Dress-a-mouse!
Welcome to this new Ghost of a Tale development update!
Since the inventory is now functional I recently I did a final pass on the dynamic props system. And I’m quite happy with its versatility. Basically Tilo can find a lot of wearable items that give him various resistances and boosts. Those items can be equipped on his ears, head, face, chest, waist, etc…
For example here you can see him dressed as a famous pirate (I won’t spoil it too much since it’s related to a specific quest).
And when wearing a complete costume set Tilo receives a further skill bonus. These costume items can be found all over the place (well actually some of them are quite hard to get) and are often related to the game’s folklore figures or even past Dwindling Heights prisoners.
The interesting thing is the NPCs will react differently depending on how Tilo is dressed (reflected in the dialogs). The possibilities of mix-and-match are also super nice; you can really create different (and rather unique) looks for Tilo.
Here he’s wearing Tulong’s costume; Tulong was an infamous highwaymouse and donning his outfit does come with some nice perks… 🙂
Now to the game’s development in general: I know some of you are extremely eager to start playing but quite a few things remain to be done before we can consider going into the pre-release (aka “Early Access”) stage.
As far as the Xbox One is concerned Microsoft tentatively mentioned maybe using the new Xbox One early access program but nothing concrete was decided yet. If, for whatever reason, it is not possible to go down that route then it means Xbox One users will most likely have to wait for 2016 before they can try the game.
On the PC (Windows) front it is my wish to reach early access stage before the end of November (2015). In that regard the next two months are going to be crucial in terms of development. We have made contact with Steam and things seem to be on the right track. Of course I will keep you guys updated with any progress being made.
All this being said, it is downright freaking exciting to see pieces coming together as game systems start to respond and influence each-other. Recently I was revisiting the old jail (the starting area) and it was soooo nice to feel like you’re immersed in this world right from the start…
(Right-click on the picture and choose “View Image” to see the high-resolution)
I really hope you guys like it when you get a chance to take a stroll down those dank corridors!
Anyway, as usual please leave your comments and questions below and I’ll do my best to answer them. See you in the next update! 🙂
Neverarine
August 19, 2015 at 1:51 pm“The interesting thing is the NPCs will react differently depending on how Tilo is dressed (reflected in the dialogs). The possibilities of mix-and-match are also super nice; you can really create different (and rather unique) looks for Tilo.”
you just made my freakin day, one of the things i liked the most in Morrowind and Fable was how creative you could get with your own costume (things the later games reduced by lowering costume pieces) and the fact the npc’s recognize your outfit differences, is gonna make it feel so much more worthwhile to play around with all the outfits
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 8:49 pmGlad you like the concept! It does add a measure of personalization to Tilo, although he remains the same character at his core.
Johan
August 19, 2015 at 1:54 pmLove the outfits and the prospect of having gear that will actually affect both gameplay and interactions with NPCs!
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:10 pmYes, that’s the idea. It’s just little details like that which create a little more connection with the game’s world.
evilkinggumby
August 19, 2015 at 1:57 pmholy cow that is amazing! I am loving the look and the fact you can mix and match is just fun. is it possible to carry multiple pieces of gear or is there a inventory limit? do we get a chest somewhere to store stuff if need be? Would be tough if we could only carry a limited stock and so had to juggle between weapons, clothing and items/healing items.
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 8:59 pmThanks! 🙂 There are a couple of elements to your question, so: first, you’re not limited by equipment weight. It might be less realistic but that’s a design choice. Second, one item fits one inventory slot (so no Tetris there). And third, items are stackable.
Finally, the inventory itself is divided in categories containing a certain number of slots. So you may have to drop some items on the way (I’m not even sure). But you should always be able to find them where you dropped them.
Jimmey
August 19, 2015 at 3:17 pmI’ll be honest, when I first backed the game, I didn’t have much expectation for complex mechanics (I was just taken by the feel of the alpha demo, the mouse and the music O___O.) Now I’m just wowed by your dedication to every detail of this game!
Keep it up, you’re almost there.
Seith
August 20, 2015 at 10:35 amThank you for your comment, Jimmey, I’m happy the game (at least at this stage) exceeds your initial campaign expectations!! And cheers for your encouragements, it’s appreciated!
Alarik
August 19, 2015 at 4:12 pmOh c’est trop choupinet tout plein!
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:00 pm🙂
Christoph
August 19, 2015 at 4:16 pmThank you for the update. I keep getting amazed by the amount of detail you put into the game!
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:01 pmThank you. Yes, it’s starting to be fairly involved. But don’t worry, I won’t go too crazy with the details!!
Cyb
August 19, 2015 at 6:36 pmTellement hâte de voir les interactions avec les PNJ !
Et l’animation de Tilo est toujours aussi magnifique 😀 Beau boulot 😉
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:02 pmMerci! ^^
Randall
August 19, 2015 at 7:53 pmThe secondary prop dynamics look great.
I have more of a technical question here. Have you created your own custom runtime dynamics system and flagged each joint in the skeletal mesh to behave a certain way or are you using a third party dynamics or cloth simulation system?
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:07 pmThanks! A little bit of both actually. I use a third-party plugin (Dynamic Bones) but I tailored it to fit into my characters pipeline so that things get automatized as much as possible within Unity.
So it’s a full-fledged attachment system which is fairly robust as long as you follow a certain method in character rigging and authoring.
No real physics or cloth simulation is involved though. It’s all on the cheap side; which is why it remains fairly fast even on lower-end machines.
