Update 6 Status Report 2
Hello everyone! We've just recently completed all the major features that will be part of the Player Progression update and we are now in the middle of bug testing it and checking whether everything fits along nicely.
One major thing we do want to let people know is that the Progression System definitely changes the way the game plays in a major way. The current version players have leans heavily towards a static sandbox feel. The update on the other hand will make the Overlord simulation more pronounced - and it will also make the gameplay slower, longer and more dynamic.
Once we are done with bug testing and initial systems check, we will then be iterating on it - improving and reworking on things that aren't quite working well. We will continually do this until we feel that it is in a good enough state for players to check out. This is where the timing may get a bit dicey. Ideally, we would hopefully finish by end of the month but the iteration may likely extend by a week or two, If so, expect the update to also be delayed by as much.
In the meantime, we want to discuss some more aspects of the update that we haven't mentioned in the previous update yet.
As much as we love our Hex World Map assets, it was really a remnant of a previous iteration of the game that we kept far longer than necessary due to loving how they look as well as budgetary constraints. We really have to let it go now for various reasons:
Simply put, there won't be any World Map anymore. However, expect a simpler minimap to be introduced in a later update as it's a necessary QOL feature especially for bigger maps.
Now that we've ditched the hex tiles and no longer have the restraint of having single structures/features per square area, we were also able to improve the overall look of the maps. Here's an example of how the new caves look now:
Take a look at some of the new assets we've prepared for the new smaller demonic structures!
There has been some further rework of some structure mechanics, particularly the renamed Beholder (previously Eye). We'll leave the details of these for you to discover once the update is in your hands!
As mentioned before, we are splitting player resources into three: Mana, Chaotic Energy and Spirit Energy. I think it would be useful to share with you our current design goals for these resources.
[h2]Mana[/h2]
Mana is the resource the player must use to cast Spells, Afflictions and Abilities. It is also used to spawn monster parties and build demonic structures. This is a resource that limits how many actions the player can perform in a short amount of time. The player has limited amounts of Mana (based on the number of Mana Pits) and it will be exhausted rather quickly. However, it also auto-replenishes quickly in just a couple of in-game hours.
[h2]Chaotic Energy[/h2]
Chaotic Energy is one of two Progression-related resources. This is intended to be gained by interacting with the world. We want the player to have a lot of freedom in how he wants to approach the game so there are a lot of different ways to get Chaotic Energy. Basically, as long as you are doing "bad" things to the world, you should be able to get this resource.
[h2]Spirit Energy[/h2]
Spirit Energy is the second Progression-related resource. This resource is used to upgrade the Portal - which unlocks various Demonic Structures and new Lesser Demons. This is a rarer resource and we want each Archetype to have limited means of obtaining it. Players may capture a Villager, put them in a Prison and then drain their Spirit.
We hope to have the other means of obtaining Spirit Energy introduced soon but if we can't push it out quickly, we may have to reintroduce Spirit Energy at a later update and just have Chaotic Energy temporarily take up its uses first.
[h2]Threat[/h2]
Threat was introduced early on to prevent the player from spamming powerful spells. With the Mana rework and a proper progression system, the current Threat mechanic is no longer necessary. Do note that we have an important future update linked to Angels and other attacks related to Divine and Nature Worship that will eventually take up a similar theme as the old Threat mechanic - but that's for a later discussion.
We felt that the victory condition of having to wipe out all Villagers conflicts with our intention for players to take their time in playing around with Villager lives. We want to promote a free form of world interactions rather than make it feel like a murder/killing simulator. So instead of directly tying the player's victory to wiping out Villagers, we instead will tie it with Chaotic and Spirit Energy. These progression resources are gained through all sorts of evil interactions so it suits our intent better.
Thematically speaking, the idea is that the Ruinarch must summon itself onto the world to complete the invasion. Mechanically, this is represented by a summoning meter that slowly fills up whenever the player obtains Chaotic and Spirit Energy. Once the meter has been filled, the Ruinarch is summoned and the player wins (for now). We plan on having something a bit more involved here later on but this first phase should be suitable enough for the upcoming update.
When tied with the next Villager Progression system, the expected challenge here is that the player must commit various evil acts while keeping up and defending against Villager counterattacks. You can still kill if you want, but the beauty of the new victory condition is that you now don't always have to!
One of the most requested features will also be available in the new update. Players will now be able to store Villagers, Monsters, Objects and Structures as Targets that they can keep track of. In addition to this being used as part of the instructions when creating Monster Parties, a Bookmark System will also track the list so the player can easily access them when they want. Here's a preview of how it looks like:
We still have a lot of work to do! The tutorial and scenarios have been severely affected by the new features so we must also work on those things after we are done with the features iteration. We're very hopeful that all this hard work will be worth it in the long run and we pray that the players will also enjoy the changes.
We hope that you can be patient with us for a while longer! The next two updates will be the toughest contents development-wise but Ruinarch will begin to feel like it's on the way to completion once we are done with these.
One major thing we do want to let people know is that the Progression System definitely changes the way the game plays in a major way. The current version players have leans heavily towards a static sandbox feel. The update on the other hand will make the Overlord simulation more pronounced - and it will also make the gameplay slower, longer and more dynamic.
