Developer Diary #05 | All Eyes on Khiimori
Welcome back to another developer diary for Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori! Or shall we say WELCOME in general, because oooooh boy are there many new people watching this game now than ever before! đ±
If youâve been following our game for a while, you may have missed that it got a whole lot of new attention recently, mostly thanks to a viral post on Twitter a.k.a. X, which got over 15 Million views and exposed our game to a ton of new eyes and ears, and led to notable additional coverage from content creators on TikTok and Instagram.
All that social media attention has also significantly impacted the gameâs Wishlist numbers on Steam, which are super important for us as developers to measure peopleâs interest in the game. Itâs been absolutely amazing to get so many new interested potential players and a ton of valuable feedback and feature wishes!
For this dev diary, letâs therefore dive into some big picture questions about our intentions for this game, and what the explosion of attention and followers means for us.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]The Basics[/h2]
Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori is going to be an open world adventure game about being a courier rider in 13th century Mongolia.
Windstorm is a franchise of movies, books and games thatâs mainly popular in Germany (âOstwindâ) as well as the rest of central Europe. There have been two previous games in this series, developed by Aesir Interactive. While The Legend of Khiimori is making some key changes to its predecessors - its historical setting being the most obvious â we can still very much recommend checking out the two previous titles to get familiar with Windstorm, Mika and Ari. Weâve even released a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship earlier this year, so that is a perfect starting point!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2829790
In addition, we have announced the Winter Wonderland DLC for Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship - Remastered. Gallop into the next chapter on November 7th!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3145870
Like its predecessors, Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori will explore themes like the connection between horse and rider and the treatment of horses and their needs, even as the gameplay and setting will be quite different. Fun fact: the connection to Mongolian mythology isnât new for The Legend of Khiimori! Fans of the series will note that both Mika and Ari have had connections to Mongolian horse and rider legends in their respective games and movies.
If your interest in Khiimori motivates you to check out the earlier games for the first time though, please remember however that we are shifting gears quite drastically in terms of scope, target audience, gameplay focus and more with the upcoming game. Weâre proud of where we came from, but The Legend of Khiimori is by far the most ambitious project in this series, and broadening who we want it to appeal to means that in turn, not everyone with an interest in Khiimori will love the earlier games.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Frequently Asked Questions[/h2]
There are a handful of topics that have gotten particular attention in the discussions surrounding the game, and weâd like to take a moment here to address them:
Q: A non-violent game in the Mongol Empire of all places?
A: Our game is set during the reign of one of Genghis Khanâs successors. Weâre not committing to a specific year, but weâre using the 1230s as our main inspiration. This was actually a comparatively peaceful, prosperous and safe period within Mongolia itself, with conquest and war focusing outwards. It was also the time when the Yam system of courier riders was used and greatly expanded.
Weâre actually pretty excited to show the Mongolian people from a perspective that focuses on nomad life and culture, rather than on warfare, for a change. In order to do this time period, culture and people justice, we are in touch with historians, ambassadors as well as community members from todayâs Mongolia. If you have a similarly relevant background or insight and would like to contribute to to this effort, please do join our Discord! Weâre always happy to receive constructive feedback and additional inspirations.
Q: So thereâs no combat, but will there be hunting in the game?
A: Weâve revealed in our Dev talk video that archery will make a comeback! Hunting animals for survival and resources wasnât initially planned: we set out to make a family friendly game, and killing animals will impact age ratings, meaning that certain younger sections of the audience wouldnât be able to play the game. That being said, Hunting has become such a common feature request that we are reevaluating if and how such a feature could fit in. Note that this is not a confirmation! Weâre simply saying we heard you, and weâre looking into it.
Q: Why are there Warmblood horses in your dev talk video? Thatâs a modern horse breed that didnât exist yet!
A: Yes, weâre well aware! Our main horse in the game is going to be the Mongol horse, thatâs the model youâve been mostly seeing in our video and image footage so far. So why is there a warmblood horse model? The titular character of the Windstorm games and movies is himself a warmblood horse (technically, heâs half warmblood, half Andalusian), so it made sense for him to be our second model in the game. The warmblood breed has therefore also been used in the WIP game while our tech team is working on horse breeding, user interface and more, which is why it was visible in the dev talk footage.
