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Indie game developers often add their own twist to ideas established by fan-favorite AAA titles. For example, Christopher Gottron’s recent Kickstarter hit Cloudy landscape mixtures The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastfight with the traps of the agricultural simulation of Harvest moon and Valley of stars. Kelechi Apakama’s main improvement goal in the open world RPG Stormrite is a fight based on magic.
Stormrite carries his comparisons to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim up his sleeve, with Apakama saying that the reason he decided to make an open world RPG is that Skyrim is his “all time favorite game”. The developer has released a few basic mobile games already, but Stormrite is without a doubt an ambitious first adventure in the larger scale world of PC and console gaming. Game Rant has already spoken to Apakama StormriteThe August 3 Kickstarter launch on how his small team hopes to revamp the magic in a dark medieval-fantasy world and create more dynamic choices for players, among other ambitions.
Create the world of Stormrite
After Apakama decided to work on Stormrite in January 2020, he was alone for the first six months. Since then he has hired three artists and enlisted the help of a songwriter and friend “quite talented and passionate about writing fiction” to launch the soundtrack and storytelling for the game. programming has remained under his control, resulting in many long working nights amid Covid-19 lockdowns over the past year and a half. The main objective of StormriteKickstarter’s involves hiring more team members on a contract or permanent basis, which allows it to allocate resources to “hopefully move the game forward a lot faster.”
That being said, Stormrite will continue development even if the Kickstarter misses its mark, as the team has already developed a groove that they will fill until Apakama can potentially hire for the additional roles later. Much of this development is still focused on settling the Redreach Kingdom, which is eight by eight kilometers, with different areas, cultures and civilizations. There are currently plans for five parts of Redreach that each house different cultures, and these are dealt with on an ad hoc basis.
“We do a lot of things with the same theme so that we can fill it in, move to a different area and take the world in pieces. I think that’s the most efficient way to do it.”
The most central region of the map is occupied by the Roman-inspired civilization of Agrippa, with much of its design based on Crytek Ryse son of Rome – the first game that Apakama got for its Xbox One. “I think it captures a Roman civilization pretty well, not that I’m really a historian,†he said. It is the only civilization detailed on Stormritethe website of; filled with citizens who have become “numb” pods due to the abuse of an addicting elixir that once gave its people the benefit of a three-year war. Almost everywhere else they are kept close to the chest, but Apakama said they are currently working on a Viking / Medieval inspired region to the west.
Apakama believes storytelling is the main seller of most open world RPGs and wants to rally more writers to flesh out the game further. One area he wants to iterate on is open quests. He said the team aimed for each quest to have multiple endings, “Because a linear questline feels like you’re holding your hand and dragging you through.” This includes several endgame storylines that he didn’t want to spoil, but ultimately he hopes the game will have a ton of replayability similar to Skyrim.
Stormrite Crystals of Magic and Concentration
Another element contributing to StormriteThe replayability of will be its branched skill tree. Players can learn skills based on combat, stealth, and diplomacy, among other things, adding different ways to interact with NPCs and entire civilizations as players decide who to help and who to attack. Apakama said that when players choose a branch of the skill tree, they won’t be able to move on. This doesn’t mean they’re immediately locked into a specific path, but it will encourage players to think ahead of time about how they want to play and encourage repeat sessions.
One of the main deviations of the game from games like Skyrim is the way he handles magic. Apakama has stated that the typical mana bar that exists without an explanation and self-regenerates is something he wants to improve. “In Stormrite, no human has magical powers, “he said. Instead, everyone – including the protagonist young squire – draws mana from” focus crystals “with limited energy that can be found or potentially purchased. Spell power will vary depending on what crystals a player uses, and “most spells will be mixable” as long as they make sense together. This is featured in the launch trailer. Kickstarter game, in which the player launches a slower empty orb that explodes and powers the much faster arcane missile fired at it.
The titular Stormrites are also part of the game’s magical identity, being six scrolls inscribed with rites crafted in an ancient language that confer unimaginable power when spoken – a power seemingly tied to the cataclysmic demonic entity Requiem. Beyond iteration on games like Skyrim and Ryse son of Rome, Stormritecombat and riding is also inspired by CD Projekt Red The witcher series. However, Apakama said the game will thrive on its original ideas and improvements to those pre-built mechanics.
“Whenever I look at a mechanic in a game, I never want to take the mechanic – no matter how good it is. It’s not creative, it won’t give a different player experience. We always try. to improve the mechanics in some way if we take inspiration. ”
How advancing technology will benefit Stormrite
Stormrite is currently in development for PC and Xbox consoles using Unreal Engine 4. The plan is to have a game with next-gen features, enjoying faster load times on Xbox Series X / S thanks to its solid-state drive (SSD). However, an Xbox One version is also in the cards, as Apakama and his team are keen to cater for those who cannot afford to upgrade. The PlayStation versions aren’t out the window either, as the PS5 also includes features like SSDs, although the Xbox is Apakama’s main focus because “I have an Xbox and I prefer it from a personal point of view “.
To facilitate the development of new generation, Stormrite is in the process of transitioning to Unreal Engine 5 from Epic Games in “the next two months”. Apakama said the transition will take a few months, but overall development time will be reduced thanks to technological advancements in the engine. He specifically points out that there is no need to worry about polycounts or creating multiple levels of detail for meshes, which should also help with challenges like optimizing performance.
With Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield currently in development for next gen consoles as well, it should be interesting to see how a smaller team like this is working on Stormrite handles the open world RPG formula with new bells and whistles. His impending Kickstarter may impact how quickly those ambitions can come to life, but ultimately Apakama is confident thanks to the fan support he has received so far. “We wouldn’t be here without them.”
Stormrite is in development for PC and Xbox, and can be added to Wish List on Steam. Its Kickstarter campaign will launch on August 3, 2021.
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