Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms - ARPG with dynamic overworld - now on Early Access

[deama]

The shots sort of remind me of sacred 1.

 

[Infinitron]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/919360/view/3648510249366186344

What a year it has been!

Hello Champions!

As the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you to our amazing community and players.
Your support and enthusiasm for Alaloth has been a constant source of motivation for us, and we are so grateful for your passion
. 2022 has been a very though year for us as a team. As you know, we took our game back from our former publisher in May. We were not commenting at time [and we are not commenting this now. of course], but we can say that we are happy to be here today, considering how much we've risked as a company since fall 2021 to the first half of the year.
We survived this somehow, as we survived the pandemic and many other issues completely out of our control we had to deal with during the development
. We have been forced to release during the summer, squeezing activities that usually take months, to position a product on the market in just a couple of weeks.
We kept our vision alive
, we've worked hard, we drafted a new plan and rushed to avoid wasting years of blood and tears because of a combo of
happenings
that would have probably killed any other indie team around. And the most important thing is that
we are proud of the work we've done
.

Alaloth is a big game,
way bigger than the one we had in mind at the very beginning
. This is because while dealing with all the shit we had to deal with, we never stopped to think positive and we never stopped development. We had to listen to people insulting us, we had to read about vaporware and such, we had to suffer in silence, being personally attacked here and there by users [rightfuly] asking things without getting answers we were not able to provide. Not the darkest moment of the last years, just because we had to deal with bigger, tragic, things.
But as already said, we survived
. As we look ahead to the next year,
we have some great plans in store for Alaloth and the community
. We can't wait to share more details with you in the coming weeks, but rest assured that we are pushing to bring even more exciting content and features to the game, starting from your suggestions and feed. The Winter Update has been the third major update since launch, we delivered about 30 patches to fix stuff, we added contents, features and systems that were not even scheduled, we didn't wipe any save since June 30. No game breaking bugs, hours and hours of contents in, with a ton of player over 100+ hours and others with over 300 hours under their belts. This is not the standard for an indie team. This is not a standard for an Early Access, even for bigger companies. This is our standard: no ovepromise, always answer everyone, always on for our players, always focused on delivering cool stuff for you. We are not even 10 but worth an army. You can bet we'll continuie like this in 2023, it will be fun!

We hope that you have a happy and safe New Year's Eve, and we can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us all! The team will have a short break next week,
but a new build will be available in a few days with some last minute fixes
we did after the update. We'll be slower than usual here on Steam but you can always reach us on Discord.

Thank you again for your continued support, if you didn't join us in Plamen yet, that's the best moment to get the game, 40% off until January 5!

Share the love and stay tuned!

 

[cyborgboy95]

Yes, we would like to release the biggest indie RPG ever!

Hello Champions!

First of all, happy New Year! We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and are feeling refreshed and ready for the year ahead. As we look back on 2022, we are grateful for all of your support and for the opportunity to bring you some amazing RPG experiences with Alaloth! As you know, we have big plans for 2023 and we can't wait to show you what we are working on right now! The team had some rest the first week of January but we are ready to go back in action next Monday, improving the game as much as possible and bringing you even more features and enhancements. Despite the week off, we wanted to drop in today and let you know that we've been discussing a ton of amazing ideas and we have started dratfing a new roadmap for the next months, leading to the full release of the game. While we can't reveal all the details just yet, we can tell you that we think you're going to love what we have in store. We also wanted to take this opportunity to reach out once again and ask for your feedback. We value your input and want to make sure that our updates and future development are in line with what our players want to see. So, if there's anything you'd like to see in future updates, or if you have any suggestions for new features or improvements, please don't hesitate to let us know. You can reach out to us here or through social media[linktr.ee], or you can jump in our Discord server[discord.gg]: we are in 24/7!

Just a random sketch with a few ideas for new professions. Yes, the one in the middle is a mage...

