Titans of the Past News

Hi, Alex 13 here, with a regular update describing the past sprint results.

Without further ado, here's the changelog:

• Steam Cloud Saves implemented and set up
  
• 4 new Shrine (store) Boons
  
• New internal stat for mobs' spell effectiveness calculation
  
• Fire Magic school fully implemented!
  
• Chain tooltips, like in Age of Wonders 4
  
• Crafting - WIP, to be finalized during the next sprint
  
• Renamed the game from Project MML (working title) to Titans of the Past
  
• 9 Personalities for characters added
  
• Town buildings costs set up
  
• Town buildings flavor texts and descriptions
  
• Tavern quests: implemented, added resources and XP rewards. Item rewards to go in the next sprint
  
• A few new spells VFX added
  
• Significant progress on two new maps: Monastery and Swamp
  

We decided to go the Last Epoch / Dwarven Realms route (both games are great, I recommend you play them!). You can add, replace, and upgrade Affixes on items, using limited and finite Crafting potential.

Fake screens below:




Current in-game prototype:




Thanks and see you in 2 weeks, as usual.
13, out.

Hi,

Alex '13' here. Project MMl always has been a working title. It stands for Might and Magic-like, but we obviously can't keep this name. So, after thorough consideration and intense discussions within the team, the game is now called Titans of the Past.


In our team, product and design decisions are made by me and Eugene - our GD/LD, and co-founder. However, the basis for major decisions is almost always coming from the team. We always ask, then evaluate, then decide. This time was no different. I created a spreadsheet where the team could put proposals, and we gathered a nice batch of possible names this way.



Then I created a poll in our Discord to vote. The idea wasn't to decide the name democratically - I don't believe in democracy in game development: from my XP, it's always better to have a final authority and responsibility within one person per area (design, code, marketing, etc.). But the voting results gave Eugene and me a perspective.

Here are the voting results:

Two names stood out, and were actually good:
Echoes of Adventures and Eat. Sleep. Adventure. Repeat!
The former was going to be our new name but is already used. The latter is great, but for a different type of game - it fits a silly and slipstick-humor one, like Goat Simulator, for example. So it was obvious we shouldn't use it for Project MML, which is a tough and complex, serious fantasy RPG.

This left us with Titans of the Past. We removed the suffix (Revival) to not overcomplicate the readability.

This name has two important meanings:
1. The pillars, core design, and feel of this game stand on the shoulders of the Titans of the Past themselves: games like Might and Magic, Wizardry, The Bard's Tale, and Eye of the Beholder. We pay our homage to the Grand Masters of the genre this way.
2. It supports our lore and fantasy - a thing which you, the players, will be able to uncover an experience once we release the game.

Please let me know what do you think about the game's new name.

13, out.

Hi,

Alex '13' here with a regular update. We've finished Sprint 26.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

• Mob stats scaling reworked. Making mobs scale the same way as player characters was a mistake. It made the system too complex and unpredictable. Now we have overrides for main stats that we can easily control.
  
• Mobs can now scale to Lvl 40 while for the player the level cap is 35. This is for the highest difficulty to be really tough.
  
• Town: general building mechanics (requirements, costs, unlocks)
  
• Town: Guilds UI reworked
  
• Towns: constructing Embassies and Guilds unlocks new races and classes
  
• New map progress (about 40% done) - Monastery
  
• 10 new spells
  
• Various bugfixes
  
• New bugs :)
  

We're going to rename the game soon. Project MML is a working title, it stands for 'Might and Magic-like'. But we need a proper title, an we think we've come up with something great!

Hi,

Alex '13' here. From now on I'm going to post here each 2 weeks.

Our development is divided into milestones - usually 3 months long, and sprints - always 2 weeks long. Since my last post here, we've completed the first sprint of our new Milestone - Town. As usual for our team, the first sprint of a new MS is focused on processing the feedback gathered from the playtests (currently internal, but public ones are coming). fixing non-critical bugs and overall not allowing the technical debt to snowball. Which helps in keeping the team and the development cycle healthy.

