The strategic RPG For the King has been released:

For the King

Full Release is here!

Yes that’s right, Adventurers: Full Release is here!

"Is it everything we’ve dreamed?!"

We sure hope so, Joe Player. We’re so excited and thankful for our wonderful helpful community throughout Early Access.

We’ve experienced the trials and tribulations of all that Early Access had to offer. From great feedback, amazing stories of victory, to terrible bugs that had to be quashed and everything between.

"It was an adventure all on its own"

It sure was. And we’re happy say that we’re not done yet. Of course, we’re going to be in full on support mode for the next while. But once things level off, we will start scheming internally on the next best way to make you all party wipe.

For now, enjoy our three adventures!

Again, thank you so much to our Kickstarter Backers, Early Access Community, and to all you newcomers joining the quest. We wouldn’t be here without you.

Sincerely IronOak Games

p.s. - Keep those discussions coming in on the Discussion forums, and Discord!

A major update for the ATOM RPG has been released:

0.7 Krasnoznamenny!

Dear friends!

It is time for another update of ATOM RPG! And we're not talking about bugfixes... Our April update is quite huge as it touches most aspects of the game. As soon as you update ATOM, you will be getting new quests, new characters, new stories, and new gameplay mechanics from all around. According to your wishes - part of Krasnoznamenny is now open, and many other locations are now filled with interactive content. You will also get to play the first of many backer quests we promised during our Kickstarter campaign. This time we made our good friend Rojson's ( youtube.com/user/ROJOV13 ) creation come to life in a long and arduous journey through the Wastes.
Working on this update took most of the last two months and we really hope that you guys will like it. Please, share your opinions and caught bugs on our Steam page. But speaking of bugs - this time we won't be able to fix them before next week, since on April 21st, our whole team (plus a very special Backer) is moving out to Chernobyl! As you can remember, this was one of the top-tier rewards on our Kickstarter page. We're also doing it to catch some glimpses of a true post-nuclear landscape. This will surely help us make the game better in the long run, and once we're back those bugs won't stand a chance! As for the time while we're gone - check on the progress of our adventure using the social media of your choice:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atomrpg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/atomrpg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atomrpg

• 15+ new characters with unique dialogue;
• 28 new and renewed portraits;
• 15+ quests;
• up to 2000+ lines of new dialogue and system text;
• new weapons, such as the APS pistol;
• new headgear;
• new clothes;
• new loot;
• new books;
• new maps for both quests and random encounters;
• new use for the Amanita mushrooms...
• some empty maps are now settled;
• new crafting recipes;
• new traders;
• new Easter eggs;
• new interaction with an in-game fraction;
• previously incomplete quest is now finishable!
• new companion screen, to help manage your fellowship better;
• advanced tactics for the Follower NPCs
• updated combat and AI;
• a possibility of becoming a slaver;
• many long-term problems, including the one with the intro movie are now solved;

...and many, many more new things await!

Today is the release day of Knight Bewitched:

Knight Bewitched

After slaying a dragon, fearless knight Ruth and her companions are tasked with hunting the witch Gwendolyn. In an unfortunate turn of events, Ruth collapses from illness and is nursed back to health by no other than the witch she was tasked to kill. Unable to slay the woman who saved her life, Ruth is jailed on suspicion of bewitchment and later saved by her comrades.

As a new threat looms over the horizon, Ruth and Gwen, together with young orphaned companion Stray and mysterious rogue Uno, rise to the occasion. As they journey, a flame slowly ignites between the hearts of Ruth and Gwen.

But is this true love, or is Ruth truly bewitched?

Features

• An LGBT-positive story-driven adventure
• Four difficulty modes: Play on Casual for a story-focused experience or Heroic for RPG veterans
• Crisp, vibrant graphics
• Gameplay reminiscent of classic RPGs
• Steam Achievements

Today is the release day of Healer's Quest:

Healer's Quest

When evil forces awaken in the darkness, the world needs a team of heroes… But when these heroes are a ragtag bunch of unskilled jerks, only the healer can save the day.

Healer’s Quest is a lighthearted Comedy RPG where you take on the role of the most underappreciated party member in any fantasy realm: the Healer. Joining a band of inept misfits - a bossy tank, a handsome archer, a depraved mage, and a raging barbarian - you must keep your party’s health topped up whilst simultaneously managing dwindling mana reserves.

Not only can your party be taken down when their health ebbs away, they can also be hit with a range of debilitating status effects. It’s like juggling with magic, and the crowd hates you. If you let party members die, they may well go into a sulk in subsequent encounters. Manage moods with magical curatives, death prevention, and witty dialogue choices.

Features:

• Master 22 different spells to successfully buff your party to victory
• Use in-depth skill trees and upgrades to carve out your own playstyle
• Choose your karma alignment, each with its own dialogue options (Good, Evil, or Victim)
• Secure legendary loot for your allies
• Heal, buff, and cure ailments
• Keep everyone alive to avoid moody party members

Soldak Entertainment announced Din's Legacy for Q4 2018:

Din's Legacy

Din's Legacy is an action RPG with mutating characters, set in a dynamic, evolving, fantasy world for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

During the Orc Schism, the entire Orc race was violently split into Dark Orcs, Zombielords, and the Mutated. The Mutated are tainted with Orc blood, a zombie parasite, and necromancer magic. This makes people seriously mistrust and even fear them. The fact that they slowly mutate over time makes it even worse. Who is going to trust you when you grow horns overnight?

Despite all of this, the Mutated are actually more closely related to the Elves, both their behavior and physically. They want to prove this to the world, but they are facing a tremendous uphill battle.

