Kenshi Alpha Release

Kenshi is a indie game I have been personally following for a while now. I am intrigued by its ideas and how Chris Hunt (The one man army behind this game) can succeed in making Kenshi a unique and fun game. Yesterday marked the release of Kenshi’s first build to the press and I have just had a chance to give it a little go but first i’ll show the full press release and features.

"Bristol, UK (October 27, 2011) - Kenshi is an independently developed
single-player RPG focusing on open-ended gameplay features rather than a
linear story. Touted as a sort of squad-based Oblivion spliced with
X-Com Apocalypse, players control a team of samurai characters in a
massive desert world, adventuring around and getting stabbed, such as
RPG characters tend to do. Starting off with just a single weak
character with a rusty sword and no shoes, the player can work his way
up through a number of professions to develop a team of hardened
warriors powerful enough to influence or even oppose the more powerful
factions in the world.

Kenshi is using the alpha-funding idea of many of its predecessors such
as Mount & Blade and Minecraft. Still unfinished and currently at
version 0.20, the game is being released early as a stable alpha version
for a reduced price of only 10USD. This brings in valuable feedback from
players, and the income from sales can then be used to fund further
development. The game will be improved and added to over time, and the
price will slowly increase, so it pays to buy early."
"Features:
*-Original take on the RTS-RPG hybrid genre*. No "hero" characters with
artificially stronger stats than everybody else- Every character and NPC
you meet is potentially an equal, and has a name, a life.

*-You are not the chosen one. *You're not great and powerful. You don't
have more 'hitpoints' than everyone else. You are not the center of the
universe, and you are not special. Unless you work for it. *Be cautious
and grow. You don’t have to win all the time, if a character loses a
fight, he actually gains more experience from it. After all you never
forget a lesson if it involves getting stabbed*.**

*-Freeform gameplay* in a seamless game world stretching over 400 square
kilometers. The game will never seek to limit you or restrict your
personal play style. Be a trader, a thief, a rebel, a mercenary, a
business owner, a doctor, a bandit... the list goes on.

*-Variation and possibilities**of gameplay*. Be good, be evil, be a
business man, be a thief, live in a town, live in the desert, join the
army, fight the army, travel alone, travel in hordes, build a fortress,
raze a city.

*-Purchase and upgrade your own buildings *to use as safe fortified
havens when things go bad or use them to start up a business.

*-Carry your wounded *squad mates to safety and get them all home alive.

*-Dynamic, ever changing world*. Support or hinder whoever you wish, or
keep to yourself, the world won't stop moving. This is not just a
"game"- you are living and surviving in a simulated world.

*-Absolutely no Level-scaling. *The world does not level up along with
you, and the shops don't change their inventory to only items matching
your level. At the start of the game almost everyone will be stronger
than you and survival will always be a struggle.

*-Realistic medical system that affects gameplay*. A character with a
wounded leg will limp or crawl and slow the party down, wounded arms
means you must use your sword one-handed or not at all. Lose an eye and
it will affect your field of vision. Blood loss means you can pass out,
and the blood will attract predators. Exhaustion affects performance and
is increased by equipment weight, weather, blood loss and thirst.
Severed limbs will need expensive robotic replacements.

*-Aid or oppose the various factions *in the world while striving for
the strength and wealth necessary to simply survive in the harsh desert.

*-Independently developed *with no design influences or alterations
dictated by men in gray suits who have never played a game before in
their lives.

*-Original game world*. There are no fantasy-knock-off cliches. No
magical glowing swords."

So that is what Kenshi wants to accomplish. It definitely is a tall order but the potential here is huge, comparable to Minecraft.  Chris knows that this Alpha build is nothing comparable to the end product and isn’t trying to hide it. So what was it like? Buggy, jarred, clunky, ugly and charming. This game can and will be beautiful, it will be bug free and smooth, it will be fun. Lets just hope we don’t have to wait 2 years to see it in all its glory. I think that to survive there needs to be an auto-updater system, so it downloads and patches the game smoothly and without hassle.

I would love for you guys to help Chris on his project by paying a small $10 to fund the cause. You won’t be getting anything playable yet, just think of it as a preorder where you can watch the development yourself.

I also do a quick look at the game.