Aaaaand…. we’re funded! Thank you, guys and gals. Just like our previous projects, Enormity couldn’t happen without crowdfunding, without YOU, your trust and your support! With that, Enormity will become a reality! And this is just the first day of fifteen! As always, we have planned a thrilling voyage for you, full of surprises, stretch goals, secrets, competitions and more!
You’ve already done more than enough for us and we will work hard to repay you with a great game full of content. If I could ask one more thing of you: we’re still an indie company with a limited marketing reach, so we will be very grateful if you could spread the word about this campaign to your friends and social media channels! With the right number of backers, we can do ANYTHING!!!
Ok, I got carried away a bit! Let’s dive into this update, as there’s a ton to get into! Here’s a primer:
Enormity KS Campaign Rules What you can expect from the campaign, from us, and how you can make the project even better!
What’s the Story? Where you can read (or listen!) about the Core Game campaigns’ stories.
A Tale of Two Aliens My op piece about what I wanted to capture with Enormity’s gameplay and narration.
Previews and Gameplay videos Where you can learn more about the game!
Stretch Goals Where I discuss what you can expect in terms of Stretch Goals.
Pledge Levels and Addons Where I talk about our pledge levels and add-ons
The Scourge Expansion Spotlight
Enormity KS Campaign Rules
1. Updates Schedule: Firstly, we will be posting an Update every 1-2 days, starting with this update! I reserve the right to post surprise Updates! Among other things, those Updates will discuss unlocked Stretch Goals and reveal new ones. Remember. all the new stuff that we will unlock will be automatically added to your pledge for FREE!
2. ITU in the Comments: We will be monitoring KS comments constantly, listening to your feedback and doing our best to address your questions! Although we can’t respond to every question, please know that we read them all. If your question goes unanswered, check the FAQ and Updates - we’re committed to keeping them up-to-date with helpful information. You can already check our FAQ section, it contains some campaign basics, as well as some answers to gameplay questions we’ve already received!
3. Not a preorder, a Prototype! I cannot stress this enough! What we’re showing you today is a glimpse at what Enormity can offer. It’s a prototype, a work in progress, still being tweaked and balanced. It’s not a finalized game, ready for the printers – which is a good thing, too, as we can take your feedback into account (see below)!
3. Be Respectful! Please be kind and respectful to your fellow backers and to our Team, for many of them it’s their first crowdfunding, and they’re good people too! Our game may not be perfect for everyone- we’re known for our quirks!- but we welcome constructive discussion about mechanics and systems, as long as it is offered in a respectful and calm manner. Especially because…
3. Your Voice Matters! Community is what allowed Into the Unknown to flourish, and your satisfaction is at the core of what we do. We’re thrilled to invite you on this journey with us. As already mentioned, Enormity is a work with progress, and we’d like to invite you to co-create it with us. We sincerely look forward to your input, to make the game even better. We have some exciting stuff planned, but we also hope to hear your thoughts and ideas!
What’s the story?!
Glad you’ve asked! Enormity is an enormous game, with the Core box delivering not one, not two, but FOUR distinct narrative campaigns. That’s on top of the custom campaigns you can brew!
Each of these four campaigns touches upon an aspect of the Shepherd’s mission and ultimate fate. You can play them in any order (though we suggest you start with Dark Side of The Sun), and each is complete whole with a beginning, middle and end, but at the same time they have been designed to complement each other.
Here’s the narrative hooks for each; if you prefer listening to reading, we’ve prepared voiceover introductions to each of them. Simply click on the Youtube video and you’re golden!
A Tale of two Aliens
I’m designing a new game, you know. Might have heard of it… It’s called Enormity. It has spacemen in it – and terrifying aliens. And a disturbingly delicious narrative. Hard science fiction meets fantasy and horror. Like that old movie I love to watch, and rewatch. What was it. Alien? Aliens? Great story, great sets, great acting. Great director. Ridley Scott, the guy from Gladiator II. Or was it the other great director? Cameron, James. He also did that other great one, what was it. With the 80s action star. Oh, yeah! The Abyss.
