Inkbound News

Hello all!

Andrew, aka. Avarem, here. I’m the Creative Director here at Shiny Shoe and one of the designers working on Inkbound.

I’m excited today to talk a bit about some changes to one of our core game systems: Movement.

As you all know Inkbound is currently in Early Access and part of the reason is that we’ve created an entirely new combat system which we know is going to take some iteration to get right. Well, Movement is one of those areas where we knew it was ‘good enough,’ but also there were things about it we wanted to improve.

The main considerations on our mind when coming up with changes to the Movement System were:

• Even though you could spend Will to move, it often was a ‘trap’ and the optimal way to play was to never spend Will and instead inch forward using the free movement with each ability.
  
• We felt like multiple rings with multiple costs were hard to intuitively understand and were on the lookout for something more streamlined.
  
• We wanted to try to discover a way to make movement more of a resource to be managed.
  

The clear result of these considerations was to go back to basics and use a system of ‘movement points’. We had tried this early on in the project and discarded it for a variety of reasons, but as the project has evolved we felt the idea could make a comeback. We implemented a very hacked version in a day and let our beta testers try it out. They said they liked it! It opened up the ability for those advanced players who only used free movement to line up their attacks earlier in the turn, and it added a new dimension of resource management to avoiding AE attacks and optimizing follow-up attacks. The final challenge was going to be communicating it.

The initial step was easy, we simply shrank the ring after every player action. However, we immediately got the very reasonable feedback that it was hard to tell how much you’d have left. You could eyeball it, but would you have enough to retreat to safety? So we implemented a second dynamic ring while the player moved and added a few parameters to let it become more opaque as the player moved further from the origin. This allowed it to generally show up when it mattered most, and otherwise be invisible while the player pondered their initial moves.

Inkbound screenshot by Cami illustrating outer circle, much movement you have total, and inner circle, how much movement you will have left after you use a binding.

Once we knew we liked these changes we added additional ways to the game, since of course what is an Inkbound system if you can’t break it a bit.

And that’s the new movement system we’ll be bringing to you in the Starship of Terrors! I hope you’re looking forward to trying it out, and we look forward to your thoughts!

We are pleased to announce today that Offline Mode is coming earlier than expected! A beta of Offline Mode will be included in the Starship of Terrors season update on August 23rd, 2023. It has always been our goal to support playing Inkbound in a variety of contexts, including when fully disconnected from the Internet. Here’s how Offline Mode works:

By default, Inkbound will continue to play online. However, if you don’t have an internet connection or intentionally enter Steam’s Offline Mode before starting the game then Inkbound will automatically enter Offline Mode. When offline, most features are available, though some features that naturally require being online will be hidden.

Some things you can do in Offline Mode:

1. Continue to progress your existing character, then later bring that progress with you back online.
   
2. Start and complete new runs.
   
3. Continue and complete runs that were previously started while online.
   
4. Start a run offline, quit the game to come back later, and then resume that run when offline.
   
5. Complete quests.
   
6. Unlock Trinkets (new feature in Starship of Terrors).
   
7. Complete Victory Board objectives (new feature in Starship of Terrors).

… and more.

Some features, the ones designed with multiplayer or social gameplay in mind, obviously won't work offline, though they will be there for you when you next have a connection. These features are not available in Offline Mode:

1. Forming a party, the party finder, and playing runs in multiplayer.
   
2. Chatting with other players.
   
3. Daily Challenge runs and viewing Daily Challenge leaderboards (new feature in Starship of Terrors).
   
4. Daily Quests.
   
5. Claiming cosmetic rewards.
   
6. The Cosmetic Shop.
   
7. The ability to submit feedback to the development team.
   

Furthermore, there are a few other caveats:

1. You have to go online at least once before playing offline.
   
2. Runs started or played offline cannot be resumed online. You either have to finish the run while offline or can choose to abandon the run if you come online with an incomplete offline run.
   
3. You must fully restart the game to toggle between online and offline modes. We don't currently support dynamically switching between modes based on internet connectivity status.
   

If you have spotty internet connectivity and would prefer to play offline or want to play while traveling (airplane? Grandma’s house?) then it will be possible with the Offline Mode Beta.

