Unveiled: Camelot Unchained Newsletter #53 - City State Entertainment View this email in your browser Share Tweet Team Tidings -by Max Porter Hey folks,



And that’s March! It seemed to pass really quickly, but it’s been a great month of progress and updates to the game. Picking up the pace of development has felt really good, and we’ve been excited to test all the new things going in, both internally at the office and with our amazing Backers. What are these new developments, you may well ask? Well, this month we continued stress testing our engine with 5k or more ARCs and players, began testing the improved crafting UI, dropped Characters 2.0, as well as ran tests of destruction code on our new siege scenario that featured a building with more than 9 million blocks! As I said, it’s been a great month!



In the office, everyone’s been working away diligently on the game, and it’s been good to start seeing more fruits of that labor. Even though here in VA the spring weather often seems to get nostalgic for winter, we are moving ever forward.



In this newsletter, we present a Dose of Design from Ben on dealing with the unexpected twists and turns of developing a game. Also check out Brian’s piece on the progress from the Builder’s Brigade. It comes with a bunch of awesome images from the Backer known as Treville, who has been putting their incredible talent on display, building things for our scenario! Don’t miss it! To cap all of this off, I have included a Lore Corner entry with a lore story for a potential new race for Camelot Unchained; check it out and let us know what you think! Happy reading!



Along with all of this progress, we consider it our responsibility to be extremely open and scrupulously honest. Therefore, we continue to put up raw, unedited, and unrehearsed streams, giving you a sense of how we’re moving along with our latest updates and news. The streams are fun for us, but they are also very important, as we always want to be as informative as possible for our Backers and fans, as we move through Beta 1! If you want to catch up on any missed streams, they can always be found on our Twitch and YouTube channels. For a good read of our news, as well as our weekly Top Tenish updates, check out the News section of our website.



Here’s your friendly reminder to click the “view this email in your browser” link on the top right to see the whole newsletter! As always, thank you for your support, your patience, and for being awesome! Read on for updates, articles, art, lore, and please enjoy this, the fifty-third issue of Unveiled.



Hot Topics



We're looking for feedback! If you're a Backer, join the discussion on our Forums via our website and chime in.



Hot topics on the forums right now include discussion of the latest siege developments, rubble, Arcs and AoEs in our latest tests, excitement over testing of the new ability builder, and some of the marvelous constructions that enterprising builders are trying out for Camelot Unchained! MJ jumping in here - Coming in real hot is our new siege scenario, which features the aforementioned 9M block building that Treville and the Builders’ Brigade created for us. Today, I saw something that I’ve been waiting for years to see: a large building, constructed out of C.U.B.E. blocks, getting destroyed in real-time as I floated, hovered, and ran through it. Dozens of siege weapons and NPCs fired at individual blocks (or me, the chief blockhead!) in real-time. And not with 50 or 100, but with over 700 of those NPCs in the scenario (and we can of course go much higher). No MMORPG that I know of has been able to demonstrate that kind of gameplay, and I look forward to showing it off to our IT and Alpha folks this coming week. Even though it’s not yet ready for prime-time, the numerous improvements that we have made since we showed you folks our first-pass destruction code have made quite the difference.



As I said in today’s update, we’re not there yet, but we are quite close, and I expect more code drops today and next week that will improve performance even more. And yes, folks, this scenario heralds the coming of Saturday Night Sieges. It’s a fabulous way to end the month for us and our Backers, and we look forward to seeing you folks in the siege scenario next week. Dose of Design -by Ben Pielstick Overcoming the Unexpected

In game design, the process of going from an idea to a finished game does not tend to go entirely as expected. While it might be easy to imagine that designers should be able to simply come up with whatever ideas they want, and then with the help of programmers and artists, turn those ideas into game mechanics exactly as imagined, things often don’t come together exactly as planned.



One of the main sources of unexpected problems in game development is technical difficulties. Not only are some ideas so extensive as to be technically impossible, but some things you might think would be easy, turn out to be unachievable simply due to artifacts of the way a game engine works.



