Earthlock: Festival of Magic is currently being developed for a multi platform launch ranging 6 platforms. The game will launch on PC, OS X, Linux, Wii U, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The title is also set to be published by Magnus Aspli.

At this time, there’s no specific date for the games release but we do know that its set to arrive at some time in 2015.
Speaking to Gaming Bolt, the game’s director has said, “We will be attending GDC in San Francisco in the first week of March this year. We will have a demo booth at GDC Play, so if any your readers are attending GDC this year come find us and try Earthlock!”

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Some of the content that you can find in this Wiki was sourced from an interview that was conducted by Gaming Bolt’s very own Rashid Sayed, you can find the interview here. The development team working on Earthlock: Festival of Magic is actually rather small, totalling 8 staff members. This perhaps explains the lengthy development cycle of the game which began sometime in early 2011.

Speaking to GamingBolt, Game Director Bendik Stang said, “We are only 8 people in house on the dev team but we are getting one more member next month that brings a decade of experience with him, and we’re looking for an experienced 3D modeller to join us in the near future. We’re developing the game in Unity which makes going cross platform less painful than it could have been. Our internal builds are running on PC and MAC already and we have tested builds on the XBox One and WiiU dev kits without encountering too much trouble, so we’re confident we can get it done.”

The first time the game was shown to the public was in May of 2013 when a trailer was released that featured footage from a pre-alpha build of the game. Later that year, in November, the developers brought the game to the crowd funding platform where they launched their campaign.

The campaign ran into problems during the holiday season given the influx of other projects seeking funding. Fearing that the project would be lost in the masses of campaigns, the project was pulled from Kickstarter. In March 2014, the game returned to Kickstarter where it was well received. As of April 12, 2014, the game was successfully funded.

The plot of Earthlock: Festival of Magic is being written by the comic book writer, Magnus Aspli.

With the game set to launch across 6 separate platforms, the developers told Gaming Bolt, “We’re developing the game in Unity which makes going cross platform less painful than it could have been. Our internal builds are running on PC and MAC already and we have tested builds on the XBox One and WiiU dev kits without encountering too much trouble, so we’re confident we can get it done.”

When talking about the games visual style, which is vibrant and clean, Stang said, “A lot of fond memories can be drawn from both eastern and western RPGs. We also have a weakness for Studio Ghibli and Pixar. We wanted to steer clear of a monochromatic grey and brown world and have everything feel serious all the time. We wanted colours in there that could talk about the world and support the fun parts of the dialogue in a better way. The characters are colourful in who they are, so the visuals should reflect that!”

Story

The game’s story is set in the magical land of Umbra. An age ago, the planet suddenly stopped spinning for no apparent reason. In the wake of this sudden jarring stop, oceans shifted and drowned the world whilst Volcanoes sundered the earth.

A long time later, in the wake of this cataclysm, the player will take control of Amon. A scavenger from a small desert town that finds himself wrapped up in a power struggle involving recently risen empires.

Gameplay

Earthlock: Festival of Magic is a single player turn based role playing game, but unlike most other titles in the RPG genre it won’t feature some of the usual RPG tropes. For instance, the game will feature a non linear story which is of course the opposite of most story driven role playing games.

When we speak of eschewing common RPG tropes, this includes throwing of the shackles of the random encounter which can often ruin the flow of exploration and narrative pacing in a game, speaking to Gaming Bolt, Stang said “Well, we think that random encounters are less fun than seeing the enemy and allowing the player some chance of manoeuvring past should they want to just get on to where they’re going. This is just a personal thing, of course, but I feel random encounters often becomes tedious when I don’t want to fight.”

When speaking about the games mechanics and team work implementation for the players party, Stang told Gaming Bolt, “The combat pairs is one of the unique elements of our combat system. Basically you will be able to unlock special perks and abilities that are only available to the characters when they are teamed up. We call them friendship abilities. We also have a friendship energy that builds up when you have a team active in combat. Using this energy they’ll be able to unleash pretty awesome combo attacks based on who is teamed up with who.

