Kenshi/Kenshi 2 Development News

[Hatsune_Neko]

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Just a reminder
The game will "Not" be Epic exclusive, they are just using the engine.

[arkhiel]

Focus on Kenshi 2 and if possible on modding possibilities. Kenshi 1 is good as it is

[robertdg]

just tell me were to pay thx

love that you are not going with epic games exclusive, kenshi is a masterpiece and i don`t touch epic.

would be really nice if you guys made a collectors edition for kenshi 2 i would pre-order it.

good luck and i hope unreal engine works out for you guys.

[philthymcnasty]

"Will take less time"

kenshi took over a decade to make....

I hope they add more character features to kenshi 2. the npcs need more personality. As for modding unreal engine, there already is a massive community of unreal modders and devs out there.

The question is do we want a new map, or the same map but at a different time? My understanding is that kenshi 2 will take place in the past, so how will that work? will there be shek? will there be fogmen? will there be cannibals and hivers? Will it still be squad based sandbox?

Heaven help me if they make it a squad based sandbox with sims style needs and personality for the npcs. That would be one crazy game.

[Shidan]

The question is do we want a new map, or the same map but at a different time? My understanding is that kenshi 2 will take place in the past, so how will that work? will there be shek? will there be fogmen? will there be cannibals and hivers? Will it still be squad based sandbox?

It's actually already been said that it will be the same map, but very different thanks to time, and also larger.

We also have a few clues that were put into the lore in-game about the time period, which give us a few ideas of what to expect.

The sea level apparently used to be a lot higher, people supposedly "really loved their boats" back in the day, and the empire at the time had major issues with piracy. Combined with the previous remark about a larger map with new landmasses, and the concept art for Kenshi 2 released, it's very likely that boats will feature heavily in the game. There has also been mention of an important game feature that will drastically change how the game works. Quite possibly this.

Cannibals also existed at the time, as well as some religious cult type thing (possibly the predecessors to the Holy Nation). As the empire's records involve fighting these factions.

Shek will be very interesting, as the way it's implied in the lore is that Kral (the King who unified their species) only appeared "hundreds" of years before Kenshi. And the game takes place around a thousand prior. This could mean we either get to see the Shek prior to Kral, or perhaps even meet Kral himself.

Hivers are an unknown, as we know very little of their history. But they are never mentioned in any other race's historical records either. And they largely live in areas with ruins from the empire that was around 1,000 years ago, and some Skeletons from the time period don't recognize what a Hiver is. Some int he community (myself included) suspect they may have come across the water to reach Kenshi's land, hence their coastal territory. So this leaves possibility for them, as even if they are not from the mainland, we're getting new landmasses.

All in all, it will be very interesting to see what has changed with the difference of 1,000 years.

[philthymcnasty]

So the billion dollar question: will there be a lot of AI cores? Also will it be a bigger world? It will be kinda weird to raid a ruin a 1000 years before i raid it and take the ai cores...

The boats sound interesting, i would hope that there would be a giant scrap metal city that we could visit. Maybe even some dive suits and underwater aspects....

I wander if armor king will be there? that would be crazy if it was a chain of stores, and not one store...

[Shidan]

Interestingly, it's implied he may be either about to open his store or just barely opened it. As it has apparently been open for just under 1,000 years according to the first game. I don't think that's an accident, and am almost certain he'll be featured in the next game in some form.

[bargian]

Armour king said that he have shop open for 937 years. Maybe he had something somewhere else before? But im 100% sure we will meet 'old' friends there

Edit:

I hope devs will remember what made kenshi great game, and it wasnt graphics obviosly.

[Spankahontis]

Graphics are nice but it means less gameplay.

There are limitations, I want to see the game carry on with more survival mechanics, larger squads and the ability to build a real empire, not just one City, but several all under control of people you appoint to rule over them.

Just as you hire bodyguards to man your city, you can turn one of your squad members into a say.. 'General Class', Generals have special features and abilities.
You have control of the General, but the soldiers that follow him? You can't control. The General has a set of commands, Patrol, Hunt/Forage, Scouting, Guard City/Guard Gates, Raid Enemy City?
You can give them money and they use that money to build their own personal squad, you command the leader but not his subordinates.
Failure to keep the man funded (Armies are expensive to maintain) and those subordinates abandon the general, General is part of your squad, so they wont leave.

But to be able to have a Faction that you can control, issue commands that they will get on with leaving you to carry on ruling your empire.
Also feel that making your own trade empire in Kenshi is limited in scope, having a counter and leaving things for people to buy in an empty shop I feel just isn't enough for me.
Having a Squad member man the shop, Build a bed and assign them to it, assigns them to that House.
They treat that House like it's their own, the House acts as a Command centre for them where you can assign tasks like sell goods and use some of the profits to feed themselves.
You don't need to babysit them when resources are low, they use that House to provide for themselves while at the same time buying/selling goods to make a tidy profit.
Maybe even upon making/buying a House you can assign the property to enact a specific task?
You buy or build the property; from that you can assign a class for the building designating it as a Bar, Blacksmith, Robotics Etc. Each designation requires a prerequisite in order to unlock it's commands (Blacksmith requires 2xBeds, Weaponsmith/Armoursmith, storage for squad members assigned to fulfil their tasks) this unlocks it's own commands tab when you right-click the building, assign it a squad member? Assign it a task (Make Weapons MKII and above)? It does that task, rinse/repeats the production cycle?

