A tale of two games

[Adrian (Developer)]

Hello everyone,


We started development of an open-world multiplayer RPG prototype at the beginning of 2022, code-named Arcana. In 9 months of development we reached the point where the game was very playable and enjoyable:

• A large world to explore and complete quests
• Five playable hero classes: Fighter, Ranger, Healer, Assassin, Mage
• A large variety of equipment to choose from and customize your playstyle
• An immersive world that was starting to feel like a living world (with the exception of actual players beside the developers roaming around)
• We could form parties to quest together or fight each other

We have the core gameplay implemented and the production pipelines were almost ready to start to accrete content into the world.


We started with an ambitious vision of a game in which players will build their own villages and strongholds in the wilderness. We steered away from naming it a MMORPG, but, hey, Arcana didn’t really care about our internal naming conventions: it felt like a MMORPG and asked for features and content required from such a game.


We paused to reflect on the journey. We decided to switch the perspective to a top-view Action RPG, code-named Artemis, for two main reasons:

1. It’s a much better fit for Eternium’s existing user-base. The change of perspective, while appreciated by many players, had a chance to alienate a significant proportion of the loyal Eternium fanbase. Additionally, controls for a third-person perspective are not a natural fit for mobile devices.
2. The smaller scope of Artemis makes it more viable given our limited budget and development timeline as a pair of indie companies collaborating to make a top-quality game. Arcana was slowly starting to feel like it was going in the direction of a full-fledged MMORPG. Exciting, but scary at the same time.

It was a difficult strategic decision but we think it’s the right one for right now. We can adapt and reuse most of the systems developed in Arcana, giving us a substantial head-start in Artemis. We can return to Arcana in a few years.


Artemis is a fast paced action RPG, focused on visceral combat, satisfying artesian fountains of loot and treasure, replayability, and not the least, deep character customization. We are able to leverage the best parts of Eternium, improving on them while adding some extra dimensions to the game. Namely, multiplayer and exploration.


The story in Artemis unfolds in a vast open-world, a world that rewards exploration and cooperation between players. For players enjoying a challenge, the game will also feature a large number of procedurally generated dungeons and areas.


We are building Artemis to be the best cross-platform Action RPG experience possible for players who enjoy playing on the go and also on bigger screens. We cannot wait to release the game in a closed-alpha phase in 2023 and see the joy of players experiencing Artemis for the first time.


Here is a teaser showcasing some Arcana content and gameplay, Enjoy.

Adrian - Dream Primer

[bojck]

Good luck guys, looking forward to it!

[Romme]

Looks good!

[Adrian (Developer)]

Thank you. Not as good as it would look after some polishing iterations

[Brill]

This is great, looking forward to it!

Is there anyways we can sign up for the closed-alpha testing?

[Ender1970]

To be honest, another MMORPG is what I don't want. I prefer a single-player experience with a good storyline. Some player interaction such as the arena or ANB standings is fine, but I'll pass on this one.

The problem I have with such games is that the person who plays non-stop gets an edge over everyone else, which means you feel like you're missing out and second-best unless you totally commit to the game, at cost of real-life commitments. I appreciate how with Eternium I don't have to be online constantly or at specific times (one game I played pretty much sucked you into it for the entirety of every Friday and Saturday or you lost out). That sort of thing burns me out and has made me move on repeatedly. Something to consider carefully in your game design.

[Travis | Support Mgr.]

To clarify, Artemis (the title in progress) is an ARPG, not an MMORPG. Arcana is an MMORPG, but work won't resume there for "a few years".

[Ender1970]

Thanks, I admit I read the first few paragraphs and then jumped to the wrong conclusion in my haste to share my thoughts before heading off to work.

[Shintara]

Awesome!
and thank you so much for the update and detailed story about what you guys did and made♡
I can't wait to experience this game!

[Adrian (Developer)]

Thank you! More updates to come very soon.

[Guest]

I've been trying to make sense of this all day and just have so many questions which I'll probably drip feed over time as things become clearer

Firstly, thank you for sharing what you have been working on, it's clearly been a lot of work and it's good to hear that you have developed systems that you can use elsewhere going forward.

