Hugely Ambitious Victorian/Steampunk Inspired RPG ‘Gataela’ Funding Now on Kickstarter

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Paige Marincak — a female game enthusiast hailing from Canada — had always dreamed her entire life about creating a videogame of some sort, but hadn’t personally taken an interest in RPGs until after she played through Tales of Symphonia. Ever since then Paige has most certainly known that she wanted to create a game in just such a vein, while also incorporating other elements that she wished were more commonplace within the genre. All of this eventually coalesced into her plans to develop Gataela, a Victorian/Steampunk inspired adventure — intended for release upon a variety of mobile platforms — which would prominently feature a mix of tactical and conversational based combat.

As for the plot itself: ten years have passed since a vicious war rocked the nation of Gataela down to its very core, and since then the new king — Edward de Gataela — has actively strived to rebuild everything. Even so — despite the Monarch’s noble goals — the land is still positively rife with poverty, and the reconstruction efforts unfortunately seem to have accomplished very little towards reversing this. Meanwhile, an orphan working in a busy trading town on Gataela’s edge — named Zack — has tried to help these victims as best he could, yet has finally accepted that there is only so much he can do by himself.

tumblr_mua1zrg36S1rso1olo1_500It is to this end that Zack decided to embark on a pilgrimage to the Lord’s castle, so that he might request vital aid for the poor, not realizing that along the way he would get swept up in the machinations of those willing to restart the disastrous war all over again.

Gataela — which is planned to be told across four separate chapters — has been claimed to take place in a seamlessly connected contiguous world, all weighing in at the whopping size of 384,000 by 384,000 pixels. While players will indeed engage in traditional turn-based combat, they will furthermore have times where — using information gathered from the world’s various NPCs — they must even defeat their opponents via lively debates. Since Gataela is a land devoid of mystical otherworldly forces, Zack and his friends will — whenever their words fail them — have to solve stuff using their supply of gunpowder alongside good old fashioned brawn.

To ensure that players never become bored with the sprites they have to stare at, each character will feature a variety of alternate outfits that — when equipped — will simultaneously alter both their in-skit and map-view appearances. These “skits” — which directly show how Tales of Symphonia shaped Paige’s vision — are conversations carried out between plot important characters, augmented via full color emotive artwork. Gataela’s skits are not only used to advance the game’s plot during the aforementioned debate sequences, but will furthermore be utilized to give insight into the heroes’ various personalities by showcasing their interactions during the calmer moments of down time.

tumblr_inline_n5bcgjskhU1qbas66Unfortunately — having already been actively developing Gataela since 2012 — Paige Marincak has finally run out of personal development funds, which is quite a problem since custom sprite work is not exactly cheap. It is to this end that she recently approached the Kickstarter community with a request for $5,000 (CAD), the amount that would be needed to finish Gataela’s first chapter in time for a March 2015 release date. With nearly $2,000 (CAD) already secured — and twenty days still remaining — the odds of Zack Chen accomplishing his important pilgrimage currently look rather favorable, yet this does nothing to negate the fact that much work still needs to be finished.

Currently those seeking to aid Paige Marincak’s plight can secure for themselves a day one copy of Gataela, alongside having their name mentioned within the game’s credits, all for a pledge of just $10 (CAD). Meanwhile — for those whom donate far more heavily towards the plight of the many citizens whom had their lives uprooted by the great war — other planned rewards include: multiple buttons, a production art book, and much more. The most premium of these rewards placed upon the table — however — certainly has to be the chance to have a sprite based upon yourself appear within the actual game, which will furthermore be found within a house that you yourself personally helped to decorate.

However, those interested in helping Paige Marincak out should be sure to do so before the arrival of June 11th — the day on which her Kickstarter has been set to end — or else they won’t get their donations in before Gataela once more erupts into full out warfare.