Gameplay

Gameplay

The game is played exclusively in first person perspective. The controls are Skyrim-like (or similar games). You can perform evasive moves in all directions to avoid short term attacks. In close combat you can also block the attacks.

Story 

We don’t want to give too much away yet to avoid spoilers. There will be no in-game cutscenes, the story will be told interactively by conversations or documents that can be found on your way. If you take a closer look at the environment, you will also find many details and background stories about the world and history. During the game your decisions and actions will influence the plot. It is important to note that nothing in the game will be black or white, but many gradations in between. Each side will have its valid reasons for its actions. Therefore, there will be several different endings.

HUD 

The elements on the screen are kept as few as possible and only fade in when needed. The HUD displays only Life, Stamina, Exp, Unfulfilled Fate, States and the action bar. The action bar will be on the bottom of the screen where you can put your active skills and quickly access them. The bar is displayed when the skill is changed.

Levelling up 

You gain experience by completing quests. For killing enemies you’ll gain Unfulfilled Fate which can be converted to experience points at quest hubs or used to buy items. You will lose your Unfulfilled Fate if you die, but you can retrieve the lost fate at your place of death. 
When you have reached the required experience for the next level, you must sleep. Sleeping is the only way to get to the next level. During your dreams you will travel to the Dreamplain where you will meet yourself, Simahaa as the representative of Fate and Maynard as the champion of Chaos. You can listen to them and maybe they have a task for you.

Magic 

Spells can have three states: active, passive or enchantment of a weapon. Active skills can be placed in an action bar where you can quickly access them. Passive spells can be held in a magic item called Focus. Depending on the Focus, this item holds a different number of spells. Some magic weapons have a slot for an enchantment in which a spell can be placed.

Items 

As usual in RPGs we have items in normal, uncommon, rare and unique. Some items are always in the same place in every game. This is especially true for certain uniques. All others are found by chance as drop or in treasures. Additionally, you will find food, ingredients and valuables for sale.

Disclaimer: All values or examples can be changed or extended during development. These specifications are currently only the planning of what will be possible at least.

The Character  

Attributes 

At character creation you will have 20 attribute points to spend. At level up there will be 2 attribute points to spend while one attribute point will be automatically spent in magic.

A character has the following attributes: 

Constitution 

Constitution increases the hit points. It also increases damage reduction and resistance to environmental influences.

Dexterity 

Dexterity increases endurance and reduces sprinting and dodge costs. Additionally, there is a bonus on lockpicking and detecting hidden things.

Strength 

Strength increases melee damage and carrying capacity. It will also make intimidation possible in some places.

Magic 

Magic increases endurance and the regeneration rate. Additionally, the cast times are slightly reduced.

Luck 

Luck increases the critical hit chance.  You also have a higher chance of finding better loot. And the opportunity that you will survive a death strike should not go unmentioned. Sometimes beautiful things happen. 

Perks 

At character creation you will have the perk “Affinity to the Essence of Air” 
Every 3 levels you can choose another perk or level up an existing perk. Here are some examples for perks:

• Hard skin – Gives you 10% damage reduction
• Enduring – Sprinting costs less endurance 
• Shadowmaster – Higher sneaking skill 
• Fast fingers – Better in lockpicking and trap disarming 
• Charismatic – 20% discount when purchasing items and 10% higher selling price 
• Big brained – 5% more exp from all sources 
• Arcane mastery – 10% more spell damage 
• Excessively strong – 10% more melee damage 
• Silent and deadly – 50% more sneak damage 
• Slayer – 15% higher chance for critical hit in melee combat 
• Green fingers – higher chance on success in planting and more vegetables 
• Master chef – Better quality food and potions

Condition stats 

There will be character stats for hunger, thirst, temperature and fatigue that will indicate your condition. They are essential for your survival. You need to find food and something to drink, find a place to sleep and don’t spend too much time in cold or insanely hot areas. You can die of hunger, thirst or extreme temperature. Exhaustion, which is caused by high fatigue, will reduce your maximum endurance and regeneration.

Derived stats 

These stats are calculated from attributes and magical items. 
Of course, there will be hit points and endurance. Hit points indicate your remaining life. Endurance is required for spells or movements like sprinting or jumping. So, you are more likely to be faced with a choice between a spell or movement action. In short, the mana and endurance bars are combined. Endurance is automatically restored, and regeneration can be enhanced by skills and items. 

Further stats are for example a critical hit chance, resistances, damage boosts and reductions, movement speed, visibility for stealth, effectiveness of potions and so on. 

A special focus is given to the value of corruption. You start with 100% purity, but some actions or decisions will lower this value and increase corruption. This value will influence the outcome of the end.

States 

Characters and enemies can have additional conditions triggered by the environment or magic. For example:

• Wet – With the status Wet, you receive double damage from lightning magic, but receive half the damage from fire. Fire eliminates the wet status.
• Inflammable – With Inflammable, you receive double damage from fire magic and always get Burning. Water eliminates this. 
• Blessed – If blessed, you deal 20% more magic damage and take 20% less magic damage. 
• Burning – Damage over time can be eliminated by water. 
• Frozen – Stun which can be eliminated by fire. 
• Shocked – Paralysis which can be eliminated by metal. 

Items 

There will be slots for: 

• Head for helms 
• Torso for armor or cloaks
• Hands for gloves 
• Waist for belts 
• Legs for pants 
• Feet for boots 
• Fingers for rings (2x) 
• Neck for amulet 
• Hands for weapon or shield 
• Side for a bag and magical focus 

Skills

Show skill tree in new tab

At character creation you will have one point in the Essence of Air. This skill point cannot be changed.

