This will be our last DevLog before our Early Access Launch! As announced last week, Ruinarch will be released on August 25, 2020. We're getting more and more excited and anxious as the launch date approaches.
We had to finish a lot this month to ensure that there is enough content available at our Early Access Launch. Below are some of the more interesting ones we've added:
Minion Behavior Types
Previously, monsters and demons are all mostly used in the same manner. With this update, we gave different behavior types per minion - Invader, Defender, Infestor, DeMooder, Disabler, etc. So when you spawn something, its actions will depend on its behavior type.
For example, Pride Demons are Invader-type so when you spawn one, it will go and attack the nearest Villages. Meanwhile, bred Giant Spiders are Infestor-type. When you spawn one, it will just stay where you placed it and keep laying eggs to multiply. When there are enough of them, they may attack nearby Villages. This is intended to give the players variety and options, especially if he has access to breeding via the Kennel.
More Behavior Types will be added after launch. We can't wait to hear what behaviors you'd like to have us implement!
Succubus Update
One of the suggestions we got from our demo feedback is for Succubus to disguise itself and tempt men. Seems simple enough but it was actually a serious headache to implement! We're still fixing a lot of issues it inadvertently caused but it's pretty funny when a disguised Succubus meets face to face with the one it copied!
Other Monsters
We also managed to add a few more monsters - Trolls, Wurms, Dragons and Revenants. Each one has a unique behavior.
Ankh of Anubis
This already exists but previously it just makes Quicksands around it when the player activates it. We thought that was boring so we reworked it to have some major effects. I think it would be better if the players find out its effects in actual playthroughs so we won't say anymore!
Excalibur
Another artifact that is better experienced than explained!
Party System
Villagers can now group up and perform actions as a party. For example, someone may start an Exploration Party and others interested may join up. They may then move together to explore different locations.
Faction UI
This one is a long time coming. Players can now view more details about the different factions in the world. You can now see who their faction leader is, their ideologies, relationships, members, etc.
What's Next
We wished this month was longer as there are so much more we planned to add that we weren't able to finish. Some things we would just have to add later - Caravan Traders, Village Expansions and the Meddler Demonic Structure. We still have around 3 weeks to go before the launch but most of it will be reserved for completing a Streamer build, finalizing our Save/Load system as well as tweaking game balance. We also have to reserve time for bug fixing and polish so we won't be putting any more major features moving forward.
We look forward to having the game finally available to everyone next month and we're excited for the next phase of development when we can start incorporating player feedback.
