November's Basically Over

Why hello there!

I have been hard at work over at the NaGa DeMon (National Game Designer Month) discord and as the month draws to a close, it seems only fitting to provide what results I managed to duct-tape together for the public.

What this project is:

As previously detailed, Wrought-Iron Hearts is a robust mech-management simulator set in the depths of hell. It's peppered with a healthy heaping of melodrama as your quest to stomp through the denizens of hell is intermixed with a relationship management system between you and the other Hellbound Pilots trying to find your absolution. Pepper on top of this prompt-based journaling to tie all the systems together into a cohesive whole, and you have Wrought-Iron Hearts - ideally.

The final project will have: a rulebook, printable sheets for the mechanics to work, and a campaign that lets your roam through five different hells in order to get to the end of your Pilot's story.

What I achieved:

With the mantra of "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe", I set out to flesh out whatever systems I needed as I bumped into them during development. It allowed for some quick cycles, which permitted me to have a skeleton of everything I needed to be present. But I was left running out of time when it comes to content. In an effort to not leave November empty handed, I have created a playable pre-alpha demo that contains:

- A narrative-driven tutorial that introduces every system.

- The sheets you'll need to make the game run.

- The first three scenarios in the first dive of one of the hells.

Please note that all of this is pre-alpha content, with a staggering amount of work left to do. That said, it should be playable if you are morbidly curious as to what core ideas I'm trying to hit.

What still needs doing:

Hoo boy, the list here is enormous:

- Refine existing systems.

- Fill the systems with content

- Create 5 dives for the 5 hells, with ~3 scenarios per dive.

- Bugtest to ensure that the systems actually play nice all the way to the end of the game.

- Create a pleasing design for the sheets.

- Create a pleasing design for the rulebook.

- Create art. And I mean oodles of actual, purchase-worthy art!

It is my intention to finish this project, even if November was far too small a month to do it in. I hope you'll follow me on this journey, or come back and take a peek once I have a truly ready version available.

Until then!