Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader News

A way to play our games with friends is something that our players have been asking for a very long time, ever since our very first game - Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Back then, we lacked the experience and resources and couldn’t even consider such an undertaking.

But we’ve come a long way since then. And when the development of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader started, the question, “what if our game had multiplayer?” kept popping up again and again. The team debated this at length, with some of the discussions getting quite heated! Eventually, we decided that we wanted to step up to the challenge of delivering a multiplayer experience.

It’s about time we talk about our implementation!



[h2]The Lord Captain and Their Crew[/h2]

The biggest challenge in creating co-op mode was to decide how to fit multiple players into our story. As the story is one of the things players appreciate the most in our games, we saw no point in multiplayer without allowing the players to experience the main campaign. But given the nature of the unfolding narrative, there can only be one Lord Captain on the von Valancius flagship! So how did we get around that?

After discussing our options, we’ve decided not to try artificially stretching the story to fit multiple equally important protagonists. Instead, we’ve taken the route of inherently asymmetrical gameplay, where one player takes up on the role of the Lord Captain, and the other players form their crew, assisting their leader in battle, exploration, and management.

Of course, this asymmetrical approach does put some limitations on the gameplay for other players: for example, only the Lord Captain can select options in dialogue and book events (although other players can vote using ALT button), decide to enter some locations, or make certain important irreversible gameplay decisions such as levelling up the ship. This, however, allows us to deliver the same story experience as in singleplayer, gives the host the option to continue playing the campaign in the absence of some players (or even convert it back to a singleplayer campaign), and, let’s be frank, reduces some potential misclicking and trolling chaos. Sorry, Heretical players!



[h2]An Adventure for up to 6 Players[/h2]

Rogue Trader supports up to 6 players in a single co-op game, matching with the maximum available number of characters in the party.

The host can distribute the characters between players as they see fit at any time. If the host wants, they may give multiple characters to a certain player, have a player become a spectator, or even transfer control of the Lord Captain to someone else. This may prove handy in situations where someone needs to go AFK.



A player in control of the characters can move them, engage in combat, loot, level up, manage their equipment and pass skill checks the same as they would normally do in single player.



The only exception is that in co-op, the game will not automatically pick the most capable member of the group for a given skill check (such as opening a door, learning about an object, blowing up a barricade, etc.) during ground exploration - the icon must manually be clicked by the player with this character. So don’t forget to keep track of who’s good at what!

[h2]One Step From Singleplayer to Multiplayer[/h2]

Other players may hop in and leave the campaign on the fly, effectively allowing the host player to alternate between singleplayer and multiplayer at any moment. Depending on your preferences, you may have your friends with you through the whole journey, or invite them only sporadically to show them an exciting story moment or beat a particularly challenging boss. It is also possible for another player to save the game and become the host for the next session or continue it in singleplayer if they wish.

Keep in mind that it may take some time for a full 6-person party to be assembled. The game starts with only the Rogue Trader in play. The first 3 companions appear within the first hour of gameplay, while the rest of them may take a few more hours to find and include in the party. Other players may either join the campaign a bit later, as soon as there are enough characters to play, or spend some time as spectators, voting for options and witnessing the story until a character becomes available.

Normally, only the main player gets to customise their character, while other players take control of the existing story companions. However, the group may agree to give up some story content related to the companions in favour of more customisation. In this case, before starting a multiplayer session, the main player may launch the game and utilise the mercenary system to create fully custom characters for their friends by talking to High Factotum Janris Danrock on the voidship bridge. This feature becomes available after a few hours into the game as soon as you get access to the bridge.

Currently it’s impossible to do this from the cooperative session itself, but in near future, we plan to add such possibility.



[h2]Share the Burden of Responsibility[/h2]

Perhaps the most important thing in co-op play is interactivity.

While some irreversible decisions and actions are the sole prerogative of the Lord Captain, and the participation of the other players in these is limited to voting, most of the game’s systems and mechanics are available to all players.

As we already mentioned above, character levelling and equipment is managed by their respective controlling players. In addition to that, all players have full access to looting, shared inventory, and cargo, as well as vendors, the trade empire management interface, and ship equipment. These mechanics are a good way for players to do something during downtime on the bridge, where characters other than the Rogue Trader can’t be directly controlled.



As for space combat, we’ve tested multiple approaches, such as having only the Lord Captain control everything, using the voting system, or even distributing different ship systems and management responsibilities between players. But it all felt clunky and not interactive enough.

