next »

[MyrkviATM]

We are Myrkvi. Ancient Times Memories’ developing team and we are very glad to show you our progress on the video game.

Myrkvi is a role-like video game based on board, on which we can manage from 4 to 6 characters through castles and dungeons.
We still have a lot of work to do ahead, but we will be very pleased to know your opinion about the concepts and designs that we will be publishing.

There are still some areas immerse in the deepest darkness, you have to be very careful to avoid them if you value enough your life.

There still exist some burial mounds, where lifeless corpses wonder aimlessly. However, the dark banners still control them.

There are still some wizards who dare to advance on these wastelands to pit their skills with those banner carriers, necromancer studiers. Most of them as a burden or youth foolishness, and the fewer, those who get into the deep by their own willingness and who finally succumb to the blood magic.

The watchtowers surround the castles to warn about the attacks of the hordes that dare to get deeper enough. The armies don’t hesitate to wipe them out by all means.

The further villages are unable to fight, not many have skilful warriors, and almost none have enough weapons to hold the attack back. Finally, those who don’t make it end up joining them or enslaved.

Only the great leaders are able to supply the burning lights, to keep the night illuminated. Those leaders in their powerful castles, are the ones who recover some remains of the formerly great, but now desolated cities, which were devastated long time ago.

Only few cities have useful things, but some merchants or smugglers use to despoil the ruins to purchase some rarities to sell them at a loos or to get advantage out of them not to succumb to hunger.

Out of those who you can find in your way, there are only six able to face the beasts, the darkness, the Draugen, humans and necromancers. These mercenaries will do whatever it is needed to accomplish their contract and see the sunrise one more day, always for the right price.

Do you dare to help them?

Updated Characters 30/12/2016

Gameplay




Second Teaser.

We will be updating as much as we can, but we are only a small team so maybe we take a little more time in posting and answer. We are very sorry.

To know our latest updates and news you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook

Twitter
Facebook
Steam

[MyrkviATM]

Here is a present for everyone, Merry Christmas!. But remember, Mercenaries haven't got Christmas.


Full resolution wallpaper here.

[Pixel Noise]

I love that wallpaper!

This is a very cool concept - I'd like to know more about the mechanics. You say we are "managing" the characters through dungeons. Does that mean they are going to be partly autonomous, or that certain things like combat, etc, will play out on it's own? Or are we managing every aspect of the adventure?


I like the character portraits too, though I think the tone of the portraits might clash with the tone of the game? I'm not sure - the character portraits right now all look very happy and optimistic, vs. looking like hardened mercenaries? It's fine, if you are trying to keep the tone of the game lighter - but if you are going for a heavier, more serious tone, you may want to revise some of the portraits. Everyone seems really happy, for being a bunch of mercenaries.

Following 

[MyrkviATM]

I'm happy to hear you like the wallpaper, I'll do some more.

The concept of the game is the one of the classic board role games. There will be 6 characters among which 4 should be chosen in each stage. The player has to use the 4 of them individually. Each situation generated and each group chosen will give rise to a series of conversations among the characters. This will place the player deeper into the story and the characters' mood.

Since the beginning, the game play will be either single player or Hotseat to play with other people in the same computer.

Due to the addition of new characters, shortly I'll update the characters' pictures. The main characters are the 6 first pictures.

Although at first, the game could seem a little bit dark – that would be the average tone. However, there would be a great amount of different situations, thanks to the interactions with the different characters that will appear in the way, from bartenders to other mercenaries, kings, soldiers, thieves, prostitutes, pirates, plain people…  Depending on the conversation, some of them have different expressions; others just show the most appropriate expression for the situation.
The mercenaries not always need to appear as enraged warriors, but obviously, some difficult situations will make them seem more serious.

[Thaumaturge]

@Pixel Noise: There seems to be a gameplay video hidden away in the first post--the word "Gameplay" links to it. Based on that, it seems that the moment-to-moment gameplay very much resembles (my impression of) a table-top RPG: it's turn-based and tile-based, with combat that involves virtual dice.

@MyrkviATM: I believe that you can embed videos into your posts here by simply pasting in the URL of the video (the standard URL--i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...--not an embedding or shortened version).

You mention conversations between characters--do you intend something similar to the party-member conversations in games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, with story-threads running over multiple conversations, and perhaps even side-quests emerging from them?

[MyrkviATM]

Happy New year 2017!

About the dialogues between the characters, the game will be a continuous story in which the player won’t meddle too much. Depending on the quests chosen during the game and how the player faces them, the player will meet some secondary characters or others.
Along the game, the main characters will have different conversations depending on: how a stage is faced, what secondary characters are met, what groups and what stages are chosen. Taking all this into account, the player would be able to know all the story, the characters’ background, subplots, and what happened in the planet long long time ago.

[Thaumaturge]

Happy New Year to you too! ^_^

As to the conversations, fair enough--I like that (if I read you correctly) the selection of conversations raised should vary depending on the player's choices. ^_^

[MyrkviATM]

I'm very pleased to be able to answer your questions. Anyway, I'll post more info about the game whenever it's possible. Also, I have to continue checking the forum, because I've seen a lot of iteresting works that I haven't got the time to comment.

If you have any other doubt or question, I'll be very pleased to answer them as soon as possible.

