Astral Ascent News

We hope you spent a good time during the holidays! On our side, the studio members took a well deserved holiday break and had a great time. We feel reinvigorated and we are very motivated for this upcoming exciting year to work on Astral Ascent!


How to better start the year than with a brand new Playtest version? We have been delaying this new version as we wanted to do a major update with polished content before collecting your thoughts about it, this new version includes:

• the Red barrens (second world of the game) with new enemies / challenges
  
• 5 new bosses to face (Virgo, Leo, Sagittarius, Lupus & Pegasus)
  
• 3 new room types to discover
  
• 2 new hub NPCs to meet with new progression systems
  
• 10+ new Auras
  
• 13 new spells to use
  
• and plenty more...
  

You can check the dedicated patch-note here, it is probably not complete as the update was so massive but we tried to be exhaustive.



Virgo, Sagittarius and Leo

[h3]How to participate? [/h3]

You need to have the Playtest app unlocked on your Steam account, if you already have it the new version will update automatically, if you do not have it already:

• Join our Discord Server and follow our Kickstarter Assistant instructions in the #kickstarter-rewards channel to get your backer Discord role.
  
• React in the #playtests-register channel to get the Playtester role.
  
• Welcome to the #playtests channel where you can ask for a key.
  
• Use the key in Steam.
  

[h3]Can I keep my saves from previous Playtest?[/h3]
Your last playtest saves will be saved if they were from 0.21.10 or more, if you lost your saves you can now press LB and RB while launching the game to skip the intro tutorial.

[h3]Can I help you or share my thoughts? [/h3]
We have created a new survey here to collect your thoughts about this new version. We have improved the game a lot thanks to your previous feedbacks so thank you if you take the time to answer it this time again. You can also create suggestions tickets in the #suggestions channel of the Discord Server.
Unlisted commented Youtube videos (without comments is fine too) are extremely appreciated so we can better see how you react to the game elements.


[h3]New level elements - the Red barrens is complete![/h3]
The second world of the game is now content complete, we have recently added new traps that will appear on the explorations room to make those rooms more dangerous and lively. We did not want to add traps at the beginning of the development but we love how it turned out.
You'll see that they also are tools to deal damages to your enemies.



Fire geysers




Fire Statue

We have also added new traps in the Fragmented Plains (first world), these elements only appear in the Exploration rooms to make them feel more unique and more rhythmed.



Carnivorous Plant



[h3]New unique auras - new gimmick effects[/h3]
For some time, we felt that Auras lacked funny and gameplay-changing elements, we decided to work on this giving unique gimmicks to work with and create combo with other effects! There is plenty of new Auras to discover and new interesting combos between the Auras or between Auras and Gambits, we hope you'll like them as much as we do!



Aura combo explosive dash + fire projectiles

[h3]Achievements and Auras NPCs 🐲[/h3]
We have also added new content to the main hub: Two new NPCs have joined the cast!
The first one is a familiar face, Sieur Bapy from the Kickstarter stretch goals has finally arrived at the hub and will now keep track of your achievements and even giving you extra rewards to help you during your journey.



Sieur Bapy Achievement menu

The second one is a mysterious and ancient being that everyone named Dragon for obvious reasons. You will now be able to get access to new auras to unlock during your next adventures!



Aura NPC


[h3]World balancing changes and Salvage mechanic[/h3]
One of the main changes we have made since the previous version is changing the structure of the runs:

• Fight rooms will now exclusively give keys - merchants became much more important
  
• Higher tier loots are rarer than before - collecting gambits became more interesting
  
• Exploration rooms have been shortened - experience is more dynamic all around
  

Those changes implied a lot of changes on progression during runs and, if you try the new version, you will see that it's quite different from what we had before, all of your feedbacks regarding thoses changes are welcomed!
Among the progression changes, we decided to add a salvage mechanic to the game, giving you the possibility to salvage unwanted spells/gambits and tranform them into quartz to use in the next shop, you can also salvage Auras into difficulty stars.
It is now always exciting to find these rewards because if they are not fitting your current build you will still get currency to invest in something you need for your build at next merchant.





We really hope you will appreciate all this new content as much as we do.
Don't forget our Backerkit shop and our Discord Server to speak with the community and give us feedbacks on the game!