That’s why we went with the implementation that gathered the most positive feedback among the team: full shared control of the ship during combat, where every player can use anything, and it’s up to them to decide which systems players will get control of!

During space exploration, most actions are story-related and thus reserved for the Lord Captain. However, other players can still vote on options in exploration dialogues and use vendors once the ship reaches them.



[h2]Acceptable Casualties[/h2]

One of the major aspects in Warhammer 40000: Rogue Trader’s ground combat system is the potential for friendly fire. Allies may miss their intended targets, a shot may accidentally penetrate an enemy to hit a friendly target behind them, or someone may simply decide that the ends justify the means and unleash a chain lightning into the ongoing melee.

In co-op mode, this aspect is increasingly important: every player has their own vision of tactics, so it’s crucial to coordinate your effort to avoid dying at the hands of your teammates! We recommend gathering a trusted team and not being too frugal with your medikits, especially when your comrades' life is on the line.



[h2]How to play a cooperative game[/h2]

To start a cooperative game, simply launch an existing save or start a new game, then go through the normal character creation process. Once you’re in the game, press ESC and select “Cooperative mode”. Invite your friends through the respective store overlay (e.g. Steam) or give them the server ID, visible on the top of the screen. Once everyone is ready, you may use the “Roles'' button to distribute characters. And now your crew is set to conquer the Koronus Expanse!



If you wish to join a game, enter the lobby by clicking the “Cooperative mode” button in the main menu, selecting the same server (EU, US, etc.) in the list above as the host, and then proceed to input the server ID given to you by the host. Alternatively, simply use the Steam (or other store) overlay to accept an invitation sent by your friend.

It is possible to use the server ID to play between different stores (but not between PC and Mac at the moment). In future, we plan to bring the co-op mode to consoles and add crossplay between platforms - we’ll announce this feature separately.

[h2]Let Them Know Your Name![/h2]

Now that your team is assembled, Lord Captain, it’s time to board your voidship and head onwards to meet your destiny!

May the von Valancius trade protectorate remain strong and prosperous, and the vast riches of the Koronus Expanse fall tumbling into your hands. The Emperor protects!

Greetings, Lord Captain!

We are pleased to inform you that the release of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is getting closer. The journey into the depths of the Koronus Expanse will begin as early as December 7, 2023. Are you ready? Make sure you are with our checklist.

And get ready to claim your brand new game key - these are available, starting on December 4.

If you purchased one of the editions of the game at roguetrader.owlcat.games, then log in to your account. If you forgot your password and have trouble recovering it, please contact [email protected] - we will help you.

After that, check the Digital Downloads tab: there you will be able to obtain the game key. You will be able to activate the game on the following platforms: PC or Mac.

As for now, the keys for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S are not available - they will become available right on the day of the release. The same stays for the GOG keys on the PC - they will be available on December, 7. Important note: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is NOT optimized for PlayStation 4 and the older versions of the Xbox.

If you choose to activate the key on PC, you will be able to select between a key for Steam or EGS. Please be careful: once you have obtained a key for a particular platform, you will not be able to switch back and replace, for example, a Steam key with a EGS key.
After receiving the key, you will be able to activate it in the corresponding program or launcher. Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader will appear in your game list. You will be able to download the game only starting from the release day, the 7th of December.

If after purchasing one of the editions of the game you have a promo code for the portal, please note: it is intended to be activated by another user.

That's all for now. See you in the Koronus Expanse, Lord Captain!

Every component of a game matters. An engaging story, believable and memorable characters, balanced gameplay, unique features, and an impressive visual aesthetic are all prominent aspects that grab players’ attention. However, there’s one more element that binds everything together and brings immersion to the next level. Music and sound design are one of our studio’s signature touches. Today we’re going to tell you a little about this process and all the creative and inventive ways our composers used sound and music to bring Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader to life. We now go over to Paweł Perepelica, one of the project’s composers and the writers of the game’s main theme.

[h2]The Main Theme[/h2]
Every track of the game’s musical score was the result of long and meticulous work. Each theme went through a strict vetting process both at our studio and Games Workshop. It took us about five months to find the right sound for the main theme. The other composers and I tried many different versions, scrapping the ones we disliked, trying again and again. That search left me with some extra time on my hands, which I put to use getting started on the game’s space battle themes. One of those themes became a sudden hit and caught everyone’s attention, so much so that a decision was made to transform this track into the main theme.
As a long-time Warhammer fan, I’ve always wanted to work on something set in this universe. Imagine my excitement when I got the offer one day to work on Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, finally having a chance to turn my ideas into reality! I always knew that if I were to write music for the Warhammer universe, I’d make sure to try and bring together two things: religion and synthesizers! Those two words are what come to mind when I imagine music from Warhammer 40,000.


