Slaves of Magic News

Hello everyone!

This is a small patch mainly about fixing a few bugs:

• Fixed a crash that happened if the player started the game by loading a save file and then winning a mission.
  
• Fixed a movement bug, in that some player unit couldn't move even though it still had an action point to do so.
  
• Added more wear and tear to the temperate map in general, as it felt a bit too clean.
  

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to announce a very big update for the demo, in preparation for Steam Next Fest! This is a preliminary version, to iron out the bugs and to listen to your feedback about it before the fest begins.

The general thought process behind the changes is to accelerate the player's progress toward fun things and to provide more interesting decisions for the player. Some fundamental systems have been changed as well, so sadly saves from the older demo's will not be fully compatible with the version.

Major changes:

• Official support for 2k resolutions. While the game was made aimed at a maximum 1080p resolution, over time more and more people have transitioned to 2k and 4k monitors, since the inception of this project. We don't have access to a 2k monitor so would love to hear some feedback if everything is working correctly or not. For 4k monitors, the 1080p is perfect for upscaling to 4k, so the game defaults to that resolution instead.
  
• Expanded magic system with new enemies. All 3 enemy race got their spellcasters.
  
• Reworked initiative system. In the new system, every turn the player will receive 6 command points, that can be spent to activate units. The unit's initiative is the cost of its activation. In layman's terms, the player can activate more faster units or fewer slower ones. This system is a lot more intuitive for players coming from games like X-COM, while still retaining the importance of the speed of the units.
  
• Added a new marksman school, dedicated to improving ranged attacks.
  
• Reworked escort missions to give higher emphasis on scrying before starting the mission. Now there will be 2 valid escape tiles for the VIP and the player will need to decide which one he/she will use.
  
• Expanded the lighting system to add dynamic lights to various skill effects like teleport.
  
• Weapons are no longer locked to regions, the starting region only defines the starting equipment. This has enabled me to rebalance the weapons to be more unique, as they will always be available for the player to buy.
  
• Injury times have been rebalanced. Melee units without a shield were overly penalized with a long recovery timer for small injuries. Now, only if a unit takes more than half of its health in damage will it have longer recovery times than the default teleport sickness.
  
• Every unit will get a starter school in their first level up, and the player can only choose a new skill from that school. Further level-ups are not affected. This makes it easier for newer players to learn about the available schools in smaller increments. Plus makes players try out skills they would otherwise not have.
  
• The final mission arrives a month earlier than previously, in correspondence that we have made progress faster in general.
  

Of course, a lot of bug fixes have happened as well, and I'm planning to do another pass on the AI of the enemies till the start of the festival.

So that's it for today! As always, looking forward to hearing your feedback, which you can share in the forums or our Discord here!

Hello everyone!

I know that we have been a bit quiet in the past few months, but fear not, the reason was that we were climbing the content mountain that we want to be included in the full game! And I'm happy to say that we started to see the top of the mountain, so we are generally on track for a release in the first half of next year! Check out a few of the new enemy types that will be included in the full game:











At the start of the next year, we plan to enter the next Steam Next Fest, with an updated demo. Some of the bigger changes that are coming for it:

• Placeholder leader enemies have been replaced by their spellcasting variant.
  
• Added a new Marksman school, dedicated to skills that improve the ranged capabilities of the unit.
  
• Reworked headquarter chooser screen. Now regional equipment only affects the starting equipment of the units.
  
• Completely rebalanced progression, generally speeding up the player's progress.
  
• Reworked escort missions to give higher emphasis on scrying before starting the mission. Now there will be 2 valid escape tiles for the VIP and the player will need to decide which one he/she will use.
  

Taking into account our preparation for the Steam Next Fest, I have modified our planned release date to Q2 2025. This will give us some time to integrate the feedback we receive from it into the full game.

So that's it for today's devlog! The next year is going to be a very exciting one for sure! If you have any questions, feel free to join our Discord channel here.

Hello everyone!

Another small patch that fixes a few bugs that have been found in the demo:

- Conditions visuals now correctly move with the unit rather than teleporting after it.
- Bloodrage visuals get properly updated when counters are gained or lost.
- Tireless rage now correctly removes 1 counter when used.

Hello everyone!

This is a very small patch that includes the fix for the occasional hangup that could happen when the map generator is generating the reworked Assassinate mission type, plus updated the poisoned condition text to reflect how it works correctly.