[Pixel Noise]

Ah ok, just watched the gameplay video. I love the tile-based, tabletop look. The music in the video was very appropriate, too - is that custom music, or just something you found as placeholder? It works well!

I like the idea of how, depending on player choice, you will meet certain NPCs, have certain conversations, etc. That goes a long way to replay value. But, if the players has NO effect on the story at all, they may feel cheated - as if they are all "false" choices. So maybe you can work it out to where player choice at least effects some details of the story, if not the entire plot (that's a lot of work, I know)

[Thaumaturge]

Hmm... On the one hand, the player's choices do at least change the outcome of what information they find--but as Pixel Noise says, some may find that a slightly anaemic reward.

If it doesn't go against your vision for the game, or the themes thereof, I think that a few minor consequences to player decisions might indeed be worth including. Perhaps a modular epilogue, such as found in Baldur's Gate 2 or Until Dawn?

[MyrkviATM]

The essence of the game is to go back to the classic role board game , in which the player was only a ppupet of the master. In Myrkvi the characters get into a war which is not their own, although it affects them. The player will know the whole truth about the war and the story surrounding the planet and the characters, depending on the game style, how does it moves through the dungeons and which NPCs meets or hepls. However, if the player takes wrong decisions will get false information, which at the end, will complicate the adventure.

We have worked so hard on the characters' personality, so the player won't have the chance of chosing how some characters react to different issues. An example of this is that some characters will be reluctant to do some quests, and even they will not appear in the choosing pannel. Another example is that if the same character or group of characters are chosen, but in a stage they are not, the character or group of characters will be angrier.

[Pixel Noise]

We have worked so hard on the characters' personality, so the player won't have the chance of chosing how some characters react to different issues. An example of this is that some characters will be reluctant to do some quests, and even they will not appear in the choosing pannel. Another example is that if the same character or group of characters are chosen, but in a stage they are not, the character or group of characters will be angrier.

I like that! It makes sense that some characters would refuse certain quests, etc - just like a Lawful Good character would maybe refuse to accept a job or to work with a Chaotic Evil character. That's a great bit of functional characterization - it will really make the characters feel "real". I love the thought you guys have put into this 

[MyrkviATM]

In 2015 we started to work in the story, dialogues and characters’ mood, by now it is the most developed part of the game.
Now we’ve finished to fulfil the conceptual design and we are working on the 3D models. The only thing we are having some problems with is in getting to know ourselves worldwide, in order not to have further problems with raising funds when we launch the Kickstarter.

[Thaumaturge]

Likewise, I really like the idea of the characters reacting to your choices, and affecting what choices are available to you! That may well go some way to making them feel less like playing pieces and more like people.

One thought, if I may: Instead of simply not showing options to which characters object, show those options as not available, along with the relevant objections. (If I've misread you, and it's the characters that are not available, then much the same applies: have them visible but not selectable, and objecting.) This might both inform the player as to why certain options are not always available, and provide a little more characterisation.

[MyrkviATM]

A first look to this game zone. Inside a modern tower is hidden this ancient library. Nowadays it is a little bit empty, but it will fill up with secrets and details during the development.

[MyrkviATM]

@Thaumaturge: Before each stage character choice there will be brief videos. On those videos the player could see the reaction of the characters and know some details of the stage itself. Some videos will offer the chance of taking some optional quests.

[Thaumaturge]

Ah, I see--fair enough.

Hmm... You say that some of the videos will offer side-quests--do you mean that the player would be asked to make the decision during the video? If so, is this likely to be common (essentially making your game a hybrid of turn-based computer-board-game and visual novel, which I like the sound of)? If it's not likely to be common, I'm not sure that I recommend it--it might be a little jarring to have passive content (cutscenes) occasionally and suddenly become interactive content. Such options could still be presented after the cutscene, after all.

I like the look of the library; the tree is an intriguing inclusion. ^_^

[MyrkviATM]

At the end of each stage there will be a video with parts of the story. After this video the player would decide whether he/she continues with the story or takes the side-quest (in some cases). If the player doesn't take the quest, it will continue with another story video. However, if the side-quest is chosen, a video with the side-quest story will appear. When a stage is over the player will return to a safe point (e.g. a tavern) where he/she could meet the character that has offered the side-quest, in case he/she has rejected before, to have another chance to do it.

[MyrkviATM]

These are some Max Inara's facial expresions that will appear during his convesations. We continue working to show you the rest of the facial expressions as soon as possible.




Each of the main characters will have a set of facial expressions during conversations. The rest of characters will only have one.

[Thaumaturge]

At the end of each stage there will be a video with parts of the story. After this video the player would decide whether he/she continues with the story or takes the side-quest (in some cases). If the player doesn't take the quest, it will continue with another story video. However, if the side-quest is chosen, a video with the side-quest story will appear. When a stage is over the player will return to a safe point (e.g. a tavern) where he/she could meet the character that has offered the side-quest, in case he/she has rejected before, to have another chance to do it.

Ah, I see--fair enough, and thank you for elaborating! ^_^

These are some Max Inara's facial expresions that will appear during his convesations. We continue working to show you the rest of the facial expressions as soon as possible.

...

That is a very angry fellow in the right-most portrait.

The portraits look good to me! Naturally it's hard to say at this early stage how well they might fit with the rest of the game's art, but in and of themselves they seem fine. ^_^