The choir is the main theme’s centerpiece. For the orchestral version, we recorded a live professional choir. But here’s a fun fact: for the earlier version, I used my own voice layered on top of itself several times over. We needed the choir to sound natural and human, which you don’t always achieve with digital samples. That’s why in the beta, as well as in the version of this track shared earlier on YouTube, the vocals you hear are mine. A choir of Paweł Perepelica clones, if you will.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5R0oN00ODE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt4tQyQ9cQ0


I used many vintage analogue synths from the 1980s during recording. They have a very unique sound, owing partly to the old hardware, a kind they don’t make anymore. One of those was the legendary Polivoks. Over the years, it’s been used by such famous artists as Rammstein, Goldfrapp, and Mick Gordon (who used it in the soundtrack to the 2016 reboot of Doom, among other things.)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]Music for the Rogue Trader[/h2]
The setting of Rogue Trader is somewhat unusual as Warhammer titles go. Back when we started working on the soundtrack, we had something more classical in mind, with more strings and other “organic” instruments. Then, however, we realised the music had to sound a little more “unpolished” and “rough.” Dramatic grandeur (provided by the choir, an organ, and other components typical of religious music) had to be complemented with something obscurely down-to-earth. That approach was received well by us, by Games Workshop, and, as we can see, by you, the audience.
We tried to preserve the grand atmosphere of Warhammer 40,000 that fans adore while also adding something new: that “unpolished” quality I mentioned along with some other unusual sounds. For example, our music is rich in various types of percussion. It has unexpected instruments along with some scraping and clanging. This is true of the entire soundtrack, not just the main theme. The music isn’t all about grandeur (which of course it can’t do without); there’s a more down-to-earth side to it as well. It’s likewise about a motley crew of characters who accompany the player throughout the entire game. It’s about the lives of lowly commoners. It’s about our voidship and the places it will take us to, the most fantastic and grim corners of the universe. And it’s about the enigmatic xenos.
We mixed and matched a lot, and used every means available to create a hybrid soundtrack. Aside from the choir, the synths, and classical strings, I used traditional instruments from a variety of cultures in a few tracks (such as a banjo, a hammered dulcimer, and a bouzouki). I processed them in order to give them a “broken” sound that’s evocative of a dieselpunk aesthetic. I experimented a lot with recordings of everyday objects around me, including coins, keys — and even a moonshine still!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p13IQAr2_nA

There was even a bowed string instrument I crafted myself out of a tin can, a string, and a couple of wooden planks. We used that one a lot in the Footfall track.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Iwou4qggpmg

[h2]Every World Sounds Different[/h2]
We had a different approach for each of the settings, aiming for a soundtrack that players would instantly associate with whatever surroundings or situation they were in at any given moment. The game features a great variety of worlds and locations, and we used every possible artistic means to reflect how out of the ordinary they are — whether it be the voidship, Footfall, the alien jungle of Janus, or any of the other biomes and settings. Each of them is unique, with its own distinctness and charisma, which we sought to highlight through the music.
Metallic clangs were one of the soundtrack’s fundamentals (and every one of our guidelines said as much.) A technique I used often was impulse response reverb. In simple terms, I’d take the sound of something striking a metal pipe and blend it with the sound of a French horn. The result was a strange metallic sound that resembled singing (“singing pipes” was how I referred to it myself.) This effect appears most in tracks we hear when we’re on our voidship. The Rogue Trader’s ship is a hulking mass of metal which at the same time is practically a living being. We felt that its machinery had to have a peculiar singing voice of its own, and it would be great for the soundtrack to reflect that. In the name of the Omnissiah, obviously.



Footfall is a hub of sorts, full of people and bustle. Deals are constantly being brokered; schemes are being run. That’s why Footfall music contains, among other things, the sound of coins and the metallic noises of moving augmetics.



Janus is an entirely different place, a fascinating alien forest. I spent a long time finding a unique touch for this setting’s combat music. Normally, for a forest theme, the choice of instruments tends to be on the more classical, strings-and-winds side. Our forest isn’t typical at all. On top of being visually quite different from most of the game’s locations, I thought that adding a bit of contrast in the music would be awesome. Something organic but also unnatural, crossing a little into “electronica.”

