Skip to main content

Raiment Studios

A software development studio

A work in progress

Who we are

Raiment Studios aims create open source technology that gives users control over their data and the tools they use. We intend to make creating things easier and more enjoyable.

We're currently working on two major initiatives:

Guidebook
A productivity tool designed to plan and track projects in a collaborative manner that's very low overhead and enjoyable to use. It's designed for personal use and small teams. The data is stored in simple, well-documented, git-friendly formats to give users complete control and ownership of their data.

Snowfall
Snowfall is the code name for an ambitious open-source fictional universe including both content, games, and tools. The goal is to create a rich, consistent, well-desiugned immersive work that is both both fun to explore as well as fun to contribute to.

Our technology stack is primarily based on Rust targeting cross-platform applications. Our work philosophy prioritizes maintainability and ease-of-contribution.

Guidebook

Inspired by the simplicity and flexibility of tools like Workflowy and Dynalist, at it's core Guidebook is a tool for creating lists and outlines that can be organized into sections and projects.

Guidebook emphasizes a lightweight feel with natural UX.

The data is stored in a well-documented, simple format so it is easy to write custom tools and/or use with other programs so a user's data never feels "trapped" inside the application.

The application encourages a light "just enough" structure to encourage the minimal planning and organization needed to make work efficient. For personal use, it can help set goals, check that they're realistic, and keep users accountable in an encouraging manner. For small teams, transparency as well as simple user interactions are the key to ensuring Guidebook is productivity boost for individuals while also providing managers insight into the bigger picture of a team's trajectory.

We do not want to create another Notion or Airtable clone! We want Guidebook to have a clean, light feel that's more akin to a sketchpad or notebook than a kitchen-sink database and website builder. (These applications are great, mind you, but we're not trying to replicate what they do!)

Snowfall

Snowfall is composed of the fictional world, all the associated digital content, and the engine for creating games in that world.

The story

Galthea is the name of the fictional world. It is set in a distant future where a strange cosmic force known as the Maelstrom is distorting and unraveling reality. The protagonist of this world is a Kestrel, a rare android in a world of distrustful humans, who is seeking out her missing creator, the great artificial intelligence known as Tristan. Since his disappearance the strength of the Maelstrom has been growing and all the people of Galthea seem to be seeking out his return.

The main storyline follows Kestrel on her journey across the world searching for clues to Tristan's fate and trying to do so before the Maelstrom brings out the end of reality...

The game

Snowfall is a single-player exploration and adventure game where the player seeks out clues regarding Tristan's whereabouts. It is a procedurally generated world where each playthrough and each outcome will be different, though each playthrough is seeded by the choices and actions taken by the player in the prior playthrough.

The game itself follows from the promise of a fully procedural world of people and politics from game Daggerfall, adopts a more lighthearted fantastic tone akin to the classic King's Quest adventure series, while being set in a fully open, voxel-based world akin to Minecraft and with the more modern dynamics of like Teardown.

Players are encouraged to adopt a playstyle that suits them, usually some combination of the following:

  • Adventurer - follow the storyline and try to find Tristan before the Maelstrom destroys the world of Galthea
  • Explorer - wander the world and discover intriguing things. Capture photos and discover lore...who cares that the world is ending?
  • Builder - build a garden, a town, or other corner of the world. It may not stop the Maelstrom, but it will impact future incarnations of the world.
  • Fighter - a more traditional XP & loot approach to playing the game. Not all the effects of the Maelstrom are friendly and there are often power and riches for those that are willing to face such danger...

The content and community

Key to the game is the idea of ease-of-contribution. The game has in-game editors and exports so models, characters, items, and other parts of the world can be tailored and exported for use by others. In other words, if a player builds an stunning home in their game and wants to export it so it may appear in other's worlds, that is trivial to do! If the procedural generation creates an intriguing shopkeeper, that character can be saved as a template for use in the future.

These contributions are bundled into community-supported "distributions" of content known to work well together. Individuals can always create their own unique distributions or contribute to the sacred main distribution. The engine and content exist separately, borrowing some of the approach of the Minetest project.

The content itself uses the metaphor of deck building: regions, locations, characters, items, etc. all are "cards" that are put into a deck that the game engine pulls from as it generates the world procedurally. Thus a distribution is just a large collection of content cards and constrains.

Join Raiment Studios

🚧WE'RE AN EARLY WORK IN PROGRESS!🚧

We're currently a small team of two figuring out the details of our vision on a purely voluntarily basis. We currently are in the concept and planning stages for the company so only accept voluntary contributions as this time!

We do hope to develop a sustainable business plan which will allow us to financially compensate contributors and hire salaried team members -- but that's a ways down the road!

Some of what we need to do...

  • Raiment Studios
    • Improve this website by...
    • Clarify the vision
    • Make the vision more concise and approachable
    • Publish initial concept art
    • Develop a business plan to support development
  • Guidebook
      Publish a v0.1 MVP
    • Implement basic outling UI/UX
    • Implement basic git-backed cloud storage
    • Publish inspiring examples and templates
  • Snowfall
    • Outline the canonical story of Kestrel
    • Implement "Snowfield" the 2D gameplay prototype
    • Implement the snowfall voxel engine