Hello Champions!

First of all, sorry for being late with the update but Steam was not so much collaborative today. Trailer was scheduled for 2PM CEST since a while and we decided to go on with it despite the fact that we should had a synch between the video and this new feature. Not an issue anyway, all good now and here we are with this new gameplay trailer live after a couple of weeks of very intense work. You can see the world, the chars, the env, the mood and a bit of combat. We've decided to move on with no UI for the video, because it was a sort of fresh start for us. The beginning and the end at the same time, looking at the old stuff that press and influencers used for the last 2 years when talking about the game. The most impornant thing is that we've a release window now and believe us, it makes all the difference for a team working on a product for such a long time. A lot of people is asking about two main things already: final release date and Early Access. We can't go in details now but we can confirm that we'll answer both things at the same time in a few time. As we already said many times recently, the last month has been about squeezing 1+ year of no comm in last minute showcases, presentations, interviews...while working on the biz side at the same time, setting-up things properly to be prepared for the summer. Not easy but we handled it somehow. Since now on, updates will be ever more frequent and we're 110% focused! If you didn't yet, check the new trailer here! Share it, share the love and prepare to explore Plamen!


If you have questions about the topic, post it in the comments or poke us on Discord!

Stay tuned!

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Hello Champions!

As you probably noticed, we just refreshed our Steam page a bit, uploading a bunch of new in-game shots from the latest build we delivered in the morning. Shots come along with a brand new key art, showing a new Alaloth too: he wears a mask now and it's way more lethal than before! We had a rework of the boss here time ago and we were planning to share this since a long time. This is just one of the many things we've iterated on the way, both tech & lore related. As we said recently, there is so much stuff to show after the long silence that we literally spent last weeks trying to figure out the best scenario to send out everything with a ratio, while dealing with all the biz-related stuff that is directly connected with the release of the game. Well, we can say that despite the fact that we had to squeeze in just a couple of weeks, work usually done in months, we have finally an idea of the next steps that we'll bring us to the day in which we are going to push the green button. The plan is not complete 100% but hey, the path is set and it's like fresh air for us.


Just a random shot of the overview map of Na'Nardur, the orcish capital

First of all, we've just done with the new trailer. Yes. It is a 2.30 clip full of love and stuff but the most important thing is that we are going to announce the release window with it. Details about the final release date will follow. May 30 is the day, trailer will be out by that date so...next Monday! Please don't ask about the final release date: we'll have an official one very very soon, a few cool things are in progress and the final decision needs further consideration on our side. We can't wait to say more and we encourage you all to join us on Discord to get in touch directly. We are going to use it as main source for lore related stuff to share, because we realized it's pretty impossible to go on with Steam updates for each cool little thing we've created. This means we are going to go on with tons of updates here but they will be dedicated to major systems, major features and such. If you want to know more about the story of a very unique secondary char or clan or location [given that we are going to put as much as possible in terms of contents here], you'll find all this stuff on our channels. AMA on the way too and a full schedule of streaming sessions on Twitch as well. We've unofficially shown gameplay already, the idea is to go on with almost daily sessions while polishing stuff. All of this happening starting from the next month Follow us on Twitch too. Pass by and say hello to Alberto screaming at the wiki while spotting the latest known bug of the game codex!


If you love RPG and you are from the '80s you know what this is

Last but not least: June will be interesting as well! Alaloth - The Tempest will be released in bookstores, comic shops and online digital outlets by our partner, Edizioni BD, which handles the international licensing too. This means that the comic will be available both in printed and digital versions across EU and US soon [from June 1 on]. The comic is a stand-alone adventure set in Plamen that introduces the world of Alaloth - Champions of The Four Kingdoms and it's our first licensing deal in place to push our universe on different media. The amazing cover is from the Eisner-nominee Simone Di Meo and Marvel artist Alessandro Cappuccio [[i]Moon Knight, Fantastic Four[/i]] drawing the full volume [112 pages]. Moreover, the game has been selected for WN Conference Instanbul '22 and will be showcased during the show, competing for the best indie title awards. We didn't attend events since a very long time and we can't wait to be back in action.



Next steps: a massive artbook [250+ pages], novels [ready!], an amazing OST [3+ hours in-house made], and much more. We'll have time to talk about this and yes, we have plans for Limited Edition[s], retail and all the things that we had in mind at the very beginning of this journey. Talking with many cool people willing to jump in and help right now.

If you have questions about the topic, post it in the comments!

Stay tuned!

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Hello Champions!

Following what we said with the Spring 2022 Update and the latest post with a big summary of all the info available so far for Alaloth, we are here today to talk a bit about how the map and the calendar work in our game.

We are going to give you a taste of Plamen’s topography along a bit of gameplay-related info! As you know, there are four huge areas in Plamen [the kingdoms] with the end-game area in the middle [The Fifth Kingdom, the area where Alaloth is trapped, by lore]. It is really important to keep in mind that you can move wherever you want since the very beginning and different terrains mean different travel speed: don’t expect to cross a dwarven mountain chain as swiftly as you would with a small elven forest, and the more you get away from roads, the more trouble you shall find on your way. Monsters, wandering merchants, wandering units from other clans and houses and other champions are constantly moving on the map, so always plan your route to your destination to prevent dangerous encounters. Defeating brigands is surely a way to get some loot and some juicy bounty, yes, but without resting in some bed your wounds won’t certainly recover. You have the chance to set your camp on the way. You are constantly being notified by events happening anyway and you can access a log tracking all the key moments you should be aware of. You'll be able to use mounts and mounts will be crucial in many different ways: you can increase the size of your inventory and of course take advantages of riding many different beasts! We'll have horses of course but each race will have its own racial mount to use and specials will be unlocked with reputations and quests. Bears, wolves, battle goats but even a griffin could be an option for the best warriors! We'll go in details very soon wheh talking about vendors in one of the next updates!



