2025 End of Year Message

[BasiliskWrangler]

Happy Holidays to one and all!

As 2025 winds down, I wanted to share a quick update from the Basilisk Games studio.

It’s been a busy year behind the scenes, even if it hasn’t looked that way from the outside. Many of you who still check in from time to time are undoubtedly disappointed in the long stretch without announcements (or even a teaser screenshot). That's valid.

Back in 2020, when COVID reshuffled priorities for everyone, I dusted off the sci-fi RPG concept game and invested significant time moving it to a different engine. Ultimately, I reached a difficult conclusion in 2024: it wasn’t delivering the gameplay experience I expected. My playtesters found it confusing and overly complicated, and the gameplay required extensive retooling to work.

So that project returned to the archives, perhaps to return one day when I can properly address the gameplay issues.

The good news is that the work wasn’t wasted. From that engine, I started work on what I know best: a fantasy RPG built on an expanded version of the Eschalon ruleset.

We’re almost 18 months into development and making strong progress week after week. In many ways, the studio feels like it did in the early days when Eschalon: Book I was in full production mode, focused and excited about the game that is coming together.

In 2026, we’ll be ready to announce our next game: a retro, high-fantasy, first-person, turn-based RPG. We'll also be updating the website, which is long overdue for a refresh.

Thank you for sticking with us, checking in, and keeping the faith. I can’t wait to share more soon!

[Dies a Lot]

YEA!!!!

Can't wait to see the new game.

Have a Merry Christmas and a very productive New Year.

Ron

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Nice update. Glad to hear of the progress and I'll keep checking in and cheering for whatever you come up with next!

[Quaan]

First person, turn based, sounds like a dream come true!
Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!

[Mike Modified]

Good news!

Merry Christmas and a Happy (and prosperous) New Year to all.

Mike

[blatherbeard]

Woot woot!

While a bummer about the sci fi game, glad to see you having fun and doing what you love!

Ive been diving into the divinity world again since the announcement of their new one. I forgot id played divne divinity and how much i love the way they do Arpgs as you can basically turn base it if needed. (i love games that let you pause and its just YOU, not a 4 or 8 man party).

Cant wait for some footage and or gameplay from the high fantasy esheleonesque game!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

[cal1s]

After more than 10 years, I finally just recently finished all Eschalon books back to back in a ~100h marathon.

Just when I was wondering what happened to Basilik I read this post. This is one of the most unexpected posts this year for sure.

And I'm probably one of the few who is really really happy you abandoned sci-fi (at least for now), because I personally dont like sci-fi rpgs at all.
High fantasy all day, every day for me!

So I'm really looking foward seeing and hearing more about you guys' new game.

A teaser screenshot before Christmas, maybe?

[Prismatic Maelstrom]

What was the reason in leaving Twitter and migrating to BlueSky? There has only been one post since March this year.

[BasiliskWrangler]

A couple years back we started getting notifications that someone was trying to reset our password to get into our account. At that time, X support was not responsive or helpful, and they told us that we needed to buy a verification badge to secure our account.

It just didn't sit well with me, so when BlueSky started taking off we just moved over there and claimed our username. We will definitely post more on BlueSky in 2026 as we begin promoting our new game. It's hard to post frequently when there's just no news to report.

[Painted Lady]

Well - you just made my Christmas merrier! It's great news that the game progressing well, and I absolutely cannot wait to see it. I've played Eschalon about a million times and am definitely ready for new adventures from BW.

[Lomax]

I was wondering how things were going and came here to check - very nice to hear another game will be coming, although I'm not really a fan of first person 3D games. The Eschalon series remain all-time favourites of mine, Book II in particular, which I think is one of the best CRPGs ever made. Good luck with the new game, hope you have a great 2026!

[Leezar]

Have you considered cell shading?

Now, I was going to suggest that your audience have older rigs, but from a forum post a couple years back people had surprisingly modern rigs for running something like Eschalon, lol.

Even so - there is no better way to get super high framerate and clear, smooth graphics. I say, as if I know anything about 3D graphics lol when in reality me blender creation looks like what a 7 yo could accomplish. That said, on systems with limited hardware, if you compare cell and non cell games uh... well thats what I deduce this conclusion from.

Prince of Persia (forget which one uses cell, the one with the claw), Zelda naturally,... but if you want a more serious game, less cartoony / goofy look, look into MadWorld... ok fine! Red Steel 2 - just youtube it! That game has AMAZING graphics, running on a Wii. But more importantly, cell shading makes the picture clear. Making it so that observant players are more likely to notice a button on a bookshelf that opens a secret passage than say,... Skyrim graphics do.

Secondly - those kind of graphics would thematically fit with the isometric, slightly cartoony graphics of Eschalon, creating a, uh, thematic red line between your games. Also, again, the game with run smooth even on older rigs. Even the rig I am on right now, i7 3770 + GTX970 and 32 GB ripjaws, which is what, 2012 tech, could easily run that. Well, probably, at least.

[Hawkwind]

This makes me happy!

[solimar]

Excited to see a new Eschalon-style RPG! Can’t wait to see more updates and maybe some early screenshots