Dustgrave: A Sandbox RPG News

It's done, Dustgrave's Prologue has been released! You can go to its page and try it right now, and continue your journey in the final game once it's available.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3226250/Dustgrave_Prologue/

Compared to the demo we released a few months ago, the Prologue brings a massively improved experience with extensive changes made to all game mechanics. Here's a changelog listing the most important changes!

[h2]Major Changes[/h2]

• Revamped and rebalanced everything related to combat. Many new items and enemies have been added, to offer a more consistent experience and add much-needed variety to enemies.
  
• Companions can now be recruited while traveling across the world, and it is no longer possible to start with 4 characters. Companions have unique personalities, but for now, they have limited content as a few dialogues and barks.
  
• Added a Crafting System, allowing for the creation of consumables and enhancement of equipment. Equipped items now have a Tier level that determines the scaling of their stats. Dismantling items will yield materials, including unique Tier-related ones that can be used to upgrade weapons and armors by visiting traders.
  
• When wearing faction-specific armors or clothes, you can now disguise yourself as a member of that faction, opening new ways of solving quests or overcoming challenges. All existing content has been updated to accommodate this new feature.
  
• Completely revamped the UI to be better-looking and easier to read, with several panels that have been rebuilt or improved to show additional info.
  
• Added several dynamic sub-quests to most major quests.
  
• Added a new dynamic major quest, with different flavors depending on where it triggers and who is involved.
  
• NPCs will now react to murders, meaning you can no longer kill people without alerting potential witnesses. It’s still a little buggy, just like real-world justice, but we keep working on it.
  
• Added Bombs as consumables, so that you can have fun throwing stuff at enemies.
  

[h2]Fixes and Improvements
[/h2]

• Greatly improved performances all across the board, in particular, while travelling on the map and when rendering stealth cone of views. There are some issues and stutters left, which will soon be addressed.
  
• Fixed some navigation-related issues in certain settlements with bridges or other similar structures.
  
• Completely reworked the Minimap on the World Map. It’s now much bigger, it can be panned with the mouse, and shows more details on regions, locations, and related quests.
  
• NPCs are smarter when it comes to detecting crimes.
  
• Skills cooldowns will now reset between fights.
  
• Improved the UI on the map to show more details of locations when hovering on the.
  
• Saving is now possible in quest locations.
  
• When saving the game, the position of playing characters is now saved properly, and no longer resets to the level’s entry point.
  
• Greatly improved the existing combat log to show more info and be easier to read.
  
• Fixed an issue with some quests related to finding stolen items or intel that couldn’t be completed.
  
• Your character will now say something when trying to open locked doors or containers.
  
• Locations on the world map will now dynamically change their looks to reflect their current status.
  
• Reworked the Journal to display more information and to group related quests together.
  
• Fixed several issues with dead people still being highlighted and showing UI pieces in combat, now they’ll be left alone until the end of the battle and won’t bother you anymore.
  
• In many quests, after trying diplomatic solutions it is now possible to go back and try different approaches instead of being locked into the choice after just one step.
  
• Prisoners found while exploring or doing quests that are not directly related to a quest now have many more interactions.
  
• Imprisoned people won’t free themselves and stand still like idiots after you talk to them. They will now be committed to their role of kidnapped or jailed people.
  
• NPCs overlays will glitch less often.
  
• Fixed a critical issue with Stealth remaining active during combat.
  
• Fixed several issues with loot dropping from enemies and the condition of such items.
  
• Mercenaries camped in a settlement will no longer pretend to be part of the local authorities.
  
• You will now be able to repair items, since we repaired the UI allowing you to do that!
  
• Expanded and improved all dialogues related to finishing a quest and getting a reward, increasing contextual accuracy and giving the player some choices to make.
  
• Wandering parties of traders or minor factions will appear in different settlements and move after some time.
  
• Tutorials can be turned off in the options.
  
• Characters will now react differently to Records depending on their ethics.
  
• Changed how critical hits work with status effects, now they simply increase the duration by 1. This also applies to Grazes, which only decrease duration by 1.
  
• Fixed a frankly ridiculous amount of game-breaking bugs, which says a lot about our competence as developers, but who am I kidding? Maybe three people will read this, so we will keep telling everyone, including ourselves, that we’re good at this.
  