So there is nothing set in stone at the moment, but we though it was great to tell you that a massive brainstorming is in progress, to discuss things we already partially shared and new features that could be put in at some point. We could say that we are going to work on numbers from now on, focusing on balancing and gameplay. Contents are already way more than originally scheduled with EA announcement and even if we are still adding quests, items, chars and so on [with the last bunch of integrations that will be put in patch after patch], the game could be considered ok under this point of view. The number of players with more than 100+ hours under their belt is growing and we are super happy of this. While iterating numbers, we are going to move on improving lore and Plamen itself, making the game world even more dynamic and alive. To do this, we are going to put in a good number of in-game cutscenes to introduce narrative elements that can be missed right now, not paying attention around or skipping dialogues set for this. The modularity of the setting allow us to think about new contents set in different areas of the world, with new territories to discover, new mobs, professions and such. We identified potential world updates, same size of the Winter Update [The Shadow Continent, The North Sea Empire, The Sariqi Caliphate, The Eastern Kingdoms, Arran] and a few gameplay updates considering data collected [Battlegrounds, Sword & Sorcery, Dawn of Dragons]. All of this is on top at the previously confirmed free updates [Arena Mode, skills, traits, crafting rework and so on]. Again, just codenames for a brainstorming but you can probably guess what we are talking about now: enhanced cooperative, large scale battles, endgame contents, new skills, professions, companions and much more, including localization and multiplayer. Keep an eye on FAQ here on Steam and on #the-kings-court on Discord too, we are updating both channels with the latest about EA, following Valve's new policy that was not a thing when Alaloth launched. We had to slightly adapt our plan so far, data at hand. We are sure you will understand and continue to support us as we strive to bring you the best RPG possible!

Share the love and stay tuned!

 

[cyborgboy95]

Planning things wisely is always the key to make a great game!

Hello Champions!

Just a quick update on things going on, after a couple of weeks of intense work and a bunch of meetings to set-up things for months to come! First of all, we've released a new build today with some fixes and improvements: third patch since the beginning of 2023, 35 since EA launched [6 per month!] and 3 Major Updates released! And you know what? It feels so natural for us and being recognized as a super active dev team, always answering our players, make us happy! We had the chance to work on a first draft of the new roadmap to be shared but as you know [data at hand], we have always delivered what we've promised and this is not going to change. So before moving on with announcements, we decided to work on some tech-related stuff that will be pivotal for us in the long term. First of all, we are updating Unity to a new stable version [running on Unity 2019 now]. Updating the engine is always a pain but the new version will allow us to work in a smarter way, with new tools and some quality of life improvements on dev side. Moreover, the update is necessary for the console version of the game, which is going to happen at some point [more info to come, no need to say that the focus stays on main SKU at the moment]. At the same time, we are playing a bit with in-engine crowd management to be able to work on large scale battles and on a few new features we are thinking about since a while. Even this new features will be detailed later on, as soon as we'll have a full picture of what will be doable and how. Other things worth to mention below!

DRAGONS
Not so much to say about this! Fantasy without dragons? No way. We have finally started to iterate these combats and we want to make them epic! We've put in place something in the last days and we finally have a full flow for the first one, Shadis. No VFX yet but the lady here already rocks [and yes, if you are smart enough, you've noticed she's a wyvern and not a dragon...but this is a different story you are going to know more about when playing]. Four dragon bosses on the way, a new season is going to start in Plamen. Still have to decide if we are going to make them available through special quests or with a new world phase but we'll sort this out asap.

