REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM News

Hey there, Survivors!

In today’s Dev Notes, we’re excited to share something new we’ve been working on—the revamp of the Blacksmith System!


[h3]Jorgn: The OG from EA[/h3]
Since the Early Access days, Jorgn has been holding down the fort in the hideout. He’s probably one of the first NPCs you ran into, and he’s been your go-to guy for Weapon Upgrades and Repairs.



Jorgn’s all about giving players a sense of growth through weapon upgrades, making him a big part of character progression in Remore. Alongside leveling up and gaining traits, he’s been one of the main ways to feel your character getting stronger.

The Blacksmith System also added more depth to scavenging. It wasn’t just about finding survival essentials like food anymore—it gave you a reason to dive deeper into dangerous areas, hunting for better weapons and the materials to craft them.

At one point during development, we actually took the blacksmith feature out (!) for a while. Part of it was to better sync character growth with levels and traits, but mostly it was to shift the focus of the game from scavenging to tactical combat, making things way more intense and exciting.

In the end, this helped us nail down character growth and build a solid tactical combat-focused structure. As we mentioned in[Dev Note] Faster Battles! More Rewards!,the faster pace between battles and resting really kept the tension alive during expeditions.



On the flip side, we ran into a problem: scavenging during expeditions started to feel less exciting. We’ll go into more detail in future Dev Notes, but a major change to how memories are tied to characters made memory acquisition a core part of the game. This naturally narrowed down the range of items you’d hunt for.

Another challenge was balancing difficulty and character growth. Having all growth tied directly to the character made things feel a bit one-dimensional. Sure, there are plenty of ways to customize how your character grows, but it was hard to ignore the feedback that focusing everything on just one aspect left something to be desired when tackling tougher stages.

That’s why Jorgn is making his big comeback—this time with a shiny new weapon system and some cool upgrades!


[h3]Jorgn’s Back: The Blacksmith Who Levels Up with You[/h3]
The old blacksmith system had its limits, mostly because of how the weapon system worked. The idea was to let you enhance weapons, add traits, and upgrade their tiers so you could handle harder stages. But with only a few upgrade levels and not much need for them compared to the number of stages, the system felt a bit dull.

Now, with more stages, more finely tuned difficulty levels, and more reasons to grow, Remore is in a totally different place. Even with a revamped blacksmith and weapon system, tougher challenges are waiting ahead.

We’ll cover the updated weapon system in future Dev Notes, but today, let’s focus on what’s new with Jorgn.

The biggest change? Jorgn now Levels Up! Every time he works on a project, he earns experience points. As he levels up, his blacksmithing skills get better and better.



When you first meet Jorgn, only the dismantling feature is unlocked. This lets you break down those ok weapons you find during expeditions and turn them into materials for crafting better ones. Plus, every time you dismantle a new weapon, Jorgn gains blacksmithing experience and adds that weapon’s recipe to his memory.

Once he hits Level 2 and unlocks weapon crafting, Jorgn can start making weapons in three stages. With each stage, the weapon gets closer to completion, depending on his skill (and a bit of luck).



[h3]The Blacksmith’s Brilliant Inspiration![/h3]
So far, Jorgn hasn’t changed much, but we’re adding something new— “Blacksmith’s Inspiration”—to spice up weapon crafting.

Now, Jorgn can have a burst of genius while crafting, and when that happens, the weapon turns out at a higher tier than expected. This means the weapon will be way stronger and more efficient than the usual ones you find on expeditions.

If you craft a weapon that really gets Jorgn’s intuition going, the chances of this inspiration kicking in go up even more. This means you’ll have a higher chance of crafting deadly weapons and can bring even more variety to your expeditions!



On top of that, the blacksmithing features are still getting updated in tons of cool ways. Get ready to see more of Jorgn’s inspired work!

That’s all for today, we’ll catch you again soon.
Thanks, Survivors!!
REMORE

Greetings Survivors!

As our destined day quickly approaches us, we realized some of our older content can’t make the journey to the new promised land...

While we relish at the coming of the new dawn, it pains us to know what now must be done to these particular contents...

So, we are in need of some guidance from our community on how to deal with these revenants from our olden days gone by.

Thus, we will be running a Poll in our Official Discord Channel on what to do with some old content!

Our Topic,
[What to do with the Old Achievement List?]

