Dev Log #4 | Three Ways To Play

[p]To Administrators, old and new![/p][p]Today, we are looking at the three game modes available in Sintopia at launch. Whether you’re interested in learning the ropes through an epic story, enjoying a limitless sandbox or progressing through randomized missions, we’ve got you covered.[/p][p][/p][h2]True Story 📜[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]As a fresh Administrator working for Hell Inc., your recommended course when first launching the game is to play Sintopia’s narrative campaign. It starts with 2 tutorial maps, then escalates into an epically absurd story spread across 6 brand-new maps never shown before.[/p][p][/p][p]Our goal with the Campaign Mode is to immerse you in the lore of the game while introducing new features with each map. Contrary to the other game modes where everything is unlocked from the start, each campaign mission focuses on a few systems, acting as puzzles where you learn new tools to face new threats. It’s the best way to onboard and learn the nuts & bolts of the game, and by the time you finish the campaign, you should have everything you need to face the other game modes. We know some players were surprised by the number of systems when launching into Challenge Mode during the playtest, which were not covered by the 2 tutorial missions. The Campaign answers this by unlocking features progressively.[/p][p][/p][p]After the tutorials, campaign missions can be played in any difficulty, and their playtime will range from 1h to 3h depending on their complexity. They contain exclusive gameplay content that was never part of playtests and have special rules compared to Challenge Mode. For example, you keep the technologies you unlocked from a mission to the next, giving you an increasing power at start.[/p][p][/p][p]Story-wise, the campaign introduces a cast of characters (some of which you may already know) with dialogues and cutscenes which are fully voice-acted. We won’t spoil anything here, but the narrative thread will see the stakes get higher as you take full responsibility for your job as the new Administrator. To the curious players, it also gives answers to many questions about the lore, such as: Why do you punish Humus? What happened to the last Administrator before you came in? Can an old Humu get it on with a Succubus?[/p][p][/p][p]Although we advise you to play the Campaign before anything else, the other two game modes will be available from the start – if you’re up for it.[/p][p][/p][h2]Try everything🎵[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We introduced Sandbox Mode briefly in a past devlog. From the setup screen, you will be able to fully customize your game and play endlessly, without objectives. The only condition to keep playing is, well, to keep your Temple standing.[/p][p]You will be able to select any map, including the exclusive campaign maps if you completed them in Campaign Mode. Then, you get a truckload of sliders to decide what the world should contain, which gameplay elements, how dense is your Hell, how numerous are enemies, and so on. The custom difficulty screen allows you to select starting resources and change various game parameters for a hand-picked experience, from sin generation to building cost. You may also selectively activate world modifiers that you encounter in Challenge Mode, including some which are exclusive to Sandbox Mode to give you more leeway. For example, a new modifier unlocks all the technologies from the start, if you just want to test everything without the need to earn Hearos. For those of you who want a curated experience without touching all the sliders, we also offer some presets to try out, which add a twist to the vanilla experience.[/p][p][/p][p]As playing the Campaign Mode is useful for Sandbox because it unlocks new maps, so is playing Challenge Mode: any Role Model Boon you unlocked in Challenge Mode may be activated in Sandbox, without a limit. Yes, that means you can launch a game with 48 Boons active at once. No, it does not mean you should. Please, don’t.[/p][p][/p][p]With Sandbox Mode, we want players to experiment, to enjoy the parts of the game they like the most, to break the systems, to pull off insane Hell layouts within impossible constraints, all without caring about winning or losing: you’re in for the journey, not the destination. And if you don’t like Guacas or Atonement Crises, nobody will judge if you disable them. [/p][p][/p][h2]Test your limits 🦾[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This last mode will be familiar to players who tried out our previous demos and playtests. If Campaign Mode is meant to onboard players with ease, Challenge Mode is the real deal. It pushes players into random worlds and pits them against various objectives and modifiers. We wanted this mode to have a high replayability and offer dozens (or hundreds) of hours of gameplay. To face these challenges with the right tools, we created the Role Models. Think of it like meta-progression wrapping all your games together, where you gain experience with each game and use it to unlock powerful traits for the next. In that context, Role Models are similar to character classes in a RPG game, each offering unique powers allowing you to customize your game and refine your playstyle.[/p][p][/p][p]When playing a Mandate (fancy name for mission), you gain Prestige Points (fancy name for XP) for each completed objective. With Prestige Points, you can then unlock the next available trait in the Role Model of your choice, higher-level traits having steeper costs. Then, you can assign traits to available slots before your next Mandate, effectively changing the game’s rules. By mixing traits from various Role Models into your available slots, you essentially create your Adminstrator’s build. The design philosophy behind traits is to push the game to its limit. They’re meant to both break the rules and feel powerful. This is not your usual “+1% Health” node in a RPG progression tree, but more like “You know that thing you learnt during the Campaign? Well, it does not work like that anymore.”[/p][p][/p][p]For players who are familiar with our playtests, you’ll be right at home. However, compared with what you experienced so far, you will notice a few differences, such as Role Models being progressively unlocked as you complete Mandates, and the 6 campaign maps being available to roll if you completed them once in Campaign Mode. New random gameplay elements, introduced by the campaign, will also pop in Hell and the Overworld to spice things up. And you will discover two new Role Models, Lust & Pride, to tinker with. We’re eager to see the builds and layouts players pull off in Challenge Mode. After all, this is where all the lessons you learnt come into action, pushing your administrative skills to the max.[/p][p][/p][h2]This part has French words in it ❓[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That’s it for game modes! At launch, Administrators will have three distinct ways of approaching the game, depending on their gaming profile. We’re eager to see what you think of each one. Before we wrap it up, a final word (which has nothing to do with game modes).[/p][p][/p][p]As you may know, Piraknights is an indie company based in France. We wanted to take the opportunity of this devlog to announce something that we find super cool, but also something that only French-speaking players will enjoy: full FR voice acting! We know having voice acting in all languages would have been amazing, but this was impossible to achieve with our budget. Only English was planned at first, and we could obtain a FR version very recently. Other languages will have the whole game text translated, of course, but with English voices. Or, you know, you could set the game in French even if you don’t speak the language, for the extra challenge and curse words.[/p][p][/p][p]That is all for today! We will now end this devlog addressing our FR Administrators in their mother-tongue. See you soon™ for more information about Sintopia’s launch! [/p][p][/p][p]À nos Administrateurs français ! Après une âpre bataille, nous pouvons confirmer aujourd’hui que Sintopia aura un doublage complet en français dès sa sortie ! Pas seulement les dialogues de campagne, mais aussi toutes les phrases contextuelles en jeu. Et tout ça, par de vrais acteurs complètement humains. Pour être franc, c’est quelque chose que l’on souhaitait ardemment, mais on avait fait une croix dessus très tôt en production, simplement parce que ça coûte beaucoup d’argent. Étant tous français dans l’équipe (savoyards, même), c’était quelque chose de très important pour nous. Aujourd’hui, nous sommes fiers d’annoncer que c’est devenu une réalité, et nous espérons que vous apprécierez le travail de nos acteurs qui se sont dépensés pour donner vie à Sintopia dans notre langue natale. À très bientôt pour plus d’info croustillantes sur la sortie de Sintopia. 😀[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]
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