The legacy of Tower Walker
Today we are going to talk about identity, targeting, combat feeling and lore. 7 years in the making since the first prototype v0.01 (inhouse name "GS-grind") was baked in 2019 and then launched a few years later on Steam, Tower Walker is now about to enter a new era and evolve a
Today we are going to talk about identity, targeting, combat feeling and lore.
7 years in the making since the first prototype v0.01 (inhouse name "GS-grind") was baked in 2019 and then launched a few years later on Steam, Tower Walker is now about to enter a new era and evolve again. Many of you that supported us early and bought the first game at launch are absolute legends in our book today giving so much good feedback over the years. You know who you are! One of you made it into the game as an item name for a rare artifact (Myrillians Gem) that drops in a dungeon.
We must also talk about the wierd phrasing of the name with -"MMO GRIND SIMULATOR" attached to it, (the reason for the branding was to make TW stand out and find audience from scratch to a new concept - and it felt right to name it this way). But now the name is part of history and should remain as it is. We will respect our past and the origins of TW even though it is a pure singleplayer game with the letters "MMO" right next to it.
Keeping the formula...
So TW launched 2023 and 60+ patches later, working so closely on the game for so long made us realize that we should keep our identity at all costs when making the successor and not conform to known genres or other games, just stick to our own thing and let it grow natural from within and not outside influence when it comes to core gameplay. The entire focus has always been.. how can we make the game better today in our own way.
IDENTITY
The journey has led us to understand that the core of the TW formula is the races and the differences between them. This became very important. Of course the classes are also a vital part of the game (the soul of TW is class-based) but for the foundation we feel that the game has evolved beyond just being a normal idle RPG game. We have something special here... and we should embrace it and let the game become what it suppose to be. The identity of the game is shaped from the races and their ancestry first before picking a class. Mushi has 24 races at launch.
Screenshot of the character creation with the preview of ancestry tree for races to bring more info direct when making the choice.
TARGETING
We now have a new targeting system in combat which makes it possible to interact and click on enemies to override the automation and point out targets for the character. This will be extremely useful in dungeon runs if you for example play a heavy AoE class that want to quickly pull all mobs together in a corner to clear the room or focus on taking out range enemies hitting you in the back. This was a late addition to the game that turned out really well based on great feedback (shoutout to Mortac).
Screenshot of the targeting system in action
COMBAT FEELING
All classes in Mushi have improved faster movement, better behaviours, sharp and precise animations with a more fluid feeling when doing actions that in many ways helps identify their strengths and weaknesses more than in Tower Walker. There are now more impact to choices of race/class/rings/pets for character builds. There are also new unique types of "Active skill" rings in the game that could affect playstyles further. Also thanks to great feedback again from a few legends in the crowd, there is for example no "slowdown" effect for melee classes in the last steps before hitting an enemy or other minor behaviours in combat affecting the overall feeling and smoothness to it compared to Tower Walker.
Screenshot from the dungeon "Molten Forge"
LORE
The lore and the background of the tower is important. Tower Walker takes place in the world of Aldora but mostly in the tower. Mushi takes place in the same world many years later but outside the tower. The kingdom of Stormholme is still around but the game will now focus on another part the world and events taking place in the human kingdom of Adaen where King Richard Taedmorden rules. The story introduces more of the world outside and also in the abyss but the tower itself will always be the backbone. We still have the Ocean Depths addition to Tower Walker to announce later this year that explains some mystery behind certain events and new characters that appears in Mushi.
For centuries, the lands of Aldora have been divided into
four human kingdoms. At the heart of the east lies the
massive castle-town Stormholme, a fortress of grey stone
and unwavering strength.
To the south stretches the remnants of Adaen, now a shadow
of its former glory. The fall of King Richard Taedmorden
plunged the region into ruin with scattered villages that
offer only fractured glimpses of the kingdom’s former glory.
Beyond the south lies the Kingdom of Eldryn and the trading hub
Silverwood Keep with a deep connection to the old ways.
In the wilder western territories, the Kingdom of Dior, ruled by
the feared Lord Valerius Thowen, clings to life on the border
to bandit settlements.
Screenshot from "Ancient Desert"
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4192770/Mushi/