• Added a lot of combat and ambient sounds to make the world more lively. Well, more lively than pretty much nothing was easy to achieve.
  
• Added a new panel to show relationships between factions.
  
• Fixed cooldowns on certain actions not working as intended.
  
• Dead people will no longer engage in solo conversations.
  

After months of intense development, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of Dustgrave: Prologue. It will feature all the updates and new mechanics we’ve been working on in the last few months!

The best part? Your progress in the Prologue will carry over into the full game at launch, since save games will be fully compatible!

We’ve taken our demo offline to focus all our efforts on making the Dustgrave: Prologue the best possible experience for you. Expect new features, improvements, and a world that’s more reactive and immersive. Plus more crime-related features, we love adding those.

Dustgrave: Prologue will be available for free on October 10th. Wishlist now so you can download as soon as it goes live!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/3226250/Dustgrave_Prologue/

We’ve been working hard this summer, and Dustgrave now includes several new features that will be playable in the next demo release!

One of those features, is the Disguise System, allowing your main character to use any faction’s armors and clothes to disguise as a member of such faction. Doing that, your identity will be concealed and NPCs will treat you as a member of that faction. As long as your deception holds.



This opens dozens of alternative approaches with existing quests and systems, here’s a nice bullet-point list detailing everything:

• You’ll be able to get minor and major quests from hostile factions. This won’t help you increase your relationship with them, but money is money!
  
• When disguising yourself as an enemy during quests, new diplomatic paths are available, but it’s also possible to simply use your guise to launch a surprise assault on your enemies.
  
• Are you interested in criminal activities but also care about your reputation? Just put a faction outfit on and the NPCs won’t blame you but the faction you’re disguised as. Provided you don’t get exposed.
  
• A group of bandits ambushed you while traveling? Not a problem, you can try to pass as one of them, and get away without fighting!
  
• On top of that, we also added hundreds of new dialogue lines to allow NPCs to react to disguises. Just be careful while reporting back after doing a quest: they will remember if you took the job while pretending to be a priest.
  

There are also a couple of features we’re still working on that will take advantage of this new mechanic:

• A few major quests will become specular, allowing you to choose which side you want to support, or even play both sides. With disguises, sabotaging the enemy's side while pretending to work for them will also be possible!
  
• Since NPCs won’t blame you for what you do while using disguises, it will soon be possible to use them to alter existing relationships between two factions. This goes both ways, and doing quests or helping people while disguised may appease hostilities between the two parties.
  

The next demo build is nearly ready, with only a few issues left to address, and you’ll soon be able to fool NPCs by cosplaying different factions!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393370/Dustgrave_A_Sandbox_RPG/

It’s time for a new update, this time bringing several new features to Dustgrave, which can be tried in the demo!

While the full extent of how those changes will affect the player’s agency and the gameplay will be explored with future dev diaries, today we will introduce the new features.

[h3]More Interactions[/h3]

So far, you could only interact with NPCs by talking or killing them, and with objects by using them. It is now time to explore an extra dimension of interactions, to make things truly sandbox and dynamic!

Are you tired of people remembering bad things you did to them or reacting negatively when stealing from them? Say no more! With the new magic scrolls we added, you can finally alter the mind of those poor NPCs, making them forget your crimes or ignore them! You can also implant in their mind a feeling of warmth and friendliness toward you.



Are you interested in committing war crimes? Or maybe just normal, plain crimes? Well, you can now poison wells, pick locks, assassinate sleeping people, or kick that locked door that’s blocking your way!

To access those new interactions, you only need to right-click on entities you want to interact with, and see which kind of extremely unethical option better suit the current situation.



[h3]Progress Meters[/h3]

What’s the purpose of having dynamic and reactive systems when you, the player, the person we want to please, have no way of actually having some feedback from the world? To solve this, we modified how quests works and added a new UI that will let you track your progress when dealing with major quests or specific events. You can now see the effect of your deeds, including the ones unrelated to active quests: any act of sabotage or retribution towards the enemy will affect the Progress Meter, and you can drive away a group of brigands just by decimating their number. Don’t let those annoying officials tell you what to do!



