Aegis Force: The Scorian War News

[p]Greetings soldiers of Genua! [/p][p]Our team has been heads down, hard at work putting the final touches on the expanded demo planned for release later this month. This demo will include the original Lendene prologue AND the Ruiners Pass section of Chapter 1! Changes made in July include: [/p]

• [p]New victory screen and team pose[/p]
• [p]Sprint is now fixed[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced character damage and health stats[/p]
• [p]Updated player/enemy/cursor grid colors[/p]
• [p]Cathedral interior is now fully built and explorable[/p]
• [p]Ruiners Pass polish, cutscenes, story elements[/p]
• [p]Updated the prologue story, cutscenes, UI[/p]
• [p]Created see-through window shader effect for obstructions[/p]

[p]What's coming up this month? [/p]

• [p]Add voiced lines to expanded demo[/p]
• [p]Finalize expanded demo cutscenes, exploration, and combat[/p]
• [p]Testing the expanded demo and bug fixing[/p]

[p]As always, our artists are creating tons of new assets, portraits, and characters that help make the world of Ianua immersive and full of life! Take a look at some of the new screenshots: [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We got some great feedback from our Discord group on the Ruiners Pass area and are going to share the expanded demo with the Discord community first so make sure you join now to get all the new updates first! Join the Discord![/p][p]NextUp Games published a Q&A from our team since we were voted one of the top games spotlighted in July - Read the Q&A here![/p][p]We're also gearing up for a big campaign with several YouTube creators to spotlight our new demo when it comes out, so stay tuned to our social media since we'll be sharing those videos and streams regularly ːsteamhappyː[/p][p]Once the expanded demo comes out, we anticipate spending some extra time addressing any new bugs or feedback you all provide! We'll keep focusing on adapting to your suggestions while trying to make Aegis Force as fun to play as possible. [/p][p]As always, thank you for engaging with us, playing our demos, and sharing your ideas! Until next month, FOR GENUA![/p]

[p]Greetings soldiers of Genua! June was an amazing month for Aegis Force as the team made incredible progress on Chapter 1 & the upcoming expanded demo, and we attended our first in-person game conference in Edmonton, Canada![/p][p]If you're not already on our Discord or newsletter, join today to get access to our Game Con conference build! We've made it available to our growing community so we can get firsthand player feedback on the new area and combat system before releasing the expanded demo next month. We also: [/p]

• [p]Added Ruiners Pass cutscenes and story events[/p]
• [p]Set up cathedral interior integrations[/p]
• [p]Made items functional in combat (potions!)[/p]
• [p]Implemented new animations and character poses[/p]
• [p]Added Enter interactions for houses in Ruiners Pass[/p]
• [p]Added new exploration music[/p]
• [p]Added destructible objects with loot[/p]
• [p]Adjusted combat camera views to hide obstructing foliage[/p]

[p]Check out our gameplay video on Youtube to see what Ruiners Pass is like![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]What's coming up this month? [/p]

• [p]Polishing Chapter 1 gameplay, narrative, etc.[/p]
• [p]Continue developing the city and new interior areas to explore[/p]
• [p]Adding more cutscenes[/p]
• [p]Investigating translation options for the demo[/p]

[p]Our artists have spent a lot of time creating new assets, characters, and animations that make the world of Ianua feel so much more alive! Here's a few new screenshots and character portraits you might come across soon... [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Our first in-person game conference was a massive success! Three of our team members (plus a few family members along for the ride) had the incredible opportunity to showcase Aegis Force in the Innovation Zone at GCC. Connecting with fellow fans of pixel art turn-based RPGs was an absolute highlight. The excitement from everyone who visited our booth was inspiring, and we’re already incorporating your feedback and creative ideas into the next phase of development![/p][p]Oh and we ate a lot of amazing Canadian food :) [/p][p][/p][p]Get ready for a brand new demo and game trailer for Aegis Force: The Scorian War, arriving between July and August. Your feedback from the February 2025 demo and all the feedback from our beta testers and conference attendees helped shape this next phase, and we think you’re going to love what’s in store. From new teammates and fierce new enemies to an all-new playable zone steeped in mysterious lore—it’s time to dive even deeper into the world of Ianua.[/p][p]Also, if you're not following us on all your social media platforms yet, you can find all our links here - Linktr.ee/deseretgames[/p][p]Until next time, FOR GENUA![/p]

Greetings soldiers of Genua! June is shaping up to be a crazy month as our developers put the finishing touches on our expanded demo and a few of us pack our bags to head out to Edmonton for Game Con Canada next week!

Last month we talked about the new combat system you'll get to experience in the expanded demo and final release and since then, we've made a TON of progress:

• New combat grid visuals
  
• Updated user interface (UI) and heads-up display (HUD)
  
• Upgraded battle animations for all characters
  
• Polishing art and exploration build for new playable area - Ruiners Pass
  

What's coming up this month?

• Resolving new bugs - current issue with keyboard and mouse controls
  
• Creating new character art, animations, and story for future chapters
  
• Updating music and battle integrations for new playable area
  

Can't wait to share the new gameplay with all of you soon, we'll keep incorporating your feedback and finding new ways to bring the magical world of Ianua to life :)

Take a look at some of our gorgeous new screenshots of Ruiners Pass! You'll explore this area in Chapter 1 right after the Prologue in Lendene.


If you're heading to Game Con Canada from 6/13-6/15, come stop by Booth A05 and say hi! We are so excited to talk to everyone about Aegis Force and share an early preview of Ruiners Pass for attendees who play the demo during the conference. Once Game Con is done, we'll also share the new exploration build with our Discord community before the expanded demo is released in July. Make sure you join the Discord today so you get the first look!

With everything else going on with development and preparing for Game Con Canada, we didn't do a stream or developer Youtube video this month, but we'll share some Youtube content later this month and get back on our regular schedule in July!

Now that we've made a ton of improvements to the foundational game mechanics (combat, character screens, UI, etc.), we can keep developing new chapters and explorable areas for the final game. Follow us on social media and Discord to keep in touch with us and be the first ones to know when new content is available!
Thank you all again for playing, sharing your thoughts, and engaging with us!

Until next month, FOR GENUA!

Greetings soldiers of Genua! This summer is going to be VERY busy for our small team as we prepare to release our expanded demo and also participate in multiple events and conferences.

The team is laying some serious ground work for a new and improved combat system and the party management user interface. You won't see these changes in the current demo, but we'll have them ready with the expanded demo in a couple months.

This month we:

• Added battle action log and health bars above characters
  
• Added new grid-based movement options during combat
  
• Added lootable chests as part of upcoming exploration mechanics
  
• Added UI screens for inventory, characters, equipment, and save system
  

And I know a lot of you will be excited to experience the new critical hits and misses indicators during combat. The enemy sprites stay oriented in the way they ended their turn so you can plan your backstabs accordingly :)

We're still working on:

• Optimizing keyboard/mouse setup
  
• Offering accessibility options and controller instructions before the game starts
  
• Adding option to skip dialogue or cutscenes
  
• Affinity system between party members in combat
  

Your feedback and suggestions have been invaluable in helping us understand what's working and what might need a little extra fine-tuning before our release, so please keep it coming! We're listening and actively adjusting as development continues.


Wekufes and Berzerkers and Bladed Slimes, OH MY! We've got some amazing designs and sprites created for future enemies and characters you'll interact with in the full game. Check out this month's screenshots, updated portrait art, and sprite GIFs!



We're participating in multiple indie game events and game conferences this year and hope to meet a lot of current and future Aegis Force fans! The Steam event "Indie Assemble" starts in a couple days so make sure to check it out and show some love to fellow indie game studios. We'll share more information on 5/5!
In June, we're attending Game Con Canada in Edmonton - our first in-person event! While our full expanded demo won't be released yet, we're planning on sharing exclusive playable content for conference attendees to get some pre-release feedback and keep the momentum going.

Remember to join our Discord and subscribe to @DeseretGamesStudio on Youtube so you can watch our developer diaries, get Aegis Force updates first, and participate in future community events. Our latest developer diary "Pixel Art in a 3D World"[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube] offers some insights into how the art style of Aegis Force: The Scorian War has developed over the last year and where it's still going!


We'll have many more updates to share over the next few months as we keep revamping combat and growing the explorable world of Ianua. Follow us on social media and Discord to keep in touch with us and be the first ones to know when new content is available!
Thank you all again for playing, sharing your thoughts, and engaging with us!

Until next month, FOR GENUA!

Greetings soldiers of Genua! It's been another busy month for our developers and artists as they create new characters, playable areas, and new combat mechanics that we plan to share in our future expanded demo this summer.

One of the challenges with game development is when you fix one bug and another pops up in its place. It can feel a bit like a game of Whack-a-Mole, but we're glad our demo players are alerting us quickly when new issues arise.

This month we:

• Improved audio volume in the opening text crawl
  
• Fixed Shift key bug preventing players from sprinting
  
• Fixed dialogue issues where // kept showing up in the text
  
• Added ability for players to save at any point in the demo
  

Outstanding issues we're working on:

• Optimizing keyboard/mouse setup
  
• Improving combat camera mechanics
  
• Adding option to skip dialogue or cutscenes
  
• Backstab and sidestab mechanics and better visibility when you land one!
  

These are just a few of the items our team is focused on resolving, so rest assured we're hearing your input and working towards creating a GREAT player experience.

One of the characteristics of Aegis Force: The Scorian War that we're super excited to share with our players is the wide variety of playable areas, enemies, flora and fauna, and character races. Check out our screenshots from the last month to see the formidable boss "The Abbot", the Wekufe warrior, and the Moonlit Mare Tavern in Vigherad...

Our community keeps growing and we are THRILLED. Join our Discord to get early access to new artwork and updates as well as participate in community RPG streams.
We released another developer diary on Youtube last month and anticipate releasing these videos every month. Subscribe to @DeseretGamesStudio so you can watch them when they're new!

Follow us on social media and especially our Discord to see our latest updates! We're still working hard on expanding the demo and plan to release it this summer (around July 2025). We might even be attending a few game conferences later this year... if so, we'll notify you all on our social media first!
Community feedback is 100% welcome and we take every comment seriously. We want you to love this game as much as we do and appreciate everyone's thoughts so far!

Until next month, FOR GENUA!