Welcome back adventurers! We've got some awesome news this go-round for not just backers, but creators, so keep your eyes peeled. But before we jump in, if you've ever wanted to see the artistry behind Arcadian Atlas live, soon you can! Becca and I have worked to get a Twitch stream set up where you can watch her live-stream art creation, from maptiles, character design, animation work, and more!
Give her a follow and keep your eyes peeled for her first live stream announcement. For more info & polls on things like preferred stream times, check out her twitter page here.

Introducing: The BITE Engine

Way back when we jumped from RPG Maker to the more expansive world of Unity, we had a vision for not just our dream game, but for a creation tool so user-friendly it could be given to anyone who wanted to make a tactical RPG (one of the most notoriously difficult genres to create).
That dream is beginning to become a reality concurrently with the creation of Arcadian Atlas. Patrick has been hard-at-work on the foundation for what we are dubbing the BITE engine enhancement - an add-on that utilizes Odin Inspector's tools to create easily-modifiable units, scenarios, skills, items, weapons, and scenes. The best part: this tool is being developed in conjunction with Atlas, meaning every benefit to the system is a benefit to the game, which includes the following: More Power to the Game Designer - A large portion of a game designer's life is turning knobs and whistles to balance values and to create the best possible experience for the player. You've all probably played RPGs with horrid difficulty spikes, or gotten bored going hours without a challenge. BITE allows us to easily and quickly implement your feedback when it comes beta time!
BITE Engine's Weapon Editor Smaller File and Patch Sizes - To get Arcadian Atlas' prototype off the ground, we initially utilized Unity Prefabs. Moving to a new different segmented form of data means we can be much more efficient with the size of the game, as well as any patches we make on Steam (and elsewhere). We know some of you backers have internet data caps, so we want to keep file sizes as user-friendly as possible! Advanced Cutscenes and Scenarios - We've forged a giant pyramid of stats, classes, status effects, and skills out of the prototype's design work so far. Cutscenes and scenarios (missions) rely on pretty much everything, so being clean and organized with those building blocks allows us to quickly create, reorder, and modify events.
BITE Engine's Core Editor Plug & Play Capabilities - We've re-structured the logic and data to separate it from the graphics, which is a fancy way of saying Arcadian Atlas and future tactical RPGs using BITE will require far less digging into code-bases to create and play! Effortless Changes - With BITE's data-driven design, we can remove, add, and change everything from units, status effects, skills, missions, locations, cutscenes (or most anything else) effortlessly midway through development based on new needs and feedback!
BITE Engine's Unit Editor

Iconic

To celebrate BITE, we wanted to show off some of the graphics we're paring with Patrick's data-driven systems.
Menu and Stat Icons Iconography is an integral part of the user experience, and serves both as localization tool (because images require no translation) and ease of navigation. We love the design challenge of creating icons for our stats, items, text boxes, and menus that are at the same time simple, clean, and communicate efficiently. See below just a handful of those we've cooked up for our items:
Item Icons

Interior Designs & Graphics Galore

And of course behind the scenes we've been hard at work on all the graphics, from animations, items, and some drool-worthy interiors. You'll show yourself outside? Why not show yourself INSIDE you reckless warriors! This go round Becca has been working up some graphics for house interiors and our Recruitment Centers throughout Arcadia. You can see a few of these below.
Recruiter Maptiles And if we zoom in a bit you can see some light pouring through new windows, and bench for troops to sit and wait (because isn't a Recruitment Center just a glorified waiting room) , and a fancy desk for processing new troops.
Interior Details Of course, when you're not waiting, you're training with some quality practice dummies and an assortment of weaponry for our discerning warriors:
Interior Details Cont'd And when you're ready to lay your sweet head to rest, we've got a deluxe bed you could probably cram a couple of people in (uncomfortably, but this isn't a charity!) and some barrels full of wine to help the long hours seem short.
Oh, and not zoomed in on is that lil' cactus. Because we might be thrifty interior designers, but we're not animals. Get some greenery in there!
Crossbow Animations We're also putting finishing touches on our primary attack animations, ensuring all eight frames front and back are as smooth as possible. From the heavy crossbow toting Ranger above, to the gargantuan hammer our Apothecary is dragging around below, we're nearly done with all our CORE classes and their various fightin' styles!
Hammer Animations And of course a whole slew of new items for our re-vamped BITE enabled item editors!

