In Rail Theory, you play as Flynn Whitera, the last human contact of a research facility on the planet Argenous. You must salvage working components from destroyed Argenian ships in an attempt to repair your own. However, an outbreak of a crystalline based life form known as the Rithamolous will not make this a simple task.

Rail Theory contains several innovations designed around randomized enemy components and open level design.

After its kickstarter barely reached 2% of the 150k target goal, Tryconic Studios has decided to put Rail Theory development on ice and focus on smaller/part time projects.

We just wanted to thank you for taking an interest in Rail Theory. Although full time development for Rail Theory isn't something we'll be able to do in the near future, this is not the end for us in terms of game development. 

In the next few months, we'll be looking to work on a smaller project we can complete with part time development. We still hope to complete Rail Theory one day as we streamline our workflow and continue to improve our skills.

If you wish to stay subscribed to this newsletter, we'll be sending out occasional updates once we announce our next project.

Thanks again for everything and have a good one!

Sincerely,

Tryconic Studios

Rail Theory’s gameplay will consist of the interactions between randomly generated enemies, the players health system, and the Foyl Dredge.

The Rith will generate random weapons which will affect the health system in different ways. The Foyl Dredge will be used in response to the randomized properties and components created by the Rith. Deciding how to take on individual enemies will require observing what kinds of properties they have; then deciding the best course of action.

The Rith are an adaptive organism which will adjust to the properties of their surroundings. Enemies will also the inherit properties of the type of energy used against them. Using fire shots on an ice enemy will do more damage at first, but as the fight goes on, the enemy will start to inherit the properties of the fire. This means fire shots will not only do less damage over time, but the Rith’s damage will also begin to have fire properties. Enemies will always have specific properties depending on their environment.

In Rail theory, environments are just as dangerous as their inhabitants. The open level design of Rail Theory means you can explore areas in different orders, assuming you are equipped to take on the region.

Experimental reactors utilizing Argenite have long since failed without proper maintenance, creating areas of intense heat, cold, and corrosion. Adapting to these areas and their inhabitants will be crucial for safe exploration. In addition, each environments will have unique effects on your health system.

A playable demo is (still) available showcasing several of the games features, including:

• A Dynamic Difficulty System – In game player statistics affect the chance certain components will be created on an enemy. This changes up gameplay by varying enemy behavior and abilities.
• Enemies with Randomized Components – Changes the offensive and defensive characteristics of enemies. This will affect both individual and group behavior.
• Cause and Effect Environments – The order in which areas are completed changes the properties of surrounding areas, along with their enemies and boss fights.
• A Unique Health System – Made up of armor, trauma, and stamina. As trauma increases, the amount of total stamina available decreases. The randomized enemy weapons do varying amounts of damage to armor and trauma depending on their properties. (blunt, sharp, caustic, etc.) Having high trauma also has other adverse effects, such as increased aim shake and reduced movement speed, making survival more difficult.
• Multi-Purpose Weaponry – The demo features a dynamic weapon used for both melee and ranged attacks called the Foyl Dredge. It’s design will be built around interactions with the randomized enemy components.