Soulmask News

Dear Chieftains,

To provide a better gaming experience, the server will undergo maintenance. It will be temporarily unavailable starting from March 27, at 7:00 AM UTC, with an expected downtime 30 minutes. This update includes a client update, and chieftains will need to update their client to enjoy the game normally. We are very grateful for your understanding and support.

The update details are as follows:

[h3]【Adjustments and Bug Fixes】[/h3]

Fixed the issue that "The Chosen" could lead to drop anomaly.
Optimized unnatural leg bending on slopes and other terrains.
Optimized the hand deformation of some execution actions.
Optimized erratic leg movements when withdrawing/drawing Dual-blade and Hammer.
Optimized unnatural knee performance while squatting.
Optimized hand deformation when drawing Spear.
Optimized unnatural left leg lift when jumping in a defensive stance.
Optimized unnatural feet performance in a defensive stance with Gauntlets.
Optimized the action to make landing from heights look smoother.
Raised the building region quantity cap.
Fixed the inaccurate barbarian invasion spawn points to prevent obstruction.
All Bow Masteries (excluding Eclipse) are compatible with the effect of Wilderness Mark - Firepower Guidance now.
Added Move Items assignment to tribesmen's work.
Fixed the issue that camp maintenance tribesmen might not refuel lighting equipment.
Added 30-second Invulnerability after cross-server teleport.
Talent "Poisoned Body" can also be triggered now when a long-range attack lands.

[h2]Attention, Chieftains![/h2]



During the City Builder & Colony Sim Fest from 3/24 to 3/31, Soulmask will be available at the deepest discount of 25% OFF in this construction carnival!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2646460/Soulmask/

Get mysterious masks, gather your tribesmen, collect resources, and distribute building tasks to establish your clan. As your production lines and territories are taking shape, you're closer and closer to Soulmask's ultimate goal: Restore civilization and conquer this savage world!



Moreover, if you're a big fan of barbarian building and surviving in an unforgiving world, Maggie strongly recommends you check out our last post—Believe me, Soulmask will dazzle you with a fresh new look soon enough, as we'll reveal the unprecedented changes to you in April.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2646460/view/516330360271799042?l=schinese

Soulmask Community Manager
Maggie

Dear Chieftains,

To provide a better gaming experience, the server will undergo maintenance. It will be temporarily unavailable starting from March 20, at 7:00 AM UTC, with an expected downtime 30 minutes. This update includes a client update, and chieftains will need to update their client to enjoy the game normally. We are very grateful for your understanding and support.

The effect of the title "The Chosen" is now changed to increase the chance of dropping rare items by 20%.

Adjusted construction restrictions near the boundaries of certain areas in the Northern Wasteland.

Increased the recovery time for Blade Mastery - Dash Slash. When in a movement-impaired state such as Slow, the charge distance is reduced.

Wilderness Mark - Firepower Guidance can now stack with the Triple Shot effect of Bow Mastery - Divine Power Possession, with the damage ratio being slightly reduced.

Wilderness Mark - Firepower Guidance can now stack with the coma effect from the Great Bow of the Bow Mastery - Divine Power Possession.

Reduced the cooldown for Gauntlet Mastery - Revolving Kick.

Players are now able to lock on enemies when releasing Dual-blade Mastery - Flurry.

Optimized the effect of the talent [Bloodbath Recovery].

Slaughtering bison now yields Premium materials; elite bison are now classified as Rare.

Fixed the issue where, under certain latency conditions, tribesmen and animals would not automatically recover HP, and where the max load value was incorrect.

Fixed the issue where wild barbarians would dance abnormally.

Added a toggle for battle threat effect notifications.

Fixed the issue where the lighting module would remain after teleporting to another server.

Tribesmen will now prioritize collecting resources closer to the target point.

Fixed Gesture - Breakdancing.

Fixed the issue where the cursor focus could be lost while playing animations.

Added premium hardwood, premium hardwood handle, premium hardwood plank, and nut conversions to the converter.

[h3]Dear Chieftains,[/h3]

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. To ensure a seamless server merging process, we are extending merge periods for all regions to complete critical technical preparations. The specific schedule adjustments are as follows:

[h3]

• OA/SA extended until March 24, 07:00 UTC
  
• AS/EU/NA extended until March 31, 07:00 UTC
  

[/h3]

We sincerely apologize for any temporary inconvenience this may cause to your gameplay experience. Our team is working tirelessly to deliver merge server stability and expanded content offerings through this merger.
Your patience during this transition is deeply appreciated. Should you have any concerns, please feel free to contact our support team at any time.
Thank you for being an essential part of our gaming community.