Hard working team

Have a wonderful day,

-The Hibernian Workshop Team

⭐Changes inspired by our community!

[h2]Major Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• New Zodiac - VIRGO: Added Virgo as a new boss to battle in world 1
  [hr][/hr]
• New Zodiac - LEO: Added Leo as a new boss to battle in world 2
  [hr][/hr]
• New Zodiac - SAGITTARIUS: Added Sagittarius as a new boss to battle in world 2
  [hr][/hr]
• New challenge - TAURUS: Acquire Taurus summon in an agilibity challenge
  [hr][/hr]
• New challenge - CAPRICORN: Acquire Capricon summon in an mental challenge
  [hr][/hr]
• New challenge - LEO: Acquire Leo summon in a strength challenge
  [hr][/hr]
• New challenge - SAGITTARIUS: Acquire Sagittarius summon in a speed challenge
  [hr][/hr]
• RED BARRENS are open!: 8 new enemies to fight and a whole new world to explore
  [hr][/hr]
• New Level Design ingredients: World 2 level design ingredients
  [hr][/hr]
• New common spells: Unlock and fight with unique new spells!
  [hr][/hr]
• New room type - mini bosses: Fight 2 new Zodiacs as mini bosses
  [hr][/hr]
• New room type - Andromeda's bar: Want to take a rest, visit Andromeda in this new room type
  [hr][/hr]
• New room type - Hidden Yalee Kingdom: Free yalees and get bonuses in the hidden Yalee kingdom new room type
  [hr][/hr]
• New NPC - Auras NPC: Unlock new Auras with your progression
  [hr][/hr]
• New NPC - Achievements NPC: Get rewards for special achievements in hub
  [hr][/hr]
• Bestiary feature in hub: Get more details of the enemies you meet with this new element in hub
  [hr][/hr]
• NG+ system: Once you finished the challenges, discover a progressively more difficult experience
  [hr][/hr]
• New Level Design traps: New traps will appear in exploration rooms for world 1 and world 2
  

[h2]Small Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Taurus boss fight now has a dark background during Ultimate
  [hr][/hr]
• New visual FX when we hit with Ayla & Kiran
  [hr][/hr]
• Updated VFX when an enemy appears
  [hr][/hr]
• Rework spell 37 - Glacial Spikes: Spell is easier to use now
  [hr][/hr]
• New signature spells: Fight with 5 new spells for Ayla and 5 new spells for Kiran
  [hr][/hr]
• Added a small feedback when buying spell at merchant
  [hr][/hr]
• Hitting ground with fast fall attack resets dash timer
  [hr][/hr]
• Wooden Guardian and Elites minions do not appear anymore in Death Recap
  [hr][/hr]
• NPC in hub have a clearer feedback when something is new
  [hr][/hr]
• Exploding Mushroom cannot be elites anymore
  [hr][/hr]
• Potion use is now instant and anim is triggered only if no other anim
  [hr][/hr]
• New auras: 10 new auras to discover
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Salvage mechanic: Spells, gambits and auras can be salvaged to gain a good amount of quartz
  [hr][/hr]
• Co-op revive: Reworked and improved the Co-op revive mechanic
  [hr][/hr]
• Co-op now has its own tutorial
  

[h2]Balancing[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Non elites enemies do not loot spells/gambits anymore
  [hr][/hr]
• Zodiac damage changes: damage inflicted by Taurus and Capricorn have been adjusted
  

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• UI display for new playable characters
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Level design elements could make sun color glitch
  [hr][/hr]
• Game saves are lost everytime we launch the game - ☄️ hotfix 0.22.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Lupus AI was disabled - ☄️ hotfix 0.22.2
  [hr][/hr]
• Disabled W2 Geyser looping SFX as sometimes it would never stop - ☄️ hotfix 0.22.2

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

• Discord Server
• Twitter Account
• Official Store

During last update, we made a poll to get your opinion about having Ayla fully painted (for no extra cost) and making it available on our Backerkit store to cover the additional costs from manufacturer.
You were 98.2% voting yes! So the figure is available again on the store.
We also received the first pictures, not final, from Limited Run Games manufacturer painted version and we love it!

preview of Ayla painted figure (21cm height), not final!


