Keeper's Toll News

Born from darkness and forged by tragedy, the shadow monk walks the path of vengeance, embracing the shadows as his deadliest ally. This hero utilizes his fast reflexes to pummel his enemies with quick strikes. Weaving in and out of combat he can unleash disabling combos.



We are in the final phases of balancing and testing the Shadow Monk. He will be joining the cast of playable characters this month, though we don't have a specific date as to when he will go live. All we can say is he will be in the game once he's ready, and that it will be soon.

Each class within Keeper's Toll offers a truly distinct gameplay experience. Our classes are characterized by their individuality, showcasing an absence of shared abilities, playstyles and stats. Each class boasts its own set of distinctive mechanics that truly set it apart.

If you're eager to delve deeper into the qualities that define the Shadow Monk, we invite you to watch a hands on preview video. (Not final and the class is still subject to change as we continue testing)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you don't want any spoilers, here's some GIFs instead:



No new build this week as we decided to spend extra time working on the Shadow Monk so we can get him into testing. Next week we will resume weekly builds. The launch of the Shadow Monk will mark our transition from version 0.5.x of Keeper's Toll to 0.6.x. When we get to 0.6.x we will provide an updated Roadmap so everyone has a general idea of what content is coming and when it will be added to the game. We are planning to launch 0.6.x on October 1.

If you are updating from Soul Survivors to Keeper's Toll, there is a migration thread here, with full details:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2002220/discussions/1/5966762350807679166/


As always, thank you to everyone for your support. We appreciate you all joining us here in our Early Access journey. There's loads of new content to come. We're still early!

If you have any comments, questions or feedback please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you.

Stingbot

Welcome to Keeper's Toll!



**It's important to note that you should uninstall and re-install the game. Do not simply update, as this could cause issues because the new directory does not yet exist.**

Why did we change the game name from Soul Survivors to Keeper's Toll?

1. It gives us a unique identity as opposed to being the 100th + game with Survivors in the title.

2. Being branded as a VS clone does not do us justice. We are not trying to be VS. We are trying to be Keeper's Toll. We take a slower paced, more skill based approach to the gameplay, we have a heavier focus on unique character classes and our plan is and has always been to build an ARPG/Roguelite hybrid with some survivor elements thrown in the mix.

3. Kalinov, the Keeper of Souls, is an NPC you will encounter when we reach version 0.7.x (Castle Usvit). He's very important to the story and premise of the game. We are currently working on integrating story elements into the game. Paying the Keeper's Toll to reclaim your soul is the game's premise, and how you will do this will be unveiled later on.

[h2]UPDATING THE GAME[/h2]

With changing the name, comes some very important things you need to be aware of. Effective immediately:

1. It's important to note that you should uninstall and re-install the game. Do not simply update, as this could cause issues because the new directory does not yet exist.

2. Your Cloud Saves will not work and the game will not run until you update. The reason being is the game is now located in a new directory in Windows.

**If you encounter cloud sync errors while saving after updating/migrating the save files, please scroll to the bottom of this post**

3. The executable will not launch until you update. The game is now called Keeper's Toll, so if you are stuck on Soul Survivors, the executable name that Steam looks for will no longer exist and the game will fail to launch.

4. We automatically transfer your Save Data when you launch the game, however settings such as Screen Resolution and Windowed Mode will be reset, and you will need to reset these settings to your preference. Your actual data of Gold, Level Unlocks, Achievement data etc, will be automatically migrated for you when you first boot up the new version of the game. The game simply checks the old directory for save data, and if it exists, it will transfer to the new directory automatically. If your data does not transfer properly for whatever reason, we are including another thread on how to manually transfer your save data. It's important to note that if the transfer fails, your data is not lost, so don't worry. It still exists in the old directory. You can view the Save Data Migration thread to manually transfer your data here:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2002220/discussions/1/3845556684660265428/

There's also further information at the bottom of this thread.

[h2]Patch Notes: 0.5.32[/h2]

- New title screen for the rebrand of Keeper's Toll

- Wrote Save Migration code and updated Save Data logic

- Flesh Golem Boss: fixed an exploit that allowed the player to just ignore the boss and farm xp endlessly. The golem will now enrage if not killed within 3 minutes

- Improved player hit detection by applying a bright red shader when the player is hit, and increased the duration of the flash effect

- Boosted the gold collection passive skill from 10-20% bonus gold collected per rank. Also improved the logic to improve drop rates

- Decreased audio volume of soul collect sound FX to feel more balanced and less overpowering

- Bogatyr: Boosted Damage output for Shade of Vengeance

- Rewrote all logic related to enemy projectiles to improve performance and adjusted the collision matrix

- Restructured logic to swapping shaders for enemies or the player at runtime, improving efficiency

- Bug Fix: If player is hit while the frostveil curse is active, the shader will now properly reset to the ice shader instead of the default shader once the player sprite flashes red

- Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with Flesh Golem's stab attack that prevented it from inflicting damage more than once

- Bug Fix: Necromancer - Vital Force passive ability is now working properly. It was calculating HP based on enemy HP, not player HP.

