Another RPG game that I haven't covered much since last year is called Dragon by a developer called Red Level Games Inc. The game has had a few updates on Steam.

The latest update is abouut the developers move to a Public Beta Server.

We’re testing new code on the public beta server, unfortunately it’s still not ready for primetime.  We're doing our best and work on Dragon is going strong but we're extremely understaffed at the moment. We've had luck with some recent applicants and are looking forward to adding development talent to the team.

Since my last coverage about Dragon being released on Steam Early Access the game has had a few patches. The developer also posted a new Road Map of its development.

Development Roadmap

Dragon is currently in early alpha and we've got a long way to go to make Dragon the game it deserves to be. All features and plans listed here are subject to change, we may add or remove features as we learn more about the community's needs during our Early Access.

• More monsters, wildlife, and fantasy races to populate the world
• Quests, story lines, and lore
• More and larger worlds to explore and conquer
• Randomly generated worlds
• Expanded combat and improved NPC AI
• More destructible and intractable environments and objects
• Additional breath weapons and magic
• Updated graphics and physics
• Improved sound and music
• Awesome new dragon models. Play as different "species" of dragon
• Additional RPG mechanics and customization options
• Weather effects and natural disasters (volcanoes, tornadoes, etc.)
• Expanded mod support
• Additional languages and controller support

At this point we believe Dragon will reach retail version 1.0 in nine to 24 months; depending on funding and the amount of content in the final game.

Red Level Games announces their new Dragon ARPG game is now available once again on Steam Early Access, and posted more information in a new post on Steam.

The horns sound as dragons enter the land. Early Access begins today!

Our little team has struggled mightily and we're excited and proud to show you Dragon! Going from concept to game has been an adventure, as start-ups often are. We've lost team members, over come hardware failures, and drank more coffee than we care to admit. Through it all we've been helped and encouraged by you, our fantastic community...Thank you.

We've made some adjustments to ensure that basic multi-player is ready for everyone today. As a result many game features will continue to be rolled out over the following weeks.

I mentioned in the last news-bit the game was launched on Steam Early Access, but it seems the developer has delayed the game on Steam. Here are the reasons why.

Dragon Early Access Delayed to November 7th

Yes, with a heavy heart it's true. Our new date is Friday November 7th.

We’ve seen the concerns and criticisms on the forums and have been encouraged by the passionate response from Dragon’s awesome community as well. We want to be responsible to our opportunity to bring you guys what is going to be a great game!

The team has noticed the trend of Early Access titles that have upset or taken advantage of players. Dragon will NOT be that kind of game. Even though we want you playing Dragon as soon as possible the higher game dev. morale values say “wait”.

We will continue to post updates and trailers as development progresses. We will also gradually release alpha keys to community leaders, testers, and members of the press.

We are very sorry to disappoint fans with this delay. We lost some team members in the final weeks of development and faced unexpected optimization issues. This put the team in the difficult position of trying to fill roles and fight fires while keeping to a tight development schedule.

I hope we can earn your respect as we continue to invest our time and money in Dragon until we think it is awesome enough to deserve yours.

In the meantime please add Dragon to your wish list and keep an eye on this page!

-Grant Williams
Game Director

Red Level Games announces their new Dragon ARPG game is now available on Steam Early Access, and provided a press release with more information.

Update: A day after this announcement the game is now delayed to November 7th

Dragon: The Game Hits Early Access Today on Steam

In-development open-world RPG lets you play as the Dragon

An Early Access version of Red Level Games' open-world action-RPG Dragon: The Game arrives today on Steam. It will cost $17.99 during Early Access, with a 20% off launch week discount for those who purchase by Friday, September 26th.

Experience dragons in their proper role as the monstrous, complex, and epic protagonists that they are. 

In an open world, action role-playing game you will bring your dragon's story to life. As you eat, age and hunt your dragon will develop allowing you to improve and customize its wings, tail, claws, and breath weapon. 

Become a terrifying or benevolent dragon powerful enough to threaten city states and reshape kingdoms. Inevitably you will face other dragons, giants, trolls, orcs, liches, and other beasts as you leave your mark on the history of the world. 

In Dragon the World Is Yours...

Current Early Access Features:

Single and multi-player Co-op and PVP 

•  Save and load your dragon 
•  Moddable dragons and maps 
•  Basic combat and RPG mechanics 
•  Fire burns tress, villagers, and wooden buildings 
•  Physics based flight 
•  Real time day-night cycle

Completed Game Will Include:

Hunt and feast on tribute as you grow more powerful through the years. 

•  Hoard gold, claim a lair and expand your dominance through-out a dragon-sized sandbox fantasy world. 
•  Choose who to help and who to eat. Choose which cities will benefit and thrive under your protection and which will burn... 
•  Customize and improve your dragon. Choose its color, face, look, and abilities. *  Customize and upgrades your weapons and armor such as scales, breath weapon, bite, tail, and wings. 
•  Single and multi-player modes for all of your dragon co-op and PVP needs; work together in peace or find out whose the top dragon. 
•  Users Mods - There is no way we can make this game will be great without tapping into the creativity of our players.