Best Regards,

Soulmask Team

[h2]Greetings, Chieftains![/h2]

Maggie Again! As stated in yesterday's update announcement, today we'll talk about the future of Soulmask. But first, I want to explain the purpose of this dev update: Through continuously monitoring player communities, we've observed that Soulmask has been persistently troubled by player-raised issues since the Early Access (EA) phase. Unfortunately, these aren't problems that can be solved short-term. Consequently, some community members have expressed a troubling speculation:

Is Soulmask really not going to change anymore?

This impromptu Developer Update was added specifically to give you full transparency on what our team is dedicating ourselves to during this 'intensive development phase' — particularly the systematic overhaul targeting Soulmask's most long-standing pain points.

[h3]About Tribesmen AI[/h3]

As a cornerstone of Soulmask's gameplay, tribesmen AI has unfortunately become a recurring pain point in player critiques:

I love the game but there's serious issues. Your followers get stuck on any tree on the ground. The path finding is pathetic.

The ai of your followers you attract just plain sucks, they constantly get stuck on anything that is collide-able and dont seem to do their tasks at all because of this.

We fundamentally believe that sophisticated tribesmen behavior systems are the bedrock of Soulmask — this is why enhancing tribesmen AI remains our Tier1 development commitment.

Our goals are straightforward:

• Preserve the authentic tribal management experience while making Tribesmen's behaviors more logically consistent and dynamically alive
  
• Ensure flawless coordination where every tribe member seamlessly fulfills their designated responsibilities
  

You might have noticed our recent attempts to fix pathfinding in minor updates, but we're working on bigger changes — A new tribesmen system.


After that, the tribesmen will be more specialized, and they'll have a whole new path of growth while all their work will be smoother. At the same time we're having them make them more lively - in addition to more movement and behavior, there will be more initiative to do more basic things without having to have the Chieftains do everything himself.
Their...ahem...fertilizer production efficiency is already legendary.

This is part of our ongoing trilogy of core system revamps. Expect a dedicated deep-dive article within the next development cycle.
Yet Tribesmen evolution is merely the beginning. Simultaneously, we're developing a Modular Dynamics System to revolutionize base construction and industrial automation.

[h3]About Tribe Management[/h3]

This addresses a critical pain point: We consistently observe the following issues in community feedback:

You could set up a production chain using the members of the tribe. But it will always require a lot of micromanaging.

No "produce until X pieces are in stock". No "if you need leather to create X, have none available, but it can be made, add task at workshop"

After extensive deliberation, we're developing a brand new system to balance authentic production chains with player experience:

This gameplay module will transform you into a true manager overseeing:

• Resource allocation and personnel management
  
• Potential logistics route planning across the open world
  

While the UI is still in development (and the workload is massive), this will become a cornerstone of Soulmask's future. We're working overtime to bring this new feature to you ASAP!

[h3]About Guidance & Objectives[/h3]

Criticism about "guidance" and "sense of purpose" has existed since EA launch:


No story. There are pieces of general lore, but there is no larger plot knitting the game together. It’s just "go there kill that, make better armor, kill some more"

The game rarely tells you the reasons behind happenings. Some information are not given, or lost in translation, so you have to look around, pressing buttons, to see what they do.

This has actually been on our to-do list, but all along we've been pondering a question:

How exactly should we blend guidance and goals in Soulmask?



Our solution lies in the game's core — the Soulmask itself. In upcoming updates, the Mask will undergo transformative changes, guiding players from survival to civilization rebuilding through expanded progression systems.

We're also enhancing progression systems — why limit growth to individuals? Stay tuned for how this integrates with the new management gameplay!

[h3]It's that ALL?[/h3]

Alright, after writing all this, you might still have complaints:

"This is too vague!"

But truthfully, many of these features are still in early development, so we can only provide a general framework now. We aim to reveal concrete details by April.

We're working tirelessly to ensure this official reveal won't disappoint any of you.

Of course, if you're thinking:

"I have countless questions and can't wait until April!"

We'll soon have an opportunity: This month on Reddit's Soulmask board, me (Maggie) and producer ZIMA will answer all your questions - controller support?, equipment durability, multiplayer issues? Ask us ANYTHING!

We'll announce the exact timing soon. See you then!