ARCADIAN ATLAS. HOW TO

The intention of Perma-death is, I believe, to elicit some sort of attachment to characters. We’re very cautious about balancing that, because when done improperly it can feel cheap. Perms-Death is an interesting tie-in there. When possible, I prefer multiple paths of improvement with one set difficulty level, rather than several levels of difficulty a player chooses at will. I’ve written on the topic before, but my philosophy of challenge in games is rooted in player progression rather than arbitrary difficulty levels. I think difficulty is healthy, when done correctly. What is your attitude towards difficulty and perma-death? You gain experience per battle rather than per action at this stage, though balancing may alter some of these things of course.

Those classes then branch into two advanced classes like Beastmaster or Fencer (names aren’t final, of course) with specialized weapons and abilities that are pretty incredible.Īnd leveling will be experience based, with one skill point obtained per level. So the Ranger can master the agile but less powerful bow, or the sluggish but strong crossbow, and each having branching skills that play to that style so you can customize your characters even within classes. Each base class is an investment with branching specializations. We want to be more intentional with skills, so no throwaway Charge+1 ~ 10 skills like you had in Final Fantasy Tactics. What details can you give about character skills, classes, and levelling?

ARCADIAN ATLAS. HOW TO

I’ve always loved multiple paths of improvement, so we’re looking into how to allow players to improve stats and skills outside just battles, such as recon missions in pubs and quests, and we even hope to have some private action-esque conversations in different cities with your troops so you can gain relationship based skills. We’re taking a fresh approach to many of the gameplay systems, and similarly to XCOM you get skill points based on missions rather than individual actions performed. Where do you see the potential to improve? And what lessons have you drawn from more recent games, such as Firaxis’ reboot of XCOM and the newer Fire Emblems? We love characters, and our story in Arcadian Atlas is very character centered – about how people become saints or monsters because of the choices they make and the ripple effect that has on Arcadia.Īs much as I love the classic TRPGs, they weren ’t perfect (and could be very grindy). Something about investing in a character is probably what drew us to RPGs most. As kids we were pretty steeped in video games, particularly classic RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, and Super Mario RPG. We have a lot of inspirations, probably too many to count, though we definitely played Final Fantasy Tactics like crazy growing up. (The art and narrative themes - ” the choices people make in pursuit of the things they love, and the havoc it wreaks on a kingdom ” - give me a particularly strong Tactics Ogre vibe.) What drew you to these titles? Were there any other notable inspirations? Your current project, Arcadian Atlas, is a tactical RPG inspired by Yasumi Matsuno ’s 1990s classics, Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. We’re brother and sister living in Dallas and Austin, TX respectively, and we make up Twin Otter Studios.

I’m Taylor, the one typically found at the computer or walking my dog as I think of story details or gameplay tweaks for the game.Īnd Becca is the one with her graphic tablet working feverishly on art assets for our game. Hello, and welcome to the site! Please introduce us to yourselves and Twin Otter Studios. Read on for a Q&A with Taylor Bair, one half of the brother-and-sister team behind the game: Update: Arcadian Atlas‘ Kickstarter campaign is now live and can be accessed here.Īrcadian Atlas is an upcoming indie tactical RPG inspired by two of the greats – Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre.

Arcadian atlas.