Spire of Sorcery News

It’s been a month since the last update. Most days were productive, but some were not – several people got sick or had to take care of their relatives who got sick (for here, it is the season of the first snow, that changes to rain, and then freezes into ice).

Such days normally fly under the radar if you have a larger team, or a longer period between updating the game. This time it had a direct impact on how many extra features we could add into the mix: we focused just on the two most impactful changes.

Well, such is the winter. And if we ever add winter season to Spire of Sorcery, then it will have an increased risk of receiving Infection tokens while traveling; a penalty of having one move point less; and a longer time to lose the tokens of Chaos after undertaking extra actions.

This is how our home city, Vilnius, looks these days.

Meanwhile, some good news: the sales of the game here on Steam are increasing, from one week to another, which we take as a sign that what we deliver with updates is exactly what players desire the most. Additionally, we started to talk to several publishers who expressed interest in working with our studio, and the vast majority compliment the monthly update schedule and the weekly development logs. This, they say, is the sign of the discipline. What they don’t know, however, is how much coffee we consume each week to make it happen! :-)


[h3]WHAT’S IN THIS UPDATE?[/h3]

There are 2 main changes:

• ːspellcastingː Chapter 1 now has a story mode. It’s a huge change for us!
  
• ːspellcastingː The encounter interface is upgraded. Based on player feedback!

[h3]ENCOUNTER INTERFACE[/h3]

Let’s start with the interface, since it’s a very practical change.

Tokens now become counter-based

Previously, we would show three fire tokens like this: ːfire_tokenː ːfire_tokenː ːfire_tokenː.

Now we display them like this: ːfire_tokenː 3.



It makes the screenshot less cluttered and allows us in the future to use any numbers, be it 10 or 20 – whether for character stats or for opponents.

Progression of actions on opponents is now radial

We used to show empty dots for all the possible places where tokens could accumulate.

We now show radial progression to keep it informative.



Character stats received a facelift

Once we transitioned to counter-based tokens, we looked at the character stats and realized that they also could use an upgrade.

What we used to have:



What we have now:



There is more clarity: you see the type of tokens that this stat receives, including the number for progression, followed by the outcome when the bar is filled: an injury, or a disease, or a Chaos burst.

Fewer colors, fewer icons, more clarity – and more information (earlier, you had to hover over immune system to understand what happens when it’s overwhelmed; now this is upfront).


[h3]SPELLBOOK AND SPELLS[/h3]

Something we explored, but did not finish this month, is a change to spell progression.

Some of you asked for a progression system that will result in different mages having different books, we played with this idea for a while… and we liked it.

While we didn’t have the time to implement such change, we already started cleaning up the Spellbook’s interface.

Spell formula no longer has an icon for the specific spell

To be honest, we forgot why we introduced it in the first place. So we just removed it :).

Spellbook is now more transparent

Earlier, an open Spellbook covered the whole encounter screen. Now it’s easier to coordinate the spells and their possible targets.



Spell formula no longer has a specific “Cast” button

The special button was a part of an earlier design. As we’re at the stage where we remove redundant elements for better clarity, we kicked it out just as well. We – and most of those who stream – click on the whole spell area anyway, and this button isn’t really needed.



[h3]STORY MODE[/h3]

The story mode is a complete game changer for Spire of Sorcery and took the most of our time in the last three weeks.

• All the maps will be handmade
  
• Every chapter will have unique stories
  
• Stories are intertwined with encounters
  
• Stories bear consequences beyond the chapter when they happen
  
• Stories have unique visuals, creatures and objects

After developing the tools, we managed to apply the change to Chapter 1, and you will notice that:

• The map has changed
  
• The opponents have changed
  
• There are now 3 separate stories, with equally valuable choices in each
  

This change is ːalchemic_potionː the most important change ːalchemic_potionː at this point in development of the game. We transition to more rewarding exploration, more interesting maps, and deeper involvement into the overall storyline.

Chapter 1 is just the first step. The January update will deliver stories for the other 2 chapters.

Things that are worth noting:

We introduced animations on the map

You will see the first one as you cross the river. This is just the first try, and we will include more of these as we update the other chapters.



