NEREIDS symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea in Greek mythology. Well, we will find out what’s their role in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, won’t we?

Remember that pop song about who was letting the dogs out? Well, this HELL HOUND in Pathfinder: Kingmaker makes you think twice about such nonsense!

In Pathfinder: Kingmaker you are confronted with over 100 monsters. This week we will take a look at some of the medium sized entities you will come across. Let’s start with a real beauty – the GIANT SPIDER. Oh, have we triggered a bit of arachnophobia here?

Dear Pathfinders!

It's time for another retrospective update! And this time it's all about menus, character sheets, book events - all those wonderful things which let you interact with our game world! While many of the articles linked in today's updates show a work in progress and may look a little different in the release version, they will still give you a good idea about what to expect, and the general idea and thought process behind each of the elements shown.

We did look into our UI briefly when we mentioned our combat log the other day. But there's still so much more! First of all, there's our character sheet. Each character's strengths and weaknesses, skills, spells, all sorts of statistics from alignment to armor class and even a biography can be found here.

Throughout our game you will interact with the world through something we like to call Book Events. That's where the game quite literally shows you a book, written by your chronicler Linzi, and describes a situation you and your party are facing. Decisions must be made, there are skill checks to be passed and the outcome of these events will influence your progress through the story. You can read all about it in this update, which also goes into the design and creation process of these events, from finding the right appearance for our book to picking the perfect font.

Next up, there's our camp UI. Exploring the Stolen Lands is hard work and your party will get exhausted sooner or later. So rather than just sorting that out with a click on a sleep button, we wanted things to be a little deeper. Camouflage the camp, so it won't get attacked by monsters while you sleep. Put a few party members on guard duty. Send someone out to hunt for supplies. If you want to take a closer look at our camp management interface, then this is the update for you.

And then there's the loot. So, so much loot. You do what adventurers do, murder an entire camp of bandits and next thing you know, you're buried under a mountain of shortswords and leather armors. And being the environmentally aware ruler that you are, you want to avoid littering and cart all of that good stuff to the nearest vendor. And if you want to know what buying and selling looks like in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, then check out this update.

Speaking of adventuring - if you want to see what our global map looks like as you go about your quest to conquer the Stolen Lands, check out our Creative Director Alexander Mishulin's video on the subject here.
Finally, if you'd like to know more about the development process of our UI, what inspires us and how we use the reactions and feedback of our testers to make improvements, be sure to take a closer look at this update. And if you'd like to know what our focus-testing sessions look like, you can find video footage inside this article.

Hail to the Kings!
Owlcats

Dear Pathfinders!



In one of our more recent updates, Paizo Creative Director James Jacob talked a little bit about Golarion and the Stolen Lands, getting the community up to speed on some of the lore of our game. Today we're taking a look at some of the other behind the scenes videos, where our friends and developers talk some more about their work on Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Working on our game means that playing tabletop Pathfinder is simply part of the job. Our dev team is split into several smaller role-playing groups, all of which have to brave the original Kingmaker Adventure Path. This is lots of fun, but we're also doing this for another reason - it helps us transport memorable events and characters from the table into our computer game. Think about it. Every tabletop group plays certain encounters a little differently, some parties come up with different solutions than others, the experience is never quite the same for everybody. So after every session we like to get together and talk about what happened, how each group handled their adventures, then use that knowledge for our game. Our update describes this process in much more detail and there's also a little video where you can watch us play.

Meet our Technical Director Alexey Drobyshevsky, who talks about the characters and animation - and how it's all related to ogres. He's wearing his Dazzling Shirt of Charisma +2 to get your full attention!

"Rocks fall. Everyone dies. Good." When we decided to use the Pathfinder Adventure Path as the story for our game, we asked one of our favourite storytellers to lend a hand - can you guess who it is? Check out this Kickstarter Update to learn more about the process of implementing a story many of you have experienced in tabletop.

And now - music! "A good soundtrack doesn't just help set the mood and transport emotion. It follows you on your journey and tells a story." This is the intro to Inon Zur's update about the creative process behind his work. Be sure to watch his video when you're checking out the article!

