Topic: Carpathian Night Starring Bela Lugosi - Now Available on Switch and Steam!

[VladOfWallachia]

We are happy to announce that Carpathian Night will be coming to Xbox!

[Gunlord]

Nice!

[VladOfWallachia]

Prince Dracula (1416 - 1446)
Seasoned veteran, graduate of Scholomance, commander of the Army of the Dead, and Lord of the Vampires.

The undead prince commands his army from his ancestral home, the ancient Castle Dracula. He is tremendously gifted, one of the very few to have mastered all six of the dark arts.

In life, Dracula’s brilliance, ferocity, and ruthlessness struck terror into the heart of the invading empire. In death, Dracula is unquestionably the most powerful and dangerous being in the world.

Relics

The Life: A vampiric sword that answers only to the Lord of the Vampires. It cuts cleanly, immediately absorbing any blood it touches. It's wielder can absorb the stored blood to grow stronger and age backwards, and each successful strike drains the life and stamina of its prey.

Plate of the Dead : A set of armor forged in the pits of hell, completely invulnerable to mortal weapons. It was created for the commander of the Army of the Dead, and any wicked being that sees it knows to obey without question.

Mantle of Scholomance: The most adept and able student of Scholomance is deemed "Keeper" by the devil, and becomes his most loyal and dangerous servant. The Mantle of Scholomance symbolizes the Keeper status of its wearer. It is indestructible, and can shield its wearer from divine forces. Other students of Scholomance are granted enchanted capes similar to this one, but only the Mantle of Scholomance has the enlarged collar, making its wearer easily identifiable as the Keeper student of the devil.

[X]

Interesting choice of dates. It's almost as if he isn't Dracula (Vlad III) but Dracul (Vlad II).

[VladOfWallachia]

Interesting choice of dates. It's almost as if he isn't Dracula (Vlad III) but Dracul (Vlad II).

Almost. You are correct in determining that this is not the Wallachian prince Vlad Tepes Dracula, as he would still be a child/teen at the end of that time range. However, this Dracula is not Vlad Dracul either.

For Carpathian Night, our Dracula is the Bram Stoker Dracula. As part of the research for this game, I read many debates between scholars on the subject of whether Stoker's Dracula is actually meant to be the historical Vlad Tepes- regardless of which side is correct, we wanted our Dracula to be a separate person from the historical Dracula for many reasons, but most importantly, because using a purely fictional character gives us more creative freedom. If you look back at the beginning of this thread, back when the game was called "Wallachian Night" and featured the historical Vlad Tepes as the main antagonist, I expressed my frustrations with the lack of creative control I had due to selecting a real life person as one of the main characters.

We will mention the historical Dracula in the game, as part of a lore entry, mentioning that he was taken hostage along with his brother, but that will be the extent of the historical Dracula's presence within Carpathian Night. Additionally, the lore will mention that the (Stoker) Draculas did not take their name from a church organization (Order of the Dragon), but comes from the family's long standing association with Scholomance, and the ability of the Keeper student to ride the bone dragon.

The confusion will be inevitable, but we will be sure to clearly separate the Stoker Dracula from the historical Dracula within the game. 

[Zydalc]

Prince Dracula (1416 - 1446)
Seasoned veteran, graduate of Scholomance, commander of the Army of the Dead, and Lord of the Vampires.

The undead prince commands his army from his ancestral home, the ancient Castle Dracula. He is tremendously gifted, one of the very few to have mastered all six of the dark arts.

In life, Dracula’s brilliance, ferocity, and ruthlessness struck terror into the heart of the invading empire. In death, Dracula is unquestionably the most powerful and dangerous being in the world.

Relics

The Life: A vampiric sword that answers only to the Lord of the Vampires. It cuts cleanly, immediately absorbing any blood it touches. It's wielder can absorb the stored blood to grow stronger and age backwards, and each successful strike drains the life and stamina of its prey.

Plate of the Dead : A set of armor forged in the pits of hell, completely invulnerable to mortal weapons. It was created for the commander of the Army of the Dead, and any wicked being that sees it knows to obey without question.

