Eldritch 2 is coming to Steam! Please wishlist it here.
Last week, I wrote that I needed to finish some things around unlocking dungeons; that turned into a bigger issue of needing to finally answer some lingering questions about the player’s primary goals in this game, and how they interact with the macro structure and the narrative.
I’ve always assumed that the basic shape of the game will mirror that of the original Eldritch—visit three worlds in any order to collect three MacGuffins, unlocking a fourth and final world—but I’ve layered various complications onto that formula, all of which needed to be resolved with a more present story and characters than the first game had. And I’m trying to avoid painting myself into a corner the way I did on the first game. I want to structure this game in a way that can more neatly integrate possible future expansions into the core loop, instead of forcing expansions to be side stories like the Mountains of Madness sequence in Eldritch.
All of this on-paper planning took longer than I expected, and I’m frustrated by my apparent lack of in-game progress this month. But this was an essential exercise which has unblocked some immediate design and art tasks. And I’m confident in the clarity of the macro structure and narrative now. I know how the game opens, I know how it unfolds, and I know what each of the endings is and how the player will get to them. Now, I’ll get back to making it!