Update Log-[RAM Improvements][Progression-Halting Bug Fixed][Captives Progress]
Travelers of the desert:
Travelers of the desert:
This time around we've continued to remedy lag. We came to realize that some art assets weren't fully integrated which in turn led to them taking up unnecessary RAM. This will be resolved with the ver. 1.0.45 update.
What's more, we're adding further support for the mod editor. For this new expert version, we'll be making available most UI menus so that modders can replace or change these out. We'll also provide a feature where you can upgrade simple mods to expert ones and make it easier to create resource packs.
Fixes
●Fixed a progression-halting bug with the Spirit Witch's [Catch Burak] story:
This bug has been present in our localized versions and was caused by section breakers. The issue should be resolved in the new version; yet, this isn't the only place in the game where this has been happening. We'll look over our localized versions again and make changes where needed.
●Fixed an issue on mobile devices:
where the game would appear vertically for some players.
●Fixed two issues with the text.
●Fixed an issue with Anniversary mod Zombie x Squirrel, where you didn't gain EXP as intended.
●Fixed a bug where a test segment would appear when opening up the Class Shop in the Eclipse Hive DLC.
All of the above changes will be updated on all platforms.
[h2]Captives - New Progress[/h2]
We've been working on the new Captives feature as of late, and we've been keeping an eye on your questions and worries. So, we'd like to share our progress and answer some questions in the process, naturally, feel free to leave even more feedback too!
[h2]Captives Gained From Battles[/h2]
[h3] (not representative of the final version)[/h3]
There's a chance to capture NPCs when defeating other tribes in battle, which just so happens to be the main way in which to acquire captives. We'll also consider whether to add more ways in which to acquire captives once the feature's been released, such as attacking traveling NPCs or exchanging captives with other forces. However, be sure to quickly toss any excess captives into the dungeon lest captives might begin escaping should you exceed your captive cap.
Apart from capturing NPCs, we're also planning on perhaps making soldiers capturable. However, that would require adjustments to several UI menus and we'll need time to discuss and think about whether or how we'll make this work.
[h2]What Use Are Captives?[/h2]
Following our last update log, many of you have been asking what captives are used for. They're honestly similar to how they are in many other games: they can be sold for gold to slavers, executed (after which that NPC will be permanently gone from your game), or released. Or, you can even draft them into your own team (with some restrictions, of course).
Soldiers of a higher level and NPCs of a higher status are naturally worth more. You'll also be able to hand over nobility captives when interacting with other factions to meet their demands. Each such you add increases your diplomatic weight and can be used to force them to concede land, pay tribute, or even surrender.
There's plenty of content that can be added to a system like this, however, we only have so much time and energy, so we'll begin by working on the most important parts first and perfect what we have in future iterations. Naturally, we also want to add functionality interfaces so that you, our community, may expand upon what's there, by perhaps adding the ability for captives to break free from jail, or so that you may... do untoward things with those you've captured.
[h2]Can Captives Be Executed? Would That Make the World Empty?[/h2]
A good question indeed. That's something we had plenty of discussions around before we even began developing this feature. To remedy this, we added in our last update the ability to auto-generate NPCs based on events. And we'll be adding a new set of families and NPC generation with the new version too.
As the months tick by, the world will once again bustle with life no matter how many NPCs you execute. However, newly generated NPCs are based on models and might only have access to a few set talents and skill pages, meaning that they'll be inferior to the original NPCs.
We estimate that this will become available for free with the next update.
[h2]Mod Workshop Support[/h2]
The Mod Workshop has been and always will be an integral part of Sands of Salzaar. And so, without further ado, we'll be providing more tools and support. In this version, we'll incorporate most FGUI menus to Expert mods, giving you the ability to edit the design and change assets for almost every menu. We'll also make available configurations for the base game's maps along with another batch of reference content.
The new mod editor will contain a function where you can upgrade simple mods to advanced ones. What's more, you'll be able to quickly make resource packs via a Unity editor from within the settings of advanced mods (you'll need to install any Unity dependencies for this to work).
GUI Location:
But that's not all. During our work to adapt the game for multiple platforms and continued development, we've upgraded the game's Unity version. This has naturally caused changes to the game's Unity action models. While most older mods should still work, some advanced mods that contain actions for new characters might need to upgrade to the 2020.3.48 Unity version and repackage their asset packs.
To simplify this process, we're providing the ability to directly upgrade old advanced mods from within the editor. However, we'd still like to extend our apologies to all you modders out there for any inconvenience caused.
Another thing that's been on our mind as of late, is the fact that each new update affects our mod community one way or another. Some mods might become unavailable until a fix is released, or even worse, mods where the authors have discontinued update support may become unusable entirely. Plus, every update also comes with its own bugs.
Our plan is that starting our next update with Captives, we'll provide stable access to old versions so that you may choose for yourself whether to use the latest version or an older one. This means that even as we update the game, you'll still be able to use the mods you've grown fond of.
Naturally, we won't have versions available for all the small updates that we make but only for major updates. We'll make sure to keep a branch available of each major patch going forward that should be compatible with most mods created during that time.
