Hello fine Steam readers! Our demo was last available on Steam a year ago, during the 2022 June Next Fest. While we can't participate officially in Next Fest again, we do want to make the demo available for a limited time, to encourage people to come check out the game. Note that the trailer on the home page is a year old now, so it's a little out of date! We have plans for a new one, but not the time to assemble it just yet. What's changed in the interim, you may ask? Well, check out our 2022 Year in Review to see a full run-down of everything that was added or overhauled last year: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1678570/view/3621488651591732650 As for what's been added this year, we've spent a lot of time paying down our technical debt and fixing bugs, but we've found time for a few noteworthy additions:


The first is an overhaul to the Tracking skill that makes it much more engaging and interesting. Rather than tell you where players are, the skill now tells you where players were, and exactly how long ago, and in which directions they went. This is much truer to the concept of the skill as tracking people down, and makes for a much more interesting and engaging gameplay experience, in a similar vein to the Scrounging update.
Heraldries and symbols! We really want people to band together into factions and adopt a unique visual identity. Therefore we are proud to expand the symbols that were previously available on coins and stamps onto tabards and tapestries, allowing you to signal your loyalties and decorate your burrows. With 36 colors and 70 symbols, this gives us approximately 90,720 different heraldries, so there shouldn't be any danger of two factions using the same heraldry.
OK, so maybe this isn't a huge update, but: dice! This is "step 1" of the ways we want to encourage players to play games between characters diegetically. It's a lot more interesting than just sitting around talking! And it goes a long way towards creating an immersive living world. Some more minor additions:

• Skill books reworked to have 5 "tiers" and last for multiple uses. Crafted skillbooks last much longer than scrounged ones.
• Barrels and sacks get heavier when stuff is stored in them now.
• Gray sigils are much more effective at preventing magic from lower crystal charges.
• Hold Shift to quickly pick stacks up and drop them.
• Charge Hiding, Disguise, and Impersonation to guarantee the best result for your skill level. Slight buffs to the skills.
• Detection rebalanced a bit.
• Languages are a bit easier to speak, Polyglot was buffed, and Writing is easier for the lower-skilled.

[ 2023-06-20 19:27:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Farwoods is an online roleplaying game set in a world of forest critters, populated entirely by other players. Create your character and launch into a story written just for you, interwoven with the stories of countless other creatures making a living in this storybook fantasy realm. You decide who you want to be: scavenger, shopkeep, crafter, bandit, blacksmith, mage, tailor, pickpocket, scribe, bodyguard, messenger, barkeep, duelist, and more.​ There are no set classes, only the means by which you decide to make a living.

Where a great island empire once stood, only ruins remain. Years after its fall, divided factions of its squabbling descendants vie for control and sue for peace. Warrior animals ambush travelers on the road, and pledge their swords to causes both noble and nefarious. Scavengers eke out a meager existence, collecting the resources tradescreatures will need to rebuild the society that has been lost to time. Inns, shops, shrines, and other burrows serve as nexuses of commerce and gossip, as well as valuable targets to rob and burgle. Animals of all shapes and sizes, ambitious and humble, generous and hostile, must find their place in this nascent society and put their skills to good use.​

Experience character progression that respects your time, and allows you to advance your skills without grinding. You receive skill points at set intervals, and can spend the intervening time doing whatever you want, freeing you to socialize and roleplay and still be rewarded. All time spent playing progresses your goals, whether you're gathering materials, exploring, making trades, or hanging out in the tavern.

Expect to lose yourself in the immersive living world, drawn into the stories of your characters: the people they meet, the friendships they form, and the struggles they undertake. Choose a place on the island to call your home, and creatures to call your allies. Travel to distant lands, and don't be surprised if things are very different when you return.​

Gameplay

Farwoods eschews levels and experience points in favor of a roleplay-focused environment with no grinding. Simply playing a character in any fashion you see fit will progress them, providing you with additional skill points on timers called intervals. You can spend these skill points to learn skills by reading skill books — but such valuable knowledge is often jealously guarded. Skill books can be scrounged from the ancient Morenth Library, or written by literate creatures who wish to pass on their knowledge.

Semi-permanent settlements can be founded through the placement of player burrows: small, customizable homes which can be opened to the public and turned into businesses. They can be further compartmentalized through the use of keys, creating public and private rooms with access granted to trusted individuals. Burrows can be used for homes, shops, inns, faction bases, and anything else one's imagination can come up with.

No one character can do everything themselves. With 75 skills to learn, characters will have to rely on each other to accomplish their goals and get the items they want. Warriors rely on crafters for their equipment, and crafters rely on scavengers for their materials. Everyone needs to eat and drink, and good cooks and brewers can keep creatures sated longer and more effectively. Every animal will have to choose which niche in this economy they wish to fill.

Characters that run out of HP are knocked unconscious. Unconscious characters, whether downed or sleeping, can be looted for their belongings. In order to attack another character, you must enter a hostile mode, which displays your intentions to everyone around you. Of course, this can also be used to intimidate people. Most gameplay is controlled through point and click, and movement keys, with hotkey shortcuts.

There are no NPCs, enemies or otherwise. All combat is PvP and requires in-character justification, since it is not necessary for character progression. Everyone you meet is another player.