Unsung Ballads News

Hi All,

This patch brings a small number of improvements to combat.
Full list:

• Card descriptions updated to be shorter
  
• Cards now get straightened and larger during highlight to help with readability
  
• Card keywords now get tooltips during card highlight
  
• Combat initiative now increases based on the number of cards played in a turn instead of the number of action points spent
  
• Fixed characters having gray teeth. Now they are blooming white. Literally. A fix for another day
  
• Upgraded to Unity 6 to take advantage of all the performance and usability improvements during development
  

Known bugs:

• After acquiring the first mutation, the game might get stuck in a state where you can't take on duties or do training. Quitting to main menu and reloading would fix the issue.
  

Enjoy!

Hi Everyone!

Two quick things:
Firstly, if you plan to buy our game, wait until the next Steam Sale - Autumn Sale starting on the 27th of November.
Secondly, as usual, try the game first! Our Playtest is open to all, and access is granted instantly.


This is one of the most significant updates to the game since we released it in Early Access.

It has a lot of improvements and additions that we discussed in past Dev Logs.

Please take a look at the important highlights and full patch notes below.


The most disruptive change: the saves folder has been moved, and older saves are no longer supported.


Starting on day 10, the bandit arc begins. That will spawn over a series of missions that can award ballads on completion and discords if they expire. Get 3 discords, and the game is over.

Those critical missions are marked accordingly.



Weapons now have a chance to drop from enemies. You will be able to tell which missions have weapon drops but not what exactly that weapon will be or what its quality is.



The first weapon variants are introduced in this update. Weapon variants modify some cards positively and others negatively. For now, those modifications are limited to the damage they do, but we are also exploring other card effects specific to variants. We spoke in more detail on this in a previous dev log.



The first set of mutations finally made it into the game. Once you are of high enough rank with the Legion, you can get a mutation that gives a bonus to one of your attributes and unlocks the ability to reach the maximum rank in that attribute.


See the full patch notes below:

• First mutation
  
• Weapons can drop from enemies
  
• Weapon variants affect different cards - sica, gladius
  
• Some enemies are more likely to have
  
• Visual updates to swords
  
• New icons for weapons
  
• Critical missions award ballads and discords
  
• Save folder moved
  
• Game over when the 3rd discord is awarded
  
• Various visual updates to the map
  
• Bloom effect - can be disabled from the settings
  
• Map zoom
  
• Visual updates to clothing and armor
  
• Inventory improvements - marking new items, keeping inspected items in view
  
• First optional bandit mission doesn’t expire
  
• Improved AI
  
• Added in-game guide for Legion rank
  
• Decreased attribute gains from duties
  
• Combat initiative is now displayed under the combat order portraits
  
• Added some UI sounds
  
• Changed Taunt mechanics
  
• Shield wall is replaced by Brace with improved mechanics
  
• Added a utility category to the Deck manager summaries
  
• Added combat menu
  

Hi All!

A new big update is coming soon containing the changes talked about in the dev logs since last update.
It already is on the test branch (for both the EA and Playtest versions), so if you want you can try it out right now and feedback would be much appreciated.

To change the game branch open the game properties from the library -> click Betas -> then select from the Beta Participation dropdown "test - Public Test Branch".


Previous saves will not be visible to the new version.

Enjoy!

Hi All!

September went by in a flash, but we haven't been idle.

The focus this past month has been on making the changes needed to support the mutations system. We're finally in a place where we can iterate content much more easily.

We've also worked on AI, and some enemies might act differently based on what cards they draw.

Other notable changes: weapon icons, video effects, and critical path marking.



While we're gearing up for our biggest Early Access update, note that the previous saves will not be compatible.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Hi All,

It's been another busy month, so quite a few things to talk about!

While the focus has been on enabling the supernatural part of the game, we had to invest much time into the game progression, which the mutation system depends on. This new system will allow players to push the boundaries of attributes over those of mere humans into the realm of Ballads.

Along with that central piece of work, we are also introducing the first item drops - which we talked about in the last dev log.

Of course, that highlighted a few issues with the inventory, one was that we had to mark new items appropriately.



Finally, we've also been working on the world map, touching it here and there and introducing a zoom functionality (which still needs a bit of UI work, as seen in the last dev log).



That's all for now, enjoy the weekend!