It is also used to track relationships with Factions and Settlements, explaining in detail what happens when reaching certain thresholds. We still have to implement the option of joining a faction, but it will soon be available!



[h3]Future Updates[/h3]

Those two new major features will greatly expand the variety of content we can create for Dustgrave, with the goal of providing a truly sandbox and dynamic experience. Having more ways to complete a big quest is always good, but when those ways don’t solely rely on pre-written dialogues or quest branches, you players can enjoy an even greater freedom in choosing how you want to live your story in the game.

Here’s a list of a few things we plan to add to Dustgrave in the future:

• New Quests that don’t rely on fighting or talking, but instead take advantage of the new interactions to let you steal, sabotage, sneak, or investigate.
  
• Also, existing quests will have new ways of completing them. Right now, when tasked with retrieving a stolen item, you will have the chance of simply sneaking past the guards and taking the item. This kind of freedom of action is what makes a sandbox RPG truly interesting, so we will make sure to always add multiple ways of progressing through quests.
  
• Many more interactions will be added, allowing you to sabotage or steal supplies, pickpocket people, or change the NPCs’ behavior to your advantage.
  
• We plan to add dynamic events to the world, like the plague spreading to a settlement and eventually killing everyone in it if nothing is done to stop it.
  
• Some Major Quests will have their specular counterpart, allowing you to double-cross factions by accepting to help both sides and betraying one when the time is right. For example, it is already possible to help a faction conquer a settlement, but in the future, every time such a quest is triggered, a specular one of defense will be available to the opposing faction. With those features fully implemented, betrayal won’t only be easier, but also have an exquisite taste.
  

And now, the full changelog of this new build.

[h3]Major Changes[/h3]

• We introduced the concept of Progress Meters. They will let you know more about what’s happening in the world and how your major quests are going, while also letting you progress in major quests without only relying on completing related minor quests.
  
• It is now possible to interact with entities in the world in many more ways, thanks to a menu dedicated to secondary interactions. You can finally pick locks, break open doors, cast spells on people to make them friendlier or make them forget things, and even poison stuff. Many more interactions will be added in the future.
  
• Added a new major quest type with several variants, revolving around rebuilding destroyed settlements or improving the economy and stability of existing ones.
  
• Added several new minor quests to improve the overall variety.
  
• Added many barks to NPCs, they will now complain about everything bad happening in their life.
  
• People will now lock some of their containers, and you’ll have to pick or break those locks. Which is considered a crime, so they may get a little angry if they find you.
  

[h3]Fixes and Improvements[/h3]

• Fixed a major issue that could completely block the game during fights.
  
• Improved performances in levels.
  
• Greatly reduced saving time and save games size.
  
• Fixed the AI’s pathfinding, now NPCs will less likely waste their turn dashing or moving around with no purpose.
  
• Added many sound effects to the UI.
  
• Fixed the minimap in levels to be clearer and to work properly in most levels.
  
• Improved loading times for many levels.
  
• People now actually use a pen when pretending to work.
  
• Fixed the difficulty level not working properly.
  
• Fixed an issue with healing actions having wrong values.
  
• Academians without a body now have one, the ones that already had a body now can move it.
  
• Change the Money item in the inventory and all other panels to be always on top and have a much less ugly icon.
  
• Enemies will now disengage when they run out of Morale, without causing game-breaking issues. You can still beat them to death, though.
  
• The behavior of several Statuses like Bleed or Bravery has been fixed and they now do what they’re supposed to. Good boys.
  
• You will no longer see torches being lit without actually emitting light.
  
• The Root Status now has a proper visual effect.
  
• The Persuasion Minigame is now harder and takes relationships into account.
  
• Couples will now try to sleep in the same bed, even when angry at each other after a petty fight.
  
• NPCs will no longer refer to quests you didn’t start yet.
  
• It is now easier to access some settlements on the map.
  
• When stealing stuff, you will no longer be accused of murder.
  
• NPCs will no longer all share the same ethical values, but will finally enjoy the wide variety of beliefs we made for them, promoting further chaos and instability in the already ravaged continent of Yarsa.
  
• Added more music to the game, with many new ambient tracks and one combat track.
  
• When deserters are sent back to the settlement, they will now be hanged properly if their superior is not willing to forgive their actions.
  

