After spending two years in development, Hot Fudge Games has announced a Kickstarter campaign for its first game, New Homeland.
The Kickstarter explains New Homeland with an ambitious list of inspirations: 8- and 16-bit, platformers, action adventures, metroidvanias, life and city simulators, sandboxes, and RPGs. There’s dungeon crawling, resource collection, and much more. But what sets it apart?
The first striking element is the animation. The graphics themselves bring to mind Terraria cranked down a few shades, but the animation is pure Nintendo RPG, with games like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Paper Mario visible in every movement. Hot Fudge Games knows it, too. They highlight vastly different weather cycles, and their “media” section of the Kickstarter is .gif files and sprite sheets.
And speaking of cycles, their Kickstarter goes into detail about New Homeland’s flora and fauna both have realistic life-cycles. Characters, too, will be a part of different cultures and have their own routines, bringing to mind games like Skyrim. Vikings, Voodoos, and Atlanteans are just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll find them in the wilderness, but also in manmade structures and cities spread across the land.
Then there’s the more literal world-building. We see a building being created in a Terraria style, and, as the Kickstarter explains, “On a higher level, New Homeland is driven by the power of peoples. You may decide to join a cause, be part of large scale war, be a diplomat or a traitor… For the most ambitious of you it is also possible to manage your own village and people.”
You’ll do so with various tools and powers. The game touts the ability to be “an adventurer, a warrior, a wizard, a craftsman, a hunter, a builder, a miner, a trader, a leader, a farmer… ” As well as things like bows, swords, and guns, a la Zelda.
And, most importantly, the game is procedurally generated, with a focus son challenge and replayability. As the Kickstarter says, “What makes the New Homeland’s generation truly unique is its focus on good level design practices.”
New Homeland’s Kickstarter runs until September 13th. Minimum pledge is €9 (~$10) and nets you beta access and a copy of the game.