Boston, US, Nov 16, 2022: Indie developer Vivid Storm Interactive is eager to reveal its first title, Ascent of Ashes in tandem with indie publisher Camlann Games. Ascent of Ashes is a colony sim and real-time-with-pause tactics game scheduled to release late 2023.
Ascent of Ashes combines dark humor; gritty, stylistic post-apocalyptic art with an isometric viewpoint unique to the genre. Stranded on a mysterious planet, the player must lead a team of survivors to build a base, explore a massive procedurally generated world and discover the mysteries of the alien planet they have found themselves on. The game features high octane real-time-with-pause combat, familiar base building mechanics, “choices matter”-style colony management RimWorld fans will find familiar, nearly infinite replayability, fascinating human & alien characters, enemies that can be engaged with in direct combat, negotiated with or completely avoided using stealth; and a high level of player, gear & weapon customization.
Key Gameplay Features:
- Familiar colony and team management mechanics: Why fix it if it ain’t broke? Players familiar with RimWorld and other games in the genre will feel at home with Ascent of Ashes’ satisfying base building and colonist needs management experience
- A dangerous world to explore: Set in a vast, procedurally generated environment, replayability is nearly infinite as players have access to restored vehicles in order to quickly traverse the expansive landscape and either engage in direct combat or outwit & evade opponents using stealth.
- A modder’s dream: Vivid Storm Interactive’s team has its roots in mod-making and they have been fortunate to have been part of many great modding communities over the years. As a token of appreciation, the team wants to give something back. They are building the game's engine from the ground up to be easily extendable. It’s a game developed by modders, for modders.
- A unique cast of characters: Aliens, raiders, cultists, mechanoids, Remnant soldiers, alien pets, giant worms, other human factions. Part of the fun will be discovering who all you can meet and interact with on this planet!
- Familiar ethical & moral alignment choices: Fans of other deep colony sims will find the freedom of choice in playstyle and leadership very familiar and satisfying. The decision to play as a compassionate leader and care for your survivors vs. a nihilistic chaotic psychopath is always an option. And can be changed at any point in the gameplay.
- Trope-defying dynamic, enemy AI: Although it’s not entirely revolutionary to have smart enemy AI in real time strategy games, finding it in the colony sim & survival genre is very rare. Taking on a disorganized band of raiders will play very differently from fighting a squad of well-trained Remnant soldiers. Cover, suppressive fire and strategic maneuvering will be the difference between life and death in this brutal, unforgiving world
Links and Other Resources
Steam Page
Reveal Trailer
212% Funded Kickstarter
Twitter
Discord
About Vivid Storm Interactive
Vivid Storm Interactive is a small indie development team from just north of Munich, Germany. Max, Ricky, and Petter all met in 2019, during a conversation about colony sim games and how various aspects of them could be done better. Although Ascent of Ashes is the team’s first commercial game together, the studio can already count on a loyal community of fans anxiously awaiting the release.
The team at Vivid Storm Interactive are seasoned modders, known among the RimWorld community as the original creators of the heralded Combat Extended mod - a system that completely overhauls combat, adds new firing & melee mechanics, adds an inventory system and significantly rebalances the vanilla RimWorld health system. What started as a hobby project ultimately, Combat Extended peaked at half a million subscribers, with actual military veterans noting its depth and realism. It is perennially one of the top rated mods according to general consensus within the modder & player community.
About Camlann Games
Camlann Games is a newly formed video game publisher from Boston, US with a focus on meaningful, fun and highly replayable games. With industry veterans at its core, Camlann Games intends to back passionate developers, vibrant worlds and the most unforgettable stories ever told in indie PC games.
Media and Press Inquiries
Camlann Games, CEO & Executive Producer, Slava Heretz
slava@camlanngames.com