Characters in your party now make comments

When mages spot certain things, they will voice their opinion right from their portraits. The portraits, by the way, have moved to the bottom of the screen specifically because of this.



Decisions in stories have impact on the map

Whether something is destroyed, or saved, the choices have real impact.


[h3]WHAT’S NEXT?[/h3]

We revised our priorities for the next update and will focus in January on adding story mode for Chapters 2 and 3. Broodmother will receive… a labyrinth. There will be a new use for the gems you might collect in Chapter 1. We will create the first mechanics for terraforming a map through use of items. Exciting times!

When we work on the story mode, the whole team comes together: we draw, we write, and we design around the challenges that we invent. We thank every player who contributed to identifying this evolution of the game as the most impactful. Without Early Access feedback, we would not have made such a change.


[h3]HAPPY HOLIDAYS![/h3]

We wish you a very warm, and safe, Christmas period, and a happy New Year ahead!

May the year of 2022 bring you all the wonderful things that you may have missed in 2021.

We are here because we make games, and you are here because you play games, but in this message, we want to talk to you like humans to their fellow humans: health, mental and physical, and the wellbeing of your families, is more important than anything else. Please take care of the ones whom you love, and please take a break to recharge during this holiday season ːhypnoheartː.

We will do our best to entertain you with more development stories, and updates, in the coming year. And above that, we send you our love and support, wherever you are. Stay warm, stay safe, and make someone happy – every little smile helps.

Happy 2022!

ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːxmas_treeː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː ːmagic_sparklesː

/ Team CO /

Hey guys, just a quick note to say that we're currently testing and translating the December update, and aim to release it in the afternoon of December 22.

The focus is exclusively on the story mode, with 3 stories added to Chapter 1, and an update to how we display tokens and character stats. We may also be able to throw in the first arena (a replayable map), but we're not 100% certain as we may not have enough time to test it.

The last 3 weeks were a fast sprint to develop the tools that we need to build stories, and the content to fill them in, and it feels like a change that will have pretty great impact on player experience. We hope that we squash most of the bugs, and that you will enjoy the result... very soon! ːloot_sackː

Hello, lovely people of Steam! ːhypnoheartː

We hope that this update finds you well.

In just 3 weeks, this year will be over. If anyone knows where the difficulty settings are for this simulation, please change them to “Easy” – the world could use some breathing space to process all that happened and continues to happen.



In the world of Rund, everyone is also getting ready for the end of the year festivities, which this year falls on the season of the Phantom Moon.

The mages that cooperated well with the Inquisition will get extra food rations, and maybe a brief unsupervised walk outside of the walls of their Sanctuaries.

And the mages that did not cooperate would get a gift anyway: a few days without beatings and forced labor, while their guards eat and drink and stay mostly in their well-lit, warm barracks.

Let’s dive into what our team has done over the last week:


[h3]“STORY MODE”[/h3]

We’ve been fleshing out the 3 stories that will arrive to Chapter 1, iterating both the content and the interface. In the space of these days, we’ve gone through at least 3 concepts of how a story flow may happen better and settled on a version that combines the dialogues and the narrative text.

As always, the ultimate test for us is in whether a new feature or content feels as “extra” – or if we ask ourselves, how the heck we didn’t think of this before. All the best solutions always feel “obvious”, and it’s the same with the story mode.

Stories deliver the lore, stories deliver choices, stories make encounters meaningful. And we’re certain that the story mode is the most impactful change that you will experience in the December update (just God help us finish it on time, and without too many bugs).



The way it stands, we will now produce stories for every chapter, and in fact new chapters will be produced based on stories rather than based on biomes and creatures.

Which reminds us of the time in the production of Gremlins, Inc. when we launched a multiplayer-only game, got multiple requests to add the single-player mode, and only after releasing it discovered that over 30% of all game sessions do happen in this single-player mode – to which we were completely blind (same as with the stories) on our own.


[h3]MORE CLARITY IN THE ENCOUNTER USER INTERFACE[/h3]

A second thing that we prioritized (just because it can be done by a different part of the team, to be honest) are the improvements in UI during encounters.