I used a didgeridoo, an Aboriginal Australian wind instrument with a very peculiar sound. However, rather than to use it unaltered, I blended it with my own voice to make it sound like someone singing in a didgeridoo voice. Eventually, the team decided that the resulting sound carried the wrong associations when featured prominently in the tracks, seemingly echoing the culture of an indigenous tribe. But the sound did remain in the background, creating a strange sense of something DIFFERENT.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]The Experiments Continue[/h2]
Creating the Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader soundtrack has been a long process of searching, recording, and vetting. As is often the case, this type of work is an adventure, one where experimenting, failing, and starting again are all part of the process. Aside from the composers and the sound design team, the project’s creative team, its team of producers, and Games Workshop have also taken part in developing the music and sound design, each making their own contributions. On your journeys as a Rogue Trader across the vast number of the alien worlds, we hope you find them and their music as enjoyable and captivating as we did!

Greetings, Lord Captains!

Months ago, during alpha testing, we posted an article about changes brought to the game based on your feedback in the big alpha survey.

Time flies by quickly, and today we are back with the second article of the series, this time to show you how your feedback shaped the game after the beta!

Disclaimer: Same as in the last article, we will not be going over every question in the survey, but will highlight only the most interesting facts. Enjoy the read and watch out for spoilers below!

[h2]Overall Score[/h2]

What could be better than to begin the article with the overall rating you guys gave us?

A total of 5000+ players have taken the survey, and they rated Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader 4.3 out of 5!

This is almost the same result as the last time (alpha was rated 4.35). But considering this time the amount of people taking the survey has increased tenfold, a large number of them way less familiar with the universe, it looks like we’re still going in the right direction. Thank you for the recognition! Of course, this result is not a reason to sit idle, and we’ll discuss why below.

[h2]Reactivity and Convictions[/h2]

One of the most frequent complaints in the survey was the insufficient reactivity of NPCs and companions to the Rogue Trader’s biography, doctrines, and convictions. There were also concerns about the conviction tags often feeling off or missing altogether. Well, that makes sense - a significant chunk of these reactions were not in the game yet! We’re already busy adding these reactions as this article is being written. Same goes for convictions - the tag placement was a draft done shortly before the beta launch, and we’re carefully working on all dialogues to tag them correctly.

We’ve also paid additional attention to scenes where a lot of you wished to see specific reactions. For example, quite a few people really wanted to be able to interrupt some of Idira’s heretical speeches in front of outsiders, and we’ll let you do this now!

[h2]Tutorials and Lore Glossary[/h2]

Over 50% of you found our newly introduced tutorials useful, and the only negative criticism about them was, well, that there’s not enough of them! We are happy that they seem to be working well and will add more tutorials for various aspects of the game as we continue development. Some of them will even receive short explanatory videos.

The lore glossary appears to be quite helpful as well: almost 90% respondents told us they were actively using it! A curious note: these numbers appear the same even for the respondents who claimed to be deeply familiar with the universe. Checking our knowledge of the Lore, are you? :D

[h2]Difficulty Curve[/h2]

There’s a lot of curious data here depending on the choice of difficulty. Overall, it seems that we’re on the right track, although some players on normal difficulty reported that there could be a bit more challenge. We will be carefully tuning the encounters with that in mind, especially in the later acts of the game, where player power may currently grow a bit too quickly.

[h2]Doctrines[/h2]

Among the doctrines available, Marksman was an undisputed leader in all aspects. So much that we are considering lowering its potential a bit. Don’t panic though, we’re not removing the already iconic Shoot on the Run!

Adept, on the other hand, appears to be the least popular, with the most common complaints being lack of visible impact and difficulty in understanding its mechanics. In the beta this doctrine also suffered from a whole spectrum of bugs, which made the abilities even more confusing. We will be fixing these, tweaking some abilities, and reviewing the confusing and unclear descriptions.

[h2]UI[/h2]

The UI seems to overall be well-received both visually and mechanically, with three exceptions:

1. Levelling UI. We’ve received a lot of feedback that the window was too small, there were way too many options in a single list, no way to compare the skills, and it lacked any sort of recommendation system, which led to massive timesinks every time you needed to level. Lack of respec options was often mentioned too. We will be addressing all of these issues! Here’s a glimpse on one of the menus we are currently working on:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Cargo/Loot UI. In the feedback, we’ve seen an overwhelming demand for proper drag&drop, scrolling, sorting, searching, and categorization. We haven’t been sitting idle and this UI is receiving a significant update. You can have a sneak peek of the changes yourself:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Targeting UI and ability formulas. Crit chance, cover benefits, visibility of the target, and buffs/debuffs were not always obvious. Formulas in ability descriptions and combat logs were confusing, and damage numbers were often way off the expected values. We have fixed these incorrect values, made the formulas shown as values by default, and increased visibility of icons and lines of sight.
   
