Dear Monster Keepers,
we're now less than two weeks away from the full release of Monster Sanctuary. As such, this month we worked mostly on polishing the existing content, fixing bugs, and creating the Monster Journal that we will be sending out in digital as well as physical form (more on that below).
We hope you're looking forward to enter the Abandoned Tower!
Full Release: Promised vs. Delivered
First, here's an overview of all the content that will be available at full release (compared to what we promised in the Kickstarter campaign):
As you can see, thanks to your continued support, we could add even more content to the game than originally planned. Also, many more people will be able to play Monster Sanctuary since it's releasing on more platforms.
We regret to inform you, however, that we were not able to have some of the promised Backer rewards and Stretch goals in time for the full version - we plan to release these missing features with post launch updates:
- New Game+
- Backer Keeper Monuments
- Player Customization
- Speedrun mode
Monster Journal
We've finished the digital version (PDF) of the Monster Journal! The digital version is ready to be sent out to 35€+ backers on full release. Come take a look:
As you can see, each Monster has two pages dedicated to it. These pages include their drawn digital artworks, in-game sprite artworks, lore texts (as they may also be found in the game), weaknesses and resistances, types, skill trees (including Ultimate skills and Shifted skills), attributes (including Shifted attributes), and the in-game locations where they may be found. For Champion Monsters, there's also a small "Tips" section included (below their lore texts) on how to beat them.
In addition to all the Monster pages, the Monster Journal includes
five pages with general gameplay hints and tips,
eleven pages with additional lore texts, and a
glossary of important combat terms that should make skill descriptions easier to understand.
Unfortunately, it will still take some time to print the
hardcover Monster Journals and to send them, especially given the current situation with the pandemic. They should arrive some weeks after the full release.
Please make sure you filled the survey with your address for us to be able to ship the Monster Journal. If your address changed recently, just write us a private message with the updated one.
Contributions
We would also like to use this opportunity to give credits to all the people that worked with us to get the game to where it is now. Since the original Kickstarter campaign, we had some additional Freelance contributors join to help finish the game in time and exceed some of the initial goals:
- Adam Kling: Worked on all the sprites for Monsters after #50, also updated the Player / NPC sprites.
- Path of Pixels: Drew all the digital Monster artworks that will be seen in the printed/PDF Monster Journal. Also created a lot of Monster designs, like Nautilid and Thornish.
- Daniel Reis: Did the sprite artworks for the in-game Monster Journal (which will also be in the digital and printed Monster Journals).
- Steven Melin: Did a majority of the Soundtrack, with some help of Peter Jones.
- Conan the Librarian: Conan was a very active community member who joined us recently as our official Community Manager.
- Team17: Team17 joined us as a Publisher and helped in a lot of ways, among others: QA, Marketing, exhibiting the game at conventions.
- DO Games: DO Games worked together with Team17 to port the game to all the different platforms.
New Monster Revealed: Changeling
"For a long time, it was believed that Changelings were simply born from the earth itself - but there is evidence that Changelings originated from the stars. All Changelings were once part of a single being, called the Proto-Changeling. It traveled through the empty void like a half-sentient, slumbering comet for many years. Thousands of years ago, it landed on our world, creating a substantial crater. Being a fluid, amorphous mass, it then slowly seeped underground, becoming part of the very lands and oceans of our world. Over the millennia, it absorbed the fallen remains of countless Monsters, gaining access to their traits in the process. Eventually, small parts of the Proto-Changeling gained sentience and dug their way through the earth to the world above, emerging as Changelings. Unconscious parts of the Proto-Changeling can still be found underground in some parts of the world."
Changelings are versatile all-rounder Monsters that can focus on many different skills. They have two unique traits: For one, they are always all Monster types at once, meaning that they will benefit from any Monster-type aura. Secondly, they may learn both
Imitate and
Counterfeit, allowing them to copy any move that was used by an ally or an enemy.
That's all for now
We hope we got you all excited for the release of Monster Sanctuary on December 8th! We are thrilled for the release dates ourselves, as this will be the first game released by moi rai games - hopefully, the first of many! In fact, in our free time we are already brainstorming and collecting ideas for possible games in the future. But for now, enjoy this gif of a fancy Inferno Ultimate.