You may think that we’re happy with what we have right now and expect you to just embrace it – but we’re not =). We fully realize how many things can get better, and when we look at the user interface, it’s like a writer who looks at another draft of a novel: never finished, always with space to get better.

Here are a few things that bothered us for a while:

• Opening Spellbook obscures the whole screen.
  
• You need to hover over opponents to understand what you can do to them.
  
• Character stats are a bit overwhelming and are shown in a different way.
  

On top of that, a few top players sent us the screenshots with 20 and even 30 tokens applied to opponents, and in the current “stacking” visualization that’s not pretty – for sure, it is a rare case, but it shows that the system does not scale well.

And here’s what we aim to deliver:

• Token counters become circular. This scales well, and this takes much less screen space.
  
• Spellbook will no longer obscure the screen AND you will be able to see at the same all the actions that you can do to them, for better planning.
  
• Character stats become better structured:
  
  
  
  
  • Progression (notches)
    
  • Same color for each stat
    
  • Consequence of exceeding the stat shown right next to stat

We’ve gone through more iterations than I dare to remember, but finally, we think that we found an option that works for every team member.


[h3]SPIRE OF SORCERY: PROLOGUE[/h3]

Aside from the development work, we’ve been looking at the stats of how the game sells, and we’re seeing good conversion between “tried the demo / visited the page / purchased”, but the game could use more visibility.

Since Steam limits visibility in Early Access (and rightfully so, one may say), nearly every developer is looking for the extra opportunities to show their game to more players.



One of the options that works is releasing a demo as a standalone “Prologue” app in the “play for free” section, which exposes the game to a whole new audience.

Next week, we’ll follow this route and launch Spire of Sorcery: Prologue. No changes, it will be the same demo as here, just more visibility for the project.


[h3]QUESTIONNAIRE IN THE DEMO[/h3]

Another thing we’ve done to get more player feedback is a questionnaire that we now show after someone played the demo. It asks about what you liked and what you didn’t like, and the first results are already helpful.

It’s one thing to ask people in general if they like the game. It’s another to ask specifically those who played the demo and have fresh impressions.



What we see so far is that the story and the user interface are the two things that beg improvement, and we’re relieved that we ourselves share the same opinion and work exactly on these things.


[h3]WHAT NEXT?[/h3]

We’re about a week away from the release candidate of December’s update, and just a few days away from the deadline when we can send the texts to our translators. These days will be spent writing all the missing texts to be on time. ːnotebookː

In the meantime, if you enjoyed the game but didn’t yet have the time to leave a review, please consider doing so as an early Christmas gift for our team. Every review helps other players to understand if this is the sort of game that they will enjoy.

If there is a particular thing that you like about the project, and a particular thing that you think is still raw, it would be helpful to let the others know what they might enjoy and what they should expect, so that whoever reads your review, can make a better decision of buying – or not buying.

On our side, we update the store page description from time to time for the same reason – to be clear. It’s a game with deck mechanics. It’s a game with tokens. It’s a game with hex-based map. The better we explain, the more accurate the decision. And then there’s the demo, of course.

Enjoy the first snow ːfrost_tokenː ːfrost_tokenː ːfrost_tokenː,
and see you next week!

/ Team CO /

We released the first monthly update for Spire of Sorcery a week ago, and it makes us very happy that this update has been well received – thank for all the feedback!

As a small team, we keep our focus on the issues that deliver the most impact, and it’s always crucial for us to identify what exactly will improve your player experience the most.

Having shipped a couple of hotfixes since then, we had a long discussion about what do we want to ship for you this month, in December.

Here’s what we think, and please share your comments once you read these thoughts!


[h3]THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: “STORY MODE”[/h3]



Because we only have 2 weeks for active production, and 1 week for testing, we must identify the single most important feature that we prioritise above all else.

It is not crafting: crafting is fun, but it’s not going to change the experience in a big way.

It is not travel magic: travel magic is cool, and practically useful to solve some situations on the map – but it’s still an addition to the existing core loop, and not the heart of it.

It is not new chapters: new chapters are enjoyable (new creatures! new biomes!), but they are only as good as the core loop is.

So, what it is then?

We call it “the story mode”, and this addresses the issues that players have described in various ways, from “the map feels empty” to “one battle follows another without lore in between” to “I miss lore that would be woven into each chapter, little stories and secrets”.