   When selecting targets for a ranged attack or ability, you can now also press TAB and hover your mouse over the hit chance or buff/debuff icons to get detailed information about them:
   
   
   
   
   
   

[h2]Reputation and Profit Factor[/h2]

We’ve seen a fair share of confusion on profit factor, vendor trade, and reputation systems. A lot of people didn’t figure it out at all throughout their playthrough, and others were confused about how the profit factor value was calculated.

Not only will we be implementing a number of tutorials to help you figure out these systems, but we’ve also put a lot of work into making the UI more clear and self-explanatory. Profit factor will also now be visible in the colony screen:









[h2]Cutscenes[/h2]

Looks like you guys generally enjoy our approach to cutscenes! There were only two significant points of feedback that attracted our attention:

1. Desynchronized or incomplete/weird-looking animations. All of these problems are being worked on and should be solved by release.
   
2. Impossibility to skip cutscenes, which was especially painful when a cutscene would happen just before a difficult fight. We don’t want to make you suffer yet, so we’re adding an option to skip cutscenes!
   

[h2]Ground Combat[/h2]

Ground combat has received a solid 4.2 out of 5 in the beta, which is up from 3.94 in the alpha. This demonstrates steady progress, and there are only a few things we still would like to look at, such as the frequency of encounters in some zones and certain battles that tend to drag on too much or don’t feel original enough.

[h2]Space[/h2]

For space combat, we are at 3.7 out of 5, up from 3.4 in the alpha. Progress is visible, but there is still a lot to do. A lot of people were frustrated by the lack of tutorials, so of course we’ll be putting that in! We will also fully implement officer post management, which was turned off for the beta, squash some bugs, and put in some additional effort to improve the variety of encounters.

Space exploration was rated 4.1, up from 3.9 in the alpha. It is a good result, and after a bit more polishing, it looks like we’ll be in the right spot. An interesting observation is that an overwhelming amount of players explore everything in the game, no exceptions.

Colony management is at only 3.4 at this point, which is far less than we would like to see. We will be putting in tutorials, improving the UI, tweaking numbers, offering more interesting rewards and adding reactivity to colony events and decisions. We will also remove the necessity to personally visit the colony to claim a reward - it was a quite popular demand.

The global map is at 3.93, which is decent, but it could be a bit better. We will be adding tutorials, upgrading a few visuals, adding more text-based warp encounters (many of you found them repetitive), and tuning the number and frequency of combat warp encounters.

[h2]Locations[/h2]

Overall, it looks like we completely got rid of the ‘not enough grim darkness’ problem reported back in the alpha. It appears that the amount of weariness and despair added to the locations turned out to be just right, and such feedback is almost fully absent in the new survey. In fact, “just the right amount of grim darkness” is a very popular answer in the open feedback section!

The most popular locations (remarkable 4.42 and 4.41 out of 5, accordingly) were the Prologue:



and the Electrodynamic Cenobium:



Other popular locations included Eurac-V:



Inquisition Shipwreck (is this because you guys love papa Nurgle?):



and the Adeptus Administratum Palace:



Locations from the dark city of Commorragh were less popular, hovering around the score of 4. To an extent, it’s to be expected - they were still largely a WIP in the beta. In addition, in the first few days of the beta, there was a bug that allowed you to skip most of Act III by taking the wrong portal, which left many players confused. We will continue polishing and improving those locations as we prepare for release.

[h2]Companions and Narrative[/h2]

Just like the last time, Argenta raked in all the praise, nominations, and awards! Who would have doubted that it would happen?



Unfortunately, same as the last time, the least popular companions are Jae and Idira, although the gap isn’t as big this time. We are already implementing a number of further tweaks and improvements which will make them more interesting and unique both mechanically and narratively.

We’ve also received a lot of feedback about a certain betrayal taking place in Act III, players pointing out that it was unjustified or unexplained.

Partially, it was caused by the fact that some content and reactivity that would make it clearer wasn’t yet in the beta. However, we see a clear urge for a better explanation, so besides adding the missing content, our narrative team is giving that event some additional attention.

[h2]Conclusion[/h2]

And this marks the end of the article! We hope you enjoyed this little insight into the development of the game.

Once again, we thank you kindly for participating in the survey and helping us to shape this game so it can become even more fun, entertaining, and lore-accurate. It is an honor to have such an engaged and passionate community!

And as a final parting gift, here are some interesting stats from the survey: