...and another Thief-like game: The Citadel Project

[JackFarmer]

Demo out now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5111940/The_Citadel_Project__Demo/

Mostly familiar gameplay mechanic and good atmosphere, however, I did not make it far into the demo, as my rig is simply too weak for the game. 

[New Horizon]

Looks kind of cool.  I'm not a fan of the outstretched hands at all times though.

[datiswous]

Cool it has some of the combat elements of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

[Bikerdude]

interesting.

[JackFarmer]

On 10/1/2026 at 3:47 PM, New Horizon said:

I'm not a fan of the outstretched hands at all times though.

Yes, that was my first thought as well.

[chakkman]

Another one for the wish list.

BTW, as it was too much for your rig, I assume it's Unreal Engine 5?

Edit: Quick Google revealed that it's probably Unreal Engine 4.

Edited October 2 by chakkman

[Filizitas]

The title is personal for me.

So I am launching a full attack on you now.

I really enjoy The Citadel Project and hope for more updates soon!

Ran extremely well on my 2023 laptop.

BOOOM Destroyed you 

Jokes aside its actually a really strong first demo!

[datiswous]

I started playing the demo a bit. There's no manual saving it seems..

[Bikerdude]

I played the demo, very pretty but the  movement mechanics are clunky and you can't defend yourself to any degree that I could see.

Edited October 9 by Bikerdude

[Filizitas]

I am now in direct contact with the developer  He has nice views and is working on the gameplay! He is taking the feedback very serious!

This game will go into early access with 2 missions playable in november  I will try and help this dev out  

[JackFarmer]

1 hour ago, Filizitas said:

I am now in direct contact with the developer  He has nice views and is working on the gameplay! He is taking the feedback very serious!

This game will go into early access with 2 missions playable in november  I will try and help this dev out  

The game is a solo dev project? 

[Filizitas]

15 hours ago, JackFarmer said:

The game is a solo dev project? 

Yes!  And he is a cool dude. But He had a car accident recently and... His cat got badly injured. So his budget for the game shrunk quite a bit T_T

[wesp5]

Okay, I had a quick go and if this guy is really going to listen to your feedback, please report this to him:

 

- For me a stealth game with Souls-like saving is a no go. That's almost as worse as Spector's time pressure!

- Why do we need to sharpen the sickle already after two or three hits of a supposendly spongy soft tissure?

- The push hard to kill move is almost useless, it takes too long and the first push usually does nothing at all.

- There is no way to extinguish the small lights like candles and water arrows on enemy torches didn't work.

 

I couldn't finish the demo because of the issues above, and I am missing the patience to try again and again

and again! I don't understand why so often in modern games the developers take an old working system and

then make something worse out of it: Free Saves? No, let's make them location and object dependent. Steel

melee weapons that work forever? No, ours are made from aluminum. Cool kick like in Dark Messiah? No, we

need to push long and we also use the same button as normal attacks so mistakes are easy. Extinguish all the

light sources like in TDM or Thief? No, lots of small lights can't be doused, because that'll be more fun. No...

Edited October 11 by wesp5

[Filizitas]

On 10/11/2026 at 11:56 PM, wesp5 said:

Okay, I had a quick go and if this guy is really going to listen to your feedback, please report this to him:

and then what you said.

And here is the answer  The dev isnt meaning to argue btw they just believe in their vision and dont want to deviate too much from it! I think that is a good sign of a confident developer!

Quote

1. Candle is a good point, I'll make them available to extinct with bare hands. Save system a la dark souls is something that was in my mind since the begining of the conception phase. I don't want a free save system at all that enable spam save scumming everytime something happen. I'll be honest, of course I want to please Thief fans, but frankly this is a very niche crowd with very specific expectations. I mean, if I make a PURE Thief game, I'll prolly do 1/30 of sells I can do being a thief like leaning toward horror/survival horror. Thief fans/pure stealth fans are not so many, and they are very fussy and demanding, it's a commercial suicide to gamble on this genre alone. I want a game where succeed have a meaning and a feel of accomplishment. What's the point if you can just spam save & reload ? Even tied to a difficulty setting, I'm personally against this kind of feature. For me that's why From Software game are amazing, absolutely everyone are at the same level, playing exactly the same game, the game imagined and designed by the dev, precisely. If someone succeed to finish Dark Souls 1, he's part of the entire crowd that also finished Dark Souls 1. I can't fathom game where there is lot of difficulty options and settings like Celeste for example, where you can chose absolutely every parameter like jump, game over, number of respawn, invincibility, ... If you can't manage to play and finish a game because it's too difficult for you, happen, play another game or don't give up and try harder.

    
2. It's like complaining against painters "Rrrrr, your painting is too difficult for me to understand! I can't understand the composition work, what's the story, what I should understand from the colors choice, ... Please do 3 to 4 variants for a range of people from very smart to dumb/lazy"

    
3. Same for filmmaker, music composer, writer, ...

The game is getting updates almost every day!  Its amazing! The newest update has a total fantastic climbing overhaul!

