What is WALTRUDE?
A Video Game
WALTRUDE is a third-person action-adventure game with lock-on combat. The game is contained within one area of an alien planet and is home to eroded ruins, abandoned buildings, and enemy bivouacs. The settlement is divided into five different dungeons, and each dungeon has a different mechanic and obstacle to overcome, a prisoner to rescue, and a boss to defeat.
WALTRUDE may be referred to as a Zeldalike or Zeldavania with emphasis on hack-and-slash and non-linear traversal. The game differs from Metroidvanias in that there is a clear distinction between dungeon and overworld. Only one way into a dungeon exists rather than having a sprawling series of entrances and exits; the dungeons are not mazes connected to a much larger maze. Levels are discrete and overcome in a sequential manner. Explore and experiment with enemies and mechanics, acquire improvements to aid in defeating tougher enemies, locate shortcuts, and retrace steps once taken to unlock better equipment.
Fight enemies with three different weapons called Ascalon Lances: the Haustus Ranseur, the Ablutor Partisan, and the Bilanx Needle. Switch between them on the fly with the press of a button to exploit the weakness of various opponents. Each enemy has an armor class of flesh, plate, or construct. Fight flesh-based enemies with the Haustus Ranseur; fight plate-based enemies with the Ablutor Partisan; and fight construct-based enemies with the Bilanx Needle. Hitting enemies with the wrong type causes reduced damage or damage blocked altogether.
Powered by Unreal Engine
WALTRUDE could not be possible without the power of MetaHuman and Control Rig by Epic Games. The frameworks enable artists to create and animate highly realistic characters, allowing for faster character creation and more immersive storytelling experiences. Waltrude's model uses this framework as will all future NPCs. Additional MetaHuman characters will include seventh-century Franks like Aldegonde, Amalberga, Amandus, Ghislain, and Vincent.
With Unreal Engine's Control Rig, rigging and animating characters in WALTRUDE can be done in real-time. Control Rig allows the creation and rigging of custom controls, animating directly in the program, and utilizing other pipelines to bring characters, aliens, and robots to life.
An Epic Adventure
Waltrude, an elite Cohors Solra soldier, travels alone to the planet Montes in the Hannonia star system. Upon a world battered by floods and rain, a xenoinfection has swept through the terrestrial settlement of Castrilocus, poisoning its populace with a mind-devouring scourge. Decimalists, a fanatical group of galactic revolutionaries, took the epidemic as a chance to invade Castrilocus and to begin their search for a mythological alien weapon. In the confusion, Waltrude's sister and her sister's wards were taken prisoner by the Decimalist cult, and Waltrude arrives to rescue them. Fight to save her sister, fight to save Montes from the black plague of Pelor, and fight to save her husband!
Although filled with drinkable liquid water and a breathable atmosphere, the erosion caused by unending rain leaves Montes mostly inhospitable except for the occasional oasis where plant life can survive. Castrilocus is one of these oases. In a world of constant rain, the setting is wet and cold. The land is desolate and thunderstorms are always on the horizon. Enemies wear rain gear, oxygen masks, and goggles. Everything human about them is covered up, and the infected people have had their humanity taken away. The world evokes isolation, loneliness, and separation.
A prominent theme of the game is time and displacement. Waltrude is separated from her sister as well as her own husband. She is trying to reunite with them and rescue them, but challenges, obstacles, and alien forces stand in her way. Rain is another theme. Montes has unending precipitation, but life does not spring up from it. Even though there is water, life is not satisfied.