Thanks so much to everyone who joined our Playtests sessions on our Discord Server. We registered 171 unique testers and 56 of you took time to answer our gameplay survey. This helped us a lot!
Playstests allow us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the game and a lot of changes were made according to the feedbacks we received. Seeing many people sharing an opinion confirms that something needs to be changed on a specific feature. An example of that is that several players reported utility spells were slow to use so we made them instant and you can now do it while performing any other animation and it is much better!

Kiran performing teleport utility spell during one of his attacks

0.21.0 is here!

We have just launched 0.21.0 on Steam Playtests branch (visible on game main menu). It also comes with a new survey if you have the time to fill it after playing it would be very nice.
To keep track of all the changes that we do, we decided to create Patch notes for each updates that we make. You can see the Patch notes dedicated to this new update here. This version should be the one used for Steam Next Festival starting October 1st.
These Playtests sessions are like a pre early access as we are able to collect many meaningful feedbacks and we are training to make frequent and stables updates so we can keep a similar rhythm during Early Access.

If you have not joined the Playtests yet and want to, please check our previous update to see the steps to join.


We have created many things for 0.21.0 like new level design elements that will give more variety to the fights and exploration as you can see below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Exploding Dandelion weaken the enemies defenses

We have also created a new gambit type that allows you to unlock a gambit slot on a spell. This will be very useful for long runs to create the best possible builds.



Past months were mostly focused on improve the existing content of the game but we think we have recently reached (with 0.21.0 update) the level of quality we wanted to have in the game.
Early Access is our next milestone and will now put all our efforts toward it with new summoning, new challenges, world 2 integration and new bosses fight for Virgo, Leo and Sagittarius.



Finally we would like to let you know that we absolutely love how the game is shaping up and your recent feedbacks were very good and motivating too.

Don't forget about our Backerkit shop and our Discord Server to discuss about the game development,

Have an excellent day,

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

During last update, we made a poll to get your opinion about having Ayla fully painted (for no extra cost) and making it available on our Backerkit store to cover the additional costs from manufacturer.
You were 98.2% voting yes! So the figure is available again on the store.
We also received the first pictures, not final, from Limited Run Games manufacturer painted version and we love it!

preview of Ayla painted figure (21cm height), not final!


Thanks so much to everyone who joined our Playtests sessions on our Discord Server. We registered 171 unique testers and 56 of you took time to answer our gameplay survey. This helped us a lot!
Playstests allow us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the game and a lot of changes were made according to the feedbacks we received. Seeing many people sharing an opinion confirms that something needs to be changed on a specific feature. An example of that is that several players reported utility spells were slow to use so we made them instant and you can now do it while performing any other animation and it is much better!

Kiran performing teleport utility spell during one of his attacks

0.21.0 is here!

We have just launched 0.21.0 on Steam Playtests branch (visible on game main menu). It also comes with a new survey if you have the time to fill it after playing it would be very nice.
To keep track of all the changes that we do, we decided to create Patch notes for each updates that we make. You can see the Patch notes dedicated to this new update here. This version should be the one used for Steam Next Festival starting October 1st.
These Playtests sessions are like a pre early access as we are able to collect many meaningful feedbacks and we are training to make frequent and stables updates so we can keep a similar rhythm during Early Access.

If you have not joined the Playtests yet and want to, please check our previous update to see the steps to join.


We have created many things for 0.21.0 like new level design elements that will give more variety to the fights and exploration as you can see below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Exploding Dandelion weaken the enemies defenses

We have also created a new gambit type that allows you to unlock a gambit slot on a spell. This will be very useful for long runs to create the best possible builds.



Past months were mostly focused on improve the existing content of the game but we think we have recently reached (with 0.21.0 update) the level of quality we wanted to have in the game.
Early Access is our next milestone and will now put all our efforts toward it with new summoning, new challenges, world 2 integration and new bosses fight for Virgo, Leo and Sagittarius.



Finally we would like to let you know that we absolutely love how the game is shaping up and your recent feedbacks were very good and motivating too.

Don't forget about our Backerkit shop and our Discord Server to discuss about the game development,

Have an excellent day,

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

Team members of Hibernian Workshop will be there to answer your questions on our LIVE page featuring our brand new demo of Astral Ascent while great streamers will be playing the game!

Starting 8PM PST on October 1st

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1280930/Astral_Ascent/