The passing of time and the calendar are key elements of the gameplay too. We've built the world of Plamen with the idea of creating an ever-changing world and basically we've created different phases that are going to change things during the playthrough in many different ways. Alaloth becames stronger and stronger in each phase, mobs spawning on the map will be way more deadly and new dangers will pop-up from The Fifth Kingdom, making things very difficult. Night and day cycle is a thing: we'll have different spawns on map but even different layouts for each place you are going to visit. If you enter a city during the day, you'll have access to shops, you can enter the royal palace or meet NPC that are going to be somewhere else by night. Shops will be closed, few locations not accessible and so on. Even quests avaialble will be different of course. So don’t forget to visit cities and points of interest in different moments as there are many things happening only when the sun rises-up or goes down: you can find exotic merchants coming from other kingdoms sellinq unique items or weapons and remember that rogues and thieves feel better doing their stuff covered by the darkness...


Entering Westwall during the day...


...and by night

We have 10 months, 30 days each and while you can imagine every race has its own holidays and festivities [which will bring unique NPC appearing as the aboive mentioned merchants for example], crossing the sky is one thing that everyone shares. Moon phases are indeed important and someone says that the biggest secrets will be unveiled only at full moon [Moonstone anyone?]. A few recently asked if the time passing should have an impact on the quality of runs, because thought about being forced of playing with a timer on top of his head, withouth a way to go at his pace and enyoy so let's clarify this one more time: the phases of the world are strictly connected to Alaloth and nothing more. So, simply, the world became more dangerous in each phase. There is a difference between the single player campaign and the competitive one but it's not related to these phases but to the presence of other champions competing for the same objectives. This makes each run unique, because when you play competitive, the other champions are randomically rolled at the beginning, they are 40 and they have different behaviors. So, someone could be more aggressive, some other could be more passive and this is the way the player will be affected in terms of gameplay. To enter the end-game artifacts have to be collected. If another champion has one of the artifact, at some point you'll have to hunt him/her in order to complete the game. If you have artifacts, any of them can decide to hunt you for the same reason. The world will go on on its own in the back so it's really about the strategy adopted, the other champions and the combination of both things while playing. But again: this is only when competitive mode is selected. Even these aspects will be detailed with the next updates!

We are going to speed-up things dropping some lore related content by Friday the latest, we still have to introcude the companions, the coop, items, crafting, enchanting, skills and other cool stuff!

If you have questions about the topic, post it in the comments!

Stay tuned!

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Hello Champions!

As promised in the Spring 2022 Update, we are going to drop here a bunch of misc updates originally scheduled in a different moment of the last year. Before doing that, we thought that a bit of recap was necessary, considering the huge number of questions we’ve received in the last months. To avoid any possible confusion, we are going to summarize here all the info already shared, adding comments on what is changed and what’s happened in development lately. Almost 1 year ago we hosted an AMA session on our Discord channel and highlights were published in this topic. Looking back at it one year later, made us thinking about the huge work done since than but we are happy to have kept our vision alive, despite a few changes we did following feeds from QA and testers. This update should work as a sort of guide to understand in full what Alaloth is and what is not.

WHY YOU DIDN’T GIVE US NEWS FOR MONTHS? WHAT’S HAPPENED?

We are not going to comment this. We apologized for the lack of updates on our Steam page and always tried to do our best to inform the community of what was going on. The Spring 2022 Update contains all the info on what’s coming next. Past is behind, future ahead and we are doing 110% to recoup the time lost without interacting with people and players waiting for the game.

OK, GOT IT. SO, WHAT ABOUT THE GAME? AN ISOMETRIC SOULS-LIKE? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The idea has always been trying to put a few cool 3D mechanics in a isometric game. We thought there is nothing like this on the market. Souls-like ref has always been about a combat sys that will be hard to master but very satisfying once you’re done with it.

SO WHAT? IT IS A SOULS-LIKE, IT IS DIABLO, IT IS A CRPG?

It is Alaloth, we are trying to stay in between old school classics and modern action RPG. When you see the game running, mind flies to good old times but there is no tactical pause so you have to be good with the pad to kill stuff. And staying in between past and present, is something we’ve tried to reflect in any aspect of the game. We have two kind of players we’re talking with here: the first one, is the one skipping every single line of text and caring about his build only, skills and fights. The second one is the one taking his time enjoying every single dialogue around, trying to pick up lore details to connect all dots. We are trying to make both of them happy, leaving the freedom to play the game both ways. Anyway, to take 100% from it, hardcore players should play a bit with quest and lore related stuff around and old school players will have to master combat anyway. We are just trying to “force” this in a funny way for both .



YOUR MAIN GOAL IN ALALOTH?

In Alaloth, you embody a champion who is willing to set free the continent of Plamen by the evil and overwhelming presence of Alaloth himself, a mighty demigod trapped in a limbo and willing to come back to the mortal realms to rule them all. To do so, you will be required to recover four light shards that open the gates of The Fifth Kingdom, his domain. These shards pop in a random way each run and can be found in many locations spread around the world [Fighting Areas].

CAN YOU FREE ROAM IN THE GAME WORLD AND DECIDE TO WHAT TO DO AND WHEN?

Yes, you are completely free to do whatever you want since the very beginning. The Main Quest is just Alaloth-related. You need to kill him to complete the game. Anyway, there is nothing set for you to do so. You can just decide to explore Plamen, do your stuff, meet NPC, do other quests or starts claiming Fighting Areas looking for shards to access the endgame. The player is free to navigate and explore Plamen the way he likes most since the start of the journey, choosing to prioritize the main quest, secondary ones or to just see what’s next. At the beginning of the development, Alaloth was supposed to be played one way only, facing 3 other champions coming from the kingdoms the player didn’t choose running after shards as you, fighting you. We have 40 different champions representing each house and clan in the game, rolled every time a new session starts. Everyone with unique skills, drops and behavior. Anyway, while testing the game and collecting feeds, we decided to work on a brand new mode introducing a full single player campaign to be enjoyed the classic way. We are talking about two different ways to play. In both cases the more the time pass the more Alaloth’s rage and power increases. Spawns became way more dangerous with each of this phases.



