Find yourself on the wrong side of the shadows, where Vampires stalk and torment humanity in this modern ACTION RPG game.
Read More
65
backers
$3,655
pledged of $75,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Replay with sound
Find yourself on the wrong side of the shadows, where Vampires stalk and torment humanity in this modern ACTION RPG game.
About this project
Darkest Blood - Main Theme
PLEASE NOTE! Many of the reward tiers have an additional $10 fee for shipping anywhere in the world. Please be sure that you have read the entire reward text for the tier that you'd like to participate in. Thank you in advance, Team Ravenous.
For more information, game material and development news, visit our website: www.TeamRavenous.com. You can also like our page on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
Sanguine Nights – Darkest Blood is a 3D multiplayer, action/RPG hybrid built upon the Unity game engine, available upon release for Linux, Mac and PC. The game itself is set in the dystopian city of New Tenebra, where ancient creatures guilty of the sin of hubris were cursed by God and rejected by the natural order, although the races of Vampirism share little in common.
Their many differences result in a perception of racial and cultural clash of a Darwinian nature, regulated by Victorian ethics and Machiavellian concerns for security and self-preservation. Each race perceives others as “savage”, “dangerous” or “inferior” and gracefully plans its dominance over the rest, while carefully manoeuvring around traps set by Inquisitors, Slayers and other supernaturals carrying out their ancient feuds with the Undead.
Where Sanguine Nights truly shines is in the empowerment of players over the game's content. Stretch goals aside, the single-player experience will include many quests throughout New Tenebra which will immerse players in the mythos and cosmos of the setting. For multi-player, we will be building a set of content creation tools which will allow players of the game to enrich their experience and give their own, unique flavour to the world in which Sanguine Nights is set.
Apart from player-driven multiplayer, the game will also feature quests that can be undertaken by one or more characters, sandbox play and, upon reaching Stretch Goal VII, an immersing single-player mode.
Four races or species amongst the children of Hubris stand out; the betrayed Children of Prometheus, the mystics and pseudo-scientists of the Drakos, the shamanistic Erlikler and the aristocrats of the Sangryvar. Each has its own, unique place in time and history, a tragic moment where no right choices were to be made. Thus, they committed the act of Hubris that struck them down. Their nemesis, was that they rose from the depths into which they were thrown.
Once, the Children of Prometheus fuelled and inspired the collective stocks of human knowledge as teachers and tutors. It is by their hand that Greece and Rome rose to such heights, they were the captives who became the captors of Rome, until the Christianized mortals -heeding the calls of the clergy- turned against their own benefactors. Now, the Children of Prometheus seek to make mankind suffer for their betrayal.
The most feared of the Vampiric races, are the Drakos. They interpret the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, as a metaphor for the first Vampire. Others in their ranks attribute some act of intimacy with a mortal woman as the act of Hubris, which led to the serpent's downfall. As natural law was violated, and Vampirism was exiled from God's Kingdom, the Drakos placed themselves outside of God's rule as well and into the realm of another patron or Demiurge. A dangerous mix of theology, dualism, and ancient philosphy gives Drakos their notoriety amongst both Vampires and those unfortunate mortals who have encountered them.
In the time of the Great Khan Mete of the Hunnu Empire, a council -or kurultay- of Shamans sought power not meant for them. In their quest, they seeked the help of Erlik, creator of sin and god of death, who granted them life eternal and control over death and illness. Commanded by this malicious deity, the shamans wronged their people and brought them on the brink of extinction. Despaired, the Erlikler -named so for their shameful origins- sought the forgiveness of Tanri, the Eternal Sky, and led their people to salvation and glory. Tonight, their debt remains and the youngest of these Vampires are taught to respect and protect their mortal communities.
