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  • in ANARCHY
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TRACHI

Hey friends!

Jolly good greetings, and a big warm welcome to you!😊 Wherever you come from, and whatever you want to be – both of us know life isn't easy.

So let's kick back for a minute and imagine a place! πŸ‘€

TRACHI

Very much the same as ours. Joy and misery, and so on. Characters – people, trying to survive. In a world with finite resources and infinite dreams, not everyone's a winner. Someone has to get the short end of the stick. Sometimes, someone has to die.

Fictional History

TRACHI – AUTONOMY illustrated this never-ending struggle through the events of 3 1/2 days in and around a city called Trachi. Following the tracks of three spies from another country, ten years of history converged on a single moment. One moment, and a choice.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1811440/TRACHI__AUTONOMY/

Cause and effect

Where there's a choice, there's consequences. For the people involved, and for others too. Regardless, we have to live with it. Everyone who's lost someone can undoubtedly confirm that this sometimes is a terribly painful process.

Accountability

It's no wonder we strive to find an explanation. Where there's suffering, there has be a reason, or at least a cause. Someone – or something – has to be responsible. And if something doesn't present itself, we'll make it up.

## alleluia Within the world of TRACHI, there's a nation called IONIA. Born from a bloody revolution, the country has embraced a fanatical belief in purity. In the eyes of its most ardent believers, the entire cosmos is engulfed by a fire that burns everything in its wake.

T-Day

It's a cute little story, if it weren't for all the violence it justified. To make matters even worse: it's not THAT far from the truth. Following its release in 2019, AUTONOMY received a countless number of updates. Piece by piece, its impurities were burned away, leading to the present state of things.

METAMORPHOSIS

To be honest, it never was easy on me. I love both the characters and the world as if they were family. But the truth of the matter is: They weren't good enough. I always believed TRACHI is a story worthy to be heard. But for that, the characters – the people – had to be better.

A promise

If there really was no other way. If they really were to be erased over and over again, the least I could do is to let them in on it. To grant them knowledge of what they are, the world they live in – and most importantly: the reason why these things are done to them.

Prometheus

You probably guessed from the name of the games, so let me confirm your suspicions: TRACHI is a story about emancipation. Both AUTONOMY and ANARCHY are two steps on a stairway to heaven. Or in our own words: Reality.

ICU2

Between our world and theirs, there's something like a backroom. A frameless void with nothing in it but the things that come and go. Last year, two people came to this place. One of them stayed.

ECSTASY

Said person witnessed a new version of himself. And was – like everything else – consigned to the dustbin of TRACHIAN history. Neither dead nor alive, an entire world is waiting to wake up again.

ANARCHY

As for when that's going to happen: Piece by piece, over the course of the next three years. Most of the core features are already implemented, including primary combat, RPG and dialogue systems.

Burden of proof

But don't take my word for it! There's already more than six hours of devlogs presenting the current state of things. If you'd like to have a look, you can find them on TRACHI's Youtube channel.

People

Tomorrow, for example, we'll even do a double whammy! Kicking things off at 2PM CEST we'll continue our series of character examinations. This time around, we'll take an in-depth look at none other than the white witch of Hermingrad – also known as Daphne.

Devlog 06

Afterwards, we'll do our weekly examination of where we're at in terms of development. This time around, there'll be a focus on UI and combat balance, concluded with a very first peek at ANARCHY's act structure and protagonists.

Conclusion

At any rate, I hope that this little overview gave you a rough idea what TRACHI is about. I'll be back sometime around late July / early August with an introduction of what's coming your way very (!) soon. The 28th August is TRACHI's birthday, after all. 😏

Until then and beyond, I'm more than eager than eager to hear your thoughts either here, via YouTube or Discord.

Either way, I hope you have a great and comfy couple of weeks. 🌴

Much love
nory

ANARCHY

Hey friends!

Sorry for being tardy when it comes to updates (yet again). 😳

But today, I'm finally gonna sit down and do these things! 😀 Because AUTONOMY is getting a bit of a sequel, you know.

TRACHII

I always planned to continue the story of TRACHI. Though I also had my mind set on going beyond the comforts of RPGMaker and dive into Unity, Unreal et al. Most importantly, though: I wanted to tackle AUTONOMY's biggest flaw.

Interaction

Of all the (very lovely) feedback I received since the game's first release in May 2019, the lack of proper gameplay segments was by far the biggest point of criticism. Which is, in my opinion, completely understandable.

