prove that the music is actually very good! And ofc a lot of mistakes were made, and a bunch of things I'd do much better nowadays, especially the writing and char development. But the whole "world building is a caricature", "game is just a lazy, sloppily made bunch of references", "nothing makes sense" and other arguments like that are objectively disprovable. if you follow all the hints, references, read between the lines, etc, you can paint yourself a very realistic picture of a third world feudal state which is Atom's post-nuke USSR. Thought and effort went into every character, even those you never actually meet: who are they, who do they know, how are they related to another character, etc. Study the world enough and you'll even know how the economy works, how politics work, what are the relations between the places you can visit and even what's the status of faraway places that aren't even in the game. Who's paying whom, which politicians are secretly in a cool club together, what rules what from the shadows, etc. You might even glimpse the hidden storyline that's gonna reach its apex in Swordhaven and is only given through visual hints and a few loose references in ATOM. We put so much thought into the subtext, we forgot to make the actual text appealing at times. And that kinda makes the game suck for a lot of people, completely deservingly. But nothing is bad in that game due to the lack of effort. Just the lack of talent and dev experience! I just love games like that.

I'm still drooling over how good the UI is in this game... holy.. shit.

Minor "complaints" (nitpick): is this BG enhanced edition font? also more tactile sound on clicking "Continue" during dialogue would be much better I think. Overall, UI design and UI effect is absolutely 10/10.

That being said, music is less than "kinda meh". Is it realistic to ask music to be offered into stretch goal? I think it lacks identity, it feels generic, it's forgettable.

The writing is 6.9 (not quite 7) if that make sense. It's like Baldur's Gate 1 writing. Juvenile, Banal....? Basic? Maybe because the set up is just kind of boring to be quite honest.

The graphics are also Okay but not quite good either. It feels like it's one point away from being accused as Asset flip game. Colours are too vivid and looks like every other developer first unity top down CRPG. (I forgot to check my graphic setting, maybe it's defaulted to "Medium" or something like that).

Anyway, I backed, and waiting.

(If anyone wondering, it's playable on Linux via Proton).

Thanks for the tip, some inventory and general sound cues & music need a lot of work. Hopefully these will receive an upgrade or several very soon. That's something that won't need a stretch goal to be made, we're just gonna make it happen anyway. Glad you like the UI itself! Though I think it'll be another thing that is liked by some and really disliked by others. Can't please them all! That's the kind of UI I dream of in every game I play. Though maybe I'd make my ideal one a bit less black perhaps... But that's the artist's executive decision, what can a guy do. The font, and I might be lying here because I remember it poorly, but I think the font isn't the exact one, because the exact one didn't have all the characters we wanted, like cyrillics and all the šššžžžŗŗŗŗōōōāāāīī thingies many names and words of Swordhaven require, so we got the closest looking one that was for sale. Either that, or it's just the BG font.
The writing will get way more exciting as the places you visit become more exciting. Writing a 10\10 super fun village of mundane people is like squeezing water out of the stone. When we'll get to places that are less mundane, I'll let my 1000000 hours of listening to the classics shine for sure. And by classics I mean American pulp fiction magazines from the 1920's. Objective improvements are already there, like an editor, an overall improved grammar, way larger vocabulary than I or my partner had before, etc. Now we just need to apply that.
Graphics-wise, that's a peculiar thing with unity games. No matter what you do, they get into that place where they look very similar to other unity games, and look like asset flips. The fact tons of things in the demo indeed are purchased or even free publicly available assets that were sort of flipped to be in the game, doesn't help either!!!! That will get better as we develop our own assets. Have you tried the iso mode? It looks way better in iso mode, IMO!
Glad the kinks were wiped out for the Linux build, it's always a special point for us to make our games work well on Linux. Thanks for the support, man!

I've recently played and finished ATOM RPG for the first time. If this is indicative of the kind of game we are getting but in a fantasy setting then sign me up.

Lots and lots of polish and improvements over ATOM, but hey, we're still the same people, and at least one storyline from ATOM will find a resolution in Swordhaven, so in a sense it's kinda like that yeah!

edit: by the way did anyone know oblivion had a goblin war mechanic that spanned the whole continent? Now that's something I'd try...

Yeah, it was FANTASTIC little mechanic...had it worked and had Bethesda not fucked up the code in one of the patches before or after Oblivion 1.0 version. Idea was to have Goblin shaman totem (stick with stinky goblin head that shoots lighting out of its dead eyes) given to every Goblin tribe in Cyrodiil. There were 7 tribes in total, each had their HQ cave, their Shaman, Warchief and bunch of stinky goblins with different ranks (bersekers, archers, rat farmers etc). If Player was to steal shaman totem staff and place it inside cave of another goblin tribe or inside any Human city, goblin tribe without shaman staff would gather search, retrieve and destroy party and go on war path. That would give Players many opportunities to play with goblins or point them towards other factions (Bandits, Mages, Guilds...) by dropping their precious goblin totem there and kickstarting ethnic goblin wars. Very fun Infinitron role-play

Or not

Please do. I'm programming for almost 2 years and these things ain't that hard to program. Especially considering that framework how that should be organized in code has been set up by previous games with World Simulation. Bottleneck is design, you just need to design it so it's immersive and fun aka gives Players new opportunities for role play and if Player doesn't want that telegraph any such system spilling into Player's game world (for example goblins are teaming up to attack village in which you do questing) by giving multiple warnings to Players via rumors and other NPCs as goblin horde approaches, and if Player doesn't want or have time to engage offer opportunity to spend some of Player's horde of gold on defenses, Majesty style let Players invest into such emergant random events into one or other side and each outcome should give Player nice rare item as reward, if his side wins. He can participate or go somewhere else and it will play off in the background

Thanks for the vid! The years long mystery has finally been solved.

