Cradle Kickstarter Launched

Kingdom Come: Deliverance isn’t the only Kickstarter campaign for an open-world RPG powered by CryEngine launched recently, given the team at Mojo Game Studios is attempting to raise $350,000 to fund Cradle, their extremely ambitious fantasy RPG. The ideas are promising and the art looks good, but I’m absolutely not confident that a game of this ilk can be developed on such a low budget, and I suspect this is one of the reasons the campaign isn’t doing particularly well (so far only $52,707 have been raised).

Here’s a snippet from the front page to give you an idea of the developers’ intended direction for the title:

The story of an outcast who stumbles into the center of an ages old struggle between humanity, nature, and the gods. Cradle presents you with a striking narrative set in a breathtaking world.

A thousand years ago, the five gods of Anora defeated one of their number in a war known as the Soulfire Crisis. Aderyn, the god of free will and creation, was defeated by forces united for the first time in centuries. His followers were routed and his works destroyed. Eventually, Aderyn and his realm, the Cradle, were erased almost entirely from Anora.

You are an exiled traveler in flight from the wrath of Ostia. Pursued and cursed by the god of hunger for defying its will, you seek refuge in the last of Aderyn’s shrines.

There, you take up arms for Aderyn, and begin a journey to return his Cradle to Anora. This land, once the center of technology and culture for the world, stands empty. Its inhabitants have either perished or become twisted parodies of who they once were. Only a few managed to retain some of their sanity.Your victory depends on the advice of these last few survivors and their tenuous grip on reality.

Fight your way through these ravaged lands, journeying to diverse environments and defeating a wide array of enemies. By uncovering the mysteries of the Cradle you will ensure not only your own survival, but help Aderyn return to the world with his promise to the human race: free will.

And here’s a in-engine video demonstration of their ideas for the combat system:

Cradle’s Realfight Combat System is a patent pending way to fight that uses new proprietary technologies developed by Mojo Game Studios along with improvements over previous systems which all come together to bring you an unprecedented level of dynamic control.

Deterministic Combat Animations: Where you aim to attack on your opponent determines what attack your character does. If you aim at the head of an opponent with a sword in Cradle, you are given only the attack options that would make sense for striking at someones head with a sword. The same goes for arms, legs, the left and right torso, or any area other area you care to aim. Simply by aiming and clicking the left or right mouse button, you are able to choose in real time where and how you will strike.

Order Determinism: Where you last struck has an effect on how your next attack will play out. We wanted to capture the fluidity of real combat and the flow from one blow to the next in our Realfight Combat System. In Cradle, if you have a sword and want to do a slash right at the torso of an opponent, followed directly by a slash left, simply aim at the right torso and click the right mouse button, then aim at the left torso and click the left mouse button. The result is a continuous slash to the right and back from the left. This system adds fluidity and reactivity to our combat.

To reiterate, I appreciate the passion and admit there are good ideas in here, but this isn’t a project I feel confident endorsing.