SKALD: Against the Black Priory News

What a week! Skald went live to sterling reviews from both audience and press! I've been working around the clock since then trying to onboard new community members, staying on top of social media and preparing todays Update (Version 1.0.4d). See below!

Due to the amazing momentum we've been building since launch, we've agreed to extend the launch discount until June 13th. So if you have this game wishlisted, consider picking it up before the summer starts (to help you keep out of the sun)!

Also, if you’re enjoying the game PLEASE consider leaving a review. We’re above 700 reviews now and the Steam algo is all about it so please keep them coming!

NOTE: Some of you may have noticed that we posted and then removed a post very similar to this on Wednesday. This was because we tried to update the game and were very quickly made aware of a bug that interfered with some people’s saves. As a result we rolled back the update as well as the Steam post.

[h2]Version 1.0.4d is Live![/h2]

As I said, I'm working double time to patch bugs and act on feedback. I've also fixed more typos than I thought humanly possible. V. 1.0.4d should and is the first in a series of updates intended to consolidate the game after launch. We'll keep a rapid cadence for now with no more than 2d7 days between updates.
Version notes at the end of this post to avoid spoilers!

[h2]Experimental Branch[/h2]

We've added an experimental branch for Steam - PC. We'll be uploading new builds here about a week in advance of the Default branch and I sure would love to have your help in testing it! To join it, read this! Note that as of today, this week’s experimental branch is in sync with the Default branch.
We’ll likely be adding a new experimental build early next week.

[h2]Got Bugs?
[/h2]
Do you have bugs?

Discord is by far my favorite community and it's thriving and very helpful. We have FAQs there as well as a helpdesk and channels dedicated to feedback. If you have very serious bugs that stop you from playing the game, reach out to me personally in a DM in the Discord @SkaldRPG.

We also patrol Steam discussions constantly so feel free to leave questions there.

Finally, please consider reporting to the Raw Fury customer support desk. All tickets there also get consolidated and sent to me.


[h2]=== Version 1.0.4d ===[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES:
[/h3]

• The life-length of combat pop-ups can be adjusted under Settings -> Gameplay -> Combat Pop-Up Length [Needs Testing]
  
• Whether to give XP to downed characters after combat is now a setting in Settings -> Difficulty -> “XP For Downed Characters”. It is now set to “Enabled” for all difficulties except High.
  
• The recipes listed under and ingredients “Use in” entry are now hyperlinked.
  
• When selecting new spells, you can see all the spells in the relevant school. The spells that are currently locked are marked with a gray padlock.
  
• Feats that increases the tier of a spell school now lists all spell available to that school
  

[h3]MISC:[/h3]

• Added some error checking to achievement setting
  
• Fixed about 150 typos
  
• Slightly improved mouse interactions with multi-tile prop hitboxes.
  
• Made it so that spell aptitude increases both the min and max value of the damage / healing output.
  
• Further worked on improving performance and limiting FPS-drops
  
• Versioning no longer says pre-launch
  
• Made the breath-holding puzzle under the lighthouse easier by adding 1 turn to the breath holding duration
  
• Increased the Vitality provided by healing effects.
  
• I made the ground tiled darker to improve readability and reduce bleeding.
  
• Removed a few unnecessary uses of the “C-word”
  

[h3]BUG:[/h3]

• Pressing the button ‘2’ while naming saves caused the dialogue window to close.
  
• The Steam Cloud file was visible in the save folder
  
• Dropping items on tiles like open doors or on tiles with hidden script triggers did not cause the “bag” icon to show.
  
• Hospitallers could not use heavy armor
  
• Some players had the game start fine and then made a save and quit. Upon starting again the game would hang after the logo reveal – before the menus loaded in.
  
• Ilya in Firgol had “Hound” set as her race.
  
• The issue with the two guards in the cellar under Oleg’s house should not be less pronounced
  
• Some props (like trapdoors) were missing labels (names)
  
• Tried again to fix item weight bug
  
• Circle of mental restoration stunned targets
  
• There was a formatting issue in the credits menu with the Raw Fury names (the tabulation was too big)
  
• Selecting a new character with a potential level up while in the Feat screen did not trigger the level up pop-up
  
• Certain equipable items (jewelry) would be tagged as stackable and equipping them would cause the entire stack to be equipped. These stacks should now be split up upon loading as non-equippable items can be tagged as stackable.
  
• In some very narrow cases, if Iago was somehow knocked out in the Father fight, he would occasionally NOT spawn in the sea-cave after leaving the party.
  
• Fixed a bug where the crafting station in the brewery in Firgol was boxed in.
  
• We fixed a bug where users running Mac Standard builds on Steam were not able to run the game. They would be informed that an executable file was missing.
  

[h3]KNOWN ISSUE[/h3]

• Enabling VSYNC on MacOS causes the title to be unresponsive. Please disable VSYNC.
  

Have a great day!



Anders

Hi there!

We’ve set up an Experimental Branch on Steam for PC. The purpose of this branch is to post builds and updates there for live testing before we make official updates! This is SUPER helpful to us as we are small team and there is no substitute for high volume testing!

We’ll be looking into adding Mac and doing it for GOG as well but one step at the time!



To join the branch:

• Turn off steam cloud saves. Right click on the game and choose properties, then go to General and unclick the steam cloud saves.
  
• Back up their save data. Found at “C:\Users\USER\AppData\LocalLow\High North Studios\SKALD_ Against the Black Priory\SaveFiles” copy the SaveFiles folder and put it on the desktop for example.
  
• Go back to steam, right click on Skald and select Properties. Select tab Betas. Type in the pass: experimental and hit the button Check Code. Now select the branch from the drop down list.
  