The mythical king Merovious, fearful of death and the untimely demise of his dynasty, sought salvation from ill-health through prayer to the Lord. As his health deteriorated, one of the last remaining druids of Gaul approached the frail king and shared an ancient tale of their people; a river red as blood and deep within the Germanic forests was home to a god of old who would answer the king's prayers. Eventually, the king succumbed to the druid's promises and discovered this river of blood, where the creature drowned him. What rose back from the scarlet depths of this river, was the first of the Sangryvar.
As Vampires stalk the nights of humanity, so do other creatures stalk and threaten the very existence of Vampirism as a whole. The Lycanthropes of Ovid's works still roam the woods outside cities, damned by some higher force just as much as any of the undead. Meanwhile, mortals who refuse to accept the harshness and misery of life under the influence of Vampirism take up the cross and strike back. Some do so out of religious fervour and in the name of God, keeping the Inquisition's legacy alive, while others (the Slayers) simply want to reclaim the night.
The game is powered by Unity 4, the latest version of the Unity game engine, and will be simultaneously released on Linux, Mac and PC, alongside a set of innovative, simple yet elegant multiplayer tools. The set will include powerful editors for quests, characters, events, dialogue and items that will empower players to unleash their creativity upon the game itself. Custom content may be imported, such as items, characters and entire levels, utilizing standard 3D file formats. Such content will be validated to ensure quality and harmony with the mood of Sanguine Nights – Darkest Blood.
To ensure game balance and smoothness of play, “World Masters” will be able to create individual instances of the entire game and all of its hubs, supporting up to 64+ players per instance. The “World Master” will make use of multiplayer tools, as well as a simple-to-use panel to set up the game. World Masters will also be able to use tools to expand player experience, by creating special effects for in-game elements such as items and diadems (also validated for content quality).
Players will be encouraged to join covens or crus, groups of Vampires working together to accomplish shared in-game goals. By doing so, their characters will be able to share diadems, Vampiric powers such as telepathy and shapeshifting. A segment of a Vampire's powers can be passed on to another member of the cru, for as long as a unit of blood from the provider of the power remains within the recipient’s body.
Each diadem is split into three sub-diadems and each sub-diadem has a rating of 1-3, denoting mastery over the sub-diadem. For example, the Cloud of Blood is a sub-diadem of the Shapeshifter diadem. A rating of 1 allows the Vampire to turn into a cloud of blood particles, slow in speed and whose appearance is unnerving to mortals -and inviting to Inquisitors or Slayers. On level 2, the Vampire is now able to sup blood from those who inhale the fog-like cloud. Closer scrutiny will reveal occasional drips of blood or reddish parts. With the third level, Vampires are able to turn into fog, which can levitate for much longer and suffocate mortals if the Vampire so wishes, with no sign of supernatural activity.
Another part of the game we really hope to be able to develop is the single-player quest chain, which will be unlocked if we reach Stretch Goal VII at $425,000. This will enable us to develop a full, single-player experience through the quest chain. It will serve as an introduction to the setting and the individual Vampiric races, while teasing players for an upcoming Sanguine Nights sequel. The sequel will immerse players deep into the Longest Nights' lore and include levels set in antiquity, where great events shaped the origins and rise of the Vampiric races and their nemeses.
As mentioned, Sanguine Nights – Darkest Blood will help us bring the world of The Longest Nights to life. This very project is the exciting first stepping stone towards that goal. The Longest Nights will be an exciting series of video games, with many supporting material just like the ones provided with this Kickstarter. The entire setting examines the darkest aspects of our world, the filth, corruption and hopelessness that deprives people of any semblance of hope for a better tomorrow. The nights are becoming longer, darker and scarier and humanity may just be losing its war against evil...
At the core of The Longest Nights series, lies the ancient balance between Good and Evil and the blurred lines between the two; the whole world finds itself caught in a Zoroastrian battle for dominance between the asha, which is truth and order, and chaos -the druj. More often than not, humanity passively witnesses changes in that balance, while tragically incapable of altering the course of its own fate.