[Leper]

Psychology for Kenshi 2?

Hi, I'm a major fan of Kenshi. I remember buying it way back in 2013... and then played it for 30 hours.
2019 and I hear from someone that its fully complete. I completely thought it went dry, but was happy to have helped in early access.
So I reinstalled it and couldn't put it down until I had another 150 hours put in. It was just that good.

The best RPG I've played so far in my life.
They made Kenshi the game I knew I always wanted, but didn't know how to conceptualize. If they are going for a second one, I do have something I would love to see in the game:

Psychology. I already feel bad when my 3000 cat recruit dies, but why not make every loss feel like Beep just died? I want to feel like I need to make a new game when I lose a character not just based on their skill, but of their legacy and their character. Not only do I want to see my characters story, I want to feel the effects of what they bring to the table from their past. Red Hook's Darkest Dungeon makes identical heroes unique through the Quirk mechanic; randomly or situationally attained perks that can add buffs or debuffs mostly based on context. Although not be entirely mimicked, I would be thrilled to see something very similar that adds more behavioral aspects and greater uniqueness to my characters outside my control that both meshes my perceived lore with my story and game mechanics.

For example, my character lost limbs being eaten by fogmen but was rescued. A roll occurs in which my character can attain a random trait related to this major experience: he can take resist damage against Hive through his emotional hatred for them, he might be fearful of Hivers and become debuffed when in combat with one, or maybe doesn't trade good deals with Hivers because he gets awkward around them. Toughness can then help reduce the chance of rolling for perks and then rolling for negative ones. Then additional mechanics can be built around these; can other characters treat these traumas? Are some temporary, can some be treated with the support of the squad, and are some just simply permanent? There could be starter perks that are completely unique to each new recruit that you could only discover upon dialogue before actually committing to them as to not affect your decision too much, some might want to hide their demons from you and others might want to disclose their weaknesses to build your trust.

I love Kenshi's unique recruits, but it would be so cool to see more ways even randomized bar recruits can be unique and adored in a playthrough.

[Jake_the_Ogday]

If you haven't made your mind up already, please do not port Kenshi. People have already pointed out why it would be mediocre at best and more than likely a waste of time. Just focus on creating Kenshi 2

For those that say "But they will learn from porting the first Kenshi" I feel like this is the wrong way of looking at it, Recreating/Porting an existing game is hardly as effective as simply trying to create a sequel with mostly a fresh start and learning around that.

Kenshi is an amazing game, leave it alone

[januschka]

So the billion dollar question: will there be a lot of AI cores? Also will it be a bigger world? It will be kinda weird to raid a ruin a 1000 years before i raid it and take the ai cores...

The boats sound interesting, i would hope that there would be a giant scrap metal city that we could visit. Maybe even some dive suits and underwater aspects....

I wander if armor king will be there? that would be crazy if it was a chain of stores, and not one store...

The REALLY interesting question is, will it be possible to port the save files from Kenshi2 to Kenshi1. And will your actions in Kenshi2 result in a change in the timeline and cause a Kenshi1 city(you just raided in Kenshi2) be desolated or populated by some other faction?
Mindfuck. Butterfly effect.

[Hatsune_Neko]

The REALLY interesting question is, will it be possible to port the save files from Kenshi2 to Kenshi1. And will your actions in Kenshi2 result in a change in the timeline and cause a Kenshi1 city(you just raided in Kenshi2) be desolated or populated by some other faction?
Mindfuck. Butterfly effect.

it won't be. two different game engines so save files will not be compatible.
your time in the past will be a alternative fork in the timeline. so your actions will not affect the current K1 timeline.

[JohannesTheUgly17]

When will kenshi 2 take part. After the kenshi 1's timeline or before it ?
Example giving at the last years of second empire or a few decades later then kenshi 1.

[Hatsune_Neko]

When will kenshi 2 take part. After the kenshi 1's timeline or before it ?
Example giving at the last years of second empire or a few decades later then kenshi 1.

1,000 years in the past.

[Roofbum]

Im super excited
I got kenshi some years back but couldnt do much with my potato laptop.
Now ive built a fancy new pc and ive been playing after work each day, building up a base and hours on choosing mods alone as i tend to do with every game i play.
Kenshi has a special place in my heart, has almost everything I could want in a game. And now i can really experience it since i have a good computer.

Kenshi 2 is surely going to be even more amazing.
Im dying to see an expected release date. Ill preorder the instant i see it on steam.

[OzDracula]

Why the late decision to switch to another engine? DirectX 12?
There was a well written post suggesting a switch to Unity Pro way back in March of 2013.

[Macongula]

Will there be a different forum for Kenshi 2?

[Sziklamester]

Hi there!

I know it is a late to reply but I read these comments back in time and agreed with some of it. That would be a nice improvement if we could control settlements, kingdoms even empires. The general recruiting system actually doable and in games like Bannerlord or another more strategy focused games these systems already done. I personally would like more recruit option for npc what you not control but as citizen serves you in your towns-cities. Paying taxes, farming, labouring and gathering extras for your party. I think that the development is already passed a point by now but I hope at least as a mod could be implemented like a system modification.

Also the latest engine changes to ut is welcomed and hopefully it can serves the game better.

[philthymcnasty]

Will there be early access? I know i was a bit of an asshole back in the day, and still am, but one of my favorite memories is reporting a bug, uploading a save file, and having it fixed the very next day.