Check out of Official Discord and submit your voice on the matter!
*Reminder* Once the new update is patched, the Old Achievements can no longer be obtained. We will have a new set of Achievements for you in our new Remore.

[Event Period]
Dec 20 ~ Dec 27 (PT)

[Event Details]
Join REMORE Discord Channel

[Rules]
1. Users must submit their vote to our Discord Channel during Event Period to count.

Thank you,
REMORE

Hello, Survivors!

Well, what did you think of our Dev Commentary Video?

It was a short video, but it gave us a great opportunity to share our development progress and the direction Remore is heading more directly with you. We’re all happy with how it turned out!

Today, we’d like to share some Behind-the-Scenes stories from the making of that video.


[h3]"The 'real' developer reaction: 'Wait…me? You want me to be on camera?!'"[/h3]



First, we’d like to offer a heartfelt apology to our Devs who “suffered” through the filming of the Commentary video!

For our team, who were neck deep in game development, the video shoot was quite a unique experience. Filming equipment appeared in the office, more crew members arrived than we expected, we got makeup done for the shoot, and everything was prepared in a way that felt very professional.

Black Anchor is made up of people who are absolutely “obsessed” with game development, so speaking about their vision for the game through a new medium like video was a significant challenge. It’s one thing to confidently share opinions and make decisions during meetings, but presenting these ideas directly to you, the Survivors, through video was a completely different story.

On top of that, with the goal of reaching a worldwide audience, we conducted the interviews in English. Unlike our previous Dev Notes or community updates, the purpose of this commentary video was to directly convey our game’s vision, so this part was a must!

This meant we had a lot of preparation to do before filming. We had to figure out how to showcase Remore’s fun aspects without spoiling anything, while presenting the concepts we’re currently working on. Visually, we also had to decide what content to reveal first and how best to represent it.


[h3]Discussing REMORE’s future—filtered with just a touch of refinement[/h3]



There were mixed opinions about including scenes of our development discussions in the video. Our team frequently holds meetings to create a better game, so everyone is very accustomed to the process, and there was no issue with filming the meetings themselves. The question was whether our discussions would come across naturally if they were filmed.

Every member of Black Anchor has a clear belief and strong conviction about games. We believe that by letting these perspectives clash and refining our ideas without settling for half-measures, we can create truly enjoyable and unique games. As a result, our meetings are always dynamic and filled with intense debates and discussion. We take pride in this approach, which is helping us make Remore a better game.

However, we were worried that showing these scenes in the video might give the wrong impression, and make it seem like we were arguing. While all our meetings are conducted with mutual respect and a shared goal of creating a better game, the process and results take time and are difficult to capture in a short video.

To address this, the video focuses on the end stages of our meetings. The scenes you see in the commentary video show us organizing and summarizing our discussions as they near their conclusion. While we as a team enjoy our passionate debates as a method to improve Remore, and we did feel a bit of regret about not fully showcasing this process, we decided it would be better to let the results speak for themselves in the final product.


[h3]Board Game: A "Rest" That's Not Quite a Rest for a Better REMORE[/h3]



When the video production team suggested including scenes of us playing board games, we thought it was a great idea.

Our team often plays board games after work, and we even use these sessions to spark new ideas. That’s why our office is stocked with loads of them, and sometimes we even get together on weekends to play them.

While the primary purpose of playing board games is, of course, fun and relaxation, it’s also a way for us as developers to intuitively understand game mechanics and apply them to our projects. In fact, we’ve drawn inspiration from board games and implemented those ideas into game systems multiple times. This is why we see board gaming as a positive part of Black Anchor’s workplace culture.

However, for the video, we had to choose a visually striking board game rather than one we’ve been enjoying recently. Even if a game was a team favorite, we prioritized games with detailed and elaborate components for their visual impact.

Still, we’re very happy that we were able to share this unique aspect of Black Anchor’s culture. Who knows? If we get the chance, we might introduce you to more of our favorite board games!



In the end, the video turned out better than we had imagined. When the filming equipment first arrived at the office, we felt a bit nervous, but ultimately, we felt we gave the right impression of our team and ourselves to you guys, which left us feeling good about it!

Of course, there’s still a ton of content we’re preparing that couldn’t be covered in the video. We’ll gradually introduce these through Dev Notes, community updates, and future releases.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you, Survivors!
REMORE

Hello, Survivors!

This week, we’ve got something a little bit different planned!

