Hey Heroes,
This week's topic is Gordian Quests's map system. As gamers ourselves, we believe procedurally generated maps are the lifeblood of any roguelike or roguelite - our end goal, the Adventure Mode, is to create a world that can be played for as long as you like past certain key world events, and will constantly be refreshed with new quests, sights, sounds, and events.
In the meantime, our first Act is a stepping stone towards that. As we aim for it to be an introductory experience, only a portion of it will have semi-random elements. While the above graphics may be changed in the final version, this is a good representation of what the world of Act 1 will look like. Let's go more in depth into it!
Set in the region of Westmire, the plot focuses around Silverkeep, a city under siege by undead. Caught in the chaos, you must find refuge in garrison hastily set up by Captain Rodrick, who leads the city's militia.
You're on the back foot, and danger comes from both the undead and local gangs eager to take advantage of the chaos. Chart your path through the hazardous city streets to complete key objectives given by Captain Rodrick. As the world changes on every run, so must your tactics if you are to survive and adapt.
That's not all. You'll come across all manners of side areas and dungeons as the adventure progresses, some that stretch multiple levels deep and will require careful planning if you are to survive, especially if you're playing on roguelike mode, which means permanent death should any of your heroes fall.
With that said, fully completing a side area yields bonus rewards, so steel yourself and make the right decisions!
Every node is a promise of something new, strange, exciting, and challenging. There are many different kinds of encounters, and these are just the very basic few.
- Towns - Towns are a safe zone, a place to pick up quests and trade for items. There is only one town in Act 1, but will feature more strongly in future acts, and be a procedural element in Adventure Mode on release.
- Battles - A great way to earn resources and items, but a quick way to end your run if you aren't careful.
- Elite Battles - These encounters are even tougher than normal, and you'll encounter enemies with modifiers that shake up the battlefield. They drop better rewards.
- Events - These events can be bite-sized, or mini epics that take you through a scenario where decisions have to be made. These include challenges, a battle of dices to overcome a certain threat or obstacle.
- Dungeons - These are connectors to side areas, that hold the promise of great wealth... or certain demise.
- Waypoints - These are fast travel points, allowing you quick access to different regions of the map. You must first activate them by reaching them for the first time.
- Rewards - These are reward caches, far and few within, but always worth aiming for.
- Shrines - These are pylons of power, put up in service to the gods long forgotten. Their powers have not faded, however, and activating them can modify regions of the map to become more rewarding, yet more deadly.
- Camps - These act as safe grounds for you to camp. Camping is a good opportunity to rest, train, or make banter among your heroes. Camping will play a much bigger role in the future.
This is just a taste of what we have to show for our Early Access. We'll be working on this and even more amazing content as we go on!
If you've missed out on our previous posts, here is all the teasers we've shown - this list will be growing as we go along!
If any of the above gets you excited, you'll be absolutely in for a treat with Gordian Quest. We can't wait to show you more, stay tuned!
Drop us a comment, wishlist our game and tell your friends about it :)
Sincerely,
The Gordian Quest Team