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We are now on live on Kickstarter and we are waiting for you to join us. Come and have a look and jump into the 17th century of Feudal Japan. If you have ever dreamt of a point and click mix with J-rpg gameplay in the world of samurai... Then this game is for you.

We did it!

Hello everyone, today is a great day for us and maybe for you too. After months of preparation, constructive feedback and exchange with professionals of the video game industry, we launched our first Kickstarter campaign.

For more information see the link below :

Kickstarter Campaign

Why a Kickstarter?

We are a small video game company composed of two people, located in France, although we are working full-time on Bushido with our own financial resources, it would be very difficult to build the game by our own means and without the help of the video game community.

So if you feel like exploring the feudal Japan in the 17 th century and shaping with us the universe of Bushido the Way of Men, join us and talk with us.

Kickstarter Trailer

We are keen to show you some rewards that you can get on our Kickstarster.

The figurine will be sculpted and painted by hand by a professional. See below some examples of his creations and painting.

A demo will be available for all our backers, few months (April 2018) after the end of the Kickstarter campaign.

Thank you for your interest and support. We are very enthusiastic about this project and hope to see you soon. 

Our iTCHIO page

We are now on live on Kickstarter and we are waiting for you to join us. Come and have a look and jump into the 17th century of Feudal Japan. If you have ever dreamt of a point and click mix with J-rpg gameplay in the world of samurai... Then this game is for you.

We did it!

Hello everyone, today is a great day for us and maybe for you too. After months of preparation, constructive feedback and exchange with professionals of the video game industry, we launched our first Kickstarter campaign.

For more information see the link below :

Kickstarter Campaign

Why a Kickstarter?

We are a small video game company composed of two people, located in France, although we are working full-time on Bushido with our own financial resources, it would be very difficult to build the game by our own means and without the help of the video game community.

So if you feel like exploring the feudal Japan in the 17 th century and shaping with us the universe of Bushido the Way of Men, join us and talk with us.

Kickstarter Trailer

We are keen to show you some rewards that you can get on our Kickstarster.

The figurine will be sculpted and painted by hand by a professional. See below some examples of his creations and painting.

A demo will be available for all our backers, few months (April 2018) after the end of the Kickstarter campaign.

Thank you for your interest and support. We are very enthusiastic about this project and hope to see you soon on our Kickstarter page.

Our iTCHIO page

Today we have many things to talk about, so let's start from the beginning ;)

1) Square Enix Collective PLatform

Since few weeks, our game has been featured on the Square Enix Collective platform, and we invite you to take a look and support our game. On the link below you can help us by leaving a feedback and vote for our game.

Let's built and shape together the future of Bushido The Way of Men.

Collective.square-enix.com

2) Animatics and animations's improvement

We decided to improve the last trailer's animatics, we were not enough satisfy of the result, in particular in the realism aspect of the picture. At the same time we keep working on Oishi's animation walk. We are pleased with the actual result but of course it's still a test and we need to keep going the work on his animation.

Oishi's animation test

New animatics

New Trailer

If you like our music feel free to listen it here :

Soundcloud.com

We would really appreciate if you can take some time to answer some questions in the comments below:

- Are you interested about Japanese culture? (explain us why and what make you attract about it)

- What are you expecting from a game which takes as a background feudal Japan?

- What kind of features would you like to see in the game?

We would love to know your opinions, feedback, feelings or your critics. To hear from you, help us to improve ourselves to make a better game.

Alex.

During the last few months, we were working hard on our new trailer wich means new cutscene, soundesign and music.

Hi everyone,

Today we are happy to present you our new trailer, which mix animatic cutscene and gameplay. Enjoy it and be welcome to give us your thought about it.

Some screenshot to share :

if you like the music of the trailer, you can hear it here :

https://soundcloud.com/alexandre-tourne/bushido-the-way-of-men-intro

Today I am going to talk about an important feature of our game… Upgrading your Katana, but before entering in the subject, I would like first to introduce some history concerning the fabrication of the Katana. It will be too complicated to describe all the parties which compose a Katana or to explain its historical evolution through the age, that’s why instead; I will just focus on the people involved directly in the making of this weapon.

If you want to learn more about the most effective weapon ever created, I suggest you to check those Wikipedia articles:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

1- The Tohsho

We call the master craftsmen who forged the blades of Katana '' Tohsho '', they don’t need so much time to forge a blade, and it’s usually takes one month to do so. The blade of the Japanese sword is traditionally forged from a raw steel (tamahagane) transformed into composite steel.

