Stepping into Chapter 2

1st May 2020 – Martyn

“A lot of work has been put into the level layouts and what we want the player to experience.”

Whist we are all in quarantine, I just want to take a moment to talk about what to expect in chapter 2 in terms of the levels and their design.

We knew moving out from chapter 1 that we as developers needed to step up our game. The world in which we had created still felt a little empty; and the levels for the most were not too memorable (with the exception of Floody Hell and Fort My). Something that I’ve learnt over the last couple of years is that the levels need to serve the story, and not something that is used to fill a void just to add content. That being said we need to make sure the story feels dynamic in the sense that we are keeping players on their toes. This in turn breeds excitement and unpredictability (hopefully). We’re now at a stage where we can start to experiment with the engine. Most of this is thanks to Perry, who has done and amazing job building the entire engine from scratch.

Our aim is to make chapter 2 a bit darker, where the player is left not knowing what lies around the corner. A lot of work has been put into the level layouts and what we want the player to experience and when. You can look forward to finding new items, gear, potions etc. which will certainly help with depth. When and how you use these may be the difference between life and death for your dwarves! They won’t always be easy to find however; we’ve got to make you work for the rewards right? We’ll be introducing some new objects like new types of pressure plates that’ll provide an interesting challenge. There is only so much I can say without giving spoilers, however two new regions will be introduced: ‘The Mines’ and ‘The Ruins’.

Along with new regions we’ve been hard at work adding in new creatures & enemies. You’ve already seen our new goblin unit as well as the creepy spiders (which Faye is very proud of) but there is more to come! These new enemies will play a big role in moving into chapter 2 so you’d best sharpen those axes and grease up those frying pans, as your dwarves will certainly have their work cut out for them!

So how far along are we with the chapter 2 development? The layout and design for the levels are done, we are currently in the middle of scripting them. Once that’s done we’ll be ready to begin testing and refining them. Then with any luck we should be close to release 🙂

At any rate, keep watching this space for more updates and I hope everyone is keeping safe out there!

May your beards and braids be blessed!