Spire of Sorcery News

Hey guys –

We hope you’re doing all right out there!

It’s been a while since we communicated about the game.

[h3]STAYING OFFLINE FOR A WHILE[/h3]

If you know us from our previous games, you know that we liked to stay closely connected to the community – posting news, organizing events, and responding to messages on the forums.

However, in the spring of 2022, we just burned out.

Originally posted by a

“Like mages in Rund, developers on Steam can also burn out.”

Humans are notoriously fragile; and when you’re a small team where absolutely everyone works on a game, and you get stressed… it’s often difficult to find the time on writing the announcements rather than the storyline for the actual game.

To cut a long story short, it just became too much for me, and I took a break for a month – which became three months, then a year, and it’s only now, at the end of 2023, that I feel ready to return to the regular communication.

We’d like to thank everyone who left messages while we were offline. It’s like when a patient is in a coma, and the friends and family visit the hospital and talk to them: one day, that patient finally wakes up (and immediately proceeds to post a Steam announcement).

[h3]SPIRE OF SORCERY & SISTER OF A DRAGON[/h3]

Now, let’s talk about Spire of Sorcery.

Since the game launched in Early Access in late 2021, we’ve shipped 4 story chapters for the game, with the last update from May 2022 – and this is the version of the game that’s currently available on Steam.

We also released a demo, with an option to submit feedback.

Here’s what people liked the most:

• that this is a game about mages and magic
  
• that the visuals are good, and the music is excellent
  
• that the game has spellcasting, exploration and crafting at its core
  

And here’s what people wanted to change:

• many requested a stronger storyline, and a proper lead character
  
• many mentioned that user interface is complex and hard to learn
  
• another common ask was to “fill the world with more things to do”
  

In May 2022, we sat down with Nkita Kulaga, the game designer behind the wildly successful Graveyard Keeper, to play Spire of Sorcery together and to come up with a recipe of improving the experience.

We ended up writing a new scenario, and designing a new core loop around matrix-based spells and personal progression with 8 schools of magic and 8 paths of personal progression. The game also received a proper lead character (Kaira, a young mage from the Northern Marshes), and the world received its second dimension (the Phantom Realm, accessible via portals).

Originally posted by abc

“Kaira from the Northern Marshes is a powerful mage (but she doesn’t know it yet).”

In the process, we realized that there’s no way that we can do this based on Spire of Sorcery, as too many things had to change. Thus, we went on to develop a proof of concept for the new project. At the same time, we engaged a full-time writer to flesh out the storyline. We created a rich palette that includes companions, events, adventures, and memories – all this enhanced with music and illustrations.

Originally posted by abc

“Guild Master Nasuto doesn’t like poor people, sick people – or those who practice magic.”

Right now, we’re closing in on the playable demo of that new game, Sister of a Dragon, and plan to release the demo on Steam around the summer of 2024.

Soon enough, we’ll open the Discord server of the new game, and its Steam page. Our main goal is the demo, so that players can check a turn-based strategy game about mages that gives you a taste of power and a sense of wonder.

Originally posted by abc

“Campfires restore your party, but be careful – dangers lurk in the night.”

[h3]WHAT HAPPENS TO SPIRE OF SORCERY?[/h3]

We do not plan to develop any more content for Spire of Sorcery.

If you liked the game and wanted to see more, we’re sorry to disappoint you. We tried our best. Unfortunately, not every game project ends as a success, and here we must bow and accept our failure – with a hope that this experience allows us to deliver a better product next.

On the upside – our team didn’t collapse, we still manage to fund the on-going development with side projects and the sales of our previous games, and we work hard to deliver a better game dedicated to the themes that our audience liked.

Originally posted by abc

“They hit me with a club… and then left a negative review. Hard to say, what hurts more…”

Earlier in the month, we considered whether we should stop the sales of Spire of Sorcery completely – or keep the game available on Steam.

It’s still a good game, with at least 4-6 hours of gameplay, original mechanics for spellcasting, and an atmospheric setting. Develop the deck, craft potions, explore different environments – supported by nice visuals and excellent music.

In the end, we decided to keep the game available. If you are considering purchasing it – please try the demo first and buy it only if you’re fine with the 4 chapters that are included in the commercial version, and considering that no further updates are expected to happen.