DIFFERENT DIFFICULTY LEVEL THAN?

There is no difficulty level even though playing in the competitive mode will result in a more challenging experience, with the addition of the 3 enemy champions hunting for shards and/or the player. Enemy champions will have their own behavior that can be aggressive, balanced or defensive, they will claim dungeons as you do and might even fail. Single player mode is advised for those players who don’t want to have a timer on their heads and for those completionists who want to be sure to be able to complete every quest available on their playthrough. The game is designed to be played in competitive mode at least once for every race. As already said, you are basically free to move wherever you want since the very beginning so it's really about how good you are with the pad. Some areas are more dangerous than other but will be completely accessible since the very first moment.

THE WORLD IS HUGE. HOW IT IS REACTING TO YOUR ACTIONS?

Yes it is. Each kingdom has its own capital city, a major one, five minors. We have hundreds of interactable chars to talk with and to get quests or find precious clues to survive Plamen and its dangers. One of the key element of the game is the calendar. According with it, the world is going to change with NPC popping-up time by time, events happening all around the world, timed quests, new mobs , new challenges. And if you hear a wolf howling, well, it’s just the full moon [and it is very important…]

WHAT CHANGES BETWEEN ONE PLAYTHROUGH AND ANOTHER?

Playing a different mode, race or alignment will result in a different experience, with new paths and rewards. That’s why it is required to play multiple runs to achieve and experience all the game content, not to mention enemy champions in competitive mode will be randomized every new game, with the ones you won’t match as enemies placed around the world and able to give you precious info about their lore and how to face them and many other dangers. Make sure to talk to every single one to unlock all their codex entries and know even more about the most known characters of Plamen. Same stuff could be experienced with a difference approach from different races…



WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF MY ALIGNMENT AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PLAYTHROUGH?

Alignment is indeed a very important choice you will make when creating your champion: it will determine whether your champion will be able to be joined by certain companions or not and will unlock you certain missions or outcomes instead of others.

WHAT ABOUT COMPANIONS? HOW DO I HIRE THEM AND WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS?

Companions are the base for an AI or multiplayer local coop and can be found all around the game world. Every one of them has his lore and his goal in life: if yours is very different from theirs, they will not join your party anyway. Once you hire a companion, this will follow you until the end, giving you military help in the dungeons and the chance to accept their special quests, which will strengthen the bond between you. Remember you won’t be able to bring more than 2 companions in the battle with you, so each time choose wisely the combination of them that’s more useful for the specific dungeon.

HOW DOES MULTIPLAYER WORK?

Alaloth supports local coop up to 2 additional players that can join the game while taking control of your companions (if unlocked). Remote Play is supported and works even if your friends don’t own the game. Couch coop anyone? The only thing you need to do is inviting a friend as you open the game or send them the link to join you.



COMBAT SYSTEM?

Alaloth’s combat system is real-time action based, you can have an edge by fighting exploiting enemies’ weaknesses while still remaining always fair. The system is structured to allow the player to avoid every single incoming attack with a perfect execution. There will often be ways to use game knowledge and make smart plays that will put you in a favorable spot more than any reflex.

WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORE IN ALALOTH?

Alaloth wants to be a really immersive experience at 360° degrees, where the setting and the lore are key factors to feel part of a unique place, designed to stimulate the player to explore and understand from the most ancestral stories to the more recent secrets and palace intrigues. The game is part of a cross-media collection of works, including novels and comics to come, and playing the game you will have an exclusive view of this coherent vibrant world, characterized by a gritty atmosphere and a complex balance between kingdoms and houses. Tons of cool little details hidden in single dialogues or places are waiting to be spotted

HOW DOES THE PROGRESSION WORK IN THE GAME?

Your champion is going to improve his capabilities by learning up skills upon completing Fighting Areas. Not only that: you will be able to choose which stats you want to increase and build your champion your way. There are also traits points you can spend to acquire special abilities like more proficient trading, cool down reduction on certain skills or better riding skills. Remember that knowledge is power: you can gain additional stat points by reading until the end the Hero Books, which tell the stories of the most iconic people ever lived. Find them all to become relentless.

WILL I HAVE THE CHANCE TO RESPEC MY SKILL POINTS?

During your journey in Alaloth you have a chance to pick up a special item: The Orb of Chaos. Use it to any altar in a sanctuary to pray to the gods to change your destiny, giving you new talents and forgetting your old ones. That will allow you to respec any skill point, but also stat points and traits. However, you will find other ways to respect you char on the way.



WHAT ABOUT REP SYSTEM, CRAFTING, ENCHANTING, MOUNTS OR TECH STUFF LIKE SAVES OR SUCH?

Following this new update, we are going to dig into any single game feature as already announced in the Spring 2022 Update. Moreover, key outlets all around the world are playing the game right now so many of these features will be explained in extensive features popping-up in a few time. All the things listed here are in and there is much more to say about the game.

DAMN, SO MUCH STUFF! TRIPLE A VIBES

Nope. And this is important to remember. We have always been humbled to the compared to big guns by press and players but Gamera Interactive is not Obsidian nor Larian or such. These studios are for sure our main inspiration and we can say we have some good friends around in the RPG scene but Alaloth is first of all a self-funded craft of love made by a team of 18 [at its peak], that gone through the storm in the last 2 years and survived a pandemic and many many other issues that probably would had killed 95% of the indie studios around. For sure, we will have a never seen before Post Mortem listing all these events! We can easily say that the whole team gave a Triple A effort and have a Triple A passion but games are made with money and budget and we are still talking about an indie product that represents the first step in a massive world we are going to expand in the future.

