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[Greipur]

Looks great, the game starts to feel richer and richer

Much appreciated. It sounds tacky for me to say this, but I'm really hyped for our next update, not just to see how people react to it but actually to play myself.

[JobLeonard]

It really looks like it's reaching that stage where there will always be something to do or watch for the player

[TheWanderingBen]

This games is meant to explore the evolution of religion and the relationship between god and humanity. It asks the player who shapes whom, and if a god is truly omnipotent if people have free will. We're also interested in broadening diversity in the game scene so we chose to depict a fictional culture inspired by ancient African civilisations, such as the Dogon, Ashanti and Zulu. And we've also tried to give some space to other gender expressions and sexualities. We're also trying to find new ways for players to make their own stories by procedural means.

Love this! It seems like a great way to explore existential and politicized topics through interaction. And the idea of controlling your people indirectly (via commandments) is an ambitious mechanic that I haven't seen before.

It sounds like you've been hard at work on this game for a long while now. Continued luck guys! Posting to subscribe to future updates

[Greipur]

It really looks like it's reaching that stage where there will always be something to do or watch for the player

Cheers, Job! I couldn't have said it better myself.   It's vital for a sandbox experience of course and the sooner we get there the better.

This games is meant to explore the evolution of religion and the relationship between god and humanity. It asks the player who shapes whom, and if a god is truly omnipotent if people have free will. We're also interested in broadening diversity in the game scene so we chose to depict a fictional culture inspired by ancient African civilisations, such as the Dogon, Ashanti and Zulu. And we've also tried to give some space to other gender expressions and sexualities. We're also trying to find new ways for players to make their own stories by procedural means.

Love this! It seems like a great way to explore existential and politicized topics through interaction. And the idea of controlling your people indirectly (via commandments) is an ambitious mechanic that I haven't seen before

Thanks, Ben. I really appreciate your comment.

What got Crest started was the urge to approach the subject of religion earnestly, without judgement. What I really find fascinating with religions and cultures is how they develop, and how something good turned into something horrid, or vice versa. Some people who've looked at Crest have tried to weaponise it for their own agenda and say that our game is a clear critique on religion itself but nothing could be more wrong! Crest is a critique of close-mindedness if anything, and that is sadly not reserved for the religious.

The game is about change really, that you can't have the same approach forever, you have to keep up with the people and the world and understand them. A Swedish game magazine called Fienden said in an article about another game that "You are so used to be given things. But now it seems [that the developers] say that it is time to give". I think this illustrates Crest perfectly, you're not a dictator but a parent. I think that's what sent us out to do this indirect control mechanic, because if you just order people around you don't really have a meaningful relationship.

It sounds like you've been hard at work on this game for a long while now. Continued luck guys! Posting to subscribe to future updates

Yup, we've been at it since 2013, and have been on Early Access for a year now. Our preliminary release date is late 2016, but we'll see if it gets pushed. Should have something up tomorrow, I try to post here on every workday about our progress. See you later.

[JobLeonard]

The game is about change really, that you can't have the same approach forever, you have to keep up with the people and the world and understand them.

That's a great one-sentence summary of what the game is going for!

[Greipur]

Currently working on the hegemony sculpture (concept art).

When I make 3d models I always try to exaggerate the features from the concept art as a start, just to nail down the general idea. Currently I think the model looks a bit too cartoony/cute and will work on making it more haggard and creepy with the details.

[JobLeonard]

When you said "cartoony/cute", you meant "nightmare fuel", right?

[Greipur]

When you said "cartoony/cute", you meant "nightmare fuel", right?

It's always nice to get other people's perspective, I guess it is more nightmarish than I give it credit for. But more in a Five Nights at Freddy's kind of way in my opinion, creepy cute. We need to go scarier.

At a glance it might seem that this clashes with Crest's vision or style, but I've long felt that Crest has felt too friendly what with the bright colours and everything. There needs to be a counter-balance to show that humantity can be horrible as well. Also, I've to scratch my morbid itch. This started several months ago with the cannibal, and later on with the warrior, but this might be the darkest yet.