That's all for this update! Feel free to join our Discord to get in touch! Our managers will try their best to help you solve any issues you encounter in the game!
Travelers of the desert:
This time around we've continued to remedy lag. We came to realize that some art assets weren't fully integrated which in turn led to them taking up unnecessary RAM. This will be resolved with the ver. 1.0.45 update.
What's more, we're adding further support for the mod editor. For this new expert version, we'll be making available most UI menus so that modders can replace or change these out. We'll also provide a feature where you can upgrade simple mods to expert ones and make it easier to create resource packs.
Fixes
●Fixed a progression-halting bug with the Spirit Witch's [Catch Burak] story:
This bug has been present in our localized versions and was caused by section breakers. The issue should be resolved in the new version; yet, this isn't the only place in the game where this has been happening. We'll look over our localized versions again and make changes where needed.
●Fixed an issue on mobile devices:
where the game would appear vertically for some players.
●Fixed two issues with the text.
●Fixed an issue with Anniversary mod Zombie x Squirrel, where you didn't gain EXP as intended.
●Fixed a bug where a test segment would appear when opening up the Class Shop in the Eclipse Hive DLC.
All of the above changes will be updated on all platforms.
[h2]Captives - New Progress[/h2]
We've been working on the new Captives feature as of late, and we've been keeping an eye on your questions and worries. So, we'd like to share our progress and answer some questions in the process, naturally, feel free to leave even more feedback too!
[h2]Captives Gained From Battles[/h2]
[h3] (not representative of the final version)[/h3]
There's a chance to capture NPCs when defeating other tribes in battle, which just so happens to be the main way in which to acquire captives. We'll also consider whether to add more ways in which to acquire captives once the feature's been released, such as attacking traveling NPCs or exchanging captives with other forces. However, be sure to quickly toss any excess captives into the dungeon lest captives might begin escaping should you exceed your captive cap.
Apart from capturing NPCs, we're also planning on perhaps making soldiers capturable. However, that would require adjustments to several UI menus and we'll need time to discuss and think about whether or how we'll make this work.
[h2]What Use Are Captives?[/h2]
Following our last update log, many of you have been asking what captives are used for. They're honestly similar to how they are in many other games: they can be sold for gold to slavers, executed (after which that NPC will be permanently gone from your game), or released. Or, you can even draft them into your own team (with some restrictions, of course).
Soldiers of a higher level and NPCs of a higher status are naturally worth more. You'll also be able to hand over nobility captives when interacting with other factions to meet their demands. Each such you add increases your diplomatic weight and can be used to force them to concede land, pay tribute, or even surrender.
There's plenty of content that can be added to a system like this, however, we only have so much time and energy, so we'll begin by working on the most important parts first and perfect what we have in future iterations. Naturally, we also want to add functionality interfaces so that you, our community, may expand upon what's there, by perhaps adding the ability for captives to break free from jail, or so that you may... do untoward things with those you've captured.
[h2]Can Captives Be Executed? Would That Make the World Empty?[/h2]
A good question indeed. That's something we had plenty of discussions around before we even began developing this feature. To remedy this, we added in our last update the ability to auto-generate NPCs based on events. And we'll be adding a new set of families and NPC generation with the new version too.
As the months tick by, the world will once again bustle with life no matter how many NPCs you execute. However, newly generated NPCs are based on models and might only have access to a few set talents and skill pages, meaning that they'll be inferior to the original NPCs.
We estimate that this will become available for free with the next update.
[h2]Mod Workshop Support[/h2]
The Mod Workshop has been and always will be an integral part of Sands of Salzaar. And so, without further ado, we'll be providing more tools and support. In this version, we'll incorporate most FGUI menus to Expert mods, giving you the ability to edit the design and change assets for almost every menu. We'll also make available configurations for the base game's maps along with another batch of reference content.
The new mod editor will contain a function where you can upgrade simple mods to advanced ones. What's more, you'll be able to quickly make resource packs via a Unity editor from within the settings of advanced mods (you'll need to install any Unity dependencies for this to work).
GUI Location:
But that's not all. During our work to adapt the game for multiple platforms and continued development, we've upgraded the game's Unity version. This has naturally caused changes to the game's Unity action models. While most older mods should still work, some advanced mods that contain actions for new characters might need to upgrade to the 2020.3.48 Unity version and repackage their asset packs.
To simplify this process, we're providing the ability to directly upgrade old advanced mods from within the editor. However, we'd still like to extend our apologies to all you modders out there for any inconvenience caused.
Another thing that's been on our mind as of late, is the fact that each new update affects our mod community one way or another. Some mods might become unavailable until a fix is released, or even worse, mods where the authors have discontinued update support may become unusable entirely. Plus, every update also comes with its own bugs.
Our plan is that starting our next update with Captives, we'll provide stable access to old versions so that you may choose for yourself whether to use the latest version or an older one. This means that even as we update the game, you'll still be able to use the mods you've grown fond of.
Naturally, we won't have versions available for all the small updates that we make but only for major updates. We'll make sure to keep a branch available of each major patch going forward that should be compatible with most mods created during that time.
That's all for this update! Feel free to join our Discord to get in touch! Our managers will try their best to help you solve any issues you encounter in the game!