Isles of Silence News

This update mainly sets the groundwork for dividing content between Isles, hence the major delay as a lot of the backend was reworked. The main focus was getting the Isle 2 story started, and allowing players to revisit the first Isle after they departed. More content soon!

Also of note: due to the incredible sporadic nature of my full-time position, I will be retiring the months labels from the roadmap. The focuses, passion, and drive are the same as they were, but I am unable to hold myself to a timetable currently, and would prefer to only make promises I know I can keep moving forward!

NEW:
- Isle 2 Story implemented!
- Dynamic menu that updates with your progress
- Two-person dialogue system
- Village upgrades implemented on Isle 2
- Credits
- Added a dynamic map of the island to the Expeditions page (currently *VERY* WIP, and only for Isle 1)
- Can finally return to Isle 1 after leaving
- Added Objectives 19 - 22
- Added Some new Recipes for Tool Upgrades
CHANGES:
- Combat familiarity system is less punishing at the beginning and rebalanced
- Longlin should be more consistent with ideal armor early on due to this change
- Upped the resolution of the Hunt animations by 4x, so they should look less pixelated
- Increased some stick/stoon cost for the first armor set
- Added some missing item descriptions
- All characters are now a more appropriate relative size
FIXES:
- Hunters gain their familiarity badge without needing a refresh (visual bug only)
- Fixed a slightly transparent tab
- Slughide drops now add up to 100%
- Dialogue events now cover the whole UI instead of the current tab
- Fixed a bug where automated quests could stay active
- The boat now appropriately disappears when it should
- Hunters now successfully return from excursions

NEW:
- New character on Isle 2
CHANGES:
- Updated all chibis (for the sake of making them more dynamic)
- Added new art for the Isle 2 characters
FIXES:
- Familiarity now *actually* increases dodge change, was bugged before
- 'Begin' disappears on the intro
- Double Progress-Bar glitch should be fixed
- Text-log finally properly clears between quests
- Locked players out of some Isle 2 upgrades that aren't working yet
- Dock Inventory reflects the inventory of the current Isle instead of Isle 1

The familiarity system is now implemented, and Hunters will get stronger against monsters the more they fight them. This is seen through badges they gain during hunts, with specific stat boosts available to be seen once the Library is built!
Oh, and Sticks have been majorly buffed. Expect a sweeping late-game rebalance, but the early-game should feel a lot better, especially now that Hunters can auto-equip tools starting at Level 3.

Looking forward:
Steam Achievements are in the works, with a couple in code already but non-functional. Dark mode will also be made even darker, but didn't make it into this patch. Also, the 2nd Island will stop being a dead-end very soon.

NEW:
- Hunters get badges based on their familiarity with a monster, shown while on a quest (this is tied into the rank shown in the Library)
- Hunter familiarity with a monster now affects how often they dodge that monster's attacks and how often they hit the monster, + some other bonuses
- Hunter tracking familiarity increases how quickly they can track monsters based on how much they've tracked it before
NEW QOL:
- Hunters can now auto-equip tools from Level 3 (this is overriden by Quest auto-equip selections if active)
CHANGES:
- Further buffed stick drops in locale 1
- Health Regen Hunter milestone moved from level 2 to level 3
- Combat Familiarity has a much higher cap
- Changed the title of Objective 17 from 'eclectic' to 'eccentric'
- Made it clearer why you sometimes couldn't upgrade hunter pouches, both dynamically and with a note
- Slightly nerfed default chance to hit the monsters, since it's significantly buffed over time by the new familiarity system
- Same as above but to the hunter's chance to dodge a monster's attacks
- Library now displays a tooltip when you hover over a hunter
- Changed the arbitrary '25%' on the library tab to something more mysterious
FIXES:
- Removed a rogue
tag from an objective
- Meera now [actually] moves to the library
- The first objective now shows in the diary
- Added a missing apostrophe
- Can no longer click on Hunters in the library to change Monster tabs
- Fixed 2 issues that could cause saves to load infinitely

The game has been out just over 1 week, and managed to get around 200+ players in it's first 7 days! This has exceeded my expectations for my little passion project, so thank you for everyone who tried it out, and to the people who left reviews! Reviews go a massive way towards making the game more visible on Steam, plus I just appreciate the feedback!

That being said, there's a lot coming up! I work a full-time job but my evenings are committed to making this game everything I want it to be, and I am determined to push out a notable update every 2 weeks, with laid-out goals for each month formed by the community. The two big ones: Steam Achievements and Stick/Early-game rebalancing! Expect the rebalancing in the next couple of days, and Achievements within the month! I heard your (very justified) cries about drop-rates and break chances and am determined to get them into a smoother state.

Further news for people without a Windows device: The full game is now fully playable in-browser! If you have a Mac or otherwise incompatible device with the offline build, the website now supports logging in with your Steam account (through Valve's secure servers), and if your account owns the game you'll be able to play it fully online! Otherwise, the website will allow you to play a full demo of the game, which covers around the first 8 hours(!!) of content! The web build is the same as the offline build with a few parameters changed, and will therefore be up-to-date with the offline build whenever something new comes out. (Offline demo is currently in review, and will be up on Steam as soon as possible)

Link to the website here!

Thank you for a fantastic launch, and I'm incredibly excited to show you all what I've been working on for the future content. There's a lot planned, and I'm determined to build onto this game until it surpasses my current vision!

And without further ado, the first Roadmap:


The roadmap will be kept up to date on the Steam Store page, as well as through the occasional announcment.
It's also a good time to you to export/download your saves every once in a while, just in case anything goes awry. Will be adding incentives to the menu soon.

There is also now a bundle, in case you want to check out the other game I put out on Steam for a discounted price!
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/43828/the_Lonely_Frontier_Complete_Story/

As always, if you have any thoughts, please let me know in any of the usual places or as a comment below!

After over a year of hard work and feedback, I am proud to announce that "Isles of Silence" is officially in Early Access!

Thank you so much for checking out my game, and I hope you give it a shot! If you've still got some unanswered questions, here's a little FAQ:

[h2]Does the game have an end? Or is it endless?[/h2]
The game does indeed have an end goal that it builds towards, but it is currently not in the present build. There is no prestige system or meaningless number bloat, but rather a steady layering of interwoven systems that open up more efficient paths forwards.

[h2]How long does the current build take to beat?[/h2]
Current playtests are showing that there are at least 8 hours of content in the game, though it could easily be more depending on playstyle.

[h2]Is this an Idle Game? How active is it?[/h2]
It's more of an Incremental, where progress is gained through planning and time-management rather than simply waiting for a number to go up. It starts decently active in the beginning, but as the game progresses you have the option to automate more and more by assigning tasks to the NPCs.

[h2]Is there a dark mode?[/h2]
Of course (thanks to the comments I got an hour after launch, much appreciated guys)

[h2]What's the tone of the game?[/h2]
Cozy with a darker undertone. It may be the end of the world, but they're sure making the most of it!

[h2]Should I leave a review if I really like it?[/h2]
Yes, and tell all your friends, if it's not too much to ask.

For further questions, feedback, or bug reports, find me on the Steam Forums or join the community over on