So a game like that.
You see what I did there? I hope you do. 1979’s Alien redefined science fiction, as surely as Star Wars did two years later. Both spawned extended universes spanning movies, books, games and more. But, unlike the Skywalker Saga, the Aliens franchise was never afraid to redefine itself.
Alien was a nail-biting horror, with cutting-edge special effects, and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. Slowly built-up tension, the growing helplessness, the alienation of the characters and then a striking finale. It was Hitchcockian in its delivery, shocking in its imaginary (not least because of H.R. Giger’s artistic direction, freshly poached from the failed Jodorowsky’s Dune project). It was Scott’s second motion picture!
The sequel, Aliens, smartlydidn’t even try to imitate that. James Cameron, in his second stint at director (or third, if you count Piranha II, but who does?) decided to make a different kind of movie. An action thriller instead of a horror, with strong, not weak protagonists, with higher stakes that also move the franchise’s story forward. 1986’s Aliens is cocky, aggressive and loud, and endlessly enjoyable. Instead of a single stalking xenomorph, you get a whole nest, with a queen monster no less. And… it works brilliantly.
The series’ movie history from that point on is… turbulent, to say the least, but even among the less successful outings, there is this feeling of innovation, discovery, an urge to move past what was and again redefine the franchise for a new audience, from the penal colony of Aliens 3 (what at one point would have been a WOODEN planet of monks) to the questions of creation and divinity of Prometheus and Covenant.
Those first two movies though… What a treat. Love them both. And would happily see both of those directions – tense horror and action thriller – continue.
Now, twenty odd years later after my first viewings, I can do one better: I can realize it myself. That’s what I’m crafting Enormity into. A game that moves between those two extremes, from slow tension-building stealth moments, where you can learn the horrifying backstory, advance your personal narratives and try to figure out what to do, how to win, or, failing that, how to survive, then see those blips converging, to guns-blazing breakthroughs or retreats, with alien intruders crawling out of every crawlspace, ammo running out, and bodies beginning to drop! Each mission extraction should be tense and bloody. Juggling the two would be a difficult feat for a 100-minute movie – but I’m making a campaign game and, within its constraints, it works lovely.
And thank God for that – and boardgames that enable it!
You’ll probably hear more about Enormity really soon. Until then, go watch Aliens – both of them ;)
Gameplay and videos
Prototypes are out there, the TTS demo is online and updated with new content, videos are showing up… go and watch them for easily digestible explanations and showcases of the current prototype of the game’s tutorial! Note we’re on version 0.38, the game is still being developed, so a lot can still change, like the difficulty balance, encounter rate and so on. We’ll be counting on you for feedback and suggestions, so we can create the game perfect game, for us and You!
Stretch Goals Plan for this Campaign
Oh yes, Stretch Goals! As always, we’re bringing our A-game with a varied assortment of SGs that enhance the game physically, aesthetically and gameplay-wise, from new mechanics to new minis! All SGs are crowdfunding exclusive and will not be offered after the PM phase.
There are 3 types of Stretch Goals! As always, we have monetary goal SGs – the more money we can raise during the Kickstarter campaign, the more we can offer. These are true Stretch Goals – they have not been budgeted into the original Core Game, and they will become available only if we receive the necessary funds to scale production. So, if Enormity is something you’d like to see happen, with the most content possible, it’s time to pledge – and tell your friends! :D
Then there’s our Community Goals. These will be fun little games and challenges we’ve prepared for you, to engage with us, with your fellow backers, to learn about Enormity and just have a good time.
Finally, throughout the campaign, we will be revealing new surprise Stretch Goals that will be automatically added to your pledge for FREE!
We’re known to plan ahead, so some of our SGs are already decided upon. However, we want this campaign to be a truly CROWD-run endeavor, so we will actively listen to your feedback, and wishes, and work hard to tailor our Stretch Goal plan to your needs. If our community comes up with a great idea, if it is feasible within the bounds of production and economy, we will try to make it happen!