Mantle of Scholomance: The most adept and able student of Scholomance is deemed "Keeper" by the devil, and becomes his most loyal and dangerous servant. The Mantle of Scholomance symbolizes the Keeper status of its wearer. It is indestructible, and can shield its wearer from divine forces. Other students of Scholomance are granted enchanted capes similar to this one, but only the Mantle of Scholomance has the enlarged collar, making its wearer easily identifiable as the Keeper student of the devil.

Edit: I just now read this is Prince Dracula not the actual Vlad the Impaler and I've just jumped into conclusions lambasting that this isn't exactly accurate to the novel.

Although I think he still needs to loose that High Collared cape since that originated from a stage play from Hamilton Deane.

[VladOfWallachia]

Although I think he still needs to loose that High Collared cape since that originated from a stage play from Hamilton Deane.

We considered many options for this, but the idea I thought was most fun was to add our own lore to the cape and give a story reason for why Dracula would be wearing it. You are correct, the cape was never in the novel, but comes from the stage play and popularized by the films. Since Carpathian Night pays tribute to the classic monster film era, it only made sense to keep the collared cape. To bridge the gap between the films and original novel, we added the explanation that the cape symbolizes the keeper student of Scholomance, giving Dracula a reason to wear it. Finally, it doesn’t directly contradict the novel because our Dracula story takes place in the 15th century, while the story of the Dracula novel takes place in the 19th century.

[Zydalc]

Since Carpathian Night pays tribute to the classic monster film era, it only made sense to keep the collared cape.

I think this is where the main problem lies since the classic monster films had nothing to do with the original novel at all and it's what exactly tainted Dracula's image forever and you're only continuing it. Count Orlok from Nosferatu is actually the closest to how Dracula is actually described in the book minus the rat like face.

Finally, it doesn’t directly contradict the novel because our Dracula story takes place in the 15th century, while the story of the Dracula novel takes place in the 19th century.

Actually it does and just in case if you're wondering what I've originally written about the design above, it's also completely inaccurate to how Dracula is described in the book not only the high collared cape but also he lacks facial hair and looks like a typical goth pretty boy than anything resembling Vlad the Impaler himself that is.

It seems that my previous concept suggestions have all been ignored here and you had every opportunity to portray a Book accurate Dracula but instead you've once again fallen into pop-cultural omasis.

[VladOfWallachia]

I think this is where the main problem lies since the classic monster films had nothing to do with the original novel at all and it's what exactly tainted Dracula's image forever and you're only continuing it.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. As inaccurate as the stage and film adaptations can be, they certainly helped cement Dracula as a timeless horror icon that is easily recognized the world over, and made the character successful in different mediums outside of the original novel. These successful films and plays only helped to immortalize Stoker and his vampiric creation. I also find no reason to be upset over the collared cape being more recognizable than Stoker's design, as nothing will stop the original novel from being considered a timeless classic that will be read worldwide for generations to come.

Actually it does and just in case if you're wondering what I've originally written about the design above, it's also completely inaccurate to how Dracula is described in the book not only the high collared cape but also he lacks facial hair and looks like a typical goth pretty boy than anything resembling Vlad the Impaler himself that is.

 
The book describes a 19th century Dracula who has already been a vampires for centuries, while our story serves as his origin story in the 15th century. Since there are several centuries between the two versions of Dracula, it only makes sense that they would look different and have a different costume.

And no, we don't want our Dracula to look like Vlad the Impaler because he is not Vlad the Impaler. Again, as part of our research, we saw many argue that Stoker's Dracula was literally meant to be the historical Vlad the Impaler, while others argue that Stoker's Dracula is merely inspired by the historical figure, but was never meant to be considered the same person. We are less interested in which side of this debate is the correct one, and more interested in which side is a better fit for our game. For many reasons on top of the one's I've already explained, we felt like it was a better choice to make the two Draculas separate and distinct in our version of the lore. 

As far as his "pretty boy" looks, since our story serves as an origin story, we wanted a young Dracula, a human in his physical prime, young and strong enough to charge out into the battlefield against the invading empire. He is also a prince from an old and wealthy family, so its not a stretch to believe that a young, human Dracula would be handsome looking during his early adulthood.