[h3]A TRANSITION[/h3]

If you own (or will own) Spire of Sorcery, we will find a way of offering the new game with a special discount. Especially so for the owners of “Support the developer” DLC (to whom we are truly grateful for having the faith). However, there will be no auto-grant option.

Originally posted by abc

“This mage is excited about a special discount.”

Once the Steam store page is open, we’ll post the link here; and when the demo is available, we will release another announcement. If we’re successful, you will find the new game ticking every box that the audience has wished for.

Stay well – and thanks for all the fish.

Charlie Oscar

Today’s update adds a new chapter and brings a few nice improvements in the UI.

[h3]DISMAL MARCHES[/h3]

The southern swamps crawl with poisonous, toxic creatures: creepers, leeches, snarers, drowners, oorls and swamp beasts, as well as swarms of bloodsuckers.



However, the region also offers new alchemic resources, which come helpful when crafting protective and curative potions.



A monster sits tight over an artefact that the Spire needs, and a boss fight awaits you once you get through to it.



As always, this chapter offers a chance to recruit one more mage, and a few side areas to explore – for those who feel adventurous enough and have a good supply of alchemic potions.


[h3]SPELLS AND ITEMS[/h3]

Most of the spells in the Spellbooks have been updated, and new spells have been added.



Quite a lot of recipes have been changed, too, and there’s a few new items now that you can craft from the resources that are available in the marshes.




[h3]CHANGE IN HOW STATS ARE DISPLAYED[/h3]

When we released the game in Early Access a few months ago, mages got tokens that accumulated on their stats: for example, Health accumulated Damage, and when overwhelmed, caused Injuries.

That system was designed for interaction: for example, a Restoration token would cancel one token of Damage. But after playing for a while, we didn’t see much potential in it. At the same time, having tokens on stat bars created too much noise in the interface.

In this update we transition to a more classic system where stats lose their value. So that Damage tokens remove Health – and when Health reaches zero, the mage gets a new Injury. In the same way, a curative alchemic potion now restores Health (where previously it removed non-existing tokens of Damage from the stat).



We believe that while this doesn't change the underlying mechanics, it makes the stats more intuitive for everyone.


[h3]UPDATED TARGETING SYSTEM[/h3]

Before this update, we indicated the intention of an opponent to attack one of the mages with a small portrait next to the target. In complex encounters, this became hard to read.

We now switch to the system where next to each mage, there is a preset space that displays the intentions of the three possible opponents. You can hover over the projected attack to get more details, and these areas also highlight during the actual attack.



We believe that this makes the encounter easier to read and will contribute to a more intuitive understanding of the mechanics.


[h3]CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS[/h3]

Before this update, we used to have Environmental Effects with preset effects but different length. For example, if you started a fire in the forest (EE Burning ground), it could last for 3 or 5 rounds. It could also issue tokens once every 2 rounds, or once per round.

This now changes: all EE now last forever. All EE now affect every creature in the encounter. What EE has is a “power”, which defines how many tokens it issues to a random target. So, for example, EE Burning ground N will issue N tokens of Fire to random targets in the encounter, each round.

This retains the mechanics, while making it substantially easier to understand. There is still a variety of effects, some forest fires will be more dangerous than others, but there’s much less confusion.

Additionally, we got rid of Environmental Conditions as a UI feature. Earlier, we would show EC Enclosed space, for example, that would trigger EE Grey flame that issued Acid tokens. Now we just show the effect that can be triggered, and the counter of tokens that can trigger it.

We believe that this change, like other UI changes in the current update, makes the game flow easier to understand without removing the complexity of the mechanics.


[h3]WHAT’S NEXT?[/h3]

The next update, currently scheduled for end of May, will be quite different: we will not work on the next chapter, but instead will focus all our efforts on the core loop.

In the last two weeks, we got a new neighbor in the office – another indie game developer, whose recent game sold a bit over 2 million copies (NOT BAD!!).

We’ve been playing Spire of Sorcery together with their game designer and discussing the ways that the core loop can get better. They loved the content and the mechanics. Their suggestions focus on how to make the game more accessible early on – as well as on how to connect various parts of the game, which currently remain on their own.

