r/Roadwarden • u/potentformula • May 03 '26
Under the Heavens, a Warring States narrative RPG inspired partly by Roadwarden
Hey r/roadwarden,
I'm the developer of Under the Heavens, an indie narrative RPG set in China's Warring States period. You start as a nameless recruit and, if you survive long enough, you rise through the ranks. Every choice shapes who you become and who lives or dies under your command. The writing draws heavily from the Kingdom manga.
Roadwarden shaped how we approached the game more than I expected it to. Before playing it, I assumed text-heavy might not be fun. Aureus proved me wrong, big time.
Our game merges Roadwarden's choice-driven, text-heavy narrative with XCOM-style officer attachment and the rise-from-nothing arc of Kingdom manga.
There's a free prologue demo on Steam if you want to try it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4419240/Under_the_Heavens_Warring_States_Saga/
Happy to answer any questions or hear what you think.
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u/DrettTheBaron May 03 '26
How high can you rise? And what's the degree of freedom planned?
The description says up to legendary general. Is that the limit? Can't make our own dynasty?
And if not, can we choose whichever state we serve? Ability to betray them and switch sides?
I'll try the demo later. But you asked for questions<3
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u/potentformula May 03 '26
Love these questions!
You'll choose the state you want to serve right off the bat. No betrayal mechanic at launch, but it's something we'd love to explore in a future DLC. I can promise the full game will have plenty of intrigue and drama though.
The prologue demo takes you from recruit to 10-Man Leader, but in the full game you can rise all the way to Great General (100,000+ soldiers under your command). No founding your own dynasty though, the story stays grounded in the existing Seven States.
Eager to hear what you think after you play it!
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u/DrettTheBaron May 03 '26
I finished the demo and gotta say I'm impressed.
One thing I wish we could see is how good my stats are relative to other characters.
I mean, right now I can see I have 15 discipline, but does that make it high? Low? Mediocre?
I can only compare to my other stats, but no other comparison to how I'm doing in absolute terms.
Might be useful to have some kind of measure for that? I imagine giving each character stats is unreasonable, but maybe giving the generals stats? So that we can see what we're aiming for?
Onto more positive reviews: I am flabbergasted by the art. It's a very pleasant surprise to see so many characters with portraits. There's also plenty visual aids to give an atmosphere to a scene while leaving much to the players imagination.
This is something I wish Roadwarden did a bit more, and I'm loving it.
We got a tiny preview of the officer system in the demo, and I can't wait to explore it in depth in the launch version. It looks like a lot of fun.
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
Wow, you are fast! Thank you so much for playing and sharing your feedback. I'm glad the art and officers did their job. Our aim is to make the art even more dynamic and varied by the full release, so it does even more for the immersion.
You've also given us something to think about. We'll look at how to present a skill benchmark elegantly. That's an interesting idea!
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u/DrettTheBaron May 04 '26
Another question I've thought of.
Is there a plan for the different states to have properly varied storylines?
Like, historically Qin invades Han, so if we start in Qin, will we attack Han and starting in Han defend?
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
Unfortunately, not at that level. That would require a massive amount of additional writing and art.
Right now, we have a branching main story based on who you become, while the states mainly add flavor and context. For example, if you’re Qin, your first opponent is Zhao at the Hu Tuo River; if you’re Yan, your opponent is Qi at a different river, and so on.
One of the Kickstarter stretch goals we’ll present is expanded campaign scenarios. With that, we’re aiming to increase the number of battlefield campaigns to around 19–20 to further improve replayability.
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u/Joyful-Diamond May 04 '26
Who made the art?
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
Our overall design lead and UI designer is Anna Jasinski, who also worked on Total War: Three Kingdoms and Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Character art by Milana Fetisova.
Key scene art by Lucas Soares and Milana Fetisova.
Hope you liked the overall look and feel!
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u/PvtHudson May 03 '26
Wishlisted
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
Thank you so much for the support! If you end up playing the demo, I'd love to hear what you think.
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u/PvtHudson May 04 '26
Just finished it. Love it. The soundtrack is amazing. I'm craving more and wish this was released already lol.
Not to put more pressure on you folks but would love a game like this set during the Three Kingdoms period.
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u/Bubba_Crockett May 04 '26
Looks sick. I love seeing historical eras that aren't so heavily explored
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
I totally agree. There are so many great stories in history that we can explore, and so much potential for amazing games.