We're excited to share a Black Anchor Developer Commentary Video where we personally greet you and give an insider look at how Remore is evolving.

Until now, we've mostly shared updates about Remore through Dev Notes with text and images. While informative, it may have had a few of you wanting a bit more of an insider look at how the development is actually going and we imagine some of you are wondering how the game is shaping up, beyond our weekly updates.

In this Commentary Video, we talk about the current progress of Remore, the changes underway, and what the final version you’ll experience will look like.

Join us as we take a closer look at the exciting changes happening in Remore— directly from our own mouths and get a clearer view of the road ahead!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thank you,
REMORE

Hello, Survivors!

In last week's Dev Note,
[Stage Narrative: Checkpoint], we introduced the Stage Narrative as one of the methods we’re using to deliver our game’s narrative.

Previously, we mentioned that our Development Team is designing individual stages so that each stage can serve as the smallest unit of the gameplay experience. These stages are interconnected, weaving together to form a complex story.

Let’s take the “Checkpoint” example from last week. The layout of the checkpoint is based on the concept of a military and administrative zone meant to control access. To pass through the checkpoint gate, players must navigate this intricate terrain. Through this experience, players face the challenge of overcoming both the unfavorable landscape and the humanoid enemies and monsters blocking their path to the Pleasure District.

What makes the narrative of the Checkpoint even richer is its connection to the neighboring stages with their own unique settings. The Checkpoint, situated on a main road, serves as the gateway to the Pleasure District. However, the disaster in Remore that struck both the inside and outside of the Pleasure District simultaneously has plunged the checkpoint into chaos, where humanoid enemies and monsters are locked in a tense standoff. It has become a hellish battleground, with no way forward or back.



[h3]Rising Expectations, Growing Tension[/h3]
Today, we’d like to introduce the Herbarium, a stage deep within the Pleasure District, where the darkness of the REMORE lays thick.

Our goal was to create an experience where stages are seamlessly connected in real-time, with the changes from one stage influencing the next. For example, if you encounter humanoid enemies in the previous stage, you might find their remaining allies, abandoned weapons, or even their corpses in the next stage.

The Checkpoint stage doesn’t strongly reflect the atmosphere of the Pleasure District itself. Instead, it hints that something “terrible” has happened inside, as those who once lived there fled into the outside world, escaping the darkness. Once players pass through the checkpoint and enter the district, they will fully witness what the Pleasure District has become. The stage design was crafted to build this sense of anticipation and tension.

The original Pleasure District was a place of surreal, dangerous beauty, adorned with vivid red fabric. It was home to hosts preparing to greet guests, impoverished individuals barely surviving by exploiting or being exploited, and the Herbarium, a site where hallucinogenic fantasies were cultivated for those unsatisfied with reality.



For those lost in indulgence, the darkness seeped in silently, deeply, and fatally. Those in the deepest parts of the Pleasure District have transformed into monsters, while those spared from direct exposure to the darkness fled in utter terror. Now, this place has become a battleground for the desperate few who couldn’t even reach the checkpoint, fighting their final stand.

The district's once-deadly beauty is now entwined with streaks of corruption, turning everything into chaos. These dark streaks, woven into the essence of the stage, grow thicker and more menacing as you venture deeper into the district, foreshadowing an ominous fate ahead.



[h3]The Herbarium: Where Indulgence Lingers and Consumes[/h3]
Following the dark streaks with unwavering steps, you eventually encounter crimson buds blooming atop them. These flowers, once symbols of the Pleasure District’s excess and indulgence, now bloom anew from the tainted, blackened stems—a grotesque and unsettling sight.

As you stand before this garden of blooming flowers, the truth dawns on you. This is the Herbarium, where the red flowers of indulgence were cultivated. And just as they always have, these flowers will ensnare humans, captivating them and turning them into prisoners of their allure.



The exact mechanism behind the creation of these monsters, or the true origin of their corruption, remains a mystery. All that is clear is the overwhelming threat before you must be overcome, and the source of the corruption must be found and eradicated.

The Herbarium introduced today is just one of the many intriguing stories within the Pleasure District. Among these is the introduction of a new enemy, the Petal. Both strategically and narratively, a variety of elements are in place to challenge you in how to confront them.



We’re eager to introduce the many other areas that will follow the Pleasure District. We can’t wait to show them off!

Thank you once again, Survivors!!
REMORE