The katana is a saber of more than 60 cm, symbol of the samurai’s caste, it is carried slipped into the belt (Obi) edge directed upward at the belt on the left.

As you may not know, to create all the parts of this weapon requires several people. Its manufacture needs many old techniques mastered by four highly skilled artisans who follow each other in its creation.

By order of social status and technical qualification, they are:

a) The Blacksmith, forges the blade, he often belongs to a very old school and is helped in his task by one or two assistants who are also his pupils.

b) The polisher (Togishi), intervenes in the shaping of the blade to reveal its original form. He specializes in polishing techniques, but also in the history of blacksmiths and his traditions.

c) The guard blacksmith, his craft became more important and artistic towards the 17th century, indeed the evolution of the guards(Tsuba) both in their forms and in their decoration required a meticulous work.

d) The assembler, being the last step in the manufacture of the Katana, he takes care to assemble the different parts of the weapon to form one.

2-Upgrading your weapon in the game.

When you will arrive in a village, you can be sure to find a blacksmith (Tohsho), each blacksmith sells different pieces who are part of Katana, the quality of the pieces depends on the experience of the Tohsho, the more he is skillful the higher his articles will be. Each piece is unique and allows you to improve your characteristics (attack, defense…) and/or your fighting’s skill.

- Habaki, Its role is to keep the Katana blade in its sheath. It also absorbs shocks caused by impacts of blows given and received. In the game, it will increase your guard effect rate (+ GRD)

- Tsuba, On a Japanese weapon the guard is called '' Tsuba '', its role is to protect the hand and to prevent it from slipping from the handle on the edge of the blade. Increases defense (+ DEF).

- Tsuka, refers to the handle of Japanese weapons. Increases your attack (+ ATK)

- Sageo, is a braided cord of cotton or silk, which keeps the sword in his belt, it can also in some cases be used to tie up an opponent, including criminals. Increases your experience rate and your agility (+ EXR, +AGI)

-Saya, Is the sheath used to protect the blade of the Katana; it must be created with great meticulousness. Increases significantly the experience rate (+EXR)

- Katana no ha, It’s the Katana blade, increase hit rate and your attack (+ Hit rate, +ATK)

At the beginning of the game, in the menu ‘’Katana’’ you will start with one slot, each 3 level you will gain a new slot to improve your Katana for a total of 12 slots. Upgrading your weapon is the key to take advantage on your opponent. Think carefully and you will be close to the victory.

Thanks for reading,

Alex.

Thank you so much :)

Hello everyone, this is Alex from Trimarkesia Studio, I am very happy to show you our trailer and share it with you. You will see some gameplay mechanics (Conversation, battle system...) that we will explain in details in a future Dev Diary.

For now, enjoy this video and please be welcome to give us your thought, suggestion, comments...

Ps: If you like the music of our trailer you can listen it for free here ;) 

https://soundcloud.com/alexand...

See you soon!

Hello everyone, this is Alex (Game designer of Bushido...), the previous article https://itch.io/t/77170/dev-diary-1-bushido-the-way-of-men treated about the story of Oishi our main character and the era of the game. Today we will talk about Oishi's clan ( the Chōsokabe clan) who really existed and I used to create our story.

Events before the year 1603 (beginning of the game)

Context of the fall of the Chōsokabe clan:
In September 1598 Toyotomi Hideyoshi, regent of Japan, died, leaving the power to his youngest son Toyotomi Hideyori at the age of five.The council of the five elders (the five most powerful Daimyo of the time) formed by Hideyoshi in 1595, had the task of governing Japan until the son of Toyotomi, Hideyori is old enough to do so. Elders argue each other for power and are divided into two camps: the army of the west directed by Ishida Mitsunari supporting the young heir Toyotomi Hideyori and the eastern army led by Tokugawa Ieyasu who wants to seize power.

The Chōsokabe clan supports the western army and fights alongside Ishida Mitsunari.
The 20th and 21st October 1600 takes place the battle of Sekigahara, for 24 hours, the Two armies clash without anyone really taking the advantage. It is finally the defection of the Kobayakawa clan in favor of Tokugawa Ieyasu who will seal the fate of the battle.

The Chōsokabe clan (Mon) emblem

Following their defeat the chōsokabe clan retreated to the island of Shikoku in their province of Tosa, a truce was signed in November 1600 with the future leader of the Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu. On June 1601, an army attacked the province of Tosa and infiltrates the castle of the Chōsokabe, exterminating all its occupants.