About Red Level Games

Red Level Games is a team of seven based out of the Tri-Cities area near the southeast corner of Washington state. Dragon represents the team's first commercial effort - one we hope to fully release in the second half of 2015. For more information on what features are currently implemented and what new content will arrive in forthcoming updates, check out the Early Access and Development Road Map sections on Dragon's Steam store page

Red Level Games posted a FAQ on Steam about Early Access for Dragon.

Release Questions

1. Early Access Release Date: September 19, 2014.
2. Early Access Price: $17.99
3. Early Access Launch Week Price: $14.99
4. Estimated Retail Release: Summer or Fall 2015.
5. Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux. Mac and Linux versions may be released after PC.
6. Consoles: If we are successful we would love to release on consoles.
7. Distributors: Steam Storefront. We are also considering the Humble Store, Gamer’s Gate, Good Ol’ Game, Greenman Gaming, and IndieGameStand.

Game Questions

What is Dragon: The Game?

Dragon: The Game (“Dragon”) is an open-world action RPG, where you will play as a living, fire-breathing dragon! A dragon will be able to:

• Explore and hunt over a vast fantasy world.
• Eat, grow, and gain power; customizing your dragon’s traits and abilities along the way.
• Establish lairs, claim territory, and amass untold hordes.
• Battle other dragons and fantastic creatures.
• Topple buildings, raze villages, and torch forests on destructible worlds.
• Impact the world’s economy and development through your actions.
• Interact with villagers, kingdoms, and other mighty creatures. Will you be a benevolent guardian or a ruthless tyrant?
• Create a legacy. Your dragon’s descendants will inherit powers and traits from their parent.

Will the game support multi-player?

Dragon will support multi-player through Photon.

Will dragons be able to use magic?

Yes, though magic will not be included in the initial Early Access version of the game. We want to determine what magic system will best complement the other features of the game, so we feel it is best to implement in later stages of development.

What does treasure do for my dragon?

Gold and other wealth will increase your dragon’s dominance and influence in the world and will be worked into several game mechanics. Collecting rare items, artwork, and other loot will be a significant part of the game and will reveal the lore of the world in addition to providing benefits to your dragon.

Will Dragon be crowd-funded?

We will pursue crowd funding for Dragon based on the community’s response to the Early Access.

IndieGames interviewed Erik Johnson of Red Level Games a few questions about his Dragon focused ARPG I posted about yesterday in case you missed it.

Let us get one thing out of the way first... Will we really get to play as fully grown dragons in Dragon?

Yes -- no false advertising on that front. And not just any dragon, your dragon. We want the game to contain a really robust character creator, and for players to have a variety of branching options as their dragon gains experience and evolves (through various means such as completing quests, eating, sleeping, and so on). A fledgling version of the character creator will be in by Early Access next week, and it might still be possible for us to release it ahead of the 19th -- which would give those interested a chance to customize a bit ahead of jumping into the first public Alpha build.

And, in a nutshell, how will the game play?

Similar to an action RPG, but you're a dragon as opposed to a humanoid protagonist -- meaning you can fly. We haven't taken that portion of it lightly either. A few of us on the team spent a good amount of our time on the road this summer, attending conferences (including PAX Prime, Dragonflight and Denver Comic Con) to build awareness as well as get feedback from attendees on the game's concept and our flight and combat mechanics. I remember worrying that without the RPG layer in at the time, people would see it as a lackluster tech demo. Instead, we had trouble getting folks to give up their seats for the next in line. They wanted to explore all corners of the world by air, and it became clear that many of those who tried the game found flying around the small biome we created for the demo to be its own special experience. I'm not sure how to describe it, maybe relaxing? Cathartic? Regardless, it allowed them to cut loose as a dragon and we know that's the crux of it all.

Another one of our top priorities is to have the initial co-op/multiplayer layer in for our Early Access Launch next week, as we're aiming to develop content that will specifically cater to various PvE and PvP bits as we move toward official launch. We'll be relying on early adopting players to help us test out these new features as we introduce them, along with other aspects of the game like mod tools.

Dragon is an ARPG game I found on Steam Greenlight that may interest a few of you, and is being developed by a studio called Red Level Games.

As usual here is a video, and a short description of the game.

Dragons are the greatest fantasy creature of all time.

It is time for a video game that gives dragons their proper role as the monstrous, complex, and epic protagonists that they are.

In an open world, action RPG you will bring your dragon's story to life. Choose who to help and who to eat. Choose which cities will benefit and thrive under your protection, and which will burn...

You will customize your dragon, choosing its color, designing its face, look, and abilities.

As you eat and grow your dragon will develop; allowing you to improve and customize its wings, tail, claws, and breath weapon to your preferred playing style.

Growing more powerful through the years you will horde gold, claim a lair and expand your territory. Inevitably challenging other dragons, giants, liches, and other beasts for dominance over the world and claim over the lesser kingdoms of mortals.

In Dragon the world is yours...