Songs of Conquest News

Greetings Wielders!

As the release date for 1.0 is creeping closer day by day, we are trying to focus mainly on stability and a good experience.

However, unexpected issues before a release are almost more of a rule than an exception. And we have just found a pretty serious issue with the AI and how its trading has worked.

When the AI tried to trade resources, it looked something like this:

- (AI) “Hey! I want to buy two extra stone to be able to buy this building. How much does it cost?”
- (Trader) “How much gold do you have?”
- (AI) “20.000 Gold. So how much do I owe you?”
- (Trader) “20.000 Gold, please”
- (AI) “Uhm, sounds a bit expensive… But ok, here you go!”



We had a nice, but stern chat with the trader and passed some new laws that it’s not allowed to raise the prices depending on the budget of the AI like that. So, good news, the issue is now fixed. Huzzah!

But as you probably understand, even though it is a small fix, it can cause a snowball effect making the AI much more difficult to beat - on all difficulty levels.
For example: If the AI could break out of the first zone by round 7, it might now sometimes break out at round 5 or 6 instead - which would give it an advantage in later stages of the game.
Consequently, if we look at the end game with an AI that wants to trade a resource to buy research - this would before deplete most of its gold reserves in the process, so now it would just have more gold in general resulting in more troops, research and all that good stuff.

The positive thing about this is that the AI will feel more competent, especially in the later stages of a session. The negative is that the easier difficulties might be too difficult to be called easy - and our efforts to give every player a difficulty that feels appropriately challenging might be unbalanced now.

But the thing is, we don’t know yet. And to find out we need lots of testing and data, something that takes a lot of time.

Yes, we are asking for your help, but we are also treating you with this brand new screenshot! How's that for a tradeoff?!

This is not something we expected to happen so close to release, and this is where we need your help. The time is nigh, and we need as many eyes as possible on both our campaign maps and our conquest maps and collect feedback on how difficult it feels to play.

So if you have the time, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could play the game with this in mind for us. If you want to be extra helpful, please use this template below to describe your experience in a comment to this post.

I see myself as a: Player
I played with difficulty:
On map:
Thoughts: (How did it feel, how many times did you reload, quick battles etc)

Thank you!

Best Regards,
Niklas Borglund
Lead Programmer & CTO at Lavapotion.

Changelog

UI

• Fixed incorrect threat levels being shown sometimes in battle menus
  
• Added fade transitions when moving between heavy scenes
  
• Made sure spellbook/bar tooltips are never drawn outside the screen
  
• Fixed team queue beacon layout bug for >20 beacons
  

Map Editor

• Fixed AI difficulty dropdown misleadingly being initially visible even if AI team is not forced to have a specific difficulty
  
• Added ability to see trigger identifier names directly on the map in the editor as a gizmo
  

Modding

• Fixed issue on the Community Campaign screen where an exception sometimes were thrown due to a missing prefab
  

Multiplayer

• Fixed exception when trying to open spellbook in battle using hotkey while playing as a hostile in multiplayer
  

AI - Adventure

• Fixed bug where some options forgot to check if a fight was against the neutral planet.. I mean a neutral hostile! This stopped the AI from attacking player wielders sometimes
  
• Fixed vision and exploration issue that could lead to the AI not finding enemy player towns and settlements
  
• Fixed softlock in AI recruitment when it tried to move too large stacks between commanders, i.e the owner had a +1 stack size artifact
  
• Fixed issue with calculating capacity of an army (how full it is) before scoring and trading troops
  
• Fixed severe bug where AI would pay all of its gold instead of the calculated price when buying resources from the marketplace
  
• Fixed incorrectly scripted building requirement for Smoldering Cave that caused AI not to build it
  
• Fixed bug where AI would not build a required building on a built site it had reserved for upgrades
  
• Fixed bug where AI would reserve too many small build sites for medium building upgrades in large settlements
  
• Fixed AI not being aware of what buildings are already under construction in a town or settlement
  

AI-Battle

• Fixed ranged defenders in siege ending up exposed near the enemy
  
• Fixed so that melee defenders in siege are more likely to be positioned towards the center opening
  

Misc

• Fixed various issues that affected Macs running on Apple Silicon processors to run slow when Songs of Conquest lost focus.
  
• Fixed not being able to change the screen resolution in the options menu without encountering an exception
  
• Added option to clear local player stats under Gameplay options
  
• Fixed AI difficulty button in lobbies being locked when a team is actually just forced to be AI controlled but not forced to a specific difficulty
  
• Fixed bug with “Auto equip stronger artifacts” feature, that would override validation and allow for unequippable artifacts to be unequipped. I.e remove a +2 command artifact with something else, leaving you with more troop stacks than allowed.
  
• Fixed showing Range and Deadly Range in codex entries of troops that have no ranged attacks
  
• Fixed issue where rebinding an action with multiple default bindings (such as “End Turn”) did not override all default bindings
  
• Changed the bundle ID on mac builds back to its original value to fix issue with missing savegames
  

Songs Of Conquest is a strategy-RPG with some of the most handsome pixel art around. Steam tells me I've played its Early Access release for 0.7 hours, which was long enough to know that I wanted to play more and would wait for version 1.0. I won't have to wait much longer. It's now got a May 20th release date.

Read more

Greetings Wielders,

We're thrilled to share some exciting news with you all: The official release date for Songs of Conquest, along with the fourth and final campaign, is set for May 20th! Get ready to step into the shoes of Bhigli, a Wielder with grand ambitions. Discover the pivotal role played by the mercenary tinkerers of Barya as the final part of the story unfolds.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The development journey leading up to this moment has been nothing short of incredible, and we owe it all to you, our amazing Community! Your feedback and support have been invaluable, shaping Songs of Conquest into the game it is today. Sharing this news with you guys feels long overdue, but we’ve always had high ambitions for the game, and we didn’t want to release 1.0 until we felt the game was in really good shape! But finally, that time has come!


Thunder and lightning can be very very frightening, or so we heard. Let's not ask Bhigli!

With the full release of Songs of Conquest literally just around the corner, you might be worried that this is the final chapter of our saga. Well, rest assured dear Wielders that our journey together does not end here.

The journey, though long and winding, does not end here in the sandy dunes of Barya. The end of a chapter marks the beginning of another!

We are finalizing plans for more content, updates, and general improvements as we post this very news. We’ll keep you posted on a weekly basis as we are gearing up for the full release and you should expect more exciting news in the near future.

Until then, mark your calendars for May 20th – it's going to be an epic adventure!

/Everyone at Lavapotion

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Hello everyone, this is a friendly reminder from your friendly indie studio CEO that we are currently taking part in the Coffee Stain publisher sale! We want to point this out while also announcing an upcoming price raise to $34.99 on the 16th of April, to better reflect the value of the game at our upcoming 1.0 release! I want to take the time to give you the full explanation of why we are doing the price increase, so keep on reading!

Just a bunch of developers, out on a quest to create the best strategy games in the world!

You might ask why I write this post and not our community manager? Well, back in the days I used to create all the blogposts, write the tweets and edit the videos. These days I am however more focused on running the business development side of Lavapotion. With the amazing help from our community manager Anders and our Art Director Christian, I can now make sure to focus on what keeps the lights on and is hopefully best for the game and the team. But sometimes it feels important for me, as the CEO, to shine some light on where we are coming from, where we are at and where we are going!

I dare say we have come a long way since this screenshot was taken back in March 2017!

We have now spent over seven years of our lives creating our dream game. It has been a thrilling ride, to say the least! We are super excited to very soon announce the date of 1.0, along with a teaser trailer for the all new Barya campaign. But, the road doesn’t stop there, we have plans for more updates and other (still secret) things in the works. We love this game and we are blessed to have a great community engaging with us. All the feedback has helped us build a lovely game and all the revenue generated from the game has gone directly back into development. With that said, we think it is fair to do a slight price increase, to reflect the amount of content in the game. Four factions and four fully fledged campaigns (at the 1.0 release!) Conquest maps, Challenge maps, Random maps, Singleplayer, CO-OP, Multiplayer, Map Editor as well as a treasure trove of user created Maps, Mods and Campaigns. All of this, translated into 13 different languages, well, it is a huge beast to maneuver, and we’d like to think it is worth a price tag of $34.99 (which will be adjusted with Steam pricing policy for different regions). Furthermore, we plan to actively support the game over a long period after the 1.0 release, and we need to make sure that the income from the game can support the team salaries, cost for office, etc.