For each level up you gain 3 skill points. On the skill trees you can buy new skills or level up existing ones. Some skill trees, like the Essence of Fate, will be unlocked as the story unfolds in the game.  Additionally, there are skills that need to be found in the world. You can only spend your skill points in unlocked skills and skill trees.

Skill Trees 

The skill tree itself will guide your gaming style. As you increase the points in the Essence of Air, Water and Lightning, you will have a stealthier gaming experience, using shadows and speed to get rid of your enemies. As you work more points into the Essence of Earth, Fire, and Metal, you will be more like the slow, all-crushing tank.

Essence of Air 

The power of air is varied and practical. Be it a gust of wind, pressure, or help with movement, or the supply of air in sealed-off areas. The use is manifold. Air does hardly any direct damage, but you could knock opponents off abysses. Air magicians are usually recognized by their high running speed and superhuman jumps. It harmonizes well with water magic and is effective against earth magic. 

Examples of air spells: 

• Swiftness – Increases movement speed and gives you the ability of multiple jumps. 
• Blast – A sudden gust of wind blows things away. 
• Air shield – A layer of air that makes it easier for you to breathe and normalizes extreme temperatures. 
• Hover – Can levitate, pull and push away objects or even opponents. 

Essence of Water 

Water magic works in the states of ice, water and steam. Whether doing damage with ice or freezing enemies, you can also use water to extinguish fire or put enemies into a wet state. It harmonizes well with air magic and is effective against fire magic.  

Examples of water spells:

• Waterball – No damage but extinguishes fire or puts the state wet.
• Ice shard – Sharp and solid, makes damage and has a chance to freeze the opponent. 
• Steam cloud – A cloud around you that makes enemies wet. 
• Alchemy – Make potion with ingredients. 

Essence of Lightning 

The strongest short-term force of nature. Absolutely deadly, especially against wet opponents, almost a sure victory.

Examples of ligthning spells:

• Chain lightning – Damage against several opponents in a row.
• Thunderstorm – A deadly storm around you that strikes close enemies with lightning.
• Ball of lightning – A fatal ball lightning which damages everything that gets in its way.

Essence of Earth 

Earth magic is primarily intended for defense. Various shields also help to reduce high damage. Although a large stone against an opponent will also cause some damage. If your goal is to become a living tank, this is your choice. It harmonizes well with fire and is effective against lightning magic. 

Examples of earth spells:

• Stone shield – The solid power of stone will protect you against damage. 
• Flying stone – When mass hits an enemy at high speed and stops abruptly, it causes some damage to the target. 
• Mining – Bring buried or enclosed to the surface. For ore or even treasure. 

Essence of Fire 

The sheer power of fire is naturally perfect for attack and damage. High damage at distance by flying fire, or a more violently fiery death in close combat. It may keep you warm in cold places or light a fire or prepare a warm meal for you. It harmonizes well with earth and is effective against air.

Examples of fire spells:

• Fireball – A classic spell. Fire at a distance. Perfect. 
• Inferno – High damage in close combat. Burn anyone who’s near you. 
• Fire shield – A shield that keeps you warm and ignites enemies that come too close to you. 
• Cooking – Cook hot meals with ingredients.  Fireball – A classic spell. Fire at a distance. Perfect. 
• Inferno – High damage in close combat. Burn anyone who’s near you.

Essence of Metal 

What could be harder than metal? What else could hurt you when you’re completely encased in metal? Or you could create pointy things from the hardest metal that pierces your enemies.

Examples of metal spells:

• Metal plates – Forget the stone shield and use metal plates instead of stones. 
• Flying swords – High damage by swirling sharp blades. 

Essence of Fate 

The power of life and death, of order and law. The power of the world itself. The architect of the world, everything is fate.

Examples of fate spells:

• Healing – Standard healing spell. 
• Life leech – The power to leech the life out and transfer it to yourself. 
• Unveil – Show hidden things or traps. 
• Stop time – Shortly stop the time itself. 
• Grow – Let plants grow or give fruit. 

Crafting

The crafting of potions, medicines and food will be the most common task. There will also be NPCs in the hubs who can craft something with the necessary ingredients. There will be many collectable plants, mushrooms or parts of your enemy that you can consume or use to make helpful items. Since most of the ingredients are unknown to you, you will have to find out what their benefits are.

Alchemy

Alchemy can be used as soon as the Essence of Water is skilled. There will be many ingredients to find in the world like mushrooms, animals and plants. 

From these ingredients and with the help of the Essence of Water, potions can be made. Certain ingredients have different properties, e.g. healing plants. The right ingredients make useful items. However, only the trial and error method will be used to make them, as unknown ingredients must be researched by experiments.

Cooking

With the aid of skilled Essence of Fire, Food can be made from diverse ingredients. 

Food must be consumed regularly, of course. Some poisonous ingredients only get edible by fire. Exploring different recipes is the only method here, too.

Mining

With the Essence of Earth, metal ores can be extracted. These ingredients can be forged into items by NPCs. 

The forging itself will not be possible to learn within the game. The story line makes your character want to get out as fast as possible and not become a master smith.

Planting 

Why not use the power of the Essence of Fate to grow plants? Find a nutritious soil and seeds and let the magic work to grow food at a much faster rate.