Once we are done with bug testing and initial systems check, we will then be iterating on it - improving and reworking on things that aren't quite working well. We will continually do this until we feel that it is in a good enough state for players to check out. This is where the timing may get a bit dicey. Ideally, we would hopefully finish by end of the month but the iteration may likely extend by a week or two, If so, expect the update to also be delayed by as much.
In the meantime, we want to discuss some more aspects of the update that we haven't mentioned in the previous update yet.
Goodbye Hex World Map
As much as we love our Hex World Map assets, it was really a remnant of a previous iteration of the game that we kept far longer than necessary due to loving how they look as well as budgetary constraints. We really have to let it go now for various reasons:
- the hex tiles do not match the associated square areas inside the maps
- the demonic structures have been reduced in size and they no longer have to occupy entire square areas
- the alternating square areas per row to reflect the hex tile arrangement in the world map is not ideal
- with multiple separate regions now gone, the world map is much less useful now
- dropping the assets will improve loading and processing and save on memory
Simply put, there won't be any World Map anymore. However, expect a simpler minimap to be introduced in a later update as it's a necessary QOL feature especially for bigger maps.
Now that we've ditched the hex tiles and no longer have the restraint of having single structures/features per square area, we were also able to improve the overall look of the maps. Here's an example of how the new caves look now:
Demonic Structure Assets
Take a look at some of the new assets we've prepared for the new smaller demonic structures!
There has been some further rework of some structure mechanics, particularly the renamed Beholder (previously Eye). We'll leave the details of these for you to discover once the update is in your hands!
About Resource Management
As mentioned before, we are splitting player resources into three: Mana, Chaotic Energy and Spirit Energy. I think it would be useful to share with you our current design goals for these resources.
[h2]Mana[/h2]
Mana is the resource the player must use to cast Spells, Afflictions and Abilities. It is also used to spawn monster parties and build demonic structures. This is a resource that limits how many actions the player can perform in a short amount of time. The player has limited amounts of Mana (based on the number of Mana Pits) and it will be exhausted rather quickly. However, it also auto-replenishes quickly in just a couple of in-game hours.
[h2]Chaotic Energy[/h2]
Chaotic Energy is one of two Progression-related resources. This is intended to be gained by interacting with the world. We want the player to have a lot of freedom in how he wants to approach the game so there are a lot of different ways to get Chaotic Energy. Basically, as long as you are doing "bad" things to the world, you should be able to get this resource.
[h2]Spirit Energy[/h2]
Spirit Energy is the second Progression-related resource. This resource is used to upgrade the Portal - which unlocks various Demonic Structures and new Lesser Demons. This is a rarer resource and we want each Archetype to have limited means of obtaining it. Players may capture a Villager, put them in a Prison and then drain their Spirit.
We hope to have the other means of obtaining Spirit Energy introduced soon but if we can't push it out quickly, we may have to reintroduce Spirit Energy at a later update and just have Chaotic Energy temporarily take up its uses first.
[h2]Threat[/h2]
Threat was introduced early on to prevent the player from spamming powerful spells. With the Mana rework and a proper progression system, the current Threat mechanic is no longer necessary. Do note that we have an important future update linked to Angels and other attacks related to Divine and Nature Worship that will eventually take up a similar theme as the old Threat mechanic - but that's for a later discussion.
Victory Condition
We felt that the victory condition of having to wipe out all Villagers conflicts with our intention for players to take their time in playing around with Villager lives. We want to promote a free form of world interactions rather than make it feel like a murder/killing simulator. So instead of directly tying the player's victory to wiping out Villagers, we instead will tie it with Chaotic and Spirit Energy. These progression resources are gained through all sorts of evil interactions so it suits our intent better.
Thematically speaking, the idea is that the Ruinarch must summon itself onto the world to complete the invasion. Mechanically, this is represented by a summoning meter that slowly fills up whenever the player obtains Chaotic and Spirit Energy. Once the meter has been filled, the Ruinarch is summoned and the player wins (for now). We plan on having something a bit more involved here later on but this first phase should be suitable enough for the upcoming update.
When tied with the next Villager Progression system, the expected challenge here is that the player must commit various evil acts while keeping up and defending against Villager counterattacks. You can still kill if you want, but the beauty of the new victory condition is that you now don't always have to!
Targets List and Bookmarks
One of the most requested features will also be available in the new update. Players will now be able to store Villagers, Monsters, Objects and Structures as Targets that they can keep track of. In addition to this being used as part of the instructions when creating Monster Parties, a Bookmark System will also track the list so the player can easily access them when they want. Here's a preview of how it looks like:
We still have a lot of work to do! The tutorial and scenarios have been severely affected by the new features so we must also work on those things after we are done with the features iteration. We're very hopeful that all this hard work will be worth it in the long run and we pray that the players will also enjoy the changes.
We hope that you can be patient with us for a while longer! The next two updates will be the toughest contents development-wise but Ruinarch will begin to feel like it's on the way to completion once we are done with these.