Developer blog: Designing the Iron Kingdom

The next milestone of Fabular’s Early Access development is the 4th playable realm; the Iron Kingdom. In this blog post we detail some of the design philosophies behind its creation.

Setting the tone

After fighting fierce battles on the Hinterlands, we leave our father’s crumbling realm to find ourselves in the neighboring Iron Kingdom; the land of fiery volcanoes, cinder and smoke. Only to face brand new challenges with an awakened machine-god amongst them.

The first three realms of Fabular’s futuristic Middle Age displayed gothic and post-apocalyptic characteristics. This time we arrive in a steampunk infused medieval space-kingdom (that's a mouthful), where industry, fire, steam and cast iron reign supreme.

Players may explore a once-great industrial realm in its dying hours. Inhabitants scavenge and save what they can, while a religious sect dedicated to the machine-god Molokh usurps the land to fulfill a maniacal prophecy.

Combat and enemies

While gameplay basics stay mostly the same, new enemy types and variations provide brand new challenges. In combat, most of the enemy abilities are centered around fire.

Archers launch fireworks-like projectiles with unpredictable sparks, Warriors may stun you with their heavy mace attacks, and Acolytes cast a damaging fire-shield around their allies.

The Besieger lobs molten lava orbs over long distances, and the Scorcher automatons try to surround you while leaving fire patches in their wake.

Part of the combat challenge will be managing the ‘chaos’ these new enemy types bring to the battlefield, and another part is learning their behavior and move-set, and adapt your combat style accordingly.

Constant small ticks of fire damage will eat your armour on the long run, and mobility is key to avoid area of effect hazards. If you want to get far into this realm, you’d do well to adjust your build with items and upgrades that help you in that regard.

When designing the enemies of Realm IV, our intention was to create a ‘dish’ that’s a mixture of Middle Age and Industrial Revolution era design characteristics. Sprinkle a pinch sci-fi on top and it’s ready to be served.

Events, locations and characters

The medieval-steampunk atmosphere is prevalent in the realm’s events as well. Players may visit grand palaces of manufacture, asteroid mines and industrial cities…

… and meet Factory-barons, Mine-counts and devotees of Molokh who spread his undying prophecy with holy fire and hard steel.

The main task remains to find the stolen Sun and reclaim it from the Void Lords, but in order to find and reach them, the end-level boss Molokh has to be defeated. This boss-fight will bring brand new mechanics to Fabular’s gameplay, but that’s a story for another day and another blog post.

By the time of this next blog post, we will hopefully have more concrete info on the release date regarding the Realm IV update.

Until then, fly safe Space Knights!