A big test that we apply to this feature goes like this:

ːmagic_sparklesː “If two different players with two different initial parties complete the same chapter, will their experience be different on the strategic level – or roughly the same?” ːmagic_sparklesː

Right now, it will be mostly the same: move towards the main quest, solve it, explore surroundings, evacuate.

What we want, though, is for two players to have different experiences, and to continue discovering the world, its lore, and its stories, at every point during the chapter.


[h3]PRE-DESIGNED MAPS[/h3]



Once we realized that we want more stories, and more options, we realized that we want the maps to be more like the pre-designed Forest Camp in the tutorial and less like the current procedurally generated chapters 1-3.

Creating a pre-designed map allows us to plant unique objects and design stories and challenges around them – which sounds to us more exciting than a randomized map that, nevertheless, remains the same as its core.


[h3]WE START FROM CHAPTER 1, “THE CHASE”[/h3]

As I’m writing this, I’m debating with myself if I should spoil some of the stories that we created for the first chapter. I’ll try to be specific enough – but without killing the fun!

We aim to add 3 big “stories” to this chapter. All of them will be optional. You can activate the node, and move to the Spire, without engaging with them.

All three stories are based on custom content. You will see opponents that you haven’t seen before in the game, including one opponent that is unique. Each of these three stories has 3 options to be resolved, connected to the 3 driving forces.

ːopponentː In some cases, you’ll have to fight.

ːspellcastingː In some, you’ll gain a new character.

ːloot_sackː In some, you’ll get unique items.

In every story, you will need to make a choice, and these choices are not only balanced between each other – but also affect the situations in the future chapters.




[h3]ADVENTURES TO BECOME CAMPSITE EVENTS[/h3]

Another ask that we heard, is to add “more things that happen every day”.

At the same time, we ourselves did not feel like our current adventures do their job well – they are too far spread, too specific, and do not deliver enough fun.

Thus, we are folding all adventures into ːfire_tokenː campsite events, which have a chance to happen whenever you press “end turn” in the travel mode.

We want two characters to experience a quarrel, someone to break their leg, another mage to get drunk on unknown berries, and everyone to, occasionally, have nightmares when camping in ruins – yes, most campsite events are to be biome-specific.

Whether we succeed in making this happen in time for December update, we will know in about 10 days when the translation deadline approaches.




[h3]OTHER CHANGES[/h3]

There’s a few more things that we want to do, that will have a positive impact:

• Making Spellbooks more transparent in the encounter and moving away from full-screen window.
  
• Structuring all spells into three “schools”, connected to the 3 soul essences, with cost of new spell dependent on how many spells in this school you have already opened (in other words, the same spell has different cost depending on how many spells in this school you have already opened). This will push us to make more choices when upgrading!
  
• Connecting spells in “chains”, so that when you upgrade one spell, you have at least two options what to upgrade it to.

In general, we’re looking at the option to have more spells, and allow to influence the progress. The time to test this idea will come later, in January or February.

• Adding character reactions to game events.

We agree with the comments of players who find the “silent mages” boring, and we’re preparing pools of character reactions for various events. We will then need to test the system to fine-tune the style and the scope. But it is something that we want to make.


[h3]WHAT NEXT?[/h3]

We are now hard at work on the features described above and will show you more details in the next week’s dev log. Meanwhile we’re facing a few additional challenges this month, with several family members of our team falling sick (kids, grandparents) – we’ll do our best to stay focused, but life is life, and at points it intervenes without asking.

Stay safe, stay healthy – and see you next week!


/ Team CO /

One month ago, Spire of Sorcery entered Early Access.

ːalchemic_potionː Not everything went as we hoped for, and it’s been a rather difficult month for the studio (it even reminded us of the release of Gremlins, Inc. back in 2015, when we were so little sleep that we currently have only a vague recollection of that period).

ːspellcastingː Putting doubts out of our minds, we became laser-focused on producing for you the absolutely best update that we could make happen within the space of three weeks, prioritizing features based on the feedback that we received – and now it’s here! Hurray!

