Black Dragon Mage News

[h2]🏆 Help Us Win a Steam Award![/h2][p]Dear Players,[/p][p]Thank you for your unwavering support! This year, \[Black Dragon Mage] is eligible for the Steam Awards, and we would be honored to have your nomination! 🙏[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🌟 Our Dedication to the Experience[/h2]

• [p]Rapid iteration based on community feedback[/p]
• [p]Continuous polishing of art, gameplay, and performance[/p]
• [p]Reworking old systems and adding new mechanics[/p]

[p]If you feel this persistence deserves to be seen, please nominate us for the Labor of Love award.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🗳️ How to Vote[/h2][p]If you are willing to support us, please go to the Nominate Section at the top of this announcement (or on the Store Page).[/p][p]Please nominate us for:[/p]

• [p]Labor of Love[/p]

[hr][/hr][h2]❤️ Your Support Means Everything[/h2][p]Every single vote fuels our passion to keep creating, updating, and perfecting the game.[/p][p]Whether it's a nomination or a review on the store page, we appreciate you being part of our community.[/p][p]Thank you for being with us. Let's make a splash at the Steam Awards together! 🚀[/p]

[p]Well met, adventurers! 🐉🧙🏻‍♂️[/p][p]Autumn is upon us and the next content patch is around the corner. Here's a quick preview of what to expect from the next content patch. [/p][p]🔥 By the way, the game is 23% off for Steam Autumn Sale! 🔥 [/p][p][/p][h2]Preview: Spell Evolutions 📜[/h2][p]All of the Active Spells are getting 3 new, distinct Spell Evolutions each (15 total) to bring them to the next level.[/p][p][/p][h3]A quick look at the newly evolved spells:[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]Spell Evos make your active spells more powerful by boosting their stats and tilting the odds in your favour, additionally they can:[/p]

• [p]Adjust how the spell behaves[/p]
  • [p]for instance, it can make your Shield of Frost leave a powerful ice explosive behind when depleted.[/p]
  • [p]Your Summoned Flame Swords may drop some handy bombs, or help you collect experience gems.[/p]
  • [p]While the Fiery Pentagram area damage becomes an aura, following and protecting you. [/p]
  • [p]Some projectiles will cause additional lightning zaps for that sweet, sweet chain damage.[/p]
• [p]Change the scale of the spell's area / orb / projectile[/p]
  • [p]finally a giant Fiery Pentagram, as often requested![/p]
• [p]Modify the spell's elemental damage type, so that you can slot it into your strategy and synergies.[/p]
• [p]... and more![/p]

[p]Adventurers can obtain mythical Spell Tomes during their run and use them to upgrade spells.[/p][p]But how? This takes us to the next part of the content patch: Map Events.[/p][p][/p][h2]Map Events & Random Encounters[/h2][p]Exploring the maps is more fun when there are interesting resources to be found. While you can already hunt for mining spots, chests and potions, the next update will make things more interesting.[/p][p]Random Map Events will show up as icons on your compass 🧭, indicating where (and how far away) some cool new challenges await.[/p][p]Some of them will drop Spell Tomes 📕so you can evolve your spells, or get a free level-up.[/p][p]Others are Rare and Epic Chests 🏴‍☠️ that come at a price, special Enemy Encounters and some other surprises.[/p][p][/p][h2]Other Improvements[/h2][p]The past months have been full of changes and revamps, too many to list at a glance.[/p][p]One that you'll immediately notice will be that various grating wait times (how quickly xp gems drop, animation delays, etc.) have been reduced as per player feedback.[/p][p]The game tech can now support more enemies, more projectiles and more items on the screen at once - paving the way for some more fun with bigger attacks and more chaotic maps.[/p][p][/p][p]I'll keep you posted, the patch will be hitting the playtest branch shortly and released publicly thereafter.[/p][p]Thanks for your patience 💜[/p][p]~ Datablob[/p]

Well met, adventurers,

Firstly, I hope you're having a great start to your year (and/or lunar new year soon! By the way, the game is 20% off to celebrate this occasion!).

Thanks for all the support and kind words. You may or may not know that this is my first commercial title and I appreciate your patience while I keep going on the solo indie dev marathon!

Seems like a great time to start iterating on a roadmap for Black Dragon Mage, while I'm fixing bugs & fleshing out the content.

Below is an initial list of topics that I am currently tackling for Content Patch 01, as well as candidates for upcoming updates (the order and content of which will surely change as the needs of the game evolve). You can also find the roadmap and its future versions on the Steam Store Page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2207230/Black_Dragon_Mage/

[h3]🐉 Driven by community feedback[/h3]

As stated before, I read all of the feedback (thanks!) and want to develop the game to its full potential together with the community. I hear you on wanting a snappier game, so along with the recent animation and timing tweaks, I am making further adjustments to let you absorb XP gems much more quickly and efficiently.

Another part of Content Patch 01 inspired by the community is the new Map Event System. Randomized events on the map will add more variety to combat, keep you moving, but also let you go after the targets of your choice and open up a few cool gameplay possibilities that are connected to this idea.