Players that make any move in combat will likely consume one of the games numerous resources, they include mana, stamina, ammo, consumable items (such as healing items or buff items) and friendship energy. At the players home base, they can farm and harvest a number of different plants and other resources that they can then use to create a variety of items including consumable healing potions and ammunition for their weaponry, somewhat similar to the farming mechanic found in the Monster Hunter series.

Characters

Thus far, we don’t know much about the characters in the game, but we do know that Amon is a scavenger from a small desert town. There’s also a female character in the game, but details are scarce.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

I recently sat with the game’s director Bendik Stang to know more about the game. Check out the full interview below.

Rashid Sayed: Earthlock Festival of Magic is coming across six platforms. Taking on a project of this scale obviously requires more manpower. How many members strong is Snowcastle Games?

Bendik Stang: We are only 8 people in house on the dev team but we are getting one more member next month that brings a decade of experience with him, and we’re looking for an experienced 3D modeller to join us in the near future.

We’re developing the game in Unity which makes going cross platform less painful than it could have been. Our internal builds are running on PC and MAC already and we have tested builds on the XBox One and WiiU dev kits without encountering too much trouble, so we’re confident we can get it done.

Rashid Sayed: There is definitely a potential for a complex role playing system in Earthlock: Festival of Magic. Which gameplay mechanic do you think will undergo a massive change when the game eventually comes out?

Bendik Stang: I seriously hope we won’t need to do any massive changes to the gameplay after launch. We’re constantly playtesting internally and we’ll run a QA period with beta testing that is meant to make sure the gameplay works as intended. The goal is to release a game that won’t need much in ways of post launch changes.

"We wanted to steer clear of a monochromatic grey and brown world and have everything feel serious all the time. We wanted colours in there that could talk about the world and support the fun parts of the dialogue in a better way."

Rashid Sayed: Is there a specific reason why you guys decided not to include random encounters, especially given its utilization in other role playing games such as Dragon Quest?

Bendik Stang: Well, we think that random encounters are less fun than seeing the enemy and allowing the player some chance of maneuvering past should they want to just get on to where they’re going. This is just a personal thing, of course, but I feel random encounters often becomes tedious when I don’t want to fight.

Rashid Sayed: Does switching between a male and female character changes the way the story of the game plays out?

Bendik Stang: This is an excellent question. I wish I could just answer yes, but adding all the extra game content is outside the budget for the first game, Earthlock: Festival of Magic. However if we make good money on the first game, we might not only make differences between the male and female protagonist, but also between the other player characters.

Rashid Sayed: The game is not pushing any hardcore graphical benchmarks but it sure does look beautiful. What was your inspiration behind the current art style?

Bendik Stang: It’s really a mix of all sorts of games, movies and influences the dev team grew up with. A lot of fond memories can be drawn from both eastern and western RPGs. We also have a weakness for Studio Ghibli and Pixar. We wanted to steer clear of a monochromatic grey and brown world and have everything feel serious all the time. We wanted colours in there that could talk about the world and support the fun parts of the dialogue in a better way. The characters are colourful in who they are, so the visuals should reflect that! The characters are deliberately designed very clean, from concept art through 3D to textures. The same goes for our environments. This way of working has allowed us to make something that looks colourful and fun while not taxing any hardware too much.

Rashid Sayed: What can you tell us about combat pairs, item, inventory, leveling, skills and ammunition system? [Essentially the entire RPG mechanics] and how does it make the game different from other RPGs?

Bendik Stang: Let’s see…The combat pairs is one of the unique elements of our combat system. Basically you will be able to unlock special perks and abilities that are only available to the characters when they are teamed up. We call them friendship abilities. We also have a friendship energy that builds up when you have a team active in combat. Using this energy they’ll be able to unleash pretty awesome combo attacks based on who is teamed up with who.

Any action during combat will cost something – either mana/stamina, ammo, consumable item or friendship energy. The latter being very powerful.

Back at your base you can plant and harvest all sorts of spuds and plants that will be used in a crafting system where you turn the different resources into all manners of ammo and potions. The crafting is directly tied to combat in that you make the ammunition you need when you’re out questing. The home base is a place that will evolve as the player moves through the game as well. New inhabitants will set up shop that grant players access to more content and crafting possibilities. The home base is also where the player will return to manage their character progression and take a breather in between quests and combat.