[wesp5]

Well, it's his choice to ignore all feedback except for the smallest issue. I wish him luck to please a niche crowd while comparing his game to Dark Souls at the same time ;). I for one will not be interested at all anymore if the developer doesn't understand why kicking in Dark Messiah is fun and pushing in his game isn't...

Edited Tuesday at 11:53 AM by wesp5

[Filizitas]

16 minutes ago, wesp5 said:

Well, it's his choice to ignore all feedback except for the smallest issue. I wish him luck to please a niche crowd while comparing his game to Dark Souls at the same time ;). I for one will not be interested at all anymore if the developer doesn't understand why kicking in Dark Messiah is fun and pushing in his game isn't...

Fair

[JackFarmer]

Oh yeah, back then, I bought Dark Souls 2 for 40 (wasted) Euros for the PS3. I did not even master the tutorial. After that, never touched a game with that labeling again.

I've finally played Styx 1 & 2 earlier this year. AI is extremely vigilant (and deadly) in these games. Releasing them with an "auto saves only system" would have caused thousands of nervous breakdowns and tons of demolished entertainment equipment.

Not a fan of the Gloomwood save system, either, however, have not played it till now as I would like to wait for the finished game.

[wesp5]

Gloomwood works much better than this demo. As I wrote above, don't copy famous features if you can't deliver...

[chakkman]

52 minutes ago, JackFarmer said:

Not a fan of the Gloomwood save system, either, however, have not played it till now as I would like to wait for the finished game.

You can actually quicksave on any difficulty, except for the hardest one (I think). Using the typewriter bullsh**  is optional.

Quote

I've finally played Styx 1 & 2 earlier this year. AI is extremely vigilant (and deadly) in these games. Releasing them with an "auto saves only system" would have caused thousands of nervous breakdowns and tons of demolished entertainment equipment.

Exactly.

I don't understand why some developers think that immersive sims are suited for save rooms. They are made with freedom of playing as you like in mind, and that means that you will experiment, which means that it's just logical to be able to save wherever whenever you want.

You know, judging from the screenshots, the game looks interesting, but reading this, I don't think I'm interested at all.

Edited Tuesday at 01:44 PM by chakkman

[Baal]

The limited save system works (for me) in Gloomwood if you play it as a stealth game. You really have to be carefull and being discovered is actually frightening. Not being discovered is equally rewarding.

[datiswous]

Quote

I don't want a free save system at all that enable spam save scumming everytime something happen

I think he describes a problem, that I understand. I think the solution is not nice though.

[wesp5]

11 hours ago, datiswous said:

I think he describes a problem, that I understand. I think the solution is not nice though.

Still it's the discussion we had here over and over again. Why not leave it up to the player? They should have fun playing the game like they want. Especially in a demo in which important features like pushing enemies are completely broken...

Edited Wednesday at 09:10 AM by wesp5

[Filizitas]

3 hours ago, wesp5 said:

Still it's the discussion we had here over and over again. Why not leave it up to the player? They should have fun playing the game like they want. Especially in a demo in which important features like pushing enemies are completely broken...

I am on the same page. This is why Gloomwood succeeeeded. Dillon sided with the players on this. There will be a time again in a few years when the game is fully released  For a free save option in a difficulty menu!  Have hope!

[chakkman]

6 hours ago, wesp5 said:

Still it's the discussion we had here over and over again. Why not leave it up to the player? They should have fun playing the game like they want. Especially in a demo in which important features like pushing enemies are completely broken...

Exactly. Everyone who wants to restrict himself by only saving a few times or in certain spots can already do so, and it doesn't restrict the people who want to save whenever they want at the same time.

No need to impose a restrictive save system on everyone, and insult the people who want to play the way they do as "savescummers". Dunno when that kind of thing became popular.

Edited Wednesday at 03:39 PM by chakkman

[Braunro]

Gotta say I'm pro free-save. My issue with the save method for this demo is that it has some alternate areas to explore where a single misstep can kill you and that, at least for now, it can get a bit glitchy with the grabbing and climbing and also with the rope arrows (both with grabbing/staying on them and with shooting a wooden platform with one and no rope appears). There's one place where I see loot but I don't want to go through all the reloads and getting back to it that I can tell it will take. It also discourages me from trying different tactics / using resources unless very near a save spot. Stick with what works every time or your progress is knocked back substantially. Btw, I thought "save-scumming" was saving before something that rewards random loot so that you can repeat until you get something you like, which does not appear to be something you can do here.

Except for the frustrating save mechanism, I like it. I've had no issue with the push mechanism. One rope arrow that was wasted when shot directly at a wooden platform. One item looted through the wall of an unopened room (maybe intentional, dilapidated wooden walls you can see through). And I changed healing herbs to Z from X because I kept hitting it when crouching (likely because of numerous games that use X to crouch). I had an easier time with getting stuck while climbing around when I found that I could either look down and behind to get back down or that looking straight up while hitting space would unstick me and often allow me to proceed as well. Once when I dragged a body and tossed it over the edge it dragged me with it after releasing it. Sometimes when I try to drag a body it doesn't pick it up but I still have to release it even if I walk well away from it.