We are also on the same page about the main features that we want to tackle: fold the preparation of the food into a Campfire mechanics, improve character progression so that each encounter and each discovery moves the mages forward, add smaller mini-stories to most locations, bring back the day-and-night cycle, and so on.

What we will do during May, then, is re-work the opening of the game – the Chase – to deliver a more intense, and a more interactive, experience. And we’ll be collaborating on an update of the dialogues, too.



Have fun with Dismal Marshes – and please leave a review if you enjoyed the update!

Following our announcement that condemns the Russian war in Ukraine, we got quite a few people coming out with knives at us and wishing the studio to go close. It helps to see that this aggressive crowd is a minority, and that we have an audience that appreciates the game and how it develops.

Until next update,

Studio CO

Hello, peoples!

Having released a big update last Friday, we've spent this week building the plan for the next update – which we aim to release in late April. As usual, it will deliver the next chapter in the story, plus the updated UI and mechanics. Here's what we can share already:


[h3]DISMAL MARSHES[/h3]



The events of Chapter 4 unfold in Dismal Marshes.

Once, there was a city here. But ages ago, it got flooded – with just a few ruins sticking out of the mud.

Dismal Marshes are a sad, and dangerous, place to be: toxic, infectious, unwelcoming.

Who lives there?


[h3]NEW CREATURES[/h3]

There are two intelligent races in the area: Oorls and Drowners.



There's also a very specific predator: Swamp Beasts. They use mimicry to fool the prey, then strangle it with their roots.



Aside from these, there's bloodsuckers (annoying swarms that deal "taunt" tokens), crawlers (spitting acid), earth leeches (poison!) and snarers (static water-dwelling creatures from which you can extract pearls as a loot).




[h3]THE ARTEFACT[/h3]

The Spire can detect another artefact in this region: Weightless Stone.



This artefact allows its owner to control the minds of others.

While it will help the party back at the Spire to open a new room, here in Dismal Marshes it poses a problem: one of the local creatures got it, and is using it to rule the whole region...


[h3]NEW CHARACTER[/h3]

As with every previous chapter, here you will be able to find – and free – another new mage, who possesses special powers. I don't think we should spoil the story, so we'll leave it at that ;).


[h3]NEW RESOURCES[/h3]

Related to all the new creatures, this chapter will have new alchemic resources, as well as a new mineral that can only be found in the swamps. Plus a new food resource.




[h3]USER INTERFACE & MECHANICS: WHAT'S THE PRIORITY?[/h3]

Outside of the story, this month we'll work on improving the user interface – and the flow – in encounters. There's a number of small things that beg to be fixed (such as, streamlining the use of alchemy against opponents) and there's a big elephant in the room that we'll try to handle: tokens.

We love the way that tokens combine, stack, convert... but we think our description of the rules is way too complicated! It is very difficult, at first, to grasp that you can get Damage by casting Acid and then converting it, or to answer the question "which token reacts first?" when sending Fire to the target with Acid and Frost.

We've been experimenting with different solutions, and we're now reviewing all the rules, and the UI, to provide a substantial improvement in player experience.



The other matter is targeting.

When you're attacked by 3 opponents, who use multi-turn attacks, some of which are AoE, it can be very challenging to grasp WHO does WHAT to WHOM.

We've been re-working the UI over the last few days, and we hope to deliver a version that's easier to understand and makes the planning of the encounter more efficient!

–––

And this about wraps it for now.

if you have any comments or questions, we're happy to respond here and on Discord.

Over the coming week, we'll be writing the stories, and creating the new resources and items, as well as building the map. We'll see where we are in a week, when we'l share another update.

All the best!


// team CO

Hello there!

We wanted to release this update 4 weeks ago, but two things intervened.

ːdamageː First, the war in Europe (we published our statement here). In a purely practical way this means that our team has less time to spend on the production as we are helping friends flee the conflict and spend sleepless nights thinking about those whose cities are getting bombed by the Russian army.

