City of the Shroud has been funded on Kickstarter in 9 days!

We relaunched our campaign with a brand-new video, page, and an updated build; we added early access builds via Steam to every backer tier and a Steam key as soon as the campaign finishes; and we even took the game to EGX Rezzed at the same time as the launch. All together, we hit 80% in the first 3 days, and closed the remaining 20% 5 days later, and have announced our first stretch goal: New Game+! The Kickstarter page is here (please consider backing!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWYnJSB4qaA We learned a lot on our first attempt, and that knowledge combined with the support of our (new/bigger) community let us hit our goal in a very short period of time. Going into the new campaign, we had an existing group of backers in addition to our initial group of supporters, as well as awareness from our Steam Greenlight campaign (Greenlit in 3 weeks!) and our recently set-up Steam page. We also got in touch with some advisors who gave us tips on how to improve the page and our campaign. As a result, the page is much shorter, snappier, and focuses on the key elements of the game - it's to-the-point. The video was revamped to focus on what makes the game special and show more of the gameplay with context - since the game's combat system is so different from what players expect at first glance, pointing out its unique elements along with showing footage has worked much better than what we had before. Of course, at least some of the credit has to go to this awesome in-engine render of a Mage taking out a Brute:
We deliberately scheduled the Kickstarter to coincide with taking City of the Shroud to EGX Rezzed, where the game had a really good showing. Players backed the game on the spot, then told their friends to come play the demo and do the same. The brand-new artwork (at the top) certainly helped draw attention as well.
Now that the campaign is funded, we've announced our first stretch goal: New Game+! If City of the Shroud can hit $17,500, we will add a replay system so that players can keep their equipment and team setups while being able to go back and play through alternate paths in the story. That alone wouldn't be super exciting, so we'll be adding in a supped-up AI to battle that will put players' real-time combo skills to the test. And finally, we've been working on something special. Say hello to a preview of our updated wheel UI:
The UI update will be released in the Steam builds to backers once the Kickstarter is over. We're very happy about how far we've come and the success of the Kickstarter, but there's still work to do. Stay tuned for more updates!

[ 2016-04-19 13:09:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Take part in a live, player-driven story as it unfolds over four chapters. Your choices, and the choices of every player, will drive a living tale of shifting alliances as you race to uncover the truth of the magical shroud that holds Iskendrun captive.

Choose Your Allies Wisely

Somewhere along the way, you made a huge mistake.

You got to the city. You bribed the customs agent to get in. You helped a poor, old haberdasher who was being robbed - the only decent thing to do, really - and then this monster from another dimension came out of nowhere.

It was already almost dead when you punched it and it fell over. You keep telling everyone that.

Except, now they’re calling you the Hero of Portals, the five most powerful people in the city are each clamoring for your allegiance, and just when you’re starting to think of leaving the city for good...

...a magical shroud descends around the city and traps everyone inside. Next thing you know, the place is devolving into civil war, there are monsters everywhere, and apparently, you’re the answer to everyone’s prayers.

Yeah, you definitely messed up somewhere.

Good luck.

Features

• The story is a living episodic campaign: in each chapter, every player's actions impact how the world, changing how the story unfolds for the entire community in the next chapter
  
• 4 chapters: each chapter is crafted based on the cumulative influence of every player's choices and actions from the previous episodes
  
• Real-time, combo-based battle system: think on your feet and chain your attacks together to defeat your opponents
  
• Play your way: an optional “Wait Mode” pauses the action while you enter combos, and you can choose to slow down or speed up the gameplay to suit your playstyle
  
• Multiple difficulty options let you choose between focusing on narrative and testing your tactical prowess
  
• Online PVP multiplayer
  
• Deep combo and stat system lets you customize your team to suit your playstyle
  
• A distinctive world, beautifully realized in 2D and 3D