THE STORY OF OUR MOST ESTEEMED, GLORIOUS, AND ECUMENICALLY CORRECT TITLE, BEING NEOFEUD

Julius Coch-Jobbs, the great Monarch of the Coch-Jobbs Incorporated Kingdom, once said, "Democracy was a Greek joke. Any sufficiently advanced corporation is indistinguishable from government."

The few giant corporations and trillionaire dynasties that survived the global econo-enviro-socio-political collapse of 2027, AKA "The Minor Setback", advanced to majestic heights indeed. Skycastles, great corporate city states, soared like glittering golden jewels, above the dark wreckage of the "Dregosphere", the 99% of the Earth's surface blanketed in pollution, anomie, and, worse, plagued by the barbaric remnants of "democracy," and "equal rights."

Thus began the Second Age of Monarchy, the new Enlightenment. Seeing the egregious errors of their predecessors, the "Philosopher Kings" issued fossil fuel bans and renewable mandates that gridlocked, pandering parliaments bickered uselessly over for decades. The magnanimous autocrats stabilized the collapsing financial system by beheading excessively greedy money-changers, rather than taking campaign contributions. The individual-centric cancer of laissez faire free markets was excised, replaced by royal monopolies, wherein decisions were made according to virtue of the sovereign rather than slave to quarterly profit.

Money-making "tumor treatments" were cast away and cancer was finally cured. Rampant illegal drug use was deemed "corrosive to culture" and eradicated rather than used to bolster the prison-industrial complex. Royal decrees were issued to hospitals requiring universal health care. Minimum wage was forcefully raised to a livable $30 per hour. The cultural wasteland of gratuitous violence, sex, and cat pictures was erased. Creatives whose talent was wasted on insipid antidepressant adverts and brainless action movies found themselves in a second Renaissance as fine artists, designers, sculptors, filmmakers, writers were patroned by royalty to produce exquisite palaces and a flourishing society of high-art aesthetes.

The New Monarchies did all this, and saw that it was good.

Unfortunately for Clovis Coch-Jobbs, inheriter of the Coch-Jobbs Kingdom, all good things must come to an end. With the rise of robotic automation, angrily unemployed subjects of Coch-Jobbs' Kingdom have become restless. Rumors of a surreptitious revolutionary plot to overthrow Clovis and reinstate a dreaded democratic republic echo throughout the palace halls. Yes, some of the anti-monarchist rebels have had to be imprisoned, beheaded even, to quell dissent. But wasn't it Louis XVI who said, "The tree of despotism must be watered, from time to time, with the blood of libertarians?"

Simultaneously, "The United Monarchies", the global interkingdom organization established by The Philosopher Kings to maintain world peace and prosperity has become sour of late. The hellish shadow of the global collapse is receding toward the dustbin of history, and some of the new generation of Kings and Queens leer at one another's stratosphere-scraping chateaus with ambition. A recent financial attack from an unnamed rival corporate-kingdom has led Clovis' dominion precariously toward bankruptcy, leaving him with crises both foreign and domestic. Can Clovis restore peace and hierarchy to his kingdom, and glory to his family dynasty?

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Neofeud is a point-and-click adventure game in development with Adventure Game Studio. "So what," you say?

- Neofeud inverts the usual sci-fi trope of the Everyman detective / nascent revolutionary out to stop giant authoritarian government or corporate giant X. You will take on the role of corporate overlord, and try to keep your peasants, suits, and self-important noir detective-types from overthrowing YOU.

- 1024x768, hand painted graphics! Rarefied Sistine pixelariums with Photoshop-gilded trim.

- A unique setting fusing medieval and near-future sci fi. It's 2027 meets 1776. A Blade Runner kick to the head with a Game of Thrones chaser.

- An original world and story that will (hopefully) make you question some of your core beliefs. Or at least my sanity.

Many unique gameplay mechanics such as the PDA system which is as follows:

Basically it's a Windows-95 style interface where you can do two things:

Look at background information.
Get hints and tips on how to progress if the player gets stuck.

Not much I know but, considering how much background information that SilverSpook has created for the game (and, my goodness, what a lot there is), I thought it would be a shame to let it go to waste whilst not hampering repeat playthroughs of the game. Believe me, with what we're planning to put in, you'll want those repeat playthroughs. My lips are sealed...

UPDATE AS OF 2.5.2015!

After a brainstorming session, we have come up with a new feature (well, two technically, but hey). It is as follows:

We have devised a new 'notes' system, which contains information on the lore of 'Neofeud'. You can also get hints about who to call on the PDA if help is needed, rather than giving a hint to solve the corresponding puzzle. That is what the PDA is for.

Both features don't need to be used in order to complete the game; they are there to expand upon the game world and give hints should the player want them. So, for you purists out there, your challenge will be intact, don't you worry.

Another feature that we have come up with is to have 'Previously' cutscenes when you load up a same file, which recaps the most recent events in the plot and gives hints on how to progress the plot. A map feature will also be put in if you want to check your destination during gameplay. Again, there will be an option to skip said cutscenes before they begin, so the 'purist' experience will not be spoiled.

Intrigued? Bewildered? Outraged? Aroused? Visit the Neofeud website! http://www.indiedb.com/games/neofeud

PS. I mean no offence by the 'purist' comments. I just imagine there will those who wish to play the game without any hints whatsoever, so we'll be catering to both crowds by making these features optional. *(Cough)* Unlike Dual Destinies *(Cough)*

Sounds pretty cool

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Thanks.