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Carve Out Your Own Path with the Ikigai update

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Youkoso!

With Ikigai (生き甲斐), which is Japanese for “a sense of purpose”, we’re bringing you the first expansion of the perk-based progression system. Embark on the path of a warrior and experience an entirely new combat system or choose a more peaceful route and discover streamlined production mechanics. There are many more exciting additions, so dive in and let us know what you think!

Note: Start a new game to take full advantage of new features. Playing from a save is also possible, although some changes may reset your production or require passing a season to fully take effect.



[h3]New perk trees[/h3]

Develop your in-game character from a rag-tag refugee into a legendary figure, by improving four ways of life!

Leader. Gain Dynasty XP to work your way up the Leader perk tree and unlock benefits for the whole Dynasty. Leader perks provide new and unique recipes, lower villagers’ consumption of resources, and affect the wealth of the entire Nata Valley.

Craftsman. Craft, build, and acquire resources to build up the Craftsman perk tree and become better at crafting and harvesting resources. Enjoy faster building skills and improve your yields from farming.
Warrior. Kill enemies, clear bandit camps, and hunt animals to increase your Warrior standing and unlock new abilities, become a tougher and more skilled hunter, or make your weapons and armor more efficient.

Monk. Discover and open new shrines and make offerings there to level up the Monk perk tree and unlock powerful jack-of-all-trades perks, mostly related to your personal stats and trading skills.
The system has been revamped to allow for deeper perk tree mechanics, like multilevel perks or locking one skill behind another. The user interface has also been improved, turning what was just a proof-of-concept into a fully-fledged feature.

This is just the first expansion of the perk tree. More perks will be added in future updates, as we receive your feedback.



[h3]Brand new combat (basics)[/h3]
We have been working on a new combat system for months and, although we’re not yet done with it, we want to share the foundational part of it with you, so that we can be guided by your feedback as we continue development. Expect several elements of the system to be unfinished, but also prepare for a big leap forward, compared to previous versions of the game.

We’ve built entirely new Souls-lite combat mechanics from the ground up. It includes full-body attacks that you can chain into cool-looking combos to break your opponents' poise and knock them back or down. There are quick attacks, as well as heavy attacks that can be interrupted based on your own poise level. Using heavier attacks, armor or weapons will make it harder to stop you, but you will also burn through your stamina faster.

Then there’s the AI. Opponents will now try to avoid getting stabbed and will spread all around the player to attack one by one. Enemies are now varied in difficulty, and the more advanced ones will require you to dash, block, or parry. Performing perfectly timed parries is the fastest way to stop their combos, break their posture, and deliver the finishing blow.

The combat system is focused on skills, but also on utilizing gear. Weapons will now have their own parry and block effectiveness, as well as different damage values, and will affect your encumbrance. Armor, in turn, will provide a significant boost to your defenses, so if you prefer a more economical playstyle, you can invest your time to craft the greatest gear worthy of the best Japanese smiths and defeat opponents much more easily, without worrying too much about your survival.

And if you explore the map carefully, maybe you’ll find a new hostile settlement ready to take you on?
Note: new combat includes fighting with Yari, Katana or Tanto against human enemies. Animals and other handheld weapons use the previous system.



[h3]Improved production system[/h3]
Managing your villagers' work will now be much easier! Redesigned workplaces will offer better visual clarity, while improved notifications and warnings will better inform you of any production issues. Here are some specifics:

Each worker has a work capacity pool that you can allocate to any number of recipes being produced at a given workplace. Previously, the system was limited to 4 production slots. Now, one worker will be able to handle any number of unique recipes at low efficiency or just one at full efficiency — the choice is yours!

You are now able to assign production tasks to a worker at any time, even if you don't have the necessary resources or tools. Your workers will produce as much as they can for the day and then wait for more resources.

Missing resources and tools will be automatically gathered by workers to achieve the production level you assigned. For example, after adding the missing item to the dynasty's storage, your worker will automatically take it and produce the assigned recipe by the end of their workday.

