Code of the Savage RPG Live on Kickstarter

In this day and age of bloated budgets, massive production teams, and game sizes in the hundreds of gigabytes, passion and enthusiasm for game design are often overshadowed by the need to turn a profit and keep the studio lights on. Geoff Jones seems to be an exception. He has an idea and a vision, and those things led him and his Code of the Savage RPG to Kickstarter.

According to the game's description, Code of the Savage is an Ultima and Gold Box-inspired RPG that ticks all the right boxes of player freedom, adventure, and fun. The game seeks a modest sum of roughly $4,000 and is expected to be finished in late 2019. And already you can check out the introductory Kickstarter video with plenty of gameplay and charming old-school visuals:

Here's the official description and the game's feature list:

Code of the Savage is a tale of vengeance and survival. After escaping a slave ship, you have found yourself in chains and washed ashore on the island Kingdom of Daneth. You must find your way in a brutal and unforgiving world where nothing is black and white.

Deep and disturbing quandaries underpin the driving force of the game.

Code of the Savage is a no-holds-barred classic western style RPG. Inspired by the greats from the 80-90’s with a modern flair. There is a strong emphasis on player freedom through social and moral interactions… Will you choose to fire bomb the brothel, the church… Or both? Will you do it for money, glory or just because?

I think a problem with many of today's RPGs is that they expect you to know and care about their lore and backstory before you even take your first steps. In Code of the Savage, you and the main character are totally new to Daneth. So I don't want you to know the lore and backstory straight away. I want you to discover these things on your own terms as you play the game and interact with its inhabitants.

I wanted to create a role playing game that brought me back to my gamer days as a child on the C64 and MS-DOS PC. There is just something lacking in today's RPG's that I miss. Tired of micro-transactions, and randomly generated worlds; I am creating a world that is hand crafted with purpose. Essentially, I am creating the game that I want to play.

I believe one of the most important aspects of an RPG is the characters you meet in the game. I have therefore placed a great emphasis on NPC interaction. Each NPC in Code of The Savage has their own story, their own character portrait and a daily schedule. They will, go about their daily lives, going to work, eating and sleeping.

Level up your character and adventure forth to discover the treasures, history, and people of Daneth.

Features
  • Open world - A large open, seamless, non-linear, hand-crafted world for you to explore. Including day and night cycles, and weather.
  • Exploration - Discover towns, cities, hidden caves and dungeons. Unravel the rich lore of Daneth.
  • NPCs with depth - Meet a rich cast of NPCs with a dynamic branching conversation system. NPCs remember your name and react differently depending on the situation.
  • Dark themes - I don't hold back on what some may consider offensive content. If you're easily offended, Code of The Savage is probably not for you... This is not a "slay the dragon" and "save the princess" RPG.
  • Player freedom - There are various ways to progress through the game, with no right or wrong answers. Morality in Code of The Savage is not black and white. You decide what's right, and you decide what's wrong.
  • Adventure - Battle giants, undead and other creatures, hunt to gather resources, or go on a murderous rampage, the choice is yours.
  • Combat - Fast-paced dynamic combat system which is a mix between turn based and real time. Combat encounters happen in real time, without loading to a separate combat screen.
  • Inventory - An intuitive and easy to use inventory system. Any equipment and armour the player is wearing shows on their avatar.
  • Controls - Smooth grid-based movement. Easy and intuitive mouse and keyboard controls.
  • Fun - A familiar old school RPG game mechanic. Cast spells, hack, slash, level up, upgrade gear and kick ass!