RELEASE DATE?

We have a release window in mind and we are putting all the pieces together right now, following feeds and being finally able to schedule things on our own. We are actually evaluating any possible scenario, considering new partners jumping in, console versions for the future and an internal roadmap we want be sure to follow, considering future updates of the game, DLC and such. Even the price point is still under discussion as well as Limited Edition[s], retail, loc and so on. Anyway, we would say that summer is on the way, lot of major PR events are happening. And this is when announcement take place usually. Again, just let us understand which is the best options for the final sprint, considering that we need to get traction back after a very long silence.

Have a great week-end!


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Hello Champions!

Not a massive update for you today but for sure the most important one since a long time: Gamera Interactive took back publishing rights for Alaloth – Champions of The Four Kingdoms, its own in-house developed IP. We can’t go into details about the process that led to this [don’t ask] but hey, that’s a big news, isn’t it? Hands shaking while posting this, we are over the moon now, after a very long silence since the latest Steam update back in November. We can’t wait to show you what we were working on and disavow all those who believed the worst about the future of Alaloth.

On one hand, we’ve suffered the pain of not being able to answer to everyone in real time, we offer our apologies for this. On the other hand, the huge support we’ve received, fueled us and gave us all the strength to move forward as a team, even in the darkest moments, facing the pandemic first and many other issues out of our control then. As any “respected studio” outside, we’ve got trolls jumping in here and in our social channels sharing “the truth” about the development: the upcoming cancellation of the project, the redesign of 99% of the game, the shady explanations of the problems we had and so on. Nothing true of course but legit, we can say, considering the above-mentioned silence that luckily ends today with this fresh restart. This time for real.

The development never stopped. Never. We now have the chance to think about next steps, pushing our vision in full, taking care of everything we consider pivotal in the long term: the community, the players. Participative design anyone?

Before writing down this update we were so much excited we even thought about the option to fully reveal future plans and next steps but going all in is definitely not a thing in game dev. We carefully have to evaluate what’s the best path to follow to release the game at its best and truth is that we’ve a business running here, so we can’t just throw our cards on the table without weighting all the opps popping-up here and there. It could be a new partner jumping in, old friends rejoining or such. We are dealing with all of this now putting pieces together.



We’ll immediately work on getting the ball rolling again. A lot of people are testing the game right now, we are at work to get the spotlight in one of the key events happening in a while, a new gameplay trailer is ready [and we love it]. We decided to put consoles versions on hold, focusing on PC now: someone else will take care of this letting us being focused on PC build. This is a choice we made with the full picture in mind. And yes, we have an ideal release window too in mind and it is much closer than what you expect.

So, what’s next? There is a huge queue of unreleased contents we are going to share since now on, we just have to reorganize the flow a bit. There are so many things to say that we’re probably going on with a few “random drops” here. We’ll be showing in-game features, creatures, companions, tech stuff, lore related contents and so on. Following the inspiration let’s say, trying to pair the original plan we had in mind as soon as possible.

When we put online the last update about the development, we explained how we tried to stick with the original vision we had, despite the fact that the scope of the project changed with the day by day, transforming Alaloth into a bigger, ambitious product. It was September 2021 and today we can confirm everything we said about our vision at time, just adding that probably these months have been the most important so far. We added new features, iterated a lot, redesigned a few things not convincing us 100%, collected super amazing feeds from testers ranging from QA guys to dev superstars. We’ve been glad to see this people getting the essence of a game intended to be something new, in between old school classics and modern action games. We’ll be back on this in the next days, anyway.

Once again, thank you very much for the love and support: every single message has been read, and we are super excited to chat with you all and show progresses we’ve made. AMA on the way too, to ask all your questions about WIP [details to be posted by the end of the week hopefully!]

Stay tuned!

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/919360/Alaloth_Champions_of_The_Four_Kingdoms/

Following up on September’s Production Update that brought you the latest info about the development of Alaloth - Champions of the Four Kingdoms, we’d like to bring you some news about Alaloth as a brand. We’ve been working on a new logo for the game and have been excited to unveil the new look to you all. We couldn’t wait any longer to tell you all about it, so without further ado, we present to you the new logo for Alaloth - Champions of The Four Kingdoms!



We’ve come a long way since Gamera Interactive was founded in 2017 (it will be 5 years in February! Yay!) and a lot has changed within our company and around the game. We also feel grateful to be working on such a cool IP that has so much potential. Given all that, we felt that it was time to give the logo a new look.

Our company was founded around the idea of delivering our dream RPG, inspired by the old classics but with a modern twist, so when making the new Alaloth logo, we used references from the 80s and 90s. We pulled strongly on our nostalgia of the golden era of RPGs and we feel that the new logo reflects our fond memories of that time. We hope that you like it too.

Another reason that we wanted to give the Alaloth brand a fresh new look, with a logo that was more readable and modern is because of the other Alaloth goodies we’ve been working on. Under the umbrella of Alaloth there’s more than just a video game, there’s also Alaloth - The Tempest, a comic book that serves as a prequel to Alaloth - Champions of The Four Kingdoms as well as a novel in the works.

Alaloth - The Tempest is ready for print and will hit shelves in bookstores and comic shops by the end of the year (it will be available in major online stores too). We’re pretty excited as it’s not often that you get to physically see and touch the product of your work in the mostly digital world we operate in! We’ve also signed a deal for a novel, which will be a collection of stories (codename Alaloth - Legends) from our narrative team. That project is in progress but is almost ready for publication as well. Be sure to follow our channels to stay updated on these extra goodies from the realms of Alaloth. Even if we can’t say too much now, it is just the beginning talking about retail.