Does that mean modern Windstorm will make an appearance in historical Mongolia? Well, not quite, but the real answer is âitâs complicated and involves spoilersâ. What we can say is that Modern Windstorm will appear in the game and that players will have some options regarding horse breeds in Mongolia. And of course, that weâll share more details when theyâre ready!
Q: Will the game be coming to consoles?
A: For the Early Access release, we will definitely focus on PC only. This streamlines our processes and makes regular iteration a lot more feasible. As for whether the game will come to consoles later (and to which ones), that depends on a number of factors, including the PC gameâs performance and reception. We currently cannot promise ports to any specific console(s).
Q: Can we get a roadmap for when which feature is coming?
A: Yes, weâre planning to have some way for the community to not only see what is planned, but also to voice their preferences and priorities! For our game Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, weâve made good experiences with a Trello board that serves this purpose. We have similar plans for Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori!
The roadmap will be released around the Early Access launch, so stay tuned!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Reception, Reactions and Impact[/h2]
The game going viral and provoking countless reactions along the lines of âOh my god, finally a game made for me đâ has been incredibly validating: We wouldnât be making this game if we didnât strongly believe in a market for it, but the literally thousands of comments weâve gotten from eager potential players these past few weeks are excellent proof of that fact.
Behind the scenes, our specific plans for this gameâs vision are evolving: weâve deliberately announced the game very early in its dev process, and concrete plans for features are shifting as we try things out and as we see what works well.
The myriad comments, questions and feature wishes have further motivated us to reevaluate what the game will and wonât have. Donât worry, what weâve already revealed and discussed in these dev diaries is here to stay! Our devs and artists continue to work on features like horse care, courier missions and more. At the same time though, our game designers and producers are rethinking which additional features and mechanics add the most value to our product, and how precisely we will put them all together to create a game that is truly worthy of all this attention â a game that has the capacity to be a âhorse gameâ for the mainstream.
In short: things are happening, the increased attention has been incredibly promising for our project overall, and weâre looking forward to sharing more of our detailed plans with you soon!
đ§Work in Progressđ§
[hr][/hr]
[h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Join the Community[/h2]
Facebook Instagram TikTok Twitter
Discord Twitch Website
If youâve been following our game for a while, you may have missed that it got a whole lot of new attention recently, mostly thanks to a viral post on Twitter a.k.a. X, which got over 15 Million views and exposed our game to a ton of new eyes and ears, and led to notable additional coverage from content creators on TikTok and Instagram.
All that social media attention has also significantly impacted the gameâs Wishlist numbers on Steam, which are super important for us as developers to measure peopleâs interest in the game. Itâs been absolutely amazing to get so many new interested potential players and a ton of valuable feedback and feature wishes!
For this dev diary, letâs therefore dive into some big picture questions about our intentions for this game, and what the explosion of attention and followers means for us.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]The Basics[/h2]
Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori is going to be an open world adventure game about being a courier rider in 13th century Mongolia.
Windstorm is a franchise of movies, books and games thatâs mainly popular in Germany (âOstwindâ) as well as the rest of central Europe. There have been two previous games in this series, developed by Aesir Interactive. While The Legend of Khiimori is making some key changes to its predecessors - its historical setting being the most obvious â we can still very much recommend checking out the two previous titles to get familiar with Windstorm, Mika and Ari. Weâve even released a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship earlier this year, so that is a perfect starting point!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2829790
In addition, we have announced the Winter Wonderland DLC for Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship - Remastered. Gallop into the next chapter on November 7th!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3145870
Like its predecessors, Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori will explore themes like the connection between horse and rider and the treatment of horses and their needs, even as the gameplay and setting will be quite different. Fun fact: the connection to Mongolian mythology isnât new for The Legend of Khiimori! Fans of the series will note that both Mika and Ari have had connections to Mongolian horse and rider legends in their respective games and movies.
If your interest in Khiimori motivates you to check out the earlier games for the first time though, please remember however that we are shifting gears quite drastically in terms of scope, target audience, gameplay focus and more with the upcoming game. Weâre proud of where we came from, but The Legend of Khiimori is by far the most ambitious project in this series, and broadening who we want it to appeal to means that in turn, not everyone with an interest in Khiimori will love the earlier games.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Frequently Asked Questions[/h2]
There are a handful of topics that have gotten particular attention in the discussions surrounding the game, and weâd like to take a moment here to address them:
Q: A non-violent game in the Mongol Empire of all places?