The effectiveness of tools was reworked to make production even more efficient and to make it easier for you to meet your villagers' needs. Better tools will allow you to get more products from the same number of resources and work.

The production results section now shows exactly what a given recipe produces and how many of your villagers' needs it will satisfy.

The recipe cost section now displays information about the required season or access to resource sources.

The tool and production results sections now display useful tooltips, for example, listing all tools compatible with a given recipe.

You are now able to manually remove recipes, workers, or tools from the workplace if you want to halt or modify some chains of production.






[h3]Remote storage access[/h3]
When building, crafting, or providing resources for your production station, you now have access to items in all of your global storage, while inside the village. No need to transfer items to personal inventory first!

[h3]Improved Inari and Jizo shrines[/h3]
Opening a new Jizo or Inari shrine and making an offering will grant Monk XP. These shrine blessings will now work locally (for each coop player separately). More shrines on the map will be interactive, including medium and large ones. The whole shrine will now be interactable, not just the kami statue, for ease of use. Please note only small shrines will feature a door-opening animation for now, and other kami will be added later.

[h3]Improved planting experience[/h3]
You can now use a hammer as well as a hoe to plant plants in your village. We have improved placement feedback for planting, and we made all plants planted by the player removable with a shovel, if you need to remove some of those badly positioned shrubs. In addition, we introduce new plants for you to plant: two new variants of spotted laurel shrubs and two new variants of ferns.

[h3]Other additions and improvements[/h3]
  • Structures now don't block themselves when moving them, so you can adjust their position by small increments.
  • Doors now automatically open and close when a player or NPC is nearby (we are looking forward to improving this feature further).
  • Low stamina and health will now have visual feedback (vignettes).
  • Sakura trees can now be cut down for fruit tree wood and planted. Enjoy your own Spring Sakura festival!
  • You will now automatically join a dialogue after teleporting to it in a co-op session. You can still manually join the ongoing dialogue if you approach it without teleportation.
  • Buildings now visualize their safe zone when placing a ghost.
  • Changed gamepad key bindings to better support the new combat system.
  • Ghosts of paths and roads have been made better visible, especially on snow.
  • New items were added, including a new flower: a Spider Lily.
  • Grass can now be harvested all year round by your villagers in the Forager’s Hut.
  • We have improved skin textures for female characters.
  • Some female NPCs have new clothing.
  • The "Tranquil Tribute" quest now supports the player in obtaining a cooked egg in different ways.
  • We have improved some roofs, including adding a straw roof to the Brewery (along with some roof decorations).
  • New drinking and eating animations as well as new beverage and meal assets will now be visible when you consume items from your inventory.
  • We have made some story and dialogue adjustments to better support the new role of bandits and other enemy types in the game.
  • We have removed the village requirement for using the workplace at the Iron Ore Processing Station.
  • We have changed the order of heating and beverages needs so that they appear in their unlock order.
  • New building model for Forager’s Hut (you will need to rebuild it from scratch).
  • You can now build all types of Dynasty storage access furniture in most buildings, including Ice Storage Access furniture.
  • Some buildings got a new and improved preplaced furniture setup.
  • Added missing fundoshi underwear for some male NPCs.
  • Changed dawn time to 5:30 AM so that when you wake up in the first hour of the morning, you will be greeted with early sun rays.
  • Add a new furniture grid to Fisherman’s Hut on the porch.
  • Improved wolf combat animations, it should now be much fairer to face it.
  • Bow damage got improved.
  • Adjustments to the Ashigaru armor.
  • Adjustments to the animation when changing directions in sprint.
  • Adjusted some animals behaviour when attacking.
  • Balancing pass.
  • Localization updated.
  • Village Trader got updated.
  • Adding Guard Service Job to Watchtower Special Project


[h3]Fixes[/h3]
  • Fixed male refugees having the starting happiness level of “Content” instead of “Happy”.
  • Fixed some decorations that were impossible to place on the floor of some buildings.
  • Fixed largest Torii gates moss and rope decoration placement.
  • Fixed long loading times in the Jobs tab.
  • Fixed multiple bugs on the map.
  • Fixed furniture upgrades being impossible or not free in the creative mode (with free building on).
  • Fixed the game starting almost always with rainy weather. Now you should start with a nice clear sky.
  • Fixed some papermaking recipes’ icons.
  • Fixed flipped tombstone inscriptions.


