Hello everyone,
We've been quiet on our Steam page for a while, but as those who follow us on other social media channels know, we actually never stopped. Over the past few months, we have massively expanded the game's universe, mechanics, and the complex code architecture behind the scenes. Today, we're opening the doors a bit to show you what we've been up to during this time.
Narrative Depth
One of the things we focused on the most in recent months was the depth of the game's story. We realized that the narrative in our game is deeply shaped by resource management, driven by various encounters and the choices you make during them. For this reason, we wanted to bring our characters to the forefront within the story. We decided to focus much more on the characters' backgrounds and the long-term event sequences you will experience with them. Now, the choices you make in the game don't just manage your resources; they directly change the characters' fates, the narrative flow, and the game's ending.
(A result of the choices we make in the game)
Of course, expanding and branching the story this much through the characters presented a technical bottleneck. Initially, we were trying to design this complex story structure in Figma and transfer it to Unity, but as the universe grew, we realized this process was too cumbersome. As a solution, we developed our very own custom "Graph Tool" (Node-Based Tool) that runs entirely within Unity. Now, we can design those complex stories directly inside the engine and manage all the data and branches much faster from a single screen.
(The story tree of our character named Demonboy)
Visuals, UI, and Atmospheric Sounds
We've significantly expanded the visual world of the game with new character illustrations, animations, and location designs. We have designed a large portion of the User Interface (UI), but we are still working on it to ensure everything feels flawless and player-friendly before the demo. We are also putting in a lot of extra hours to add more "juice" (impact/feedback feel) and particle effects to the game. We are supporting all this visual evolution with our atmospheric sound systems that change dynamically depending on your location and the season. We would also like to thank the entire developer community for inspiring us with their tutorial content throughout this process!
(A choice we make during one of the encounters in the game)
Personalities and the Mutiny Threat
We have completely overhauled the character personality system. Now, characters who sit on the council or go out to solve problems on the map can gain experience and level up. A high-level character:
Solves problems on the map with a higher success rate.
Significantly increases the group bonuses in the council.
Most importantly, can uncover the hidden intentions of a new character arriving at your door through their own "experienced intuition."
We have 12 different personalities, which are categorized into 4 different Zodiac signs. When grouping these personalities and defining the signs, we were heavily inspired by the famous "Cipolla Matrix". Every character has a loyalty level. The choices you make, their success rate in assigned tasks on the map, and your decisions during objectives or events can deeply affect your disciples' loyalty. Disciples who completely lose their loyalty don't just walk away anymore; they become "Heretics" and start consuming our resources from the inside. If things get out of hand, we may be forced to establish a "Mutiny Tribunal." Through this, we can either sacrifice a disciple whose loyalty is above a certain threshold, or use our funds to stop the uprising of the heretics against us. Naturally, with all these new mechanics, the functioning of our council has also drastically changed. We have also added a mini-game where we guess the personality of a character newly joining the cult. We will explain in detail how these mechanics and the Zodiac signs shift the balance within the cult in the coming weeks.
The City of "Kumestik"
We have designed a new city map that is directly connected to the story and takes its name from the Turkish word "kümes" (coop). Kumestik is a living city made up of the urban districts inside the walls and the rural districts beyond them. You start the game in a random rural district and try to expand toward the city. However, this isn't a war; it's a struggle for "influence."
Besides you, there are 3 other AI-controlled cults on the map. You transform your disciples into missionary groups and dispatch them to districts, while also assigning your characters to solve the problems there. The success rate of solving a problem is directly influenced by your character's loyalty, having the appropriate personality, their personality level, and the number of your missionary groups present in that district. By solving these problems, you increase your influence and eventually take over the district. Once you fully win a district over to your side, you can establish a business there and earn a permanent weekly resource bonus. But remember; rival cults are infiltrating the same districts and trying to solve the same problems before you do. Each district changes hands based on who builds the stronger influence.
Preparing for the Future
We worked very hard to build our code architecture in as modular and flexible a structure as possible, and we can proudly say we have succeeded. Thanks to this foundation, it will be much easier for us to add new stories and new mechanics to the game in the future. On top of that, thanks to random starts and choices that branch in different directions, every playthrough tells its own story. As a result of this, you will be able to encounter different endings every time.
As a 4-person indie team working entirely remotely, we are building this game with zero budget. We will now continue to share updates on our development process regularly. If you'd like to support us in this process, don't forget to add the game to your Wishlist and join us on this journey!