Developer FireWo Games and publisher Thermite Games announced that they have partnered for the launch of the "massive open-world life sim RPG" The Bustling World.
The game was revealed at the end of December and even got a Kickstarter campaign, which was then canceled after gathering over $10,000 when the developer decided to change direction. With today's announcement, FireWo Games can count on the support of a publisher.
The Bustling World also received 150,000 wishlists on Steam since its reveal, which is definitely flattering.
The game is set in ancient China and includes both RPG and life simulation elements, letting you go as small or as big as you want, from cultivating your own farm to establishing a realm to rule.
You can fight wars, build towns, and engage in diplomacy. The Bstling World blends elements from many genres, including survival, farming, management, crafting, building, and puzzles.
Here's a trailer to give you an idea of what awaits.
We also get a long list of features. I don't think I remember many games with so many bullet points, especially so close to its reveal.
- Dynamic World and NPC AI: Every element in the game world "thinks and decides" independently, reacting uniquely to your actions. NPCs with rich personal lives, families, and social dynamics respond to your interactions, impacting the game's evolving cities.
- Choose The Farming Life: Innovative Planting System with over 60 types of plants, each with unique soil, moisture, and temperature needs—advanced animal husbandry containing more than 30 animal species for materials, combat, and transportation. Breed and train animals, with chances for mutations and discovering high-level species in the wild.
- Authentic Production Mechanics: Realistic ancient Chinese handicrafts like cooking, weaving, and smelting. Options for manual production or large-scale automated processes.
- Unique Architecture System: Nearly 2,000 building components for creating diverse architectural styles with designs based on historical paintings and classics.
- Rich Social Interaction: Engage with any NPC, from neighbors to kings. Befriend, marry, bribe, or confront characters in your journey. Your actions and interactions may have unforeseen consequences and impacts.
- Build A Home: Buy and trade properties influenced by market factors with the game economy and decorate homes with nearly a thousand kinds of ancient items.
- An Honest Life of Work: Numerous job roles like shopkeeper, Farmer, Miner, Logger, Chef and many more.
- Engaging Leisure Activities: Competitions like Pet Fighting cards, cooking, martial arts, and horse racing for honor and profit.
- Become A Business Titan: Start and expand various businesses using strategies and even underhanded tactics.
- Revolutionary Clothing Simulation: The first game to fully restore traditional Chinese clothing with advanced physics simulation. Designs based on ancient artworks and literature.
- Choose A Darker Path: Thrilling underground world and gang life. Explore secret societies, gangs, and hidden agendas. Collaborate or confront groups for unique skills and information. Gather intel and choose your approach to acquiring treasures. Underground casinos, secret banks, wild bandits, martial arts, and street beggars will all be waiting so choose stealth or open confrontation. Evade or confront the consequences of criminal actions. Escape pursuits, destroy records, or bribe officials.
- Adventurous Jianghu Lifestyle: Explore, fight, and discover in the Jianghu. Recruit heroes and build your mercenary force.
- Regime Establishment and Expansion: Build your own regime or conquer others while recruiting and upgrading armies for defense and expansion.
- Be A Ruler: Develop policies in the military, culture, economy, and research. Balance and strategize city development and inter-city cooperation. Design your land strategically by designating residential and commercial areas, all the while balancing the needs and contributions of NPCs for city growth.
- Complex Diplomacy Options: Engage in peace talks, trade, threats, and alliances. Consider multiple factors for effective diplomatic strategies.
- Pure Hand-Painted Art Style: Entirely 3D, yet uniquely hand-painted, featuring over 5,000 textures, all hand-drawn, avoiding AI generation for authentic artistic expression.
What impresses even more is that FireWo Games is actually a young Chinese couple, who has worked on the game for over five years. We're certainly going to keep an eye on this one as development progresses.
Interestingly, over 60% of the wishlists come from outside of China, so Thermite Games is planning to add full multi-language support to the game. On top of that, they're providing the developer with the resources required to "drastically" expand the team working on The Bustling World.
At the moment, no release window has been announced.
