Darfall News

Hi all,
The 1.2 demo game version is out that features a more easier starting economy and 2 new tutorial steps that teach you about the importance of map exploration, as well as numerous fixes and improvements.

This update combines 2 patches together, the bigger 1.1 and smaller 1.2.



[h3]New Features[/h3]

- added explore with hero tutorial step
- added reach level 2 tutorial step
- each warrior now has map icon over their head when zooming out to better see them

[h3]Balance[/h3]

- energy recharge rate increased by 33%
- fireball cooldown increased from 3s to 6s
- woodcutter build cost decreased
- quarry build cost decreased
- farm build cost decreased
- storage build cost decreased
- salvaging items now rewards much more resources
- decreased cost for some building upgrades
- lamp aura now costs charcoal instead of mana orbs
- undead camps now drop more mana orbs
- stone gate hitpoints increased from 1500 to 2500
- increased damage of fire circle

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

- hero energy now gets refilled to full when hero levels up
- roads can now be built around outpost
- can now upgrade wooden walls, even when both wooden and stone walls are selected
- added tooltip to hero level and experience count
- added new sound effects
- added text scroll-up when collecting mana orbs
- increased loading screen tip duration, so you can read it better
- added arrow above Grimwick, so people know where to begin
- auto-save now gets triggered every 10mins instead of 5mins

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

- fixed fireball hitting small bones instead of intended enemies
- fixed fireball sometimes hitting enemies behind hero
- fixed assigning workers via cursor not working correctly
- necromancer can no longer shoot through walls
- fixed multiple errors reported by users
- fixed 2nd worker unable to work if only 1 resource left
- fixed game end screen does not pause the game
- fixed salvage tutorial sometimes cannot be completed
- possible fixed issue where loading a game freezes enemies or spawns them at 0,0
- fixed audio and video settings not saving correctly
- fixed enemies can sometimes get stuck when trying to reach unreachable position





[h3]Balance[/h3]

- decreased bow and armor drops

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

- improved fire circle effect

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

- can no longer construct structures near enemies
- fixed ambience volume is sometimes not correct
- fixed typo in one of the tutorial steps

[h3]Demo LIVE[/h3]
Hello everyone, our Steam Demo is now LIVE and available for all to play!

You can play the Demo up to day 6, but the top 1% of skilled players may be able to reach day 7, after which a demon invasion will wipe out your city and end the demo.

• Join our Discord to compare your highest scores.
  
• Share this Demo with your friends and boast about your high scores.
  
• Explore the map to find secret "streamer trees" placed randomly throughout the map, and share your findings in Discord channel (trees are quite hard to find)
  
• Report any issues you encounter and share your suggestions throughout our in-game feedback panel.
  

Make sure to join our Discord channel, as we may be holding a Steam Key Giveaway contest once a week.


[h3]This Demo features[/h3]

• The first playable map, "Grimwick", set in a grassland biome
  
• The option to play as the hero character, Archmage
  
• Survival mode, playable up to day 6, where players can compare their scores with others
  

[h3]Demo difficulty[/h3]
In terms of difficulty, the Demo wave structure is as follows:

• Waves 1-3 are of normal difficulty
  
• Wave 4 is of hard difficulty
  
• Wave 5 is of very hard difficulty
  
• Wave 6 is of ultra hard difficulty, only 1% if players can get past this
  
• Wave 7 is impossible to survive, ending the demo
  

The Full Early Access version will not include ultra-hard difficulties, allowing players to fully experience Grimwick and other levels with all game features included.

We are excited for all of you to get a taste of Darfall and enjoy this "quick" preview. See you in the game!

Martin and Lukas from beyond the darkness of Darfall.

Hello everyone and welcome to our 6th Darfall update. It's me Lukas and today I’m going to show you the world map for the game.

We hope you enjoyed the last Legendary Items Update, where we explained how the various legendary powers can be obtained within the Darfall.

