Update #10: The Kickstarter Demo,

Interviews & Locked in the Foundry: Episode 1

Hey folks,

Today we’re proud to announce our new demo and introduce our Locked in the Foundry design diary series!

The Kickstarter Demo – Coming Soon!

Based on your feedback, we’ve built a new demo that allows our fans to experience some of the basic gameplay mechanics of WFTO. In this new demo, you have the ability to summon Blood Imps, cast Possession, construct rooms and command your imps to dig out areas of earth and claim tiles – it’s seriously awesome and we cannot wait for you guys to get your hands on it! We expect this demo to be ready to post tomorrow, here’s a little sneak peek of some Blood Imps in action:

Locked In The Foundry: Episode 1 

As we live to please you, Underlord, today we are proud to debut our second in-depth design update and the beginning of our “Locked in the Foundry” series of design diaries. This update will focus upon Shrines in War for the Overworld. Also… once you’ve filled your impish mind with newfound knowledge would you mind unlocking the door so we can eat?

We’ve discussed (in passing) the need to get players out on the map — as opposed to turtling until their army is maxed out, or until their enemy foolishly decides to press the defenders advantage — to this end we are pleased to introduce Shrines. These mythical bastions of power lay dormant beneath the depths but will spring to life (figuratively) when your workers claim the surrounding tiles. Today we’ll look at four shrines and their effects. (Please note that the names, artwork, and effects are not final and may change during development)

Fires of War & Stairs of Nephren-Ka

The Fires of War burn brightly when conflicts arise — it is in this shrine that the dying ember of every fire used in war finds its way… keeping its eternal blaze bright. By controlling this shrine your own Foundry will experience a surge in the raw and unforgiving power of this undying fire, speeding the construction of traps and doors. The worker you choose to station at this shrine will find the overpowering heat and ancient schematics allow them to fabricate traps and doors with remarkable ease — increasing productivity by a considerable amount.

The Stairs of Nephren-Ka lead to a dark and otherworldly place. It is a place where a being of horror, so hideous and such an outsider that it defies a name, stalks his endless domain. When you take command of this shrine this creature shall come to your call and defend the area around the shrine (and entrance to his domain) with bloodthirsty glee.

Primordial Tome & Brooding Intellect (Click for a higher resolution image)

The Primordial Tome contains the knowledge of the ancients. By controlling this shrine those working in the Archive will hear whispered knowledge from the scholars trapped within the shrine — speeding their research by a considerable amount. The worker you choose to station at this shrine will hear the steady song of arcane wisdom and find answers to secrets long since forgotten — increasing her productivity by a considerable amount.

With Brooding Intellect in your control your Area of Influence will extend in a wide radius around this shrine, allowing you to … well… we’re going to cover “Area of Influence” in our next design update so you’ll have to wait!

Interviews  

To round this update off, we’ve got links to the two interviews that have taken place since our last update:

• We were featured on 8andaHalfBit’s “elevator pitch” series here.
• We occupied a 30 minute slot on Kick-a-Thon, Cycle 2. You can find our segment here.

Until next time Underlord,

– WFTO Team