 

[Vulpes]

Will the game support custom portraits on launch? No one I knew liked the ones that shipped with ATOM

 

[Atomboy]

Will the game support custom portraits on launch? No one I knew liked the ones that shipped with ATOM

It's already there.

 

[normie]

Will the game support custom portraits on launch? No one I knew liked the ones that shipped with ATOM

It's already there. View attachment 49263

is that a Twin Peaks reference?

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Will the game support custom portraits on launch? No one I knew liked the ones that shipped with ATOM

Wtf?! The portraits were the best thing about ATOM.

I still want the ATOM portraits converted for Swordhaven but with a fantasy style make-over.

e: Like my Codex portrait but with medieval clothing.

 

[Hydro]

Those portraits are retarded-take references to 60-70 Soviet era pop culture. Another aspect these devs couldn’t grasp about Fallout — it referenced uplifting 60s pop culture to contrast it with the grim reality.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atomrpg/swordhaven-iron-conspiracy/posts/4091935

DEMO PATCH + 2ND STRETCH GOAL​

Greetings, everyone!

The development of the game continues, including work on the demo. While most of the progress we’ve made won’t be included in it, there will be plenty of other smaller fixes and additions!

They should make the demo experience even smoother for those who haven’t tried it yet, without spoiling the bigger improvements that we plan to showcase in the Early Access version.

• Increased the minimum visibility zone when you have low Attention;
• Optimized performance;
• Added more item descriptions;
• Added sounds for success and failure during crafting;
• Fixed the number of arrows displayed on the belt;
• Fixed item descriptions when they’re on the belt;
• Added hotkey and tooltip for Take All;
• Fixed predictions;
• Added more portraits for the NPCs;
• Added and updated icons for abilities;
• Fixed knockdown effect;
• Made a lot of balance changes;
• Added new tooltips and buttons during Trade;
• Fixed Well Rested effect;
• Fixed bug with some cutscenes freezing;
• Fixed many bugs with throwing items/weapons;
• Texture optimization;
• Updated ambient music in houses;
• Added hotkey for selecting the whole party;
• Fixed quest completion issues;
• Configured spawn points after resting in the Inn;
• Fixed stolen item display issues;
• Added Japanese translation;
• Fixed provocation, panic and fatigue effects;
• Added indication when ingredients are running out;
• Added the burning effect;
• Updated crafting UI. WIP.
• A lot of minor and not so minor bug-fixes.

For our next stretch goal, at 42K €, we will be aiming to add a rather curious dungeon.

Imagine a ruined settlement built atop a cliff—its dilapidated buildings glistening in the light of the waning moons like the bones of a cyclopean monster—long since abandoned by its original builders.

Was it just the wind you heard as you passed through the crumbling gates, or were those faint whispers the dreams of something still lingering within..?

This stretch goal will allow us to build a ruined city, as well as a sprawling underground section populated with monsters, puzzles, and treasure. Additionally, we will write a quest with multiple endings dependent on the actions you take.

When the stars are right, will you uncover this ancient mystery? Or will you decide that not knowing and keeping your sanity is the best outcome? Either way, do not expect an easy journey, for there is truth in the old adage: it is not dead, which can eternal lie…

Thank you for following the development of Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy!

Yours forever,

Atom Team

 

[roguefrog]

When the stars are right? We going cosmic horror now boys?

Anyway nice stretch goal. (New location/dungeon/quest) I hope they can make it. Only 5 days left of the kickstarter though.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

They've reached 1st stretch goal.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atomrpg/swordhaven-iron-conspiracy/posts/4095551

IMPROVED BASE REACHED! + THIRD STRETCH GOAL​

You did it! The first stretch goal, ‘Improved Player Base’, has been reached thanks to all of you!

Now you will have a lot of options for upgrading and styling your manor, as well as specific quests tied to this cozy place!

And as the next stretch goal—the Mysterious Ruined City—awaits its fate, why not uncover what we have in mind next. There’s not much time left in the campaign, but you know what they say—fortune favours the bold!

At 44K €, we will add festivals to the game world! On specific days, the different peoples of Nova Drakonia will celebrate various holidays—both historical and religious.

Herbal Eve, with its traditions of leaping over bonfires and eating special cheese with caraway seeds; the ritualistic burning of the effigy of Alb the Færy, the evil warlock who long ago almost destroyed the first Empire; or Šeršet Day, when villagers dress as evil spirits and roam from house to house singing obscene songs and demanding treats.

And many more!

During these dates, some locations might change, special encounters will appear on the world map, and unique NPCs will grace the hamlets with their presence, perhaps even offering a quest or two.

Such small details could add a lot of charm to the game world, and hopefully make your exploration of Nova Drakonia a tad more special!

Well, that’s all for today. Thank you so much for your support, it really means the world to us!

Yours truly,

Atom Team