Sure, Book of Travels sounds neat, and it clearly is drawing in lots of crowdfunding support, but just what happens in the game? The most recent Kickstarter update has offered a bit of insight into this thanks to senior game designer Andreas Wrangler.
The very crux of Book of Travels gameplay is running in to events, which can be as menial as a farmer working a field or as complex and involved as a series of occurrences that tie into a greater world story or regional story arc. These events can be adjusted behind the scenes at will, allowing for a number of variables to be included such as having a certain number of Travellers in an area or an event only happening at certain times. What’s more, this system allows the devs to add, subtract, or adjust the game even after its launch.
The post also encourages players to interact with NPCs they find, which can kick off events or provide some unique interactions like an NPC reacting to a specific type of Knot your avatar is carrying or selling you specialty goods at certain times. Speaking of selling, there will be a trading economy which promises a huge number of commodities that can have different values depending on where you are in the world.
Finally, the post expounds on its AI behavior trees which can react to a number of things like time of day, the local weather, and even nearby occurrences. This system should, ideally, make the world of Book of Travels feel more alive.
So, yes, it’s a walking simulator, but if the systems work out the way they’re meant to, you’ll likely be walking in to a lot of neat things. And, clearly, lots of people are excited for this walking simulator, as it has currently raked in over $126,000 from over 3,300 backers to date with over two weeks left in the campaign.
