Official logo, new monster, Archer hero, Origins dungeon sneak peek and more!

Official logo, new monster, Archer hero, Origins dungeon sneak peek and more!

HELLO fellow Crusaders of Avalon!!! :) Rodger here, and I hope everyone is doing great this evening/day. Wait...just wait....it's only 3 weeks to XMAS??!! I mean really? I feel like time is just flying by nowadays. I hope everyone out there had a great thanksgiving with your family and friends and had a terrific feast!

LOL, maybe Dungeon Crusade is keeping me busy? Maybe just a little, but I truly love working on this game with you guys, and sharing all of this stuff with you.

As you know last weekend was a lite update, but sharing that video of the massive content update with you was really fun I think. I did accomplish everything i set out to do to get the house ready for the holidays, so all is happy here. But right after that, it was a very productive week for Dungeon Crusade....I mean like Uber productive guys. But it's great to be back with you guys and show you some very cool stuff this weekend.

There is so much in this update, I really don't know where to start. Well...let's start with the official Dungeon Crusade logo that myself and Jesse finally got finalized today. 

I put a small reveal video together is you guys would like to check that. I came out really good. So shoot over here if you want, watch it, and head back here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaDghF5M_N8

And here is the new logo....

So this logo will be on everything Dungeon Crusade. Especially the cover art of the game box. Jesse Hansen of Cornerstone Creative Studios really assisted me in recreating what I had envisioned for this logo. He truly is a super and talented artist

I really wanted to design the logo on my own, ya'know, make it personal. It took a LONG time to think of a great looking logo. Many different ideas, concepts, revisions, etc. 

LOL, this my be TMI, but I envisioned the final logo while showering and washing my hair...I know, kinda weird..but the GOD's honest truth. So I put together this logo I had thought of, and forwarded it to Jesse for him to professionally recreate, and put his touch on it. Myself and Jesse worked together the last few days on making this finally come together. 

Jesse did an OUTSTANDING job of doing what I had envisioned for this logo. I wanted this to look very retro, and pay homage to some of the games from back in the day that influenced me in making Dungeon Crusade. I hope you guys like this! :) 

I also manage the facebook Dungeon Crusade site, and a new profile pic was in order for that page So I started putting some ideas I had in mind together and got working on it in my program, and came up with this. A fairly epic profile pic to represent Dungeon Crusade with I believe. I thought you guys might want to see it...

 NEW MONSTER:

So I have a new monster for you guys. A level 3 champion monster, "Blackhand Defiler". This is the elite version you are going to see. For those of you who don't know, I created an evil faction in Dungeon Crusade called "The Blackhand Army". Their an evil, malevolent faction trying to take control of Avalon. At one time, they  "were" human, but they have sacrificed their souls to become part of this demonic army led by the guardian Lord Blackhand. So throughout the game, your heroes will run into different members of the Blackhand Army.

 As always, here is the legend for the warfare traits....

 And do remember, besides the elite champions there is normal versions for champion monsters that have their origins stories on it, instead of a special ability. Here is the full poster pic of the Blackhand Defiler....

 And Jesse had sent me the level 2 champion monster Blackhand Blademaster, but I didn't have enough time to get it into the update. Next week for sure. ;) 

On the subject of monsters, I submitted to Cornerstone Creative Studios the design docs for the level 4 champion monsters. So we will see them starting to make an appearance. The level 4's consist of Crypt Fiend, Death Knight, Queen of the Blackhand, Beast of the Faith, Ogre Chieftain, Enraged Troll and Ancient Horror. So 7 normal versions, 7 elites. 

 HEROES SPECIAL ABILITY CARDS:

Before we get into these, I have to give a huge shout to Kez and Tom. Kez did the card design for us, while Tom did the awesome icons upon the cards. A truly outstanding job by these guys! :) 

I managed to get all of the first 6 heroes special abilities done this week, and these really got honed to perfection. Let me show you a table of all the cards arranged for you to take a look at. Just a note here. I uploaded the pic of the full table, but KS shrinks it way down so you couldn't make it out. So I just went into my program and divided it up so you can now see everything more up close...

 I truly perfected and honed these special abilities for each hero. For example, if a hero doesn't have a certain weapon equipped, they can't use the special ability, and it makes sense. Example....

The Archer hero has a very cool special ability called "Pinning Shot." This special ability is dependent on her having a ranged warfare weapon. If she doesn't have a bow, (ranged warfare weapon), she can't use that ability. 

Another example is the Wizard. Now a wizard uses a staff usually to cast spells right? Same in Dungeon Crusade. A Wizard without a staff can't cast some special abilities. 

I just refuse to just "throw" a special ability in the game. I really wanted to take my time to develop fun and tactical special abilities for us to use while playing Dungeon Crusade. :) 

So we haven't done this in a while. Let's look at one of the Wizard's special abilities, "Magic Missile", and see how it may play out in the dungeon....

Now notice right there at the bottom. The wizard must have a arcane warfare weapon to use Magic Missile. It makes sense right? Well, in fantasy gaming at least. ;) 

So let's look at the dungeon and see what the situation is....

 So the Wizard is a few spaces away from being in line of sight of Banevik, one of the Guardians. Notice the 2 minions adjacent to Banevik. A few heroes are around the Wizard and are planning a huge attack on Banevik and the 2 minions. It's time for the Wizard to make his move....

 The Wizard moves into place and unloads a salvo of Magic Missiles at Banevik! Take a look at the Magic Missile card. The Wizard activated this card by paying 4 essence. But now that he has cast Magic Missile, it's time to see the outcome of what the Magic Missiles did in damage.