The trickster god Din was intrigued by their chaotic mutations and burning desire to prove themselves to the world. Always in need of champions, he made a pact with the Mutated. Each volunteer would become one of his champions trying to save the world wherever Din sends them. In return, each time they die in his service he resurrects them to continue their service.

Din's Legacy, as well as the Mutated's and yours, are all in your hands! Can you be the Champion that is needed?
 
Features

• Experience your character mutating over time for good and bad
• Guide your character's evolution (choosing/improving skills, suppressing unwanted mutations, etc)
• Use mutation points to mutate your character towards another character or sub-class
• Uniquely created worlds for every game, with different scenario, win/lose conditions, areas, monsters, items, and quests, give the player a new experience every time
• Explore a dynamic, evolving, living world
• Your choices truly impact the game
• Co-op multiplayer to adventure with friends

A lengthy Fig update for Wasteland 3 talks about the road to Alpha.

Production Greetings with Stewart Spilkin, Senior Producer

Stewart here!   

As we roll on into 2018, Wasteland 3 has been in full production for a while and I’m happy to say we’re hitting all our major milestones on design, art, and engineering. Long-time fans of inXile may know our production philosophy puts a heavy emphasis on iteration. Practically speaking, that means we want to have levels and systems in so we can test and improve on our ideas.  This allows us to find out sooner rather than later what works and doesn’t work.

At this point, over 90% of the scenes in the game have first pass scripting as well as first pass art. We have Rangers killing stuff, vehicles driving around (and also killing stuff), multiplayer working on consoles and PC, the works! This allows our level and systems designers to experience and polish up their scenes, and for our Design Lead George Ziets to do playthroughs and take (very meticulous) notes. The value of getting this kind of revision time early on can’t be overstated.

We have a few new team members to mention. On the Environment Art side is Yong-Ha Hwang, recently on the Blizzard cinematics team, and Josh Deeb, who is joining us from Daybreak. In our NOLA studio, we've also picked up Germ Revoso as a concept artist, and Greg Roberts is doing some great animation work for us. On the writing team, author Cassandra Khaw has been doing some amazingly twisted dialog work for us, and Nathan Long, the principal writer on Wasteland 2, is cranking out volumes of great material too.

Checking In On: Gameplay Systems with Eric Schwarz, Systems Designer

Hi everyone! The last several months of development have seen huge strides as far as our gameplay goes. As we barrel forward on development, we're continuing to refine the feature set and details of our character system, skills, abilities, weapon types, gameplay styles, and more. Being system designer on the game means ensuring that the game is fun to play, that the user interface and experience is as smooth as possible, and that I advocate for (and design) as many features as we can possibly get in. Most of my efforts lately have been focused both on ensuring our core combat and exploration systems are at a level where we feel there are no major unknowns left to solve, and are in a good state for iteration, balancing, and, later, polishing up.

In addition to making the core gameplay as good as it can be, I've also been working heavily with George so that our area design is in sync with our gameplay mechanics and makes the best possible use of them. This also means working on content design for all of our enemies, whether those are our different factions of NPCs, robots, animals, and even bigger, meaner things, so that each of them has a distinct gameplay identity, weapon types, and in some cases, abilities they use in combat. We're spending considerable effort to ensure that our combat encounters and enemy types have plenty of variety, and fitting personality for our post-apocalyptic version of Colorado.

Of course, all that high-level stuff is important, but what matters is getting those features directly in the game to play and experience first-hand. As such, a bunch of my time also involves coordinating with the level design team to implement all our features in all the locations you'll explore. Jeremy, Zack, Ben, Alex, Leland, Jeffrey, and others have been working hard to not only build the gameplay scenes and missions, but also do passes on combat implementation, loot, skill interactions, and more. It's a huge undertaking for the team, but with each and every revision, our scenes and gameplay get better and more fleshed out.

While we're still building on the foundation of Wasteland 2, there are also dozens of little tweaks, changes, improvements, and quality-of-life updates, many of which came directly out of feedback from our previous games. In future updates, we hope to be able to go into more detail about these. Until next time!

Eric Schwarz
Systems Designer

Checking In On: Content Design with George Ziets, Lead Designer

Hello all, Ziets here. The writers and level designers are working hard to get the whole game to a first draft state - especially the critical path. By the end of next month, we should be able to start the game at the tutorial and follow the critical path all the way to the end. It won’t be bug-free, of course, but getting to a solid first draft (as early as possible) is a critical step.

Some of our zones are already at an alpha state, which means that first-pass dialogue and level scripting are done, and combat, missions, and exploration all exist in some form. I’ve been playing through our zones and sending long lists of feedback to the design team. Our current focus is the city of Colorado Springs and Ranger HQ, our main hubs that contain the most reactivity to events that occur elsewhere. We’re also developing the endgame sequence and writing some of the most important characters in the game, like the Patriarch (the ruler of Colorado) and a returning Ranger from Wasteland 2 (who will, for the moment, remain nameless).

Once we're satisfied that all our zones have reached alpha, we’ll shift our emphasis toward playtesting, bug-fixing, and iterating. The iteration phase is the moment when a game really begins to shine, so the more time we can spend in iteration, the better the final product will be.

Final note: When we reach the final installment of our "Building the Everest" series of updates, we'll give you an early look at how our mission system will actually work in game.

George Ziets
Lead Designer

Checking In On: Art Design with Charlie Bloomer, Art Director

Hi all, I'm here to give you some news about what the Art team has been up to lately. The pace of production has been astounding! As with any production cycle, as the design becomes more and more fleshed out, the remaining questions begin to melt away, leaving a relatively clear path for artists to move in.

