Update also introduces new way of generating levels
| Amsterdam based developer Ludomotion is rolling out an update today for its upcoming roguelite RPG, currently in early access on the Epic Games Store. The update’s title Bathing with Giants, hints to one of the new major quests, which will see players traversing the generated world. Beside a lot of new content, the inner workings of the game have been overhauled, bringing a new and innovative design philosophy to its level generator. Published by Big Sugar, Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is shaping up to be a genre defying blend of roguelite, classic RPG and table-top roleplaying with the game in the role of Dungeon Master. Unexplored 2 generates worlds that differ for every player, with this update adding a lot of new possible ingredients for the game to choose from. One of the world generator’s new ingredients is a major quest line that will see the player quite literally taking a mud bath with a quintet of giants. Another adventure commences when rumours about a mysterious and ancient being start circulating in one of the world’s many settlements. Under the hood Unexplored 1 is famous for its dungeons that feel like they are handcrafted, the result of the renowned Cyclic Dungeon Generator at its core (brilliantly explained here: https://youtu.be/LRp9vLk7amg). Now, Unexplored 2 takes another major step in level generation by introducing something called ‘the theory of the place’. In the words of the game’s director, Joris Dormans, who by the way holds an actual PhD degree in Applied Theory for Game Design: “This philosophy quite literally surpasses the cyclic dungeon design we worked with previously. In short, it identifies structural roles in the level’s spatial structures. These roles are tailored to the adventure experience: the ‘place’ is the location the player tries to reach. A ‘path’ through an ‘environment’ leads the player to it, and so on. It really helps the level generator structure a level by placing landmarks, hazards, and enemies at logical locations. |
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| “As a result the generated levels have become more readable, coherent, believable, and fun. As the theory strongly suggests to add secondary entrances into the place it is cyclic by nature allowing a multitude of trajectories through a single level.” Dormans extensively explains the Theory of Place and its implementation in this article: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/blogs/the-theory-of-the-place-a-level-design-philosophy-for-unexplored-2 Unexplored 2’s technology already delivered the game a major development award in Ludomotion’s home country of the Netherlands, with the audio & music also being awarded as the country’s game industry’s best. |
Major new content
New Tech:
- First implementation of the Theory of Place, improving level generation
New adventure sites:
- The Unformed Labyrinth
- The Ancient Bathhouse
- The Forest Temple
- The Hidden Shrine
- The Spire Ruin
- The Marang Keep
- The Marang Temple
Improved adventure sites:
- The Raaf Temples
New major quests:
- Root Awakens – Follow a series of clues leading to the unformed labyrinth to wake the flow elemental but also to the dark secret hidden at its center.
- Form Awakens – Synopsis: Retrieve the Root Mask from a lost temple in order to gain safe passage through the ancient bath house.
(Both start from clan villages, rather than Haven)
New creatures:
- Root servitors
- Form servitors
Music:
- New track for one of the clan villages
About the game
One quest. Unlimited adventure. Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is a challenging roguelite RPG with a table-top feel, procedural node-based open world, and a cool twist on permadeath. Leave the Dungeon of Doom behind and venture into a vast, wondrous world as you embark on a heroic quest to destroy the mysterious Staff of Yendor.
Explore beautiful landscapes and discover hidden marvels. Encounter magical creatures and dangerous foes. Make brave choices and put your faith in good fortune. Featuring a unique legacy system, advanced procedural generation technology, and rich, generative storytelling, Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is an adventure like no other.
Key features
- Legacy system: the actions of past heroes impact the fortunes of those that follow in their footsteps. Use your legacy wisely to give successive adventurers greater hopes of completing their quest
- Permadeath in a persistent world: when a hero dies, they stay dead. But you can choose to return to the same world with a new adventurer, forearmed with knowledge of what lies ahead. Or, if you prefer, begin a new adventure in a completely uncharted world
- Generative storytelling: there is no premeditated script in Unexplored 2. Every adventurer’s ultimate goal may be the same – to destroy the Staff of Yendor – but every hero will have their own unique story of the events and encounters that happened along the way
- Procedural generation: Ludomotion’s proprietary technology generates content that feels designed by humans, not algorithms, and can create a near infinite number of new lands, new places, new stories, and new challenges to discover
- Orchestral adaptive soundtrack: an intricate system allows Unexplored 2‘s music to be arranged reactively, making subtle changes to the score at appropriate times, whether a moment of high emotion, or to provide foreshadowing
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is available now as an Early Access title on the Epic Games Store. Xbox versions are also confirmed, and will launch in 2022.
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