The Titans of Ether have posted another development update detailing progress that has been made on Corven in recent weeks:

We are working very hard on the game demo which will show the big first island of the game and most gameplay aspects of the final game. The only things defnitely not in the demo will be the day-night cycle and the NPC schedules.

Currently we are working on:

• finalizing story aspects of the starting island
• quest implementation
• finalizing world building on the starting island
• skill system
• combat system
• interaction menu

The interaction menu pops up when you click on an item that has more than one use. This is where the “Adventure game” part of our project comes in. Our quests will not only be about combat and dialogue but also about combining objects, using objects etc… think Monkey Island (or for younger players: Walking Dead) if you will.

My goal is to combine what I most liked about Ultima and Adventure games. My favorite Ultimas and RPGs in general always had a deep engaging storyline, so did my favorite Adventures. Delivering an engaging storyline that makes you want to know what happens next all the time is the core goal of this project. I want you to experience the story in a way that you won’t have to suffer through long “story-downtimes”, which for me is the worst part of RPG storylines: You love the story but to get the next little glimpse of it you first have to kill 500 monsters and do 3 huge dungeons. That is not part of the design philosophy for Corven. Don’t worry Adventure fans, frustrating illogical puzzles will also not be part of the game, you will always know what to do next and what you need to do will always be logical.

Corven will have 2 game modes. The regular RPG mode and a story mode (or Adventure mode). In story mode you will have far less combat. Only story relevant fights remain and those will be solved in a way that you will not have to deal with the skill system (numbers) at all. Hardcore RPG gamers can call this easy mode, but it is definitely a way for players to enjoy the story without having to deal with numbers (skill system) or combat skills.

Also, the Titans may be dropping their name in the near future; we’ll have to stay tuned for more details.

Finally, the Titans have published a handful of new screenshots showcasing more gorgeous environments. One of these screenshots can be seen above.