We are making 'Unrule' - A medieval game about people, control and manipulation

[bird_z]

Hi everyone, I'm part of the development team currently hard at work creating Unrule.
We are in early alpha but here are some key features we really want to tell you about.



Unrule is a game about people's lives in 14th century medieval Europe during the times of plague, famine and disasters. As a lord of the Kaldheim region, those lives are now in your hand. Be a generous lord with eyes on life improvement or a Machiavellian tyrant - the choice is yours.

Main feature: Your loyal agents are your only resource. The only way for you to interact with the game world is by ordering your agents to do your bidding. You want taxes to be collected? You have to order your tax collector. You need something built? You send your most charming agent to strike a deal with the village carpenter. Loosing your agent's loyalty means they could betray you - leaving you vulnerable to their schemes.

   
• Light story: You are a lord of a fictional estate in 14th century Europe. You inherited a domain on the edge of revolt thanks to your recently deceased father.
• Atmosphere: We want to stay true to the spririt of the 14th century with beautiful music and visuals, that immerse you in the setting
• No absolute power: Even for an overlord there are checks and balances, nobody does something for free. Figure out what they want if you want them to follow you. People can challenge your power, secretly plot against you and try to form a revolt. They all have desires and unlocking their secrets is key to your power
• Survive the reign: Although a ruler, you will be exposed to diseases and assassination attempts.
• Emergent gameplay: All characters have agency, desires and goals. And if treated right, any character can become an agent of yours. We want to make sure every gamestart is different and challenging so characters, relationships and events allow for a unique story each time you play.

We only recently announced the game and your support would mean a lot to us. If you're interested in following our process and helping us securing momentum for the project, we invite you to sign up here. A bit more info can be found at www.unrulegame.com.

Excited to hear what you think,
Valur


Updated 18/11/2019:


We just completed the first alpha test, here are some screenshots of the current state of the game.
If you have any questions, or if you're up for a chat you are more than welcome to join our Discord serverhttps://discord.gg/t952shF.



The Kaldheim map  Showing various important locations; farms, monasteries, castles.  Stats relating to the economy are visible on the top; Food, wealth, harvest and authority. Your agents visible on the bottom of the screen. You pass the day (turn) by clicking the sun to the far left.



The Agent 'order menu' When an agent is selected, you get a list of possible orders you can issue. Orders will vary depending on the agent's role, with some being administrative tasks and others having important social functions. The order will be carried out on a character or a location.



The event window  There's never a calm period in Kaldheim. Events can vary greatly depending on the gravity of the situation. Some events might revolve around innocent local happenings, while others might center around outbreak of diseases.

[Huw the Poo]

I'm interested!  I want to see more than a small, dark video clip though.  Got anything else to show us?

Also, thank you for supporting Linux! <3

[bird_z]

Glad to hear it! I'll be replacing the dark picture with more fleshed out game-play screenshots with descriptions in the coming days. Our first closed user test is coming up soon, we'll post a more thorough game-play video once we're past that milestone. 

[Gusington]

Sounds very interesting, I'm in.

[JasonPratt]

Keep us updated!

[bird_z]

Post updated with screenshots from our alpha

[Gusington]

Intriguing - is Unrule sort of a text-based role playing game?

[JasonPratt]

Niftiness continues!

I'm just now finishing Churchill's first volume of the History of the English Speaking Peoples, and the back third of it runs through this period.

[bird_z]

Intriguing - is Unrule sort of a text-based role playing game?

We definitely want to include RPG elements when interacting with characters. The game will also include a light story to set the mood and style. Since characters have personality attributes, characters will have strength in weaknesses when it comes to carrying out certain jobs/orders. So far we have implemented a simple dialog system where you send your agents to speak to other characters, and depending on the agent's personality - dialog options will differ. However, we are cautious about how much RPGish we want to go since it can greatly increase the scope of the game.

I'm just now finishing Churchill's first volume of the History of the English Speaking Peoples, and the back third of it runs through this period.

Sounds like a good read, will definitely have to check that one out. A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman has served as great inspiration to the mood and design of the game so far. Her poetic descriptions of society during the century ages really stuck with me.

[Gusington]

^A Distant Mirror is great. This sounds like a great project - looking forward to your progress!

[jomni]

How different is this from Crusader Kings?
Is the game procedural or scripted?

[bird_z]

How different is this from Crusader Kings?
Is the game procedural or scripted?

We are big fans of Paradox games. Some aspects of how characters function and how you interact with them is definitely inspired by CK2. However the two games will differ in fundamental ways. CK2 revolves around events and intrigues of royal characters, and the stage is massive; Europe (and the world). Unrule takes place in one small region, and the majority of characters will be sub-royalty and focused on your role as a non-royal lord in chaotic times trying to manage a medieval society.

Aside from a few story-specific events the game will be procedural. We want to allow the player the freedom to shape the region after his/her rule.

[Huw the Poo]

We are big fans of Paradox games.

I hope you aren't a fan of their pricing model....

[Father Ted]

We are big fans of Paradox games.

I hope you aren't a fan of their pricing model....

LOL

[CJReich46]

Interesting. I wish you luck.  :)