So I went ahead and made it my first priority to come up with a system that not only incorporates the overall idea of TRACHI as a world, but also fits neatly into the story we're trying to tell.

Labyrinth

Granted, it took a bit. I went from the concept of a turn-based tactical RPG to an RTS to a Real-time tactics game to a squad-based third person shooter. Any genre was fine, as long as I would be able to squeeze TRACHI into it.

Though I also knew that I'd have to make camp, eventually.

Two steps forward.

For all intents and purposes, I was in a pretty bad place during the first months of this year. I had a lot of the initial infrastructure already set up, featuring the full range from visual to audio to technical aspects, including among others: AI, ability and online systems.

But all of that's not much worth if you don't know how to make a game out of it.

One step back.

As appreciative as I was of the things I've learned, there was also a huge feeling of dread in my mind. I knew I could make something good, if I threw all my weight behind it. But considering the fact that I'm also pursuing a PhD, it might've taken me 5 years – if not 6 – to produce something meaningful.

In the meantime, I'd have to go out and tell people about the things I'm making.

Coming out

Considering the amount of hours I'm throwing at this project, it was high-time for me to come out and tell the world just how much I'm in love with it. On Twitch, we went through the entire story and dived deeper into specific events, organisations and individuals.

All of that culminated into a monthly symposium on Youtube, where I try to apply models describing elements of human interaction to the world of TRACHI.

Fish in the water

During these presentations, I realized two things. One, that there's much more to AUTONOMY's story than even I realized while I was writing it. Second, I remembered how much I enjoy making content. At some point, I started writing entire scenes just to present and to talk about them.

Reconstruct

I love the characters, and I want to show you so much more of them. On the other hand, I do want to elevate the technical framework and make an actual game. Taking a step back from active development showed me exactly what I needed to see in order to satisfy both of these things at once.

InvAsion

During the development of InvAsion, I invested close to 9 months familiarizing myself with Unity. I implemented a large chunk of AUTONOMY's characters and incorporated them into a dialogue-driven kinetic novel, released as a DLC on 26th August, 2022.

Not so coincidentally, I also prototyped a full RPG framework. Eventually, I dropped it from the project, because InvAsion back then didn't really need it.

ExcommunicAtion

Three weeks ago, I reopened the Unity project and reintegrated the RPG systems. Since then, I've been prototyping different combat systems, level editors and animation controllers.

It's been a wild ride so far. But with the things I've already set up for InvAsion, coupled with the added experience gathered over six months in Unreal, I think I'm finally ready to settle down.

ParAdise

In other words: Coming your way is a game powered by the same engine and dialogue system as InvAsion had. Add to that the field exploration, depth and scope of AUTONOMY. Most importantly, though: For the first time in TRACHI's history, the characters will not only talk the talk, but walk the walk as well.

As a huge fan of Tactical RPGs, I'm incredibly excited to try and follow the footsteps of many classics released in this particular genre.

And while I can't pretend to have a chance at filling these shoes, I will try my best to create an experience that is not only engaging by itself, but also further underlines the ideology of TRACHI as a whole.

Sympathy

Can you feel it, too? πŸ‘€

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2169000/TRACHI__ANARCHY/

ACADEMY

Hey friends!

I'm back! More importantly: I've got something super important to say!

Starting 18:00 CEST on 20/04/2023, I'll be talking all things TRACHI for a couple of days. If you'd like to hang around and get to know both the game and the underlying ideas a bit better, I'll be more than happy to have you! <3

Below, you can find the full program of each individual day including its respective topics: [code]"We've met before, haven't we?" - Knowledge horizons in TRACHIAN discourse

Thursday, April 20th 0. TRACHI 0.1. The brand 0.2. The game 0.3. The framework

Friday, April 21st 1. Terminological Groundwork 1.1. Uncertainty & Anxiety 1.2. Ambiguity & Ideology 1.3. The "need to know"

Saturday, April 22nd 2. IONIA 2.1. Eighteen years of shame - Sunset over Greece 2.2. The 2nd Ionian Enlightenment 2.3. Kenovice and Trachi - From tragedy to farce

Sunday, April 23th 3. Eurydice 3.1. Philanthropenos 3.2. EcoRev/EnKAD 3.3. CoExA/IIS 3.4. AURA [/code]