Using Stoic’s The Banner Saga engine, Skyshine Games is developing BEDLAM, a roguelike RPG set in a grim, post-apocalyptic future.
Independent studio Skyshine Games is using Stoic’s The Banner Saga Engine to develop a turn-based RPG set far in the future. In BEDLAM, humanity has survived through a terrible collapse known as the Barren Age, and civilization has reemerged in isolated but prosperous cities like Byzantine. BEDLAM sends you out of Byzantine and into the badlands, travelling in a giant Dozer and seeking a rumored utopia called Aztec City. Today, Skyshine Games launched a Kickstarter campaign for BEDLAM. As of writing, the campaign has raised $3,636 of its $130,00 goal. A digital copy of the game is offered as the $15 backer reward, and a few of the $10 early bird rewards are still available. The campaign ends on October 25.
“Stoic is excited to support BEDLAM with our engine and eager to see what Skyshine Games can do with it. We love the concept of the game and are happy that some of the ground that we broke with The Banner Saga is now going to contribute to another great project,” says John Watson from Stoic. “The Banner Saga Engine and Tools have allowed us to hit the ground running, giving us a lot of flexibility in realizing the unique vision for our own game,” says John Mueller from Skyshine Games. “Stoic has been an enormous support for us with BEDLAM and as a fellow independent developer, they have provided us with invaluable knowledge gained from their own successful experience. Skyshine Games could not have asked for a better partnership and we hope it continues for a very long time.”
In BEDLAM, your crew must maintain the Dozer and overcome threats in order to reach Aztec City. Combat encounters use the blitz battle system, a turn-based combat system without a set turn order for crew members. In each round, you can select any crew member to act. Resource management (of meat, metal, and crude) will also be important in order to survive in BEDLAM. Resources can be salvaged from enemies, earned from quests, or collected from the wasteland.
Skyshine Games was founded in 2014 by industry veterans John Mueller, Jeff Johnson, and Sam Gage. Mueller previously worked as Art Director at Vigil Games, the studio behind Darksiders. Johnson has worked on a number of arcade games, including the Theatre of Magic pinball game, NBA Showtime, and Blitz (and sequels to those games). Gage’s recent work includes his position as Lead Visual Effects Artist for Darksiders. The three founders are joined by composer Kevin Riepl, whose work has appeared in the Gears of War series, Dave Davis, and Kenneth Bassham. BEDLAM is the studios’ first game. Skyshine is targeting a September 2015 release for BEDLAM.
BEDLAM makes me think of FTL: Faster Than Light with a much more gritty, terrestrial feel. It reminds me a bit of Monte Cook’s Numenera tabletop setting, too. The setting alone might be enough to get me to give BEDLAM a try. What do you think?
Source: BEDLAM