[h3]Known issues[/h3]
    You may need to reset production and pass one season for some of the changes to take effect.
    You may need to open and close some full-screen UIs to refresh their values.
    Consumption prediction is not precise due to not considering input items that will be distributed to workplaces, and not available for consumption.
    Forager’s Hut buildings will not be compatible with your save – rebuild them to enjoy the new model.
    After rebinding controls, some interactions (like "rotate right: or "craft more") will become unbound and therefore unavailable. Please avoid rebinding controls until a hotfix becomes available. Some players may need to reset their Controls to default to enable new combat, if playing from an older save.
    Combat will switch camera automatically to TPP. You can override this by enabling FPP combat in the gameplay settings, but please be aware the new combat in FPP is not fully implemented yet.
    Sometimes, when coop players are far from each other, and one engages a bandit with a bow from a long distance, the bandits' movement may glitch.
    To fully test out the new combat system, please head on to the prototype bandit camp which can be found near Iwasaki, on the other side of the river to the east.






Gamescom and the meaning of life!



Youkoso!

Gamescom has secretly and quietly crept into our diary like a ninja. While we prepare the Ikigai update, we give you the opportunity to watch a new trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Feel free to leave us your thoughts - also on the latest announcements - here, on our Discord or on our social media channels! Maybe we'll see you at Gamescom!

See you soon!


Ikigai Update: Improved Production System



Youkoso!

The upcoming update (Ikigai) will introduce a significant change to the production system of your dynasty. Managing your villagers' work will be much easier. Redesigned workplaces will offer better visual clarity, while improved notifications and warnings will better inform you of any production issues. Here are some specifics:

  1. Each worker has a work capacity pool that you can allocate to any number of recipes being produced at a given workplace. Previously, the system was limited to a maximum of 4 production slots. Now, one worker will be able to handle up to 20 different recipes at low efficiency or just one at full efficiency — the choice is yours!
  2. You will be able to assign production tasks to a worker at any time, even if you don't have necessary resources or tools. Your workers will produce as much as they can for the day and then wait for more resources.
  3. Missing resources and tools will be automatically gathered by workers to achieve the production level you assigned. For example, after adding the missing item to the dynasty's storage, your worker will automatically take them and produce the assigned recipe by the end of their workday.
  4. The effectiveness of tools has been reworked to make production even more efficient and to make it easier for you to meet your villagers' needs. Better tools will allow you to get more products from the same number of resources and work.
  5. Production results section will show exactly what a given recipe produces and how many of your villagers' needs it will satisfy.
  6. The recipe cost section will display information about the required season or access to resource sources.
  7. Tool and production results sections will display useful tooltips, for example listing all tools compatible with a given recipe.
  8. You will be able to manually remove recipes, workers, or tools from the workplace if you want to halt or modify some chains of production.




We also implemented a host of smaller changes, including navigation improvements, various bug fixes, production balance tweaks, and more.

Ikigai is coming next week, and it has many more surprises in store — hope you’re looking forward to the release as much as we are!

Ikigai Update: New combat system



Sengoku means "the country at war", a nation of warring states. It was a time when the entire medieval Japan was in a conflict. There was no single ruler, no Shogun, only clans, pirates, and bandits. Those who wanted peace struggled to find it.

In Sengoku Dynasty, your adventures happen far away from the daimyo territories, allowing you to enjoy bloodless gameplay, without the need for combat, conquering the map with peaceful methods only. You will even have the option to opt out of fighting entirely by choosing the chill game mode.