And here’s the monetary Stretch Goals you’ve already unlocked (there’s quite a few!):
DAY 1 SURPRISE: NEW SUIT! THE MOTHSUIT!
Yes, we’re starting with the Stretch Goals right now! The Mothsuits is added to the 12 Suit cards already included in the Core Game!
If you want to survive in space, you need to learn to improvise, to evolve beyond what you were when you left Earth Space. Oftentimes, this means integrating alien technology with your own.
The Mothsuit is a powerful mid-game suit, crafted from a wreck of a dead Mothman. It provides superior mobility, not only thanks to its Solarsail ability, but thanks to its versatile move actions that allow its wearer to move through Intruders. With the Mothsuit, you will avoid early game Blips and Intruders with ease.
Check For Yourself: We’ve included the Mothsuit in the Dark Side of the Sun Demo, along with other powerful Gear, so you can check it out in action in some of the preview videos – or check for yourself in the TTS Mod!
Suits make half of your character build, as not only do they provide Rubicon bonuses, Vitality Levels and unique abilities, they also influence how many Gear slots you have. Each new Suit comes with a miniature or standee, as well as an Oversized Suit card.
$ 100000: NEW CHARACTER! THE REJECTED!
Professor Shohreh Kabr-Akerman served in the NASF’s Office of the Administrator, until her abrupt resignation. In the past, before moving into Robotics, she was a trainee for the space program.
Each new Character comes with an Oversized Character card and a unique Progression Tree, broadening your character creation options!
$ 150000: NEW GEAR! NOOS ARMORY!
Four new Contraband Weapons and Gear from NOOS, the corporation that runs all Earth-based IT networks. Supposedly, these weapons can have their caps removed and be overclocked.
$ 200000: NEW SUIT! THE VISIONARY PSI-1!
Based on a NASF experimental prototype design, the Visionary PSI-1 Suit offers both mundane and psychoactive defensive measure. In other words, this light suit has some limited radiation protection, as well as a psycho-resistant buffer array, which blocks many types of ‘Antinomy’ phenomena.
The Visionary Suit is a versatile mid-game suit, crafted from a cracked environmental shell of a dead Agni Journeyman, the alien Intruder showing an extended mastery of one of the fundamental forces of creation: strong nuclear force.
The Visionary Suit has a higher Radiation Threshold, contributes Nuclear Spacer tokens and makes the wearer resistant to psychonic attacks.
Suits make half of your character build, as not only do they provide Rubicon bonuses, Vitality Levels and unique abilities, they also influence how many Gear slots you have. Each new Suit comes with a miniature or standee, as well as an Oversized Suit card.
$ 250000: BOSS POWER UP PACK!
When a Mothman reaches the end of their life cycle, a miracle happens… or so the signals insist. However, were it to be halted on the cusp of transcendence, the gates of heavens close before the host forever, them themselves transformed into a beautiful fallen angel, cursed to wander the universe until all drowns in atomic fire.
This AI/BP/Trait pack will allow you to transform the Mothman into the Iridescent Angel.
$ 300000: NEW LOCATION! SOLAR ARRAY ANNEX!
The Solar Array Annex was made inaccessible by whatever disaster struck the Shepherd’s forward Solar Ring… Now the location becomes accessible, though it may require a little space walk. Hope you brought your something warm.
Locations are the living beating heart of Enormity, as they expand the boundaries of our open world, creating more intricate layouts and allowing for many more playthrough permutations!
$ 350000: NEW GEAR! ENDYMION ARMORY!
Four new Contraband Weapons from the Endymion Corporation, Earth first corpo-church. These guns are guaranteed to be consecrated by the priests of Spaceism – if you believe that kind of thing.
Pledge Levels and Add-ons Spotlight
There are 3 pledge levels available at the start of the campaign, one for the Baseline Core Game, one for the Deluxe Special Edition Core Game and one for all currently available GAMEPLAY add-ons, which include additional campaigns, locations, characters, suits and intruders! (you can check the Scourge Campaign Expansion below). While this isn’t the final lineup — more will be added as the campaign progresses — you cannot go wrong with either one!