Why are we calling it a “beta”? Primarily because we think it might have some bugs we haven’t been able to find yet and because we want to get additional player feedback regarding how we can improve it.

We’re looking forward to getting this feature into your hands and hearing your feedback.

Mark Cooke
Shiny Shoe CEO

I’m Albert A from the design crew. We got a few new Bindings to draft into for this upcoming season. I’ll take you through each one along with their ascensions and tell you our design process behind making them.

Draftable Bindings have been a separate challenge from making Aspect Bindings. Aspect Bindings have varying degrees of inter-play between each other and the passive. Some Bindings are ‘builders’ like Mosscloak’s Scavenger’s Dash or Clairvoyant’s Psionic Pulse, while others are ‘finishers’ like Magma Miner’s Smash or Clairvoyant’s Spirit Bomb. That sort of built-in combat rotation doesn’t apply to draftable Bindings, they need to stand on their own and be interesting to use within a broader set of builds.

When we first went out to make draftable Bindings, we underestimated the power level for them to be interesting to use, causing some players in testing to ignore them altogether. Over time, we buffed draftables a bunch leading up to release, and one or two of them got even more buffs for this upcoming season. While I show you these new Bindings, keep in mind that some values are still subject to change as we continue playtesting.

[h2]Grasp[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 100 damage to a single Enemy. Pull them towards you. Inflict Marked.


Of the bat, we knew we needed a few more Physical Bindings, since the current pool was already loaded with Magic bindings. One gameplay niche that was sort of missing from the pool was a low cost, set-up type of Binding. Marked only existed in a handful of vestiges and on Mosscloak, so it was the perfect opportunity to allow the rest of the Aspects to have access to Marked. We have the ingredients for a good setup, some physical damage and some Marked, but the other thing that was missing was a little flavor. It needed some ‘pull’, and so we added a pull.

Grasp Casting Sequence at Max Range:



[h3]Ascensions
[/h3]






Ascensions are really about creating interesting gameplay decisions. And creating interesting gameplay decisions is all about finding ‘core tensions’ and pushing them as far as you can. A core tension can be about mechanical trade-offs, ascension A is weaker than ascension B in damage, but might provide more utility. Or it can be about the theme, you might choose the character you play purely on ‘vibes’.

Or, sometimes it’s both! Like when I started Baldur’s Gate 3, choosing between a Wizard vs a Sorcerer was as much as it was the ‘theme’ of the character as it was the kind of class mechanics I wanted to interact with. They’re just as important as each other, because both theme and mechanics are a framework for the player to make decisions, and is what gives the decision meaning.

For designing the Grasp ascensions, and for pretty much any ascension, you would just break it down to the most fundamental gameplay components, then try to see how that ability would feel if you scaled each component high or low. For Grasp each core component would be:

• Damage
• Targetting
• Pull Distance
• Status Effect

So the Grasp ascensions came naturally out of that process:

• Envelop: Set-up for more enemies
  
• Harpoon: More damage
  
• Luring Net: Better set-up for a single enemy.

[h2]Quicken[/h2]
1 Will, 6 Base Cooldown, Physical
Reduce your other Cooldowns by 1.



Non-damage bindings are always fun to make, because they need to have enough utility to justify using them over dealing damage. Having the ability to just press a button and reduce your cooldowns opens up a lot of possibilities. As Weaver, that means you could probably Constrict twice in a turn, or Dash multiple times as Mosscloak. It also means if you’re out of range but have a Will to spend, you can sink it into reducing your cooldowns instead.

As with anything that reduces cooldowns or Will cost, the thing we’re always trying to avoid are infinite combos. In a game like this, where we’re opting to give players high-power high-impact choices, it can almost be inevitable for the occasional infinite combo to sneak in. There are a few Bindings and vestiges that we’re keeping an eye on for potential infinites that pop up, and this one along with its ascensions is definitely on that list.

Quicken Casting Sequence:

[h3]Ascensions[/h3]







So you try to break down the components of the base ability, you’ll get:

• Cooldown Amount
  
• Cooldown Bindings Targeted

Which isn’t a lot to work with. You can probably make two interesting ascensions from that, but we need one more. We can break it down further and include these two as additional levers that you can push or pull with any Binding.

