General Update #29: (Arena Monarchy, Discord Channel, Future Update Changes)

New Game Announcement:

I hope you all had a great holiday season. As it is the start of a new year, I thought it would be the perfect time to announce my new game! Arena Monarchy is a standalone expansion to Dead Monarchy and in some ways, you can consider it a spin-off title. In Arena Monarchy you are put in charge of a ludus and must train up a stable of gladiators to defeat the legendary champions of the arena. The premise is simple but as with Dead Monarchy, the meat of the game revolves around the combat system and in Arena Monarchy, the combat system has been vastly expanded.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3383910/Arena_Monarchy/

Gameplay Trailer:

Dead Monarchy Integration:

As I have alluded to in the past, most of the weapons, helmets, armor, abilities, enemies and environments will eventually be implemented into Dead Monarchy too. This will be a huge undertaking though as Arena Monarchy was separately developed after Dead Monarchy was fully released. Arena Monarchy has been in development for 1.5 years, so there is a substantial amount of new content. I cannot give an exact timeframe as to when this will happen though, I would say roughly 2-3 years from this point in time. Integrating Arena Monarchy into Dead Monarchy will be a seamless experience, it won't be a separate mode but rather I will work it into the "overarching" narrative of Dead Monarchy. In other words, the content will be accessible as post-game content, after you finish the main story for Dead Monarchy. Not only that but the city environment that serves as the backdrop for Arena Monarchy will be fully explorable in Dead Monarchy. The city itself though isn't in the best shape and wandering the streets won't be without danger. The city will take up an entire map and will function more like an "urban" wilderness map rather than a city with interactable shops and characters. That said, the ludus and base management mechanics will also be implemented into Dead Monarchy so the new city will still technically have shops and other services, but all of these will be found in your ludus rather than scattered around the city.

The Major Differences:

The biggest difference in Arena Monarchy and one of the reasons why it had to be separately developed is how time progresses. Arena Monarchy is a far more refined and focused experience compared to Dead Monarchy. Turn-based combat, gladiator management and base management are the three pillars of Arena Monarchy. Time will advance at the end of each fight, so wages are paid after the fight on the following day. There is no overworld map exploration, so time no longer gradually increments as the player moves across the map. In Arena Monarchy, time is basically set to 12h and after completing a fight, time will advance forward a whole day. This means that in Arena Monarchy, you will really have to pick and choose the fights that are assigned to you, do you do the easier fights for less money or risk it for the greater reward. Upgrading the manor within your ludus will also gradually unlock new types of fights so then you are deciding if you should directly invest into the infrastructure of your ludus or save up money for new gear. Gear progression will also be different in Arena Monarchy as there will only be one marketplace to buy gear rather than multiple, so you'll find yourself relying more on gear that you acquire directly from enemies since there is no overworld map with several outposts to travel to. Given the differences, integrating all of this content will be a time-consuming process so you can start to see why I can't give a definitive date yet.

Current DM Plans:

Prior to the announcement of Arena Monarchy, the original plan was to release the "cultural factions" by the end of this year however a couple things changed. Firstly, even with this new content added, all that would be really added would be new armor sets and enemies with different perk configurations. Whilst those are still new enemy types, I felt that I could make better use of my time, so I shifted gears and decided to focus on getting Arena Monarchy ready. All of the enemy and armors planned for the "cultural factions" update was then also implemented into Arena Monarchy.

After the "cultural factions" update, the next planned update was the Northern Expeditions update. This update would have featured new weapons, armor and enemy types however to fully implement all of that into Dead Monarchy in a meaningful way means new overworld maps also need to be created and designing terrains is always a time-consuming task. By the time that I made the announcement for the Northern Expeditions update, I had already created all the new weapons, armors, abilities and enemy types in Arena Monarchy. Combat is without a doubt, the meat of Dead Monarchy and this is when I was faced with a decision. I could gradually release a series of "Expedition" updates that feature new overworld maps, battle maps, equipment, abilities, enemies etc however that would have taken several years. At the same time, I had all the equipment and abilities already set up in Arena Monarchy and with so many new abilities I figured I could hit two birds with one stone. I could release all the new combat features which I consider the selling point of the content update, and I could get immediate player feedback on all the new weapon types and see how they all work together as opposed to gradually releasing batches of new weapon types and tweaking bit by bit.

The expedition updates are still coming to Dead Monarchy, but they won't be implemented until the content from Arena Monarchy is implemented into Dead Monarchy since they utilize the same equipment, enemy types etc. So, on the topic of "selling", if all you want is new content for Dead Monarchy, it is still coming and you don't need to pay more for new content if you already own Dead Monarchy, all you have to do is wait. It will come eventually, you just have to keep in mind that I'm a solo developer with a lot of things to constantly balance so my time is limited.

If you are craving for new content immediately and want to experience all the new weapons, helmets, armors and enemy types in one place then Arena Monarchy will give you that. Just keep in mind all the differences that I mentioned above as it is a far more focused experience.

As such, I will be shifting my focus towards Arena Monarchy for now but just remember that ultimately, all these paths I am taking are arriving at the same destination. There is still an update planned for Dead Monarchy to address some of the recent issues reported to me and also the grid waypoint feature, but the update will probably be in Q1. For Dead Monarchy to get all this new content, Arena Monarchy needs to be fully developed, and all the combat balancing and iteration needs to be done first. It may start as two separate games but eventually they will combine. So, if you want to see that happen sooner than later, please consider getting on board and getting involved. Wishlist Arena Monarchy and join the community.

The Discord Channel:

It is finally a thing. There is now an official discord channel for my games. Join the channel to see some additional teasers. I will be active here to answer any questions, provide help and this is also where I will be posting development progress. I'm quite excited to finally get this up and running and I hope to see you all there.

Link: https://discord.gg/E35jAfUKrp

Thanking My Community:

When I started development on Dead Monarchy all the way back in 2017, I knew it was going to be a long journey. My dream has always been to be able to develop games full-time without having to worry about the financial side of things, without having to split my time between game development and a part-time job. Given that I am adamant on creating niche games though, I haven't released a breakthrough indie game, nor did I really expect to however I am still moving forward and still chasing my dreams. When Dead Monarchy first released into early access, it was pretty barebones however the community still supported it because they could see the passion I put into the game. Given that it was my first game, I was also extremely nervous and had no idea how the combat system in Dead Monarchy would be received. Thankfully most of you guys loved it and the feedback that was provided only helped further improve it. This time round, Arena Monarchy will also be released into early access however there is significantly more content compared to the initial early access release of Dead Monarchy and it will also be half the price. Arena Monarchy should prove to be a far better early access experience.

Final Closing Statement:

Thanks again for all the support guys, I really mean it. I still remember a few particular comments that you guys said when Dead Monarchy was first released into early access. I didn't let it change me, at least negatively, I am still here, working away on my games, hoping to provide you guys with quality entertainment. I am still here, still chasing after my dreams, for what else could truly motivate you more than that in life?

Arena Monarchy will be releasing in Q1, 2025 for only $5 USD.

Cheers, Kevin.