• Enter password: “ experimental”
  
• Restart steam to trigger steam client to download the update
  
• Please note that going back and forth between the Default and Experimental branch could POTENTIALLY cause issues with save files though we’re of course doing everything we can to avoid that.
  

Any feedback from playing on the Experimental branch should be reported to the feedback_experimantal_branch sub-channel on the Discord.

See you in the Outer Isles!

AL

What a week! Skald went live to sterling reviews from both audience and press! I’ve been working around the clock since then trying to onboard new community members, staying on top of social media and preparing today's Update (Version 1.0.4c). More info below!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/

Yesterday, we broke 500 reviews on Steam and we’re now “Overwhelmingly Positive”! As the name implies, I’m overwhelmed! Thank you to everyone who’s left a review – It means the world to me.



Due to the amazing momentum we’ve been building since launch, we’ve agreed to extend the launch discount until June 13th. So if you have this game wishlisted, consider picking it up before the summer starts (to help you keep out of the sun)!

[h2]Got Bugs?[/h2]

Do you have bugs?

Discord is by far my favorite community and it’s thriving and very helpful. We have FAQs there as well as a helpdesk and channels dedicated to feedback. If you have very serious bugs that stop you from playing the game, reach out to me personally in a DM in the Discord @SkaldRPG.

We also check the Steam Discussions regularly so feel free to leave questions there.

Finally, please consider reporting to the Raw Fury customer support desk. All tickets there also get consolidated and sent to me.

[h2]Version 1.0.4c Drops Today![/h2]

As I said, I’m working double time to patch bugs and act on feedback. I’ve also fixed more typos than I thought humanly possible. V. 1.0.4c is live now and is the first in a series of updates intended to consolidate the game after launch. We’ll keep a rapid cadence between updates.

We will also be adding an experimental branch to Steam to have the community help us with a bit of QA if they want to. Keep an eye out – I will send out a formal invitation.

Version notes at the end of this post to avoid spoilers!

Thank you all so far! Want a sequel? Spread the word about this awesome little cult-game and consider leaving a review!

Have a great day!

Anders



[h2]=== Version 1.0.4a-c ===
[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES[/h3]

• The life-length of combat pop-ups can be adjusted under Settings -> Gameplay -> Combat Pop-Up Length [Needs Testing]
  
• Whether to give XP to downed characters after combat is now a setting in Settings -> Difficulty -> “XP For Downed Characters”. It is not set to “Enabled” for all difficulties except High.
  
• The recipes listed under and ingredients “Use in” entry are now hyperlinked.
  
• When selecting new spells, you can see all the spells in the relevant school. The spells that are currently locked are marked with a gray padlock.
  
• Feats that increases the tier of a spell school now lists all spell available to that school
  

[h3]MISC[/h3]

• Added some error checking to achievement setting [test to see if at least one achievement fires]
  
• Fixed about 150 typos
  
• Slightly improved mouse interactions with multi-tile prop hitboxes.
  
• Made it so that spell aptitude increases both the min and max value of the damage / healing output.
  
• Further worked on improving performance and limiting FPS-drops
  
• Versioning no longer says pre-launch
  
• Made the breath-holding puzzle under the lighthouse easier by adding 1 turn to the breath holding duration
  
• Increased the Vitality provided by heal effects.
  
• I made the ground tiled darker to improve readability and reduce bleeding.
  
• Removed a few unnecessary uses of the “C-word”
  

[h3]BUGS[/h3]

• Pressing the button ‘2’ while naming saves caused the dialogue window to close.
  
• The Steam Cloud file was visible in the save folder [test on mac is saves are still there
  
• Dropping items on tiles like open doors or on tiles with hidden script triggers did not cause the “bag” icon to show.
  
• Hospitallers could not use heavy armor
  
• Some players had the game start fine and then made a save and quit. Upon starting again the game would hang after the logo reveal – before the menus loaded in.
  
• Ilya in Firgol had “Hound” set as her race
  
• The issue with the two guards in the cellar under Oleg’s house should not be less pronounced
  
• Some props (like trapdoors) were missing labels (names)
  
• Tried again to fix item weight bug
  
• Circle of mental restoration stunned targets
  
• There was a formatting issue in the credits menu with the Raw Fury names (the tabulation was too big)
  
• Selecting a new character with a potential level up while in the Feat screen did not trigger the level up pop-up
  
• Certain equipable items (jewelry) would be tagged as stackable and equipping them would cause the entire stack to be equipped. These stacks should now be split up upon loading as non-equippable item can be tagged as stackable.
  
• In some very narrow cases, if Iago was somehow knocked out in the Father fight, he would occasionally NOT spawn in the sea-cave after leaving the party.
  
• Fixed a bug where the crafting station in the brewery in Firgol was boxed in.
  

Hello!

It's only been a few days since launch but we're so excited about the reception to SKALD: Against the Black Priory from the community, content creators and press.

We know that a lot of the community have questions about the game and we've arranged an AMA with Anders tomorrow, 5 June at 4pm BST/5pm CEST over at https://www.reddit.com/r/CRPG/

We hope to see you there!

Don't fret if you can't make it for the live Q&A, you can add your questions to the post over on Reddit right now and Anders will answer them during the AMA.

Thank you so much for all your support for SKALD, it's been overwhelming in the best way.

I regret not covering Skald Colon Against The Black Priory when its developer told us about it 2019. I'd get to be so smug now.

Skald is terrific. I've tried to come up with a clever angle on its journey, but they all wind up saying the same thing: For all its retro stylings (right down to party portraits taking up an unnecessary quarter of the screen at all times), it's an accessible, charming treat, and the best modernisation of 80s RPGs that I've ever played.

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