 According to the card, the Wizard player must roll a D8 to see the outcome. The D8 is rolled, and 8 is rolled! He has done 2 damage to Banevik, and from how the card reads, any monster adjacent to the target take 1 damage! The Wizard has softened up the monster now for an all out attack with his fellow heroes! :) 

I hope you guys liked that little demo of a special ability. We'll get more into the special abilities in the next few updates, as there is much more I'd like to share with you.

BLESSING CARDS:

Another awesome thing is the blessing cards are coming together. David Shearer sent me the Blessing card backing, and it looks pretty stellar guys...take a look at the backing, then we'll discuss it a bit...

 OK, I'll say it...What a totally rad card! Awesome work on David Shearer's part. That thing is awesome. So David and me were discussing the priest on the card casting the blessing. It's kind of sketchy right? Blessings are 200 gold each, and can be found at the temple in the village on celebration day.

Now there are 2 outcomes to Blessings. Either you're going to reveal a blessing. or you're not going to get one. LOL, and don't worry...I wrote some very sad, melancholy lines for these cards that have dark clouds on them, if you did not receive a blessing. ;)

However, if you did receive a Blessing, the card will reveal a beautiful angel that will aid you in some way on your dark journey. Some of these angels are pretty powerful to say the least...but you got to be lucky enough to get one. :) 

And you may ONLY  reveal your Blessing upon returning to the dungeon. You must leave your Blessing card face down until that time.

And the incredible artist Tom is right now finishing up the angels of Dungeon Crusade. When we spoke about them, he was really excited to do these, and looking forward to them. He sent some rough sketches of the angels so far, and they. are. AWESOME! I hope to have these within the next week, hopefully? But I would like to show you them all at once. So we have that to look forward to.

NEW HERO ART:

So Jesse, Joseph and Freddy from Cornerstone Creative Studios got the Archer hero done for us this week. This is the one I have been telling you is the new version. Remember the other archer girl? Well here is the brand new Archer hero for Dungeon Crusade....awesome work guys as usual! :)

 I'm really happy how she came out. And notice how she is dressed...this is the kind of stuff I'd like the female heroes to look like in Dungeon Crusade. Classy, deadly and plain out awesome. 

While we're at it, let's take a look at her level 1 hero card....

 Some fonts will be changing on these hero cards. Notice the name plate. There will be brighter fonts there so it's very clear to read. 

A SNEAK PEEK AT THE FINAL ORIGINS DUNGEON BOARD:

So Shaun has sent me a VERY close to final version of the Origins dungeon board. What I have to do this coming week is add in the patrol routes and spawn points to the dungeon. Well, the spawn points are done, so I'm on the patrol routes right now. Plus I have to add in a few things in regards to the minions for movement. 

But just WOW! Shaun truly out did himself with this recreating of the Origins board. The dungeon looks, and reads so much better. What I'm shooting for is to film a "world debut" trailer towards the end of the week, and include it in next weeks update. I'm going to try to get the doors done also. So what you see, is what you will be getting in your game! By the way, here is the doors Shaun created for the dungeons. Of course these are going to be the size of the ones you saw in my prototype.

 So let me explain the pic you are going to see. I have not yet printed the final origins dungeon board yet, because I'm still working on it. But I'm creating this, "digital table" so to speak. LOL, some of you guys have seen my props, so I'm always coming up with something kinda different to build. But what I'm doing is I'm creating a gaming table, but in the center, is going to have a big LCD display. The reason I'm doing this is to playtest dungeon boards, without printing them. LOL, yes..I'm very frugal. ;)

So this way, I can hook up a laptop to it, take the dungeon board I'm working on from my workstation PC, throw it on a flash drive, put it into the laptop then display it on the LCD and play Dungeon Crusade on it. I've done this before, and it works really well, and saves on printing the board out until it's fully done. Printing huge dungeon boards can add up fast.

So take a look at this sneak peek of the Origins board Shaun did  on a digital display. It really does look kind of cool, and works perfectly. :)

 So I hope you like the look of this. I truly does look incredible. Oh, another thing i can share with you is the new spawn points Shaun created. If you remember, this was my prototype one from the game...

 Now here is the new spawn point for the dungeon Shaun created. LOL...yes, It is freaking awesome....he kept the skulls!!!!! :) YES!!!!! LOL

 And as always, try to tune in to Shaun's weekly stream on Twitch Friday's at 4P.M. EST. You can sit in on his Dungeon Crusade creation session, and watch as he creates the loot for Dungeon Crusade. Here is the link to get there >>> https://www.twitch.tv/shmaba

IN CLOSING:

So you know what I will be doing this week, getting the patrol routes implemented on the Origins board, and finalizing all of that for the big debut next weekend. Plus some other things for the game such as card updates.

Kez is still on the treasure chest cards, and Shaun is on the loot and a few other things.

That's what i was going to mention to you guys. We are going to be starting work on the Castle Blackwood dungeon board next, and I'm really amped up for this. Me and Shaun have alot of great ideas we would like to do for this dungeon. 

What I came up with is, (on my rough sketch), there will be an outdoor area surrounding the castle. There will be a few parts that are a forest, a graveyard with underground crypts, and just maybe a secret passage into the castle. ;) The center of the board will be the inside of the castle. TONS of ideas I have as well as Shaun.

David Shearer of course is working on the card backings still. He is on the mining and loot card backings presently. And I did mention Tom is working on the angels for the Blessing deck. 

The guys at Cornerstone Creative Studios are working away on more monsters for us, so I would expect a good batch next update as well. 

Wowsa.....I think this update should have been called a "MEGA ULTRA HYPER COMBO" update. But, I love sharing all of this with you guys. I'll be in here with you guys tomorrow to chat about anything in the update you would like to discuss. 

I hope you enjoyed this update, and it excites you more for the game! :) Well, the clock on the wall reads 4:09 a.m.,,,,maybe I should go to bed now huh? LOL!

Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)