Obsidian Spire is a grim campaign book you inhabit by typing. You write what you do. The Spire table rolls. That part does not change.
What is changing is how the Spire should look.
We have been locking a visual language for the game: dense, high-resolution ASCII — purple bruise light on obsidian, gold frame, the tower as a silhouette that eats the weather. Not sparse terminal novelty. Campaign-banner class. The same gravity as the title art and the campaign book cover.
That art is not a skin. It is the direction for how scenes, splash, and the table itself should read: written burial horror made of glyphs.
What you play today
The build on Steam / itch / GOG is the typed campaign on Godot — Elderglen to the Spire, wash / wear / leave, the marches, the table. We keep patching that product. Saves, Cloud, achievements, and the road you already own stay on that track.
What we are building next to it
In the lab we are standing up Spire.V1 — a separate engine made for this campaign art and for future grim tables. It is not in the sale depot. It is not a replacement patch that rips the rug out. When a migration is ready, we will say so plainly and bring your book with you.
Near-term on the sale build you should expect:
• Clarity and stability on the typed road (bugs, saves, store platforms)
• Art and presentation that lean harder into the ASCII banner look where the Godot client already supports it
• macOS when it is fit to tick on the store (it is in development; unsigned local builds are not the same as a store SKU)
Near-term in the lab (Spire.V1) you should expect:
• That campaign ASCII look as the default surface — splash, banner, table
• Packs for typed play that can grow without fighting Godot’s sale schedule
• Screenshots and diaries when there is something honest to show — not vapor
What we will not do
• We will not promise calendar dates we cannot keep.
• We will not call Spire.V1 “the game” on the store until it is the game you download.
• We will not put experimental binaries in your Steam depot by accident.
If the Spire has a face, this is it: mill-wheel, wet stone, purple glass in the ruts, gold on the frame. You write. The table rolls. The art should feel like the same book.
Thank you for walking north with us.
— Ethan
These stills are concept art for the campaign ASCII look and may change before they ship in a build.