Endless Legend
Preview
Gamescom 2014: More factions revealed
by Marjolein Verheij
previewed on PC
Back in town
It’s been a year since we first saw Endless Legend at Gamescom 2013. A year later, and we are back in that same small booth in Cologne, once again sitting across from the guys of Amplitude Studios who are brimming with enthusiasm for their game. With the early access running since April, Endless Legend is coming closer and closer to its release date, and gathering more and more fans.
The studio made good use of their growing fanbase, holding a competition to create the seventh faction to join the already existing factions of The Vaulters, The Wild Walkers, The Broken Lords, The Necrophages, The Ardent Mages and The Roving Clans.
Cultists
Speaking energetically, CEO Mathieu Girard told us about the community created faction. They asked their forum members to make up their own factions, writing a biography and background story. The winner was chosen by the community and from there on the hero, city, units, logo and ships were created the same way: created and voted on by the fans.
The new faction is called the Cultists of the Eternal End. They are a religious bunch with one holy city where their leader The Eternal Queen resides. Their main goal is converting existing towns to their own faith, and they are all for holy warfare and indoctrination. Resources are leeched from those around them and instead of building new units they simply spawn.
The eighth and last faction are the Drakkens. A race of dragons, specialized in diplomacy. One of their perks is that they can see where every player is right from the start of the game. They prefer to enforce peace by any means necessary. Their primary goal is to save the world and forging world peace is a victory goal. We saw them in action in a short battle, their units including flying Wyverns and Ancient dragons. The monstrous size of some of the units instils a sense of scale none of the other races can match. It makes the Drakkens look like a mighty race to play with, swooping down on their enemies and lashing out with their razor-sharp tails.
Trade, diplomacy, combat
An important part of the game is getting the right resources. To get everything you need, you create roads and trade routes between your own cities, but also with friendly cities. In the improved diplomacy mode you will get more feedback from diplomats and get an indication of their emotions so that you can gauge where you stand during the talks. As AI players will have different personalities, the path to successful negotiations in one discussion does not guarantee success in another.
If trade and diplomacy aren’t your thing, then you will be happy to learn that combat has been improved as well. One change is unit morale, which is higher when friendly units stand adjacent to it. Special abilities can boost - or lower - morale further. The AI is smarter in battles too and will make more of an effort to move its units so that it can surround yours.
Getting involved
It’s not just the creation of a new playable faction that fans are involved in. Early Access participants get the chance to vote on various updates, for example about the inclusion of new minor factions. It’s just one of many ways that the fanbase is helping Endless Legend to shape up to be one hell of a game and a major source of creative ideas for the team at Amplitude.
