Blade & Sorcery News

Hello folks! The Baron here with the latest U8 news and if all goes well, I am hoping this will be the last news for U8. ːsteamhappyː Fingers crossed the next time you hear from me will be about the U8 Trailer launching and then soon after that the release. Things are going well and KospY and team are still on track for an end of May release of U8. I've got a smorgasbord of fun clips today, so let's get into it! And please be aware everything from effects to audio to map colors / backgrounds, etc are all WIP and not final!

First up, I think you have all spotted it by now, so I can happily confirm U8 will have a new map, The Citadel! All clips were recorded in this new map but of course we wanna keep the most of it for a surprise so we will limit the view for now. ːsteammockingː

The bow and arrow has gotten some much needed TLC in U8, and alongside a new model for the bow, arrows and quiver, I am glad to report the aim bug will finally be fixed! But also, a nice surprise feature for you that has been on players' will it happen / won't it happen list for the longest time - Arrow imbues! The player can easily imbue arrows will the bow is drawn to infuse that arrow with the intended effect. Here is how it looks using the third person camera for a better view, and then again first person:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Next up, let's talk armor penetration! Armour is now fully working and the team are adding extra bits each day. To reiterate how it works: There are three tiers of armour, cloth, leather and plate - but armour is modular. So that means AI or player could be wearing a plate chestpiece with leather gauntlets for example. Different tiers of armour have different penetration resistance against normal weapons, so for example a slash with a blade across some leather might do nothing, while a rapier thrust may penetrate the same leather. Hopefully this will add a new and interesting tactical challenge.

And this brings us to magic, the great equalizer. A blade that is imbued with fire will be able to sear through metal like a hot knife through butter; and we know that in the real world this would not happen but it's fantasy, guys! ːsteamhappyː

And finally, armour also means blunt weaponry finally get their moment in the sun. Imbue your blunt weaponry for twice the smashing fun.

In the video below you can see the dagger cannot penetrate the plate armour, although that can be remedied with a good old fashioned dagger to the eye. And following that, you can see how the fire-imbued blades can easily sear through metal. (please disregard the untextured blood btw!)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The last little bit I will leave you with today is with lightning. Many folks have asked what lightning will be like in U8 and as I mentioned before, lightning has gotten a coat of paint in graphics but functionality-wise it will be much the same with the exception that it now has a little wind up in the form of a sphere. The idea here is that you could merge the spheres to create a bigger effect or with other spells to create a new effect - Although be aware, lightning merge may not be available on U8 launch; it's just setting up for down the line.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

So that's it for this news, folks! A little fun little factoid for you regarding the clips you just saw - With exception of some bits in the background, nothing in these clips are crossed over from the first version of B&S. The enemy, armour, map, textures, weapon models are all new and custom, making it essentially a different game from the original EA launch. Fun to think about!

Take care and stay tuned for the U8 trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello mates, The Baron here with the latest in Blade & Sorcery U8 news. Let me get the bad news out of the way first - The feared delay has manifested. U8 is now looking at end of May release. Sorry guys, I hope you are all not too disappointed. The good news is U8 is set to be the biggest update yet, even bigger than U5, so hopefully in the end you will all agree it was worth the wait! ːsteamhappyː

Now for the latest updates -

Some of the menus are getting an overhaul and moving from a 2D render to 3D, which will look way cooler in VR. Right now it is the wrist menu (your health, mana, etc) and the spell wheel. Here is a little peek at how the wrist menu looks now, plus some bonus messing around with spells - the left bar (red) is health, right (blue) is mana, and green (center) is 'focus', which I will explain in a second. (note: Audio is WIP and ignore the old spell wheel in this video)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
So you may be wondering what 'focus' is. The main idea behind focus is that slow motion as we all know it is now on a separate bar independent to mana. This is to allow the slowing of time for casting spells more easily without actually draining your mana needed for spells. Focus will also not regenerate by itself during combat, forcing the player to do a kill or parry an opponent to regenerate it.

For mana, KospY and team are bouncing ideas on how/when/if mana should regenerate, so nothing confirmed there. And before some of you fret, let me say that like everything, sandbox mode will include an option to enable infinite mana, focus, health etc for all those who just like to mess around. No worries. ːsteamhappyː

So that is mana, and here is the new spell wheel in action (minus the actual player):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
It's a whole lot snazzier and fitting for a VR game. For anyone wondering how limited spell slots would work for modders, (as we are likely to see a modding explosion for spells) U8 will have dynamic spell slots, so adding plenty of spells will be no problem. The biggest problem I foresee is that people might have literally too many spells to keep track of, lol.


And the last bit of news for the week, work on armours continues and the in-game model for Plate T2 armour is finished. Here it is below (on the right) compared to the concept art reference on the left.


Now let's get into a little bit of meta news. The Community Manager from Nexusmods has let me know that Blade & Sorcery has made the front page! This will surely not matter to some, but the reason I think it is incredible is because it shows how absolutely lit our modding community is and how much recognition they deserve.



If you think about it, it is bananas to consider as a VR game we are still up there (we knocked Witcher 2 off the board) despite how small the VR player pool is. We are up there as one of the most modded VR games for sure. And lastly, we only moved mods to Nexus since U6, so we rocketed up to #18 in the space of like 6 months, and yet there is so much more to come with spells sdk support coming!

Last bit of meta, Blade & Sorcery has joined the OP club on Steam!



On behalf of KospY and team, thank you so much to everyone who left a review. I swear to you, positivity fuels the team. Some of you OG crowd might remember it was not too long ago we were excitedly announcing that the latest B&S update "now has kicking!" or when telekinesis was added as a new feature. None of us could have imagined how much of a push the game would get from the community, and it was truly the community that extended the life and development of the game by taking a chance on the Early Access back when it was just mostly ideas. For whatever it is about this game that has drawn this community of people together, you guys rock, I can't say it enough.

That's it for this week, folks. Stay safe and I hope you are all well!

Hello folks, The Baron here with a bit of U8 news, but alas I have an unfortunate announcement first. At this point you have surely all heard about, and likely even been impacted by the Corona Virus. Sadly I must report that COVID has impacted Warpfrog too and caused some disruptions to U8's release schedule. Just as all this madness began going down, KospY was in the process on opening a new Warpfrog office and onboarding some fulltime employees. The idea was that having employees working side by side with KospY would greatly streamline the workflow, so the time invested in opening the office would be worth the payoff. Unfortunately the office was only open a week when news began circulating of businesses shutting down for safety, so to protect his employees KospY decided to temporarily close office and revert back to working remotely, which is not a great learning environment for any new employee... Furthermore, several of the new employees had relocated to KospY's city specifically to work for Warpfrog, but as they arrived right as COVID trouble began brewing, several of them didn't even have a chance to get set up with internet connections and are using phone internet to work, which as you can imagine is not great... The team are working out the workflow kinks right now and hopefully this situation will get better.

What this means - The team is pressing on as best they can, but U8 will be arriving late April at best. To avoid disappointment I would caution everyone to prepare for a worse delay, and that way if it is in fact late April then it will be a nice surprise. Everyone is working as hard as they can to get U8 released, so thanks for your patience and understanding, guys. If I get any more news regarding this I will keep you guys posted!

So then, let's jump into what's new with U8!

Model makers have been hard at work, churning out new weapons and armours to go along with the new tier system. With each weapon having 4-5 tiers, you can probably appreciate that it is a lot of work! Here are some of the latest models for early tier axe and some shields:





The bow aim bug has been fixed by the way!


Work on armour continues, and the team have been getting through the armours at a good steady pace. The latest additions were leather and plate; here is how they look on the models (still actively wip):


Finally, some concept armour for you on armour tiers still to come; to recap, each tier has a type of leather, chain or plate, but the tier reflects the coverage/functionality and each higher tier provides progressively more coverage / defense. Oh and some of you were surprised to hear this so I will say it again -- The player can wear the same armour as the AI. ːsteamhappyː And in fact armour is modular, so the player can mix and match armour pieces. You could wear a plate chest piece with leather gloves for example.


That's it for this week, folks. I'll keep you all posted on Reddit, Discord and Steam if I get any new developments. Stay safe!

Hello folks! The Baron here, and I'm delighted to be able to deliver on my promise from last time to show you guys the much anticipated and illusive spell: Gravity! KopsY has been silently slaving away in the background but has now let me know that the spell is finished mechanically, but heads up that the graphics including the spawn effect and particles are not finished, so what you are seeing is a WIP.

So, what's it all about? There are very few games out there with a robust telekinesis system and even fewer that make you feel powerful and badass to use it. Dark Messiah was surely one of the few, and it is in this vein of inspiration where B&S Gravity comes in. The general idea is that this spell will allow the player to pick an enemy up, push him, pull him, throw him, and maybe even come up with some more creative punishments. :D


Another element of the spell is the ability to imbue weapons. A weapon that is imbued with gravity becomes weightless, making striking and wielding the weapon easier since the weapon is "lighter".

Enemies that are struck with a Gravity imbued weapon will become temporarily weightless, as teased in the gif from last time.


But now onto the juicy stuff. As mentioned some time ago, one aspect of the spell system is that spells can be merged to form bigger and more powerful spells. Well, you might wonder what happens when you merge Gravity with Gravity - The result is a powerful zone of weightlessness that will trip up enemies and scatter objects, giving you a tactical advantage if surrounded.


Enemies who are caught in the Gravity dome are weightless, which means they can be ragdolled around and punched with tremendous force. All in all, it should lead to some good clean fun.


That's it for the news, folks! I will post higher resolution clips to Reddit (Steam only allows 3mb gif format) and longer videos to Youtube. Here is a nice little video to tide you over. :D Cheers!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello folks! It's that time again for a little bit of news, and today I have some sneak peeks of upcoming weapons with regards to the tier system.

If you had not heard, since the last update B&S is moving to a tiered weapon system (just like armour) where each weapon will have 4-5 tiered variants, with each variant offering improvements on the previous. Higher tiered weapons may have some functionality bonuses, such as useful hilts, extra attack surfaces (a blunt mace might also have a spike for example), or a more functional design, such as a greatsword that has a grip for half-swording. Another wip concept is that higher tiered weapons will be able to retain a magical imbue longer.

The overall tiered weapon/armour idea is to bring a little bit of a progression feel to B&S to go along with the future progression mode ("campaign mode"), so that players will have equipment to unlock and strive towards. But for sandbox lovers, don't worry because there will still be a sandbox mode and all these tiered weapons will be freely available there.

The last goal of these reworked weapons is to take one more step further away from Unity store assets in favour of custom models. So with that said, here is a look at what our modeler has been working on with the Greatsword rework:







These are the Tier 0, Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the Greatsword. You can see how the lowest tier is rusted and even lacks a pointed tip, whereas the last tier is much more functional and versatile. They will likely be 2 more tiers of the Greatsword to come too (tier 4 and 5) but I just don't have any images of those at the moment.

Here is a peek at the reworked bow - (tier 2)



And good news, the inaccurate bow bug has been fixed for U8. KospY Sends his apologies for not including it in the last update!

That's all the news for now, folks. But then again, it wouldn't be a B&S news post without a little teaser, so here is a peek at the Gravity spell, imbued in this weapon. Hopefully next time I will be able to post some news and videos of Gravity. Cheers!