We cannot remain indifferent to such pain. Since we published our call to stop this war, we’ve been told that we should not talk politics, that war is peace, black is white, etc., but we are not changing our position. We will continue to ban, permanently, anybody who justifies the war. There can be no reason for the mass killings. No whataboutism or propaganda alters the fact that every day the invading Russian army kills innocent people in Ukraine. If you disagree with our position, please don’t buy our games. We’d rather go broke than take the blood money.

ːspellcastingː The second reason for the delay is positive: with Chapter 3, we ship the biggest content update that we’ve made so far. The map is larger, there are more stories and quests, and a whole lot of custom visuals. On top of this, we bring several features that we debated since December.

Let’s look at the key points:


[h3]SCHOOLS OF MAGIC [/h3]

We’re moving ahead with making the characters more different.

You may recall that earlier, the whole party had one Spellbook that they shared.

We then progressed to individual Spellbooks, and now we further increase the specialization of characters:

• Each mage can specialize in up to 2 schools of magic
  
• There are 9 schools of magic in total in the game (more may come, later)
  
• At the start of the game, you choose 1 school per mage (for free)
  
• The choice of initial schools of magic is limited to the 4 that are permitted in the Empire
  
• Later on, you can unlock the second school for each mage (this costs essences)
  
• You can change the mage’s school at a special room at the Spire

[h3]CHANGE IN DECKS[/h3]

Each school of magic now has its own set of elements. When you change the school, you change the composition of the mage’s deck. When you add a second school to a character, their deck expands.

Most decks are complimentary to each other: they contain the elements that are used by the specific school, plus additional elements that help other mages in the party.



[h3]CHANGE IN SPELLBOOKS[/h3]

Each mage now has a separate Spellbook for each of their schools of magic.

All the spells have been updated and assembled into trees. Certain spells are only accessible once you open the ones that precede them on the tree.

Also, the interface of open Spellbook during encounter changed to take less space, and each school of magic has its own button to call up the relevant Spellbook.




[h3]MONOLITHS[/h3]

All three chapters now have Monoliths, which are a source of magic energy.

To collect the energy, find the monoliths and step on them. Each map has up to 4 monoliths.

Magic energy is used to operate all the rooms in the Spire.




[h3]ROOMS[/h3]

After Chapter 1, the Spire now gets the following rooms:

• Master’s chambers – read stories from the Truthsayer
  
• Altar of restoration – heal ailments
  
• Living quarters – review all characters and inventory
  
• Scriptorium – change magic schools
  
• Beacon – summon new characters
  

After Chapter 2, one more room becomes available:

• Cavern of resurrection – bring back the dead
  

And after Chapter 3, there’s one more room as well:

• Transmutation hall – obtain alchemic resources
  

[h3]CHAPTER 3: ELDERWOOD[/h3]

The chapter brings the mages into the Elderwood: home to two tribes in conflict, and a dark secret that looms over both.



In addition to the main stories, we also designed several side-quests. Including one that goes back to player’s actions in Chapter 1. We will do more of this in the coming chapters.

To avoid spoilers, we won’t describe here any details.

As any other biome, Elderwood has its own resources and creatures, and with these creatures comes a new token and a couple of new hex effects. We updated the recipes for alchemic potions and added a few more items as well, plus a new food resource.


[h3]WHAT’S NEXT?[/h3]

Once this update is stable, we will move to working on Chapter 4. The events of that chapter happen in the toxic southern swamps and involve two new races that you haven’t seen before.



As to the features and mechanics, we’re working on a better visualization of tokens. The current tooltips are not very helpful and it’s difficult to understand the possibilities of stacking and combinations – unless you experimented with them already.

We’ll try to ship the new update faster, but at this point it’s hard to promise anything since things change so fast. We will keep doing what we can to help our friends who flee the conflict, and we will keep working on the game.

Stay safe!

Hey guys,

Just a a quick note to say that we spent the last two weeks working on the story mode for Chapter 3, and will spend the next week finishing it. We expect to release this month's update around March 2.

In addition to the story (no spoilers, just some visuals below) we're improving the progression of spellbooks, changing spell formulas (as well as adding new spells), and will introduce 9 schools of magic.

We look forward to hearing your comments on that... but first, we should finish the stories, and ship the update for you to enjoy – so we're back to work now! :-D





Have a great weekend,

[CO]