An example of this would be an ability effect like lifetap, which deals damage to an enemy and returns health equal to the amount of damage inflicted to the attacker. That idea sounds very straightforward, and it is already a common mechanic in many games. When CU first started Beta, this was one of many mechanics that simply didn’t work. It might sound crazy, but taking an intended amount of damage, and filtering it through target resistances, before taking away an amount of health, and then saving off that value, and remembering who inflicted the damage, before using it to try and restore the same amount of health back to the attacker’s character entity, was a feature that simply couldn’t be implemented because of the way events and communication between server entities worked.



Fortunately, now that we’ve taken the time to resolve some of the fundamental technology around how events and messaging work on the game server in the improved ability system, we are now able to support lifetap, and similar features that transfer results of events back to their initiators in order to trigger additional events. This took a very long time, however, because we simply ran into an unexpected difficulty in trying to hook up something that we hadn’t realized that the foundation of the ability system wasn’t able to support.



This kind of problem is nothing to be alarmed by. It happens in game development a lot. Sometimes the mechanic in question is so important that you have to spend the time to make it work. Other times, overcoming a problem might require so much work that it is impractical to build a solution, and the game design has to change in order to work around the limitations of what the technical platform allows. This is a big reason why players often lament the apparent differences between early promotional releases and the state of final products when it comes to games. Long before a game is finished, designers only have their plans for what they want the game to eventually be, but as development proceeds, and sacrifices have to be made, the game that ends up being released almost always releases with less than what the developers had originally hoped.



For Camelot Unchained, we have made a clear distinction between our Foundational Principles, which we are not willing to compromise on, and “BSC” ideas that we would like to try and do, but that we are very aware may not work out in the end. One reason many games can fail is that they rush to meet their release date and accept too many compromises, producing a final product that cuts too deep into what it was needed to provide a complete, and fun, game experience. This has rather unfortunately been termed an MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, when in fact so much has been cut that the product is not actually viable.



As such, “MVP” is not a term we are using to describe the launch goals for Camelot Unchained, since we are committed to delivering a game that is not a bare-bones version of what we originally intended, but has a fully functional and engaging set of features that will be ready and working right from day 1 of release. There will of course be some features slated for post-launch “Extender Packs” as we have stated in previous stretch goals, which we would like to finish before launch if possible, but we won’t be willing to delay the game over. The things that aren’t optional for us in order to launch the game are the goals originally set forth in our Kickstarter page, and stated in our Foundational Principles.



Committing to delivering features no matter the cost does take extra time, and is a big reason games tend to be delayed. When you encounter an unexpected problem, you can either cut features and release on time, or take longer to overcome the problems, and deliver the features you intended late. These are among the hardest decisions in game development to make, which is why having clear guidelines for what is and isn’t mandatory in order for a game to be considered finished is so important.



Thank you all for your patience as we work toward achieving the goals we’ve set forth, even when it takes extra time. We’re excited to be wrapping up a lot of new features in the coming months as gameplay development velocity increases, while we move through our Beta testing phases toward releasing a title that hasn’t compromised on its core values. Developer Quote “The key for us is launching with an engine that can support the players we are expected to have in the game. We test this way now so we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we fail at launch because the engine couldn’t handle the stress. These types are great at finding bugs in the core systems/code and because we’ve been running them we’ve found/fixed/fixing problems that would have occurred later in the development process/launch.” -- Mark Jacobs Community Spotlight -by Brian Ward Builders' Brigade Follow Up



Recently, I wrote about our upcoming siege scenario zone (in Unveiled #52 - “So It Begins: Building A Battle”) and the new BPO system (in Unveiled #51 - “Beep Beep! What are BPOs?”). Today, I want to provide a short follow up on both of these stories by bringing you some beauty shots by Builders’ Brigade member Treville from the interior of that massive siege scenariocastle he built, on which we’ve started internally testing with BPOs.



Important to note: one massive thing that BPOs add is interior lighting to the castle! And secondly, an additional layer of realism to the overall design.



