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City of the Shroud

Created by Abyssal Arts

A tactical RPG where all players' choices come together to drive a living story, created by a AAA veteran and a chart-topping author.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Final Countdown: We're Almost There!
almost 8 years ago – Mon, May 02, 2016 at 08:40:41 AM

Hi Everyone!

This is it - we’ve entered the final stretch of the campaign!! If you know anyone on the fence, remind them that it’s now or never!

To make the last few days extra special, we’ll be giving out 5 Story Demo keys every time we tick off an item on our Social Media Stretch Goals! And if we unlock Survival Mode, we’ll send a story demo key to every single one of you.

We’re at 30% to unlocking Survival Mode and sending you your Story Demo key - if every backer tagged @AbyssalArts in a tweet about the game, and shared the campaign link on Facebook once, we’d smash through our goals in a heartbeat!

Let’s get out there and spread the word - we’ve only got a few days left! 


Here are your tools! 

  • Use this link when sharing: http://bit.ly/cotskick 
  • Thunderclap 
  • Facebook - like Abyssal Arts on Facebook and tag us in your post! 
  • Twitter - tag/follow @abyssalarts so we can retweet you and keep track! 
  • Fan Art Submissions: contact [at] abyssalarts [dot] com
4 more people on the Thunderclap and we're 10% closer to Survival Mode!
4 more people on the Thunderclap and we're 10% closer to Survival Mode!

Insomnia Scotland Day 2 - That's A Wrap!
almost 8 years ago – Sun, May 01, 2016 at 03:42:35 PM

Hi Everyone,

Insomnia Scotland is over, and it was a rousing success! Players young and old tried City of the Shroud, and more than a few walked away singing its praises.

The Hat Merchant was as popular as ever, and I will admit that I made sure to observe how everyone responded to his question. It’s always rewarding to see people getting a kick out of the dialogue. The latest UI update to the combo wheel made it easier to read attacks, and players as young as 7 were able to pull off combos with ease.

The concept behind the story also captivated people’s imaginations, and being able to explain the results of our live test from February helped show how players could influence and change the world in ways that we would never have imagined.

One of my favorite things about taking CotS to shows is seeing the range of players who ‘click’ with it. The visuals attract a wide variety of players, including a lot of kids. Although young players (under 12 or so) aren’t the main focus for the game, I’m always impressed with how many can walk up and play the game without any explanation (or reading any text, as is often the case…). Sometimes they even out-perform the adults!

I’m really glad that I had the chance to demo the game for so many people - it’s a big energy boost going into the last week of our Kickstarter! :)

Cheers,
Keaton & The Abyssal Arts Team

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We've only got 3 days left to hit 100 supporters on Thunderclap! Join in and help us announce the final 48 hours of the Kickstarter!!

Here are your tools! 

  • Use this link when sharing: http://bit.ly/cotskick 
  • Thunderclap 
  • Facebook - like Abyssal Arts on Facebook and tag us in your post! 
  • Twitter - tag/follow @abyssalarts so we can retweet you and keep track! 
  • Fan Art Submissions: contact [at] abyssalarts [dot] com

Insomnia Scotland Day 1 Success and Alternating Start Positions
almost 8 years ago – Sat, Apr 30, 2016 at 07:18:01 PM

Hi Everyone,

Insomnia Scotland Day 1 was a blast! We ran into some familiar faces, introduced new fans to the game, and got some great insight into the game's presentation while we were at it. Keaton will be rocking our booth all day Sunday, so if you're in the Edinburgh area, come say hi!

Now then, having played countless battles on maps currently in CotS, many of us on the team have developed our own patterns of moves for when a battle starts. Rather than get locked into them and repeat them every time, we're thinking of ways to keep the beginning of battles fresh; what do you think of:

  • Alternating Start Positions:
    We'd like to try having different player start configurations for each map. Once you’ve played a map several times it becomes easy to fall into using the same opening moves every time, and having different starting positions would go a long way to introducing new scenarios and new decisions, even if the map itself is familiar.

Let us know in the comments!

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We're getting closer to unlocking Survival Mode! Send us some tweets! :D

Here are your tools! 