ːmagic_sparklesː We’d like to specifically thank everyone who believed in us, and who left words of encouragement in the comments, in reviews and on Discord. It might feel like a small thing, but it helps hugely!!


[h3]WHAT’S IN THIS UPDATE?[/h3]



Here’s a list of what we ship today, followed by the detailed description of key points:

• Tutorial: fully interactive, standalone chapter. ːfire_tokenː
  
• Mulligan: reworked and updated based on feedback. ːfire_tokenː
  
• Balanced formula for generating initial characters.
  
• Preview of upcoming elements in the deck: small feature, big impact!
  
• Negative mood effects: a new mechanic, based on feedback
  
• Special powers, inspiration: a new mechanic, based on seeing people play.
  
• Concentration stat and Chaos tokens: improving one of the core mechanics
  
• Chaos burst and Chaos burn: a new mechanics, based seeing people play
  
• Digestive system: updated the way that it works
  
• Faster animations in encounter: based on feedback. ːfire_tokenː
  
• Some stories transitioned to events, to simplify flow (including Supplies)
  
• Locations became non-targetable: improving encounter dynamics
  
• New music: travel theme, Chapter 3
  
• New music: encounter theme, Chapter 3
  
• New music: forest camp theme, Tutorial
  
• New visuals: illustrations for states of blindness, paralysis, entanglement
  
• New SFX: SFX for the frost spells
  
• Updated texts of quests, opening/closing for Chapter 1
  
• Glasses: new special item for owners of Supporter DLC
  
• Other balancing changes and improvements across the board
  

[h3]STANDALONE TUTORIAL[/h3]



Requested and delivered! Select it from the main menu, and relieve the story of the escape form the forest camp while learning the basics.


[h3]REWORKED MULLIGAN[/h3]



Requested and delivered! Change visuals or stats, or both. All initial party members are now balanced for good/bad traits, strong/weak stats.


[h3]PREVIEW OF UPCOMING ELEMENTS IN THE DECK[/h3]

For that extra tactical depth, you can now preview the elements that are coming to the hands of your mages. Hover over the “discard” button to preview one sequence…



…or press the “deck” button to display all decks and all sequences.




[h3]NEGATIVE MOOD EFFECTS[/h3]



Bye-bye, three-stage effects. Hello, a new set that is better balanced!


[h3]SPECIAL POWERS[/h3]



This is a new mechanics that replaces positive mood traits. Accumulate inspiration points – and turn on the special power, that provides the effect that is unique for each character!


[h3]INSPIRATION[/h3]



When your mages are in a good mood, they accumulate inspiration faster. And when they’re in a bad mood, they lose it.


[h3]CONCENTRATION, CHAOS[/h3]



Endurance stat is now replaced with the Concentration stat, and Fatigue tokens are replaced with the tokens of Chaos. The mechanic itself (perform extra actions – get extra tokens) remains unchanged.



What’s new is that when you’re about to exceed Concentration, and take a penalty, we now warn you with a separate window.



And the penalty for exceeding this stat is no longer damage tokens, but a Chaos Burst that deals random tokens from Book of Chaos to random participants of the encounter. Additionally, Chaos Burst gives the mage a Chaos Burn, which is an ailment (and, as you may recall, exceeding allowed number of ailments leads to death).


[h3]DIGESTIVE SYSTEM[/h3]



Digestive system now is a stat. It is filled with tokens of toxicity whenever characters consume items. Once it’s exceeded, the character can no longer consume any items. The good news, however: every day, each character loses 1 toxicity token.


[h3]BOOKWORM GLASSES[/h3]



The owners of Support DLC now have one more special item in their party’s inventory at start: glasses that, when equipped, provide 1 token of protection from blindness. Enjoy!


[h3]WHAT’S NEXT?[/h3]

We aim to release the next update by the end of December.

That update will focus on the balancing of the existing chapters and will introduce a new chapter set in the Dismal Marshes.

We will also work on implementing travel magic.

–––

We hope that you have fun playing with the updated game, and please don’t hesitate to comment or report any issues here on the forums.

Have a great weekend!

/ Team CO /


PS Saved games from the previous version of the game are not compatible with the updated version, if you want to finish your saved games – please switch on Steam to branch "v202" that still contains the previous version.