In short: GameDevDays was phenomenal. The speakers and the community made it an absolutely amazing experience for us.

It started off a little rough considering that we could not borrow a reasonable size car for the trip to Graz and with all the tech equipment we needed to bring along it was a miracle that everyone could squeeze in. In the end we did get there even if a bit cramped. The next hoop we needed to jump was a mix-up with our accommodation (someone was already in the room we booked :O ) but eventually we solved that, too.

Laurels All Around

In our endeavour to get Vagrus into the sights of as many cRPG lovers as we can, we applied for featured spots in a number of nearby game shows - successfully! Not only did we get invited to present Vagrus the game itself but our art design and developer pitch has been rewarded as well making it into the official selection of said shows (see above). That reminds us to bring to your attention the upcoming opportunities to meet us in person:

As I am writing these lines, we are actively working on what we call Enduring Effects for the game. What are these? Well, in short and to put it simply, these are all buffs and debuffs that last for several in-game days or are permanent (until removed somehow). They come in a variety of types and can be used for a lot of things to enhance gameplay and narrative alike.

'When we arrived at the observation  post, Borgan was nowhere to be seen. The craven slaves pointed to tracks in the sand that looked like someone had been dragged away, accompanied by small, triangular stab marks – Yrg prints, I presumed correctly. These led to a dark crevice at the foot of one of the towers. We tried calling after Borgan but there was no answer. Eventually, I sent down one of the slaves with a torch. The unfortunate bloke happened upon the mutilated body of Borgan down there and fled back up in a panic. Yrg are clearly present down in the underside of the city, that much is certain. This ties in perfectly with what we know of the Elven tribes of the Second Age. The accounts of Sage Ikar record that the realm of Dor Anthelas was involved in a great war against the Yrg that lasted for  millennia. What these insect broods were like, I cannot imagine, but  they must have been a far cry from the mostly docile Yrg we know today.'

Besides working on implementing new features into our Open Access build, we made great progress with prepping for the debut of the first Open-world region - Tor'Zag's Shelter and its surroundings -  which basically is about the first half of the main game. We are actually contemplating to bring its release ahead of polishing all the features.

We attended yet another game show, this time in Jönköping, Sweden, where DreamHack was born more than ten years ago. While DreamHack Summer is somewhat smaller than its big brother, DH Winter, it still blew our minds, with thousands of players moving in for three days... and by moving in we literally mean taking their PCs, chairs, and air-mattresses with them.

'Day 54 - Another week goes by and the vile horde broke again on the wall of our scuta today like the fierce tidal waves break on the rocks of Anurao Bay, the place of my birth. Most of the day after dawn devolved into a cruel dance in the mud and gore - one of pushing and pulling and stabbing at the rhythm dictated by the roar of our foes and the bone whistle of our centurion. Yet nobody complains; no true legionnaire would. The green-skinned bastards have to be stopped here. For our families. For our Empire. For the Emperor, too, though I would rather pray to Old Hand Marcus than to the distant, slumbering God-King in our capital that I've never seen. But best keep that to myself, else the Priests of Sergorod find some punishment for me. They would sure love to. Perhaps there will be a night attack, too, at least that's what the talk is around camp now. If so, and considering the losses of the 3rd and 7th cohors in the last few days, I am not sure I will ever see the capital...'

We went to PlayIT game festival last Saturday and we are glad to report that we had a great time there! It being Hungary's largest gameshow, we knew what we had signed up for and though by the end of the day we had sore feet, we also had a lot of positive energy from the support and curiosity of the show audience.

What a Great Start!

Just in a few days from launching the public phase of our campaign we have passed two additional milestones: Scouting and Trade Systems.

Thank you so much to all our Backers and supporters on social media! This would not have been possible without you!

So, let's take count of where we are and what comes next.