Archmage Rises News

August of last year I said we would make best efforts to maintain player progress as we release updates to the game (you can read about that here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/506480/discussions/0/3809535864677346416/ )

Unfortunately, despite best efforts we won't be able to make old save games work in the new update. I'm really sorry. :crying_yeti:



NEW Combat is a massive undertaking rewriting how items, spells, player progress, character creation, monsters, abilities, and gear all work. With so much change we knew it would be challenging. We got sample save files from the Discord community to test with. We tasked a programmer with solely working on this problem.

He did, and hit a dead end.

We made another attempt, with a new programmer for new thinking. Today I got the results that it just isn't going to work. Now, the work on this is jeopardizing our ability to release NEW Combat on Friday.

The problem has to do with the simulator nature of the game and bad data which has accrued from several versions ago to today. We can load the data, world, progress. So on the one hand, loading previous saves actually works. But once you load your old save, you can't save it anymore... That's where things are currently breaking.

We really made best efforts on this to protect player progress, but it just can't be done.



If you would like to continue your existing save file, we've created a new branch called "legacy" that you will need to switch to before the new combat update releases on Friday.

If you haven't switched branches before, here's how to switch branches in Steam:

1. Open up Archmage Rises in your Steam Library

2. Click on the gear just below the banner on the far right

3. In the dropdown menu, click on "Properties"



4. In the new window that pops up, click on "Betas" on the left side menu

5. You should see an option called "Beta Participation" - click on the dropdown menu to the right of that and select "legacy - Legacy & Rivals (Pre-Combat Update)" which should now change your branch to the Legacy branch.



Now that you're on the new branch, it should prevent your game from auto-updating to the new combat update build that will release on Friday.

When you're ready to switch back to the most recent public build of the game, you can follow the same process to switch back to the "default" branch by selecting "None" under the Beta Participation dropdown menu.



Very unlikely.

The new data structure of everything is THE new data structure of everything. We see no reason to change it again. I was in a meeting yesterday about the rest of the roadmap and nothing coming is close to the work we've had to do for new combat. Adding features like factions, world spell casting, enchanting, it all builds on top of what we've got here. It doesn't change the base.

That being said, while we don't foresee any more issues in preserving save games from now on, in August I was smart enough to write the following so I'll repeat it here again:

Q: Are you promising I will never lose progress during Early Access?
A: No! I'm too experienced to make that naïve promise. I'm sure at some point, maybe more than once, it just won't be possible. What I am promising is much more effort and robust tech put into testing and preserving player progress. Dropping it from forced restarts 50x before 1.0 to maybe 5x.

Today is one of those "impossible points". Really sorry about it.

[h2]This is the Week of NEW Combat![/h2]

Friday Jan 19 we publish the NEW Combat system. It’s significantly different and better. Here is a taste:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It’s a final push to get everything working:

• We targeted 30+ spells, we’re shipping 50+ spells! The new system and tooling allows better spell creation and iteration. That’s about 10 spells per school! The most the game has ever had.
  
  
• Weapons and Armor are a total overhaul and actually work! Shocking I know! Weapons and armor are now viable and equal to spells in the game as a choice in combat.
  
  Skeletons won’t be in this release, but will be in next week’s patch
  • We promised a new race of Crocodons so we made sure those were working first. But we discovered a serious problem with skeleton’s resurrection ability. Presented with delaying the whole launch or launching without the skeletons, I had to make the tough choice of delaying the skeletons a week.
    
  • Quests that involve skeletons are being temporarily turned off.
    
    • If you already have a skeleton based quest, you won’t be able to complete it until the patch.
      
• Crocodons will appear in existing saves/worlds in place of skeletons.
  • It was an easy way to get them in.
    
• As of Monday Morning on the 15th, our existing save file migration is not working. 😭 We’ve just put a new programmer on it to try and resolve it. Worst case scenario is players will have to start a new game, something we’ve put a lot of effort already into preventing.
  
  
• In light of the significant changes, a player posted there probably will be a lot of new bugs. A fair expectation. We’ve done two full QA passes on the whole game. We’re performing a third pass today. It is inevitable some things will slip through. We’re committed to following player reactions and hotfixing and patching as necessary. Appreciate your patience and belief in us!
  