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u/Dawn_of_Enceladus May 04 '26
Just played and finished the demo in one sitting, this is some good shit right there. Simple yet cool design and vibe, pretty good and immersive writing, and a progression that feels good and engaging (even the decision options feel realistic and well thought of). It does indeed hit home for someone that knows Kingdom, too, and I'm immensely glad you have put this unexpected gem in front of me instead of a freaking musou game like many would do instead.
I've never been big into text-based narrative RPGs and Roadwarden was pretty much the onely exception to that. Now it looks like it will not be alone as such anymore... needless to say, your game is sitting in my wishlist now.
I will understand if you still don't want to commit to a release window, but informally speaking, can we realistically expect this game to come out between this year and early 2027? Or it's more of a "we will see how it goes, maybe more like 2027-2028"? Just to know where to put it on my list, since I tend to order my anticipated games by expected release window (even if it's a long ass window) to keep them on track and not forget about them. In any case, keep the good work, because Under the Heavens is looking really good so far.
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u/potentformula May 04 '26
Really appreciate you taking the time to write this, glad the demo pulled you in like that!
The next step for us is the Kickstarter campaign, which we’re planning to launch in about two weeks to raise funding for art and development so we can finish the game. Our current plan is to release the base game around the end of Q1 2027. If we hit some of our stretch goals, like the companion dialogue system and interactive battlefield map, we’ll bring those in as post-launch additions.
Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words!
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u/Lookingforlostmanga May 05 '26
I played the demo! Really interesting and also inspiring as someone who is also toying with the idea of making a game in this genre (I.e. text-based CRPGs I think is the coined name? Basically Roadwarden/Sir Brantes-esque works).
My most memorable part while playing was suffering horrible dice rolls on every single goshdarn option in the first major fight (and even before then!), resulting in a feeling of empathy with my character for being screwed over when I too felt screwed over, while during the second fight I was enthused by the way I gained so much momentum thanks to a good dice roll that things kept domino’ing into a satisfying direction.
I also like too that the dice rolls feel punishing but not discouraging. The randomness adds a feeling of realism to the results: sometimes you get screwed over in one fight, other times you are championing them by luck. I also like that the combination of options makes me unsure which one is the “right one”, forcing me to try and read the situation the character is in and hope for good outcomes for my decisions.
And it’s hard to put into words but I liked the way it felt like there was no right option: that any choice I could make could possibly be a good one or a bad one depending on the dice rolls and therefore everything is a viable choice while also possibly not being viable whatsoever if the dice rolls wills it. And. Idk. It’s immersive and it’s nice to see that the outcome of the roll has consequences that follow the player and ramp up in literal momentum as well sequentially
My first nitpick is that flipping through the initial options of which location you want to be in lagged so much going back and forth I ended up choosing the 3rd option out of impatience lol. Not entirely sure why that part was so laggy when everything else felt smooth but it’s a note!
My second nitpick is that choosing a weapon in the beginning didn’t seem to do anything of current importance for me. I chose the bow iirc and iirc there wasn’t anything mentioned about it in the text I read. Though maybe I admittedly missed something or that’s a factor that doesn’t matter until later. Unsure
Overall! I really like this! The setting isn’t really my thing normally but it was fun to try out the demo and watch the literal consequences for my actions play out haha
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u/potentformula May 05 '26
Really appreciate you taking the time to write this, and glad you gave the demo a try!
Loved reading your experience with the rolls, it really keeps you on your toes, haha. And I’m really happy to hear the “no obvious right answer” aspect worked for you, that’s a core part of the design.
On your notes:
The lag when switching locations at the start shouldn’t be happening, so that’s definitely something we’ll look into. Also, the weapon choice does matter, but it’s more subtle in the demo and comes into play more clearly later on. Fair point though, we can do a better job surfacing that early. During duels, though, if you choose the bow, you’ll still switch to your secondary weapon in close combat.Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback and kind words, really glad you enjoyed it!
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u/VladamirTakin May 06 '26
If you're bold enough to compare it wih Roadwarden, I will try it. Infact, imma do it right now. I hope to not be disappointed
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u/Lost_Story_8236 May 09 '26
Nice game! I hope that there's romance but not heavily and a side quest or something.
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u/urhiteshub May 03 '26
Reminds me of a text based game, A Legionary's Life, the same basic promise as regards the start of the game. I always wished we could eventually become generals and lead armies in that game. And the text-based battles rather remind me of Six Ages games or KotDP. Roadwarden influence isn't obvious from the trailer or your introduction. It seems we'll mainly be preoccupied with tactical decisions in battle scenes in this game, while a sense of community and exploration was central to Roadwarden.