Levania [Open-World Adventure RPG][Early Alpha]

I've been working on this off & on for about  2 years. The main idea of the game is to be a large true open world adventure with unique quests with different ways of completing them.

What do I mean by true open world? Anywhere that you see on the map can be explored. You see a forest? You can go in there. You see a mountain? You can explore it. I try to keep the map as open and explorable as possible.

For the quests, I want them to have different ways of completing them depending on factors like stats/party members/items/ how the quest was started/etc. The quests don't take into consideration all of that stuff at once but usually one or two of them.

Some features of the game right now include:

• 5 races & 10 classes to choose from
• 18 companions to recruit and join you
• VisuStella FTB Combat (FTB A.K.A. Free Turn Battle means you get a pool of actions and you can choose which member uses them.)
• 2 cities and a small town, 6 forests, 5 dungeons, 6 small replayable dungeons
• Each class has unlockable skills as they level up
• Each class has access to 4 weapons that can be upgraded to a +5 (+16 more that can only be upgraded to +1)
• an assortment of accessories
• Not much in the way of armor right now
• Several items in the form of potions, bombs, and materials
• 5 marked quest from the Adventurers Guild & 5 untracked quests on the map
• several more secret areas that I wouldn't consider quests
• I'd say at least a few hours of gameplay

I don't plan to make the game story focused and prefer a more souls-like approach where the story and world building are through environment and item descriptions. Not that there won't be  a story for the game, but I prefer to keep it light.

While the game is in early alpha, it doesn't mean  there isn't much in the game right now. It just means that compared to what the full game will be, this is basically just a taste of what to expect.  The core mechanics and gameplay are there.

Why release it now? Like I stated, I've been working on it for awhile now and it's getting harder and harder to stay motivated to work on it when there's no one to share it with or get feedback from. I really enjoy working on it and coming up with ideas and areas, but lately it's become impossible to feel like it's worth it. However, since making this page and getting everything ready to release it, it's really re-invigorated me and got me excited to share what I have.

What about the future of this game? I'm going to keep working on it for the foreseeable future, after all, I'm really only scratching the surface for what I want this game to be.  There's currently two quests that are partially complete that aren't in the game. I need to finish those up and I've got 3 more classes that I want to add to the game when the balance is in a better place. I'll keep working on it as long as there's an interest in it.

Will I start charging for the game?/ What's the financial model? It's my belief that incomplete games shouldn't be charged for. I remember back in the day when a game was complete when you bought it, and so I won't be charging anything for this until it's complete. At least until there's a full bug free experience to be had. The earliest I would start charging anything would be when I completely finish the Aquanis area (the region of the map that the playable area takes place in) and even then it would only be a couple bucks.  But any donations are greatly appreciated, it lets me know you really believe in the project.

How buggy is the game right now?  Well, I can't say it's bug free or without it's problems. The balance is an on going issue with the game, for example; Rogues and Archers have the least developed skill tree and they seem underwhelming, I think the player is too strong/enemies too weak, there may be some misspellings and text misalignments. I'm fairly certain all the quests work as intended but I can't guarantee it (With them having branching ways of completion it can be difficult to test everything, sometime I just assume something works and later find out it didn't).  I can tell you it's at least playable, I believe all the game breaking bugs & softlocks are patched. 

"I really enjoyed the game & concept, how can I help?" Honestly, Just letting me know what you thought, giving suggestions, and letting me know of any bugs is enough. You can also share the page around wherever you want to promote it. The more people that know of it the better. Otherwise, unless you want make artwork for the game or provide plugins for free, Just showing support is enough to keep me motivated.

"I really didn't enjoy the game." Well I hope if that's the case, you'll let me know why. I know the game has it's issues right now,  but I want to make it the best experience that it can be. It's gonna take some time to get there,  but I'm committed to getting it there.

The game is too ambitious. Are you going to cut back the amount of content? I don't plan on cutting back on my vision for the game, that's the problem.  I know that the game is going to be incredible when it's complete so I can't bare the idea of cutting any of it out. If I can make a game that surprises people with how good it is from the amount of quality content, my role as the game developer will be fulfilled and I can be proud to call this my creation. 

Will saves carry over to future versions? You can move your saves to newer versions and they should be compatible but I can't guarantee it. The only problems that would occur would be if a quest softlocked you (in this case if you have an older save from before then, it might be recoverable), if a future quest relied on new code added to old quests that can't be repeated (in this case I can just add a way to get whatever was needed) or if an old area was reworked and you got stuck in an immovable spot (In this case you could use the travel scroll to teleport out of it).

How often are you going to release updates? Short answer, I don't know. If there's a game breaking bug discovered, then I'll try to get an update out as soon as possible. As far as additions of new content I can't really say. I really want to make sure the core gameplay is solid first before going all out with new content.  I'll try to get new updates out every month or so. 

Summary:

• It's in early alpha but the main mechanics are there
• I'm releasing it now to get feedback and to motivate me
• I'm pretty sure most of the major game-breaking bugs are fixed (fingers crossed).
• The game will continue to be free until there is a full experience to charge for.
• Love it or hate it, I'd appreciate the feedback so I can make it better
• Expect updates to fix game breaking bugs, main updates about every month.

If you make a video on the game, let me know, I'd love to see it.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/GXHucC4HHC

*BTW I have no idea if the Mac version works because I don't know anyone with a Mac to test it on. Please let me know if there's an issue.*