ENDLESS™ Legend 2 News

[p]Hey everyone,[/p][p]Today we will have with us Jeff (Slowhands for those recognizing the name), Narrative Director for the Endless Universe. He will be talking about the challenges and plans for the narration in Endless Legend 2.[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]​Greetings from the ink-stained cubicles where the narrative team hammers out triggers and texts, racing deadlines and fighting spellcheck (“No! It’s S-a-i-a-d-h-a!”) as unsteady towers of lore tomes threaten to fall on the keyboard and erase hours of sweaty work… At least we get croissants 🥐
[/p][p]As you have seen by now, the creative team on Endless Legend 2 decided to approach the storytelling and narrative structures in a very different way from past Amplitude games. The results have not been what we hoped for, and we understand that many of you in our community are not happy with the outcome. 
[/p][p]We have therefore been working on changes that should better match your expectations and, hopefully, make the narrative soul of the game more appealing. To make sure we get this right, however, we need to get your feedback on the new approach to help us decide what works best. [/p][p]
[/p][p]These are the key narrative vectors that we are changing, with an explanation of why and how we think this will improve your game experience. 
[/p][p]First off, we will be excluding major factions from Events that are inconsistent with their tone or their gameplay. This means things like removing Food-oriented Events for the Last Lords and friendly diplomatic Events from the Necrophage. 
[/p][p]Another concern that you have voiced is the length and the “clickiness” of some of the narration. We will be removing a large chunk of this by returning the Pacification Quests to a much more Endless Legend 1-style, with a narrative intro and at most 2-3 clicks to get to the Objective (including perhaps an incidental line about the minor or major faction or the game situation). The relatively lengthy intros will be reduced to something like this[/p][p][/p][p]
In addition, further dialogue exchanges will generally be reduced to a single line[/p][p]
[/p][p]​We are also reviewing the Faction Quests to lighten the number of clicks and improve the flow and the tone, as well as working on additional 2D art for each faction. [/p][p]Our next task is to make the Victory Quest and narrative victory content more meaningful and understandable. For the moment these texts and screens are very much Early Access; the ideas are there but the details are far from being finalized. We are working to improve the clarity, flow, and impact of the endgame content and the narrative outcomes that the player can choose. The Event chain will be fleshed out, and the user interface improved to better explain and track what is happening. [/p][p]
We are also reworking the Relationship Events by reducing or removing certain Event classes, improving the Lone Wolf Events, and adding some unique Events that are more appropriate for the Necrophage. [/p][p][/p][p]One other final change to the text content is to edit and update Events and Quips to make sure the tone is more in line with the game style, free of modernisms and contemporary references. [/p][p][/p][p]On the system side, as well as the structures and scaffolding of the above changes, we will be providing a Settings option to reduce the frequency of narrative interactions; if the player chooses to, they can minimize the narrative content to only the Faction Quest and the Victory Quest. [/p][p] [/p][p]​We will also add small 3D models to indicate Map-based Events (these are Events that are triggered by an army traversing a specific map tile—it could be related to the FIDSI, an Anomaly, a Resource, etc.). The player will have to interact with the model to launch the Event, which should make the link between the tile and the Event clearer. Currently, it is possible to open e.g. a Forest tile Event when the army that triggered it is now in the Desert. Adding a pin will also put the decision in the player’s hands as to whether they want to launch the Event or ignore it. [/p][p][/p][p]Please note that this is a long list, which means it will require time and resources to address. You should start seeing these changes by the end of 2025, and we will continue to roll them out during Early Access. We hope that these revisions take into account some of the issues that you have had, and we extra-hope that the game keeps getting better for you. Feedback, as always, is welcome. [/p][p]
[/p][p]Greetings from the narration team; Nicky_N, StoryEngine, and Slowhands [/p]

[p][/p][p]Hey everyone, [/p][p]The PTB (Public Test Branch) is opening its doors, once again. And this time, with something a lot of players are expecting... multiplayer[/p][p] [/p]

• [p]Multiplayer: It is the first time we are trying MP with the community, so please have that in mind if you encounter desyncs ⚠[/p]
• [p]Zone of Control (ZoC): We got your feedback regarding units rushing to the backline (causing frustrations) and your request for ZoC.
  We make some tweaks to the classic ZoC in a way that melee restricts movement, but you can still move around during the battle > Now, units moving when in melee will spend 2 movement points instead of 1 (not applied to flying units)[/p]
• [p]Tweaks to Victory Conditions[/p]
• [p]Additional AI improvements[/p]
• [p]New main HUD: this is something we shared in the "next steps for UI/UX"[/p]

[p] [/p][p]For those who want to read the detailed patch notes, it's HERE! [/p][p] [/p][h2]How to access the PTB via Steam [/h2]

