What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Mar 2017)

Greetings! It’s time for another monthly dev update. Henceforth, these will be at the start of the month instead of the end of the month- this makes end-of-month scheduling a little less hectic on our end.

On the art side of things, the portrait art that was previewed last month is nearing phase one completion. After that is finished, we will be moving on to UI assets.

Similarly on the design side, most of the AI is at phase one completion- one class remains to be finished. In test-fighting the AI (which I currently have a losing record against) we’ve also come across a lot of edge-case scenarios that were either grossly overpowered or created uninteresting gameplay, so several character abilities and stat lines have also been reworked from their initial designs.

Read on for our continued exploration into the world of our next title.

 

For this month’s lore update, we’re going to dive into the mega-country of Arbora (shown in dark green), and one of its former states, Londo (lighter green). It is quite large, and comprised of several smaller states. To give a sense of scale, I’ve cropped the world map to include all the areas we’ve covered thus far.

Despite its massive size, Arbora long held a reputation of having a “whole lot of nothing”. Many of its citizens lived far apart, clustered in small villages and towns that speckled the landscape. The northern plains surrounding the great lakes was home to nomadic tribes. The central region is primarily desert, surrounded by inhospitable mountain ranges. To the south, muddy roads weave over humid mires filled with dangerous wildlife.

Despite the different conditions and cultures, this continent was united under a single banner as Arbora, and divided into 5 states. With their place on the world’s stage secured, the country began to modernize, spearheaded by the state of Saniga to the northwest. The people began to settle in cities near the coastlines, where the nation’s abundant resources began to be traded by sea.

Flag of Arbora

The old ways were not forgotten, though, especially in the far north state of Londo. Free trade and modernization was smothering their ancestral practices and culture. Larger tribes began to rail against the unification process, causing small conflicts to erupt around the lakes. To sate the tribespeople, the state of Londo was granted independence from the union. Though no longer subject to its order, Londo has continued to bear grudge against their neighbor state of Saniga.

Flag of Londo

On the midwestern coast, the small state of Tavas bears striking similarity to the crowded port towns of Meerestor to the south. Countless bazaars dot the coastline, offering exotic goods from around the world. It’s said if you can’t find what you’re looking for in Tavas, it’s not for sale anywhere.

The larger central region is Paleas- a sprawling sea of sand nestled between two mountain ranges. Though most settlements here are along the northeastern peninsula, a school of monks constructed a citadel as a refuge for those traveling across the unforgiving landscape at a site called Whitefire Crossing. In recent years, it has seen an influx of archaeologists, who have unearthed ancient secrets buried in the dunes.

To the far south is Shale. Sharply contrasting the desert, it is an intensely humid land filled with swamps and thickets. Long separated from the rest of the world, a unique kind of shamanistic culture has developed here around the ritualistic burning of exotic plants and oils. Though their methods seem primitive, the hermits of Shale have incredible talents in the field of medicine. Since its incorporation in Arbora, their practices and customs have become a worldwide phenomenon.

Thanks for tuning in! In a future update we will head north and reveal the remaining nations of the world.