Alterborn Devlog #2

May 25, 2022

Welcome to our 2nd development blog!

Once again, this is Pawel, Alterborn’s Lead Game Designer here to directly address some concerns from you, our community.

1. Truly HEARING, not “hearing”.

First and foremost we’d like to thank you for showing interest in Alterborn. We’ve been taken aback by the initial reception to the game and plan to showcase much more in the coming months; what we feel is even higher quality content in contrast with what was shown so far.

*Not much is known about the nomads that traverse the Shattered Lands.*

The demand and interest is clearly there and we’re motivated, like never before, to bring into your hands a game that we’ll be proud of as both developers and players.

*You’ll find mysterious altars spread throughout the Shattered Lands, some hidden, that act as checkpoints. After interacting with such an object, you’ll be returned to it after dying.*

“We hear your feedback loud and clear” – some of you are probably used to… hearing this. As avid gamers, we are too. Yet the feedback one provides is often overlooked or outright ignored. Filtering feedback as a developer is not an easy task; you’ll never be able to make everyone happy, a design philosophy that appeals to one might be loathed by another. Nonetheless, we want to try to do better.

2. Transparency

What does the above entail you might ask. Well, we want to openly share with you our thought processes and reasoning whenever talking about a feature that is being implemented, design choice and so forth; no PR bullshit or generic marketing buzzwords.

*Concept art for one of the weapons that MIGHT make an appearance in Alterborn…*

As we continue to work on the game, we’ll be sharing more detailed information regarding specific systems and in turn we’ll be asking you for feedback.

The Hollow Eye flavor text, taken directly from the game: “You hear faint, dreadful whispers when looking at… whatever this is.” One of the items that those daring to venture deep into the Shattered Lands might stumble upon, granting them lost, forgotten knowledge.

Same goes for choosing which visual assets to add into the game. Take the above concept art – we’ve already asked you on our discord server (https://discord.gg/eFZeyKU4Xg) which variant you liked the most. Such feedback will strongly influence our decisions, shaping the final game.

3. Gameplay?

We heard your feedback in regards to the Future Games Show trailer; you wanted to see an actual gameplay taken directly from the game. If you’re dying to see something, take a look at our Steam page. You’ll see that we’ve added brand new GIFs showcasing never before seen footage!

Tainted Ripple Ability flavor text: “It is said that some Alterborn were capable of empowering their weapons with untold energy, with each slash causing ripples through the very fabric of time and space.” In Alterborn you’ll find many active abilities that can be mixed and matched in order to define your playstyle.

We’ve also seen your comments and wanted to reply to one of the most frequently asked questions: what makes our game stand out on the oversaturated soulslike market?

Different action pool – we give the player a lot more tools to deal with the challenges thrown at them; abilities, guns and more.
Procedural content – we want each playthrough to feel unique. Even within a single session, your experience will vary.
Meaningful progression – expect something a lot more interesting than change parameter X from 10 to 11. You will have to make many difficult choices when it comes to customizing your character. Also, there is a lot of loot. Like a lot.

*Further artistic exploration of various weapon archetypes. We want each gun to feel distinctive and gameplay-wise, fulfill a specific, unique role.*

As for an actual gameplay reveal – we want to show you something that looks and most importantly, feels polished. We apply such an approach to everything, including our game. We want to uphold a certain standard of quality and take our time with the development, to release something we’re proud of.

With all that being said, keep an eye out on our socials (and discord) where we’ll be sharing exclusive reveals, potentially including (but not limited to) snippets of gameplay.