Oishi Matabei only survivor, escapes and takes refuge in southern Japan in province of Tosa, stronghold of the powerful clan Shimazu (formerly ally of the Chōsokabe during the Battle of Sekigahara).

First concept of Tomari's village.

The village of Tomari in the province of Tosa where takes refuge Oishi (final version).

History of the Chōsokabe clan

The Chōsokabe were one of the major clans of Japan during the Sengoku period (mid-15th century, end of the 16th century), originally from the province of Tosa, they definitively unify it in 1575 under the reign of Lord Chōsokabe Motochika (21th leader of the Chōsokabe clan).

During the following decade, he expanded his power and seized Shikoku Island in 1583. However, in 1585 Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who had the ambition to unify Japan under his control, invaded Shikoku Island with An army of 100,000 men. Encircled Motochika surrenders and renounces provinces recently acquired, he still retains the province Tosa.

Under the regime of Hideyoshi, the Chōsokabe clan participates in the military campaigns of Kyūshū and Korea. In 1599, at the age of 61, Chōsokabe Motochika died, leaving the succession of the clan to his son Chōsokabe Morichika.

Evolution of Oishi's facial expressions.

itch.io page : https://trimarkesia-studio.itch.io/bushido-the-way-of-men

Hello there, this is Alex (Game designer of Bushido...), today we will discuss about the first update; so to understand what is "Bushido The Way of Men", It is important that I talk a little bit about the scenario and the main character of our game.

https://trimarkesia-studio.itch.io/bushido-the-way-of-men

Don't worry, there will not have spoilers here, just the introducing of our game.

Overview of the game
You play as a Ronin, you have neither privileges, nor social class, you will have to evolve in a world where each action can affect how people are looking at you. As the last member of your clan, you are searching the people who get involved in the murder of your Daimyo (Japanese feudal lords).

Player Role
The player will be able to perform all kinds of quests and render services to different characters
Which he will encounter during his journey. His action must allow the hero to get money, and information.
The money will be used to invest in his equipment while the information to advance in his quest.
The player will be free to choose his path (diplomatic or force) to achieve his goals.

Era of the game

We are in 1603 during the Edo period (1603-1868), a few years after the battle of Sekigahara (1600) which marked the seizure of power of Tokugawa Ieyasu, thus becoming the most powerful military leader of Japan. He established a new capital in Edo (Tokyo) and consolidated the supremacy of his shogunate (government).

His reign brought a development of culture as well as a period of peace; However, in order to control the caste of warriors, it enacts new laws.

Samurai were no longer allowed to change of masters, to marry out of their clan, or to have occupations outside the clan without the consent of their former master. As a result, the samurai who lost his lord or fief was forced to be a Ronin.

These drastic measures increased the number of ronins; Having no status, they were excluded from the Japanese hierarchical feudal system. In fact, even if some choose more humble professions, becoming farmers or Buddhist priests, others turned to a mercenary career, bodyguard and even cutthroats.

Hero of the Game
Oishi Matabei was a samurai belonging to the Chōsokabe clan,
Having lost his master.
Despised by his peers, he tries hard to find a place in this society that rejects it.
His desire for vengeance gives him the strength to continue living.

First concept of Oishi Matabei

Past of the Hero

The following events relate the past of the Oishi family:
Mototsugu Matabei, Oishi's father was a samurai and weapon master of Chōsokabe clan. He passed his mastery of the saber on to his son, making him a duelist unrivaled.

In 1586, Oishi accompanied his father during the Kyūshū campaign during the Sengoku period( 1467-1603), under the orders of the lord and regent of Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The battle of Hetsugigawa which took place in January 1587 was his first experience of war, but also the last of his father who died in an ambush against the forces of the Shimazu clan.

Following the victory of the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Submission of Shimazu, Japan was unified; Oishi Matabei returned to Tosa, the stronghold of his clan where he succeeded to the post of his father.

Final version of Oishi Matabei

That's all for this update, next time we will finish with the story part. Hope you will like it. There has been a lot of research through books, documentaries, movies to create a realistic story and close to the real feudal period of Japan.

Bushido the Way of Men is a 2D indie game in the feudal era of Japan in the 17th century. You are Oishi Matabei last survivor of the Chōsokabe clan.

Left for dead, you take refuge in a small village on the island of Kyushu (Tomari, Satsuma province) in southern Japan. Became a Ronin, your last wish is to find those responsible for the destruction of your clan and avenge your Daimyō.

• https://trimarkesia-studio.itch.io/bushido-the-way-of-men