In Part 3 of our Character Design series, we discussed how a character concept gets to its final artwork state that is placed into the game. In this last part we'll talk about how characters are given stats, skills, and roles in game, especially in combat.

Vagrus has turn-based combat because we wanted to capture the tabletop RPG atmosphere and flow we know so well. It is also a fantasy game which comes with a few expectations of what roles characters fulfill in a party of adventurers. The similarities to DnD and other roleplaygames can surely be seen when observing combat and related character stats. It was along these lines that we designed our heroes (even though few of them are actually heroic) and enemies.

In the last part of our character design series, we talked about what goes into conceptualizing and designing characters and touched upon how Bazsó came up with distinct the art style for characters and how Szonja raised the bar when working with the majority of them.

Now it's time to discuss what actually happens after the initial phase of concepts and moodboards. Mind you, this will probably have information that is well-known by any graphic designers who work on 2D character art; yet others may find it intriguing.

We posted our last update only six weeks ago but as we have just reached two important milestones, it felt pertinent to share it with you all.

1) We've passed our 1 year anniversary working on the game! We have been pushing so hard in recent weeks that we forgot to take notice - let alone celebrate. So that is something we will have to make up for later this week. :)

It is finally time to look at the stats and systems related to the vagrus, that is, YOU, the player's character in the game (aka Leader). You can interact with the Leader UI screen (opened by clicking the leader's medallion in the bottom left) in order to manage said stats and improve your character.

This week's character artwork and reveal is that of a fairly common enemy: the Bruiser; created by Szonja. These folks are on the 'wasteland outlaws' roster and represent the muscle of the group. Bruiser abilities include a bull rush (that pushes opponents away), a blunt attack (that stuns the target), and a cheap shot (that puts a savage debuff on the target).

We are very proud and excited to finally release the Teaser for Vagrus!

We can't really express how much work went into this - not only into the video itself, but also into every single game system and art asset that is shown (or heard) in it. A very special thanks to everyone involved in its creation and also to you guys who continue to follow us through this journey.

Watch, share, and tell us what you think!

Another horrifying undead joins our creature roster: the Congregated is here. It'll be one of the more challenging enemies in the game.

A unique kind of undead was formed when the lethal hot ash of the volcanic cataclysm hit the regions at the foot of Dvendar Tharr in a wall of searing death on the eve of the Calamity. The ash cloud covered many human settlements in a heartbeat, finding people on streets and inside homes. These unfortunate souls died an agonizing, fiery death, and did so in the most unexpected positions, often clinging to each other in their final moments. The ash blanket preserved them, and the curse of the region later reanimated them: amalgamations of corpses that are drawn to all life and bent on extinguishing it. The Congregated. They are fused together forever by the ash and the curse, encased in a grotesque, porous, stone-like form. These sad beings roam the area near the lost kingdom of Dvendar Tharr, a lethal threat to all travelers.

So the big news is that the game's title is finalized at last! For now. :D

Check out the title reveal short video!

The word vagrus is the same pseudo-Latin that most of the Imperial Tongue used in the game (as it hearkens back to the Roman Empire in material and immaterial culture). It meant 'wanderer' or 'vagabond' in Imperial, but nowadays it only refers to the men and women who lead a comitatus across the wasteland. It is short, easy to remember, and easy to be associated to the English word 'vagrant' (which also originates in Latin).

Some time ago we promised to invite you all to a virtual tour of our office, so without further ado, here goes:

First stop - Budapest, 13th district

Our office is located in an edifice built in the socialist era but kept in fairly good condition compared to how others fared. Back in the day when programming meant punched cards, the whole building housed a prominent company developing 'software' on those.

From the very first moment in art design and development for Vagrus, we knew that the game world's haunting, post-apocalyptic beauty is key to conveying the atmosphere we want to create. Of course, that may not be saying much, since most games today rely heavily on visuals, it comes with the genre. More specifically, the challenge was to convey the right kind of atmosphere and find the art style that is perfect for that. We agreed soon that cartoon-like or pixel art would not do, nor would any other more stylized imagery. We settled upon the more realistic, but painting-like look, which gives a feeling almost akin to observing an old and faded piece of classical art. The other challenge was that the world of Vagrus has been a living and detailed environment for a long time now, so often our fantastically talented artists have to follow very specific directions on certain elements of an image.