Independent writer and video game developer, Justin Cuff, of Ultimate Fantasy Studio, has scored some big points with the international pc-gaming crowd, as his new \’old-school\’ adventure role-playing game implements satire and an unusual depth into its story and characters.
More information: The Meridian Shard
CAMPBELL RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA ♦ JANUARY 30th, 2014 — Independent writer and video game developer, Justin Cuff, of Ultimate Fantasy Studio in Campbell River, British Columbia, has been spending far more time than usual lately corresponding with bloggers, reporters and enthusiastic gamers, about his video game currently in development, The Meridian Shard; an \’old-school\’ adventure role-playing game for the PC. That\’s because on January 1st, 2014, without any prior advertising or press coverage, Cuff presented his game on kickstarter.com, an internationally recognized crowdfunding website for creative projects, where immediately he began to see financial backers coming to support the game from as far away as Germany, France, Australia, Israel, the UK, and the US.
With close to 80 project backers so far, The Meridian Shard RPG has reached over 30% of its surprisingly modest $6500 funding goal, with the campaign deadline closing-in on February 16th, 2014 by which Cuff must raise the remaining amount needed to access any of the funds. Because of Kickstarter\’s all-or-nothing funding model, project creators must meet or exceed their funding total before they are able to see a penny of the backers\’ investment. Without full-funding, Cuff will have to take on other work, postponing the game\’s expected release date of December 2014 until a later time in the new year.
The majority of enthusiasm from the backer community has been expressed in internal emails and project update comments that seem to celebrate the satirical take on cliché adventure video game themes, stories and characters. Although there is humor to be found in The Meridian Shard, Cuff explains that his game should not be confused with being a comedy game per say. “Satire is simply a tool I\’ve used to express my feelings regarding larger issues in our western society in a way that is not always obvious, and that does not make light of the heavier and more serious themes found within the story. There\’s actually a lot of variety in the characters and a depth to them that I feel will, and has already, connected with people in a much more meaningful way than is traditionally found in this genre of video game.”
Cuff does not claim in any way to be re-inventing the wheel, but rather paying homage to an already long-loved genre, while using his writing within the game to tell a unique fantasy story that he feels will have different meanings to different players. “For some people, the game will be a fun romp through an old-school adventure with plenty of action, dialogue and good laughs. For others, there may also be tears to go along with all that. I\’ll admit that I\’ve even choked-up a little while writing some of the scenes. There\’s definitely going to be much more here than meets the eye.”
After 13 months in development, The Meridian Shard is well on its way to being a playable game, with testing scheduled for mid to late autumn this year. Cuff, who founded Ultimate Fantasy Studio in 2012 after publishing his first fantasy/sci-fi novel, Ultimate Fantasy – The Queen\’s Realm, is hoping for a financial boost that will help him bring his story-based game to the finish line. With a variety of choose-your-own-adventure like features, as well as optional party members and an intriguing premise to the plot, there already plenty of reasons why young, and older players alike may wish to invest in his project and the growing community around it.
Further information: Satirical Adventure Video Game Draws International Interest to Independent Canadian Developer – visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/themeridianshard/the-meridian-shard-rpg-an-indie-game