UPDATE 10 (15th December 2023): 230k words added, totalling 1.2 Million) -Lead your warband against rivals across The Plains -Engage in the tactical use of your boar cavalry, goblin skirmishers and orc infantry to slaughter and loot your foe. -Increase your Raid Boss ranking to gain fame amongst your tribe -Your foes are procedurally generated from different areas of The Plains, each with their strengths and weaknesses. -Enslave your defeated enemy, or buy up slave stocks from Seraka the Shackla to supplement your horde. -Your victories and defeats are added to your battle record on the stats screen.

UPDATE 9 (1st December 2023): 97k words added, totalling 972k) -Continue your adventures in the Royal Road Adventurers Guild. -As your adventuring band rises in fame, deal with ever more important and dangerous quests. -Find the link between your adventures and, if you can, defeat the demonic powers behind recent upheavals to be proclaimed a Light of the Empire. -Further befriend and get to know your potential companions. If you get on with them well enough, perhaps you may see them during your old age, when all adventuring is done.

UPDATE 8 (30th October 2023): 72k words added, totalling 875k) -Uploaded the initial starting quests of the mature orc adventurer path. In total, the path is about half done. -As long as you are not demonically corrupted (and have not had one of the murderous ‘funny turns’), your mature orc can join the Royal Road Adventurers Guild. -Choose from a variety of quests, gradually increasing in complexity as you gain more experience. -Pick from a waiting group of warriors, thieves, clerics or mages to join your band. Each has their own backstory and powers which can aid or hinder your quest. Each will form an opinion on your orc, based on your behaviour during quests and if you can actually succeed in completing them. -Your best orc or goblin pal, from your youth, can join your adventuring band! -Once you’ve picked your party, read about them in the stats screen as their experience level increases and they gain greater control over their abilities. Track the fame of your adventuring band, depending on how many quests you’ve taken part in and completed.

You can engage in the raid boss battle as a young orc, if you meet the requirements, although it will be harder and you are limited to the amount of battles you can take part in. However, as a mature orc, you can fight in up to 25 raid battles.

A great chunk of this update’s word count is code (maybe 100k). I have pushed my neophyte coding abilities to the limit here!

These events are procedural and give your rival Chief differing names, surnames or epithets, different tribe names and place names, and differing casus belli, depending on which part of The Plains they hail from. Refusing a fight does not result in a defeat, but fleeing from a fight you start does. Sometimes it is better to flee if a battle isn’t going your way, or else you’ll almost certainly be killed.

There is no wider narrative to these battles. Raiding is a bread-and-butter part of orc life. I felt I needed to add these battles to add more orciness to the game. A successful raid boss may well have different options when he reaches old age )yet to be implemented).

FUTURE UPDATES

This game has become huge, far larger than anything I first imagined. I have decided to not implement a Thieves Guild path. To me, this seems a bit like throwing the kitchen sink in. If this was a goblin life simulator, I would, however, I don’t feel this path would suit an orc. Orcs would be the muscle, the thug or brute, used for intimidation and not really suited to the sneaky aspect of thievery. It would limit the enjoyment of a thief’s path. Perhaps, in a later game, I might use many of my ideas for a more fitting character and wider narrative.

My next update will flesh out mundane jobs for orcs, those who do not wish to engage in battles and adventure. I imagine a wandering orc passing from town to town doing more menial activities. Of course, this can be done between other events in a mature orc’s life. As a whole, this should give the player the impression of taking part in a world where not everything is ‘epic’ in nature.

After this, I will work on the city paths. Perhaps, at the same time, I will work on the shaman path, or do it after. The shaman path will potentially be the last big hurrah, a game path which diverts from others, as you rule your holy city around Krog’'s Rock.

When this is done, I will venture into the old orcs paths. This will be a more gentile affair, but hopefully, give satisfaction to readers and players by tying some events back to your younger life.

Cheers!