Styx • Posts Tagged ‘styx’

Follow the guide through the Tower of Akenash!

Today we will give you a few details about the tower of Akenash, the playground of your hero in “Styx: Master of Shadows”.

This huge tower was built around the world Tree by humans in order to try to control the power of the amber that flows from it. Over time, the tower became a center of power, knowledge and mystery.

The upper levels contain the apartments occupied by the ruler, the embassy where humans receive diplomats from the four corners of the kingdom, the great library and the “docks” (served by airship). The upper levels are the only ones that receive sunlight.

Below, built around the dome that encloses the World Tree, are the military quarters, prisons and alchemy labs where humans try desperately to master the sometimes destructive power of amber.

The further you descend into the depths of Akenash, the closer you get to the world Tree and the elves that protect it. This is a dangerous zone where unpleasant creatures are to be found lurking.

That’s it for today, more secrets about the Tower of Akenash to discover in Styx : Master of Shadows!

–
Guillaume
Project Manager

Question of the week #1

Hi,

Today we will answer a question from “Hightechzombie”: There seem to be different approaches to finishing a level, but is there more to it?

The levels within “Styx: Master of Shadows” are both high and wide, which means that we were not lacking in space when it came to design. You therefore have numerous options when choosing your path towards reaching your goal. There is not one “right path” and each choice you make will lead to different challenges and require different styles of play. For example, the most obvious path is often the best-guarded and so it offers the biggest challenge if you want to sneak in. Exploring the level will allow you to find alternative routes.

When you have chosen a path, the way you actually pursue it is up to you. You can sneak quietly in through the shadows or you can use the many tools at your disposal. For example, a clone could create a diversion; disable a guard or create a smoke screen. You could also use your power of invisibility to simply avoid a guard or use a weapon such as a throwing knife to silence him for good. As with paths, you have many other tools, but we’ll let you discover them. You can even forego tools and use the environment to your advantage: poison a guard’s drink; make objects fall on a guard’s head; etc.

Spying, especially on guards, will yield useful information about alternative ways to succeed in your objective. For example, in the prison, you may overhear talk of a mechanism to unlock all cell doors: you can image the kind of diversion that would create, with guards chasing after prisoners who are fleeing in all directions.

Bonus question from “Hightechzombie”: Styx hates dogs, but what’s his opinion on cats?

Styx loves cats… especially roasted with onions. ^^

If you have a question you would like to ask to the team about the game, please post it below this thread! We’ll be happy to answer you in the next Question of the week.

—
Guillaume
Project Manager

Styx on Tour!

Hi all,

Creating a good game doesn’t always guarantee success so, as a first step in reaching players, it is important that we make our game known to the press.

After months of working undercover on our project, we don’t consider it work to present Styx to the press; it’s a real pleasure to share our work with them and to receive valuable feedback.

Our press tour covered three cities: Paris, London and Munich.

Our first encounter took place in Paris on January 14th. It was Julien’s (Lead Level-Designer) and my (Project Manager) first experience of showing a game to the press.

The second event took place in London on January 22nd. Julien did the presentation on his own and had difficulty in playing the demo and speaking to the press at the same time. ^^ “Styx: Master of Shadows” is not an easy game: you can easily come unstuck if you don’t pay sufficient attention to your surrounds.

The most recent press encounter took place in Munich on February 6th. Julien, having gained in press XP, was able to put forward a trenchant case. :)

The next big step is the San Francisco GDC in March.

Stay tuned for more updates on the development of Styx: Master of Shadows!

—
Guillaume
Project Manager

Styx’s DevBlog is now open!

Hi everybody!

We are really happy and proud to be able to share the development of our game “Styx: Master of Shadows” with you on this DevBlog.

This game is our homage to the stealth genre: We want to provide all the ingredients that make a game a great stealth game.

In “Styx: Master of Shadows”, you will play a goblin: fragile, but resourceful thanks to his agility, his assassin skills and his magical powers. Your goal will be to steal the heart of the world-Tree, an infinite source of power: amber. But things are not as easy as they seem… ^^

In this DevBlog we will introduce to you some aspects of gameplay, some of the locations and inhabitants of the Akenash tower as well as the people who are working hard to bring you the best game possible. And as you can see, all the team is on a war footing for the job!