Check it out: This is probably a great spot to toast the destruction of your castle as it disintegrates around you.

A warrior’s idea of relaxation: Target practice!

This is probably a good spot to say your prayers before the battle.

An example of how much value lighting will add in dark areas. Not just artistically, but in practical terms!

Exciting times are afoot -- even in its WIP state, the siege scenario zone is already quite dramatic. We look forward to showing you more soon! Lore Corner -by Max Porter This is a Becoming™ story for a potential new Viking race for Camelot Unchained®! The Becoming: Svartálfar

The Dark Elves



“So, you wish to know the tale of the Svartálfar? The saga of the Dark Elves is a strange one, though it may serve to amuse us, this cold night. Their darkness, you see, is not of skin but of homeland… or, as some would say, trapped within their hearts.”



The mysterious stranger at the crossroad camp leaned back on the apple crate where she sat, trailing a thin white smoke from within her dark hood. She held her long-stemmed pipe delicately in one gloved hand, gesturing for emphasis. In the flickering embers of the communal cookfire, it was impossible to discern her face, though her low voice commanded the attention of all present. In her other hand she held a half-eaten apple. The people huddled closer to the glowing logs, their faces orange in the light.



Another figure shrouded heavily against the autumn chill spoke: “Well, give us the tale as you know it, traveler.” He sat across the fire from the storyteller, and warmed his well-wrapped fingers close to the embers.



Something in his voice almost made the storyteller peer at him, but she seemed to remember herself and huddled deeper into her hood. “Well do I know the doom of the Svartálfar; the story of their descent, their transformation, and their return.”





It begins with an island prison. A vast construction of stone and iron on a wind-scoured rock off the Viking lands. It begins with a prisoner, a man jailed for murder.



It also begins, as many of the old stories do, with a storm.



A raging tempest swept over the lonely island, roaring like a living thing. Its winds shrieked and tore at stone with searching fingers. It drove raindrops into the nooks and crannies of the prison, spears thrust by its fury. The storm clouds swirled, a black cloak of mysterious power. From within their depths, bright lightning struck out, a hammer of pure destruction that tore open the earth in smoldering craters. The thunderclaps shattered trees into splinters, arrows borne on a howl through the tortured air. There was no one watching from afar, but if someone had been able to see through the torrential night, it would have seemed as though the storm had erupted from the prison, instead of coming from above.





Deep in the dark stone cells, a murderer shivered and waited. He was waiting for the death that would surely come, for no Viking would be foolish enough to venture out in such a storm to rescue prisoners. Brave enough, skilled enough, certainly; but not foolish.



Ivaldi knew there was no one coming. When the titanic forces of the Malevolence ripped open the stone roof of the prison, and its power began to tear at him, he only shrank deeper into the ruins that remained. Around him, in the blinding brightness of distant lightning strikes, he could make out the multitude of other prisoners doing the same, exposed to the sky for the first time in decades.



He felt a deep sorrow for everyone on the island, his friends and compatriots in the prison; for after so many years, the inhabitants had grown close, knowing one another. They had become brothers, sisters, or even married one another on the island, forming their own criminal’s society. Now they were all going to die.



A few figures, struck by the magic of the storm, were already shifting and stretching as they screamed into the rain, transforming against their will into horribly twisted Abominations. Falling prey to the magic, their taste of the wild night air only momentary before their souls were trapped in a repulsive new body, rendering most unconscious in one terrible instant.



Sleep deeply, the storm seemed to say; for there are only wild dreams tonight, dreams of freedom, but dreams only.



The rain pelted the island, a hundred thousand weapons from the enraged heavens. Under their assault, Ivaldi felt the earth washing away beneath his very feet as he crouched in a cold wet corner like a hunted animal. Before him, great fissures opened, dropping away into darkness as the Malevolence ripped the island apart from the roots.



The unrestrained Veil magic was twisting, changing. All was chaos and destruction. Beaten by the rain and torn at by the winds, Ivaldi crawled forward, desperate. He needed to get out of the storm, and hide from the magic. However, as he was about to drop into the chasm, he saw, in another flash of lightning, some other convicts shivering as they huddled among the ruins. Not yet transformed.



