The Hand of Merlin News

Hi folks!

Our post-release work has been mostly focused on fixing all of the reported issues. This includes the very few crash reports we’ve gotten (stuff like mods and startup on other platforms) and implementing some misc features, but we’re not making any new content. We don’t have an ETA for these to go out in a patch yet, but when we do, we’ll let you know.

We’ve also gotten some feedback about a few enemies being a bit too punishing (looking at the armor-bypassing bandits), and we’ve noticed a few things on our own while recording some new footage to get streamed on the store page. Our designer is taking a short vacation, so when she gets back she’ll take a look at those reports to see how to tackle the feedback for a few balance tweaks.

We have been publishing these blog posts every week for the last two years, as it made sense to do so during development when there was a lot more going on. Now that our work is mostly just fixing bugs, the contents of most of the posts would be pretty much the same, and in an attempt to not repeat ourselves too often, our blog post schedule will transition to a more irregular one, aka when we have some news or different things to share.

Ofc, this doesn’t mean we’re not going to be active. Our Discord server is still there, and we’ll try to help everyone who posts on the forums. Just note that we’re very few people and some of these might take time.

MarkoP

General fixes:
• Fixed a bug where switching the graphics API to Direct3D 12 through the Options menu would lock the game in a grey screen, or a splash screen.
• Fixed a crash when clicking on the Bestiary notification.
• Fixed a bug where the Bestiary would stop showing the "unknown" beast names when clicking on any of the beast buttons.
• Fixed a bug in Endless Mode where enemy wave spawning was not scaling correctly.
• Fixed an issue where changing the Max Rendering Resolution setting in the menu would sometimes not be saved correctly.
• Fixed a bug where user input was possible before the skirmish was fully prepared at the start, allowing abilities to be used sooner than normal.
• Fixed a bug where a Pylon could die without properly stopping a delayed ability, or die playing the wrong animation.
• Fixed a few mismatched icons for node tooltips on the World Map.
• Fixed a typo in the "Siege of Osraige" encounter.

Quality of life changes:
• Changed the offset of the notifications so they don't occlude the game version number in the bottom left corner.
• Improved the timing of gameplay effects during Pylon death animation.

Hey folks!

Yesterday we launched the game into its 1.0 incarnation! Endless mode is now available after you beat the game on any difficulty, and is retroactively enabled for everyone who had Hard+ mode already unlocked.

First to address one issue most people have been experiencing: the bestiary notification on the left side of the screen is currently causing a crash, and we have a fix for it already and will push a hotfix later today, along with some other fixes. In the meantime, you can get to the bestiary if you open the book regularly via the button on the top, and clicking the bestiary bookmark on the top right side of the book itself.

For our post 1.0 plans, there are a few things we are working on to be added in the near future.

The first feature is the ability to reposition your units at the start of combat in a small area where they start. This should alleviate some frustrations with having units in weird spots or being sub-optimally positioned for your playstyle, preference or build.

The other addition is to expand the skill listing in the codex to show all skill upgrades as well, instead of only the base skills. This requires some additional work on tooltips, so should be ready in a few weeks as well.

Also, we’ll do our best to help anyone who has issues running the game, just let us know what issues you have, and give us a bit of time to investigate and come up with a solution, if one can be done on our end.

As usual, let us know what you think! We have a Discord server where we’re active, so join us there!

MarkoP

New features:
• Added a new game mode: Endless. It's a survival gauntlet in a brand-new biome (the heart of the Cataclysm) which is unlocked after beating the Campaign once.

General fixes:
• Fixed a bug where Surge (from Ranger's Surging Shot) was being granted based on damage dealt by any member of the warband instead of the attacking Ranger.
• Fixed a bug where Ranger's Hunter's Spree skill (upgrade of Shoot) and Hunter's Prize (upgrade of Hunter's Mark) interacted incorrectly with each other, causing only one of them to apply.
• Fixed a few small visual issues with tooltips.

Quality of life changes:
• Enabled selection of graphics API in the Editor.