Externus: Path of the Solari is a character-driven tactical RPG coming to PC and Xbox One. You can pre-order the game and purchase any merchandise from this Backerkit Store.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
New allies and the secrets of delicious chicken
over 4 years ago
– Fri, May 29, 2020 at 05:58:14 PM
Kickstarter Issues
Hey everyone, we just wanted to apologize for not having this backer update yesterday but Kickstarter was having a few server issues so we wanted to make sure that you could see our latest update before posting it. Seems like the issues have been sorted out, and if you know anyone that had trouble checking us out during that time be sure to send them our way. We appreciate all the support we've received from everyone.
A New Character Appears
So, thanks to everyone helping us out on social media we are ready to reveal another character! This time, it's Kyle Tethwood!
Kyle Tethwood Up Close
Is Kyle a friend or foe? Well... that answer is a little more complicated than you would think. Kyle is both, but we wouldn't want to spoil that for you. Know this, Kyle is a very capable mercenary and he is not short on work throughout the world of Externus. You wouldn't realize this talking to him, however, as he is usually cracking jokes or trying to show off his skills. Kyle loves attention and will do anything to be the center of attention in any room. That can sometimes create conflict and doesn't always rub other characters the right way. Weigh that against his combat prowess with his short claws (similar to brass knuckles) and he definitely has a lot of value to any group. Will that be enough to keep the party happy? Either way, Kyle Tethwood was always a favorite at the table when he showed up during our tabletop days and the video game version should be no different!
The different styles of Kyle Tethwood
Kyle Full Body Concept Art
Kyle Tethwood Fighting Stance Concept Art
Around the Web
We wanted to leave you with a few things that we've done in the past week. That includes a few interviews answered by Kent and Trevor talking about Externus: Path of the Solari. Be sure to check them out.
We also had a few great outtakes in our interviews with Moudy, so we want to leave you with those as a thank you! We appreciate all the support you've shown us and we can't wait to show you more!
150 Backers, 5 Minutes With Moudy, and another great Kickstarter
over 4 years ago
– Tue, May 26, 2020 at 04:35:32 PM
Five Minutes With Moudy
We wanted to make sure that we highlighted our team when doing our Kickstarter updates and today we wanted to start with our artist Moudy. He's always full of energy and extremely talented! The whole team has sat down a few times for interviews and we'll be releasing more throughout the campaign. In this video, Moudy talks a bit about where his art journey began, his time in Sudan and what it means to him, and the art style choice for Externus. Have a watch!
We love highlighting other great projects on Kickstarter and this one has a ton of charm!
Support CLUNKY HERO! A story-driven platformer Metroidvania with a touch of RPG and tons of humor! The gameplay of Hollow Knight, with the humor and parodist elements of a LucasArts Game.
150 Backers!
We're a week in and we've hit another milestone of 150 backers! We appreciate each and every one of you. We're still pushing hard to get Externus: Path of the Solari funded and you've helped us have a great first week. Make sure you let others know about the project and help us get funded! Every backer level makes a difference for us and we appreciate you all!
Still going strong, Still making friends, Still need your help!
over 4 years ago
– Sun, May 24, 2020 at 03:08:01 PM
Ohio Strong
While our studio is headquartered in Seattle, most of us still work remotely from Ohio. We love seeing all the creativity that comes from our home state and it's amazing to see other developers hard at work. With that, we want to encourage you to check out our friends at Parlor Interactive who are making a really cool 2D-Action RPG called The Cork. It would be cool to see another Ohio-based studio get funded. Watch the trailer below and you can support them here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/heyparlor/the-cork
Brothers' Day Is Today
For those that don't know, May 24th is Brothers' Day, which is a day specifically to celebrate the bond between brothers. So, we thought that was a perfect say to highlight the brothers in Externus: Path of Solari. Alrik and Amante Steele, the sons of Osmund, are both headstrong individuals that often get on each others' nerves. However, their bond is one that can't be broken, and their adventures and hardships will be a huge test for that bond.
Amante doesn't always follow the ways of the Soldat Solari and, being the first son, can be a bit rebellious as he tries to forge his own path. He has taken up the role of a Swordsman who uses his agility and dual blades to deal quick damage. Alrik is more like his father and wants to show Osmund that he is up to the task of lighting the path of the Solari. He wants to be a Guardian and protector, but might not always realize that he could use a little more experience before leaping into dangerous situations. That's where the bond between brothers matters. They may not always see eye-to-eye, but they'll always be there to help each other when needed.
The Original Concept for Amante (left) and Alrik (right)
The Current Look For Amante
An Original Concept for Osmund and Alrik
Going Strong, But We Still Need Your Help
We're incredibly proud and thankful for the success we have seen so far on Kickstarter. We're at 30% of our goal and have over 130 backers and that is a fantastic start. We still have a long way to go, so we encourage you to help by sharing our updates and social media posts when you're able to. We also encourage you to let other people know about the campaign. Every tier of backer is important to us even if it's just $1 or $5, so if you know anyone who may be interested please share this with them!
We want to bring this game, this world, these characters, and everything in between to you all. Make sure you play the demo and give us feedback on what you think about things so far, things you like, things you don't. Just like our tabletop game, we want to encourage collaboration and make sure this is a game that all of us want to play!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend
To close out our update, we want to say to wish everyone in the US a happy Memorial Day weekend. This is a great opportunity to celebrate those who have sacrificed for our country. It also usually signifies the kick-off to Summer so make sure you stay safe out there if you're celebrating this weekend! Have fun, grill your favorite foods, and be safe!