A: Our game is set during the reign of one of Genghis Khanâs successors. Weâre not committing to a specific year, but weâre using the 1230s as our main inspiration. This was actually a comparatively peaceful, prosperous and safe period within Mongolia itself, with conquest and war focusing outwards. It was also the time when the Yam system of courier riders was used and greatly expanded.
Weâre actually pretty excited to show the Mongolian people from a perspective that focuses on nomad life and culture, rather than on warfare, for a change. In order to do this time period, culture and people justice, we are in touch with historians, ambassadors as well as community members from todayâs Mongolia. If you have a similarly relevant background or insight and would like to contribute to to this effort, please do join our Discord! Weâre always happy to receive constructive feedback and additional inspirations.
Q: So thereâs no combat, but will there be hunting in the game?
A: Weâve revealed in our Dev talk video that archery will make a comeback! Hunting animals for survival and resources wasnât initially planned: we set out to make a family friendly game, and killing animals will impact age ratings, meaning that certain younger sections of the audience wouldnât be able to play the game. That being said, Hunting has become such a common feature request that we are reevaluating if and how such a feature could fit in. Note that this is not a confirmation! Weâre simply saying we heard you, and weâre looking into it.
Q: Why are there Warmblood horses in your dev talk video? Thatâs a modern horse breed that didnât exist yet!
A: Yes, weâre well aware! Our main horse in the game is going to be the Mongol horse, thatâs the model youâve been mostly seeing in our video and image footage so far. So why is there a warmblood horse model? The titular character of the Windstorm games and movies is himself a warmblood horse (technically, heâs half warmblood, half Andalusian), so it made sense for him to be our second model in the game. The warmblood breed has therefore also been used in the WIP game while our tech team is working on horse breeding, user interface and more, which is why it was visible in the dev talk footage.
Does that mean modern Windstorm will make an appearance in historical Mongolia? Well, not quite, but the real answer is âitâs complicated and involves spoilersâ. What we can say is that Modern Windstorm will appear in the game and that players will have some options regarding horse breeds in Mongolia. And of course, that weâll share more details when theyâre ready!
Q: Will the game be coming to consoles?
A: For the Early Access release, we will definitely focus on PC only. This streamlines our processes and makes regular iteration a lot more feasible. As for whether the game will come to consoles later (and to which ones), that depends on a number of factors, including the PC gameâs performance and reception. We currently cannot promise ports to any specific console(s).
Q: Can we get a roadmap for when which feature is coming?
A: Yes, weâre planning to have some way for the community to not only see what is planned, but also to voice their preferences and priorities! For our game Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, weâve made good experiences with a Trello board that serves this purpose. We have similar plans for Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori!
The roadmap will be released around the Early Access launch, so stay tuned!
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Reception, Reactions and Impact[/h2]
The game going viral and provoking countless reactions along the lines of âOh my god, finally a game made for me đâ has been incredibly validating: We wouldnât be making this game if we didnât strongly believe in a market for it, but the literally thousands of comments weâve gotten from eager potential players these past few weeks are excellent proof of that fact.
Behind the scenes, our specific plans for this gameâs vision are evolving: weâve deliberately announced the game very early in its dev process, and concrete plans for features are shifting as we try things out and as we see what works well.
The myriad comments, questions and feature wishes have further motivated us to reevaluate what the game will and wonât have. Donât worry, what weâve already revealed and discussed in these dev diaries is here to stay! Our devs and artists continue to work on features like horse care, courier missions and more. At the same time though, our game designers and producers are rethinking which additional features and mechanics add the most value to our product, and how precisely we will put them all together to create a game that is truly worthy of all this attention â a game that has the capacity to be a âhorse gameâ for the mainstream.
In short: things are happening, the increased attention has been incredibly promising for our project overall, and weâre looking forward to sharing more of our detailed plans with you soon!
đ§Work in Progressđ§
[hr][/hr]
[h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Join the Community[/h2]
Facebook Instagram TikTok Twitter
Discord Twitch Website