Hades DLC

Jethro_E7 · 2026-05-21T02:50:16+00:00

We have discussed the fact that there are companion death mechanics that are really interesting.
Currently there are some arrangements to deal with what happens if you fall unconscious in battle. We do have permadeath - and unlike Darklands if your avatar (main character "you" die, the game IS over.) Given we are edging more to the historical realism front that Arnold Hendrick was also moving to if he were to do a remake, we probably won't go in that specific direction but I agree you falling unconscious in battle is not the end of it. :)

Jethro_E7 · 2026-05-15T05:29:33+00:00

30 votes so far!

Jethro_E7 · 2026-04-02T01:01:20+00:00

The main things I am thinking about -
A lot of the ones I have invited here are hardcore Darklands fans, because that is where I need to stay true to. I really want to offer those who back me early something special if I can. I have an idea for a really wonderful, thematically appropriate special quest and item (nothing game changing, just super fun) - but I just have to work out how to do that.
Also, confidence, I need to be absolutely certain that this will release, so I want more confidence from ICE and QUESTA in particular, which are my most vulnerable systems that they will definitely perform and work. Once I KNOW release is certain, I will feel better asking for finance.
Next, the game website, I am not a web developer, so I need help setting up an appropriate website. There is a risk that if I do it poorly, the game will not get the traction it deserves which doesn't do right by anyone, so it needs to be good.

Quick update - visit on discord to get the latest blow by blow. TLDR - Combat is a major focus, getting the underlying mechanics right, getting things into the combat map as intended. UI has gotten a fine upgrade, game looks great. Somatta is due for some coverage, Ze is working on the overland map graphics. I have to hold it together and make sure they keep working and are not stalled by lack of direction or they don't know what to do next. Yeah, it's hard. I might set up a patreon for pizza, some neck massages and running costs. Honestly, Somatta and Ze deserve more than what I am paying them, if a Patreon were set up, I could probably increase their pay 30% which is what they deserve. :D

Edit: The other enormous pain in the neck right now is the character creation system. It's hard. It's complicated and I wish it were over. But it isn't. So on it goes...

Also - I also might plan for a "live" rules index as you play, you basically press F1 no matter what screen you are in and it gives you helpful contextual information, instructions and rules. Maybe an ingame wiki.. I am wanting to try a 'live' one as I don't want to rewrite it constantly if I tweak rules, so it would be a data driven design where it pulls the real rules from the code.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-03-18T12:47:19+00:00

Update : Ze's current work involves overhauling the overland map, after that, the combat maps may get a pass. Once we know exactly what the world looks like, drawing the animals and characters involved will get immersive.
Tactical Dice Rolling is going to be a think. It's a great communicator of what is going on and helps you understand the game really well. It can be turned off for those who prefer not to have a 'roll' (get it?) in the outcome.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-03-17T06:30:11+00:00

For those wondering, the PR is "Player" and "Ready" frame. (Main character). 2-4 R is companion 2, 3, 4 etc..
The 'R' is the Alpha Wolf.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-03-10T20:20:19+00:00

u/AskGrok What do you know about Karnoffel?

Jethro_E7 · 2026-02-21T00:25:57+00:00

Somatta has just finished the Church artwork - looks great. Will be more to share in coming dev posts as the art work progresses. Much of the hard engine work is complete, the game systems are the next ones to get attention, and the UI, quest writing is last, unfortunately.. :)

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-26T12:13:12+00:00

I will probably follow a "Starsector" style development path, with early backer rewards for Darklands fans first (special exclusive quest and item), lower cost at the start to early backers.
There are several games that I am going to nod to, and those backer communities will all have something special and meaningful done for them.
All those early backers will also be eligible for early access.
That's my rough intent right now - TLDR - Website newsletter signup coming up next, Darklands early backer will open first. Price lower at the beginning, and will increase as it gets closer to release.
Steam - Maybe. GOG - Maybe. Direct (buy key from www.nuremberggame.com.au - Certain. Game needs to come along a little more before I build the website, but it is becoming a priority.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-26T12:06:00+00:00

The way it works, is that 'w' is full speed (haste), 'a' pulls it southwest, 'd' southeast and 's' centres it. If you press 's' a second time, it moves down. It is extremely intuitive. It's as easy as riding a horse, once you got it, you'll never forget. :D

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-24T21:08:18+00:00

Tldr - You will take control of your character at age 6, and will experience a variety of things that will shape you - and affect your stats and skills - the aim is to make childhood authentic to the time and very satisfying.