Add-Ons
As always, we have an array of addons for you to choose from, most of them cosmetic, based on the feedback we received from you in our previous campaigns. Cosmetic addons are completely optional, they don’t contain new gameplay, and are here for discerning backers who want to ‘bling-out’ their game or just show support for us.
Then we have gameplay addons, mostly in the form of giant new campaign Expansions. These include everything you need to run a brand-new narrative campaign, as well as custom campaigns: a new story, new Course cards, new Locations, new Intruders, including Bosses, new Characters, new Suits, new Gear, new mechanics… and much more.
Before discussing details, it’s important for you to learn of our creation process. We plan the evolution of our games and storylines years in advance, and we have an extensive pre-production to make sure our worlds extend beyond the horizon and offer an unprecedented feeling of an immense, living, interconnected universe.
However, for us, the main development goal of Enormity was to make the Core Game complete, varied and brimming with content. Consequently, add-ons are completely optional and not required to enjoy the full game. They have also not been cut from the Core Game, and their development will not impact the Core Game timeline.
So, now that we’ve got that out of the way, what are these Expansions? Each of the major Campaign Expansions ventures into a new niche of the Enormity world, either a new part of the massive ship, the Shepherd, or off-world, for a brand new, full-length campaign, against a brand-new Intruder faction, with new bosses and new mechanics. Each offers new branches of character development and new Suits, and new Gear (and new types of Gear!) which you can use in the expansion campaign as well as in every other campaign! Same goes for the Intruders and Locations.
If you’re curious how we go about developing expansions and what abundance of content you will receive, check out our community reactions to the just delivered Aeon Trespass: Odyssey Expansions, which almost double the playing time!
The final gameplay add-on is what we call a ‘Reinforcement Pack’. With our games, we try to offer as much variety as possible, as the 300+ Weapons and Gear of the Core Game will attest. To make this possible, most pieces of Gear in the game are offered in one or two copies. This is how the game was designed, similarly to Aeon Trespass Odyssey, and the content of the Core Game, along with Stretch Goals, is more than enough to serve your needs!
However, for those who want complete loadout freedom, to tackle the campaigns, customs campaigns and the overwhelming amount of end-game and legendary difficulty content, we’ve prepared a special reinforcement pack, supplying each and every Weapon and piece of Gear in as many copies as needed to make equipping them on each of the four Spacers possible. This is the first time we’ve introduced this type of gameplay Expansion, based on player feedback, but we’d like to hear from you too!
Scourge Campaign Spotlight
Includes:
1 Box
1 Ratcacher (Multilocus exterminator) Miniature and Standee
1 RT Exterminator Hazard Spacer Miniature and Standee
10 Wall Rats (Paramolusca parasitica) Miniature and Standee
2+ Characters
2+ Suits
6+ Oversized Cards (Course and more)
60+ Standard Cards (AI, BP, Traits, Stratagems and more)
70+ Mini American Cards (Weapons, Actions, Specimen and more)
30+ tokens
2+ Monster Sheets
Scourge Campaign Book
2 Scourge Location Books
\\ MISSON LOG, NASF COVENTRY, TIME UNKNOWN
I hear them in the walls… Scraping…
They spread across the Shepherd like a virus. Squeeze through cracks in the hull, through bulkheads, through vac-sealed airlocks! They slither into our EVA suits… and do the devil’s work. Until you don’t recognize yourself. Until you want to die. But you don’t. You bloom, like a helix flower. You overflow… with more of them…
I hear them even now…
Old NASF records tell of an encounter with the lifeform at a dig on Luna. Full report is classified, but the site was nuked from orbit.
We do not have nukes. We have nothing.
I hear them coming… Squeezing through…
Oh God.
Scourge is a challenging difficult campaign that should take you 30 to 45 hours to complete.
Parting Words
Woah, that’s… that’s quite the first Update! First of many to come! I hope you like what you see, and that you will engage with us to make it a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Here’s to you!