1. [p]Open the Steam client. [/p]
2. [p]Go to your Steam Library. [/p]
3. [p]Look for “Endless Legend 2”  [/p]
4. [p]Right-click on your Library entry and go to Properties.  [/p]
5. [p]Select Betas > Enter "multiplayerbeta2511" and click on the popup that appears below[/p]
6. [p]Once you’ve clicked on this entry, the game will start the update.  
   If you want to go back to the base game, repeat the process but on the “betas” section select “None” [/p]

[p] [/p][p]When the installation is complete, the Public Test Branch is ready to launch!  [/p][p]Click “Play” like you would with any other game![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]About Save Compatibility[/h2][hr][/hr][h3]🚨 Players will need to create a "New Game" on the PTB 🚨[/h3][p]We are solving a compatibility issue that prevents players from continuing their games from the "Into Battle Update" [/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]The Public Test Branch uses the same place to store the save files, which implies 2 things: [/p]

• [p]If you start a game on the PTB you won’t be able to continue the game in the “default” game. [/p]
• [p]If you start a game on the PTB you will be able to keep that game once the update is released. [/p]

[p]Summary > You cannot use a save used on PTB on the default game. [/p][p]
[/p][h2]How can I give feedback? [/h2][p]We need your feedback! The primary purpose of the Public Test Branch is to gather your feedback on new content, changes, and balancing tweaks we plan to implement in the game. Since this is a test environment, expect unfinished content and possible bugs.
 [/p][p]Our main focus this time is multiplayer, and we’d love to hear your thoughts on the changes to the new HUD.[/p][p]  [/p][p]We’ve set up a dedicated forum on Amplifiers to let you voice your opinion, which you can find 👇[/p][p][/p][p]> PUBLIC TEST BRANCH FORUM[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for helping us make Endless Legend 2 the best it can be! [/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]Your Feedback Matters: Reviews and Community[/h2][p]There’s a reason we are putting Endless Legend 2 into Early Access: We want to hear from you, our players. So if you’ve spent some time with the game, please let us know what you think! [/p][p]Leave a Steam review and join our community on the forum, the Amplitude Discord, or our Amplifiers community hub. [/p]

[p]\[Version Number: 0.72.159772][/p][p][/p][p]Hey everyone![/p][p][/p][p]We dropped a small hotfix to correct some of the unit stats and abilities that were not properly assigned. Now it should match all the changes from Into Battle Update 👇[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Huge Thanks to Kobor that shared an amazing thread detailing all the issues 💖[/p][p][/p]

[p]Before handing it over to Derek, I just want to highlight that you can now VOTE to help shape the gameplay or lore of the minor faction we’ll be crafting together with you, our amazing community 📬


[/p][h3]🚨 Note: This post contains story spoilers. Those wishing to discover these things in game should skip this post. [/h3][p]
What started as a peaceful oceanic world quickly turns into a world full of disappearing oceans, ravenous necrophage and punishing storms (on the positive side, the surfing is excellent).

It will come as no surprise to long-term ENDLESS Legend fans that Saiadha has a Lost at its heart. But where the spirit of Auriga was mostly benevolent, the spirit of Saiadha rages against its prison.

As Tidefall occurs you will be exposed to new mechanics and witness manifestations of the Lost’s power. Some are passive, and some violent. And it’s the water that keeps the Lost bound. As it rages and causes Monsoons, the ENDLESS’s prison drains the oceans to contain it, for a while…

In time you will have to decide how you want to deal with an angry god on the verge of escape. You will meet characters in the world with different ideas and agendas and it’s up to you to decide which to follow.

Will you Worship the Lost? Impress it? Or attempt to Master it?

Each option unlocks different victory conditions, and each player decides which path they want to follow. What other players selects matters because all players get a bonus depending on the number of players following the path they selected (if you choose Worship and other players did as well, then you all get a larger bonus from it).


Not only that. But you can only win with a victory on the path you choose. So, if you are going for a Research victory (which is a Worship option) you only have to worry about other Worship path players.

Currently you can switch your path as you like. We don’t want players to feel locked in or want to reload because they didn’t check out all the options enough beforehand. It will be interesting to hear from all of you during Early Access to see if this is a good idea, or a potential exploit.


There are seven narrative victory options (as well as the normal victories of conquest and score). The Awakening Victory screen shows you what is needed for each and how each player ranks.

This screen is functional but will need some love. At this point we are most focused on balancing the objectives and making sure they are fun. Based on your feedback objectives and layout may change. It will require a lot of testing and balance to make sure they remain achievable, but not too easy with the dramatically different situations that sandbox games create.