This is probably most evident with our environments. Every scene in our game has passed the blockout stage by Design, which means there is nothing stopping the Environment Art team from moving forward on first pass treatments for every scene in the game. We even took scenes from three different zones to a finished (polished) state before Alpha, since doing so would allow us to test assumptions about overall aesthetic approach, performance, and about how well our special shader solutions for snow etc. will work across ALL platforms. The other aspect of environments that we switched into high gear was props. We have a mix of in-house and outsourcing resources cranking through a long list of carefully vetted assets that include props, interactables, items, and weapons.

In January we made the decision to focus our Character Art effort leading up to Alpha on the assets that would have the most wide-reaching impact on our game - namely our factions. The world of Wasteland 3 is populated by many distinct groups! Each faction character is constructed out of a collection of "parts" - chests, legs, hands, feet, heads - that results in a large amount of variation across the Wasteland 3 landscape. By focusing all of our resources on these character factions, we've developed an excellent visual language for each group and a firm foundation for the next stage - characters with more unique appearances that will play a specific role in conversations and/or gameplay. Here's an example of a Scar Collector outfit, kitted out for the harsh winter enviornment:

Speaking of conversations, we've fully tested our pipeline for generating facial animation and the accompanying full-body gestures that will make up our cinematic conversations! We've settled on a system of processing audio tracks, combined with motion capture, that yields the quality we have been aiming for. As we work toward Alpha, the last piece of the puzzle is being addressed. That has to do with how our tools for managing the complex conversation system in Wasteland 3 can actually drive the animation and audio at runtime as well. In the end, it's a cleverly automated system that handles the heavy lifting with relatively little hand-holding required by us mortals.

Our Animation team has been focusing on establishing really nice idle poses that will serve as the starting and stopping points for all of our combat animations. The end result is animations across all our weapons sets that demonstrate excellent readability and also personality! The same can be said for our new fidgets and reaction animations as well. And the most recent leap forward has to do with a clever way of using additive layers for our damage animations so they now take into account both the direction and severity of an attack and then randomize the result. We really like how it's coming together and hope you will, too.

The Wasteland 3 UI departs in appearance from that of its predecessor. While the functionality has been improved in many spots, visually we've moved toward a look that is intended to provide the same information in a less "physical" shell. Part of the change is aesthetic - we tie into the game's themes with shades of blue and with hints at ice and frost. Beyond that, we're keeping the interface elements clean and easier to read. We've established our visual language and now it is simply a matter of executing on the plan.

Across the whole project, the excellent pace of art creation in the last several months has been exhilarating and positions us well to dive into the part of the project I like best - that time after Alpha where our focus shifts from getting things in and functional to making things beautiful! Things like the Meat Clown!

[...]

A new update explains that the expansion content will connect with the existing areas in Underrail.

The Rig

Friday, 13 April 2018 12:36

Hi guys, here's a quick update on what we've been up to in the past few months.

Underrail - Lower Caves Global Map

In order to wrap up the geographical consistency of the base game, we had to create a number of water maps that connect SGS, Junkyard, Core City, Camp Hathor, and the Black Sea. In the expansion the player will be able to traverse and explore these maps with his jet ski, but he won't be the only one as a number of factions also utilize these waters, such as Protectorate, Black Eels, and Black Sea pirates. Also encounters with random sea bandits are not uncommon.

Underrail - The Rig
Underrail - Scrappy Narrow
Underrail - Port Zenith

The most powerful naval faction in the South Underrail is, of course, the Black Eels. Their naval platform The Rig is perfectly positioned to facilitate the trade between different stations as well as their own scrap exporting business. The Rig is also used to control the central body of water of the Lower Caves in order to fend off pirates. This place will be vital for pirate missions that the player will be able to take part in if he chooses to ally with the them in the expansion.

The Rig missions are not 100% complete yet, but will be soon. After that we'll be returning to the Black Sea to wrap up and polish off the maps we made so far and integrate them into the global map. And then we still have two more areas to develop - the villages of the savage natives and the final dungeon.

Let us know how you like the aesthetics of the new areas.

Cheers.

The casual J-RPG Knight Bewitched will be released on April 18:

Knight Bewitched

After slaying a dragon, fearless knight Ruth and her companions are tasked with hunting the witch Gwendolyn. In an unfortunate turn of events, Ruth collapses from illness and is nursed back to health by no other than the witch she was tasked to kill. Unable to slay the woman who saved her life, Ruth is jailed on suspicion of bewitchment and later saved by her comrades.

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As a new threat looms over the horizon, Ruth and Gwen, together with young orphaned companion Stray and mysterious rogue Uno, rise to the occasion. As they journey, a flame slowly ignites between the hearts of Ruth and Gwen.

But is this true love, or is Ruth truly bewitched?

Features

• An LGBT-positive story-driven adventure
• Four difficulty modes: Play on Casual for a story-focused experience or Heroic for RPG veterans
• Crisp, vibrant graphics
• Gameplay reminiscent of classic RPGs
• Steam Achievements

The mobile-port of the tactical RPG Demon's Rise: Lords of Chaos will be available for the PC on April 24:

Demon's Rise: Lords of Chaos

You are no hero … no prancing knight or scholarly wizard but a champion of the dark gods. As their chosen, you have command of legions of barbarians, beastmen and demons. Wield unholy strength, necromancy and hellfire to bring ruin to the civilized realms. Honor your gods on the bloody fields of battle in a quest for power and ascension.