A sneak peek from the all new Barya campaign, coming very soon!

Finally, raising the price is my decision and not the team's decision. If you have questions: Ask away in the comments section! I’ll reply to my best extent! Expect lots of more news from us over the coming weeks as we prepare for the big 1.0! Thank you everyone who has supported us so far!

/Magnus and the Lavapotion Team

Greetings, Wielders!

Prepare yourselves for another update, this one comes with a grave-like touch as we return to the eerie Barony of Loth and embrace our inner cultists! As always, this latest version of Songs of Conquest is packed with a little bit of everything. From essential bug fixes and AI behavior updates to a plethora of small tweaks and changes, we've left no tomb unturned. But let's be honest – there's definitely an undead theme lurking in the shadows.

The Barony of Loth travel agency really has their work cut out for them!

Ah, it seems we missed a buried treasure in last week's update – but fear not! The elusive Great Excavation map has been tracked down and added to the roster. It's almost as if it sensed it belonged here all along.

But that's not all – speaking of maps, we've got some exciting additions for all you cartographers out there! We've introduced faction-based wood generators, allowing you to tailor your maps even further to suit your vision.

And for those who prefer a more randomized playstyle, we've got you covered too! We've revamped the two-player Random Map layout for better balance, with more frequent and formidable guards and resource generators to keep you on your toes. Embrace the unpredictability and conquer the unknown!

You never truly know what you’re getting yourself into with a random map, but the menu helps!

In this update, even our AI opponents have been touched by the whispers of the tomb. Their build plans have been improved to create more diverse and strategic opponents. No longer will they construct duplicate small buildings on their first four build sites, and they'll now vary their choices for the first medium-build sites beyond just marketplaces. Plus, they've become adept at reserving sites for future upgrades.

Ah, but there's more to the AI's repertoire! It has learned the art of hunkering down in the face of adversity. When it senses the impending last stand, it will fortify its defenses and stand its ground, determined to give as good as it gets. While this may sometimes still result in defeat, on other occasions, it signals the turning of the tide – offering the AI a chance to recover and launch a counteroffensive!

The AI has started to sense its impending doom! Walls, towers, and a defending Wielder!

The Barony of Loth, steeped in undead legend and good intentions. We've delved deep into it and reworked its campaign, ensuring it integrates with our recent AI improvements. But that's not all – we've crafted both small and grand visual enhancements to all four maps, utilizing both old and new tools to elevate the experience.

Yet, our greatest efforts have been aimed at recalibrating the difficulties, based on our new system to improve this skeleton-powered campaign. Some challenges now stand as formidable tests of skill, while others offer a gentler path for those seeking a more forgiving journey. It's all in service of crafting a richer, more balanced story and experience for you, the intrepid Wielders. And all of this is thanks to the feedback that you, the community have given us, so thank you!

Now that is a man filled with good intentions. And a key figure in the Loth Campaign.

In addition to all these exciting developments, we've been on a bug-hunting spree, making small adjustments to game mechanics and fine-tuning general optimizations. As always, we highly recommend brewing a hot mug of cocoa and settling in with our freshly minted changelog to fully savor all the details of our latest update. Read all about it here.

Can you believe it's been a year since the first version of our third campaign clawed its way out from its shallow grave? Now is the perfect time to revisit the tombs, cities, and mysteries that the Barony of Loth has to offer. Prepare to delve into the depths once more, and uncover the secrets that still lie buried.

Our eye turns now towards eliminating bugs and doing the last bit of play-testing for our last campaign. The dunes of Barya are closing in and we can’t wait to share that last adventure with you. Stay tuned as we will share news on that precious release date soon.
Turn to Conquest Wielders, the Barony of Loth awaits!

/Everyone at Lavapotion

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