1 of 12 · Prologue · The Awakening
Forest of Awakening
A clearing, a wound with no explanation and no name. Only a blade on the path and torches pointing north.
“I would know you even without a name. Not the body.”Morvath
Isometric action RPGWarrior and DruidAct I · nine regions and three dungeonsVersion 0.1 · in development
The game's title-screen painting · art
§ 01 — The game
You wake without a name.
A clearing in the Forest of Awakening, a wound no one can explain and a blade on the path. The torches point north, to Vharan, the last town standing in a kingdom that broke apart one night no two people tell the same way.
From there on, every region keeps a piece of what happened: a bell sunk in the mud, carts of the dead climbing the frozen road, a stone that sings at the bottom of a mine. Every boss you defeat gives back a fragment. Not every memory that returns is yours.
§ 02 — The map
Act I · The Last Refuge
Nine regions around Vharan, from the forest where you wake to the altar where the voices gather, and three dungeons hidden beneath them. It is the same map the game opens with the M key. Pick a region.
open regionmemory still cloudedbosswaystone
Off the painting, as in the game, are the dungeons: The Bell Crypt, The Vharan Sewer, The Tower Undercroft.
2 of 12 · The last refuge
Vharan
In the last town standing, no one asks your name before offering the fire.
“Cold? Come closer to the fire. Here, names can wait.”Old Odra
3 of 12 · Region
Whispering Woods
Twelve went out through the north gate. From the woods only the voices came back, calling names no one recognises.
“At night, the voices call names among the trees. Don't answer.”Bran, patrol scout
4 of 12 · Mine beneath the Woods · optional branch
The Hollow Depths
Beneath the den, the mine goes deeper than any clan would need. Down there the stone sings, and the dead go back to their shift.
“Shhh… Listen. The stone is singing.”Shaman of the Depths
5 of 12 · Region
The Ashen Marsh
Someone burned this village's memories, house by house. Every flame went out. All but one.
“The Lady left me the fire… and a single order. What remembers… burns.”The Ash Custodian
6 of 12 · Beneath the Marsh · dungeon
The Bell Crypt
Beneath the fallen bell, the stair goes down to black water that reflects nothing. Up above no one pulls the rope, and still the bell rings.
The stair beside the sunken bell opens once the Custodian falls.
“Say my name… no one else does.”Echo of the Drowned Bell-Ringer
7 of 12 · Region
The Tithe Road
Carts loaded with the dead climb the frozen road north. Someone counts them. Someone weighs them.
“Thank you. Say my name to someone.”A Stray Echo
8 of 12 · Beneath Vharan's square · dungeon
The Vharan Sewer
Under the square runs the old pilgrims' road, and the water has covered it. The Tithe took the town's dead this way, unseen. Down at the bottom, someone still carries.
The grate beside the well only opens through Old Odra's quest, after the Weigher.
“No one came to collect.”The Tithe Carrier
9 of 12 · Beneath the Road's tower · dungeon
The Tower Undercroft
Beneath the tower courtyard, the rope goes down into a cold light. Ice has taken the walls, but no one took the armour off the hooks. Down at the bottom, a voice still counts names.
You go down the hole in the tower courtyard, on the rope Tomas hands you.
“Who goes there? Say the name. Down here, all the dead have names.”Echo of the Tower Watchman
10 of 12 · Region
Garden of the Forgotten
Among colourless flowers, an invitation from the fallen house still waits for someone who can receive it. Three walled gardens, and someone who never stopped tending them.
“I tended everything while I waited. Every bed. Every leaf.”The Gardener's Echo
11 of 12 · Region
Vale of the Broken Moon
In the mirror of the broken moon a royal banner is still whole, and Cael's men prepare for something no one remembers. From the camp, the climb leads to the heights and the dark beacon.
“Halt. No one passes the banner without the prince's word.”Echo of the Standard-Bearer
12 of 12 · A memory still clouded
Sanctuary of the Last Memory
Every voice of the broken kingdom ends at the same altar, held by something that never spoke its own name.
This part of Act I is still being remembered: the path exists in build 0.1, but what lies on it will change.
§ 03 — How you fight
What changes in every fight
The weapon decides the techniques
Nine weapons, each with its own chain of techniques and five ranks per technique. Change weapons and the bar changes with them; some techniques ask for two, like Electric Shield, staff and shield.
Q W E R T · 6 7 8 9
Chains and reactions
Different techniques on the same target close a chain. Burning, freezing, shocking, bleeding and poisoning set up reactions that another technique detonates.
chain: +25% · +45% · +70%
Flasks that refill by killing
Flasks do not refill over time. Every kill gives charges back, and every sip costs 10 charges.
common 1 · elite 3 · guardian 6 · boss 10
Forgetting is not losing
A forgotten technique leaves the bar and becomes an instinct: a smaller bonus, always on. Recalling it brings it back at the same rank.
3 instincts · a 4th from the Book of Names
One torch per expedition
Each lit torch restores life, mana and flasks once per expedition. After that, the way is the portal to Vharan and the well in the square.
portal: P key
Coins named after memories
Items are reworked with Memory Coins: Glimmer of Memory, Forgotten Crown, Memory Ash and ten more. Rare, Unique and Set only drop from level 20.
