Letter from the Producer: Kickoff
Hello everyone! This is Jeff Hickman, Head of Production for Loric Games. I am here today to introduce myself, the team, and our new game, Echoes of Elysium! We are super excited to finally get to share with you all some details about the game and all the cool stuff we are working on. Along with helping to guide production on the team, I also get the wondrous task of writing these blogs to keep you all informed about what is going on with the game.
Loric Games is made up of 19 awesome people from around the U.S. We are a small, tight knit group of people who love working together and are dedicated to bringing a fun and interesting survival RPG to you all. The team is remote first, though we do get time in person once a month or so. Because we are a small, indie team, we all wear multiple hats. Each of us is focused on our core skills, but we share the load of whatever needs to be done and are super inclusive about ideas and the goodness that we can all bring to the team.
So, let's get down to business! What is Echoes of Elysium? Here is what Bear tells us to say:
“Survive in the clockwork world of Elysium in this 'Sea of Thieves meets Valheim' survival RPG. Band together and embark on an enchanting odyssey through Elysium's shattered landscape. Choose your hero and grow in power while you build a fleet of majestic clockwork airships, explore forgotten lands, and uncover the secrets buried deep in the heart of Elysium. Embrace the skies, defy the odds, and let the winds of adventure propel you towards triumph in this unforgettable open-world survival crafting game. But in the end, can you survive Heron’s malice?”
But what does that MEAN? My best answer…
Echoes of Elysium takes place in the Greek afterlife upper realm of Elysium, home to the greatest of Greek heroes who have reached the afterlife and been deemed worthy of ascending to Elysium. Elysium is overseen by the Titan Cronus, the god of time.
Elysium is an idyllic realm, described in Greek mythology as the golden Elysian fields, a “paradise-like meadow where the most blessed souls live separate from the rest of the underworld”.
But in our version of this realm, Elysium has fallen. Cronos is nowhere to be seen, and the realm has been shattered. What remains is a splintered assortment of floating islands, dotted with the ruins of an Elysium that was.
Not only is the land shattered across many islands, but it’s now overcome with clockwork contraptions. Ancient Greek ruins mixed with clockwork factories and machines, airships, and mechanized creatures roaming the land harvesting the souls of any remaining Elysian heroes.
This is where you come in! You are a hero of ancient Greece, recently fallen in battle and transported to the “paradise” of Elysium. Awakening on your airship, you are hunted and must survive and discover the secrets of Elysium Lost if you have any hope of saving the echoes of tormented souls and returning Elysium to its former glory.
As we are building the game, we break this down broadly into our Three core Pillars of Gameplay:
Airships
Work alone or with your friends to build your fleet of airships and transform them into the agile Carabus, upgrade to the resource gathering Bireme or create mighty Trireme inspired air fortresses; your airships provide everything you need to survive and thrive. Protect and maintain your ships as you and your friends navigate the hostile skies of Elysium. Airships soar in a world designed with verticality in mind and are used to explore clusters of bio-diverse islands and harvest rare materials in your search for answers to the mystery of Elysium.
Survival
Embark on a journey of survival in the enchanting yet perilous clockwork world of Elysium. Gather, craft and survive amidst the mechanical wonders and the serene skies, where danger lurks in the form of soul-powered clockwork monsters. Battle against these clockwork enemies powered by the souls of lost Elysians as you fight for survival. Harvest unique resources to craft vital tools, contraptions, buildings and airships, all aiding in your defense and exploration.
Heroic Progression
Choose your hero, grow in power and investigate the mystery of Elysium as you embark on an odyssey through a clockwork world, unraveling the truth of Elysium's past and the connection between its ancient mechanisms and lost souls.
Whew! Hopefully, that gives you all something to get excited about while you wait for our next update. Speaking of, I will be writing an update every 5-6 weeks to ensure you all know what is going on with the game and to get some feedback and your thoughts about what we are doing. We are currently working on Internal Milestone 9, which has a focus on Airship crafting, functionality and overall progression, as well as a bunch of improvements for monsters, hordes and flying monster behavior. More on that next time!
Talk soon,
-Jeff