• Will Cost
  
• Base Cool-down

So what do you do? This is why theme is just as important as mechanics when it comes to crafting interesting decisions, since a lot of the time, theme can inform not just the player, but also the designer for an interesting direction to go. Going into making the base Binding, I knew I wanted to evoke the feeling of ‘being quick’, so that opened up movement being a core mechanic for one of the ascensions.

• Accelerate: Movement and CD.
  
• Expedite: Reduce cooldown for free.
  
• Hasten: Reduce more cooldowns.

[h2]Smoke Bomb[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 50 damage in a large area. Inflict Dazed.



Like Grasp, Smoke Bomb gives broader access to another status effect that’s sparsely used, which is Dazed. Despite being a small damage reduction, inflicting it on heavy hitting enemies, or even a large group of enemies could mean taking even less damage than you would if you had casted Shield Wall or Restoration.

But the other strength of this draftable is its AOE size, and is probably the main reason you might pick this vestige, especially for classes that are a bit AOE starved such as the Weaver. We realized we needed a go-to AOE option since the other AOE options such as Poison Vapor or Cone of Frost don’t deal immediate damage, and sometimes you just need to take out a group of biters before they hit you. Also, this draftable was actually a suggestion from one of our playtesters, SybilznBitz! One of the great things about Early Access is being able to get feedback directly from our players and being able to read and implement suggestions directly during the development of the game. That’s why some of our vestiges are named/inspired off of some of our testers!

Smoke Bomb Casting Sequence:

[h3]Ascensions[/h3]







As a general rule, we want to keep the bones of the base ability around with the ascension, so that you don’t feel like you ‘lose’ anything once you get the ascension. But sometimes it can make sense to do so, if you’re trying to create a unique mechanical or thematic tension. In this case, Cluster Bomb didn’t need to inflict Dazed, since the whole purpose is to be a purely offensive version of Smoke Bomb. And since you’re always presented with two ascensions, you never need to ‘lose out’ on inflicting Dazed.

• Cluster Bomb: More direct damage.
  
• Smoke Screen: Take less damage.
  
• Hidden Mist: Set-up for later damage.

Draftable Bindings are really only one component of the kinds of decisions we want you to make during a run. Hopefully you enjoyed this deep dive of going into the process of designing Bindings and their ascension, if there are any other deep dives ya’ll would be interested in, let us know! And check out our new Aspect deepdive by one of our other designers ModusPwnenz!

Hey, this is ModusPwnenz from the design team to talk to you about the new upcoming Aspect, the Star Captain. This aspect showcases a mastery over lasers both big and small, controls deadly Sentinel Drones (with you guessed it, lasers), utilizes powerful team-wide auras, and harnesses the destructive force that is frost. Star Captains can chain damage between foes with their Chillazer or call in the big guns with Cryoclasm; an orbital beam that deals huge damage to an enemy and frostbiting anyone unlucky enough to be near. Their Mission Leader aura gives big buffs to allies while simultaneously calling in friendly Sentinel Drones ready to zap foes and trigger frostbite. Star Captains' excel as supportive team players, boosting friendly abilities and protecting them with shields. However, even by themselves they are a force to be reckoned with, building up massive frostbite or drone damage. In fact, any Binding that targets allies will give them a Drone, making it a natural fit for picking up any kind of team support Binding.

Let’s walk through the base Bindings. First off, Chillazer.



Chillazer can chain through waves of enemies, dealing light damage. Target tougher enemies with the initial hit to build stacks of Frostbite, making them easier to take down. Some of the augments include adding a Frostbite to secondary targets, increasing the range for easier bounces, and both hexing and shattering the primary target.


Next up is Mission Leader, an aura that can switch between giving ability power and shields.



Mission Leader starts in Offensive Mode, giving all allies +1 ability power. Using the Binding swaps modes to Defensive Mode giving +2 shields for the turn (any mode you actively swap to gets double strength for the turn). On the next turn it would remain in Defensive Mode and since it passively applies it gives all allies +1 shield, and so on. Mission Leader augments can give bonuses when using a specific aura such as increased frostbite damage in Offensive Mode or spiked stacks in Defensive Mode. One of the key synergies with Mission Leader is the passive: Drone Commander.



