Ironheart - Discussion Thread

An alternate history scenario in which the medieval Middle East is reimagined as the battleground of giant primitive mechs powered by energy from mysterious meteorites.

  • Play as male, female or non-binary.
  • Participate in unlikely time travel shenanigans.
  • Take sides in the Third Crusade as a knight or emir.
  • Pilot a giant medieval war machine!
  • Manage your own fiefdom.
  • Seek revenge, strive to build a better world or simply live it up in the twelfth century!

Welcome to the thread for my upcoming game, Ironheart. I’m currently writing Chapter 8 of an estimated 10 and the word count has just passed 150K. The first 4 chapters of the game can be played here:

IRONHEART TEASER (no longer available since the start of beta testing - sorry!)

(WARNING: content does include some fairly explicit acts of violence during a battle, including some directed against civilians)

I’ll be almost embarrassingly grateful for all constructive criticism and more than happy to answer any questions! I’ve lurked for a good while but I’m new to posting on these forums so very much look forward to getting to know everyone.

Steam Store Page:

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No sooner have you emerged from your room than the first blob of foam breaks free from your frothing mouth and begins to explore the corridor on its own. Dr. Svensson, leaving his room at the same time, almost barrels straight into it and changes his greeting to a theatrical shriek half-way through.

Hilarious…I wanna go to space now! :rofl:

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Thanks! I spent a long time studying zero-gravity conditions and wondering what life would be like for me in space…One of the conclusions I came to was that I’d still be awkward and mildly dysfunctional and I guess some of that came through in the writing!

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just a suggestion , but you may wanna add Tags . Like Slavery…abuse…yada yada . So peoples are warned in advance .

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This is a very interesting concept! The Crusades, combined with timetravel, combined with mechs. I enjoyed the demo. I am also hoping that some of the rest of our crew died, although I have enjoyed the characters I have met in the past/alt-history.

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Hey, this was a really nice read! Tbh I quite enjoyed being able to mess around in space and annoy the crew with flying toothpaste. Good stuff.

I think being able to choose whether our surname comes first or not was a really nice touch too! It’s pretty inconsequential but it’s nice :). Where I come from it’s the surname first.

Besides that I really, really like the parallel world you built for the era.

Ok last thing I hope we get to hang around the crew again!! Really like those goofs.

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Ah, good point, will do. Although there’s nothing very explicit, some of the subject matter won’t be to all tastes. I’ve tried to be careful that nothing is gratuitous and in later chapters much of the story’s conflict comes from how far the player accepts or pushes against the more brutal medieval attitudes, but you’re quite right that I should flag it up.

Yup! I’m very gratified that you already liked them that much and can assure you that they’ll feature again later in the story (to greater or lesser extents, depending on your choices). Although you may have noticed that one of them unfortunately lost their head so is beyond my ability to bring back…

I really really enjoyed so far. The theme is hilarious as is kinda morbid, don’t know if that makes sense lol. And a question, there will be RO for the MC?

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Thanks! Yes, it does make sense and means a lot to me because I’d hoped players would feel that way - if you can suspend your disbelief then hopefully there’s some emotional content among the swashbuckling and general silliness!

There are currently eight ROs, all available regardless of MC gender but four of them requiring quite specific choices to unlock. Ygraine is the only one you’ll meet in these first chapters.

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Considering your spoiler, does that mean your shipmates are not ROs?

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Okay, big old spoiler here: You can be in a relationship with Viv but when you arrive in the 12th century, she will already have been there for 40 years and will be an old married lady. Hopefully, the emotional punch of the subsequent conversations with her will make up for the disappointment of any player who’d previously been in a relationship with her. Also, you can still romance her daughter if you can get over the weirdness!

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Ew no thnx…I think I just hug a tree and cry over mah asian lady who died…before a Smooche :disappointed_relieved:

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So that girl who looked like Vivienne we chased is her daughter we can romance? So when the next time we get to see her.

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Hmm… Perhaps I should add some romanceable flora just for you. :wink:

@No_This_Is_Patrick - Yes indeed, she pops up again in Chapter 4 and will stay until the end if you’ll have her and are willing to meet her sometimes rather shocking demands. She’s utterly broken, marvelous but kind of murderous, possibly my personal favorite character so far. :slight_smile:

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Very riveting! I was sad when the demo ended. I’m curious – will the skills we picked in the intro (like archery or arts & crafts) have an effect later? Also…we can’t romance Tonzo? =<

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Can I get what one of her demands will be? Also can I know more about her, who’s her father? Also Vivs thoughts on oir return and us dating her daughter.

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Thanks! Yes, those skills have effects throughout the game. Currently, you can’t romance Tonzo but that could be changed by popular demand!

This is a fairly big spoiler but she’ll essentially want you to kill for her by taking revenge on someone who has wronged her (although whether or not they deserve to die for it is highly debatable…) - I’m not sure how popular this will be but I really want to give the player some very uncomfortable choices like this. Sana’s father is a jovial sort of man and if you choose to romance Sana then both he and Viv give you their blessing (though her reactions are obviously more complex…).

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I’ll kill for her no worries lol. Is it only gonna be one shocking demand? Oof is it gonna be angsty with Vivienne giving the blessing if you use to date? Also will the dad know about Vivienne and us or no?

Sorry last question just really interested. What about Ygraine, what’s her character like? And when can we begin a relationship with her?

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Would it be too spoilery to ask about the RO’s and what they’re like? And are you planning on having a tumblr?

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