"We have set up a very console friendly combat interface that is beginning to feel very good. I can say we have many ideas regarding the WiiU touch screen but before we go into details I would like to have prototyped and tested the ideas first."

Rashid Sayed: How are you using the Wii U’s GamePad and the DualShock 4’s touch pad to further make the gameplay intriguing?

Bendik Stang: We are still focusing on the core production and as such have not began to experiment with the input devices. We have set up a very console friendly combat interface that is beginning to feel very good. I can say we have many ideas regarding the WiiU touch screen but before we go into details I would like to have prototyped and tested the ideas first.

Rashid Sayed: I assume that you guys have been working on the PS4 and Xbox One versions for awhile or at least have access to the development kits. What is your opinion on the differences between the consoles?

Bendik Stang: I think they are both quite easy to work with and the support on both consoles is good. For our game, the hardware is punching over what we need to run so the differences aren’t really noticeable for us. I think Unity has really changed the landscape on cross platform development, at least for a small studio such as ourselves. The ability to develop a game and (more or less) push a button and have it on the different platforms is a game changer.

Rashid Sayed: Will the game run at 1080p and 60 fps on both the PS4 and Xbox One? 

Bendik Stang: I expect it will run at 60 fps on both platforms but we have not began render optimization yet so it is too early to say anything certain. But since we in general don’t push the hardware too much I’m fairly certain both consoles will achieve that standard.

"We hit some delays in production this fall when we had some trouble finding the perfect outsourcing partner for this production. We have since started collaborating with a company called Original Force, and we're wildly enthusiastic with what they're delivering."

Rashid Sayed: Earthlock:Festival of Magic is also coming on the Wii U. Don’t you guys think it’s a great opportunity for Snowcastle Games since the Wii U is literally starving for solid role playing games?

Bendik Stang: Yeah, ever since we announced the WiiU as a platform for Earthlock we’ve gotten very encouraging response from the WiiU owners out there!

Rashid Sayed: Do you guys have a solid release date in mind?

Bendik Stang: We hit some delays in production this fall when we had some trouble finding the perfect outsourcing partner for this production. We have since started collaborating with a company called Original Force, and we’re wildly enthusiastic with what they’re delivering. Working with them has certainly sped things up! With the current scope of the game we are looking at a release in Q3 this year. It’s a matter of manpower and scope, and we really do not want to cut down on the scope to deliver earlier. We want to release the game as close to what we envisioned as possible.

Rashid Sayed: Are there any plans to support the game post launch via DLC?

Bendik Stang: Well, for each new game in the series the world will be expanded and new features will be added. First there is Festival of Magic, then there is The Last Memory and finally there is The Awakening. We are already beginning pre-production planning for The Last Memory this spring.

Rashid Sayed: Is there anything else you want to tell us before we let you go?

Bendik Stang: We will be attending GDC in San Francisco in the first week of March this year. We will have a demo booth at GDC Play, so if any your readers are attending GDC this year come find us and try Earthlock!

Earthlock: Festival of Magic is an upcoming role-playing video which is scheduled to be released on just about every major platform out there. Accompanying the Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and Wii U versions, Snowcastle Games will also bring it to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms.

GamingBolt recently got the chance to interview Snowcastle’s Game Director Bendik Stang and given that they are working on both consoles, PS4 and Xbox One, we asked him about his take on differences between the two.

“I think they are both quite easy to work with and the support on both consoles is good,” he said. Howevere since they are working on Unity, the differences aren’t really noticeable. “For our game, the hardware is punching over what we need to run so the differences aren’t really noticeable for us. I think Unity has really changed the landscape on cross platform development, at least for a small studio such as ourselves. The ability to develop a game and (more or less) push a button and have it on the different platforms is a game changer.”

Earthlock: Festival of Magic is scheduled for a launch time sometime year. Stay tuned for our full interview with Bendik Stang in the coming days. In the meantime check out some gameplay footage  from Earthlock: Festival of Magic.