- Bug Fix: Fixed navigating between characters on the Talents Menu

- Updated Save System backend to be more efficient and fixed some very rare bugs

- Updated Game Credits


Thank you to everyone that has been on this journey with us. We've got lots of new content to come, and next week we'll announce what's coming in the near future. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions, comments or feedback. For direct support we recommend emailing us, DM'ing us or joining our Discord.

Stingbot

**For Cloud Sync and other Save Issues**

If, after updating the game you are getting Cloud Sync errors, the issue could be that Steam is still attempting to sync data from the old directory. Here is how to fix this:

1. Navigate to the local low directory in Windows. In short it’s under:
c:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\LocalLow

You will need to activate Hidden Files to see the AppData folder. To do this you can select View > Advanced > Show Hidden Files.

2. Locate the Stingbot Games folder and inside you will find a folder for "Soul Survivors" and "Keeper's Toll." If both exist, simply delete the Soul Survivors folder. This should clear the sync. If no folder exists for Keeper's Toll, you can right click and create new folder and call it Keeper's Toll. The spelling must be exact. You may need to grant administrator priveleges to do this. Once the folder exists you can manually copy your save files from the Soul Survivors folder to the Keeper's Toll folder. These save files are called "Data.Save" and "Achievements.Save."

If you still have issues, please contact us for further assistance. The fastest way to reach us is in the Keeper's Toll Discord server, but you can also email us at [email protected] or create a thread in the bugs forum for further assistance.

Big Changes are coming to Soul Survivors, and this first change might come as a shock, but let's start with branding. We realize some people don't like change, but Early Access is and has always been about improving the game to us, and over the past few months we have improved a lot!

Soon, the game will no longer be called Soul Survivors. We will be announcing the new name as soon as the new promotional art and logo is finished up (likely next week).

We are not abandoning the game. We are simply re-branding, as we strongly believe this is the right decision for the long term. The game itself is not changing, and we will continue to push out weekly updates as we progress forward in Early Access.

Second, We would like to introduce you to Kalinov, the Keeper of Souls. Kalinov is a key character, not yet in the game, but he will be introduced when we arrive at Castle Usvit in version 0.7.x.



We want to introduce you now, as he is going to play a role in the rebranding of the game.

If you've been here since the beginning you will know there have been a massive amount of changes and improvements we've made to the game, and we will continue to improve the game until it is finished. We released in Early Access to build a small community and get player feedback to develop the best version of this game, and we believe we are succeeding in that. We listen to everything players say and we appreciate the feedback!

There is lots of other changes to come over the coming weeks/months, including a new character class, The Shadow Monk, a new XP system, enhanced lighting and scenery with new environment props and additions, and lots more. We will post more on all of this in the coming weeks.

[h2]Build 0.5.30 Notes:[/h2]

- NEW Curse: Avarice Arrows. Greed may get the best of you!

- Inferno Flames spawned from Inferno Boots merchant item are now pooled for a slight performance boost

- Improved Inferno Flames sprite sorting logic so it renders properly relative to other enemies in the scene

- UI - Fixed/Improved Resolution Dropdown scrolling while using a gamepad

- UI - Added the ability to scroll through input bindings using a gamepad

- Improved logic for input detection to easily change between different control schemes

- Bug Fix: when returning to Application from alt-tabbing there should no longer be issues enabling input with the controller

- Bug Fix: Input Bindings - If a binding is currently listening for input then the other bindings will no longer be selectable until the player presses input or exits the menu

- Bug Fix: Input Bindings - When re entering the bindings menu after exiting the menu while listening for input, the buttons are properly re-initialized and navigation is reset

- Bug Fix: fixed an ability pooling issue with some abilities for the ranger

- Changed some logic related to slowing certain types of enemies

- Loads of text has been updated to prep for Localization

- Code refactoring

Thank you for all your support. If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out. We strive to release a new build every week, so stay posted for more updates. Lots to come!

Stingbot

This week's build is a smaller update, but not because we have not been working hard on the game. Quite the contrary. We're working extremely hard right now as we have so much stuff planned to announce over the course of the next few months. There's going to be some big updates/announcements soon, and we look forward to sharing the details with everyone as soon as we can.

