Sketches from the Attic
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 11:16:17 PM

Dear Backers,

Today we’re taking you for a rummage in the studio attic. In its many draws, folders and cabinets are sketches showing Book of Travels in many stages of its life. The first sketches were made in 2016, at the very beginning of development and were created by the team to explore the kinds of places and people that might exist in this new world.  Here are a few of our favourites - some of which haven't yet made it into the game. There are a whole heap more to see right here on our Steam blog. 

Thank you for taking the time to check these out - we've got a very exciting update coming in two weeks so stay tuned! And as always, we love reading and responding to your comments so please do drop them right here!

Best Wishes... and stay safe,

Helen and the team x

Dangers in Braided Shore
almost 4 years ago – Mon, Feb 08, 2021 at 01:25:08 AM

Hello Dear Backers!

So far we’ve shared a lot about how serene the Book of Travels experience will be, but as we talked about in our inspirations blog, the beauty of the world lies partly in its shadows and the tension that lurks at the periphery. This week here and on Steam, we’re looking at some of the dangers that can sneak up on you in Braided Shore. Here we share a few that you can expect to encounter when early access launches this summer. Be warned - the shadows in this world do not fall at the usual angles...

Beware the chaos of a Kettem 

Also known as the spirit of the middle winds, the Kettem (Plural:Kettem) is a malicious spirit that rides the winds that bisect the cardinal coordinates. Having no physical form, Kettem animate themselves with any objects that lie in their path, creating wild and chaotic melds of unknown intent. A Kettem is a harsh opponent in all cases, but harsher still when animated by harder objects, such as parts of trees or broken boats. Other common Kettem components include seaweed (being plentiful on a high tide) and hay (being skimmed from hay bales). Abandoned junk and personal objects are also sometimes caught in a Kettem’s path. Once its physical form has been destroyed, a Kettem becomes a harmless wind spirit once more and will quickly vanish.

Never mess with a Maisu

The Maisu (Plural: Maisu) is not known as the ‘spirit-of-foul-words’ for nothing - this spirit is the embodiment of every expletive spat in vitriol and is said to be summoned by feelings of hate. Where spite is usually something unleashed in rare and hot flashes, for Maisu it is an eternally roaring fire. They love nothing better than to hurt folk and cause them distress, but their attacks can often be more baffling than life threatening. But Maisu can also be cowardly and not particularly strong-willed - farm families will sometimes come together to vanquish a Maisu that has been troubling the surroundings. Because of Maisu, Braided Shore folk choose their words wisely, scolding “Curse-for-the-Maisu!” at folk who use foul words. Maisu are bound to a knot symbol of unknown meaning that also resembles their facial features. This “rune” can be seen floating in the air before the demon itself becomes visible.     

The torment of Mares 

Called simply 'Mares' these dream horrors take the shape of slender yet beast-like creatures that fly in a swimming fashion. Mares are a fairly recent phenomenon in Braided Shore and are believed to be a manifestation of the ills that have more recently troubled the region. There is no doubt that an encounter with a Mare is a very serious moment indeed: their uncanny aspect transfixes all who lay eyes on it, but a Mare must be quickly dealt with for their attack is mighty. Over time, Asken folk have come to know these ghouls as the nightmares of Sefra, wrangled loose from their dream world and drifting in torment across the land. Some say they have witnessed a Mare dissolve as its Sefra wakes, and others have been successful in destroying Mares while its Sefra sleeps on, more peacefully with its Mare now returned to its world of dreams.

Be watchful as you wander

These are just a few of the dangers you can expect to face in Braided Shore, but there’s plenty to watch out for on the roads and in the wilds too… All kinds of earthly good-for-nothings will knock you off your path. Poachers, kidnappers, smugglers and bandits may choose to rob or attack you, and though they may not be the most daunting of foes, an encounter with one may leave you as confused and depleted as any sprite or gast!

As always, we are so glad to have your company! We’d love to hear your thoughts about these and other beings so please do drop them right here in the comments section below…

Best Wishes and Stay Safe,

Helen and the Dev Team x

PS. If you haven't yet dropped in to our super friendly Discord it's a great place to exchange ideas on all things Book of Travels as well as art, games, animals, travel and books, We'd love to see you there! 

Two Brand New Soundtracks + Music Insights
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jan 23, 2021 at 12:15:01 AM

Dear Backers,

How does it feel to travel the road? What is it like to take a turning from the beaten path? Well-worn tracks bear the shape of familiar behaviours, but making new tracks brings us to the present moment, releasing new energy for fresh adventures... Such choices in these times are, for many of us, flights of fantasy, and today we hope to keep those flights aloft with the help of some music from Book of Travels. Whether you’re home-bound, locked down or on the road, we hope you get some time to listen to them and let us know what you think.

