At long last, the time is nearly upon us. I am here to announce the project I have been working on for several months now.
Welcome to, The Aether.
Venture through the esoteric dimension of the gods as you go from being a simple creature lost in the endless void to an omnipotent god. Create your own mortal race to worship you. Gain power by consuming the energy of those who fall before you or rely on the worship from your mortals to empower you. Interact with your mortals race in their daily lives or neglect them and simply watch as they progress. Will you be a benevolent god or rule over your mortal realm with an iron fist? Will you try to conquer the Aether by becoming the most powerful god in existence or will you be too preoccupied trying to unravel its mysteries?
I want to clarify in advance that this game does not follow or favor any one particular religion or set of beliefs. It is intended solely for entertainment purposes and derives inspiration from a variety of sources.
That being said, tell me what you expect to find, tell me what youād like to see. Let me know about any concerns you may have or any questions you come up with.
First of all, my name shall be Atrokus. I shall slay my enemies to gain power, but also greatly care for my people, bringing death to anyone or anything that may threaten or harm them. I want them to be humanoid, with great sentience, but they must be different. They must beā¦Better. They shall be capable of surviving both on land, and in water. And they shall be capable of great crafting and building feats. I want them to have natural defences, such as spines or toxic skin or something. They will reproduce sexually, so that love can be a great force. They shall be loyal to me, as worshipping me and the spreading of my teachings will be rewarded. However nothing will be required. Non-believers shall not be punished, so long as they do not curse me. Mercy and forgiveness shall be shown to them in this case. However, should anyone curse me, then great torment will come, but to them and them only. My teachings shall promote three things: preservation of the environment, promotion of peace, and the importance of aiding the weak and suffering. However, my race shall not be hesitant to use violence and even death in any situation that requires it. This includes ending oneās suffering should they truly require it, defending themselves, defending another, and killing in the name of justice, but only if deemed necessary by me. Those who deserve it shall entire a paradise when their souls leave, and those who donāt shall experience a long time of punishment. Only when my world truly ends will all be forgiven and allowed to join one another for a true eternity of harmony. But none shall know this last part.
I forget to mention that I shall never directly interfere with mortal squabbles unless requested through prayer, or when unspeakable evil is committed, to the point where immediate punishment is needed. No being is without sin, but some bathe in it, seemingly demanding divine intervention.
Wow, this game sounds really interesting! My only concern is that, as a god, would you get to interact with other characters on a personal level? When youāre an all powerful deity, alone in space and in all ways superior to your creations, I imagine it would be difficult to make friends.
@Skully_Bones I just played through the first few minutes of Followers and it seems like a similar concept, more followers = more power, but this story focuses more on the occult heavenly realm of what gods call āthe Aetherā and less about the mortal plane you create. Obviously, you have plenty of opportunities to interact with your mortals, but the plot all takes place above the mortal plane.
@Voldy Young mortals are always so needy, praying for help with all kinds of issues. From personal requests to international conflicts, its up to you to decide when to intervene. You can spoil them with guidance or let the the race figure things out on its own. Just make sure they donāt forget about you.
@Arasia_Valentia I havenāt played Iron Destinies. The complaint I heard about it though was that it was too linear. Could you give me a brief synopsis of what it had that you enjoyed particularly? Or just as helpful, something the author did that you think hurt it?
@matt_smith Several gods that you will interact with throughout the story, each with their own unique personality. It is up to you to decide how you feel about each.
@Avery_Moore It can be difficult to make friends, but you will have some if you so choose. Unfortunately, mortals donāt live forever and, essentially, they are a part of you since you gave them the spark of life, so you canāt be eternity-long friends with them. But, there are other gods in the Aether that you will interact with throughout the story, as I mentioned to Matt in the post above this one. I feel it may also be important to point out, though, that as a god there is no āromanceā in this story in the traditional sense of course, you are gods. Late in the story, however, it is possible to have meaningful relationships with other gods if you put forth the effort.
@TheMaker Your name and About Me are fucking epic, mate. I must say so.
And, uh, ahem, yes. But I shall aid my loyal followers, regardless of age, in whatever they may want or need, as I care greatly for the mortals. However, as I have stated, no sin shall be committed. I shall never aid out of hate, or spite. Thatās what causes injustice and imputiny to run amok. Thatās what destroys worlds.
Thatās what I shall fight against. It exists in every world.
Sentience means the cabability of evil. It is a gift I bestow upon them, but a curse, as well. I want to be more than a Watcher.
I didnāt play the whole game, but I actually didnāt like it because as you said it was too linear. I did however like the aspect and the idea it was based on. Becoming a huge thing in space an all the different possibilities of what your atom can become. But it was so unengaging and tedious for me that I never bought it. Looking at the reviews there are mixed feelings, so Iām glad I didnāt.
I have had quite a few people express interest in testing, but I am still making adjustments and need to do a preliminary review before inviting people to test it. When it is ready I will go through all the individuals who expressed interest and give access to those I feel will give the most critical and beneficial feedback. That will probably be in a week or two, but donāt quote me.
As was mentioned above some people may find similarities with another WIP listed but I believe that this is its own thing.
Always found other peoples perceptions of gods and other deities fascinating and wonder exactly what influences we will see in this work.
Although I do not have much experience testing these types of games I have played enough if them and believe that my experience in other testing other genres of games would be sufficient.
I will send a message of my intent to beta test and my interest.