It seems that my previous concept suggestions have all been ignored here

That is not true, as our Dracula is completely covered in armor. Your suggestions did help guide the design of our Dracula. Want further proof that you aren't being ignored? Look below.

(click to show/hide)

you had every opportunity to portray a Book accurate Dracula but instead you've once again fallen into pop-cultural omasis.

From the very beginning, Carpathian Night was meant to be a tribute to Super Castlevania IV, the classic era of the Castlevania series, and the classic monster films that inspired them. We have never deviated from that, and our current build of the game already includes several monsters from those films including many other references. We never meant to prioritize accuracy of the novel above all else, this game was built on the foundations of the "Monster Mash" trope.

If the project isn't to your liking, all we can say is that we're sorry, but we can't satisfy everyone. I do in fact listen to everyone's suggestions, and they do help guide the design of Carpathian Night, but the team has the final say on which details best fit the vision of the project. Sorry that it's not turning out how you hoped, but we are happy with the choices we have made so far and will continue to interact with the community to help guide us to the conclusion of this project.

[Zydalc]

I don't think that's a fair assessment. As inaccurate as the stage and film adaptations can be, they certainly helped cement Dracula as a timeless horror icon that is easily recognized the world over, and made the character successful in different mediums outside of the original novel. These successful films and plays only helped to immortalize Stoker and his vampiric creation. I also find no reason to be upset over the collared cape being more recognizable than Stoker's design, as nothing will stop the original novel from being considered a timeless classic that will be read worldwide for generations to come.

Although this doesn't mean that the Stage/Film version of Dracula has to keep getting rehashed over and over again therefore never having any opportunity to take Dracula back to his roots before all of that while Stoker's original design is subconsciously keeps getting regulated to Count Orlok.

The reason I don't like that High Collared cape is because it's exaggerated and elaborate if not very hammy outside the context of a Stage play it originated from where it's actually implausible for Dracula would be wearing something like that at all.
 

As far as his "pretty boy" looks, since our story serves as an origin story, we wanted a young Dracula, a human in his physical prime, young and strong enough to charge out into the battlefield against the invading empire. He is also a prince from an old and wealthy family, so its not a stretch to believe that a young, human Dracula would be handsome looking during his early adulthood.

Well Dracula in the original book wasn't described as a goth pretty boy since he originally sported a large, bushy mustache and having a profuse head of dense, curly hair, massive eyebrows, hairy palms and clawed hands and even when he grew younger in London he wasn't anywhere near that at all since I've already posted pictures what Dracula was originally described.

Well here's how Dracula is described in the book:

Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.

If the project isn't to your liking, all we can say is that we're sorry, but we can't satisfy everyone. I do in fact listen to everyone's suggestions, and they do help guide the design of Carpathian Night, but the team has the final say on which details best fit the vision of the project. Sorry that it's not turning out how you hoped, but we are happy with the choices we have made so far and will continue to interact with the community to help guide us to the conclusion of this project.

Well I consider myself more of a Book purist if anything else that is.

[VladOfWallachia]

We are excited to announce that Carpathian Night will be coming to Playstation platforms!

[theplottwist]

Congrats dude! Can't wait to see it!

[VladOfWallachia]

Congrats dude! Can't wait to see it!

Thanks! Hopefully we will have another similar announcement coming very soon...

[VladOfWallachia]

Demo update! We are nearing completion on the demo, but we will need some additional time for bug testing. For those who don't want to wait, here is a very small teaser below (spoiler):

(click to show/hide)

Invisibility Potion
One of the rarest and most sought after concoctions of the devil’s alchemy is the invisibility potion. Many times throughout history, mighty kings have been slain while surrounded by their most loyal guards, and no amount of steel, brick, and gold could have saved them. An invisibility potion in the hands of the right cutthroat can change the course of history.

The effects of the potion do have their limitations. If the user is physically harmed, the invisibility effect temporarily dissipates. The same is true if the user makes drastic physical movements, such as the swing of a blade.

https://youtu.be/mPyfERqF5Qc

[X]

(click to show/hide)

That's an interesting use for such a potion. Boss fight!