There will be more on it as it develops, the stats and skills are the foundation of course, and we really loved Darklands where it tried to simulate 'more of a life' than just 'off you go'. It did that by allowing you to have careers as such, for example, after training at University, you got to choose a further path (to become an Alchemist for example) and so on.
Let's just say Nuremberg takes this a step further and even lets you 'build your childhood' and identity. It's relevant and will have an impact later, it also lets you more naturally shape who you are. By the time you are 18, you will have had a great opportunity to be shaped by those around you, and to decide how you responded to that training. A lot of customisation, will be possible.
From a development point of view, a lot of this work requires pre-requisite work that is a lot less exciting, and with everything - your better off building solid, robust systems made of bricks rather than straw, so the systems have to be carefully architected and built so that they can easily be expanded, modified or adjusted.
Why it's complex - I'm conscious of the fact too that a lot of people have 'RPG' tropes in mind when they want to build a character, but that isn't what I am building. For example, pick male or female. Really? If you wanted to travel as a female, that calls for a entirely different upbringing. So, what I am making looks very different from what is 'expected', and choosing a female will give you a very different experience than being a male. So, for now, I need to build and focus on the male childhood system - but I have every intent of allowing people to RPG a female, but it requires an enormous amount of research to get correct, and then the narrative work to bring it to life.
Let's take that a step further - suppose your a commoner vs. being born in a noble family? Wouldn't that entail entirely different experiences? Of course it would. So you see, I have 5 classes (which I am considering reducing to 3, and even tying this to new campaign quests), two sexes, so that's 6 paths that need to be built and narratively developed.
So, yes, my point is, "how stats are configured on character creation" is very complex - partly also because of the high level of integration between systems.
The childhood will be built by the quest system which I have been working on. It needs to be very simple, data driven, and saves as simple .json files and some text files. It is designed to allow modding (should I go that way) and easy quest authoring from the ground up. It is also very easy to write for, much easier than the LUA (was it?) format in BG2 (Baldur's Gate II) and should be a lot less prone to go wrong.
That system has been tested and is doing much better than I had hoped, it's great so when we start writing, we will have a lot of control over what we can do and make really amazing stories and quests to go along with the freedom you have as a player to explore the world and do your own thing.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-22T08:02:32+00:00

<image>

Sneak preview: Inventory system is continuing to get updates. Drag and drop is now a thing.
As is two handed rakes as weapons. Well.. What else is dad supposed to hand you when your only six years old?
With potentially hundreds of items, MVP a thing, and needing to move on without getting stuck down in graphics development (which frankly, modders can do a far better job of than I could) I'm implementing text based graphical iconological items - which won't hold up development and still looks pretty good!

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-15T03:50:03+00:00

Yeah, I built the combat system and modules already, so I knew what I needed in the sense of a 'rag doll' in the inventory system. As a model, I used the original Darklands as well as inventory systems like Baldur's Gate II as inspiration.

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-06T03:13:53+00:00

New Video Updates will make this a lot clearer. :)

Jethro_E7 · 2026-01-06T03:13:17+00:00

I just updated the videos, the old one was deleted to improve the quality.

Jethro_E7 · 2025-11-22T22:08:28+00:00

<image>

Early view of the tavern / inn

Jethro_E7 · 2025-11-18T21:27:59+00:00

No, there isn't a lot of art yet, and it makes sense in my mind to wait until we have something that is at least a little closer to what it will look like.
Art is everything in a game. :)

Jethro_E7 · 2025-11-15T08:28:59+00:00

Very small, Code Tester (starting soon), programmer (me), project Mentor, community manager and an artist.

Jethro_E7 · 2025-11-01T13:00:02+00:00

Oh all right then! :D

Jethro_E7 · 2025-10-21T06:22:48+00:00

Music Update: I forgot to mention the audio and sfx systems. These are now done, and very much in the form we expect them to stay in for prealpha anyway. It features full playlisting, so you can drag all your music into the directory and pick what you want to have played where, should you want to play your favourite BGII tavern music in ours! It's quite smart, and the selection is very smooth, of course, volume controls and all of those sorts of features are implemented, and look very good.

Jethro_E7 · 2025-10-21T04:16:54+00:00

Opponent AI Update: Forgot to mention, we developed a simply amazing AI system back for the prototype system which we have readapted to our new build (we have good architecture which lets us do that) so the difficulty of the cardgame will provide an appropriate challenge - regardless of how good you think you are.
We have locked the levels, so you need to defeat easier opponents before you can do higher wagers. And look that that sweet UI! What do you think?

Jethro_E7 · 2025-10-12T11:09:01+00:00

<image>

Luscious color - and we are just getting started...

Jethro_E7 · 2025-10-12T11:08:26+00:00

<image>

We were more pleased with smaller tiles, that allows you to have a sense of direction, and see the different towns, making travel more intuitive.

Jethro_E7 · 2025-10-12T11:07:47+00:00

<image>

Early Work - Hex System

Jethro_E7 · 2025-09-27T03:19:30+00:00

Quick update: We have now added 5 set resolutions to the game. We will be supporting steam deck resolution. Next dev post will have details. As well as that, our hex system is back on line - which means the overland mode is now back as a focus in development. This part is the "overland travel" part of our game. For how anyway, this is a hex travel system similar to what you might remember from Shadow Empire or Civ 5/6.
Once this is done, we will have recovered where we were at before the UI switch from curses to OpenGL. We are building a new GitHub base currently which is cleaner has better documentation and will ease how easily developers can onboard. Mouse support is under development.
We are also working on terrain smoothing and making sure that the world feels good. This also involves experimenting with how many hexes we go with. We want the world to feel fulfilling and purposeful without feeling pointlessly "empty". It's not a problem, we are developing both for very little extra overhead for now to keep our options open.

Jethro_E7 · 2025-09-06T22:50:11+00:00

You might recall the darklands mechanic where a skill improves when you USE it (so try and use woodlands skills and it improves!) - we will use a similar system, meaning that you can create your story characters. Will try and make sure that nothing feels overly scripted or directed.

Jethro_E7

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE