Ghostlore News

Ghostlore is 20% off! Get it now! Friendly reminder that the game is now story complete!

Well, this update took a little longer than usual, (two months instead of one) but we’re finally done with the final story act of Ghostlore!

The reason it took so long is because the ending has many scripted sequences. This means that aside from new art assets which I had to create, I had to coordinate quite a lot with Adam who does the programming.

This final act is suitably dramatic. If you are Singaporean, I hope you will enjoy the parts that relate to the local Redhill legend. For the people who have supported Ghostlore in the past, there is a sequence you should look out for as well.

It's all still extremely rough around the edges and we are working on polishing whatever we can. If you are trying in Early Access and already have reached the Sewers, you may experience some weirdness in the story event triggering since the Sewers mission is supposed to lead directly into the final one, but hopefully nothing that stops you from actually completing the game. If you want to experience the full story as a cohesive thing, it is recommended that you start a fresh game and play from beginning to end.

The conclusion of Ghostlore’s story is a major milestone for us, but development is far from over. We will be doing a major revamp to the game’s skill system to allow for customization and character builds. We also have a plethora of post-game and side content planned. We have updated the early access FAQ to reflect this. Thank you!

- Andrew

[h3]Ghostlore Early Access FAQ (Updated)[/h3]

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? We intend for the game to be in early access for a few months, but less than a year (12 months).

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? Ever since early access launch, we've been working diligently to push out regular content updates at a pace of 1 - 2 months, with more to come. Here are some of the things that players can look forward to, roughly in the order of when they would be complete:

Map refinements - More interesting setpieces added to the various locations in the game.

Skill system revamp - Based on current player feedback, we are looking to revamp the skill upgrade system. There would be a variety of new skills and skill upgrades.

More monsters - more monsters from other Southeast Asian regions, such as Philippines, Vietnamese and Thai folklore.

Side-game and post-game content - We have plans to add side content to the game, as well as greatly expand on the current post-game experience.

Polish, balancing and co-op/controller support - The full version of the game will be more polished than what is currently in Early Access. The game will be balanced so that a large number of playstyles will be viable. Controller and co-op mode will be refined.

What is the current state of the Early Access version? For the early access launch, we ensured the core essentials of the game - fighting monsters, getting loot and progressing your character - were already present and polished to a high degree.

In addition, as of September 2022, we have hit a major milestone of Ghostlore being story complete. Players can now play through the entire story from start to finish. After completion of the story, the procedurally generated endless mode becomes available. So even in Early Access, players can look forward to hours of entertainment and ever greater challenges.

The later portions of the game, being more recent additions, are noticeably ‘jankier’ than earlier portions. They will of course be polished for launch. Nonetheless, we have done our best to ensure that said portions are crash free.

In terms of controller support, currently, the default keyboard and mouse controls is the best way to experience the game. We hope to improve the experience with controllers in the future.
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? Based on community feedback, we have in fact increased the scope of our project from what we have originally planned. The decision to revamp the skill system, add more monsters and greatly expand on the game’s side and post content has all been in direct response to what we have been seeing in our Discord server, forums and game reviews so far. So if there is anything you would like to see in Ghostlore, these three avenues are the best way to get your voice heard.

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The sale runs from Aug 4-8 10am PST. And includes live broadcasts to celebrate and showcase the lineup.

The Nightmarket Festival 2022 is the first-ever Steam sales event focusing on promoting games from the SEA region, breaking cultural barriers, and raising awareness for the region’s gaming scene. We introduce awesome games with a local touch, just like the night market culture commonly seen here -- filled with creativity, diversity, and great fun.

[h2]The Nightmarket Festival Live Show Program[/h2]

[h3]Aug 5-6 23:00 - 08:30 PST (in Mandarin)[/h3]
Featured games: OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition, My Lovely Wife, Alina of the Arena, Potion Permit, SIMULACRA 3, Minds Beneath Us

[h3]Aug 6-7 23:00 - 01:30 PST (in English)[/h3] [convert to time zones suitable for your followers]
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https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nightmarketfest_2022

Hey everyone, we are back with a new update, bringing about a ton of exciting new improvements and content to the game.


The new map once again takes place in Seaport itself, this time bringing you underground, deep into the heart of darkness…

…well, actually, the map ends in a pretty awkward place. This mission, being the penultimate story mission, is supposed to lead directly into the final mission. But the final mission isn’t ready yet. So the ending to this one is a little placeholder-y right now. Please bear with us as we work to finish the final mission, which should be out by next month.