In a way I am relieved that you have stopped work on "Arcana" for now, it certainly has the appearance of a fully fledged MMORPG and frankly the resources required for such a huge undertaking would probably be beyond a small indie studio, certainly if the game were to be engaging and have any longevity. The video reminded me somewhat of Shaiya, an old Korean MMORPG but with improved graphics, the music however.....such games are greatly enhanced by original scores designed with the game in mind rather than freebie music sourced online. Check out George Oldziey's music as great examples of this.

And so, onto "Artemis", and the ARPG. Thank you for sharing your vision and aspirations for this game but at the moment it seems that's all you have? The video, if I'm right, is a teaser for "Arcana" so you've shown us something that you are not currently working on and you are about to start work on something completely different (ie "Artemis")? This would then the weirdest teaser in game history, or are you cleverly subverting the industry norm of showing a video of a game that is nothing like the finished product? You have demonstrable expertise in the ARPG genre, so it's great to hear you have made the decision to go down that route now.

David's last topic stated that Eternium will in future be supported out of Making Fun. It may or may not continue to be on the Marmalade engine, and it may or may not port to Unity. He said that Making Fun would take up the day to day stuff and events which would free up Dream Primer to work on the old outstanding bugs. Am I right in thinking this will not be the case, and that Dream Primer will instead be fully focused on "Artemis" (which from an aspirational perspective sounds a far superior game)? I get the impression that there is a lot of (understandable) excitement behind the scenes about the future of both games, but it doesn't sound like you have yet reached final decisions on structure or support for Eternium. I appreciate the communication coming out of both Making Fun and Dream Primer, but maybe now it would be best if you wait until you have something more concrete, or an actual teaser video of "Artemis" when some work has been done on that.

Thank you again for the update, I'll retain my healthy scepticism of "I'll believe it when I see it", and happy coding! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with later in the year.

[Pawado]

Artemis sounds interesting. Looking forward to it. I doubt I would play Arcana. I am not up for another MMORPG again. I played Last Chaos for 7 years. What a blast that game was but I just can't do another one. Too much time and money sunk into it! I am very happy with Eternium

Absolutely. Arcana gave me an 'old school' vibe. Would I play it? Maybe. Would I stick around for the long haul? No. I sunk thousands of hours into Shaiya, double that in Guild Wars 2, and I still need to do a lot of catching up in that one too. We might get lucky and see some of Arcana map stuff in Artemis, rotate the camera up, change the game controls 'et voila' a re-purposed map now arpg style!

[Travis | Support Mgr.]

I can't wait for you guys to see Artemis!

[Vedova]

Thanks for the info! I assume you want feedback? So here are my thoughts on Artemis, which will hopefully be released in closed alpha sometime in 2023.

I am glad that it will be cross-platform, since that is essential for me. New worlds to explore, new features, and more character customization all sound exciting. I enjoy the artistry of Eternium, and I expect Artemis will offer more of that. I wonder, though, about the multiplayer part.

I have limited experience with multiplayer games, mainly because they don't mesh well with the various demands on my time. Eternium works for me because I can play for minutes or for hours, whenever time permits, without needing to coordinate schedules with anyone. Will Artemis have a single-player mode that provides a satisfying experience for those with an unpredictable schedule? Otherwise, if team play is required to fully experience the game, I will move on to something else. That's OK, and I wish the best of success to Adrian, Travis et al. I have greatly enjoyed Eternium and will continue to do so as long as it continues to offer cross-platform single-player fun. I just wanted to explain what makes Eternium a great game for me (and possibly some other players).

[Adrian (Developer)]

Yes, feedback is what we want, thank you for providing it. About multiplayer, yes, one of the challenges is to make it meaningful by rewarding cooperation between players with intrinsic rewards. That means it should not give you more power (extrinsic rewards), and it definitely should not be mandatory to experience the game. Also the focus will be on cooperative multiplayer.

[Vedova]

Back when I had more control over my time, I enjoyed some cooperative multiplayer games. Scheduling times when everyone could be online together was a challenge for teams with people from various nations and time zones. However, there were ways we could cooperate asynchronously as well as engage in satisfying solitary play. If you can achieve this with Artemis, that would be great!

[Arawn]

Cool. I'll never forget the feeling of discovering Eternium six years ago and playing through story mode for the first time. Will be nice to experience that again

[adolf_2003]

Great job Devs, looking forward to it.

[Ozymandius]

Thanks for the update on progress. Looking forward to kicking the tires on the new game...