  • Use this link when sharing: http://bit.ly/cotskick 
  • Thunderclap 
  • Facebook - like Abyssal Arts on Facebook and tag us in your post! 
  • Twitter - tag/follow @abyssalarts so we can retweet you and keep track! 
  • Fan Art Submissions: contact [at] abyssalarts [dot] com

CotS @ Insomnia Scotland Tomorrow! + Development is a Community Effort
almost 8 years ago – Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 01:07:26 PM

Hi Everyone,

Insomnia Scotland starts tomorrow, and we’re nearly set up! Keaton will be running the booth all weekend at the Edinburgh International Conference Center, so come by, say hi, and check out the latest version of the demo!

We have an awesome poster going up in that white space tomorrow ;)
We have an awesome poster going up in that white space tomorrow ;)

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In making City of the Shroud, we’ve had the great fortune of working with and being supported by a lot of wonderful people. Family, friends, other indie devs - many people have offered advice and support, from code to art to words of wisdom.

The community of game developers is one of my favorite aspects of the work. Over the last several years, I’ve met more interesting, amazingly talented people than I could count. Getting together and talking with everyone, whether for the first time or the hundredth, always leads to new ideas, insights, and inspiration. Since I work from a home office, though, weeks could go by without a get together, and outside of those few precious hours, large swaths of time would pass by where our only interactions were the occasional Twitter conversation.

My dad, who has many years of experience working from home, recommended setting up a weekly coffee group for those in similar working situations - his industry does it, and it sounded like it would work well for us. So, a few weeks ago I set up a local ‘Indie Coffee’ to get those of us who dev from home out of the house for a couple of hours to be social and talk shop over a coffee (or tea, if you’re so inclined).

It started out small, but it’s now grown to an invite list of over 30 developers, and attracts upwards of a dozen cafe-goers each week. This makes finding a cafe of suitable size a bit of a challenge, but it’s absolutely worth it - not only is it a pleasant get-together, but it’s been a great source of ideas.

Much of how our current Kickstarter page is written is a result of comments I got one week; the amigurumi (so cute!) also came about thanks to Indie Coffee; and words of encouragement, gameplay feedback, art ideas, and more have come out of an event that’s barely 2 months old. Finding more ways for us to get together has been energizing and, I hope, benefitted everyone who’s attended.

Not pictured: over half a dozen amazing developers, artists, and indie game fans.
Not pictured: over half a dozen amazing developers, artists, and indie game fans.

Game development, at least the kind we’re practicing, is very much a communal activity. Supporting each other, whether it’s through work, with ideas, or socially, is one of the things I love most about the industry, and it helps make all our games better. City of the Shroud has benefitted immensely from our community of developers, and I hope this gives you a glimpse into that process which you, as backers, are now a part of!

7 Days Left To Hit Stretch Goals! + Battle Modifiers
almost 8 years ago – Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 02:04:12 PM

Hi Everyone,

Today, we’d like to hear your thoughts on Battle Modifiers! We mentioned something similar in a previous post when discussing difficulty modifiers, but this would be slightly different - like a rule change to add some spice to the mix. Read on for more:

  • Battle Modifiers:
    The idea is much like difficulty modifiers, only a Battle Modifier would apply a special bonus to both teams. This would allow the game to have some battles where there is a bonus for you to try to exploit to your advantage, enabling you to employ new strategies that might not be possible otherwise.

Have ideas or suggestions for what sort of bonuses you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments!

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After some consideration, we’ve decided to bring the Social Stretch Goal requirements down a bit - we really want to get Survival Mode unlocked! You’re doing a great job, though: we’ve already hit 400 Twitter followers and 175 likes on Facebook - that’s 20% there!

We’re just 8 backers away from 275, 12 link shares from 50 on Facebook, and 6 people from the first Thunderclap goal. If we hit those numbers, we’ll be 50% of the way there - so please help spread the word and let’s get Survival Mode in the game!

Here are your social stretch goal tools! 

  • Use this link when sharing: http://bit.ly/cotskick 
  • Thunderclap 
  • Facebook - like Abyssal Arts on Facebook and tag us in your post! 
  • Twitter - tag/follow @abyssalarts so we can retweet you and keep track! 
  • Fan Art Submissions: contact [at] abyssalarts [dot] com
Remember to sign up for our Thunderclap!
Remember to sign up for our Thunderclap!

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Shout-Out: Chronicle of Ruin

There are a lot of games combining real-time elements and strategy RPGs on Kickstarter right now, and all of them have their own unique take - one that caught my attention is Chronicle of Ruin by Dusty Games. The game is a tactical JRPG that combines real-time army management and turn-based party combat. Check it out!