About this project
CA$ 36,363
1,595
If you are unable to use Kickstarter, or simply would prefer to use another method of making a pledge. We have now setup an alternative pledge system using PayPal. All pledges made through PayPal donations will be counted towards your desired reward tier. PayPal donations will also be counted towards Stretch Goals.
Once our home and record of modern civilization, the Earth is a ruined wasteland engulfed in perpetual darkness. Older than any recorded texts, an ancient evil descended upon our world without warning, consuming the population and leaving despair in its wake. The unfortunate survivors of this purge now struggle to overcome the horrific terrors of the Nocturnal.
Noct is a 2D top-down multiplayer survival horror game that blends arcade combat with RPG survival elements. You are a survivor of the apocalyptic purge that formed the desolate wasteland now known as Noct.
When I first considered creating this game, I approached the idea with some friends as a “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” What began as a network demonstration and simple proof of concept soon developed into the game prototype shown now. Noct has been shaped and moulded by the community following it, resulting in the game it has become today.
The game world is viewed through a thermal imaging satellite observing the aftermath of an apocalypse. Accompanied by an eerie and engaging musical score, your journey through the desolate world is filled with terrifying roaming monsters, intense combat, and perilous situations.
- Survive Noct by maintaining your three key vital systems while you explore. Find unique weapons and items to increase your chances of survival against the elements and unknown horrors awaiting you.
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Find other survivors in multiplayer procedurally generated worlds, or journey solo and on your own terms.
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Explore vast wastelands of relentless carnage, destroyed and ruined cities, and treacherous, claustrophobic environments, all rendered in a unique art style utilizing a high contrast thermal camera viewpoint of the world.
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Destroy and annihilate your way through multitudes of unique and highly dangerous monsters found inhabiting the landscape, each with their own frightening presence and set of terrifying abilities.
- Unique Line of Sight System - You see only what is within your actual awareness area. You can see down every hallway around you, but not around the corners.
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Weapons - With abominations eating everything around you, anything you can get your hands on is a weapon. From fully automatic squad weapons to the reliable board with a nail in it, keep them maintained and they may just keep you alive. Different locations may yield higher grade weapons.
- Terrifying Monsters - You will encounter horrific creatures that exist solely to hunt and eat you. Procedurally generated throughout the world, no one location encounter will be the same. Different locations may also yield more deadly and dangerous foes for you to face… or to flee from, screaming and flailing in fear.
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Special Utility Items - Specialized items help lower your risk as you advance through areas. Some may be super effective on certain types of bosses.
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Hardcore Survival - You have one life. Your one chance of survival depends upon your evaluation of the risks involved in certain situations before committing to actions. Lose that life, and you will have to start over again.
Noct features some of the most vile, eldritch, Lovecraftian-inspired creatures I could put on-screen. I’m a big fan of huge monster bosses from classic games like Contra and Gradius, and an even bigger fan of their unique encounter mechanics. I’ve channelled that classic awesomeness into the terrifying monsters you see in this game.
- Epic Monsters - The gigantic unworldly abominations that now occupy Noct come in many different forms, some so large that they occupy half of a structure. These large monstrous entities may require special tactics, friends, or even special items to defeat. They are considered rare occurrences compared to other monsters inhabiting the world.
- Large Primary Monsters - These large creatures are the overlords of the minions. They are hunters, relentlessly stalking their prey. Armed with unique abilities and very sharp teeth, they exist to eviscerate.
- Minion Monsters - These are the little creepy crawlies that go bump in the night. The majority of the larger monsters are too big to follow survivors into buildings, so these smaller “horde” style monsters do the dirty work. Each type has its own vile abilities. You will wish you could have barricaded the door to the building you just entered.
An endless wasteland; entire cities razed to the ground; decimated landmarks of human civilization: this is the world I envisioned for the game. Somewhere between the films “The Road” and “The Mist” lies Noct, fully functional, where you can enter almost every structure and explore every landmark site while roaming the desolate, ruined world.