Next Time

We're excited to show off some of the interior maps we're working up with these shiny new graphics, the expanded Skill sections of BITE, and lots more art next time! Be sure to check out Becca's Twitch streams and our twitter pages for up-to-the-moment previews and sneak-peaks! Until then, keep your controllers warm and your bodies cool as we end out this record-setting summer heat! ~Taylor

[ 2018-08-17 19:09:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Arcadian Atlas is a 2D isometric tactical role playing game about the choices people make in pursuit of the things they love, and the havoc it wreaks on a kingdom.



Watch your footing and mind the strategic vantage points as you traverse the richly detailed pixel art world of Arcadia -- A single misstep on the battlefield could cost you a friend’s life. Let the moody jazz soundtrack carry you through a thought provoking & ruthless story of love, deceit, murder, companionship and war. Meant to be a fresh take on the classic strategy RPG style, Arcadian Atlas was designed from the ground up to incorporate more challenging battle strategies, new & balanced job classes, and more cutthroat plot twists that'll leave these complex characters' lives hanging in the balance.

Featuring dynamic job classes, a rich character driven narrative, strategic grid-based battles and a jazz infused soundtrack, Arcadian Atlas is a lushly handcrafted 2D isometric tactical RPG that takes the rich history of the genre and makes it fresh.

Gameplay

The core philosophy behind Arcadian Atlas is simple: Challenging strategic battles with unique classes that make every fight a different experience. That means terrain that affects your movement, cover that can hinder the best laid plans, and skills that are never wasted.



Investment matters, and in a tactical RPG your biggest investment is your character class. So we want them to be purposeful, which is why classes in Arcadian Atlas have several core builds that your characters develop over the course of the game. That means no class hopping, but instead class evolution.



Customize your character at the start with their preferred class build, and when the time comes you can specialize that build through branching evolved classes with entire skill trees all their own.



Ranger - the master of area control, a Ranger’s projectile attacks and crowd control skills revolve around traversal and using terrain to their advantage.

Apothecary - a chemist of extraordinary skill, the Apothecary’s potent brews and experimental arts can heal or wreck devastating damage on the battlefield.



Rogue - sneaky, sneaky; stabby, stabby. The Rogue isn’t interested in manners - why bother when slashing an achilles heel or a surprise attack does the job faster?

Warmancer - adept at brute force and powerful magics, the warmancer specializes in harnessing latent energies for devastating area of affect spells.


And that's just the beginning! Outside those and other core classes, we also have two Advanced Classes for each Base class! At a certain job level, you'll open up two advanced classes to choose from that further specialize your troops!





Start by molding each of your characters with your preferred stats to make that rogue a tiny bit stronger so backstab damage finishes foes off in one swoop, or quicker to get in and out of a conflict in a pinch.



And skills, our favorite part of any tactical RPG. Nothing wasted, everything with a purpose: that's our skill philosophy, so our skill system consists of branching specializations for each class.



Start out with your choice of weapon mastery skills which dictate how you want that class to play. Want your Ranger to master the wider range and faster movement skills of a bow, or the sheer power and crippling attacks from a crossbow? Choose based on your style and watch as new branches open with more powerful and unique abilities to compliment that style.




Arcadia is a sprawling continent divided by immense mountains, with landscapes as varied as the inhabitants. We’re looking forward to bringing those ecosystems into the battle system by creating a breathtaking pixel world that is as treacherous as it is gorgeous.



Thick snowfall, dense forests, rushing rivers, tiered cities - every map affects the way you approach a fight and alters your strategy. Make use of trees to protect yourself from that line of rangers ahead, or place your apothecary opposite an enemy knight with rushing rapids between them while you wear away his armor with acid bottles.

Who Is Twin Otter Studios?

Established in 2015, Twin Otter Studios is an independent game studio helmed by Becca and Taylor Bair, a brother and sister duo based in Texas. We grew up entrenched in the golden age of SNES and Playstation masterpieces, eventually carving our own game development path by crafting the 15+ hour RPG title Genesis.

Arcadian Atlas is a passion project birthed from a love of pixel masterpieces in the 90’s and a longing to make a fresh tactical RPG with roots firmly planted in the genre’s classics. Our team’s experience spans games like Vidar, Fort Meow, Lugdunon, Dreamblazers, Solar Crusaders, and Genesis, with over 18 years in the industry, so we know how to manage talent, finances, and time to create wonderful game experiences.