Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles News

So as I teased last time the next update will add an edge to the Ursee, and you will be able to build on it, and likely meet some new folks who made their home there. (likely some mercenaries where you can buy and sell units)

But as part of that I've been working on the water FX and I found the improvement so profound, I decided to backport them into the current version and provide them earlier to you all.


Here are the changes in this update:

New Content
• Tips and Tricks have been added to the menu
  
• Tips and Tricks section added to the game help
  
  
  Fixes
• prevented an issue where factions settlements wouldn't load cuz the command flagship was very close to another settlement and it would assume the player was there.
  
• Added a message about fast travel not being possible during combat on the map
  
• if setting the mode to fullscreen window (default) the game will run in the background rather than be paused. if you go fullscreen the game will pause when not focused
  
• fixed that if the mouse cursor was resting on a pausemenu when it opened it would function and not assume the continue button was selected
  
• fixed that the pause menu could be broken by closing and opening the settings menu really fast
  
• prevented resetting a scenerio from also setting some fortresses or small settlements as "bought"
  
• random encounters may happen now even without a harbour but as long as you have 10 towers or more
  
• reseting the original mouse template no longer resets to freecam mouse template
  
• switching to controller with the camera panned from the center in mouse mode now longer gives control issues
  
• fixed a shader error that caused the ocean to suddendly go dark if no shadow casters were in view.
  
• attempt to make fast travel more consistent,
  
• made the command flagship slightly less bouncy on the waves
  
  Visual Improvements
• overhauled general water shader, made calm ocean more choppy
  
• mawspring visuals improved
  
• maw visuals improved
  

Here's a preview of the improved maw.;)
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

There are two issues that might affect folks where npc settlements wouldn't load and wouldn't be interactable and situations where a woodmill wouldn't grow beyond a range of 4.

The rest is small stuff really.

If you are experiencing these issues then go to game properties/betas and select "beta patch" and accept the update.

• prevented an issue where factions settlements wouldn't load cuz the command flagship was very close to another settlement and it would assume the player was there.
  
• Added a message about fast travel not being possible during combat on the map
  
• if setting the mode to fullscreen window (default) the game will run in the background rather than be paused. if you go fullscreen the game will pause when not focused
  
• fixed that if the mouse cursor was resting on a pausemenu when it opened, it would not function and assume the continue button was selected
  
• fixed that the pause menu could be broken by closing and opening the settings menu really fast
  
• fixed an issue where removing a woodmil and re-placing it or having multiple woodmills near a site would lead to a output range calculated incorrectly as 4.
  
  

Most important feedback can also be, "hey I played this for a a bit and it looks solid" ;) cuz that means I can safely push it to the live branch.


Cheerio and have a good weekend ,
Tomas

-added some random tips 'n tricks (existing texts for now)
-move crab +naval harbour to later cuz too hard to beat and blocks other encounters
-removed the continuesly VO about mawspring placement after you get the wonder
-increased population of faction citadels and outposts (to give a bit of a jumpstart to unlock new content)
-lowered the requirements for the lower tier captains and commanders
-removed some of the wayward stars around the lower horizon of the sky

Hi everyone

I've been reading up on the feedback, user reviews and so forth, and your comments have impressed upon me the need to change up a few things, especially to make the entry into the game easier and clearer.

First off as some people made clear the build limit is preventing folks from finishing the tutorial and experiencing more of the depth of the game. So I've gone and done the following

• Increased the build limit to 35 if you haven't finished the tutorial and 25 if you have.
  
• Unlocked the Mancer Temple north of the player and Stargazer southwest of the starting area
  
• Unlocked a few of the minor settlements.
  

This will allow tutotiral players to have a bit more interaction, grow their settlements to unlock some better units and even have a bigger conflict or just more trade. I also understand that the demo is also probably the only version of the tutorial a lot of folks play so best to make sure they can finish it.

This is off course a tricky situation, but I can say the amount of work to keep the Demo afloat is substantial , it's like a whole separate branch to keep afloat, and between the delays on console and EGS/GOG it is also a bit on the chopping block, so I hope these changes have a positive effect .

WIth regards to the general onboarding I've changed some of the store text and am working on making a playlists of new explanatory short videos and have that up in a few days.

As someone in Discord said, Bulwark is somewhere between a townscaper-like chill builder and a grand strategy game, but this can make it feel like neither. But there is a lot of love from gamers looking for something in the middle of those. So beyond the store I am also adding a new FAQ section to the ingame help and I've added some tips 'n tricks to the menu. (the FAQ will take a few days to get localized). On top of that I felt that the early grind for population is now rewarded too late. So a the lower tier captains and commanders should now come a lot quicker..

here's the changelist of the patch as it now sets on the public beta branch

• added some random tips 'n tricks (existing texts for now) (this will be a new FAQ page in the game help as soon as its been localized)
  
• move crabtoon +naval harbour to later cuz too hard to beat and blocks other encounters
  
• removed the continuesly VO about mawspring placement after you get the wonder
  
• increased population of faction citadels and outposts (to give a bit of a jumpstart to unlock new content)
  
• lowered the requirements for the lower tier captains and commanders
  
• added a setting to turn of the advisor completely (and my intros) (cept for the tutorial)
  

Here's my FAQ/list of top things you should know. I hope once it's ingame (and localized) it will help folks get those tidbits of knowledge I haven't successfully been able to get across to everyone.

1. Grow your population to unlock more content and capabilities
   
2. Workers build houses and thus increase population
   
3. Stone houses get more population then wood houses
   
4. New population gains you splinters (credits)
   
5. the number above an extractor is the range at which it provides its resources.
   
6. You increase the range of your resources by attaching more walkeays with access to workers .
   
7. You can buy more extractors in the inventory screen
   
8. Command towers serve to house commanders, and spawns guns along their walls
   
9. Higher population unlocks new commanders and captains from the soultree screen
   
10. Captains and Commanders are found in the world by explored after being unlocked.
    
11. you can buy more units or set a defensive or escort stance in the commander screen
    
12. Bigger command towers have a higher unit cap
    
13. Building citadels, command towers and harbours to other factions inceases the population of that faction
    
14. trading with other factions also increases your alignment with them.
    

This is still an experimental game, a real genre bender so likely not the last update on this subject ;) Hope folks can let me know if the beta is safe and without bugs, so I can upload it for all and improve the first experiences for more players..

I've been crunching a bit too much so no update on the "edge of the world" content , everything is console porting and onboarding atm. Doing my best;)
Cheerio, Tomas

parking your command flagship next to a faction settlement, and then flying off with your surveyor would block settlements from spawning or being interactive near your surveyor. As the system assumed the command flagship was closest.

now fixed, likely a bug present since evolution's release. ;)