However, as the game's name suggests, the time has come to reveal more about what we intend for the release of the 1.0 version of Sengoku Dynasty. Playing "aggressive" game modes you find yourself in a land under the rule of various enemies and hostile factions. You will have the possibility to conquer the map region by region and bring peace to communities that live there.

And to do so, you will need to fight.

The combat system in Sengoku Dynasty will be focused on testing your skills and utilizing your gear. If you are skilled enough, you shall be able to defeat most enemies from the start. If you are extremely skilled, you will destroy them even with a wooden stick. However, if you prefer a more economical playstyle, you can invest your time to craft the greatest weapons and armors worthy of the best Japanese smiths and defeat opponents without panicking about your survival.



Combat mechanics were inspired, among others, by the Souls’ games system – so you can refer to it as a Souls-like – or as we call it, Souls-lite. They involve attacks requiring full-body movement that you can chain into cool-looking combos that can break your opponents' poise and knock them back or down. There will be quick and heavy attacks that could be interrupted based on your own poise level. Using heavier attacks, armor or weapons will make it harder to stop you, but you will also burn through your stamina faster.

Fighting powerful foes will require dashing, blocking, or parrying to avoid their damage. Performing perfectly timed parries is the fastest way to stop their combos, break their posture, and deliver the finishing blow. A variety of new weapons will have their own parry and block effectiveness, as well as different damage values, and will affect the encumbrance differently.



We are also working on enemy AI. Opponents will try to avoid getting stabbed and die stupidly, by spreading all around the player and attacking one by one. Fighting multiple adversaries at the same time will be much more challenging than a duel, nevertheless, there will be some mechanics to help you overcome the difficulty. More advanced enemies will require much more skill or significantly better gear, so be prepared.



This is not just a teaser. We are very excited to announce that a very limited, beta-version of this new combat system will find its way to the next Ikigai update, among other features. You will be able to fight some basic bandits (and maybe even find their large camp somewhere on the map...), wielding a yari or katana, and hone your parrying skills before we add more enemy camps and bosses to the game. Your feedback is crucial to us, therefore we want you to test an early version of this system so that we know what elements of it will require the most polishing before the 1.0 release.

From Peasant to Legend Part 2



Last week, we introduced our new perk-based progression system and showcased the first two paths to enhance your experience. Now, it's time to delve deeper. This week, we’re excited to reveal additional paths that will boost your combat abilities and spiritual growth. These new paths will offer unique skills and benefits, empowering you to master both the art of battle and the depths of spirituality.

[h3]Way of the Warrior[/h3]

This one focuses mainly on two aspects -- hunting and combat. You will level it up by defeating enemies and killing animals, which will make you more efficient in skinning (something you may already be familiar with). And as we introduce our new combat system, you will also get perks that unlock new fighting moves, make your weapons and knives more efficient, and make you more deadly in general.



[h3]Way of the Monk[/h3]

It’s more than a tribute to Japanese spirituality. In medieval Japan, monks were also warriors and administrators, so this path would include some jack-of-all-trades perks. One could focus on inward perfection, boosting your stats and making you more impervious to the dangers of the natural world, while another would improve your relations with traders and make exploration easier.



[h3]Additional features[/h3]

As a general principle, we wanted perks to feel meaningful, and make specific playstyles more tempting. Since it is impossible to make all perks equally powerful, we also want to balance them with two small features.

Apart from the current progression mechanism that allows you to unlock higher-tier perks only when you have unlocked a certain number of lower-tier ones, we want some perks to have other specific perks unlocked as requirements, so that you never waste a perk point on something that is not yet effective for your character.

The second improvement will make some perks upgradeable -- you will be able to invest in specific bonuses, making them better, as an alternative to dipping into other aspects and unlocking completely new perks.

As you can see one feature introduces necessary limitations while another expands the flexibility.
You can expect dozens of perks and their upgrades in each Way of Life to be gradually added to Sengoku Dynasty in the coming updates.

We hope you will be here with us for the ride!

PS: Please also have a look at our No Better Neighbourhood Contest on Discord. We are looking for beautiful villages in screenshots and/or video clips! Prizes to be won!