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1424690cookie-checkWinterfall: Sandbox RPG Releases New Concept Images And Teases Combat
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2016/08

Winterfall: Sandbox RPG Releases New Concept Images And Teases Combat

Winterfall is a sandbox RPG game that takes place in a beautiful medieval time period. I’ve been following this game since the concept first came out, but for those of you that have no idea what it is, I’ll quickly give you a recap to catch you up to speed.

Developer Insurgent posted this concept on the Steam Greenlight concept page a little over a month ago to see if people would be interested in the idea. For those wondering, yes, Steam Greenlight has a specific area for incomplete games that are nothing more than a concept to test and share your ideas before launching an official Greenlight campaign.

While some developers skip the Greenlight concept phase and go ahead and post the game to get votes on Greenlight while still having close to two years of development time left, Winterfall did things a bit differently. Since the developers still have a long ways to go before launch, they are simply sharing their concept through a series of videos and pictures. The below teaser video that the developer uploaded showcases one of the characters walking around a local tavern.

https://youtu.be/bB6IRGiiqBk

I’m not completely sure how many people are working on this game, but the developers say that they were inspired by games like The Elder Scrolls series, Mount And Blade, DayZ, Mass Effect, and the Ultima Games, before they started working on their own creation Winterfall.

Instead of Winterfall following the story progression of a single hero or a ragtag group of adventurers, it instead follows the journey of the player’s household. You create a character, you go on a journey and you make a name for yourself. From here, you either gain fame or notoriety by becoming a hero, a tyrant, a bandit or a great king. The developers say that your character will inevitably die in one way or another, such as through battle or by old age, and you will then continue the story with another family member of that household to carry on the name and story to continue to build onto your household’s name and legacy.

The game is listed as being a Multi-player Co-op game, so it seems that they have some type of online or local co-op play planned for the game, but details are still a bit vague right now. Like most sandbox games, you will be able to adventure in a large open world, meet unique people and animals, craft items, build structures, find a spouse to live with and carry on your linage, and of course more traditional features like fighting, hunting, trading and making a life for yourself.

From the looks of things, the battles look pretty realistic, as enemies die in just one or two well placed hits. The combat system looks promising and the developers have already shown that you will be able to perform combos, block and fight from horseback. There are even a few screenshots on their website that teases large scale Mount And Blade style battles. Check out the horse GIF and the combat teaser video that I linked down below.

Not so Wild horses

https://youtu.be/MZ4tTIXfvns

The official description on the Steam Greenlight concept page hints that Winter is coming, and that we all need to brace ourselves for when it finally arrives because the conditions will make life quite difficult.

At singular thresholds of global player achievement, the game will receive updates to bring closer the Winterfall itself. As time goes on and the Winterfall approaches, the game will get harder, the world more desperate, conflicts more numerous and strident.

I’m not entirely sure what they mean, but it sounds like Winterfall is something players will have to prepare for long in advance to survive the harsh conditions. I’m looking forward to see how this works in game. So how far along is the game now? This is what the developer had to say in the below quote.

So let me address some key questions regarding this project:

– From the past 3 years of work, we have working systems in the following departments mainly:

personality simulation, social interaction, relationship development
horse-riding and basic elements of mounted combat
vital needs and basic survival
ARPG combat featuring dodges, blocks, combos, and bot AI with many personality factors
day & night cycle and environmental/weather factors
inventory & equipment

To conclude, the developers say in their most recent blog post that they still have quite some time to finish development, but they would like to create some type of playable alpha build by the end of the year just so that their followers can see what they have planned in terms of gameplay.

If you are interested in Winterfall and would like to learn more or support the project, check out their Steam Greenlight Concept page to follow their progress and see what’s new. Additionally, you can also check out their official website as well as their IndieDB page for further details about the game.

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