Nowhere Prophet News

Time for another update! This one features a lot of changes under the hood but a few more visible things too. Versions of it have been tested in PREVIEW for a while, but here's the rundown:


(Almost) all convoys and classes now have two different ways to unlock them. One linked to your choices at the end of the game and one linked to objectives you can complete during play, such as defeating an optional boss or uncovering the secrets of a location.

I hope that this helps those of you that struggled with the somewhat esoteric unlock conditions that were in place so far. Let me know how it goes!




Stalker was a bit too weak compared to the other classes so a number of tweaks were done to improve his power a bit. One thing is that a First Strike theme was added to his starting deck and level up cards. First Strike plays well with Stealth and Marking, two of his other themes, so it felt really appropriate.

Also some of the basic Marking cards (Mark Target & Volatile Mark) were improved. Mark Target now draws you a leader card when you play it. And Volatile Mark makes the target suffer Blackout before it is Marked.




A bit of new stuff has been added too! A brand new convoy centered around Stealth and the bandits. It should play well with the Stalker. However the downside of the Raiders is that they start out as Slavers and are unable to earn any Altruism during your playthrough.


In preparation for the upcoming console release I've added controller support to the game. You can now play it on your couch, leaning back. This brings some accessibility options with it, such as the ability to control the size of tooltip elements to make reading easier, even if you're leaned back. This also adds a more extensive hotkey suite to the game, so check that out if you want to speed up your play a bit.

Please let me know if you experience any trouble with this!


There's a host of other, smaller tweaks, as always. Take a look at the changelog for a rundown:

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

Controller compatible
• Updated the interface to be fully compatible with controllers
• Support for keyboard input on PC also included

Changed unlocks
• Almost all unlockable classes and convoys now have two ways to unlock them
• Either a quest-based condition that requires you to do something during a run
• Or an ending-based condition that requires a specific class or convoy and final option
• All unlock hints have been changed to be clearer and more direct
• Added a new convoy: The Raiders. Stealth-based bandits

Balancing
• Stalker starting deck and level up cards adjusted: More focus on First Strike
• Corsair gained Stealth, increased Life to 6 (was 5)
• Burning Brand cost reduced to 2 (was 3)
• Mark Target and Volatile Mark have been improved by drawing a leader card and blacking out the target respectively
• AI now properly evaluates obstacles that suffered blackout
• Added new Quartz modifier: Blessed followers don't take a wound but lose their blessing first

Interface
• While click-targeting, hitting the end turn button no longer ends the turn
• Added feedback when dismantling an item from the popup
• Displaying the intrinsic perk of convoys in the cargo stats screen now
• Added hint in the conflict prep screen if you have an empty convoy deck

Bugfix
• Explorers free row perk fixed
• Zealot no longer destroys itself
• Smoke Screeen only buffs followers
• oe glyph in french added to the font
• Pregnancy and Cannibal events cleaned up
• Ruined settlement now makes you lose Altruism on threaten
• Wrecker no longer trickers at the end of EACH turn
• Janwar Silverback now properly counts followers, not units
• Selecting a deck while click-targeting no longer throws a no-save error
• Events that deal leader damage no longer heal you up if you're very low on hp
• Cards and powers queued on dead targets no longer execute
• Added push/pull tooltips to some cards
• Automarker no longer marks itself
• Pulling a wounded or dead unit back via Gravewalking and getting it blessed no longer kills it after combat
• No cards after closing the game during combat setup for Wanderers fixed
• Loading progress more robust
• Restarting a custom game now keeps the mutators intact
• Fixed issues with some event loss numbers not being correct
• Fixed display of wounds during combat sometimes being off
• Fog of War card no longer triggers on obstacles

And that's it!

Take care and stay safe!
- Martin

If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things.



The preview branch was recently updated with controller and keyboard setting. And now it also features a reworked progression system. There are now two ways to unlock most convoys or classes: Either a quest-based one that can be encountered during a run, or an ending-based one that requires you to complete the game with a specific class or convoy and to pick a specific kind of ending.

Here's a look at my internal sheet where I planned these changes:


If you have been frustrated with the speed of unlocking new content after a while this update mit help with that. As always I'd love to get some thoughts and feedback before this version is rolled out to everyone on Steam. If you have any comments, drop them in Discord or in the Steam forums!

And as always, stay hydrated and stay safe!

- Martin

If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things.



Starting today you can check out a new version in PREVIEW. It contains full keyboard and controller support. As a side-effect of working on the console version support for joypads was added and this version is now available on Steam as part of the PREVIEW branch.

If you install this version and launch it, all you need to do is hit a button on your keyboard on controller to switch to the appropriate controls. You can also change between control modes: NAVIGATION and CURSOR using the options screen in the main menu.

NAVIGATION simply has you move between the different buttons, items or elements on the screen. It's what's most common on consoles. It's simpler to use, and quicker to pick up.

CURSOR instead gives you a virtual cursor that you can move with your controller. This may need some getting used to but it allows you to get hover-based information more intuitively.

