I would like to take a moment and announce my next game, a cPRG titled Sector Unknown.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2734270/Sector_Unknown/

After creating quite a few strategy games as an indie (and mostly solo) developer, I decided, perhaps quite insanely, to create an cRPG instead. This is the genre that I find myself playing and enjoying the most, from classics such as Baldur’s Gate 2, Fallout 2, Fallout New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, to more contemporary games such as Pillars of Eternity, Outer Worlds, Colony Ship, Trudograd, Underrail, and Encased. In short, I really, really like RPGs, and especially ones that use an isometric angle of gameplay.



Sector Unknown is sort of my love letter to both the classics and the contemporaries. I think I’m better suited for telling a story than number crunching strategy games (as evidenced by my mixture of reviews in that genre).

After three years working part-time (well almost full time) on the systems, the game is close to complete on features (movement, inventory, party management, quests, dialogue, crafting, combat, itemization, space flight, etc). I’m aiming to have a demo for the game completed in a month or so. It’s close to completion now, but I’m still not happy with the tutorial level. What I do not want is for it to be a barrier to entry like the much-maligned temple tutorial level in Fallout 2 (I almost never experienced the rest of that fantastic game due to being so turned off by the temple).



The goal for this game is to launch into Early Access Q1 next year. I intend to have over half of the game completed by that EA launch with full launch occurring 6-9 months after that. The idea to do an EA launch was not one taken lightly, but one thing I have found with my past launches is that just when I think a game is bug-free and ready for a seamless launch, players will find new and interesting ways to break things – leading to frantic post-launch schedule of rushing out bug-fixes and patches. I think this way is better. Launch into Early Access and take player feedback over time so that I can get everything sorted for a smooth launch after that.

The other factor is budget. Right now, I do not have the armor or model system in place for player characters and NPCs. These are assets. This will change before Early Access as I have the models done (with no armor or clothing yet), but even after that, I suspect I will need some of the additional revenue from EA launch to finish the last 2-3 planets (as mentioned I aim to have 3-4 story planets complete for EA launch, with the first one ready for the demo in the coming month or so).

I hope people will wishlist and follow this game. It’s always been a dream of mine to create a sci-fi cRPG, and there doesn’t seem to be many on the market except for Colony Ship (which I completed three times). So I hope there’s a market for something like this, a game taking inspiration from early Bioware and some of the great current game developers on the market today.

I will continue to provide updates in the next while, including game systems, story, ideas, and more. I really look forward to people's feedback and thoughts as well.

Thanks for your patience last week with the delay.

Age of Gladiators Reforged has now launched (a few minutes early even!)

I hope you all enjoy the new version of the game. It was a lot of fun for me to revisit my first foray into game design. Looking at my old code I had to shake my head. This one is a complete remake from scratch - the nice thing as well is that it can be updated far easier than the old version.


Here is the bundle link for previous owners of Age of Gladiators (50% Discount):
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/8189/Age_of_Gladiators__Pit_Fighter_Bundle/


And here is the link to anyone that just wishes to purchase the new version:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2103620/Age_of_Gladiators_Reforged/

Thanks again to all the previous fans of the series and to perhaps some news ones as well!

Hey all,

Just a quick note: Age of Gladiators Reforged is on track to be launching on Monday, March 27th at 11:30 AM Eastern Time.

Will keep you all up to date!

There will be a discount for previous owners as previously announced as well.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2103620/Age_of_Gladiators_Reforged/

Hi All,

Age of Gladiators Reforged will be launching on March 27th, 2023.

This game is a remake of the original game launched back in 2016 with a ton of new features and quality of life improvements.

I will also be offering it in a bundle at a steep discount for owners of either this game or the original Age of Gladiators. Thank you for all your support.

Hope you enjoy the game - it was a lot of fun and also brought up a lot of memories going back to my first game and revising it to the modern era.

Cheers!

It's been a busy Summer.

Along with Deadwater Saloon, I would also like to announce Age of Gladiators Reforged, a remake of the original 2016 game in the Unity Engine.

The store page can be seen here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2103620/Age_of_Gladiators_Reforged/

As some of you might know, I created the 2016 game in an engine I (barely) cobbled together from several books. It didn't work in most resolutions and UI/quality-of-life changes were near impossible to implement - so I decided to recreate it in Unity from scratch.

The UI has been updated to something made in 2022 (featuring more icons and less text as well as better-looking windows that conform to the overall palette) and many new quality of life additions have been added (daily alert icons across the top for example).



As well, numerous other gameplay and aesthetic changes have been made:

• Combat Mitigation now fed by agility and reflexes as well, making these attributes more useful.
  
