Mage Tower: Call of Zadeus News

-Fixed an issue where some cards, artifacts, and classes wouldn't unlock if you had unlocked the achievement for them in a prior patch.

-Added a "Reset Save File" button to the title screen. (This resets all masteries completed, achievements gained, tutorials... EVERYTHING.) After clicking the button, it will notify you that you have to type the word "DELETE". This is so you can't just reset everything accidentally.

-Made saving and loading slightly faster in some cases, by no longer saving and loading worldgen data. (As of patch 0.64, the world is now generated from a single randomization seed variable instead of saving/loading the coordinates of everything.)

[h3]New Tutorial & Beginning of Story![/h3]

The story of Mage Tower: Call of Zadeus has finally begun! Now at the start of the game you'll be dropped into a story where you must stop the mad warlock Irko from summoning the terrible Zadeus. This leads into a new tutorial with full gameplay freedom.



(If you've already completed the old starter tutorial and want to see the new one and its story elements, you can click the "Reset Tutorials" button on bottom right of the title screen. This will not reset any other progress.)

[h3]Steam Cloud Support Added![/h3]

Your save file will now be automatically saved and loaded from Steam, so you can switch devices and keep playing the same save. Hooray!

[h3]Card Pool Reimagined![/h3]

The 43 least-fun cards were replaced with brand new cards that offer fun effects and interesting synergies! Most other cards have been updated or changed- it's like a whole new game!



[h3]Two New Classes[/h3]

The new Barbarian and Sojourner classes are here, and are a lot different from existing classes!





[h3]Enemy Pool Reimagined![/h3]

One of the most fun aspects of deckbuilders is battling weird creatures ,and tailoring your deck's strategy to each encounter. In the old version, a lot of enemies were a little too similar to each other, which could make runs feel repetitive. So we replaced ONE THIRD of the enemies with unique new encounters.. like the Sojourner!



That's right, the Sojourner gets to be both a class and an enemy! Are there many sojourners, or only one? Who knows?? In this battle the enemy will battle you with huge "location" monsters that offer an annoying debuff - an encounter very different from any other in the game.

[h3]29 New Artifacts[/h3]

New artifacts that you can sometimes build around, or that can change your deck's strategy!



[h3]55 New Backer Cards![/h3]

There are 55 new cards named after Kickstarter backers! These cards can only be obtained from the cards "Diviner's Wand" or "Balwick". The cards in this card pool are sometimes just slightly overpowered versions of normal cards, but some of them have unique and strange effects (see below!)



[h3]9 New Backer Enemies![/h3]

There are 9 new enemies designed by Kickstarter backers! Backers were able to pick the name, sprite, and monster cards (from the monster card pool) that would show up in their deck. A lot of these are actually pretty crazy fights, and can show up on days 1 or 2 (look out for the purple-bordered enemies.) These definitely add some spice to the first couple days of a run!



[h3]Core Mechanic Changes![/h3]

We've made a lot of adjustments to core mechaics, such as giving the player more health regen, changing prizes to be one-time effects so they don't overshadow the rest of your deck, and lowering starting deck size so you see your drafted cards more. You can read the full patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1698850/discussions/0/598515509750734533/

We're very excited about this patch, as we've rebuilt a lot of the game's systems from the ground up, while adding new classes and other fun stuff to try! This is the biggest patch so far, and we hope you all enjoy it!

-Brett Brimmer
supermegagames.net
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/utkQYbhm8B

Hey all, we're setting a definite release date for the huge "Wrath of the Sojourner" patch for 1/10/25.

We're also changing the name back to "Mage Tower: Call of Zadeus". A while ago we changed the name to simply be "Call of Zadeus". However, we kept the game's name on Steam as "Call of Zadeus (formerly Mage Tower)" so that Mage Tower fans could still find it on Google and Steam search.

Since then, I've still seen many people still refer to the game as "Mage Tower". I've also seen that "Zadeus" isn't the easiest name to remember, and with dozens of products on Steam that start with "Call of" it can make the game hard to find. It can also still be confusing to Mage Tower fans.

With time and reflection, I've realized that just going with "Mage Tower: Call of Zadeus" is the best bet, as it gives the clearest tie-in to the tabletop game and the 2013 digital game.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to assure you that the "Wrath of the Sojourner" patch for Call of Zadeus is still in progress! It's mostly finished, but I still have to do a good amount of testing, bug fixing, and tying up loose ends. As stated in the huge previous post (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1698850/view/4505380324416206310), this patch will change so much that it's basically like an expansion.

I don't want to give a set due date, but rest assured I'm working on the game every day. This patch also lays the groundwork towards moving the game into full release. Here are the main things I'd like to do after this patch to get to full release:

-Implement the rest of the Kickstarter backer rewards (the upcoming patch will cover the custom rewards from the WIZARD and SUMMONER levels, which are cards named after backers and monsters designed by backers.)
-Add a second card pool.
-Add a story that is revealed between each run.
-Add a new customizable endgame mode.

I've been working on and planning these final features and they are actually pretty far along. For example, the next update will feature new artwork of several characters and a new dialogue system that will be used for the future story sequences. The new endgame system is fully mocked up with artwork and all the customizable options have been planned out.

I suspect "Wrath of the Sojourner" will be the largest patch the game will see, and the longest delay between patches. That's because there were so many custom backer rewards (60+), and so many core gameplay elements modified. These are delicate elements, so it was better for them to exist in the development build for as long as possible to get tested thoroughly.

Anyways, I'll talk to you all when the Wrath of the Sojourner patch is complete!

-Brett Brimmer
www.supermegagames.net

The "Wrath of the Sojourner" update for Call of Zadeus is coming! We're aiming to get it released sometime in November, and it will change and add so much that it's practically the size of an expansion.

Here is some of what the new update will include:



Finally, some new classes! The Sojourner class will provide some interesting strategic choices as you traverse from one skill set to another. Meanwhile, the Barbarian is a straight up fighter with no tricks or card gain - just pure damage! (Okay, he has some Energy gain so he can be a little tricky.)





We're removing all of the "boring" and "dud" cards and replacing them with more fun cards, including a lot of cards that add new synergy potential!

A couple new cards



We felt there was a "middle-of-the-run slump", as enemies in the middle of a run felt too much like earlier enemies (only slightly tougher.) So we're replacing them with new enemies that will challenge your deck in fun and creative new ways.

Some of the enemies' new cards



After a LOT of playtesting we're making slight changes to some core mechanics that will have a big effect on gameplay. We're also adding some new "quality of life" features. More on this later.



Not much to say here, we're adding 29 new artifacts to increase run and deck variety!

A couple new artifacts



These new cards will only be available from two cards named "Diviner's Wand" and "Balwick". They will represent an interesting and unique additional card pool. There will also be a bunch of new enemies designed by Kickstarter backers that really mix things up!





The new tutorial will be about one fifth of the length of the old one. (The old tutorial had a serious problem of requiring way too much reading.) Instead of being "on rails", the new tutorial will let the player do whatever they want. It will also have context-sensitive tips to teach mechanics, and new art and story elements. Here are some early character sketches for the new dialogue system - art by Becky Laff!:

Character sketches by Becky Laff!



It's been a long Early Access but we're finally going to start producing video content for the game and we will also start contacting streamers and reviewers.

So that's the preview! Many of the above features are complete except for the tutorial and video content, which are going to take some time. We are working on the update every day, and are excited to get it released!

-Brett Brimmer

supermegagames.net

Join the Call of Zadeus Discord: https://discord.gg/utkQYbhm8B