Thank you for the success! We have over 100 backers and are 25% to our goal!
over 4 years ago
– Fri, May 22, 2020 at 02:19:11 PM
Thank You
We can't thank each and every one of you enough! We have hit a couple big milestones for our campaign and we couldn't have done it without your support. We are currently at over 100 backers and have hit 25% of our goal! That is an amazing start, but we still have a long way to get up that hill and still need your help. If you see our posts and updates, we just want you to share them and let people know you backed us and are excited because we are too!
Corgi Dragons Are Taking Off!
We went through a lot of concepts before making Sir Pendleton a knight, but this may have been one our most fun and weird ideas in turning a corgi into a dragon. The original idea behind the character was to find a way to pay homage to Kent's real life dogs (he has two great corgis named Dova and Zapp and yes, they do have an Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dova_and_zapp/) so we came up with several ideas before settling on the concept of a corgi knight who can only use polearms.
The different concepts of Sir Pendleton
We don't want to reveal too much of Sir Pendleton's story as we don't want to spoil it in the game. We can tell you that he become a humanoid when one of the team members mentioned a classic RPG enemy, the Gnoll. It's an idea that clearly sparked a lot of artwork on Moudy's end.
We're Diving Deeper On Our Podcast
For those that don't know, we started a podcast a while ago so that we could talk about the process of forming our studio. With that, we came up with the very original name of How To Build A Game Studio (It's easy to remember!) We have talked to other developers about their game studios in past episodes and will in the future as well, but for the next few weeks we will be deep diving into Externus. This week we started with an overview of things and our excitement and nervousness of launching this Kickstarter.
We want to wrap up by reminding you that we do have a Pre-Alpha Demo for the game available to play right now. We encourage you to check it out and let us know what you think. We also challenge you to keep Trevor alive, as it's not as easy as you would think. Keep in mind that it can be a little rough around the edges since we are showing the game before most developers would. We are proud of what we've done with it and hope you enjoy our prequel to the main game!
Again, thank you all for the support and keep sharing as it'll help us get to 100%!
We had an incredible start! Thank you! We have some updates!
over 4 years ago
– Wed, May 20, 2020 at 07:54:46 PM
Thank you!
What more can we say except for thank you? You've helped us in a major way by backing the project and sharing it with people. We encourage you to continue to do that as it will help us meet our goal but we couldn't have asked for a better start. If you're not following us on Facebook and Twitter, we shared a piece of art Moudy is still working on featuring the character Alrik Steele.
Some additional background on Alrik, he is the character Jack on our team played in the the tabletop version of our game. Jack literally grew up playing this character at the table and we are excited to be able to tell you his story.
New Tier, Not the Same As The Old Tier!
So, we sold out of the Tavern Owner tier and we WERE NOT expecting the Taverns in the world of Externus to be so popular. Again, thank you, we were overwhelmed and appreciate anyone who backed at this tier. With that, we actually took a suggestion from one of our backers, James, and made it a little better than he suggested.
Create A Legend for $250 - There are 10 slots that are open right now!
This tier allows you to CREATE THE TALE OF AN ANCIENT HERO from days past. You will work with the team on naming the hero and creating their story to be featured in the codex in-game. In addition, you will name and give a small summary of one to two pieces of their equipment which will be rare items available to find and equip in-game.
This is great for anyone who has ever wanted a character immortalized in a video game and it will actually have some in-game consequences. Remember, if you pledged previously that you are able to upgrade to this tier! This tier will also include previous tiers except for the Tavern Owner since those are all filled.
New Character Reveals
We again want to thank you all for sharing, commenting, tweeting, and everything in between yesterday. You can use the hashtag our friend Corey made #BackThePath as it's really great. Thanks Corey! We still need your help in getting the word out and want to keep revealing new characters as that happens, so with that we have a couple new characters to show you here on Kickstarter. We're going to make sure the backers get the first look before we put them everywhere else.
Yasumori
Yasumori Head Shot
Yasumori Armor Concept
Yasumori was a large part of the original campaign and we wouldn't be happier with how Moudy interpreted our spiritual Samurai. In the tabletop version of the game, he was played by our friend Ted and played the role of best friend and companion to Alrik Steele. Yasumori and Alrik have had a bond for a young age as their families were close and Alrik was often left in the care of Yasumori family when Osmund was off on his travels. We can't wait to share more on him as soon as we can, but we have one more character to show you.
Jill
Full-Color Concept For Jill
Various Outfit Concepts for Jill
Jill Callaghan is a pirate captain that the party will run into during their adventures. She is incredibly tough and headstrong and may not be so eager to join up with the Soldat Solari. She will, however, be eager to start a fight like any good pirate would. There is a lot more to Jill than her tough demeanor and pirate antics, but we wouldn't want to spoil that for you!
Again, Thank You!
Thank you all for backing us and we hope to bring you many more and frequent updates as our journey continues while making this game. Our world is rich with characters, history, and locales that we can't wait to share it all! We also encourage you all to comment on the things that you like about the campaign and the kind of updates you would like to see in the future. We want you to help us on this journey and we want to bring you more of the things you want to see!
