Dear Bohemia Interactive Community,

Farming image

It has been a long time since I last reached out, and I wonder how many of you still remember my name. Perhaps there are still a few among you who noticed that about ten years ago, after the release of Arma 2, I disappeared. For those wondering what I have been up to all these years, I am excited to finally share that my colleagues and I have been working on a new game, which is just about to be revealed.

The release of Arma 2 marked the culmination of my roughly twenty-year career at Bohemia Interactive, which began with the global hit Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and was characterized by creative collaboration with my brother Marek and other amazing colleagues. Military-themed games were interesting, and I believe we gave them a depth they had not had before, but they were not the kind of games I had dreamed of. The success of Operation Flashpoint, as well as ArmA and ArmA 2, opened new possibilities for me, and I tried to seize them. Since then, together with Gralfim and Bebul (both of whom you may remember from the distant past) and with the help of experienced artist Miro Pogran, we have been creating an environment for interactive storytelling of adventurous, fairy-tale-inspired stories.

Allow me to introduce you to Orbis Fabula and the first pilot story, the first chapters of the fairy tale Bayaya.

Orbis Fabula is similar to the games you know from Bohemia Interactive:

  • A large open world
  • Extensive draw distance, a vast number of moving characters
  • Attention to detail
  • Open architecture, with the possibility of modification and expansion

However, in many ways, it differs:

  • A world where you can engage in peaceful activities such as tending fields, crafting, and watching other people going about their daily jobs
  • Stylized graphics reminiscent of wooden toys
  • Emphasis on interactivity
  • A non-violent, relaxing story
  • A tribute to traditional rural work, such as chopping wood or working in the garden and fields
  • A procedural animation system that allows any character to be animated without the need for motion-captured animations
  • A very easy-to-use model editor

Chopping wood image

Bayaya is a fairy tale widely known in the Czech Republic, but I assume that most of you living elsewhere have probably never heard of it. It is the story of a prince who, after suffering mistreatment from his younger twin brother, sets out into the world. Disguised as a mute servant, he gradually rescues the daughters of a foreign king, ultimately marrying the youngest. It is a classic fairy tale full of work, adventure, travel, quest fulfillment, and eventually battles against dragons and duels with other knights.

Game map

The game is expected to be released on the Steam platform as Early Access within a few months. The released version will include the first two chapters of Bayaya’s story (childhood at the castle and Bayaya’s departure into the world), and it will optionally include tools for creating custom models and characters, custom worlds, and custom stories.

Just like with Operation Flashpoint and Arma, we do not want everything to end with the game’s release. We plan to continue working on the game, improving and expanding both the game and its entire environment.

We look forward to welcoming you into the newly started Orbis Fabula community and sharing this journey together.

Ondřej “Suma” Španěl