Team Ravenous is a group of people who are, first and foremost, fans of the genres of Gothic horror and occult mystery to which we shall remain true. We are inspired by the great works in the field, such as the Hellblazer series, Vampirella, the work of Anne Rice, Bram Stoker's Dracula and White Wolf's flawless Vampire: the Masquerade. This Kickstarter campaign will empower us to deliver more than just the game; a plethora of digital and physical material will both support and enrich your experience. Moreover, this campaign will allow us to set the stage and build the terrifying and curious world of The Longest Nights.
Risks and challenges
Meeting Deadlines – Our blueprints for the game and its supporting products have addressed the issue of providing players with a rich and highly entertaining experience. The challenge here, will be to keep up with the deadline for each product, the game itself and its tools such as the editors and the World-Master panel. However, we feel confident that we will be able to meet the release deadline as work on the game's code, as well as the writing behind supporting products is already ongoing.
Releasing the game – Rest assured that the game will be released without any issues. Team Ravenous has already contracted the number of talented individuals needed to pull this off and release the products you pledge for on time. The Kickstarter campaign itself, will actually help us cover costs of living, licensing and talent acquisition to deliver a polished, quality product to you.
Dedicated servers – Part of the amount pledged to the project will be used to acquire state-of-the-art server hardware and software that will ensure a smooth, hassle-free multiplayer experience. Remember, Sanguine Nights focuses primarily on multiplayer and as such, we guarantee the proper maintenance of our servers. Plus, you will be able to run your own servers or set up the game over local area networks.
Quality of multiplayer – Games that rely on the participation of multiple players, need to address issues such as content and game balance. Once the game is released, regardless of stretchgoals, the game will remain in active development with new content being regularly and timely addressing any issues that may arise. Rest assured, we will not let this game wither away or lose its playability value.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
-
Several reward tiers come with physical products that will need to be shipped out to you. The amount of $10 is an estimate of shipping costs for anywhere in the world.
-
You bet it will! We are using the Unity game engine which will support both operating systems, as well as Windows.
-
While revolutionizing the multi-player experience, by empowering players with simple-to-use tools that can completely change the game world and its elements, we also want to make a single-player mode as well! That's why we need your support to meet Stretch-Goal 7, that covers the extra costs of doing a quality single-player game -such as voice acting. In fact, if we reach that stretch-goal we will be committing ourselves to a direct, single-player sequel to Sanguine Nights! (and we might just do the single-player if we come close to Stretch-Goal 7 but don't quite making it there)
However, even the base game allows for somewhat of a single-player experience. We will not be forcing players to join random servers with random people if they don't want to... Anyone can create their own server, a full game instance, that allows for a "sandbox" single-player experience or CO-OP sandbox.
-
"P&P" stands for Pen & Paper, role-playing games you can enjoy in real life by using dice and simple rules. Imagine a board game, where you get to narrate the adventures of your characters within the Longest Nights series and roll dice to decide the outcome of actions.
-
Pennhurst Asylum has a nefarious past, mistreatment of inmates, er I mean uh patients, neglect and worse. Every year around Halloween the cursed grounds of Pennhurst are opened for a haunting experience check out their official site at http://www.pennhurstasylum.com/ Our package includes round trip air fare from anywhere in the world, transportation to your hotel accommodation suites at The Sheraton, Valley Forge Hotel (2 Days), night out on the town with Team Ravenous, and VIP access (very important patient) to the haunted attraction at Pennhurst State Asylum. We hope to see you there!
-
Answer, 'or what' - its both. You can play along with your friends in an environment suited for 64 players interacting simultaneously, or you can host a game and then lock it such that no one else can join, making it a single player sandbox which will include scaled quests and objectives. Upon reaching our final stretch goal, we will have a true offline SP quest chain that will serve as a prologue to a complete Single Player game based in our world to be released later down the road.
Rewards
Funding period
- (40 days)