Of course our project would be nothing without you, the community. And that is as true today as it was at the beginning of our Kickstarter, when we showed our early prototype to fans. If you want to see some of the feedback we got from PaizoCon visitors in 2017, have a look at this update. You can also see one of the Owlcats skydiving with a Pathfinder: Kingmaker banner!

And that nearly concludes today's retrospective update. Just one more thing - PAX West is coming and we'll have an awesome booth on level 4 and our latest build of the game to show off, if you want to meet us! We're also looking for helping hands, if you're in Seattle from August 31 to September 3. Does that sound like a job for you? Check out this form for more info and a chance to sign up!

Hail to the Kings!
Owlcats

Dear Pathfinders!

Perhaps you have read about how Pathfinder: Kingmaker runs on 'a heavily modified Unity Engine'. Leaves a bit of room for interpretation, though, doesn't it? But what does that even mean? Let's shed some light into this with today's retrospective update!

When we mention modifications, we're not just doing so because it sounds so cool. Our devs have created tools and implemented features, which Unity doesn't normally come with out of the box. For instance, we're using our very own editors for branching dialogue, cutscenes and game scripts. We even have a tool named Nikolay, which lets us create new obects in the game faster than any of our designers could. Read all about it in this Kickstarter update!
And in case you're wondering how we're adding all those spells to our game, there's a tool for that, as well!

Next, there's the water. There's a lot to consider here! Density, depth, reflection, refraction, distortion, foam, flow direction, oh my! Ideally, liquids should also react when characters move through them. And what about mixing them with other liquids, such as dumping a bleeding corpse in a river? You know, perfectly normal stuff for you to think about when creating a videogame. Read all about it in our water update.

Speaking of blood - wanna know how we spread the warm, bodily fluid around the Stolen Lands with something we like to call 'screen space pre-pass decals'? Of course you do! This update also tells you everything you need to know about the lighting, shadows and fog and all that sort of thing in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

If you had a look at some of our beta gameplay, you may have noticed how each character in the game doesn't just wear their class' unique outfit and their chosen weapon. There are scabbards, armors, cloaks - even consumables such as potions visibly appear on your character's belt as you ready them! It's all about the layers! Have a look at this Kickstarter update to learn more!

Finally, we'd like to mention something that's a little less 'tech' and a bit more mechanics and UI. Don't worry, we'll have a more in-depth retrospective update about these things, soon! In the meanwhile, check out our combat log! Who got killed by what, when, why and how badly? If it's detailed combat information you crave, then this and so much more is revealed by our log.

Hail to the Kings!
Owlcats

https://youtu.be/P1ENEIytFG8

Dear Pathfinders!

You can now pre-order Pathfinder: Kingmaker directly on Steam. Check out our store page to get a look at the pre-order editions and the various goodies and bonuses contained therein.

As you can see in the teaser above, there is now also an official release date: September 25. That's because we'd like to use some extra time to apply an additional layer of love and polish for the release version. It'll be worth the wait - we promise!

Hail to the Kings!
Owlcats

Dear Pathfinders,

Pathfinder: Kingmaker was made possible thanks to the help and support of our community and our backers on Kickstarter. Over the past year, we have shared stories and updates about the game's characters, as well as a closer look at the core mechanics, visual effects and many other behind the scenes details about our game and the people working on it.

Our community has grown considerably since our Kickstarter days. Not everyone who knows about Pathfinder: Kingmaker today was around during our crowdfunding stage. We are happy to welcome a lot of new members in our community, who have missed our early updates. And that's why we'll be posting retrospective updates over the coming days, which will give everyone a chance to catch up on what has been revealed about the game thus far.

In our first retrospective update we're giving you the opportunity to get a closer look at ten of the companions, who will join you on your quest to conquer the Stolen Lands. They are:
Valerie, the Brevic fighter
Ekundayo, the grim ranger
Jubilost Narthropple, a humble servant to no one
Octavia, the gleeful half-elf with a talent for magic and sleight of hand
Regongar, the meanest magus on this side of the Inner Sea
Amiri, the iconic barbarian
Harrim, the brooding cleric of Groetus
Tristian, favorite of the Everlight
Linzi, your personal chronicler
Nok-Nok, the goblin companion, who started out as a stretchgoal

Keep your eyes peeled for more retrospective updates in the coming days!

Hail to the Kings!
Owlcats