Demon’s Rise: Lords of Chaos is a turn-based, tactical RPG set in a brutal and unforgiving fantasy world. Taking place amidst a horrific war in the cold north, the campaign will see your party fight innumerable enemies, huge monsters and powerful sorcerers. Victory will require the tactical use of terrain, morale, formations and magic. Build an increasingly powerful war band, command demonic allies, and crush those that stand against you.

• Tactical Choices: Use terrain effects, cover and line of sight to gain an edge over your enemies. Employ spells to hinder powerful enemies, area effect damage to clear the field of lesser foes and buffs to strengthen your allies.
• Build Your Party: Choose from 20 diverse character classes to build your war band. Your warriors will improve with every victory, becoming stronger and unlocking new powers and skills. Acts of courage and savagery on the battlefield will bring favor from your gods, which can mean the difference between glory and defeat.
• Collect Gear: Equip your warriors with powerful weapons, arcane objects, runic armor and legendary artifacts. There are thousands of items to find and collect, each with their own stat effects and background lore.
• Campaign: Fight through a lengthy campaign and numerous side quests that span more than 80 hours of play time. No level caps and the ability to replay levels at a harder difficulty add to the longevity.
• Engaging Lore: Immerse yourself in the history of Tarren, the world of Demon’s Rise. A land of broken empires and shattered kingdoms where armies of humans, demons and other races fight for bitter survival.

The developers of Vaporum did a fan art video for Eye of the Beholder.

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Dungeon Master was a defining game of this type, but many of us have also spent a lot of time playing one of its successors. We could even say that it is the second best known representative of this sub-genre of RPGs. Eye of the Beholder is very close to our gamers’ hearts, and, several decades later, it definitely was one of the strong examples we were drawing inspiration from while creating Vaporum.

Perhaps if it wasn’t for Legend of Grimrock, nobody would even think that this old type of gameplay could work in modern times. But, as Grimrock has proven, and we hope that Vaporum has too, a system based on the legacy of Dungeon Master and the likes works like a charm, even today. So it’s no surprise that while working on Vaporum, we sometimes talked about Eye of the Beholder and its appeal. What could this game look like in this age, with today’s possibilities? Dressed in modern 3D graphics, yet at the same time staying true to its original style?

During the winter holidays, we created a small visual homage to this big piece of inspiration of ours, and now we want to share it with you.

CNonsense has reviewed Battle Brothers:

Battle Brothers Review | Tactical Turn-Based RPG Medieval Low-Magic Dark Fantasy

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Battle Brothers is a tactical turn-based RPG set in a low-magic dark fantasy medieval setting which has you taking control over and managing your own group of mercenaries, first trying to survive, then grow, and possibly even thrive so as to create a name and reputation for your band. The game focuses primarily on tactical combat coupled with a secondary focus on resource management but is it a solid enough overall experience to keep the diehard tactics player interested long enough to reach the end-game?

The iPad version of Avernum 3: Ruined World HD, is scheduled to be released next week the 18th of April.

Spiderweb Software Announces Avernum 3: Ruined World HD, A Fantasy Role-Playing Game for the iPad

Conclusion to epic saga coming April 18, 2018

April 10th, 2018 - Spiderweb Software, Inc., makers of fine indie games for 24 years, have announced Avernum 3: Ruined World HD for iOS. A tale of desperate exiles and their battle for a land to call their own, Avernum 3 is an epic fantasy role-playing adventure coming to the iPad on April 18th.

At last, your people are free. You broke out of the underworld prison of Avernum. You emerge onto the surface, finally back into the sun, only to find that the world is being destroyed. Plagues of horrifying monsters scourge the surface. If you don't stop them, you will have no home to escape to.

Avernum 3: Ruined World is the conclusion to the epic Avernum saga and a full remaster of Spiderweb Software's greatest hit. It is a huge fantasy role-playing adventure in an enormous world, with over 60 hours of gameplay spanning an underworld and a gigantic surface continent. Fight the plagues of monsters that are destroying your home. Explore a world that evolves as time passes. Towns are destroyed. Refugees flee. Disasters happen. 

Fight to save the world. Or don't! Do odd jobs. Become a bounty hunter or a merchant. Buy a house. Explore a multitude of towns and dungeons. Master over 60 spells, battle disciplines, and hunt for hundreds of magical artifacts. Explore one of the biggest, most unique worlds in computer games! 

Avernum 3: Ruined World is out for Windows and Macintosh now and will be out for the iPad on April 18th. Avernum 3 has no in-app purchases. Pay once and get the entire game!

For the King is scheduled for release April 19th and will be discounted 20% for a week at that time.

For The King ventures out of Steam Early Access on April 19th
Step onto a new frontier and fight in the daunting Frozen Expanse with a 20% discount at launch

London, Tuesday 10th April 2018 - Multi-award winning publisher Curve Digital, is pleased to announce that IronOak Games' For the King will leave Steam Early Access on 19th April 2018. For the King is a rogue-like RPG adventure for which sees players journey into procedurally generated levels to avenge their recently murdered King.

Mixing up a challenging blend of strategy, tabletop RPG, and rogue-like elements, For The King features both a single player experience as well as the ability for three heroes to play cooperatively both online and locally. Taking place in the gorgeous, hexagonal kingdom of Fahrul, players must strategically explore and battle their way through the fairytale, stylized landscape in a bid to discover and survive, lest they succumb to death.

