Lords of Nether - A DK inspired game, with 3D Modeling by Blutonium
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Hello Everyone! My name is David Blac, the Lead Developer on Lords of Nether! I want to start off by saying I’m very excited (and a little nervous) to reveal the game to you! I certainly hope we have something here that resonates with you as much as it does with us!
Like Blutonium pointed out, I have had the idea of this game slowly coming together in my head ever since I was in my teens, first starting with wondering what creatures in DK would look like if they were higher fidelity and drawing little pictures of them, then making my own designs and eventually stories and world for them. I always hoped inside that eventually I would be able to make this game, but it seemed like a very distant goal before a couple of years ago. A few of my former classmates were looking at some of the creature designs I had made for the game, one thing led to another and we formed a team to actually make the game. Eventually most of the initial team left as we found new members who have proven to share the same dedication and passion for this game as I do and that in itself makes me happier than you can imagine! Blutonium has been the latest person to join our team, working with us for more than half a year now and honestly the first time he messaged us I simply went “No way…” as I had often seen his work when looking for inspiration, I kid you not. In the time he has been with us, he has solved an immense amount of 3D problems I was worried about and many that I never even knew we would have
Game Introduction:
Lords of Nether is a brand-new game in development, that while heavily inspired by Dungeon Keeper, attempts to go its own way within the genre and provide a new take and experience within it.
Players will find themselves in a dark fantasy world that is heavily inspired by myths and literature, filled to the brim with mysteries and strange creatures! Taking control of one of the Four playable Netherlords, returning to the ancient world of Antioch after seven centuries of banishment, You will take on a campaign to take over the world from the decaying, self-righteous Kingdom of Man. To do this you will need to shape the Underworld, where lies your true domain, to your tastes and needs and from it call forth armies of dark creatures and enemies of Mankind. You, or rather the Lord you choose to embody bears a physical form in the game and while very powerful, their death means the end of your conquest, so be wary as you face raids and attacks on your dungeon, or as you guide your Lord beyond. Having built an army, you will most often be called to take it to the very Overworld itself, where you will ravage mankind’s forces and accomplish the various goals set forth! Antioch will be Yours…
In terms of Mechanics, players will find themselves greeted by a number of familiar features such as digging the underworld terrain with your workers and building rooms, nurturing creatures etc. However also confronting them would be some new ones, such as the ability to place objects within your rooms to optimize their efficiency or use of their space, and the ability to directly command creatures. These and some other tools are set forth in order to allow you to truly unleash your creativity and intellect within the game. In terms of the direct command of creatures however, worry not! Creatures still possess a high degree of autonomy both inside and outside of combat! When in combat, think of yourself more as a general, a guiding hand that gives commands to its forces but can still trust that they will think for themselves and use their abilities in a way that most fits the engagement they find themselves in.
All in all we hope to give you a game that is both new and feels familiar, one that will excite and entice you hopefully for years to come, as certain old classics did!
Current State and Future Plans:
The game has been in development for roughly 2 years now, the majority of the ground work such as designing mechanics, establishing the world, aesthetic and such have been done, and for the last year or so we have been laying the foundations for the game proper itself, by building the level editor which plays a crucial role in the development process. We have recently started delving into the gameplay itself and building assets and we are doing all this in whatever free time we have in-between work, freelance jobs or education in our varying cases. We are all very passionate about this project and intend to bring it to light in its best possible condition no matter what, but this will of course take time.
We are currently planning to release an Alpha demo sometime within the Autumn of this year (2017), hopefully around the end of August. Within the following months we will keep polishing and building whatever we can, while working on a Kickstarter campaign. We’re doing this as of course I’m sure everyone knows development costs money and we would like to be able to work on the game full time in order to finish it faster and in the best possible state. Depending on our success with funding, we will proceed with the according pace, but we do not intend (in fact will strictly try to avoid) to enter into Early Access as it can often be more damaging to a game than helpful. We will however dedicate a time well before release for extensive beta testing (whether open or selective is still to be decided) and in the end we will release a Free Demo as well! We want this game made and we want it made right, just as much as you would!
So that’s the end of this massive text wall, apologies but there’s a lot to unpack! However, feel free to ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my abilities (while avoiding spoilers of course)
Originally Posted by dotted