[JobLeonard]

Oh it's a good addition for sure; humanity has a bleak side worth showing

[Greipur]

Speaking of the bleak side of humanity, here's the finished sculpture.

Nightmare fuel indeed.  



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I'm off to my third sculpture. And I've more programming news tomorrow, stay tuned!

[JobLeonard]

So this is the famine culture, yes?

[Greipur]

So this is the famine culture, yes?

Could be. The Hegemony is inspired by the historical sense of the word as described by Wikipedia: "[...]hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states.". I thought it was too good of an opportunity to miss since we have city states in the game, so the crestian version of a warmongering fascist regime, more or less.

Symbolically I think I used the rat as a symbol since they are so keen on multiplying, and have been associated with plague and death, I think an idea tradition focused on superiority and war would fit such a theme. And they also want to intimidate others with beastly images.

[JobLeonard]

In other words, Skaven!

http://warhammerfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Skaven

[DarthTrae]

I remember seeing your game on Reddit. I can't wait to try this out. I get the feeling ima like it. Reminds me of when I played Spore. The idea of guiding a civilization as a deity is very cool. 

[Greipur]

In other words, Skaven!

http://warhammerfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Skaven

To be honest I didn't think of Skaven when I made it, but yeah, I probably took a similar route as Games Workshop did, inspirations-wise. Interesting race btw, probably my favourite for Warhammer Fantasy.

I remember seeing your game on Reddit. I can't wait to try this out. I get the feeling ima like it. Reminds me of when I played Spore. The idea of guiding a civilization as a deity is very cool.  

Thanks DarthTrae!


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Tomas has now implemented the Global Faith interface, which shows the player what all city states think of them.

And I'm finished with the United sculpture, seems I'm picking up the pace. Though in this case I could use the rat sculpture as a base.

[JobLeonard]

Shifty and smug, I like it!

[Greipur]

Shifty and smug, I like it!

Nice, they're all a bunch of smug pricks, so that's good that it gets through.   


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Jesper is currently making warfare a little bit more nuanced, for example they can now destroy/pillage non-critical buildings such as mines.

And I'm currently modelling The Profiteers' sculpture. Almost finished.

Christoffer is currently making in-world feedback for faith, so the players can look at that to see indications without looking at the interface (Local Faith). Hopefully I've some good stuff to show tomorrow.

[JobLeonard]

It almost looks like that cloud is carpet bombing the place

[Greipur]

It almost looks like that cloud is carpet bombing the place

Talk about rough weather! Yeah, we can't unsee it at the studio now.



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Finished with the sculpture for Profiteers.

And here's Christoffer's feedback for faith  levels in the city. We're not quite sure if having several meshes is a good thing, if the faith level changes too rapidly that would mean that the meshes would blink. We'll have to test it, an alternative would be to have particle effects.

With this we plan to revamp the city layout so it can accomodate key buildings around the main building. More on this later.



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In other news the team sat down today to look at what we got currently for our current build, because we're heading for MomoCon soon! Our plan is offer some of the features of the Faith module on the expo floor.






The convention takes place in Atlanta during 26th to 29th May and our PR partner The Indie Bros. will be there showing the game.

[JobLeonard]

And here's Christoffer's feedback for faith  levels in the city. We're not quite sure if having several meshes is a good thing, if the faith level changes too rapidly that would mean that the meshes would blink. We'll have to test it, an alternative would be to have particle effects.

Couldn't you have them rise up from the ground or sink if the faith gets too low?

EDIT: Also, bit of fuzzy logic might help here.






Or a simpler approach: set the treshold for reaching the next stage at a higher level than the treshold for losing it again. That way there's a buffer between both points, reducing blinking. If you keep the maximum speed at which faith can fluctuate in check, that would fix things.

So, for example:

- have 100 faith to reach stage 2
- go below 80 faith to lose stage two

Provided fluctuations do not have an amplitude of 20, you're good to go now!