Erwin
August 19, 2015 at 9:04 pmWhile it’s nice release is approaching, I’ll be waiting for a PlayStation version, although I guess that means I’ll wait forever. I don’t have a PC anymore since I never really used it.
Seith
August 19, 2015 at 9:08 pmA PS4 version is not out of the question, who knows… 😛
armodillo17
August 21, 2015 at 3:07 pmSomeday, you’ll announce a Wii U or Mac version, and I’ll be so, so happy. Someday…?
Seith
September 7, 2015 at 2:34 pmThings can always change of course, but so far I have to say there is no plan to bring the game to WiiU. Sorry…
As far as Macs are concerned it really depends on Unity’s support for advanced OpenGL features like tessellation. And I’m not sure how much of a priority this is for them.
Anosch
August 19, 2015 at 9:30 pmAre you going to implement some sort of wardrobe system? I love this set idea but by the experience from other games these items will fill up your bag/bank/inventory crazily and you will never want to sell or destroy such things (at least not me:).
Seith
August 20, 2015 at 8:09 amThe items do remain in your inventory but you can drop them anywhere if you don’t want them (except if they happen to be quest items of course). And still find them where you dropped them.
If it would ever appear that this becomes a problem (too many clothing items quickly clogging all the slots of the “wearable” section of your inventory) then there could indeed be the possibility of using costume racks in some specific locations. We’ll have to test and see…
Mike C
August 20, 2015 at 5:13 amAnother fantastic update. Thank you for your dedication and skill. I can’t wait for the release. Keep up the good work.
Seith
August 20, 2015 at 8:10 amWell thank you! It’s good to feel one’s work is appreciated. 🙂
Tomos Watts
August 20, 2015 at 11:14 amLooks fantastic I think alout of people will buy it in early access espicasly because of how polished it looks. A few questions.
1.How big is the world going to be? And if you get enough funding is it possibly that you will expand it?
2.are there going to be collectibles like notes or some clever stuff like that? Or are you one of those games that likes to tell the story through the environment?
3.Are you planning any sub objectives or side quests? Or does that depend on the community feedback in early access.
3.are you planning on voice acting?
thanks alout
Seith
August 20, 2015 at 12:16 pmHello Tomos! Thanks for your pertinent questions. Here are my answers:
1) You’ll get to explore the grounds of an old castle, along with all its towers and interiors (jail, sewer network, barracks, etc…), plus A LOT of secret, abandoned mystical subterranean locations and a couple of nice exterior environments which I will not spoil here. So all in all, I’d say it’s a fair size. 🙂
Obviously the entirety of it won’t be available at pre-release. But If funding gets particularly successful and if time allows then expanding the place could very well happen.
In all likelihood this process would only happen AFTER the entire place becomes available to explore of course.
2) Both. There will be notes and a lore book available at all time for players who want to know more about the history of the world. But nothing will get shoved down your throat if you’re not interested. Throughout the game you will see the traces of history in the environments.
3) Yes, there are main quests and secondary quests. Again, if funding is good and the community clamors for more quests then we’ll definitely look at it.
4) No, there won’t be any voice acting; at least not at the early access stage. But rest assured you will never be confronted with walls of text. Dialogs are just the length they need to be; I am personally allergic to RPGs where the writers love to spend 3 pages where 2 sentences would do.
Once again, if money allows for it and if we can find voice actors that can do the characters justice, then who knows…
Kaz
August 20, 2015 at 2:19 pmI love you. Redundancy is one of the biggest problems in RPGs. You already know everything you need to know after the first two sentences, but the dialogue keeps on and on forever.
R
August 20, 2015 at 2:23 pmI’m not sure if this game for Early access. Game looks more like Gothic 2 than Minecraft or Besiege. Also i got impression from many articles that more crafted experinces not suit for Early access, its like if Johnatan were realeased Braid and add some inbetween puzzles… so, idk…
Seith
August 27, 2015 at 2:40 pmThank you for your feedback!
choua vue
August 26, 2015 at 5:31 amHi guys. Im a music producer that is composing theme music on a daily basis as this is my passion and I would love to work with y’all. let me know here is some of my pieces. Let me know what you guys need and i can compose it for you guys. thanks 🙂
https://soundcloud.com/chouavue
Seith
August 27, 2015 at 2:42 pmThank you for your offer, Choua! We’ll let you know if we need your services! 🙂
MundM
September 2, 2015 at 5:42 amFor me, this is my most anticipated game of 2015. I really hope you can manage a EA release on steam before 2016, because I can’t wait to play it. I hope my expectations are not too unrealistic, but I feel like this could be a FromSoft game, you know, Mouse Souls.
Seith
September 6, 2015 at 2:38 pmThanks MundM! Well, Dark Souls and GoaT are of a quite different nature; the first is an action game very much revolving around combat, while the second is more of an action/RPG focused on avoiding combat. But I know what you mean… 😉
Ivo Blažević
September 4, 2015 at 5:32 pmI love how this game looks, when will it be released?
Seith
September 6, 2015 at 2:32 pmThank you Ivo! Please don’t hesitate reading this update, as I address tentative release plans. Beyond what I mention in the post, there’s no official release date set in stone yet.
Marcel
September 7, 2015 at 1:17 pmSweeeeet. 😉
Can’t wait to play it the first time.
One question: Will the game support 4K-solution?
Seith
September 7, 2015 at 2:36 pmThat’s a good question. Honestly I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll look at this option when everything else is ready to go… 🙂
Marcel
September 10, 2015 at 4:18 pmOk. Thanks for your answer so far. 🙂
It would be really great.
Cheers
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