So much stuff to share this time around, I’m all crazy excited. I’ll explain that imagery at the top of this post in a bit, but don’t you WANT ONE? (I know you do).



We’re right in the middle of our sprint to get to a testing build, and after that, we’ll share some rough timelines on closed testing and then Beta. Our aim is the end of September/early October for that, and remember if you’re interested in being among the first to be invited to test, register on the forums and send a PM to TheWizard.

You asked for more imagery, so that’s what we’re showing this time around. MOAR.

Last time, I shared the news that we’re going old-school beautiful on the textures for weapons and armor and going after the hand-painted look. The swords got the love a few weeks ago, and now we’re getting the look right for armor. Remember that there are several visual Tiers for each item in the game, and here’s a look at a badass top tier Dark Armor set for the Warrior Class.

As we get started (or you do, if you own this armor), you’ll have some basic items, a horn sticking out here or there and a bit of exposed whatnot around the torso and arms. A little intimidating, but you can do better, right?

Now, if you show up looking like this, you’ll probably get more respect (helmet is off because your guy wants to star me right in my getting-ready-to-lose eye).

While we’re really pleased with the look we’re achieving, it does come with some restraints that we’re figuring out how to work around. The hand-painted textures have to work with the 3D geometry of the gear. For example, check out this bracer. On the left, it’s looking correct and you don’t want to get stuck shaking this guy’s hand On the right, you can see the look breaks down when we try to scale the bracer for a bigger look. No dice.

Once we get that right, we get to a look and feel that we’re hoping you all connect with too. Some character and chinks and wear in the armor, with some nods to fantasy games we all know and love.

TRAYSURE

If you’re playing this game, you’re on a treasure hunt. For the best loot, the best stats, the best look. And you’ll win in different ways based on each. You will earn, find and buy Chests that have all the goodies of Embermark inside. but it’s the Keys that determine the roll table.

It makes me CRRAAAZY that Tumblr only allows under-1MB animated GIFs. Otherwise I would show you the real impact of the chest opening experience that we’re working on for the game. This is rough, mind you, but you can get a taste of what we’re aiming at…

PVP

Competition is a pillar of the Exiles thing-a-ma-whatnot (Finji, please acknowledge this by creating a thread– otherwise I have to come up with something droll). And in service to that competition, we’re designing a system to let players find almost anyone in the game, based on who they’d like to have a bout with. ANYONE. Check this out:

Should you be so lucky to find an opponent that fits your Search criteria, there’s some info that you’ll be privy to, including your record if you’ve battled them before, their House, Level and basic Loadout. From this, you can decide to Challenge them (for realz, yo), Spar them (i.e., play against their data but they’re not really there) or Cancel out (like the coward that you are).

This next one is almost certainly my favorite image we’ve produced here at Gunslinger Studios (for multiple reasons).

RANKS

Exiles will have multiple ways to compete. The game will feature Normal PVP (cuz we hate the word “casual”), Ranked PVP and Organized PVP (events, tourneys, etc). And if you ever beat the character, TheWizard (and you won’t, but if you do), you can PM me in the forums to get a very special reward. But that’s neither here nor there. What matters now is how you’ll look to those who you are about to battle.

And in that vein, we’ve been working on the Rank Badges that will display around your profile and character as you adventure around Embermark, slaying this and that. Here, you can see a couple of directions that we’re exploring– above with a symbolic weapon and wings direction, below with a materials hexagonal direction. Which do you prefer?

WORLD ZONE - VANISIR

Much has been discussed about the World Map for the game, and TheMayor continues to work wonders into the functionality of the PvE system, but it’s the individual Battle environments that will give players glimpses of the continent of Embermark with much more detail.

We’re building out the landscape, look and beasties that will inhabit 3 new Zones in the world this milestone, and one of those is the stark and treacherous Vanisir, where dunes and rock outcroppings hide buried civilization, dangers and forgotten treasure. We’re refining our pipeline for developing these battle environments with Vanisir, and one example here, where our crack concept team develops an initial look (what is that greenish entrance on the left?!), the 3D team models, textures and gets it into the engine, and both teams refine it toward an ultimate end in the game. (please note that third image is not quite final!)

THE MIDWEEK RUMBLE

Exiles is about fighting. Aaaand a ton of other interesting things, but duelling battles is at its heart. Which is why our weekly mini-battle, the Midweek Rumble is back. It’s the classic question of who would win in a fight, but player participation means the chance at an in-game reward treat come game-launch-time (check out the rules here). The first one asks the very obvious outcome of who would win: LOTR or GoT. The next ones will come from both us and you- check it out every Wednesday.

LIVE CHAT

There’s much discussion happening on the forums and that led to more immediate conversations in the now-available Live Chat. Many conversations are happening throughout everyday now, so pop in and ask a question or comment on the development goings-on. There’s usually a dev in there to chat with, and dedicated times for chat are coming soon.

AND THEN

If you haven’t already, follow along with the Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The forums still house the tastiest magickal morsels, but check those too– there’s treasure in each thread…