The Dragon's Tome: Altarus

Created and Published by Afflicted Game Studios

The Dragon’s Tome: Altarus takes place in the mythical world of Mathoc on Syrith. Blood is spilled as fast as gold exchanges hands and heroes are rare. King Say’lor K’Val rules from the Imperium, Capital City of the K’Val Empire. Altarus is the province that the game takes place in, a cesspool of cultural differences, corruption, and greed.

In the Empire, the High Elf Great Houses constantly battle the Emperor for power, when they aren’t massacring each other diplomatically. The oppressed peasants are forced to work for the wealthy lords or risk starvation. The nobility reigns supreme, dominating those beneath them in a tyrannical fashion.

In Altarus, the choices are yours. Will you be a corrupt knight? A noble thief? A powerful wizard? A devout priest? Or something in between? Will you rule over one of the High Elf Great Houses? Will you join the White Shadows Assassins? Will you get involved in the Guild Wars between the Thieves’ Guilds?

Altarus will not have stunning graphics, but what it lacks for in graphics, it’ll make up for in depth and plot-line. The Dragon’s Tome: Altarus has a wonderful world full of life, adventure, and excitement.

In Altarus, you’ll be able to ‘take the road less traveled’ and betray your allies and comrades to increase your own power. Will your honor remain intact or will it be shattered when opportunity comes?

The Dragon’s Tome: Altarus is expected to be released in late 2011, early 2012 (Most likely around December 2011 to March 2012). The price will (most likely) be $4.99. The question is, “Are you ready to experience a mystical world that’ll challenge your mind and morality?”

The Dragon's Tome: Altarus is a creation of a few friends and me. We're only asking a small fee so that we can afford more advanced technology (that'll allow us to do 3d games).

It'll be a roleplaying game that'll challenge your mind with puzzles and force you to make morally-grey choices.

Well, look at someone whose lady Luck smiles upon. Gratz, Z! Definately send some pics!

Woo!

My developers haven't got to the point of programming yet, because we're still building the main quest. The graphics can be expected to be Fallout 1/2 Quality though.

Also, feel free to ask questions readers and future customers. We're always glad to answer any questions.

Ahh, graphics like Fallout 1/2. How about gameplay, is it like Fallout 1/2 or what?

We're aiming for it to be first-person. You'll click to attack. Use W, S, D, A keys to move, use the mouse to look around. Of course it'll be customizable to your personal preferences (I personally prefer the arrow keys).

We're going to try to allow the ability to hot-key items.

So its like Daggerfall? OK, enough about the gameplay.

How about the game's races? What kind of Elves/Men would we encounter?

The races we'll see are...

Humans: Humans are regarded as standard class citizens, they're treated with rights that all others get (for the most part). They tend to be fairly decent at anything they do.

High Elves: High Elves are regarded as a superior race by King Say'lor, being a High Elven ruler. High Elves tend to make up the majority of nobility (although some humans have risen to high noble ranks) (also known as Hye'Kal).

Wood Elves: They're treated with a little bit of a dubious attitude by most people. Most never leave their homelands of Silverwood, an ancient forest in the North-East. However, Altarus is known to have many Wood Elves (or Wod'Kal).

Dark Elves: Dark Elves are a rare race to be seen without shackles. They're descendents or veterans of the High Elf Wars between the High Elf Great Houses millenia ago. King Say'lor views them as animals, even though during the time of the House Wars, their house was the most powerful (politically and in terms of war, however, the others bound together to destroy it).

Orcs: Orcs are barbaric and powerful humanoids. Most worship Bane, God of War or the Kas Brothers, the gods of Destruction, Terror, and Hatred. However, in recent times they've been accepted into normal society, although most nobility finds them to be putrid.

Beastfolk: Beast-Folk is an umbrella term for the races. While msot make their home in Silverwood, the Black Marsh, or Star's Reach, some have come to Altarus.

Foxkin: The playful fox people are often found in Thieves' Guilds and Taverns playing pranks. Many are viewed as abominations (being created by the God of Beasts, like all other Beastfolk), but they tend to be extremely loyal to people who earn their trust. They tend to make excellent thieves, rogues, and bards.

Ursals: The bear-people are feared in civilized cities and revered by many Barbarian Tribes on the island of the Frostblood Tundra. They're very strong, but tend to be slower physically and mentally. They are commonly mercenaries or soldiers.

Wolfen: The Wolf people are a powerful people. They are often found with others of their kind or leading adventuring parties. Those who serve under Wolfen claim, "Wolfen have a natural leader-ship ability." While High Elves find them to be foul, they still respect their talent as soldiers.

Lizard-Folk: The Lizard People are a mysterious people. In some tribes, cannibalism is common, although it is usually ritualistic. The Lizard People usually stay in the Black Marsh, but some come to Altarus in search of wealth or fame. They almost never show emotion and tend to be rather good at anything.

(Additional races are in debate, we're debating on if an avian beast-race is in order, but in my opinion, four is good). When you see they aren't liked by high elves or any race really, it just means a disposition modifier (or improvement if the people like you, like soldiers like Wolfen).

I apologize for quick backgrounds, the only races that have been worked on are dragons (no, they're not playable nor are they enemies, and I do not think they'll be in the game), dark elves, and high elves thusfar.

Hmm.. A colourful set of races to be sure. Whew, with my questions, you should create a site where Dragon's Tome Lore are stored away!

By the way, what platforms would Dragon's Tome be on? PC?

P.C. only, but I'm guessing any computer that can run Internet Explorer would be fine with it.

And I keep lore tucked away, so that I can implement it in a way I like (making in-game books, some contradicting each other), etc.

Woo Hoo, Zalphon !!! You are really pushing your future forward !!! Can't wait to see this in action!

Good luck man, I previously helped with an RPG game for quite a while...it eventually failed. The team was fairly large and very organized, a lot of people worked on the story, races, background, concept art, maps, books and such. I worked administration on the forums, organizing and moderation as well as general contribution of ideas. It made it into the coding phase and some basic 3D odels were created but eventually the project fell through and ended up as nothing.

Hopefully your project will not suffer the same fate.

Seems it has... Most of them don't have any gaming experience past Call of Duty... And none except me and the lead developer had any motivation. I've decided to just write the books and let whatever follows follow.

Dang that was fast, unfortunately thats the way of it most of the time. I wish the project I was working on hadn't fallen through but these things happen. Best of luck with whatever you end up doing.