We plan the following:

• Town building
  
• Crafting
  
• Stores and trading
  
• 3 new maps
  
• 20+ new spells
  
• 4 new classes
  
• Some QoL
  
• Balance overhaul
  
• A simple in-game video tutorial
  

In no particular order :)

• Update the Chest level
  
• Rework the Campfire level
  
• Make lighting on Town Streets level less dark
  
• Contraband Cove light improvements
  
• Great Wall wall light improvements
  
• 2 new spells (mechanics and addition to the store)
  
• Fix: Pause the music in the shop - it overlaps with the main-level music
  
• Mob mutator chance - depending on mob level, not static
  
• Char creation: master attributes tooltips on stats during Class and Race selection
  
• Added DPS to weapon info
  
• Increase Formation Swiftness MS bonus from 15% to 25%
  
• Fix: Fire/Poison Weapon doesn't work on ranged attacks
  
• On-screen info when crosshairing a mob - a chance to hit
  
• Melee attack trace range bonus for mobs (100u default)
  
• Luck stat implementation - crit, true hit, resources, and loot bonus
  
• Slow effect slows recovery
  
• Campfire on maps - random spawn, similar to chest. EXCEPT on the Campfire level
  
• Put music to all levels
  
• Soul Mend - updated the spell description to make it clear that it restores Energy as well
  
• Increase block effectiveness (DR)
  
• Soul mend - increase cooldown significantly
  
• Ranger's self-heal amount and CD increased
  
• Cleave - increased attack bonus
  
• All healing spells - increased CD
  
• Give a Rat caster the Fire Arrow spell for lower levels
  
• 3 more Adventure layouts
  
• Art for 3 Town buildings
  
• 3 spell VFX
  

I was a guest on the WizardWorm's channel. A great guy with a cozy and interesting channel!
The video is just me talking about the game. It's in English.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Here you can find the blog post on one of the main Ukrainian communities dedicated to game development:
https://gamedev.dou.ua/blogs/migh-and-magic-like/

This reading is in Ukrainian. I talk about the game, team, processes, etc.

Join our recently established Discord server:
https://discord.gg/93KFxxVcNX

It's new, so it's rough around the edges. We're working on improving the experience.

I will include the usual dev stuff like wip things, test levels, just jokes alongside the proper screenshots. I think it's interesting.

Hello!

Alex '13' Uslavtsev here. We've just finished another internal milestone. It was focused on the Adventure mode - a Slay the Spire-like map with nodes and paths between them. Now, instead of running single maps, we can experience a major part of the game as intended.



While Adventure layouts are static, they are selected randomly, as well as the nodes themselves.
You will encounter not only Dungeons (our combat nodes), but Stores to purchase boons and resources, Chests to grab that precious loot, Campfires to rest and refill your HP and Mana, and Random nodes that can be anything.

Plus, the higher the difficulty, the more Dungeon Modifiers you will see in Dungeons. These can be positive, neutral, and negative - and any node can have several Modifiers. So you'll have to make some decisions! Currently, we have 10 Dungeon Mods, and we tried to make them interesting: not just stat-changing, but affecting the core gameplay. One good example can be the 'Drop the Bobms!' Mod - a neutral one. Each mob, when dies, spawns a few bombs that, when they explode, damage everyone. So it can be a boon or doom, depending on the skill.



We have been working on more stuff too. Here's the simple bullet list:
Procedurally generated Adventures like in Slay the Spire instead of single maps

• 3 new maps in addition to the existing one;
  
• Difficulty scaling (mob level, stats, skills, and abilities/spells; different Dungeon Mutator spawn chances);
  
• Gameplay mutators for combat maps;
  
• Combat maps path randomization for more replayability;
  
• 19 Purchasable Boons (aka Perks);
  
• Traps and trapped Chests;
  
• Arena mechanics (wave survival);
  
• Elite mob mutators (persistent buffs, more health and damage, etc.);
  
• Difficulty Class mechanics for debuffs, traps, and hidden objects;
  
• UI and HUD improvements;
  
• Improved graphics;
  
• 20+ More spells (up to 66 currently);
  
• All 15 character races are now in the game;
  
• About 16 character classes are now in the game;
  
• A big chunk of balance tweaks and improvements;
  

Another good news is that my recon progress tracker is now showing that we crossed the Equator - the game is a bit more than 50% finished as of today.




In about 3 months, when we finish the next milestone, we'll leave the pre-alpha stage - all major features will be in. The core loop will be completely playable. Its last missing part is the Town Building, which is our focus for the next milestone (along with Crafting and Item Vendors).

When it is done, we'll be organizing a public, open playtest. So stay tuned!

P.S.
Here are a few screenshots that I personally like.















And some more, with the updated lighting on one of the maps.