Warlords,
I hope you all have been having a fun summer. I sure enjoyed the 4th of July, and I survived it with all of my fingers intact (can't risk Awaji's release at this point). It is hard to believe we haven't had a dev log since March. So much has been finished and the game is truly in the final stage of development. A discord user started keeping track of the days spent "waiting for Warlord Awaji" right after the last dev log. He is on Day 133. I can safely affirm that the remaining days we will have to wait is far less than that number. The time until a release date can be announced may be measured in mere weeks, not months. Please have a little more patience as I bring everything together at the end here!
This dev log will detail what I have been working on over the summer. That is, filling in the open world of Awaji. I will also discuss what remains to be done before release and touch on my reasons for Not choosing Early Access.
New World
Warlord: Britannia's map was an island roughly 9x9km in size. This equates to 81km^2, but that includes some water and empty areas, so realistically there was probably 40 square kilometers of play area. This area contained a single barbarian "faction," 75 settlements of 6 different types, and only 3 geographic regions: the forested lowlands, the rolling midlands, and the barren highlands dotted with hill-forts. There were only two types of trees and grass.
Now compare these numbers to Warlord: Awaji. The new map is 16x16km, which is a whopping 256km^2! With water areas removed, the real area is probably half of that or less, but even then, we are talking about a playable area roughly 3-4 times the size of Britannia. At the time of writing, I have finished setting up roughly 100 settlements already, comprising 6 samurai clans and about as many monk factions. This is only 1/3 of the map... Conquering Awaji will truly be a great journey.
The starting beach, farmers work the onion fields.
One of the major complaints about Britannia was the lack of new content as you progressed further into the game. It was just more settlements to conquer and barbarians to defeat. You could unlock the full legion and see all of the barbarian settlement types while still in the lowlands. This was the fault of a still immature developer. In Awaji, I have worked hard to ensure that content is rolled out across the entirety of the campaign. As you progress through the map you will gradually build a larger army by distributing conquered land to warriors, and acquire new equipment that has a real impact on gameplay. In addition, settlements, types of which now number almost 20, tripled from the first game, will gradually become larger and more sophisticated, and enemy resistance will increase accordingly as they have more resources at their disposal.
An armed checkpoint. In the northern starting region, enemies only have access to spears, swords, and basic "belly-protector" armor. A far cry from their well equipped southern counterparts.
The physical journey over the terrain is also more varied in Awaji. Britannia's terrain was quite tame. Once you climbed up the bluffs, the island was relatively level until encountering a few hill-forts in the final region. Awaji on the other hand is vastly more diverse elevation-wise. You will begin on a beach, naturally, and climb the bluffs into the starter region, which is hilly and forested. Then you will backtrack out of the starter zone and cross a large mountain range, which descends into the southern, main part of the map. The main island mass is itself separated many times by smaller hills and ridges into self-contained plains containing different samurai clans and Buddhist factions.
The valley leading up and out of the starter zone. As the sun goes down, mist forms in the low areas.
Awaji's terrain is also much closer to it's real life state. In fact, the underlying terrain was not changed at all, it was simply scaled down (only by 1/3) and treated with erosion simulations to create a more amenable surface for gameplay. With this scale factor, any mountain, hill, valley, bay, or plain in real life Awaji can be visited in the game. Samurai clans are named after their closest real-life locality, and all Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines found in the game exist in real life.
A bronze temple bell. Many of these were melted down during World War II, but some have survived for well over a thousand years.
Filling in this natural world is a larger variety of trees and foliage. There are plains, forests, ancient forests, bamboo groves, black pine groves, and hinoki cypress forests in the mountains. Ground cover has also been vastly improved and made more diverse with a number of native-Japanese species.
Cultivated pine woods behind a temple.
How to Create Awaji
About a month ago, after I had painstakingly finished all of the settlement types, I sat down to start placing settlements on the actual terrain but was met with a problem. What comes first, the settlements, or the roads? Where should settlements be placed? Should I set civilians first, or their samurai protectors? How do I fit temples and shrines into this? I was experiencing what we would call "analysis paralysis." There were simply too many variables to calculate all at once and I found I needed a solid workflow to move forward. Awaji's terrain is far more varied than Britannia and contains more settlement types, so I devised a system by which I could create each region.
First, I start by studying Google Earth. This usually takes an hour or two per region. I check it out for notable temples and shrines, and try to get a gauge of where the large population centers are. I compare the Google Earth reality with the scaled down game map. This simple survey is enough to get me started. From there I can place down the real-life temples and shrines I want to include in the region. Then with the remaining land I create the samurai clans, the player's main obstacle.
A mini, unattended shrine on a mountain.