Ivaldi paused for a long moment, shivering as well, one hand extended to the dark chasm that had opened. He could not abandon those who had shared his imprisonment for so many years. He stood, holding himself against the wind.



“Come,” he croaked through the howling storm. “We must hide.”



The convicts who had not been transformed to Abominations began to gather, furtive in the storming night. One by one, they ushered each other into the crevasses that had opened, deep pits torn by the storm. Ivaldi stayed to the last, ensuring that even those recently come to the island made it safely out of the storm, clambering down through broken rock and earth into warmer darkness.



They had not gone nearly deep enough to escape the wrath of the Malevolence, however. One lightning bolt - or something that looked like lightning - flashed, and lingered. This bolt shone brighter and brighter, illuminating the crevasse where they had tried to hide themselves.



Blinded, Ivaldi pushed himself into the chasm with the others. Relentlessly, the white light bathed everything in its unbearable intensity, painful even with his eyes closed.



He had no way of knowing that overwhelming light would be the last thing he would ever truly see.



Pressing on, groping in the close fissure, the convicts crept further from the storm. Down they went, finding warmth and shelter in the close spaces where the earth had cracked or worn away. The wind could not touch them here, nor the the rain wash them out to sea; however, the Veil’s magic pursued them even as they descended.



Down, down, down they went. All the while, the power of the Pierced Veil began to change them. Perhaps it was the decades - or in some cases, generations - of imprisonment beneath a cage of stone. Perhaps it was a judgement upon them by the universe itself. Whatever the reason, they began to Change.



In the darkness, and still stunned by the strange lightning bolt, they could not see what was happening. They became something out of story; out of myth; out of nightmare.



They Became something else. Pale as worms that crawl beneath mountains, their limbs lengthened and became flexible, their eyes became red with staring in the dark.



Still they groped onward, as the great chasms and cracks continued to lead them onward. Shaking and shuddering as the power and pain of the Change overtook them, some called to their fellows, hoping for succor, direction, or to express their despair.



However, Ivaldi would not let any of them stop. “Keep crawling,” he urged in a clenched hiss that carried over the echoing storm. Something had taken root in Ivaldi, growing out of the bleak despair and hopelessness; a grim determination that they would not die out, these island prisoners abandoned by the mainland. He did not know how, he did not even know why, but Ivaldi would not allow any more of them to give up and die.



Time stretched and snapped back as they crawled desperately downward. The Malevolence went on for an eternity as they squeezed and wriggled and bled, scraping farther. Yet there always seemed to be further they could flee.



At last, their probing limbs reached an open space. Shivering with expended effort, the Changed convicts sprawled upon stone, warm and smooth. A strange place. They would only come to know it later, but they had reached the Inner World, full of magic.



As the desperate fear left their bodies, many slept. Gradually, silently, the deep chasm above them closed. The storm buried them deep beneath the earth as they lay unknowing.



However, when they awakened, blind and trembling in the true black beneath the world, they discovered they were nearly too weak to move, and the passage had closed. Word spread through the weary group. A sorrowful wail went up from the lifelong prisoners, now imprisoned once more. They had survived, but now true despair set in: the dread of a slow death.





Ivaldi raised himself with both arms. He was weak and thin; there was no strength in him. His eyes stared uselessly. They still burned from the pain of the bright lightning up above. Or perhaps it was from something else. He wasn’t sure how long they had crawled down; it could have been minutes, or years. The sensations of heat and cold, smooth and rough, pain and weariness, assaulted him, but the omnipresent darkness was a void he could not bear. How important that tiny window in his cell had been!



A cry sounded. A child was weeping, held by its mother somewhere nearby. Ivaldi heaved a labored breath. There was no immediate danger anymore; but after their long journey, none of them was strong enough to stand, nor could they see or help themselves. Death was closer than ever, an omnipresent figure that waited for them to give in. Ivaldi wept like the child, his eyes streaming blood as he felt the unjust tragedy of their deaths settle in. He poured his despair out in a scream, which became a scream of rage that went on and on past the breath in his lungs, and still he strained, pouring out his pain and anger without sound.