[h2]Devlog - World Generation[/h2]

Are you a game dev, an aspiring game dev or just someone who appreciates how stuff is created? Then you may enjoy our new video we uploaded to YouTube. Did you know our world is a hybrid of random and procedural generation? We share some details about how this system works. Let us know if you would like to see more of this type of stuff and we'd be happy to make some new DevLog videos as we continue development.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Progress Update[/h2]

Next week we'll have some big announcements along with our weekly build update. In the meantime rest assured we are putting insane hours into the creation of the Shadow Monk class and Castle Usvit. We make more and more progress every week. We'll post more details on all of this soon.

[h2]Build 0.5.29 Notes[/h2]

- NEW: Uncommon Merchant Item: Inferno Boots. Burn your enemies across the battlefield with this powerful new set of boots.

- Added some frost particle FX to Bogatyr's Frost Strike Passive to improve visibility

- Bug Fix: Added a check against an enemy to only become slowed/display slow icon if AI is actually still alive. If becoming slowed during the same frame the enemy is killed, then it should no longer trigger the slow effect on the enmy

- Bug Fix: Cursed Elites will now properly reset shaders after poison fades, displaying the outline if it's toggled on or off

- Improved Key Bindings Logic and added in-game keyboard binding support for Movement (Up,Down,Left,Right). More to come

- Popup windows will now be automatically closed when the merchant window is activated, to prevent UI overlap

- Code refactoring

As always, thank you for your continued support. There's lots more to come. If you have any feedback, bugs to report or just wanna chat, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Stingbot

[h2]Bruce Lee to Shadow Chi[/h2]



The upcoming fighter class has undergone some big changes in design and appearance. From a traditional martial artist to an armored monk, we have now arrived at what will be the final class form: The Shadow Monk. The Shadow Monk is inspired by characters such as Noob Saibot from Mortal Kombat, and of course, our love for Dark Fantasy and Souls-lore. He's got his own set of unique abilities and a completely new combo system we designed just for him that we think you all are going to love. We spent a lot of time working on class design including developing cool synergies and fighting styles that can literally transform the game depending how you build the character. We're doing something different with this class and we can't wait to show you more!

Here's a timeline showing the character art development:



We plan to add the Shadow Monk to the game sometime later next month! Stay posted for lots more details and some videos in the coming weeks.

[h2]Castle Usvit[/h2]

Our newer content is becoming more polished and we have lots of tricks up our sleeve to plan to update older content as we continue development. We'll have some interesting updates soon on Castle Usvit, so stay posted for some previews, lore and some minor details on what to expect and how it takes our design and gameplay to the next level.

[h2]Build 0.5.28 Notes: [/h2]

- NEW: Necromancer Passive Skill: Bone Venom: Skeletons have a chance to proc poison on any hit

- NEW: Ranger Passive Skill: Chilled Shot: Small chance to shoot an icy quick shot, slowing enemies for 5 seconds

- NEW: Bogatyr Passive Skill: Frost Strike: Small chance to shoot an ice-coated quick strike, slowing enemies for 5 seconds

- NEW: Merchant Item: Nimble Boots: Makes the wearer immune to root (excludes enemy attacks) and take 50% reduced damage from spike traps

- Usvit Depths: Reduced HP of the Skelewheel Elite, Armored Monk Elite and Butcher Cursed Elite

- Usvit Depths: Butcher Elites can no longer spawn during a Challenge Event. Only the Cursed elite can be a butcher

- Challenge Event: Elites that are not tied to the event will no longer spawn while the event is active

- Adjusted the Circle for Sundance Curse in usvit Depths. It was improperly scaling resulting in some lines overlapping between sprites

- Bug Fix: Necromancer flail damage boost will now be properly affected by the Thresh Talent

- Bug Fix: Necromancer flail will no longer receive multiplier dmg based on selecting the character over and over again in the character select menu

- Bug Fix: Fixed a null pointer related to enemy Slow logic

- When starting a new game, the game can no longer be paused until the camera fade is complete

- Adjusted some Curse Logic for what can be played with a nightmare cloak in Usvit Depths

- Text Formatting Updates

- Loads of Code refactoring

Don't forget, we have a community thread where you can share ideas for new items to add to the Merchant's pool:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2002220/discussions/0/3802777561344234382/


We also have a thread for adding ideas for more Curses:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2002220/discussions/0/3810658408032922878/


Thank you all for your support, and the best is yet to come. We appreciate all the feedback, bug reports, suggestions etc. Never hesitate to reach out. There's lots more to come!

Stingbot