[h2]Combat is Combat[/h2]

A strange thing to say, I know, but after reading all the posts and discussion I want to be clear that our focus is on the Combat experience. Other than changes to spell progression/research, the rest of the game is in the current state. It’s one step at a time here. Wish we could do it all at once, but we can’t.

[h2]The Rest of the Game[/h2]

NEW Combat has been a significant investment of energy and money. I’m happy we’ve done it.

NOW we can work on the rest of the game. Many structural changes come in combat (items, spells, monsters, school progression) and jammed us up until they were complete.

Resources free up to start tackling really cool and important features:

1. Update #3: Exploration
   
2. Enchanting
   
3. Dynamic Quests
   
4. Better NPC conversation
   
5. New UI
   
6. Better Map generation
   

[h2]Price Raise Coming Soon[/h2]

If you’ve already bought the game, thanks for your support! You paid the dev team’s salaries.

If you haven’t yet bought in, this is the cheapest the game will be for a long time. I can’t say it better than this reviewer:

Buy it while its cheap and enjoy it later when it’s more complete.

Only one week left until the new combat releases! Take a sneak peek at it here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]What is a Storm Mage like in the new Archmage Rises Combat?[/h2]
Chaos.

As our most chaotic spell school, Storm Magic in Archmage’s new combat is about capturing lightning's unpredictable nature in a bottle… and using it to your advantage.

While Storm Magic generally has many high-damage potential spells, many have a bonus chance to do something extra. Lightning Bolt can strike the target twice, while Stormstrike sometimes hits everything nearby. Shock, a strategic spell meant to interrupt enemies, has a chance to completely stun the target on success.

Skillful Storm Mages can turn the tide of battle in their favor by drenching their foes with water-themed spells, such as cloudburst and monsoon. Once drenched, the odds of the storm spell bonuses occurring increase dramatically.

Here are a few of the storm spells you can learn:

• Lightning Bolt: Blast your enemies with a sudden discharge of power.
  
• Stormstrike: Lash your enemies with an unstable chain of thunderbolts.
  
• Cloudburst: Drench your opponents with a sudden downpour.
  
• Monsoon: Call down a deluge to flood the battlefield and soak your foes to the bone.
  
• Gale: Summon a roaring wind to batter your foes to and fro upon the battlefield.
  
• Shock: Attempt to stun your sodden foes with a bolt from heaven.
  
• Storm Shield: Weave yourself a crackling mantle of lightning to repel your attackers.
  

We'll have more details diving deeper into the magic of a Storm Mage as we get closer to release.

What do you most want to see in the new school of storm magic? Let us know in the comments!

What is a Earth Mage like in the new Archmage Rises Combat?
Controlling, Dehabilitating.

Position, proximity, and angles matter in Archmage’s new combat, and this is especially true for a skilled Earth Mage.

As the ultimate battlefield tactician, Earth Mages use their control of earth and stone to keep their enemies off balance and knocking them around.

The more unbalance enemies become the more damage they take as they are moved.

Additional acid-themed spells such as acid blast and acid wash, corrode an enemy’s defenses reducing their resistance to both earth and physical damage.

This corrosion also makes earth magic highly prized among our battle style mages, looking to provide their blades with more susceptible targets.

Here are a few of the spells you'll be able to learn as an Earth Mage:

• Tremor: Jolt your foes with a sharp shudder of the ground beneath their feet.
  
• Stone Spike: Call up a spire of stone to break your foes and send them reeling in pain.
  
• Acid Blast: Scorch the field of battle with a cataract of caustic acid.
  
• Acid Wash: Shower your foes with the searing exhalations of the heavens.
  
• Seismic Shift: Fling your foes toward the field’s center with a swift upheaval of the earth.
  
• Exposure: Erode your foes' footing and expose them to the perils of storm and earth.
  
• Earth’s Grasp: Shatter your enemy’s concentration and drag them one step closer.
  

We'll have even more details diving deeper into the magic of an Earth Mage as we get closer to release.

What do you most want to see in the new school of earth magic? Let us know in the comments!