And that's it. I'd love to get some thoughts and feedback before this version is rolled out to everyone on Steam. If you have any comments, drop them in Discord or in the Steam forums!

And as always, stay hydrated and stay safe!

- Martin

Another huge update! I'm excited to finally round out the classes to the full set I envisioned years ago. With the Breaker and the Stalker two brand new prophets enter the fray, so let's look at what they can do!



[h2]The Breaker[/h2]
The Breaker is a former operative of the Union of Five Fingers. Disillusioned with their egotistical he has left them behind and found a new purpose with the fallen star.

His playstyle is generally slow and methodical, with access to defensive effects (via armor and taunt) and a few build pillars available to him:

Marking groups + AOE damage
Marked is a new keyword that increases the damage a unit takes. The breaker is good at spreading out marked on groups of enemy targets and then to follow up with area of effect damage (Blast and other cards) to capitalize on their vulnerability.

Obstacles
Putting down cover, throwing explosive barrels onto the enemy battlefield or just blocking off a column entirely. The Breaker knows how to handle and shape terrain.

Single, strong units
The Breaker is good at fortifying individual units. Giving them stat boosts and other benefits to build up true juggernauts.



[h2]The Stalker[/h2]
The Stalker ist a child of the wild places of Soma. Living out with the hilltribes in the ranges they took good care of their clan, hiding away from the eyes of strangers.

The Stalker's playstyle is more aggressive than the Breaker. It focuses on taking out key enemy units, disrupting their means of attack and going for the kill.

Marking individuals + Double tap
The Stalker also uses Marked but specifically to target individuals, to either make them more vulnerable or to disable their defensive capabilities. This combined with a new pair of attack cards that hit a single target multiple times allows them to really capitalize on that. This also makes these cards really good against Robust targets.

Beasts
Like many members of the hilltribes, the Stalker has become a friend to beasts. They can bring them into battle to bolster their own ranks or to directly slam into the enemy. A number of cards feature strong Beast synergies.

Stealth
Staying hidden is a part of the Stalkers strategy. A number of cards grant Stealth to their followers or capitalize on the units that are already in Stealth. And to make Stealth a bit more reliable, the keyword has been changed to only pop when taking damage from a follower or unit, not from the leader. This is usually going to be retaliation damage and it helps make Stealth a more robust investment during a battle.

Positioning
With their knowledge of battlefield tactics the Stalker is an expert at pushing and pulling people around. The Stalker has a few cards that either harm or help units when they are moved around, combine this with cheap access to movement cards and interesting strategies come together.



[h2]New Keyword: Marked[/h2]
As mentioned above there's a new keyword in town. Marked. Marked can be put on units or obstacles and it makes them vulnerable. They can now be attacked regardless of their position and they take 2 extra points of damage, whenever they are damaged.

This means you could mark a unit to get rid of it more quickly, to trade upwards or to get rid of some pesky sniper or construct that's hiding away in the back somewhere.

But not only that, with this update Marked, Taunt and Stealth are exclusive. So you can mark a unit to pop it out of Taunt. Put Stealth on a marked unit to prevent extra damage. Or put Taunt on a Stealth unit to pull it out of hiding.

[h2]Balancing changes[/h2]
Of course there's a number of additional tweaks and changes in this version. Some of the new cards related to Marking or the two new classes have been added to enemies or pieces of equipment. And there's been some balancing changes:

• Stealth is now only lost on unit or obstacle damage, not from leader-based damage
• Shadow Trail only triggers once each turn
• Bandit outfit a tad rarer
• Added a new item: The Machinepistol
• Changed the power on the Machinegun to more column damage
• Savage Sibhana was upgraded to Legendary (and is rarer in enemies now)
• Shadow Banjha was downgraded to Rare to compensate
• Coordinated Swarm status effect was changed to be more interesting
• Smoke Screen leader card upgraded to Rare
• Mercy Kill upgraded to 3-cost (was 2-cost)

And that's it! I hope you enjoy this update. Let me know which one of the new classes is your favorite!

And stay hydrated,
- Martin

You may have noticed the small Localizor logo in the main menu that appeared in the latest update.

For a bit now Nowhere Prophet has been available on the great community localization site Localizor.io. It's a great platform where anyone can submit and rate translations for the game. And once a language is completed I can export it back into the game and make it available to everyone!

And a number of languages are already pretty far along!



If you're interested in helping out, check out the Nowhere Prophet page on Localizor. And if you've got any questions, need another language to be enabled or just wanna hang out, join the Nowhere Prophet Discord!

[h2]Vagrus: The Riven Realms[/h2]
And while I have you here I wanna point you to a great project from some friends of mine. Vagrus is a story about a caravan set in a post-apocalyptic world. Sounds familiar? Maybe, but where Nowhere Prophet is a colorful sci-fi planet, Vagrus is set in the dark and dangerous ruins after a magical cataclysm.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The game looks great with immense production value and a deep world and story. Check out their campaign on Fig to learn more or head on over to their Steam page and wishlist directly!

And that's it for today!

See you soon for another big update on the Stalker and Breaker!

- Martin