We appreciate your support and patience as we work on Alaloth -Champions of The Four Kingdoms and other Alaloth projects. Do you like the new logo? Let us know here on Steam or on our Discord.

Until next time!

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Champions!

We have something special for you. We felt that this was a good moment to give you a general overview of the Alaloth - Champions of The Four Kingdoms development situation.

After the release of our last gameplay trailer, a little over a year ago now, we started to post regular updates on Steam, focused on the game’s lore and development. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the content we’ve shared across our channels throughout our development journey, it's been great to see your support along the way.



We’ve had a few delays and hurdles to overcome due to Covid-19 and some other last minute, unpredictable events, but we feel that we’re heading in the right direction now. Although we haven’t been able to get back to Gamera HQ since March 2020, our team has grown to 18 people (!) and we’re hoping to adapt to a hybrid work model soon that will allow our team to develop a closer bond. 2021 has felt like a fresh start and we feel like we’re approaching another great milestone.


We’ll share more news about the future with you soon, but for now, let’s focus a little on the what’s been happening over the past few months as you’ve, rightfully, been asking for updates for a while now here on Steam, on our Discord server, and in many different RPG communities and we know our recent radio silence didn’t help matters.

We believe that honesty is always the best way to go and today we want to try to honestly answer a few of the questions you have asked in the last months. In general, we’ve lately been silent for a very simple reason: we were not happy with the game as it was and we were focused on addressing its issues. It was as simple as that. We totally understand that the lack of news and updates has been disappointing for you all—it has been disappointing for us too. In spite of all the obstacles that we’ve encountered, some beyond our control, our team is doing everything possible to work on the issues we’ve found along the way and to raise the overall presentation of the final game. We’ve been doing our best to hold on to our original vision for the game, but the project has changed since our initial announcement and we’ve had to adapt along the way.


Although we’ve had to adapt the game to get around various challenges we’ve encountered, we’ve been able to hold on to our original vision of Alaloth being something between the classic RPGs we all know and love and our favorite modern-day action games. We’ve always said that Alaloth was born as a tribute game to all the nerdy stuff we love like D&D, The Lord of The Rings, the high-fantasy and soulslike genres in general, and of course awesome games like Ultima, BioWare’s works, and Diablo, or even board games such as Warhammer. All of this was more or less the alpha & omega for someone born in the 80s who grew up playing pen & paper and PC/console games.



Having such a great respect for all of those inspirations, it really means a lot to us when fans and even the press see the connections and acknowledge that the titles of gaming’s glorious past are the foundation of our game. People have told us that Alaloth brought back memories of classic RPGs from the 90s and early 2000’s and that’s made us really happy, it’s an honor.

"Back in the days: our very first 3D prototype!"


In our most recent Steam updates we talked about the world of Plamen, about game design, characters, and narrative, among other things. Now we want to go deeper into these topics to give you a full picture of what goes on behind the scenes during such a complex development cycle, and how often things can change (and change again) along the way.


Alaloth - Champions of the Four Kingdoms is an RPG that fuses classic presentation with skill-driven combat. That’s our take. We’ve finally put in every single weapon, armor type, and item that needs to be iterated, playing with the numbers to find the perfect balance in action: we play, test every single set-up, change values, and repeat.

As you know from our previous updates, we have 3 different Ways of Power, each with 3 different professions to choose from with 4 skills each. Once you pick a race, you get racial traits of course too, and we added 12 other special traits to make your own build unique.


We had many internal discussions about Stats as we wanted to create something special for this. Characters will have 4 different Stats (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Luck) that can be increased up to 5 times each. To do so, players will need to gather Stat points by leveling-up of course, but only a limited number of Stats Points will be available this way. Extra Stats Points can be collected by finding special books (Hero Books) that are scattered all around the world, making exploration and quests crucial, even considering that players are going to get XP through fighting rather than by completing quests the classic way.


This will allow everyone to plan in their own style. You can essentially speedrun the game, by just focusing on collecting all necessary artifacts and not doing any side quests to reach the endgame, defeating Alaloth, as quickly as possible, without the experience of eating the whole cake as it were. However, if you want the full experience of the game, you can take your time traveling through the kingdoms of Plamen and learning about their legends, history, and people. Side quests will lead you to more combat which will give you the opportunity to level up, but you have to remember that traveling as a champion, you’ll have to face challenging champions from other kingdoms and that as time goes on, Alaloth will grow more and more powerful. We’ll expand on this in future updates.



The world map has been probably the only thing we’ve fully reworked during the development process instead of fixing it through iterations. And we’re not just talking about the graphic style. The world map has always been a tool that has helped us monitor the scope of the project and it’s also one of the key elements of the game.

We think of the map this way because when you build a fantasy world, everything is reflected in the world map. So doing something like adding a new location is not as simple as closing your eyes and picking a spot on the map. To add a new location we have to first go through a ‘world bible’ that’s more than 200 pages long, full of names and stories. We have to double check everything in order to ensure consistency with the game’s huge lore database and to make our fantasy world unique and believable.

“Before…”


We started out with 4 kingdoms each with 6 Fighting Areas, 6 cities, and 3 points of interest. We ended up with 7 Fighting Areas (with 4 additional unique boss fights around that can be unlocked with reputation, even if every area basically has its own boss), 7 cities, 5 points of interest, and random generated bounties with other ad hoc environments, taverns, and more for each kingdom, plus 4 dragon caves throughout Plamen. We also started out with a few pawns moving around the map and now we have more than 15 different guilds and organizations, as well as cults, septs, and wandering chars. Another change was that we originally began with the idea of 3 Moonstone-like champions but now we have 40 champions representing every single playable house or clan, each with their own background, skill, fighting style, equipment, and so on (when you start the game, you’ll roll 3 random champions from this set to serve as your opponents in your run to defeat Alaloth). So as you can see, we've added quite a lot to the game.