More mechanically interesting upgrades for Spells are long overdue, so hopefully you'll enjoy the expanded Spell Evo System - with modifiers that change the behavior of your favorite ability.

[h3]📜 Spoilers not included[/h3]

The "Upcoming Content Updates" part of the Roadmap is not an exhaustive list. Bugfixes and various bits of content, mechanics and tech (native Linux support) I'm implementing are not listed in full detail, as well as other items that are still in the concept stage.

Primarily, I want to give you a starting point to think about the future of the game with me.
And an opportunity to voice additional ideas, of course!

👋 Feel free to add any features that would be "top of your list" to this thread so I can take the voice of the community into account at every roadmap review. Or let me know which planned topics are particularly important to you!

[h3]🧙‍♂️ Other ways to get involved[/h3]

I also plan to set up a User Survey after the next couple of updates, since it's always good to have some additional overview on difficulty, balancing and the most and least fun parts of the game from your perspective.

One of the next updates will also see the Feedback Form from the playtest added back into the game, so you can submit bugs, ideas and other thoughts directly to me - optionally including screenshots or logs from the engine.

Take care & keep an eye out for the upcoming content patch!

~ Datablob

Hey adventurers, first of all:

[h2]Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all![/h2]

I have taken some extra time before the next content update and the upcoming roadmap (more on that soon) to squash some more bugs, and rework some of the systems that were causing frustrating experiences.

It's important to get the critical issues out of the way before the new spells, enemies, and characters are added to the game. Exciting stuff is coming!


[h2]🎄⚔️ Black Dragon Mage Xmas Bugfix Update ⚔️🎄[/h2]

Version Highlights:

• Completely replaced input system to resolve gamepad-related freezes or scenarios where the controller stopped responding.
  
• Reworked boss AI for more reliable and fair boss fights.
  
• Reworked upgrade picker algorithm so you get more relevant and fun options. Reduced some of the upgrade restrictions so you see more upgrades regardless of choices.
  
• Adjusted XP gain curve for faster level-ups, so you can build a more powerful mage during your run.
  
• Brought back some later stage mob enemies with bigger XP gem loot, so it doesn't get too easy with the new changes.
  
• Made various upgrades more powerful and less punishing.
  

[hr][/hr]


[h3]🛠️ Improvements 🛠️[/h3]

• Greater upgrade variety and more relevance through algorithm adjustments. You'll see a bigger variety of upgrades now, with a better synergy fit. Additionally, speedups to parts of the Level-Up-Curve for better pacing.
  
• Adjusted boss encounters to match more powerful player builds.
  
• Luminor, the Pyramid Boss, replaced his rotating attack with a more dodgeable, less frustrating alternative.
  
• Reaper now has two difficult stages (one per encounter), announces attacks visually and has a death roar. His charges are more predictable. If you previously had a hard time with him, give him another try - he should give you a little more breathing room and won't torment you quite as much, at least on the early encounter.
  

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes 🐛[/h3]

• Fixed Tharnok zoning out mid-battle. He's dreamy but focused now!
  
• Player pickup range upgrades increased in effect.
  
• Fixed issues with getting stuck after the credits.
  
• Smoothed out pause menu state management (no more lingering menus!).
  

[h3]🧙‍♂️ Player Quality of Life 🧙‍♂️[/h3]

• Autofire now displays its target location and your mouse cursor when you switch it on, while playing with mouse input. Bonus tip: Hold down the fire button to override the target temporarily (gamepad users can just use their right stick) while auto-aiming.
  
• Improved quest board - completed quests are now clearly ticked off. A more automated reward flow, based on player feedback, is coming in the future.
  

[h3]✨ Magic and Visual Tweaks ✨[/h3]

• Shield of Frost now adjusts its collision layer dynamically, allowing you to escape mosh pits even with the shield on.
  
• Prismatic Staff visuals adjusted for more clarity and resolved some visual glitches.
  
• Boss area attacks now have visual accents to draw more attention.
  

[h3]📜 Gameplay Adjustments 📜[/h3]

• Gem Attraction Scroll drop rate increased and now attracts gems more reliably.
  
• Improved spawning balance across multiple levels.
  

[h3]🎮 Controls and Menus 🎮[/h3]

• Improved menu navigation for smoother browsing.
  
• Fixed cursor visibility logic—no more weird flickering!
  
• Controller type detection restored for proper glyph mapping.
  

[h3]🎶 Audio Updates 🎶[/h3]

• Boss music now streams to avoid annoying hiccup when the boss spawns in.
  

[h3]💡 Miscellaneous 💡[/h3]

• Experience bar updates immediately during level-ups or gem attract scroll pickups.
  
• Smoothed out transitions when exiting the Hall of Relics.
  
• Debug tools sped up for faster playtesting (devs are happy!).
  

🎁 Thanks for playing, Mages! May your magic burn bright, your dragons soar high, and your holidays be magical! 🐉✨ ~ datablob, solo dev of Black Dragon Mage

[hr][/hr]

Next:

• A short holiday break for datablob
  
• Initial Roadmap
  
• Content Update