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The funds from the campaign have now been properly acquired and we're now able to move forward to the next steps of development.

Stay tuned for more updates on our progress as we get back to work!

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Primer Time!

Art's all well and good, but let's talk about the beating heart of any game, the mechanics! Starting with our turn order timeline.

Check it out on our website here:

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We're Live (Again)!

We've relaunched our Kickstarter with a new goal to keep ourselves moving forward!

A detailed and connected world, complex and challenging battles, beautiful pixel art and fluid animation. All these and more await in this RPG epic. Inspired by classics and contemporaries alike, it deepens and refines everything that made us fall in love with the genre.

Check it out here!

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Don't let your guard down!

Cutscene boards by Passerine

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Party Primer: Zorja

Kicking off some new posts on our website to share more about the world, characters, and mechanics of The Dawn's Circle. Starting with the soft-spoken face of the story, Zorja!

(Key art by @indesomniac

Read more on our website!👇(Also below the read more)

Let’s dive right into the real meat of any RPG, the party members! The Dawn’s Circle will feature six playable characters, and these primer posts will give you just a taste of what you can expect to see from them. It’s only fitting to start with the face of the Dawn’s Circle’s story, Zorja.

Zorja dresses head to toe in modest layers, against the typical customs of her people, the Ireli.

Distant and taciturn, Zorja’s past brims with mystery, just as her being brims with the unrestrained magical power of a newborn god. In a world that has been dictated by the ancient gods since its beginning, an infant deity is nothing short of an anomaly. This “condition” of hers seems to take quite a toll on her physically, with even acts like sitting or eating causing great discomfort and pain. The story of the Dawn’s Circle follows Zorja’s search for her place in the world, whether she wants to find it or not…

Zorja’s expressions are quite understated, sometimes requiring a trained eye to interpret.

It’s a common mistake to think of Zorja as cold or aloof. Though her disposition is reserved, she carries a warm fondness for the company of others, as well as the simple and silly joys of life. Still, she’s a blunt person with a surprisingly sharp tongue at times, so don’t get too comfortable.

One of Zorja’s most treasured possessions is a bone razor used to keep her hair short and out of the way.

Hobbies: Collecting trinkets and small objects. Playing (cheating at) cards.

Likes: Company, honesty, bad jokes

Dislikes: Eating, drinking, sleeping, being awake, walking, sitting, etc etc…

Zorja’s movements convey a distinct lack of exertion or effort.

In battle, Zorja is an exceptionally powerful mage, conjuring forth bursts of magic that dominate the battlefield and deal devastating damage. However, she is also the most fragile party member, and will often require set-up and support to keep her healthy enough to fight. On top of this, though her skills are powerful, they are quite slow, meaning they must be carefully deployed to make the most of every turn she gets. With the massive range and damage of her skills, Zorja can effortlessly sweep foes off the map, but taking full advantage of them will always require a helping hand or two. Good thing she’s not alone!

Flare deals high damage for a relatively low cost, but is among the smallest of her skills. With some help from Roran though, both foes are close enough to feel the burn!

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Brace yourself! Or don't, this one's probably gonna hurt no matter what.💥

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The time has come, the Kickstarter for The Dawn's Circle is OFFICIALLY LIVE!!!

A detailed and connected world, complex and challenging battles, beautiful pixel art and fluid animation. All these and more await in this RPG epic. Inspired by classics and contemporaries alike, it deepens and refines everything that made us fall in love with the genre.

Read more here and pledge for exclusive perks!

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Shout outs to the artists who brought these little guys home.

Sprites: https://linktr.ee/uarfun

Animation: https://linktr.ee/imonk562?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#411820112

Getting all the flavor text is always one of my favorite parts of an RPG so I want to make every character look like someone you'd want to walk up to and press A.

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Getting all the flavor text is always one of my favorite parts of an RPG so I want to make every character look like someone you'd want to walk up to and press A.

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Our programmer at https://glis-glis.hr worked hard to create this snazzy battle transition, based on FFX, one of my personal favorite JRPGs and a big inspiration for this project! (Featuring a cameo from our beautiful placeholder assets).