"...and after"


Time is a key part of the player experience as well and we’ve been working on this too to find a good balance, eventually adding different game modes to allow players to customize their runs for either more rpg or action. Considering that you can move whenever you want, mounts are another important thing to mention when talking about time. You just see pawns on the map when you move, so you’re not supposed to ride a mount in real time, but your speed is determined by the terrain and different mounts move slower or faster on depending on the difficulty of the terrain (rams are faster on cliffs, wolves run better in the desert, super warhorses are best for open fields, while gryphons fly)].

Mounts are also important because they impact the max weight you can carry, and weight is crucial in Alaloth because you can’t always be carrying around 10 different types of armor or 5 different weapons. You’re supposed to know where you’re going and what you’re going to fight or hunt so you have to choose your equipment wisely. Four more potions or an extra sword? It’s up to you. And remember, you can’t access your inventory during fights…


When we thought about crafting for the first time, we had in mind something immersive, a bit more unique than what’s usual. We think we’ve managed to reach our goal. To craft your weapons and armor, you’ll need to find a blacksmith (lords and ladies, don’t craft their own of course!). You’ll have to buy ingots, metal scraps, and anything that’s necessary for the artisan to make your suite of choice. There are different types of armor to choose from which will impact your stamina management (there are light, medium, heavy, and tank types of armor) but materials are unique and are very different by lore, offering different bonuses for different occasions.

Moreover, every kingdom has its own set of materials which are as unique as the different armor sets available. If for example you want to buy an elven set of armor or collect the materials for one but are from a different kingdom, you’ll need to take your time to travel to Larastir and look for them there, look for them in markets, or wait for merchants to come through your area according to the calendar, celebrations, and so on.

“Co-op anyone?”


Items have limited durability, so you’ll have to take care of your equipment. Eventually you’ll be able to enchant weapons and armor by visiting enchanters in capital cities. This will be the only way you can install or remove gems from your equipment (basically offensive or defensive stones with different properties).

Last but not least, cooking will allow you to get a special bonus before a fight (if you choose to eat before entering a Fighting Area, using the cooking pot in the Safe Area spot) or during one (you can bring in some consumables which are timed).



That’s all for now. As you can see, our work on Alaloth never stopped, we just entered stealth mode so that we could focus on the game’s development and to take extra time to improve the quality level. It’s for these reasons that we skipped major events this year and didn’t send out any news for a while and we’re sorry for leaving you all in the dark, but now we can say that we’re back in action so we hope that we’ll be able to update you more often. We’re available on Discord of course but you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well to get the latest updates.

Thank you for your support!

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/919360/Alaloth_Champions_of_The_Four_Kingdoms/

Champions!

You’ll need power and skills to survive in the world of Alaloth. To possess them however, you will first have to choose a Way of Power and a Profession. Today we’ll take a deeper look into the Way of Arms, one of the three Ways of Power you’ll be able to choose from.


With strength of arm you will be able to vanquish any foe that comes your way, whether by sword or axe, with a shield or a polearm—nothing can stand in your way. The Way of Arms pushes your champion’s physical limit to the max, giving them the skills they need to endure and deliver powerful strikes that shatter bones and cut through flesh with ease. Your champion will use their strength to master lethal fighting techniques that will turn them into a war machine. The Way of Arms relies only on the physical, avoiding the use of magic.




Like every Way of Power, the Way of Arms has its own unique Professions that will help you conquer your fears and fight like a sentinel in the face of danger.





With eagle eyes, marksmen always hit their target. Whether from afar or up close, there is no escape for any enemy once an arrow is coming their way.

Power Sting
An arrow shot that comes with an extra boost of force that will deal devastating damage to an opponent.

Arrow Chain
Shot in quick succession, one after another, Marksmen give no quarter to their enemies who cannot avoid the rapid arrows coming their way.

Rain of Arrows
When one arrow is not enough, launch a barrage of arrows at the sky and let them fall on your enemies from above.

Snareshot
A piercing bolt that penetrates deep into the enemy, causing substantial blood loss during combat.





Rushing into battle, Warlords are a force to be reckoned with, and put all of their might to their strikes, leaving a trail of bodies and broken armies wherever they roam. They excel in hand-to-hand combat, delivering powerful blows to the enemy until they’re subdued or dead.

Mighty Blow
With all your might, raise your weapon to the sky and bring it down on your enemy with the force of a true warrior.

Ring of Pain
Without a doubt, the immediate area that surrounds you is a danger to any foe. Teach them a lesson for getting too close.

Leaping Strike
Leap towards the burning sun and bring a devastating blow down upon your enemy that no foe can withstand.

Charge
A true warrior is as light on his feet as he is strong. Use these two skills to charge at your enemy without giving them time to react.





Protection above all—any attack will falter, and any arrow let loose deflected, no one breaches the Guardian’s walls. This profession ensures protection against any and all vicious enemies that stand in your way.

Puppet Wire
You are a sentinel among mortals, a terror to man and beast, no one can look upon you without fear, and even the bravest shrivel in dread.

Rage
Look deep into your beating heart and trust in the rage that burns inside to regain the will to fight.

Battle Shout
Rally your troops to your side and fight with the fury of a thousand soldiers. Everyone beside you will fight harder and better.

Last Stand
In the thick of battle, when defeat appears to be imminent, make your last stand, and keep on fighting till the end.


If you missed any of the previous Lore Updates, check out the latest ones here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3058479723998971794
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3060730254448222082
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3059602452005106721

We hope you enjoyed this foray into the rich world of Alaloth. Do you think you’ll choose the Way of Arms? What did you find the most interesting? Share your thoughts with us on Steam and Discord.

*Based on external and internal factors, the frequency may change.