[h2]New Enemy: Aphotic Lurkers[/h2]
We also have a new enemy to go with this sewer-themed area:

These new enemies are swordfish. Geddit? Fish? With swords? Hahahaha... Okay, sorry about that. These ferocious creatures are based on the swordfish found in the famous Singapore legend of Red Hill.



We are also providing a bunch of cool new features that are meant to improve the user experience, based on player feedback.

[h2]Shared Stash[/h2]
We finally have a shared stash, allowing you to transfer items between characters:

[h2]Gem Pouch[/h2]
For those who still struggle with inventory clutter, there is a gem pouch that you can purchase to store your gems away:


Work will continue on the UI. Some players have mentioned that the stat descriptions can be a little bit ambiguous, so the next thing on my agenda is clearer descriptions for stats, and possibly a way to filter/organise them. This is something that I will have to work closely with the programmer Adam.

To give a bit of insight into how we work: I (Andrew) do the art, and Adam does the code. The game design, however, is a shared duty between the both of us.

For example, for the level design I would build various segments of the map, while Adam’s procedural generation algorithm connects them together. For systems design, I would give broad ideas of how things like the glyph system and skill upgrades should function, and then leave the maths to Adam. Occasionally, things will not quite add up, so Adam might tweak certain mechanics to ensure a more balanced and satisfying play experience.

This has resulted in embarrassing situations where players on the Discord will ask me how certain things get calculated, and honestly, I don’t know! You have to ask Adam. But nevertheless, with clearer stat descriptions, hopefully these questions will be put to rest.


The scaling of the Hospital map has been adjusted, and the ectoplasms will not split so much any more. This is to solve the issue of the hospital map being very laggy for some players. If any of you are still encountering this, please let us know.


Based on player demand, we have decided to significantly extend our project scope to include more post game and side content. Here is a sneak preview:
I’ll leave it to you to google what ‘Orang Bunian’ is ;)

Remember Nadir mentioned something early on about an ‘Institute of Paranormal Studies’? Well, let’s just say you’ll get to pay a visit...

So rest assured, we have a clear direction on how we want to expand the game and provide a more varied experience. Do note, however, that these new features are still in the planning stages and might get adjusted along the way. We got one last story map to go, and then we will focus on these. Till next time!

Andrew

Hi all,

We are glad to see that people are enjoying Ghostlore. Presently, we are hard at work developing the game in accordance to our early access plans.




We have just released another new map, Batu Sinaran. Batu Sinaran continues the main narrative of the game, and will be added into the pool of maps in endless Hell Gate mode.



When we initially released Ghostlore with 6 locations, we mentioned that we are 60% done. With the addition of the Hospital in the previous update and with Batu Sinaran in this one, this brings us to 8/10 of the planned locations. A number of people have expressed that this means the narrative is quite short. This is intended; As a first-timer when it comes to writing a videogame, I decided I wanted to keep the story simple.

That being said, since you guys have asked, I have started to think of some ideas for new content. These ideas will expand the lore of the game and will require brand-new art assets. I also will need some time to propose these ideas to the people working with me, and even more time to implement/refine them. I hope to be able to share these ideas with you in the near future.




We are aware that the tooltips for some items, especially legendary items, could sometimes end up being larger that the screen space, which results in information being cut off. Because of this, we have decided to switch to using a more compact font.



This is just one of the many quality-of-life changes we have on the list for the UI. In the coming days, I hope to be able to re-look at the UI and clean up some of the other issues, for a smoother and better experience.




Those of you who are observant might've realized there have been some subtle changes to the visuals over the past few weeks. Basically, the colours for some of the objects have been edited to look more cohesive. Post processing has been tweaked to be easier on the eyes as well. Overall, the game now looks more naturalistic and less like (as someone on Reddit had said previously) 'a technicolor bomb had just went off'. This was actually a pretty serious issue as some people were reporting eye-strain with how strong some of the colours were. Doing this was a lot trickier than one might imagine, different screens are calibrated differently and the game must look good on all of them. It was the result of a great deal of trial and error.

During this time I also took the chance to add some new props and brush up some of the old ones. I was looking at pictures of old Singapore to see how I can make it more evocative of the locale and time period. This is an ongoing effort, new props and set pieces will eventually be added to the maps to better flesh out the world of Ghostlore.

In addition, there is a new shader effect that makes the grass and plants sway gently in the breeze. It's a pretty cool effect that this gif does not give any justice to, so do try the game to see for yourself. We have also improved the lighting for light sources in game and adjusted the lighting at night.



Well, that's all for now. Please look forward to more updates and as always, you can reach out to us via our Discord or Twitter.

- Andrew