- Explore and adventure through vast open wastelands and random world events which may yield rewards to aid your survival.
- Seek out Ancient Eldritch Artifacts and unlock the secrets and mysteries of Noct’s formation.
- Cross treacherous terrain and other violent natural disaster areas while seeking refuge.
- Unlock World Stashes such as audio recordings of personal accounts from the purge of humanity, secrets of monster weaknesses, and hidden supply cache sites yielding weapons of immense power.
The soundtrack is extremely pivotal, providing a crucial element to immersion in the game environment. We want to ensure that it portrays the right emotion throughout the narrative of the game world. Wordclock (Pedro Pimentel) from Cryo Chamber is composer of the stunning musical score, which will follow you into the darkest depths, slowly raising tension to heights of sheer terror and dread. We will also be expanding the soundtrack with B-side remixes with the help of local Toronto sound engineer Ellis Iyomahan.
We have spoken at length about releasing a vinyl record for the game. Because the costs are significant for having well-made records pressed, we have included this in our stretch goals. This would be a limited quantity reward for $$$-tier and higher backers.
$65,000 Goal - A solution to many hats:
This is the first of the most significant milestones, as it will allow me to hire an additional programmer so that I can spearhead other aspects of development more aggressively. Being the sole developer/artist/programmer on this game can be extremely taxing on time. It takes far longer to develop certain aspects of the game solo than it would with the help of an additional mind. This in turn translates into a better gameplay experience and a better value for all of our backers.
$80,000 Goal - Audiophiles Rejoice:
This is a personal favourite milestone for me and our musicians. Not only will we be able to create an additional soundtrack for the game, we will also be able to create a vinyl record copy of the soundtrack and make it available to YOU, our backers, as an add-on. How cool is that?!
$150,000 Goal - Expansion:
Since initial conception, we have discussed the prospect of players eventually leaving the world of Noct and venturing into the monsters’ world as additional content and exploration. The difficulty would increase significantly, and the content would be very otherworldly. Naturally, this feat would be a huge undertaking. This milestone would open up the additional resources required to offer the additional content sooner.
The game is currently in multiplayer prototype stage running on Mac and PC, with Linux testing in the works. The majority of the core systems are in place and awaiting additional asset creation. We are in a very good position to begin alpha testing shortly, with the current goal of having a playable alpha in the hands of testers for Halloween 2014.
We are currently on Steam Greenlight and about half way to our Greenlight goal already!
Current targeted release date is July 2015, with beta testing commencing a few months prior to iron out bugs and make adjustments that the community requests.
From the very beginning, Noct has been an ambitious project. The entire game runs within a network environment, and all testing/debugging must also happen in that same environment. Being the sole developer has necessitated that I change hats frequently to bring new features and content into the game world for testing. This has been manageable so far, but it slows development immensely. In order to launch this game within a reasonable time frame, we will need the community’s help to get it out there.
With a release target of July 2015 and alpha testing projected for October 31, we have a heavy workload to tackle. With your backing and support, we will be able to breathe more life into this project sooner.
- Operations costs - We will need to establish a company from which to launch the game. This involves, licenses, time, and paperwork. Studio space and associated expenses are also factors.
- Staff - Generation of the stark visuals and good support for the game are among the many hats I wear, but in order to provide a great auditory experience I have needed to bring in additional help. External help results in significant additional costs, and this is where our stretch goals really come into play. Achieving them will allow for the hiring of additional programmers and artists, which in turn results in a more refined and polished product for all of our backers.
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Additional Out-of-Scope Costs - Bugs in the code; hard production delays; hardware failures: challenges always find a way to present themselves. So long as solutions are kept on-hand, challenges can be overcome. Sometimes this requires additional funding to ensure that small delays don’t grow into catastrophes.
