Re-created from the original 2004 MMO of the same name, the Snail development team is now focused on gaining feedback from players in the upcoming weeks in order to hone game mechanics such as questing, leveling, dungeon design, and PvP mechanics.

Dark and Light's massive sandbox world takes the storyline beyond the traditional MMO, delivering a unique blend of MMO and survival mechanics. Players have the freedom to develop settlements, unlock magical abilities, fight for their tribes, or just enjoy exploring the world’s many distinct environments. Dark and Light's use of Unreal Engine 4 guarantees superb visual fidelity and advanced physics, providing players with a rich and stimulating gaming experience in an ever-changing virtual world.

Dark and Light is a persistent, living world, with a heavy focus on combat where movement and battle have shifted from third-person tab-targeting to an action-based FPS-style system. The game features active participation through dodging, where precise aiming along with managing skills and magical abilities are the keys to victory. Players need not enter the fray alone, as many of the world’s creatures can be tamed and used as mounts to gain a tactical advantage in battle.

Dark and Light features environments inspired by real-world locations, including volcanoes, snow-capped mountains, swamps, plains, forests, jungles and more. Additionally, Dark and Light showcases beautiful fantasy biomes, such as a series of floating islands where players will encounter more than 50 unique species of creatures as they traverse the landscape. These aren’t just mindless, cut-and-paste mobs either – each has been meticulously designed to fit seamlessly into their respective habitats and will behave as though they had naturally evolved in the world.

Modders, rejoice!

Snail Games announced that today Unreal Workshop users will be able to modify and edit the popular, fantasy sandbox survival RPG, Dark and Light to their heart’s content with the release of The Dark and Light Dev Kit.

Available today on PC through the Unreal Launcher, The Dark and Light Dev Kit is a simplified, but comprehensive, version of the Unreal Engine 4 Editor that makes it a perfect toy box for those just getting into modding as well as seasoned programmers.

“Many game designers begin in the modding community, so our team is excited to begin this partnership with Epic Games, as a way to support budding developers and bring a whole new level of creativity to our player base. We can't wait to see what you can dream up for Dark and Light,” said Snail Games Senior Producer Jimmy Tran.

The Dark and Light Dev Kit empowers users to unleash their own imaginations or immediately tweak the existing world of Archos like never before! Creators can then upload those mods to the Steam Workshop® to share them with other players.

Players will be able to create:

• Maps and regions
• Spells
• Creatures
• Weapons and armour
• UI Screens
• New Game modes
• Class abilities and game mechanics
• And more!

Aspiring programmers and modders will have the full power of the Unreal Engine’s  modding tools to introduce new content and unlock extensive game functionality for an open environment. Blueprints for gameplay mechanics such as spells and AI behavior trees will be accessible, alongside source art. Snail Games hopes players will put their own stamp on the world of Archos, by importing custom artwork to transform the game world visually, experiment with the entire ecosystem and devise their own game modes. 

To start creating your own fantasy world, simply run The Dark and Light Dev Kit from the Unreal Launcher, or enable it from your Steam library and create an Unreal Engine account. Then get creative!

While it's possible to survive as a lone wolf, it's a long and hard path that many players won’t be able to handle. Dark and Light’s survival aspects can be extremely draining, as hunger, fatigue, illness and attacks from other players and wild creatures will take their toll. There will be no quests or tutorials, so learning about the world quickly is vital if players want to thrive. It is extremely important to support each other and grow together in order to progress.

Key Features:

• Master the Elements: Discover, craft, and cast dozens of powerful magical spells to take on the threats looming on Archos.
• Explore a Massive, Living World: Travel from frigid mountain peaks, to dense forests, floating islands, hidden caverns, volcanic regions, and more.
• Build a House and Support Your Faction: Join one of three factions, build your own noble house, and take on other players to dominate Archos.
• Choose a Side: Support the Light or the Darkness, fill the world with powerful Dark creatures, or purify the world with Light.
• Take Command of Powerful Creatures: Tame virtually any creature you encounter in the world - giant treants, mystical elementals, and legendary dragons can be at your command.
• Protect Your Home: Build anything from a straw shack to an enormous fortress to defend against hostile forces.
• Free Sandbox Exploration: Cut scene-driven storytelling and instances are emphasized over questing. After siding with a faction (which determines the player’s starting city), the world opens up, enabling players to develop their character the way they want. They can take the role of a skilled artisan, ferocious warrior, a happy-go-lucky explorer, or anywhere in between.
• Mysticism and Magic: No matter which path a player chooses, they will incorporate magic into their skill set as they develop. A limited pool of skill is allocated to level up, making it crucial for players to plan early to ensure they end up with a character they’re satisfied with.

Dark and Light is currently on Steam in Early Access for $29.99.