The game's short run in Early Access allowed for new features to be tested, balanced and tweaked following suggestions from the community. As a result, IronOak Games have added a horde of new features including a Dungeon Crawl Mode, Discord integration, a whole host of multiplayer functionality and, of course, vital enemy and economy balancing. The full list of updates can be found via the game's Steam page.

The exit from Early Access will be accompanied by an extensive free update which adds an all new adventure into the daunting Frozen Expanse. This includes three entirely new realms: The Shivering Woods, Frozen Expanse and the Frigid Sea. Along with these new realms comes two vast new dungeons, a brand-new playable character to unlock and plenty of fiendish traps. Plus over 20 new enemies and encounters, two new Scourges and a wealth of new weapons, armour and loot. For completionists,10 new steam achievements are up for grabs.

For the King will be priced at $19.99 / £15.49 / 19,99€ with a 20% launch week discount, when it leaves Steam Early Access on April 19th. PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions of the game are slated for release in early 2019

With the release of the Royal Edition some new reviews for Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs are out:

• PushSquare: Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs - Royal Edition Review - PS4 -
  Score: 7/10
• GameSpew: Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs Review: Rebuilding a Kingdom is a Funny ol’ Business -
  Score: 70%
• GameSpace: Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs: Royal Edition review -
  Score: 8.5/10
• RPG Site: Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs Review -
  Score: 7/10

This latest update for Bloom continues about their side project Labyrinth, which they hope wll provide them with some money in order to finish Bloom: Memories itself.

Heya everyone, time for another fun filled update! 

I've got to say it's certainly an....interesting (frustrating) time....hah.

Anyhow, right after the last update Ariel was able to get a bit of work done on Labyrinth updating some of the Bloom stuff to fit. Camera movement, updated spawners (letting them do a lot more than previous ones could, which now that we have it, is something I'll be carrying over to the core game later), and a few scripting features.

That's the good news, the bad news is GDC came along and kidnapped him for this last month....so I've been working to get everything ready for when he gets back for the last fixes we need.

...

So the game is "playable" now, but we are missing some key fixes. 

For example, the AI is still running the very bloated AI we use in Memories (which means they still have way too many stimuli checks bogging down the performance with 100 characters on the screen). Or that we need to add in some A* navigation to get around all these tight walls (a problem Memories didn't really have because of the map design being so open).

...

Anyhow, we are definitely cutting things close though. Money is a real problem at this point, at least for me (btw did I mention we have a patreon? -wink wink shameless plug- https://www.patreon.com/studiofawn ). 

Though, realistically, in a perfect world we might be able to get a publisher or something to help out in the short term for Labyrinth (and that would give a little extra time for Ariel to put in multiplayer support, which is a feature I'd really like to have on release). 

I think that is going to be our next step these next couple of weeks. Get the first area set up and the AI fixed.... then send it around and see if we couldn't get a little help with ....rent :| haha

Otherwise it is going to be a bit rushed....maybe early access? Though the idea isn't to let this side project drag on for longer than it has to. (Since the primary goal is helping us get a little money to finish off Memories while building on the world and characters).

Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord will have upgrades available for castles.

Dev Blog 05/04/18

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Castles are perhaps one of the most iconic images that come to mind when people think of the medieval era. These large and seemingly impregnable structures dominated the landscape in which they stood and projected an image of power and authority that aimed to impress both a lord’s subjects and peers. In last week’s blog we looked at some of the tools of warfare that were used to overcome the defences of these magnificent medieval behemoths and talked about the different ways that players can approach sieges in Bannerlord. In this week’s blog we would like to discuss the thought process that goes into designing castles for the game, from the historical influences we use through to the gameplay related decisions we make, and show you how this all comes together to make a castle for the game.

Historical Influences

In our faction overview blogs, we talked about the cultures and peoples that influenced the design of each of the factions of Calradia, and how this provided us with a solid base to build on and create our own take on this period of history. Using real-world cultures in this way gives us the advantage of having a wealth of historical sources and knowledge to take inspiration from and allows us to cherry-pick the parts which we find interesting and exciting to include in the game. This kind of readily available information is extremely useful when it comes to designing architecture for the game, and in particular, castles. (There really isn’t much room for experimentation or running wild with your imagination when your life is on the line, and poorly designed or unnecessary features could end up costing you a lot more than just the gold in your chest!)

For most of our factions, this process is quite straightforward. After all, there are many medieval castles that are still standing and in use to this day. However, when it comes to a faction like Battania, which draws its inspiration from the native tribes of the British Isles, things start to get a little more complicated.

The British Isles were subject to many waves of invaders and settlers over the years, each bringing their own advancements in architecture and warfare with them. The arrival of these various cultures with their different building methods slowly superseded the traditional earthwork and wooden defensive structures of the Celts and the Picts. This presented us with a choice: do we closely follow the design of the original structures? Or, do we take inspiration from the designs which followed?

In the end, we decided to make use of the beautiful extensive hill forts and massive earthwork ramparts of Iron Age Britain, while trying to stay away from the Norman influence on castle building (which we use for Vlandia). We include features like multiple rows of ditches and earthwork defences, while trying to keep the circular forms of the original earthwork with each upgrade level of the castle.

This thought process carries over to all of our factions. We try to stay true to original designs to make each castle believable enough as to not break the immersion of the player, but still leave enough room for us to inject some of our own ideas and style into each castle!

Upgrade System

The castle upgrade system in Bannerlord allows us to have greater variety in our castle designs. Apart from the additional depth to the campaign that this system brings, we try to use it to create different experiences for the player when attacking or defending a castle.

