Welcome to the first WHISPERS IN THE MOSS devlog! Since it's the first post, we'll start with the basics: what is the game and where are we in the development? 

WHISPERS IN THE MOSS is a classic J-RPG with beautiful and detailed textmode graphics, currently in development by Uncultured Games. The game is inspired by the 8 bit and 16 bit era greats and especially the early SquareSoft titles.

The project was originally started in 2012, and after some years of on-and-off development, it was put on hold in 2016. In October 2021 the project was revived with added determination and a single goal: to finish the game and release it in early 2022.  It is Uncultured Games' second revival project in 2021, following the successful revival and release of textmode retro shooter CODENAME DESPERADO, that had been on hold for ten years.

WHISPERS IN THE MOSS boasts an exciting story revolving around an empire seeking dominance and a banished prince. The world and its unique environments are handcrafted with an emphasis on detail and lore. The game has a classic ATB-style battle system and a party of three main characters. The most distinctive thing about the game is its graphics. At Uncultured Games, we specialize in very detailed and ambitious textmode / ANSI graphics that give our games a very special and unique retro feel. With pixelart and low-poly games on the rise, we believe there's a lot of unused potential in text-based games too.

State of development

As of October 2021, the game engine is fully finished: this includes moving around the overworld, NPC and dialogue systems, UI and menu systems, scripted events and visual effects, battle system,  inventory systems including items, magick, equipment, plus saving and loading.

Content-wise, the game already has several hours worth of gameplay fully finished – the first three chapters of the story, four unique towns, large surrounding environments, several dungeons, a massive amount of side quests, secrets and mysteries, boss fights, dozens of different enemies, rare monsters, hunts etc. With the engine finished, the development currently consists of creating the missing chapters and the content (world, script, enemies, etc.) required by them.

WHISPERS IN THE MOSS has an expected release date in early 2022 for Windows (definitely), Linux (hopefully) and macOS (possibly).