One of the big things I have needed to resolve for Swords and Sandals Immortals is this conundrum: what happens if, after 300 days, you are not prepared to fight the Starbound Gladiator?
Firstly, how do we become the most powerful gladiator in the realm? We level up, fight local champions and eventually become invited to Doomtrek to fight Grand Champions. There are twelve of these elite gladiators for you to fight. Once you are invited to Doomtrek, you can compete against these Grand Champions at any time. The only cost is stars for teleportation to the arena.
Of course, you must defeat the first to face the second and so on - this is much like how Swords and Sandals III worked. Once you have defeated the twelfth and final Grand Champion, you become the Grand Sentinel and we fast forward to the arrival of the Starbound Gladiator for the final showdown.
But again ... what if you're not the Great Sentinel? I had a lot of thoughts on this over the months. At first , I thought, well lets let the player fight the Starbound Gladiator anyway, even if they totally destroy our gladiator. This would show you , I figured, the true power of what you were up against.
Thinking on that more, it did not make sense. Why would *you* be the one to fight the Starbound Gladiator if you were not the most powerful gladiator in Brandor? The story tells us that the Automatons have set up tournaments all through the realm to determine a single fighter powerful enough to challenge the Starbound Gladiator and appeal to his hubris.
That gladiator, of course, could not be you, if you were not the most powerful!
So that led me to second option. Perhaps then, after 300 days, the game just ends and you get a 'better luck next time, the world is destroyed' screen! It felt a little cheap, as we as players are still expecting some kind of showdown, even if we ourselves are not part of it.
Which then led me to this third option:
If you reach the 300 day mark and you have not risen to become the Great Sentinel, the game ends - but we are treated to quite a fun and interesting event. Our gladiator, along with many other great citizens of Brandor, are invited to Doomtrek to witness the final battle. The Starbound Gladiator arrives, addresses the crowd and then proceeds to do battle against Brandor's chosen Great Sentinel - who is , of course Grand Champion XII ( the final Grand Champion you must face! ) . A mighty and epic gladiator in their own right!
What I've been able to do is pit these two gladiators against each other and allow the player to witness the battle in real time, using the game's real logic and rules. The Starbound Gladiator wins every time, just because they are the most powerful. Technically it is possible for him to lose, but I have not seen it in a hundred battles! I may have to put a failsafe in there just in case, but so far he is undefeated.
We then 'enjoy' a final end of the world cutscene and the game ends.
I figured this was a much fairer way of addressing failure in the game instead of a quick ' you lose' screen, and it encourages a lot of replayability as the player strives to do better next time.
For the moment, this is the only ending possible in the game because I have not yet built all of the arenas and Grand Champions. These will be coming in the first weeks of Early Access so there won't be too long of a wait.
I hope you enjoy this 'bad ending' to the game as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Only ten days until launch!
Cheers, Oliver Joyce
Whiskeybarrel Studios