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Shardbound News

Dev Update: Roadblock

Hey there, Rangers.

We’ve got a rather tough Dev Update to share with all of you today. The development of Shardbound has encountered a roadblock, and we’re trying to look for ways to solve it.

A bit of background: when we started making Shardbound in Lauren’s garage, we set out to make a AAA-Quality competitive experience. We knew it would be a challenging road, and outside funding would be absolutely necessary to complete the game.

We raised the seed funding we needed to get started, which carried us to the pre-alpha version that we could test with you, our awesome community. When we needed to get a little bit further to soft-launch on Steam, we ran a successful Kickstarter with your incredible support.

The last leg of our journey to launch requires us to secure a financing round to polish gameplay, finish the art, and give Shardbound a full commercial launch.

And now, we’ve hit that frustrating roadblock. We were in the final stages of securing the necessary funding to finish Shardbound, and days before our expected closing, the deal fell apart.

During our two and a half year journey, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Starting up a studio is hard. Making games is hard. We’re picking up the pieces and looking at our options.

The only things we’re certain of right now is that the flourishing art pipeline must come to an immediate halt, and that our patch cadence may be disrupted. We’re evaluating everything - on the other side of this roadblock, the vision of Shardbound may remain the same, or it may change. This may happen quickly, or it may take a while.

Rest assured, we’re going to do everything we can to find our way forward with you.

Our highest priority right now is keeping Spiritwalk together, and we hope you’ll understand if we stumble while we’re getting our footing. While it’s tough to deliver this news while we’re unsure of our next steps, we felt the need to share it -- we’re all on this journey together.

As our road becomes clearer, you’ll be the first to know.

Thanks,
Your Friends at Spiritwalk

Patch Notes #53

Card Changes


+ Strict Packmaster:

  • Health reduced to 4, down from 5.

+ Spearmaiden:

  • Attack reduced to 3, down from 4.

+ Raised By Primals:

  • Cost increased to 3, up from 2.

+ Chronoslap:

  • Now also deals 1 damage in addition to stunning.

+ Warpgate:

  • Anomaly stats increased to 4/4, up from 3/3.
Core Gameplay

  • The time bank will now be activated even when a player is idle (has taken no actions) on a turn.
Map Changes

  • Lost Highlands has been added to the map pool!
Some Shards are desolate. Some are dark and dangerous. And others are vibrant - dappled with lush vegetation and ancient technology that still flickers with the sparks of a long lost purpose.

Core Tech

  • Upgraded Unreal Engine to version 4.17.1
UI

  • Updates continue on refining the details of the new UI. Aesthetic improvements have been made to various screens.
  • Most alert and confirmation dialogs have been updated to the new style.
  • The escape key may now be pressed as a shortcut to clicking the “back” button on screens in the Overworld.
  • Improved code redemption flow in the Options menu.
  • The Profile UI may now be opened during the tutorial or on top of any other screen in the Overworld.
Bug Fixes

  • [Mac] Fixed a crash that occurred on Intel chipsets (e.g. Macbook Air) when spawning specific VFX.
  • Fixed a bug on Reaver’s Mire where the maps’ ambient sounds would pop.

Patch Notes #53

Card Changes


+ Strict Packmaster:

  • Health reduced to 4, down from 5.

+ Spearmaiden:

  • Attack reduced to 3, down from 4.

+ Raised By Primals:

  • Cost increased to 3, up from 2.

+ Chronoslap:

  • Now also deals 1 damage in addition to stunning.

+ Warpgate:

  • Anomaly stats increased to 4/4, up from 3/3.
Core Gameplay

  • The time bank will now be activated even when a player is idle (has taken no actions) on a turn.
Map Changes

  • Lost Highlands has been added to the map pool!
Some Shards are desolate. Some are dark and dangerous. And others are vibrant - dappled with lush vegetation and ancient technology that still flickers with the sparks of a long lost purpose.

Core Tech

  • Upgraded Unreal Engine to version 4.17.1
UI

  • Updates continue on refining the details of the new UI. Aesthetic improvements have been made to various screens.
  • Most alert and confirmation dialogs have been updated to the new style.
  • The escape key may now be pressed as a shortcut to clicking the “back” button on screens in the Overworld.
  • Improved code redemption flow in the Options menu.
  • The Profile UI may now be opened during the tutorial or on top of any other screen in the Overworld.
Bug Fixes

  • [Mac] Fixed a crash that occurred on Intel chipsets (e.g. Macbook Air) when spawning specific VFX.
  • Fixed a bug on Reaver’s Mire where the maps’ ambient sounds would pop.

Patch Notes #52

New Art

  • Zephyr Monk now has art!

  • Trauma Guard animation polish
  • Character Lighting Adjustments in Barracks, and Sinners Mire
Card Changes


+ Static Discharge

  • Cost reduced to 5, from 6.

+ Skyborne Crusader

  • Health reduced to 4, from 5.
Options Menu

  • Some cosmetic upgrades have been made to the Options Menu as we refine the new art.
  • Code redemption can now be done directly from the Accounts tab.
  • Client version number is now displayed less prominently at the bottom of the screen.
Tutorial

  • A Tutorial Menu has been added to present tutorial progress more clearly.
  • The Campaign button in the overworld now brings you to the Tutorial menu. This should be clearer for new players until we add campaign missions.
Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug that would cause the Mulligan UI to become stuck on screen if the game reconnected to the server during that phase.
  • Strict Packmaster and Pack Awakener can no longer buff artifacts.
  • Fixed a bug where units with on-damage triggers would not trigger at all against a unit protected by Hadrien, The White Rook when Hadrien absorbed all the damage.
  • Fixed a bug where certain units (Upgrade or Transform units) would not receive Summoner’s Aide’s health buff when deployed.
  • Fixed Duskblade’s special case VO lines to match the his new gameplay.
  • Fixed a bug in the options menu where you couldn’t update the Camera Controls bound key.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause login bonuses to not be awarded if your last login was exactly 1 month ago.

Patch Notes #52

New Art

  • Zephyr Monk now has art!

  • Trauma Guard animation polish
  • Character Lighting Adjustments in Barracks, and Sinners Mire
Card Changes


+ Static Discharge

  • Cost reduced to 5, from 6.

+ Skyborne Crusader

  • Health reduced to 4, from 5.
Options Menu

  • Some cosmetic upgrades have been made to the Options Menu as we refine the new art.
  • Code redemption can now be done directly from the Accounts tab.
  • Client version number is now displayed less prominently at the bottom of the screen.
Tutorial

  • A Tutorial Menu has been added to present tutorial progress more clearly.
  • The Campaign button in the overworld now brings you to the Tutorial menu. This should be clearer for new players until we add campaign missions.
Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug that would cause the Mulligan UI to become stuck on screen if the game reconnected to the server during that phase.
  • Strict Packmaster and Pack Awakener can no longer buff artifacts.
  • Fixed a bug where units with on-damage triggers would not trigger at all against a unit protected by Hadrien, The White Rook when Hadrien absorbed all the damage.
  • Fixed a bug where certain units (Upgrade or Transform units) would not receive Summoner’s Aide’s health buff when deployed.
  • Fixed Duskblade’s special case VO lines to match the his new gameplay.
  • Fixed a bug in the options menu where you couldn’t update the Camera Controls bound key.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause login bonuses to not be awarded if your last login was exactly 1 month ago.