Chris Eskins (c3sk) - Lead Developer/Artist/Programmer
This game has been my baby for the past few years, slowly creeping towards creation and forward to its current state. I have worked in Toronto’s graphic design and advertising industry as a freelancer for the majority of my career. I frequent the Toronto Game Jam in my spare time. Developing games has always been a passion of mine. Finally, to be able to display my title publicly, is something I am still coming to terms with. This has been a wild journey so far. Let’s continue this adventure!
Pedro Pimentel (Wordclock) - Composer, Lead Musician
Currently working on multiple indie game projects. As an up and coming experimental musician he is in extremely high demand. We are lucky to have such talent on board. Without Pedro's unique dark ambient offerings, Noct wouldn't be possible.
Ellis Iyomahan (Studizzy) - Sound Engineer, Musician
A local Toronto artist and a great friend. He has supported this project from the beginning, helping to shape it into what you see today. Ellis will be providing awesome remixes of the core soundtrack for your listening pleasure, as well as refining the core audio into perfect alignment.
Alan Chan (Lest) - Contributor
Jack of all trades. Charismatic and dependable. Without him this project would be lost, as I would be a disorganized mess. Ensuring that a quality product is created and that the community gets the support it deserves.
Original Soundtrack
The haunting and atmospheric soundtrack by Wordclock (Pedro Pimentel) accompanies your journey and fight for survival in Noct. The full OST with B-side remixes by Ellis Iyomahan is available in digital format (FLAC/MP3) at the $5 backer level.
The Game
All copies will be available in 2015. Planned platforms are Windows, OSX, and Linux. All copies are to be DRM-free or Steam keys. Everyone in the $10 tier and above will receive the Windows/OSX/Linux game at release.
Companion Art
A highly detailed art book in PDF format, it will come complete with concept art, “making of” sketches, and monster renderings.
Epic Swag
Receive a custom Noct survival t-shirt with unique artwork design by Chris Eskins. Done in the same high contract, minimalist style as the game, shirt will be available in small, medium, large, or XL for backers at the $50 tier.
Monument
Your name will appear on an in-game monument inscribed with the names of all those whose contributions have made possible the continued existence of lives on Noct. Real names only, please.
Fuzzy Friend
I Will Survive!
Filet Minion
Back Like a Bawss
Do you love boss encounters? Have you always wanted a say in how a boss behaves? Do you want to bring your epic creation to digital life? We will work together to translate your unique monster design into the world of Noct.
ROM Nom Nom
Risks and challenges
A lot of heart and soul has been poured into this project to advance it to its current stage. One of the most daunting hurdles remains to be public exposure, not knowing exactly what the result could be. You toil for months and even years on a single project in order to see it released into the wild, hoping it is nurtured and supported by the community, but knowing full well that it could be left out in the cold to succumb to starvation. These are the risks that indie devs face every time we decide to embark on one of these adventures.
Thus far, communities like TIGSource, Steam, Reddit, IndieDB, and Imgur have been overwhelmingly supportive of the project. This has been hugely encouraging and continues to drive me as I push forward through development solo, which has been a major challenge. Thankfully, friends and fellow artists have climbed aboard to see this project through. Their dedication and contributions, coupled with the support of our backers, drives my zeal for this game. Without all of you, this game could not exist.
Hold the line with me. Let’s make a great game together.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Currently Noct is being developed for Mac/PC/Linux.
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Yes, Noct has a Singleplayer gameplay mode allowing players to adventure solo if they wish.
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Noct is currently in the Greenlight process of Steam. For more information please check the Steam Greenlight link at the top of the Kickstarter page, or see the most recent updates for Greenlight news.
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Noct currently features full controller support!
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As a Beta Backer, you will be able to play all testing phases of Noct. Alpha through to Beta.
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Noct features online coop, but currently does not support Local coop gameplay(split screen).
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Yes.
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Yes, the demo and all alpha, beta, and retail versions of the game will be available for Streaming/Youtube.
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"Nope Hunter" is the name given to Noct by the imgur community.
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Funding period
- (30 days)