Castle Story (0)

Current Gameplay Features

Although the game has only recently been announced, we already know many details. All current information has been gathered through examining the video demonstration by the developers ().

The first and most important idea to grasp is that this is a Real-Time Strategy game. The camera is mostly focused in a top-down perspective, although you also have the ability to zoom in, allowing for further detail. In most RTS games, this zooming option is usually not imperative to the actual gameplay, but with Castle Story it is.

The other main concept that Sauropod Studios is trying to convey is simply creativity. Similar to Minecraft where you can place blocks anywhere to create defensive structures, build homes, and generally have fun making whatever you want, Castle Story lets you take your hard earned resources and use them any way you desire. In the demo video, the dev tells a Bricktron, the basic "workers" of the game, to start fortifying a wall in an incomplete castle. The Bricktron then proceeded to gather stone blocks to place them in the sections he had specified.

Stone, however, is not an infinite resource that simply respawns after you take some. Instead to build more stone, you must mine for it. In the video the developer demonstrated just that. He directed four Bricktrons to walk up a tall hill and begin mining downward, while also making sure to take caution against falling through the bottom of the floating island. The miners then brought bits of rock over to their stockpile. Each worker can carry one bag of rocks and it takes four bags of rocks to create 4 stone blocks.

The stone blocks you create can be used in a variety of ways:

Stone Blocks

-Standard Block: [2x1] Rectangular Block

-Half Block: [1x1] Cube Block

-Stair Block: [2x1] 1 Cube Block + 1 Stair; same dimensions as standard stone block

-Arch Block: [1x1] 1 Arched Block; same dimensions as a stone half block, used for appearance

-Stock Pile: [8x2] Flat Rectangular Area; used for facilitating mined resources and resource conversion

Wood Blocks

No wooden blocks were created/used in the developer's first demo video, but they were visible in the final castle at the end of the demo. Concept art hints at drawbridges being used for protection, though.

Mining

A short glimpse at the mining mechanics were shown in the demo video. You can gather Bricktrons to set up a mining zone. To set a mining zone you must first select an area by dragging a box to whatever length and width you choose, and after that, you decide the height. Height is a very important factor because the game world takes place on top of floating islands. Because of that, it is dangerous to make your mining zone too deep, and you must make it a safe enough distance not to fall through.

Tunnels

Tunnels are likely to be a useful feature, but as of now are not extremely effective because there doesn't seem to be a safe way to get up and down yet. However, horizontal tunnels should work just fine.

Explosives

The last feature to be shown in the demo was the physics engine. Unlike Minecraft, Castle Story has "realistic" physics and a sense of gravity. That being said, the developers have created explosive barrels to destroy structures. After using an explosive barrel, you are left with the rubble which you can order Bricktrons to clean up. It is not yet known how to acquire these barrels.

Characters/Enemies

Within the UI you can spot a button named "Characters". Mainly, this functions as a way to select Bricktrons, but possibly in the future may lead to different types of characters, who may have different stats/abilities.

In the concept art, a few slides describe monster attacks as a feature and the developers state that, "...the Bricktrons can defend themselves and keep the monsters at bay. So a good castle will go a long way in keeping them out." As of the first video, there are no monsters yet shown.

The kickstarter video shows concepts of the enemies as they are attacking a castle. They are essentially dark and bigger counterparts of the miners.

Objectives

Although not directly stated, the main objective is to survive. There has not been much insight on the games objectives so far, but judging by the concept art there will be monsters attacking your Bricktrons and you must defend against them. A few drawings show Bricktrons wearing armor and wielding weapons such as a bow and arrow and a sword and shield, and being chased after by shadowy monsters. There is a proper day-night cycle, also, which may allude to a similar Minecraft mechanic where during the day everything is generally peaceful, but when night falls, it's time to go inside and defend yourself, but as of now, nothing has been shown regarding such a feature.

Kickstarter campaign

On July 27th, 2012 the developers launched a campaign to fund the next stage of the development:

• Multiplayer support
• Better audio and sound
• Software licenses and hosting
• Polish it all up
• Survival mode

reached it's initial funding goal of $80,000 on the first day. By the end of the campaign it had raised over $700,000 (this doesn't account for additional funding through PayPal).