More music on Steam

In our latest Steam Blog we talk to the musician team behind the music and find out about their instruments and processes. We'd love you to stop by and take a look, and as usual we'll be responding to comments both here and on Steam.

We're also getting closer to the launch of Shelter 3 and we've just published a post about the music for all our Shelter games too - so if you think we have the same taste in music, please check it out and leave your comments (and while you're there, we'd love it if you could help give us a push and wishlist the game!).

We look forward to reading your response and we wish you a chill and safe weekend!

Best Wishes,

Helen and the dev team x

Inspirations Blog Post + Happy New Year!
almost 4 years ago – Mon, Jan 11, 2021 at 12:43:07 AM

Dear Backers,

Hello! Here we are in 2021, and we hope that amid all the chaos you'll welcome a bit of news from our little Stockholm studio. This year is going to be big for us... Because this is the year that we release Book of Travels (not to mention Shelter 3 in just over a couple of months, eek!). 

Over the past year we've been sharing game development in our fortnightly updates, and we've been deeply gratified by your response, especially when it comes to conversations about other games and media you love.  So we decided to start the year with a deeper investigation of inspirations behind Book of Travels. We hope you like it! The image above is taken from it and you'll find lots more intriguing pictures and references to get involved with. As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

Coming soon

In the coming months we'll be sharing about world dangers and game audio, as well as getting more into battle, so watch this space! If you haven't yet checked out our video with commentary, take a look and let us know what you think. We were thrilled at the response it got and we continue to hop in to respond.

Tell us what you think

Our updates schedule still has a few gaps, so we'd love to know what you want to hear more about. And of course our journey of discovery is never over and we would love to hear all your suggestions for cultural rabbit holes to lose ourselves in, so please drop us a line below or in the comments on Steam.

Thank you so much for spending your time with us!

From the whole team, best wishes and stay safe,

Helen and the Dev Team xx

Creating Characters + Form Artwork + Discord News
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 11:32:23 AM

Dear Backers,

If you’ve already checked out our gameplay video, you might have noticed that Creative Director Jakob spends some time explaining how to create characters. No doubt, character creation is a huge part of the soul and spirit of Book of Travels and we hope you’ll love getting deep into your character before setting out. So today we’re sharing a little bit of insight into the thinking behind those character creation fields. We also have a first ever peek at artwork and info on four of the game’s 15+ Forms, plus a nice little bit of character-related community news...

The Wheel of Personality, Jung and Chinese Theatre

The character creation process in Book of Travels allows for very detailed and creative player input, which we think will enable rich and characterful roleplay. 

Every character begins its life as one of a selection of Forms, each of which has been inspired by a combination of archetypes. In creating the Forms, our research took in theories on personality from many disciplines including Comedia dell’arte, Chinese Theatre and Jung’s twelve personality types. All have been sources of inspiration rather than templates, and our main intention has been to build a framework that allows players to create complex, nuanced personalities.

Just like classes in traditional RPGs, each Form comes with different gameplay orientation and skill affinity, but in Book of Travels, Forms are designed to help players create an individual playstyle and enjoy a high degree of personal expression in their roleplay. Further character complexity can be added by choosing background, gender (a freeform field) personality traits, skills, talents and appearance, which will together make for a unique character and a unique play experience.

There are over 15 Forms to choose from with more to unlock as you solve narrative chains and engage in gameplay events. Here are four for you to get to know right now - we’ll be sharing another four sometime soon!

The Mirther and The Dimmed

The Mirther is creative and embodies honesty and youth. They echo rural Romantic archetypes such as shepherds, wandering musicians and artists. They are a daydreamer and find much mirth in or out of company. By contrast The Dimmed is an older, wiser type whose light shines less brightly. Their stoic attitude in company does not temper their thirst for exploration, especially when the quest is enlightenment.

The Moss Walker and The Weatherer

The Mosswalker has feet that are deep in the earth and finds magic in all things mundane. They live a relatively ordinary life but their values are wide and true, making them something of an unconventional, Bohemian type. Striding and far from domestic, The Weatherer’s spirit is forged by exposure to elements both literal and metaphorical. Their unequivocal thinking and broad experience finds them well placed in exploration and adventure.

Choose a from role on Discord!

From today, Discord users will now have the ability to choose from one of the above forms as a role. These are our first lore based roles and there will be more in time to come. So if you haven’t already, come by and say hello :)

Which Form resonates with you the most? Let us know in the comments here, and please feedback your thoughts on anything you think you like or are unsure about in our character creation process.

Thanks so much for spending your time with us!

Best Wishes,

Helen and the Dev Team x