The system is quite simple: castles start at level 1 and can be upgraded twice to reach their maximum level. In the example castle below, with each upgrade the castle gets taller, more dominant towers; better positions to deploy defensive machines; deeper walls at critical points for larger troop formations; greater coverage over its gatehouse; and the opportunity to deploy a layered defence.

Castle Upgrade Gif

While it may be acceptable (or even preferable in some instances) to assault the gatehouse of a level 1 castle with just a battering ram, as the castle is upgraded this kind of simplistic approach becomes less viable, and by level 3 you will need a well-coordinated attack to be able to breach the defences.

However, with that being said, this might not necessarily be the case in every instance. A castle placed on a hilltop or on a plain might grow stronger in more than one way with each upgrade, while one that incorporates some form of natural defence, such as a lake, won’t have the room to expand and will only receive the benefit of taller towers and walls with each upgrade.

Gameplay

As far as playing styles go, Mount & Blade games offer players a number of different ways to approach battles. In sieges we can simplify this a little and look at it as two main styles: commanding your army to its maximum potential from the rear; or fighting on the front lines and creating opportunities for your troops to exploit. In Bannerlord we want players to be able to experiment and choose their own way to approach sieges, and this is something we take into consideration when designing castles.

No matter how large or complex our castles are, we always try to give commanding positions for both the attackers and defenders. A small hill near your siege camp, or the tallest tower in your castle might not be the best position to utilise your character’s combat potential, but it would give you a great vantage point to oversee the battle from and make it easier to command your troops. Meanwhile, shortcuts between battlements and multiple chokepoints built into the map give you the opportunity to move to where you are needed to hold back an attack or break through a defence.

Discuss this blog post HERE

Dualshockers preview Below and think it will be worth the wait.

Out of everything I saw in Below, the one thing I cannot get over is the art style and aesthetic that it presents. The sound design and music are expertly crafted and enhance the experience significantly. Both of these things also add to the isolationist feel that the game is going for. I had major flashbacks to Hyper Light Drifter while playing Below, which is very high praise from me. This isolationist style of play is even further enhanced by the HUD, which is very minimalistic and allows the emphasis to be on the world and rather than your health bar or items.

[...]

Sunless Skies adds the new region of Albion.

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Wishlist Sunless Skies now on Steam or GOG:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/596970/SUNLESS_SKIES/

https://www.gog.com/game/sunless_skies

We’ve added a second region to Sunless Skies! Explore Albion, the heart of the British Empire's territory in the High Wilderness; and the only place you can reliably get a decent cup of tea -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAIL THE STARS. BETRAY YOUR QUEEN. MURDER A SUN.

Set a course for the heavens in your steam locomotive! Lose yourself in a changing universe where even time can be bought. A Victorian Gothic adventure for PC, Mac and Linux. ©2018 Failbetter Games LTD. Sunless Skies is a trademark of Failbetter Games Ltd, 2018. All other trademarks and Tradenames are properties of their respective Owners.

A Kickstarter will be coming soon for Black Geyser.

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Our Kickstarter campaign is coming soon! http://www.blackgeyser.com Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is an isometric, party and XP-based, realtime-with-pause RPG set in the world of Yerengal. The current video provides a basic introduction to the game. Special thanks to our team member, Steve Ryhn for his help in creating this video.

Some reviews for Ash of Gods: Redemption:

Capsule Computers:

Ash of Gods: Redemption offers a refreshing and unique combat system, coupled with some mesmerizing visuals following a rich and complex story.

Score: 8/10

Pro Gamer:

In the end, Ash of Gods has been great. It had that unique art style appeal, I thought it would never work since Banner Saga was hugely successful in the first place but Ash of Gods pulls it into a fresh new appeal. It has the length and the guts of a RPG and the pull that keeps you stuck into the game. The mechanics are simple but works. Not a lot to take in but you have to think out your next move. The soundtrack made it for me and tipped it over. I have nothing bad to say about Ash of Gods. It was a little under the radar and it’s one of those gems that a lot of people may not hear of but you’ll hear someone else talking about it. I’d gladly jump back in and with the addition of multiplayer online to keep that Ash of Gods feel going.

Score 10/10

Gamer Professionals:

All in all, Ash of Gods is still just about worth your time. The art style will immediately resonate and make this title stand out from the crowd where its gameplay and story might not capture that much attention. If someone has already played both of the Banner Saga games and is looking for something along those lines, then definitely look at picking up this title. Otherwise, this game is worth a look for fans of adventure and action games a like, though definitely a measured one.

Score: 6.5/10

Here's the changelog for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem - update 0.5.0.5:

Update 0.5.0.5: changelog

Hello everyone !

The patch 0.5.0.5 is now live. Here are some details on what we applied and the changelog.

1. Bug and crash fixes

We want players to have an enjoyable environment while testing the game. In order to do so, we gathered tons of feedback on various crashes and bugs to fix a maximum of them. Of course, we could not handle absolutely all of them, some issues are related to content that will eventually be deprecated and replaced in the new Act I, but we managed to fix a great amount of issues that were reported in the last few months.

Beside bows and the targeting revamp we introduced on our previous devblog , we have some new content added with the patch 0.5.0.5. Including…

2. Ice spells

We revamped the frost nova to make it cooler than ever, along with 2 new frost spells you will now have access to: Frost Meteor and Frost Lance.

Frost Nova now boast new skill modifiers as well as new particle effects. These include the ability to remove the skill’s cooldown, to cast at cursor location, to use it as a damage dealer, and more.

Frost Lance is a projectile spell that takes time to take form before launch. Skill modifiers include tweaks to the launch time, damage tweaks depending on the distance travelled, and more.

