France teeters on the brink of destruction. The Great Powers of Europe league together to snuff out the kindling flame of Revolution. With much of the old Royal Army fled into exile, it falls to a rag-tag force of militia and fresh volunteers to defend the Nation.
You are one of them.
Step into the shoes of a soldier of those times. March, fight, scheme, and plunder through two and a half decades of war and upheaval. Watch as new talents rise to make their mark on history - or become one of them, rising through the ranks as the ConstitutionalMonarchy gives way to a Republic, and then an Empire.
How high will you rise? What battles will you win? What history will you change…
Under the Shadow of the Eagles?
About This Project
Shadow of the Eagles is my new project, being developed in Twine and supported by backers on Patreon. It currently includes about 85k words of content consisting of the first Act (of six) intended to cover the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon from the early days of the War of the First Coalition to the Waterloo Campaign.
My intention with Shadow of the Eagles is to create an accessible, replayable, and enjoyable journey through one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history, a time when criminals, clerks, and common soldiers could rise to become Generals, Princes, and even Kings and Emperors. At the same time, I intend to cleave as closely as possible to history, to provide an authentic view of these times and the events that shaped them - making only slight alterations for the sake of accessibility and ease of enjoyment.
If you would like to support development, receive detailed development updates, or gain access to the Development Discord Server and early access builds, you can find Shadow of the Eagles on Patreon.
What are your plans for screen reader accessibility? Games in twine generally do work, but the more extra stuff that gets added to them, art and music and things can sometimes make the thing finicky to navigate properly, and it usually has to be taken into consideration during development instead of something that just comes with the package like with CS
You’re not wrong. It’s something I’m going to have to consider. I’m going to try to get someone to consult on accessibility, but I’m not even sure what kind of budget I have yet, so that’s a bit in the future.
I will be backing your Patreon shortly, heartened to see it gaining some momentum already.
The family ties and off-battle life sim in the Dragoon Saga remain amongst my favourite elements of your works - and I have to say are masterfully deepened across the trilogy. I understand that Shadow of the Eagles is a military life simulator foremost, and that most interpersonal relationships will be centred on historical figures to give that taste of “living” in the era (and I absolutely love that focus). That said, given its self-contained nature, do you envision similar dynamics being possible? Perhaps moral choices like remitting a portion of one’s pay to kin for some small but meaningful return, accumulating a modest fortune over two decades, or even, …should we attain legendary status, a late-game marriage where we negotiate the grandest dowry imaginable?
How much off-battle character growth and personal depth might we see as our protagonist stakes their claim across the Napoleonic Wars?
There’s definitely going to be interpersonal interaction, but it’ll mostly be with your “military” family - namely, the figures of Napoleon’s army who rise to make their marks on history. You can already interact with quite a few historical figures in the prototype, and there’s more coming.
Your most prominent - and perhaps, most enduring - relationship is going to be with Napoleon himself, as he progresses from Major Nabuleone di Buona Parte of the Artillery, at the siege of Toulon, to General Napoleone Buonaparte, Conqueror of Italy, to Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. That relationship is going to be both personal and professional, and a lot of your other relationships - rivalries with Napoleon’s Marshals, or interactions with his competitors within the Revolutionary Armies - will be oriented around that one point.
Holy moly. Always a fan of historical stuff. Its something I will certainly be keeping an eye on as it develops when public informationis shared. Will it be another gender locked entry?
Trying to figure out what the best practices are is a start, that and having somebody play test it with a screen reader, it’s not like you’re making a big budget video game or something so your task is much, much easier. Best of luck with the project though, it sounds really cool
Very lovely to hear. Very lovely to hear. Can’t wait to call her Marie-Antoinnette and larp as a down asunder former royalist (She’s insane and thinks shes the real Marie.)
I hope stanning for Napoleon too hard and being taken with him to Egypt is a badend. I suppose you could evacuate with Menou in 1801, but three years fighting Mameluke insurgents sounds a little out of scope.