13 Memory Coins · rarities up to Unique
Bosses that warn you
Before the special blow, the boss's weapon lights up, the ground gives way and a sound of its own warns you. Get out in time. Four of them keep a signature Unique, guaranteed on the first victory.
roll: 2 charges, 3 s each · hold Space to run
The Tithe Chest
Every expedition hides a chest fallen from a Tithe cart. Pay in gold and it spins; every Tithe Key, dropped by monsters, spins it again for one more prize.
silver 72% · gold 23% · royal 5%
§ 04 — Classes
Warrior or Druid
The class decides how the body fights. The weapon in hand decides the techniques.
Warrior
Heir to a forgotten oath.
Masters weapons and faces the corruption up close. Starts sword in hand with Crimson Spin, and learns Memory Step at level 5: a teleport that leaves an exploding echo behind.
Close combat · skills Q to T
- Life
- 134
- Mana
- 64
- STR · DEX
- 20 · 14
- INT · WIL
- 10 · 16
Level 1 values, by the game's formula, without items.
- Level 15: Knightcoming soon
Druid
Keeper of the memory of Elyndor's wildwood.
Calls the Echo of a bear to fight alongside, passes it her own strength through the Wild Bond and wraps it in ember, frost, storm or stone. The weapon in hand changes the bear: storm with a staff, stone with a hammer.
Summoning and magic · the bear fights at your side
- Life
- 109
- Mana
- 100
- STR · DEX
- 12 · 12
- INT · WIL
- 20 · 16
Level 1 values, by the game's formula, without items.
- Level 15: Shamancoming soon
- Level 15: Necromancercoming soon
§ 05 — Bosses
Who guards each region
Each boss defeated for the first time grants an extra talent point, and each one speaks before the fight. There are ten in Act I; the Sanctuary's are still being remembered.
Morvath
Warden of Memory
Forest of Awakening · level 4
“Something in you still carries the night the kingdom broke.”
Giant of the Dark Forest
Chief of the orc den
Whispering Woods · level 6
“Come, then. I'll keep your scream… with the others.”
Shaman of the Depths
Warden of the Hollow Depths
The Hollow Depths · level 10
“My clan dug down to it… and fled their own mine. I stayed. And the stone gave me the dead.”
The Gardener's Echo
Who Tended While Waiting
Garden of the Forgotten · level 22
“I tended everything while I waited. Every bed. Every leaf.”
Register of bosses
| Boss | Title | Where | Level | Signature Unique |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morvath | Warden of Memory | Forest of Awakening | 4 | — |
| Giant of the Dark Forest | Chief of the orc den | Whispering Woods | 6 | Insignia of the Twelve |
| Shaman of the Depths | Warden of the Hollow Depths | The Hollow Depths | 10 | The Shaman's Staff |
| The Ash Custodian | Keeper of What Burned | The Ashen Marsh | 13 | Ember Crown |
| Echo of the Drowned Bell-Ringer | Who Rang for the Dead | The Bell Crypt | 14 | — |
| The Weigher | Who weighs the dead | The Tithe Road | 17 | The Weigher's Hook |
| The Tithe Carrier | Who Carries the Dead | The Vharan Sewer | 19 | — |
| Echo of the Tower Watchman | Who Still Says the Names | The Tower Undercroft | 21 | — |
| The Gardener's Echo | Who Tended While Waiting | Garden of the Forgotten | 22 | — |
| Echo of the Standard-Bearer | Keeper of the Whole Banner | Vale of the Broken Moon | 27 | — |
The Unique drops for sure on each hero's first victory and with a 10% chance after that.
§ 06 — Plates
What the build shows today
Captures from the game with light and colour adjustments only: nothing was painted over them. Those marked as art come from the game's own screens and books.
§ 07 — Codex
The rules, with the numbers
How much a flask heals, when a weapon gets faster, what it costs to rework the tree: all taken from the balance of build 0.1.0. The Codex changes with every version; 1.0 ships with the game.
12
regions and dungeons in Act I
9
weapons, each with its own techniques
13
Memory Coins
100
maximum level
In this version
- NewTwo new dungeons in the areas: the Vharan Sewer (17, boss 19) and the Tower Undercroft (19, boss 21). The Garden of the Forgotten and the Vale of the Broken Moon were rebuilt and leave the prototype.
- ChangedAttribute requirements v2: weapons ask from 15 (grade II) to 80 (grade X), more than armour of the same grade. Sword asks Strength only, Crossbow Dexterity only, Staff Intelligence only, and the Shield now asks Strength and Will.
- NewRare, Unique and Set only drop from level 20; before that they turn Magic. The Tithe Chest appears once per expedition on every combat map.
§ 08 — Who makes it
No name. No face. A memory that endures.
A game made by one person.
Dark Memory is an independent project. There is no big studio behind it and no marketing team: it is one person who grew up playing action RPGs and decided to make one.
Maps, monsters, bosses, techniques, items, the Chronicle and every number in the Codex go through the same hands. That is why the game grows a little at a time, in versions: Act I is at 0.1, and every new version gets its own edition of the Codex saying what changed.
- Team
- one person
- Engine
- Unity
- Platform
- PC
- Version
- 0.1 · Act I
- Release
- 1.0, no date yet
§ 09 — Wishlist
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