We just released a new update for Dustgrave’s alpha demo including many improvements and additions!

We keep working on the game, and we are close to releasing some interesting features that will drastically increase the player’s agency and freedom of action in the game. While we keep improving Dustgrave’s narrative with new quests and dialogues, we also believe players’ options shouldn’t be limited to fighting and talking.

That’s why we developed a system allowing for secondary interactions to be used in the game, ranging from classic stuff like picking locks and killing sleeping characters, to more unique approaches like making NPCs forget the bad things you did to them or poisoning food supplies to weaken a group of enemies before fighting them.

Simply having those new options wasn’t enough, so we’re also in the process of revamping the structure of major quests so that completing sub-quests won’t be the only way to progress! Actions like killing a group of enemies or poisoning a settlement’s well will have an impact on the game’s simulation and narrative. This means that it will be possible to finish some major quests, like the ones involving the conquest of a settlement, without being forced to also complete several subquests before launching the final assault.

More details on those new two systems will be released in the future with a proper dev diary. In the meantime, you can check the latest update’s changelog.

[h2]Changelog 0.1.4.10[/h2]

[h3]Major Fixes and improvements[/h3]

• NPCs will now greet the player properly instead of always thinking they already met the player a few seconds earlier.
  
• Keybindings have been added to the Options Menu
  
• NPCs will be much more reactive to crimes and other player actions.
  
• The game will no longer explode if you kill an NPC that gave you a Quest. Still, it’s a rude thing to do and you shouldn’t do that too often.
  
• The trading screen has been revamped. Trading items is no longer instantaneous, but chosen items will move to a new area. It’s the same screen that many games have, so it’s not even a new cool feature, it’s just us fixing our past mistakes.
  
• When hovering your mouse on items during trades, the trader will now share unwanted opinions on what you may be willing to buy or sell. The system’s reactivity will be greatly expanded in the future.
  
• The game will now track stolen items. Traders will recognize the stuff stolen from them and even the stuff stolen in the same location they live in. If a trade is attempted, they will react accordingly.
  
• It is now possible to sleep in Inns, which has the added benefit of healing Wounds and Traumas at a higher pace.
  
• Some Items now have a durability value, which can lead to permanent penalties to the item that can only be restored by repairing them. This will let us increase the number of looted items, especially when it comes to faction-specific armors, without ruining the game’s progression.
  
• Added new locations (Sacred Shrines and Ruins) which will be used in Quest and Subquests.
  
• Added new quests, minor factions will now have their own quests to assign depending on their identity.
  
• Added new sub-quests.
  
• Added special events that can alter the structure of existing quests.
  
• Added roaming parties of NPCs on the map. They are just chilling around, doing stuff, living life.
  
• Trader will no longer buy everything at the same price, but will have favoured or disliked categories, and may even refuse to buy certain things.
  

[h3]Minor fixes and improvements[/h3]

• Wounds and Traumas now work properly again.
  
• A new tooltip area has been added to show the currently equipped item when changing the equipment.
  
• Money is now displayed in the inventory.
  
• Added a visual feedback when clicking on the ground to move around.
  
• Fixed a few instances of the Quest Marker not disappearing once a Quest status changes.
  
• Added additional feedback in combat to let the player know if a character is dying or if they have no more Action Points to spend.
  
• Added a minimum cap of 1x to the Critical Modifier.
  
• Fixed a few issues with how damages were calculated when attacking highly protected enemies.
  
• Changed the order of Actions in combat, so that Attacks and Spells will be displayed first.
  
• Traders will now refresh their inventory after some in-game days.
  
• Added more places in which the Persuasion Minigame can be used in dialogues.
  
• The Persuasion Minigame will now show the correct percentages when hovering on different options.
  
• NPCs will no longer ignore the player going around killing people, and will now occasionally join the fight if they feel like it.
  
• Going back to the main menu is less likely to destroy the game and lead to absurd issues.
  
• Areas of Effect will now be anchored inside the max range of each action.
  
• Added more detailed info in the diary, so that Quests and their Phases have descriptions when necessary.
  
• Added a visual effect for the Rooted Status.
  
• Rebalanced some Attributes.
  
• Fixed an issue when loading savegames.