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In our previous Development Updates, we’ve had the chance to talk about many different topics such as animation, VFX, narrative, and more, explaining our approach to Alaloth’s development so far. Now it’s time to talk about music and sound design! A variety of epic games and movies inspired us in many different ways so we wanted to share how our audio team approached the challenge of bringing our huge RPG world to life.

The Blessed Kingdom of Edherest

To create the loops for areas in Edherest, we found inspiration from the lore description of each city, their aspects and inhabitants, as well as from other great video game soundtracks. We started with the main theme, improvising a melody with the idea that this was for the ‘capital city’. Then, we added some basic harmony, following the root key. What came next was the tricky part. In fact, it was not easy to create six different variations (based on the city lore and appearance) because it could be easy to fall into repetitions resulting in the tracks being a bit boring. Therefore, while staying faithful to the theme, we decided to use different rhythms and changed instruments’ timbre to get around the problem.

• Goldport [Main Theme]: Solemn and epic music, with a dark and medieval melody. All variations must follow the melody. It starts with theme presentation (string section only), and goes through to the climax with percussion and brass sections.
  
• Winterleaf: A very dark track with only a string section and viola. The first part of the theme is with a cello; the second part is with the string section.
  
• Baystone: Creates a shady and mysterious mood using only a dulcimer. Very rhythmic with bass; melody goes “crescendo”.
  
• Coldwood: Similar to the main theme. The brass section introduces the melody, then percussion and string sections in “crescendo”.
  
• Mayfalls: A soft mood, due to the presence of nature sounds and the presence of a waterfall. String and expressive flute.
  
• Westwall: A “military” mood, ready for war. Great importance to the brass and percussion sections.
  
• Whitewind: Similar to the mood of Winterleaf. String section and two cellos that overlap each other.

The Republic of Larastir

In composing the main theme of Larastir and its variation cycles, we mostly read the description of the introductory lore for inspiration, trying to understand what kind of melody, harmony, and mood could fit its stories. The main external reference and inspiration came from The Lord of the Rings and elven music in general, although in this case, we preferred to improvise more. This led us to experience some challenges, especially with creating the variations, but by changing timbres, rhythm, and mood, we were able to come up with something we were pleased with.

• Thilaris [Main Theme]: Solemn music but creating a very magical atmosphere: horn and string sections and an emphasis on the choir, which fills the background. The string section dominates in the first part while the horn section dominates in the second
  
• Lindorwin: A sad and melancholy mood, but still solemn. Rhythm and harmony with the string section, while the melody is carried by the horn section. A choir in the background maintains a magical mood.
  
• Edhenen: A darker mood. The harp and horn section carry the melody with the "magic" choir in the background.
  
• Tirothas: Very rhythmic due to the connection between the elvish and dwarven races. Short violins and the horn section carry the melody with the ever-present choir in the background .
  
• Val’Rhain: An expressive flute and horn section symbolize a bow and arrow. Rhythm is carried by the string section and choir.
  
• Forlariath: A battle-ready mood, supported by the horn section. The string section and choir fill the background.
  
• Nir-Lathias: A secret and mysterious mood, with the harp and string section carrying the rhythm, and the choir singing a sort of melody.

Here’s an example of the process of creating the sound design for an area in layers:


We start adding footsteps and a basic layer of SFX.


Next, we add a music loop tailored for the area and do a first round of polishing.


Once we’re happy with the overall result, we add ambient SFX such as waterfalls, wind, animals, etc for the ‘final touch’.

The Expanse of Karak-Hohn

For Karak-Hohn, we started with the main theme, then moved to the variations, always reading into the kingdom’s intro lore description and taking a look at the cities’ design. The main reference was dwarven music from The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings once again. It was a little tricky, especially with the melodies (the harmony needed to be in sync with the percussion), but got through it by changing rhythm.

• Khunden-Hohn [Main Theme]: A strong start with percussion and and the choir shouting to introduce the dwarves, the melody is carried by the horn and string sections. Always solemn.
  
• Bardushel: A bit of a battle mood, due to the ruling clan being here. Harmony with the percussion and choir shouting with the string section. Melody carried by the horn section.
  
• Naledzir: A secret kind of mood, with percussion and the choir shouting and a repetitive melody from the string section.
  
• Barran-Garr: Percussions with the choir shouting and a hammer-like sound. Harmony carried by the string section and melody by the horn section.
  
• Nhulbarar: A softer and slower mood, with percussion and the choir shouting. Harmony carried by the string section, melody by the horn section (first part low, second part high).
  
• Khuamun: A more rapid track, again with a hammer-like sound, and percussion and choir shouts. Melody carried only by the horn section, without a precise harmony.
  
• Kin’il’Nar: Very rhythmic, starting only with percussion and choir shouts. Then, in the first part, the melody is carried by the horn section (low); in the second part, low and high horn sections together.

The Desolation of Baga

To create loops here, we started from the description of the kingdom as usual and then moved to the cities’ lore description. As a main reference, we used orcish music from classic sources such as Warcraft and other titles. We tried to create something strong, but still solemn with not as fast of a rhythm as in other kingdoms. For the main theme, we chose the horn sections and percussion to be fundamental. For the six variations, we sometimes went a little far from the main theme to keep things interesting, but always followed the root key and musical scale, considering the double nature of Orcish people (we have savage orcs and citizens in Baga, living in a different way).

• Na’Nardur [Main Theme]: Aggressive and solemn. Trombones and percussion introduce the theme (a sort of oriental melody) this is followed by the horn section low and high and cellos and violas in the background. Crescendo of percussion.
  
• Hashak: Very solemn. Only the horn section with high and low; very rhythmic percussion.
  
• Gholuk: A dark mood. Introduction with the horn section and percussion (tuned to the horn section). The violas and cellos in spiccato create something dark and mysterious.
  
• Gashak: Similar to Hashak, due to the fact they are twin cities. It begins with trombones and then the horn section is added. Percussion again tuned with the melody.
  