We're excited to share with you a more detailed look at the development of the survival world map for our game, which takes place on a part of the continent known as Aganor. The survival map is an integral part of our game, allowing players to test their skills and endurance as they fight against waves of enemy attacks.

To begin, we prototyped various ideas for how a survival mode in our game might look. Our first idea was to have a series of tiles, each representing a different biome and level of difficulty, that would unlock as players survived through previous tiles.



But we wanted to incorporate more lore and world-building into Darfall, so we decided to go with a full continent map where players would have to fight their way through increasingly difficult parts of the map.

Initially, we thought about creating a 2D map in the style of classical maps you might find in other games.



However, we quickly realised that a 2D map wouldn't allow us to include the kind of effects, animations, and depth we wanted to achieve. So, we decided to go with a full 3D map instead.

(Me drawing a rough shape and outline of the map and its locations)


Using Magica Voxel, a 3D modeling software, and Adobe Fresco, we drew a rough outline of the landmass and its various biomes, including forests, mountains, and deserts. We also gave each location and place a unique name to help immerse players in the game world.



Martin then created the first version of the world using these designs. After several iterations, we brought the map into the editor and added locations, models, and particles like clouds to add to the overall atmosphere.



This is how the map looks currently before the demo release. It's still a work in progress, but it's shaping up nicely. As you can see, the survival map only covers a part of the continent. The rest of the continent, including the capital, will be part of the campaign mode.



In the game, players start in Grimwick, located on the northwest point of the map. This is the first map players are tasked with attacking, rebuilding, and purging of undead corruption. As players progress through the map and complete each area, new biomes and locations will unlock, each with their own level of difficulty. Each biome - grassland, desert, and swamp - has three maps, representing three levels of difficulty (normal, hard, and very hard).

Creating the survival map was a challenging but rewarding process. We hope that players enjoy exploring the various biomes and locations on the map and testing their skills against the undead.

Thanks for reading, and we can't wait to see you in the game!

Martin and Lukas from beyond the darkness of Darfall.

Hello everyone,

closed "beta" is open again from NOW for all who register via the Steam playtest button.
The playtest will last till January 11 (Wednesday) 23:00 CET (14:00 PT)

Please don't hesitate to record & stream the gameplay anywhere you like. Also please try to submit any bugs you encounter or send us suggestions, either via discord channels (there is dedicated channels in playtest category) or via integrated in-game feedback panel ("bug" button). We'll really appreciate those of you who'll report and may promote you to @Tester on Darfall Discord server to get more early builds in the future.

Who is comfortable can record their gameplay and share it with us devs (e.g. google drive or youtube as unlisted video) as this helps us greatly to analyse player behaviour or issues you may encounter (you can write us DM with the link afterwards)
As this is only a playtest, it will offer just a limited amount of gameplay where you can survive up to day 6 or 7, maybe some skillers will make it till day 8 (then a final wave will come that wipes your entire city and all living things in it).

Martin (and Lukas)

Hello everyone,

closed "beta" will open this Friday 15:00 CET (06:00 PT) for all who register via the Steam playtest button.

The playtest will last till next Monday 23:00 CET (14:00 PT), so reserve your time 😜

Please don't hesitate to record & stream the gameplay anywhere you like. Also please try to submit any bugs you encounter or send us suggestions, either via discord channels (there will be dedicated channels) or via integrated in-game feedback panel ("bug" button).
We'll really appreciate those of you who'll report and may promote you to @Tester (on our Discord channel) to get more early builds in the future.

Who is comfortable can record their gameplay with, or without commentary and share it with us devs (e.g. google drive or youtube as unlisted video) as this helps us greatly to analyse player behaviour or issues you may encounter (you can write us DM with the link afterwards)

As this is only a Demo playtest, it will offer just a limited amount of gameplay where you can survive up to day 6 (then a final wave will come that wipes your entire city and all living things in it 😈 )

For those who request access during the playtest period, we'll regularly let you in.

Martin (and Lukas)