By Quintin Smith on April 7th, 2011 at 11:53 am.
Ooh, the Indiegames blog has served up another choice cut of news. Instant Kingdom, the Finnish indie developer behind awesome freeware survival sim Notrium (do check that one out if surviving through a long, cold, alien night sounds like something you’d enjoy) is currently hard at work on Driftmoon, an RPG that I think might best be described as personality-heavy. You can watch the latest trailer after the jump, and play the latest alpha build by simply pre-ordering the game direct from Instant Kingdom for €11.99. He just put in the talent tree in the last update, which I think could be compared to an RPG losing its baby teeth.
The summary of Driftmoon on the official site is adorable, incidentally.
This is Driftmoon. It is a roleplaying game that tells the story of the Pendant of Life, and how it was reforged. It is also a story about how Robert lost everything but his bones, but that didn’t stop him. And it is a story about the little firefly who wanted to be a big star, but was stuck in a crypt.
If the finished game is half as charming, we’re on to a winner. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go and play Notrium again.
07/04/2011 at 12:06 SpinalJack says:
Why does it have to be top down like that? Is there an option to lower the angle a little bit?
07/04/2011 at 12:11 James says:
It’s a rule or something, I don’t think you can change it.
07/04/2011 at 12:21 fenriz says:
i like the camera.It means less graphic, more game.
07/04/2011 at 15:34 qrter says:
I think it would drive me nuts.
07/04/2011 at 12:53 Hentzau says:
On the plus side, the top down perspective reminds me of Ultima VII. On the minus side, “Hey! Listen!”
07/04/2011 at 14:19 peanut says:
Ultima VII was the first thing I was reminded of too.
This looks great. I actually quite like the top-down perspective – the graphics style is strong and clear, and I think the perspective will make interacting with mouse much easier. No need to rotate the camera to select obscured objects.
08/04/2011 at 02:52 Dao Jones says:
“Hey! Listen!”
Thanks. Thanks a lot. :( That pops in my head here and there and…UGH. :’(
07/04/2011 at 13:25 Vague-rant says:
Never played Notrium before… Will have to give it a go. But quickly looking over the site it talks about mod support. Is this one of those games that has really essential mods you need to play it with, or is fine by itself?
07/04/2011 at 16:05 Tizoc says:
I didn’t know there where mods, I played it 2 or 3 years ago and I remember that it was a good game by itself.
07/04/2011 at 16:10 ville says:
The essential mod for Notrium is the Werivar mod, it adds a lot of content to the normal game. You can find the most recent version in the Instant Kingdom forum. The other mods are mostly total conversion mods, and there are plenty of them.
Driftmoon will feature even better mod support, I’m hoping there will be many. :)
07/04/2011 at 20:59 The Army of None says:
I second the recommendation for Werivar. Adds a lot of really good stuff!
07/04/2011 at 14:00 derf says:
Wow, this game looks awesome. 3D has been over emphasised for years.
07/04/2011 at 14:52 d32 says:
The engine is 3D ;)
07/04/2011 at 16:15 ville says:
Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone!
07/04/2011 at 17:34 James says:
Are you a developer for this title?
08/04/2011 at 16:53 Ville Mönkkönen says:
Thanks for asking, James – yes I am. I also have a lovely wife, who helps make the game even better. :)
07/04/2011 at 16:51 orangedragon says:
I found out about this game 2 days ago. It was possibly the first indie RPG to really impress me on first look based on the trailer, so I pre-ordered right afterwards :)
07/04/2011 at 17:20 BathroomCitizen says:
I freakin’ love this topdown camera style. Reminds me of 90′s titles like Blood Omen.
Sniff.
07/04/2011 at 17:21 BathroomCitizen says:
Sorry, it’s “90s” without the apostrophe.
I think John Walker taught me that.
07/04/2011 at 17:32 KilgoreTrout_XL says:
Looks great. The top-down view reminds me of Times of Lore, that 1988 Origin RPG that made me sit at my commodore 128 for far too long when I was a kid.
07/04/2011 at 17:39 RyuRanX says:
I’ve played the demo last year and loved every second of it. I can hardly wait for the full version.
07/04/2011 at 23:15 FalseMyrmidon says:
Notrium is awesome. I wish that it had made a bigger splash so there would be more games like it.
08/04/2011 at 16:56 Ville Mönkkönen says:
In a sense Notrium made a huge splash, much bigger than I expected. It had well over half a million players, which was a huge number in 2003-2004. But don’t worry, if Driftmoon does well (and it has started out nicely) I will be making a Notrium 2! :)
08/04/2011 at 18:02 KilgoreTrout_XL says:
I pre-ordered yesterday after seeing this vid, and my Level 8 character is currently hacking monsters to bits with my trusty Hoe of Doom. For a game that is supposedly in alpha, it’s extremely polished. I’m impressed. It’s been great fun so far, and I highly recommend it.
08/04/2011 at 18:40 Ville Mönkkönen says:
Thanks KilgoreTrout_XL! I’m glad to hear you’ve been having lots of fun with Driftmoon. That’s our goal! :)
26/04/2011 at 12:55 adonf says:
This video totally triggered my Ultima-VII sense !