• Improved alerts system
  
• Revised Gladiator Expertise system
  
• Revised Player Perks system
  
• Age incline and decline more drastic
  
• Added Killer Instinct and Work Ethic to gladiator personalities
  
• Drastically improved tooltips
  
• Works on most resolutions
  
• Staff, Lender, Other portraits added throughout the UI - now you can put a face to a name
  
• Weapons and Armor now have Stamina costs (making stamina much more important now)
  
• Dodging and Blocking now use Stamina (again, making stamina much more important now)
  
• Greed also affects daily spending of gladiator
  
• Gladiator portraits added to all UI
  
• Stable now contributes to fatigue recovery time
  
• Stable now has countdown for improvements
  
• Custom mouse cursor instead of system one
  
• Added a fight log so players can recap exactly what happened during battle
  
• Scrollbars instead of burdensome next/previous buttons
  
• Animals now have names
  
• More Player Portraits
  
• Fight Setup screens made more efficiently - a fight can now be started with two clicks instead of the many clicks previously
  
• Improved music player
  
• Icons instead of just text

These are just some of the changes - there are plenty more I am not thinking of here.



Will keep everyone posted.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2103620/Age_of_Gladiators_Reforged/

Thanks!

I'm pleased to announce our next game Deadwater Saloon, coming out Spring 2022!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1696080/Deadwater_Saloon/

Dive into the wild west as a saloon owner in a volatile frontier town. Customize your character and face the consequences of your choices as you forge friendships and enemies of townsfolk, travellers, outlaws and lawmen. Build the most famous saloon in the territory, or be overrun and destroyed.





Playing as a rich and dynamic character in the old west, you will be able to fully customize your attributes to fit your playstyle, such as Mixology, Seduction, and Sneakiness. You will manage your life as well as your saloon, such as maintaining your reputation and getting married. You will struggle with the effects of disease, aging, sanity, and addictions.

Provide travellers with a distinct drink parlour, gaining legendary stories to regale and build your legend. Interact with townspeople as they populate the town, forging friendships with blacksmiths, sheriffs, and preachers, romance prospective partners, or blackmail, abduct, and murder those who threaten you.

Build your saloon from the ground up. Expand the walls, build bordellos, opium dens, high stakes gambling rooms, and railed porches. Buy and place spittoons, tables, chairs, handcrafted bars, pianos, chandeliers, and diamond dust mirrors.

Thrive within a complex economy system, stockpiling booze, food, guns, and opium. Research a diverse array of drinks and foods to serve customers. Hire and manage staff from within the town populace, including barkeeps, cooks, servers, prostitutes, croupiers, pianists and bouncers. Help them reach their full potential, or fire and replace them with those more skilled.

Face the forces of nature, meddlesome customers, firebrand Preachers, rival outlaw gangs, and much more. At some point, you will be tested by stronger and more formidable nemesis in longer event chains. Whatever you choose, you will face the consequences of your choices. The frontier is an unforgiving place.









https://store.steampowered.com/app/1696080/Deadwater_Saloon/

Raiders! Forsaken Earth will be going live on Tuesday, November 10th with a launch discount of 15%. All owners of Age of Gladiators II: Rome will be eligible for a further discount of 10%, making the total discount to 25%.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/972010/Raiders_Forsaken_Earth/

This will be done by purchasing the bundle containing Age of Gladiators and Raiders! Forsaken Earth when the game is live - however, anyone already owning Age of Gladiators will only have to pay for Raiders.

Will keep you posted!

Here's the latest update notes with v1.3.21.

Like the last update, these are based on the well-received feedback from players thus far.

• Enemy gladiators now level much slower on the easiest game setting
  
• Gladiators suffer permanent (-5) stat reduction after receiving a critical injury
  
• Property prices increase significantly with each new purchase
  
• Toggle option to equip and un-equip gladiators when assigning to hospital
  
• Obstructive coins removed from lender screen

Thanks everyone for continued suggestions and comments so far!

Here's the latest updates with v1.3.20.

Some of these are quality of life changes while others affect the game itself in both difficulty and gameplay mechanics.

These are based on the fantastic feedback from players through the last year or so. I'm not done yet, there will be more making it into the game soon.

• Spectate Only mode added to Game Start for increased difficulty
  
• Added age status (Developing, Prime, Declining) to gladiator screen
  
• Gladiator morale decreases daily now, making it more important to share purses and build up your ludus
  
• Text changes (removed reference to armor and weapon techs and called them smiths instead)
  
• Fixed bug where gladiators training weapons would not age on birthday
  
• Adjusted rewards and losses (both decreased) from Ludus Raid random events
  
• Stat/Grading Key added to Recruit Screen
  
• Sliding Notification added when Building is upgraded
  
• Decreased text size of Sliding Notifications to prevent cropping
  
• Missions now reward either a legendary weapon or legendary armor - not just a weapon

Thanks everyone for continued suggestions and comments so far!

With update v1.3.10, ten new Roman portraits have been added to the game.

From an old and tired looking gladiator, to fresh-faced recruits, this should provide even more characterization and potential back-story for your gladiators!

Hope you enjoy!