Here we see that we selected the Impress path, with two other players. Which allows us access to the Wealth and Stature victory paths. There is also one player on the Worship path, and one on the Mastery path on the right.

What paths other players select matters because all players in that path get a bonus based on how many are in it. Sometimes it’s easier to go along with the crowd. But I think we can do more here. Provide attitude modifiers and mood messages based on path decisions, I’d love to see some games fracture along these lines. Especially if some factions are fanatical about their path (The Kin and Tahuk) and others care less.

[/p][p]

The Lost isn’t just the basis of victory conditions in the game; its anger is also manifested in creatures in the world. These Doomwraiths are powerful and dangerous but aren’t a direct military threat. They won’t attack your armies or cities.

Instead, they settle in territories and slowly begin to corrupt them. This corruption applies penalties to your cities and destroys minor faction villages if they aren’t dealt with. We wanted to give the player agency to choose how (and when) to deal with Doomwraiths, which is why they don’t force conflict by attacking. You may be in the middle of a war, finishing a quest, or exploring far away from the corrupted territory so we wanted players to have options.

But dealing with them with an army is one of those options. In this case I needed to pull together two armies to be able to do it, Doomwraiths are powerful.


With the Doomwraith defeated the corruption is removed and the minor faction’s villages can be rebuilt. Which takes us one step closer to conquering Saiadha.

[/p][p]
Adding narrative content in a 4x game is a delicate balance. The “story” of the game is one the player crafts, it’s about allies and enemies that are emergent from the specifics of the game situation and we do a lot of work to make that as varied and interesting as possible.

The challenge is in adding narrative elements that feel like they fit in those situations without feeling like there are two separate stories being told. As well as feeling like the story of Saiadha isn’t separate from the player’s story.

These are the components we have to work with: Narrative Victories, Doomwraiths and the End of the World.

Our plan is to tie the victory paths more closely to your relationship with other players and to the Doomwraiths. So it’s easier to Ally with players on your path, and more difficult for those on other paths. Especially for more dogmatic factions like the Tahuk. We are also considering having the Doomwraiths leave you alone if you follow the Worship path, to help sell them as manifestations of the Lost.

We also want to make victory objectives less linear. So rather than completing one of the path objectives, you will need to complete all of them. As a bonus, most players assumed it already worked this way.


And then we have the endgame. For the last few turns we want another monsoon to begin, but this one is unlike the others in appearance and design. It signals the coming of the Keeper of the Depths, the last guardian the ENDLESS placed to keep the Lost constrained.

The Keeper of the Depths will be the most powerful unit in the game, and unforgiving to players and doomwraiths alike (as an enemy of the Lost he will be aggressively wiping them out). This will be a dangerous time but we only plan it for the last ~30 turns of the game. Something to signal that the world is ending and the game is almost over, so you better hurry up or really attempt to hold on.

Diplomatic relations will worsen at the stage so alliances will be tested. Those counting on population and territory victories at this stage will have to fight for them as the Keeper and other players Armies become violent.

That’s what we are working on. What do you think?


​​Derek Paxton, [/p][p]Game Director of ENDLESS Legend 2[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]We’re thrilled to have received over 100 submissions with ideas for the next minor faction! 👏[/p][p][/p][p]The team reviewed all the ideas and selected the first 4 that were doable. We also made an internal pick to add one more to the list. Now it is time for you to VOTE and help decide what the new minor faction will be (gameplay, lore, unit, and more!).[/p][p][/p][p]Once the voting is completed, we’ll move on to the artistic phase and start working on their visual design (starting November 17th) 🎨 

[/p][hr][/hr][p] Soon we will have ready the next PTB (Public Test Branch) to try the multiplayer 👀 [/p]

[p]Another small update to correct some technical errors that were occurring with high frequency to players.[/p][p]Unless there is a major problem the team is fully focused on the next big update, but no worries, as soon we will have a PTB (Public Test Branch) that should include Multiplayer.[/p][p][/p][p] \[Version Number: 0.72.159762][/p]

• [p]Fixed a technical issue where AI would attack too quickly [/p]

• [p]Fixed a technical issue about abilities on heroes [/p]

• [p]Fixed a technical issue about tooltips [/p]

• [p]Fixed technical issues with quips [/p]

• [p]Fixed a technical issue about district presentation [/p]

[p][/p][p]Small Reminder about our latest big update, Into Battle 👇[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]Your Feedback Matters: Reviews and Community [/h2][p]There’s a reason we are putting Endless Legend 2 into Early Access: We want to hear from you, our players.  So if you’ve spent some time with the game, please let us know what you think! Leave a Steam review and join our community on the forum, the Amplitude Discord, or our Amplifiers community hub.[/p]