Any Bindings that hit friendly players trigger Star Captain’s passive summoning a Sentinel Drone to assist them. Sentinel Drones will attach to players and shoot at all the targets they hit with their next Binding, dealing bonus damage and triggering an extra Frostbite stack. If you’re playing with multiple Star Captains only one drone will be present regardless of how many Star Captain’s apply them, but they will add all of their damage together for a massive hit.


The final Binding in the Captain’s arsenal helps build up Frostbite for Sentinel Drones and bouncing Chillazers to chew through.



Cryoclasm summons a giant orbital blast from a nearby spaceship dealing high single target damage and applying Frostbite. Enemies near the strike are hit with the backdraft, taking light damage but also gaining Frostbite stacks. This makes them great targets for bouncing Chillazers, especially if there is a Sentinel Drone at your side. Cryoclasm’s augments can massively increase Frostbite by adding 8 more stacks to the primary target or 2 more stacks to secondary targets, and also help build up Sentinel Drone reserves by gaining one for each enemy hit by the secondary backdraft.

To develop the new Aspect I utilized several prompts to help guide its creation:

[h3]What is the goal of the Aspect?[/h3]
The general direction we started with was “Straightforward Support”; make a class that is simple to pilot at first while also highly effective at assisting their team. However, even with a straightforward play style we want to make sure there is a skill ceiling that is engaging to reach. Every time you play you should see ways to improve and optimize your builds. The Star Captain can be built to fill many roles, and with some creative thinking is a real powerhouse.

[h3]What new gameplay style can we support?[/h3]
When coming up with a new Aspect we seek to create new and fun gameplay styles, and part of that is often utilizing newer or rarer game mechanics. For Star Captain in particular, much of its kit was inspired by the “chain targeting” that is used by their Chillazer attack to bounce to multiple enemies, as well as the “frostbite” mechanic; a status effect inflicted on enemies that triggers bonus damage when they are hit. Chain targeting in particular helped with the concept of straightforward but with ways to optimize. It’s always going to hit multiple enemies, but changing the initial target can alter which ones are hit and what debuffs they get. Frostbite is also a natural fit given the main goals: it is useful in both solo and group play, it’s simple to understand but also very effective, and we can also help amp it up by making it interact with Sentinel Drones along with many of the augments and ascensions.

[h3]How can we make it fit the theme of our season story?[/h3]
Fortunately for design, having constraints is a key part of the process. Knowing that we wanted to do a Jules Verne-esque space theme helped drive many of the ideas behind the look and the core abilities. The name “Star Captain” also helps give the idea of a Star Trek style character, exploring worlds and zapping aliens.

[h3]How will it play with the other Aspects and Bindings?[/h3]
An essential part to the fun and longevity of an Aspect is to make sure it has exciting synergies to theorycraft and play. Part of this is giving obvious connections to mechanics such as Frostbite, but also giving it more open ended synergies like the Sentinel Drone passive that can be given to allies from any friendly Binding. We want you to continue to find fun new combinations of vestiges, augments, trinkets, and teammates to make satisfying and powerful builds with.

These are just some of the starting points for creating a new Aspect. But after that, equally important work happens through iterating on these concepts and growing the gameplay from there. New ideas come constantly from playtesting and building off feedback which results in many upgrades to the core kit. The Sentinel Drone in particular ended up having many different variations, in the end making it easier to use but more powerful feeling as well.

I hope you have fun diving into the world of Inkbound with the Star Captain! Let us know what you think, and what kind of Aspects you’d like to see in the future!

[h2]Letter from the Team[/h2]

This patch adds the final quest line for the first season and sets up the story for the next major update coming on August 23rd.

Additional details on what to expect in that update can be seen in our Early Access roadmap.

[h2]Release Timing[/h2]

This patch will be released at approximately 10 am PT (UTC-7) on August 9th, 2023.

This link will convert that to your local time.

[h2]Full Patch Notes[/h2]

[h3]Changes and Fixes[/h3]

1. Added final quest line for the season.
   
2. All SP gain has been boosted for the remainder of the season until August 23rd.
   
3. Updated Call to Arms quest to be individual instead of party wide.
   
4. Updated Pilfer Seasonal quest to only count individual uses.
   
5. Fixed Uncommon vestige Verdant Sprout healing 2 HP instead of 4 HP.