Frost Comet is a rock of frost forming above the ground and crashing down a few moments after. Skill modifiers include tweaks to the launch time, increased explosion radius at the expense of adding a cooldown, leaving a cold area that slows targets down, and more.

Ready to experience some devastating Frost spec?

3. Resistance balancing

All resistance sources have been rebalanced. Henceforth, to resist a third of incoming damage you will now need ten times a monster level in resistance points. Also, you will need twenty times a monster level to resist half the damage.

As promised, you can read the changelog now. Thank you again for all your support, we’re glad to have you as our community 😊

CHANGELOG

GENERAL:

• Lightning related crashes have been fixed.
• Several (tons of) game crashes have been fixed.

VISUALS:

• Each overkill type now has an associated visual effect.
• The silhouette visual feedback when hovering characters or objects with mouse has been reworked.
• The blinking on-hit visual feedback has been reworked.
• Added golden effect on Elite enemies.

UI:

• Merchants no longer restock if you have the merchant UI open.
• Time displayed under the minimap is now the real time instead of the in game time.
• Gems will now appear Teal-colored on the ground.
• Fixed the left hand item not being unequipped when resetting the passive skill tree and having titan strength.
• Fixed the close button of the bounty UI.
• Fixed a bug allowing players to put items in locked player chest panels.
• Fixed a bug causing gem sockets artefacts to appear in the inventory grid when unsocketing gems from an item.

QUESTS:

• Picking up a quest item with a full inventory will properly update the quest objective.

TECHNICAL:

• Merchant NPC RAM optimization.
• Pressing a skill key during a dodge roll as a male character will no longer cast the skill two times when exiting the dodge roll.
• Changing the AST of a skill after it was cast, and before it was triggered, will now correctly use the initial skill parameters when triggered.

ENVIRONMENT:

• You should no longer get blocked between two random dungeon parts in random dungeons.
• Corrupted Random Dungeon is deactivated for maintenance. Halaku’s door has been fixed. Missing Materials in the corrupted area have been replaced.

GAMEPLAY:

• Passive damage resistance formula has been modified and its impact on gameplay has been increased.
• A few ROS transfers were not making use of your transfer time modifiers.
• Snaring enemies by Dashing on them was not always working. We fixed it.
• Decreased the effect on attributes on damage and dodge chance.
• Ironguard passive effect no longer disappears when using it.
• It is not possible to equip Ironguard without a Shield anymore.
• Fixed a bug allowing you to keep a templar weapon from the Weapons Tutorial quest.
• Fixed the “machine gun” attack speed issue with pistols.
• The level 5 requirement has been removed on tier 1 gems.
• Fixed a bug causing the players to go through the ground when knocked down, teleporting them to random locations.
• The attack range of melee and ranged weapons has been unified.
• All basic weapon combo now uses 2D shapes for their targeting, resolving several issues and allowing to cleave on many targets with one hit.
• Fixed various bugs with the Active Dodge/Dodgeroll.

MONSTERS:

• New enemy: Undead Butcher! The Butcher is a powerful foe wielding a Cleaver and a Hook at the same time. Beware of its belly-mouth!
• New enemy: Pithus Watcher.
• New enemies: Wormaggot and Corrupted Wormaggot.
• Halaku now inflicts less damage.
• Halaku’s skulls now inflict physical damage, making it less punishing for melee characters.
• The corrupted slug will now move faster upon detecting a target.

ITEMS:

• New weapon type: Bows!
• Several issues about items, gems and potions have been fixed (items duplication, crashes, infinite gold, incapacity to use, etc.).
• Fixed a bug causing items to disappear when unsocketing a gem with a full inventory.
• Fixed a bug causing items to be downgraded on character loading.

PASSIVE SKILLS:

Assassin:

• Mass Murder’s description has been changed to avoid confusion.

Elementalist:

• Decreased Overheating damage, which should decrease the amount of unwanted deaths.

ACTIVE SKILLS:

• New Active Skill: Frost Lance.
• New Active Skill: Frost Comet.
• Reworked Active Skill: Frost Nova.

Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon now has a new chapter called "The Storage".

Update 0.9.940

31 March - kanda of Normandy

Warm Tears dear Adventurers!

After a long (too long!) waiting, we are very happy to be back with regular updates! And nothing better to celebrate it than a new chapter: "The Storage".

During this long time, we have fixed lot of issues, tweaked a lot of areas, and there is still a lot to update.

We also changed the end of the game a bit, including the content of the remaining chapters. The next one (required to leave "The Storage") is almost done and will be uploaded a few weeks later: we have to reflect a few changes regarding the story and the modifications we decided for the end of the game.

Until then, enjoy the new update! And, as usual, feel free to report any issues. More updates are coming shortly (including improvement of the AI system), so stay tuned, and have a great exploration time!

Ps: Please note that Mac and Linux versions will be uploaded during the weekend.

Ps2: Remember that updated only the English and French languages texts, we will work on other translations for the final release as this is quite time-consuming. We prefer focusing on content right now.

Ps3: We need you help to gather some informations related to the new chapter, please check
http://steamcommunity.com/app/329040/discussions/0/1697169163402055009/

A few patches have been released for Ash of Gods since its release. This is the information on the latest update:

Hey! Balancing patch for the AI behavior at the Reaping level of 4+ (see details below) is on the way which brings some balance to difficulty level and AI behavior. We also would like to explain a couple of things about how it works.

