SKALD: Against the Black Priory Development Update

The latest development update for Scape-IT’s old-school RPG SKALD: Against the Black Priory lets us know that the game has received a business development stipend from Innovation Norway. This will hopefully result in a greater degree of economic freedom for the team. On top of that, the update shares some neat-looking art, brings us up to speed with the game’s development, and promotes the ongoing Kickstarter campaign for Knights of the Chalice II.

Here are the text parts:

Hi everyone! I thought I’d write a short post to give you all a short update on SKALD, show off some excellent art and do some signal boosting for one of my awesome RPG-colleagues (more on that below).
A New Partner: Innovation Norway
Fantastic news: SKALD has been accepted to receive a business-development stipend from the Norwegian governmental org Innovation Norway.
This puts the company in good financial shape, and though I’m still not at the “quit your day-job” level, it means I now have a much greater degree of economic freedom for SKALD and beyond.
A big “thank you” goes out to Aksel Brasøy and Innovation Norway!
The SKALD Beta: Lessons Learned
The first part of the Beta has been out for a few weeks now and I’ve gotten a lot of feedback. I’m hugely relieved to say the feedback is very good and very constructive. It goes to show what an amazingly supportive community SKALD has.
Implementing content is an iterative process: Using the SKALD tools to create content, test the content, evaluate the tools, update the tools. A classic trap for projects like this is painting yourself into a corner with complexity rising to such a degree that it causes the project to become unmanageable. I think we’re doing a very good job in keeping SKALD in the green by spending a LOT of time polishing the content pipeline and our workflows.
Some of the lessons I’ve taken away from producing the first part of the Beta:
Life is too short for bad tools: Spending an hour polishing the implementation tools saves 3 hours down the line.
Automate as much as possible: If you find yourself creating similar content over and over, there might be a room for automation. Even if the time saved seems trivial, it often adds up. Removing “friction” allows you to stay in the zone longer!
Scripting in the narrative content is the secret sauce: It makes the world feel responsive and alive. It’s important that scripting is easy, safe and reliable.
Don’t dwell on a problem if you get stuck or demotivated: There is always another part of the project in need of attention and some of it is bound to be interesting.
The Next Step
The game is being implemented in chronological order and I’m currently working on chapter 1: The Isle of Idra.
The plan is to implement a few of the first areas that players can explore and play around in and then release an updated version of the Beta sometime in June. This will still be available to all backers – we’re not quite at the point where we move to a proper “closed Beta”.
Keep in mind that the priority at this point is to get the narrative down before the “crunch”. This means that for the Beta you’ll have the main narrative rolled out first, then side content, and then feats, spells, equipment etc.
SKALD is going to be a game with a great story set in an interesting and interactive setting so that’s our number 1 priority right now. Just stay posted and good things will be arriving in your inbox before you know it!
Speaking of good things…
Knights of the Chalice 2 is live! Huzzah!
Knights of the Chalice 2 is now live on Kickstarter! I just backed it and so should you! NOW!
Knights of the Chalice 2 is a party-based epic computer role-playing game with turn-based combat for Windows and Mac OS. KotC 2 is inspired by Baldur’s Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Temple of Elemental Evil and Planescape: Torment. Just like the first game, KotC 2 uses the OGL 3.5, the ruleset at the root of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5.
The Kickstarter campaign will support the creation of future KotC 2 adventure modules, improve the game’s graphics and facilitate the addition of new character classes and other features.
The first KotC 2 adventure module, Augury of Chaos, and the KotC 2 module and campaign editor for Windows and Mac OS will be released to Kickstarter backers as soon as the campaign ends.
In KotC 2: Augury of Chaos, your Heroic Party confronts a group of Evil Fanatics allied with various Demons and Fiendish Dragons. Blast your enemies with more than 700 spells, bull-rush them into spike pits, trick them with your superior guile, or crush them with your enchanted greatsword! See them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women, as your valiant party progresses all the way from level 1 to level 21.