• Ballek’Mahl: The introduction has the horn section and percussion doing the same pattern. Then trombones continue the melody, with cellos in the background. In the second part, percussion is always the same.
  
• Vhoken’Mahl: A darker mood. The same instruments of Ballek’Mahl, but percussion does a simpler pattern. More of a presence of the cellos in the background.
  
• Na’Kazkadden: A military and battle mood. Only percussion in the beginning, with two timpani. Then the low horn section introduces the melody, sustained by the high horn section in the second part.

Points of Interest

To create the loops for the Points of Interest around the Four Kingdoms, we took inspiration mainly from the aspect of the places and their descriptions. We also decided to improvise melodies and harmonies, even if our references were video games such as Witcher 3 and Skyrim. For every Points of Interest we followed the root key of the Kingdom’s loops and the same instruments, in order to be more coherent.

• The Sea of Stars: A very quiet and calm mood. The string section, with violins and cellos create the melody with doublebasses in pizzicato for the harmonic and rhythmic part.
  
• The Tears of Light: A somewhat solemn mood. Trombones in the first part to introduce the melody, which is then continued by the horn section. Doublebasses cover the harmonic part.
  
• The Turquoise Ice: A mood of amazement. The string section is in the background with the horn section carrying the melody.
  
• The Sentinels: Melody carried by the clarinet with cellos in background. In the second part there is a harp for the rhythmic part.
  
• Gloworm Caves: A magical mood. Only harp (both harmony and melody) with a choir in the background.
  
• Waterfalls of Wishing: Very magical. Melody is carried by the harp with the strings section in the background. A choir in the second part creates an atmosphere.
  
• Bingel, The Hawk: Solemn for her importance. The melody is carried by the trombones in the first part, then strengthened by the horn section. The string section is in the background with percussion (symbolic of the dwarves).
  
• The Bloody Lake: A mysterious mood. Very low doublebasses with percussion. The melody is carried by a harp.
  
• The Eye: A solemn and astonished mood. The introduction is carried by violas, cellos, and doublebasses. In the second part, the melody is carried by the trombones and the horn section.
  
• The Spoor of Gorbag: The melody is carried by the cellos with aggressive percussion in the background. In the second part the melody is strengthened by the horn section.
  
• The Well of Baga: A bit disturbing. The introduction is carried by the cellos and doublebasses, followed by the addition of violins and violas. The melody is carried by the horn section.
  
• Kima, The Volcano: A bit aggressive, with only trombones and tuned percussion.

Discover New Content Every Week

If you missed any of the previous Development Updates, check out the latest ones here:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3058479891335158589
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3060730254432975108
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3058475918421648964

We hope you enjoyed this foray into the making of Alaloth. What do you think about the descriptions of the different Kingdoms tracks? Share your thoughts with us on Steam and Discord.

Lore updates will be posted on Steam every Wednesday* and will introduce key characters, companions, guilds, places, monsters, stories, gods, legends, and so on, to give you the full picture of the work we’ve done to bring this epic world to life. Sometimes they will come in the form of a special Companion update to introduce companions that may accompany you on your quest. A brand new piece of art will be available every Monday* as well!

Be sure to check Steam every other Friday* to get an update on Alaloth’s development. The updates will give a general overview of in-game content, explain gameplay features, give insight into the gaming tech we use as well as reveal other game-related content.

*Based on external and internal factors, the frequency may change.

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In our first Companions update we introduced the brave champion of the light, Lileah the Last Light of Vaizmil, who aims to bring Alaloth to his knees for the betterment of all the mortal races. Your next potential companion hails from the Republic of Larastir, a kingdom of many champions, some looking for redemption, some looking for justice, and some, like Estilress, looking to put the world back in order.




Born closer to the surface, an unusual thing in dwarven society, Estilress was always considered to be a very peculiar dwarf due to his love for the outdoors and his incorporation of other cultures’ fighting styles into his own. Estilress has spent his life traveling across the continent from a young age, never content to stay in one place for too long. From his journeys he’s gathered many tales to share with his people back home. The dwarves call him “Estilress the Mad” because of all the extreme and exotic adventures he’s gone on, but still love listening to his stories each time he returns.

Estilress was topside when the worst Tempest hit. He lost consciousness during the disaster and when he opened his eyes afterwards, he could see that everything as he knew it was going to change. The new reality was one where the world he loved would slowly but surely deteriorate. He knew that now, the places he’d visit would be plagued by monsters, nature would begin to rot, and ancient ruins that had stood for centuries would crumble into dust.

Now, Estilress spends his days trying to save whatever he can, but the destruction he sees everywhere weighs him down with bitterness and depression. He dreams of the world he knew, and wishes to see it once more. Estilress is looking for a champion that will protect all lives as well as the history of The Split Kingdoms. Someone who will help him restore the world to the one he knew before.




If you missed any of the previous Lore Updates, check out the latest ones here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3060730254426286535
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3058479723998971794
https://steamcommunity.com/games/919360/announcements/detail/3060730254448222082

We hope you enjoyed this foray into the rich world of Alaloth. Do you think you’ll be the champion Estilress is looking for? Share your thoughts with us on Steam and Discord.

Lore updates will be posted on Steam every Wednesday* and will introduce key characters, guilds, places, monsters, stories, gods, legends, and so on, to give you the full picture of the work we’ve done to bring this epic world to life. Sometimes they will come in the form of a special Companion update to introduce companions that may accompany you on your quest. A brand new piece of art will be available every Monday* as well!

Be sure to check Steam every other Friday* to get an update on Alaloth’s development. The updates will give a general overview of in-game content, explain gameplay features, give insight into the gaming tech we use as well as reveal other game-related content.

*Based on external and internal factors, the frequency may change.

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Check out our Steam page



https://store.steampowered.com/app/919360/Alaloth_Champions_of_The_Four_Kingdoms/