The difficulty in the game is set by several matrices—the complexity changes smoothly from chapter to chapter due to the increasing coefficients for AI, so at the beginning of the game we weaken enemy's AI, and in the end we strengthen them to keep up with the developed player's units.

The second matrix—regulates the increasing levels of the Reaping, which add up to the parameters of the chapters and, most importantly, changes the key AI settings—its responses to defense, attack, tactical depth of analysis, priority of targets. So, for example, when Harvest level is more than 7, AI attempts to attack units that already have injuries, and on difficulty 2, it almost does not see protection and happily attacks those who would receive no damage.

We constantly collect impersonal combat stats—how many turns and round combat lasts, what units are the most effective, what AI did and how it affected the game. We also constantly read your feedback and recommendations on Steam and Discord and thus we have decided to improve the behavior of AI at levels 5 and above, allowing AI to analyze the field better, respond better to units in defense and counter-attack, better choose its goals.

Full changelog at the link.

Thnaks Pladio!

Dungeon Kingdom: Sign of the Moon is getting a new chapter via an update March 30th.

Next Game Update this week!!!

26 MARCH - KANDA OF NORMANDY
Dear adventurers,

After a long and very busy period (and we are sorry for letting you wait so much), and a lot of hard work, the next update is ready!!! It will be available to the public this Friday 30th.

The new chapter is complex and very different from previous ones. Get ready for more Dungeon Exploration :-)

The builds for the three platforms are ready and are going to be uploaded and will be activated on Friday!

The RPG Codex spies have been working overtime and discovered a new InXile trademark for Wasteland: Frost Point.

Could this be a renaming or some sort of expansion for Wasteland 3? I'd say it's more likely to be related to the open world VR survival RPG that inXile are supposed to have started working on after landing an investment from the Japanese firm Gumi last July, but we'll see. I wonder if this has something to do with why there's been zero Wasteland 3 news since October.

Wanderbots checked out the full version of Ghost of a Tale:

Let's Play Ghost of a Tale [Full Release] - Gameplay Part 1 - The Full Tail

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Ghost of a Tale is an action-RPG game in which you play as Tilo, a mouse and minstrel caught up in a perilous adventure. The game takes place in a medieval world populated only by animals, and puts an emphasis on immersion and exploration. It features stealth elements, disguises, conversations with allies and enemies, and quests.

You’ll be able to explore the secrets of Dwindling Heights Keep and navigate its dangers. Tilo is not much of a fighter, so stealth and nimbleness are your allies when confronted with enemies twice your size. Talk to the characters you meet and leave no stone unturned in your quest to find Merra, your true love….

About the team:

Ghost of a tale is developed by a very small team. Lionel "Seith" Gallat does 90% of the art, design and coding. Paul Gardner is the game's writer and an experienced game designer. Cyrille Paulhiac does coding and develops tools. Jeremiah Pena is the game's composer, while Nicolas Titeux is responsible for sound design.

GameSpace has reviewed Ash of Gods:

Ash of Gods Review

Hard Choices in a Hard World

The world is a bright and shiny place. Bad things happen that only a hero can solve. Hero saves the world and everyone is safe and the world is once again a bright and shiny place. None of this happens in Ash of Gods: Redemption. Prepare for a ride into the dark places with a chance at redemption. Here is our Ash of Gods: Redemption review.

[...]

Overall Ash of Gods: Redemption feels new and fresh and is a welcome addition to the world of RPGs. If you don’t mind your worlds dark with harsh moral choices, but a great story, music and art than this game is for you.

SCORE: 9.5/10

Pros

• Unique art/animation style
• A great story that doesn’t care about “main” characters
• Superbly crafted music that fits the game
• Interesting combat mechanics
• Characters you care about and feel real

Cons

• Multiplayer that is only partially there at launch
• Sometimes a very dark, bleak story that may disturb some people

Ash of Gods: Redemption has released on Steam and GOG.

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About This Game

Ash of Gods: Redemption is a turn-based RPG that combines tactical combat, CCG elements, and a constantly evolving story in which no one is safe from death, including the main characters.

GAMEPLAY

Ash of Gods is the story of three separate protagonists rising in response to a centuries-old menace once thought to be mere folklore.

Ash of Gods’ storyline is constantly evolving in response to players’ choices, sometimes even resulting in death. But, the death of a character is not game over. Instead, the story moves forward with the death of that character and previous choices continuing to impact future events.

Combat in Ash of Gods is a blend of both traditional turn-based strategy and CCG gameplay. While individual tactics will depend upon the skills and classes of your characters, you will unlock and accumulate cards that have the power to unleash powerful abilities, sometimes altering the course of an entire battle.

WHAT MAKES ASH OF GODS UNIQUE

• Decisions with Major Impacts

Every decision, whether on or off the battlefield, has the capacity to alter the course of events and the fate of your party with major repercussions. But, even the death of your leader is not the end of your journey.

• No Random Dice Rolls

There are no dice throws to determine chance-to-hit or the force of a blow. In Ash of Gods, true tacticians must master the skills of their classes and harness the powers granted by their limited supplies of cards, or suffer the consequences.

• AI that Adapts to You

Ash of Gods’ AI adapts to your style of play to ensure a consistently challenging experience with no room for cheap tactics or invincible team builds.

• PvP Multiplayer

Challenge other players and compete for a spot on the leaderboards. Unlock new characters, upgrades, and cards to customize your tactics even further.

• Rewards for Risk

Expend your own HP for a last-ditch attack. Go into battle with a smaller team to get better cards and quicker rounds. Take the shorter, but more dangerous route to save on resources. Ash of Gods rewards those willing to take the risks.