Weekly blog 37

Summer Internship

Big things are on the horizon for Lost Legions. With the summer internship season underway at the School for Games (S4G), where I also teach part-time, we’re once again bringing fresh talent into the team. These internships have become a proven win-win -the students gain valuable real-world experience, and we gain momentum in production just when we need it most.

Right now, everything is aligning: the core systems are in place, and we’re shifting focus toward integrating all our design work into actual gameplay. It’s that exciting moment where the ideas leave the documents and start living inside the engine.

Narrative Overhaul

One major milestone we’re hitting this month is a complete overhaul of the game’s narrative structure. With each sprint, our understanding of the game matures. We’ve now locked in:

The overall game flow and critical path

Estimated playtime for completing the main campaign

A detailed narrative breakdown for every phase, including:

Key narrative beats

Major points of interest

Companion arcs and interactions

Our companion NPCs in particular have evolved into fleshed-out personalities. Each comes with a fact sheet covering their background, personality, and crucially gameplay role. Many companions teach mechanics or unlock new crafting and building options. They’re not just quest-givers; each undergoes a “redemption arc” that players help resolve, making them feel like real people from a real (albeit myth-infused) world.

There’s even juicy tension between some NPCs, which I personally find very fun to write. We’re not reinventing sliced bread here but we are serving a tasty, Roman-flavored sandwich.

These materials are now getting a final pass by an award-winning professional game writer. Once finalized, we’ll derive the actual in-game dialogue and voice lines, connect everything in the quest system, and begin full narrative implementation.

Cutscenes & Facial Mocap

We recently upgraded our performance capture setup to include facial animation, allowing us to record expressions and lip-sync live alongside body motion. This will add a ton of emotional nuance to our cutscenes and dialogues.

Gladiators in the Mocap Studio

One of the most exciting developments is finally happening: our collaboration with GLADIATORES BEROLINENSES, a group dedicated to historical Roman gladiatorial fencing. After meeting them last year for a hands-on tryout session at their ludus (training hall), we knew we had to get them into our mocap suit.

https://youtu.be/jVUqdo6iuL8?t=18

In a few weeks, we’ll record a high-octane evening session to capture authentic combat animations for use in the game. It’s a thrilling convergence of history and tech and one of those moments where being an indie dev feels especially rewarding.

UI Overhaul & Weapon Polish

Meanwhile, progress continues quietly behind the scenes. Stephan is deep in an overhaul of the user interface, implementing Tim’s cleaner designs and refactoring the spaghetti that accumulated over time. It’s not glamorous, but it’s vital and we’ll all be grateful once it’s done.

Weapon systems are also evolving. Together with Felix, I’ve been working on the balearic sling -a new, technically demanding weapon type that’s surprisingly satisfying. Getting it functional was fast; polishing it to a shippable state has taken a few reworks. But we’re nearly there, and I’ll have a full post on it soon.

Coming Soon: A New Community Demo

Once we wrap up the current narrative documentation effort, we’ll begin work on a new community demo. We’re excited to let you explore a fresh slice of Lost Legions and share your feedback.

With new minds joining the team, foundational systems taking