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These were a joint effort between several very talented folks, so show them some love.

Animation and cleanup: https://bsky.app/profile/artistofseer.bsky.social…

Base sprite contributions:

https://linktr.ee/imonk562?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#411820112… https://barelynormal_activity.artstation.com

Ready for action!⚔️These detailed battle sprites take a lot of inspiration from classic fighting games as well as Mana Khemia (bonus points if you've ever heard of that one)

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Ready for action!⚔️These detailed battle sprites take a lot of inspiration from classic fighting games as well as Mana Khemia (bonus points if you've ever heard of that one)

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Our Kickstarter campaign has officially been approved and will be launching SOON! 🎉

There's so much more we're excited to share about the game on the full campaign page when it's live. Hit that notify button to make sure you don't miss it! 👇

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Our first trailer is now up! This was a huge undertaking from our team, and would not have been possible without their hard work!

Check it out!

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The western region of Torden is home to such flat open space that you'd think it'd be easier to avoid a fight...

Battle background created by our amazing illustrator Igzell!

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Lore Primer: Welcome to Gaia!

The land of Gaia is a fantastical world full of diverse creatures, magic and gods. The gods in particular play a critical role in not only maintaining the world’s balance, but shepherding their mortal children. These children are the main inhabitants of Gaia, called the six great races. We’ll talk much more in-depth about all these concepts in their own posts so this will be more of a basic primer on what you can expect to be important concepts in this world and the tales it has to tell.

Having gods around is so key to life in this land that in the oceans beyond the shores of the earth gods and the wings of the wind gods, no life can flourish. No creatures or plants live below the waves, and it is widely considered a no-man’s land, traveled only by the desperate and the foolish.

It’s also not just life itself, but the things which make life worth living. Climates to support lazy days in the sun or much-needed rains, and cultures to keep alive the memories and lessons of days long past, these are also among the responsibilities of the gods.

For the mortals that make up the six great races under the gods, there are two important concepts that define life on Gaia: The Circle and the Rites. The Circle is a kind of blessing given to a mortal under the purview of a given god, it’s both a blessing of magical power and a promise of guidance.

Unlike what we’re used to, inhabitants of Gaia are born through magical rituals to beseech the gods for a child. The Rites are the umbrella term used to describe all of these rituals, which are unique to each race.

I’ll close this primer off with a quick introduction to each of the six great races:

Rorkar: Short and sturdy folk of the earth. Them and their gods share a strong sense of community.

Targa: Varied and independent shepherds of the wilds. Them and their gods share traits with beasts of the wilderness.

Azani: Colorful and boisterous people of the wind. Them and their gods maintain customs built around love and intimacy.

Ghel: Statuesque horned masters of flame. Them and their gods boast unparalleled mastery of their talents.

Ireli: Crystalline and empathetic casters of light. Them and their gods live in seclusion and practice a unique form of memory-based magic.

Midlin: Mechanical and ever-changing heralds of progress. Them and their gods seem to revel in defying the world’s conventions.

That’s all for now! Keep an eye out for more primers and progress updates!

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Our Intro

Welcome to our first official dev blog post chronicling the journey of our first project: The Dawn’s Circle!

Exciting stuff, but before I talk about anything fun, let’s get some introductions and background out of the way. I’m Kevin, and I mostly work on character design, art, and writing, including writing most of these dev logs going forward. In this post, I’ll answer some questions, of which there are probably only two right now.

1.) What is Tempo Tempest? We’re a brand-new indie game studio, founded by my husband Gale and myself, hoping to carve out a niche for the stories and experiences we’ve always wanted to bring to life. Go here to check out the rest of our team for this project.

2.) What is The Dawn’s Circle? A story-driven RPG with a unique spin on classic turn-based combat (more about that in a future post!), an intricately detailed world, and many LGBT+ characters. If any of that piques your interest, then be sure to stick around, as I’ll be diving deeper into those aspects and more in posts to come!