Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles News

Hi everyone,

Amongst the patches and the secret project (join the discord to learn more about that), I've been working on the next themed free content update for Bulwark.

So just gonna drop some teasing images here. These are of the "Behemoth Class" surveyor which has been discussed and requested first on the forums here. And it is coming and will be one of the main additions for that upcoming (likely late summer) update.



So this is going to be a three tier upgradable big ass surveyor. I am thinking you need to both buy the various tiers and make sure the commander building it has maxed out resources of everything to get all the tiers. It's going to be wildly OP and thus wildly expensive as it should dominate any combat engagement. (we all want something OP eventually right?)


I also want to address the following:
I read a user review criticising my use of small DLC as it gave them a feeling of only owning part of the game. And I think that is an absolutely fair criticism, we enjoy games in a time where there is so much exploitative by game makers and publishers. So fair enough.

But let me provide my reasoning and lets have this discussion. So Bulwark is doing good but it's no Manor Lords, this is by all accounts a niche experimental game with a mid sized/small but dedicated audience. Folks who enjoy the risks the game takes by deviating from established norms and tropes. And I hope you all enjoy the continued effort I put into free content updates regularly in what is now over a year of dedicated support, even if recently I am also working on another project simultaneously. Your continued support is amazing and motivates me to keep going! Couldn't do it without you. (and the Behemoth is a nod to that gratitude).

But to also always need to find a stable source of revenue. But steam revenues are super launch driven and you make the long tail revenue proportionate to a the launch. So a lot at the start, not so much later on.

Small DLC offsets the deep discounting Steam forces on games nowadays (to gain visibility in festivals and seasonal sales, to get opportunities like daily deals etc). It allows me to sell bundles (which are really popular and always on sale) and have extra tools so the game can be discounted without succumbing to bargain bin practices and the slow slide into zero revenue.

So it's a vital tool in being a gamedev that's (working towards, not there yet) somewhat independent of needing a launch hype every few years. And not abandoning games at some time after launch. Something I had to do for Falconeer after 1-2 years cuz it just wasn't paying the bills. (Something I deeply regret and am using all your support to remedy in the near future, tease!!!).

I chose DLC items that feel harmless, some ships, some cosmetic stuff mostly, a few extra units here and there. And it's all a few bucks at most. Now the reason there is now quite a lot of DLC is that I do some every time I make a major free content update, so when I added the mongress trading pack, there were also free ships added in that free update, and every DLC represents a major free update that came with it. And there have been a lot!

For me all of this doesn't feel exploitative, would I prefer not to do it? Hell yes. I would love to sit here make video games and get them to my audience. Even for free, that's why I did the Moonpath Mods for Skyrim. But in the end I have a family and a house and a 17 year old car..;) and I need to survive.

Being a dev that is passionately bound to improve and support their game year after year has seen me use every tool Steam gives me to survive and use them well.

I hope that clarifies things a bit. I know selling of separate bits and bobs might feel like you are missing out, but has over the last year or so literally enabled so much free content and updates. The revolution update, the edge update all the smaller content drops. The game has had daily deals, those are opportunities Valve only provides to games they feel deserve it. And making smart use of Steam's features is part of that.

Again thank you for all the support and keep also dropping both your honest criticisms and your desires. I do appreciate both and will keep working at making this game (and the Falconeer) worth your purchases.

Cheerio,
Tomas

Hi everyone another regular update.

here's the modest changelist.

• Increased the zoom out/height of the camera to go from a max of 120 to 160
  
• added pyro rockets to the Verne , both in practice and inventory
  
• improved the formation flying of capital airships so they are behind and above the plane of the surveyor , and in tighter formation (less bumping)
  
• improved model and shader for Crabton Boss
  
• improved shader for murenal
  
• improved model and shader for mosaur
  

the next beta patch should actually contain two experimental features I've decided on

1. fog of war on the map, so places not in range of your buildings or traderoutes remain hidden on the map, this to make exploration and unlocking of the map also feel like progression. Should hopefully add a sense of satistfaction and make certain unique buildings like the lighthouse and surveyors hq more usefull

2. A little countdown on how much population is still required for the next soultree unlock. Perhaps even showing which unlock is next. Visible when you engage the resource flow mode. to give folks a little bit more of a hint that something unlockable is coming up..

That is all for now, :)
cheerio,
Tomas

p.s don't forget to leave a user review, nearly at 1100!!

Hi Everyone,

I pushed the old beta changes to live to make room for a more concerted effort in regards to new features and prep for a bigger named update.

This small beta update adds the following

• improved the quality and lights on various props
  
• added some small details like, anchors, rivets and railings to various ships
  
• improved the Imperial tradesman ship, cuz it was ugly (edited)
  
• added the resources a settlement will trade underneath its highlighted world icon (in-game)
  
• added the resources a settlement will trade underneath its name on the map
  

Here's some screens

So when on the map or closeby a settlement that allows trade will always show what it trades for what. Hopefully a useful little feature to make it easier to figure out what captain should be on that route.




Ships have gained Anchors, little railings, rivets ,small details basically that are carrying forward from the secret project. I am working on getting some climbing rigging on the masts as well. This serves no purpose other than it's cool to look at. there's a few windows and other little flourishes here and there as well.



Enjoy this first little beta.. I am first doing some QoL and porting over some other stuff to Bulwark that makes things look nicers over the coming weeks , ramping up to the behemoth surveyor and other stuff.

cheerio,
Tomas

-increased the display level of the three edge settlements to 4 stars due to their heavy defenses and general threat level of the edge
-increased the level of the remit pirate settlement , reduced its defenses a little
-made it that the unique faction buildings that increase unit pop also spawn faction houses
-reduced murky contrast on portraits
-reduced general murkiness of the ocean and spruced things up a tiny bit..

I'm sorry on the silence for new content, but I am busy , in the meantime here's a small monday hotfix on the beta branch (accessible via properties/betas/beta patch)

• increased the display level of the three edge settlements to 4 stars due to their heavy defenses and general threat level of the edge
  
• increased the level of the remit pirate settlement , reduced its defenses a little
  
• made it that the unique faction buildings that increase unit pop also spawn faction houses
  
• reduced murky contrast on portraits
  
• reduced general murkiness of the ocean and spruced things up a tiny bit..
  
• toned the colors and general freshness of the visuals up a bit