No, this genre has never been done right. There is no such thing as a "hero" character. Every character in the game is a unique RPG-style character, with a name, skills, equipment and personality. There are no "barracks" buildings that generate expendable, nameless clone soldiers. Think closer to an RPG, with the option of fortifications and buildings that serve a function for your characters.

So its squad based? What does that entail?

Although you start out with just one character, you can have as many as you want. It is up to you if you want an army of a hundred or a small elite group. It is perfectly possible to play the game with only one or two characters if you wish.

Also you are not restricted to one single group. You can split up your characters into separate squads and have them travel independently to different parts of the game world.

Is this a fantasy game then?

You can think of it as one, but it is an original world, there are no fantasy-knock-off cliches. You wont find goblins, elves, dragons, knights or wizards. There is no magic in the game either, just blood sweat and metal. Combat is mostly sword-based, with a certain samurai / ninja influence. Thats all I will say for now.

How is levelling in the game world balanced?

Every single person you encounter is an equal (aside from differing skill levels). They have the same abilities and skill sets as you. There are no fluff NPCs or invincible people. The world does not revolve around you, unlike most normal RPGs, a "level 1" character will find that almost everyone he encounters is stronger than him, and that the shops are full of fancy equipment he cannot afford.

You're not great and powerfull. You don't have more 'hitpoints' than everyone else. You are not the center of the universe, you are not special.

Great, so I'm gonna spend hours grinding and slaughering rats before I can do anything good?

No, but you can't charge around like an idiot either, the game will require you to think a little more realistically. If you encounter bandits, give them the money! Don't enter combat tournaments! There are places you can go if you want a quick initial level-boost. Join the army or a sword school to get some training. Make some friends to back you up. Join a faction, they'll accept newbies. Have some friendly duels for practice. There are plenty of peaceful professions you can take up to make money and increase certain stats. Plus, there are some interesting points:

Depending on the situation, you don't normally die from losing a fight.
You gain more experience for losing a fight than from winning.

Surely that means once I get too strong the game won't be a challenge anymore?

No, there is always something challenging for you. Your opponents won't magically get stronger to match you, but they can always get more numerous. As you gain reputation your enemies will take you more seriously, they might even send a whole army after you! There are also more dangerous locations to visit, parts of the world where no man dares to venture, parts of the world that are totally war torn. Also your responsibilities increase, do you use your strength to change the world, or protect something? You could bolster a losing faction in a conflict, or you could just make a lot of powerful enemies. There's more to this world than just scaring off bandits and you are going to need all the strength you can get.

If you get more experience from losing a fight, whats to stop you from losing on purpose to level up quicker?

Because you still get really badly injured, and will require medical attention and recovery time.

So whats the game about, what do you do?

Most RPGs require that you hunt for trouble. If you want a good fight, you have to specifically find a quest and go to another *yawn* dungeon. If you don't, nothing happens, the game stands still. In Kenshi, trouble comes to you. A lot. Don't think you are safe because you are in a town now. There are still muggers, theives, police, corrupt officials, and thats just internal, what if the town comes under siege? Now you're trapped. Do you aid the defence? If the defence falls then you will find yourself in the middle of a slaughter. This is a world where survival is a constant goal.

You do whatever you want. The prime objective is to survive, you can 'raise' your characters, make money, fight for justice, rob people, avenge one of your character's deaths, hunt legendary monsters, save up for really cool stuff, or just survive, you make your own story. I know this may seems alien to a lot of people, but you have to choose yourself!

What about quests? You do have quests, right?

Not in the traditional sense, where you just talk to random farmers and they all ask you to do something-that-conveniently-involves-trawling-a-dungeon-full-of-monsters-till-you-reach-the-end, no.

The game is driven by dynamic events that occur naturally as a result of the AI "ecosystem" that makes up the simulation of the game world. The world is full of various potentially conflicting forces- factions, religions, armies, emperors, criminals, lawmakers, wildlife, environment and so on. All these forces are constantly pursuing their own agendas. When they conflict, you have an event, and you can choose if you want to have an influence on the outcome. It could be something small, like an old man getting mugged, or it could be a vast invading army on its way to wipe out a whole province. Most events give advance notice too, if your favourite village hears that bandits are coming, you now effectively have the option of a 7-samurai style mission.

Ok, but what is there to do? What makes this game so good?

Aside from all the stuff that happens to you, there's a whole range of stuff, the very emphasis of the game is stuff-to-do. You can be a peaceful trader, a bandit, a mercenary, soldier, theif, assassin, bodyguard, police, hunter, explorer, scout, spy, smuggler. You can open your own shop, start your own village, raise an army and build a fortress. Or you could go up a level and aim for a higher, world-affecting purpose, such as protecting a village, challenging factions and armies you don't like, overthrow a ruler, or even aim to take over the whole world.

How does the combat system work?

There are no "dice rolls", game mechanics are not based on archaic board game rules. The basis of the combat is damage accumulation and fatigue. Minor and major injuries cause bloodloss, crippling, concussion, then there's exhaustion too. Wounded characters end up staggering or crawling around, trying to finish eachother off. The game can be paused at any time with the space bar, so you can give orders and make plans in the midst of chaos.

I don't believe in having hitpoints, a single number that represents the lifeforce of a character. There will be a locational damage system, and a dynamic medical system. If a character gets a leg wound, he will need a medic to stop the bleeding and patch up the wound. He would then need time to rest in order to fully regain perfect leg-functionality. That's it simplified, but the game will also be factoring in internal organs, pain level, arteries, various states of conciousness, exhaustion, and crippledness. Wounded characters can often still fight from the ground (if they wish..) and can be resusitated or dragged out of harms way by a teammate, or even a kind NPC.

Severed limbs? Will there be severed limbs??!!!1!1!?

II am still thinking about this, I have a way but it may damage performance, and I need a feasable way for limb replacement in a game world too low-tech for robotics.

So you can join the army in the game? What's that like?

Yes, but its not just an "army man" who just gives you missions that involve trawling a dungeon just like every other faction *coughelderscrolls!*. You join up as just one more rookie and are thrown into huge battles. It doesn't matter whether you win or not, as long as you survive.

Why would I want to be mere fodder for the army?

Because its a good way to get initial basic training, equipment, and friends. And because its extremely fun.

Will the game be moddable?

Yes, the game is totally data driven and will be released with the same editors that we used to make the game.

Your graphics look like crap

Thats because the games not finished yet fool! I'll make it extra clear, the development progress so far is like this:
Programming: 25%
Art : 1%

What does "Kenshi" mean?

It means Swordsman.

FAQ

GAMEPLAY

What's a SRPG? Super Role Playing Game?

RTS/RPG hybrid? So let me guess, it's a half-assed RTS with "hero" characters.