Creating a clan involves choosing it's "center of gravity," which in this case I define as its headquarters, by placing a samurai mansion or estate. This acts as that clan's heart. From there I fan out over the nearby fields and forests to identify open plots of land in which farms can reside. More southern, richer clans replace farms with more urban villages and markets, as it is assumed in the "canon" of Warlord: Awaji that the rural northern region sends food south in exchange for crafted goods. Here is where I decide what weapons and armor said clan will have access too as well, which is how I control progression across the map.
A warrior's mansion, which acts as the headquarters of a small clan.
Finally once I am happy with the location of settlements, I go about connecting the region up with dirt roads. These come in a wider main road, which acts as the player's guiding path throughout the campaign, and thin offshoot paths which sidetrack the player and lead him to more settlements and points of interest. My rule of thumb is that the main road always leads to samurai settlements and temples and shrines. If the player follows this road, they can complete the game.
Offshoot paths always lead to something, but they are not necessary to progress. Farms and other civilian settlements are connected with thin paths too, but they are short, and it is clear on the map where you are going and that you will return to the main road. True offshoots will be take you out of your way to explore, so that is left up to the player to engage with or not.
A warrior monk guarding his temple's gate. Temples are often secluded in the mountains of Awaji.
By following this method I have managed to fill in about 1/3 of the map and am on track to complete the rest very soon. Although it is complex, it is actually quite fun, and I am getting better and faster at it with each region done. Seeing Awaji come together has been very gratifying. Too bad it will be spoiled for me! I envy all those who have yet to explore Awaji for themselves.
Private Beta
Unbeknownst to most, a private beta test has begun behind closed doors in the Darkmatter Games discord server. This has been limited to a select group. So far, the results have been great. With their help, I have crushed a ton of bugs, identified a number of things that need rebalancing, and am working on QOL improvements. After the rest of the map is moreless ready, I will do another closed beta to ensure the game is fully functional and balanced throughout. I hope this will vastly improve the day-one experience for you all. No doubt there will still be bugs and balance issues that I will address in the weeks following launch, but it should be relatively smooth.
The big mechanical changes from Britannia also seem to be received well. There was some initial confusion, as testers naturally compared Awaji to Britannia, but they quickly adapted to the new system. The biggest change is how resources work. Instead of harvesting a nearly limitless amount of trees to build, and taxing an unlimited amount of supplies and money, now all resources are fixed at the start of the game. Settlements start with a set amount of items that you can take once. After that, they do not regenerate. There were many reasons for this change. First, it incentivizes constant action. No more holing up in your base waiting for tax money. If you want something, you have to go out and take it! Second, it supports the game's structure as a strategic adventure, and not as a colony or kingdom manager, which it truly is not, although it shares elements with such games when viewed at face value. This is part of the game's concept of immersive strategy, something I have been talking about for years.
Monks praying, resting, and cleaning. AI units go about basic daily routines including sleeping at night.
To Be or Not to Be... Early Access
That is the question which I have considered since before even starting work on Warlord: Awaji. Early Access on Steam is designed so developers can release not just an unpolished, but unfinished game many months or even years before it is called "done." This includes lofty promises and expansive roadmaps that bind the developer to their word (whether they mean it or not). I personally play some EA titles, there are many successful examples, and I am not against it per say, especially considering it provides a way for developers to crowd-fund an anticipated product, but the elements of "promise and potential" are concerning. For developers, it means they are locked in on their promise, whether revenue pans out and supports their goals or not. For players, it means they could be purchasing a product which on paper has potential but in reality could lose backing and fizzle out.
I had these thoughts when releasing Warlord: Britannia, which in hindsight, was the ideal candidate for Early Access. My idea with Warlord: Britannia, which is the same now for Awaji, is that I will create a finished, playable game, with a clear content scope to the best of my ability with a set time frame, release it, provide support, and see how it performs sales-wise. No promises or roadmaps until I know for certain I can deliver on them. This is why EA has always been something I just can't commit to. Thankfully for Britannia, the sales performance was strong, and I was able to create and fully deliver on a year-long roadmap of largely player-suggested updates.
Warlord: Awaji will be releasing in a vastly more content-rich and polished state than Britannia, at the same price-tag, so we will see if adding a roadmap is warranted. Regardless, no EA!
A temple in the foothills of a large mountain range. Awaji is fully explorable on foot.
Closing in on Release
With the recent beta test going so well, I am growing increasingly confident that I can maintain my internal release schedule (yes, I have had a date in mind for a while now!). After the open world is finished up and the final elements are added into the game, mainly quests and achievements and museum mode, the game will be ready to roll and you Warlords clear for deployment! There will also be a couple trailers leading up to launch, which I will share aggressively.
Please stay tuned in the coming month! Things are going to finally start happening around here again. Thank you all for the support and understanding as I bring this game to a finish. Feel free to reach out with questions here and on discord!
Darkmatter