If not for what happened next, they all would have perished in that black cavern.



Ivaldi felt something shatter within his mind. A power, planted like a seed within him by the Veilstorm’s magic, began to grow. It was a dark, dreadful power, that lent strength to his limbs and impelled him upgright. It was a burning magic, that rushed through his veins and pores in a destructive chaos, damaging him from within even as it lifted him up.



Struggling to master himself, Ivaldi gasped for air. In response, as if they felt it, too, gasps erupted across the convicts in the dark. They all possessed the darkness within, the power that coursed through every vein. And they all soon knew of the terrible price the power exacted, for the pain after unleashing their dark power was beyond anything they had ever known.



But they could stand. They could move. If there had been an enemy, they could have fought. The power was heady, like strong wine, and when released from confinement within, raged and rushed through them in a glut of undirected glee. Each felt as though they could break stone with their fingers, hurl the most powerful spells, and run seven leagues in seven minutes.



The rush of dark power had stunned them all, bursting the bonds that held it contained within, and bringing with it… pain. Yet they were still lost in the Inner World, in the utter blackness, unable to find their way.



Trying to control it, to keep the magic from ripping him apart, Ivaldi stared and stared in the black. His eyes, damaged and burning, did not work. But a tingling sense of space and distance, another sense was pulled painfully out of him. It was like sight, but not seeing; red, painful knowing where things were. Every turn of his head or movement of his atrophied eyes pinched painfully… but he knew without light in the blackness exactly where everyone stood, where the cavern stretched away, where all the myriad tunnels and entrances lay.



Laughing with the exhilaration of the power-madness that had come over him, Ivaldi taught this trick to all the rest. And thus they were able to circumvent their useless eyes. Armed with such power, they could finally move and explore their new world. They had become the Svartálfar, the Dark Elves of the black places.





They built a new life down there in the Inner World, a good life among the strange caverns and creatures that exist there. They met the Dvergar, the stony folk who had found their way down as well, and the two races grew close. But this is not a tale of the Inner World. They found many secrets down there in the deep, but the greatest secret of all lay within their own Veil-marked flesh: a power, a dark magic, which could flame through their veins and pores when called upon. This terrible power--and its price--is their most dangerous and closely guarded knowledge.



It would be a long time before the Dark Elves found their way back to the surface, by way of nooks and crannies, cracks and caverns that worm their way up through all the lands. Now, long years after emerging from the Inner World, the Dark Elves are respected and feared for their strange power. They go wrapped, shrouding their pale skin, their red and useless eyes, as well as their hidden strength.



Again and again, they overcome their physical frailty to prove themselves in battle--only to pay the costs of using their innate magic later. Though they rise in power and influence, still a darkness tugs at the heart of the Svartálfar; the legacy of their origin, and the resentment that threatens to bubble up. Though they are fierce, deadly, and terrifying to behold, still there are those who say the Svartálfar are doomed.







To indicate that her story was over, the storyteller took a long draw on her pipe, and let the smoke trail away into the dusk. The various travelers that had congregated at the crossroads nodded, huddling closer the fire.



“A good telling, friend,” the warmly-bundled man across the fire smiled, folding his fingers together. “Where did you hear this tale of the Svartálfar? Have you been to Svartálfheim? Who are you?”



A hint of laughter came from within the hood, as the storyteller held up her apple and pulled back her scarf so she could take a bite. Her skin was pale as milk, and there was something unnerving about it, as though she had never felt the touch of sunlight. “Two of your questions would only result in another long tale, and the time has come for rest. As for my name? I am called Idunn.” And she tossed the bitten apple to him before turning away into the dark. Final Note -by Max Porter And that’s Unveiled! Thanks so much for reading our end-of-the-month newsletter update! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed putting it together for your perusal. I’m already looking forward to next month’s updates! That’s all for now, so until next time -- Max out!