COMBAT, CRAFTING, TRAITS AND MORE
The next big thing. Along with this, new crafting, traits and stuff will come. By now, the huge work to be done is on weapons and armors [and that's why everything is deeply connected and changing numbers is a pain]. We are working to change crafting, to make unique weapons and loots way more meaningful than now. We are probably going to completely remove procs from crafted weapons, leaving sockets only and we are probably going to change blueprints as well, to give some fancyness to the process. it will be still possible to craft amazing weapons and armors but the best stuff will be available through quests as intended. Before EA, we had many [spicy] discussions about this and it's time now to move on with the plan originally scheduled, changing things we are not still completely happy with. Crafting materials will be iterated, keeping constistency in mind [so no materials giving back HP because this could be considered magic and will be something related to magic weapons only. Just a sample]. These changes will affect crafting too, with the idea of adding special traits to get access to professions. So if you want to repair your equipment, you are going to use the workbench as usual, but blacksmith's trait have to be unlocked. Same for cooking or alchemy [in the work]. Thinking about adding INT stat as well to give extra value to these traits and to start a long term process that couold bring to a few more professions for the Way of Nature and the Way of Gods....
THE NORTH SEA EMPIRE
As we've said recently, the Winter Update has been a massive update. We can say that considering what we've announced for the EA, we've already delivered all the contents put in our original roadmap and we've even added a lot of contents that were not even planned in the original schedule. Of course we are going to move on with dragons, Arena Mode and the things mentioned above, adding new quests, items, NPC and stuff as usual, but we have to slow down a bit and think about what's coming next. We have to carefully evaluate all the options, always considering a few things on the way, not directly connected with the development itself [biz related stuff]. The game has been built in a very modular way, allowing us to add stuff on solid foundations [that we have] and we've started thinking about DLCs, no need to hide this. The prio is finding the perfect balance in the next months but at the same time we have to think big and be prepared with fresh contents to update the game world with new adventures. So, work on The North Sea Empire started with some pre-prod stuff. No details yet, just brainstorming to create a new campaign in a new area of the world, with new systems in place. Nothing set in stone but we can say that the NSE is vikings-inspired [with some twists]. Once again, it is just an unofficial chat with you all to give an overview of what's actually in progress here!

The twist...

SPELLCASTERS
In terms of balancing and consistency, putting in pure magic users could be a problem but a lot of people is asking so we are thinking about the option. Magic is way unique in Plamen and the whole lore of the game has been built with this in mind. The idea is keeping focus on melee combat while keeping full freedom in terms of customization, with the chance to create a mage-like build. What we are testing right now is a [super cool] system allowing everyone to play any kind of hybrid class and we want to keep this. So we are thinking about a system directly connected to the equipment, keeping consistency at the same time, willing to make everyone happy. Way of Essence is about connecting and manipulating the force of nature for example, so wearing anything different from a robe could be a problem. So, no more tanks for Way of Nature users? No way, you can continue wearing your huge armor but casting spells will be risky [90% of failure? Cooldowns x4?]. Same for the Way of Gods: channeling the energy of the All-Father needs to avoid super heavy armors but clerics, necromancers and templars can still wear lighter armors with just a few penalties. That's more or less what we are testing [on paper yet]. We are going to update you about these iterations.

G-CLUB
Last but not least, we are happy to announce the opening of the G-Club! We are celebrating our 6th anniversary as a company in a while, and we are going to celebrate properly. A lot of people is asking about a way to support us [through donations mostly] and we are humbled by this. We've always thought that would have been great to give something back to these guys and we've spent some time thinking about a formula to reward people willing to support our work and the development of Alaloth. We are cooking something special for Spring than, and all of this is going to happen on our Discord channel[discord.gg]. The more you spent time with us, doing stuff, the more you'll be rewarded. Daily activities will grant G-Tokens to everyone [for free] and these tokens could be spent to claim games from our shop, special goodies and other cool stuff. Monthly giveaways, contests and much more on the way! To get started, simply join us on our Discord[discord.gg] and start introduce yourself to others. G-Club rules will be shared as soon as we will have details about a few other activities in the work. Can't wait to say more about this!

P.S. Hope to have used the proverb the right way. We are not slow for sure, but we like to plan things the proper way, you know.

Share the love and have a great weekend!

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Dragons!

 

[cyborgboy95]

Our plans for the next coming months!

Hello Champions!

The latest from the team today, after a crazy week of meetings, chats, docs and cool people met! First of all, we are happy to confirm that we have succesfully updated Unity to the latest stable version, as already said in the latest post here on Steam. It has been painful but we had to do it and it was the right moment to move on. We had a bit of regression here and there, it is a standard in this case, and for this reason you are not going to get a new build for the next week. We are sorry for this but we are testing everything properly to be able to release a new bug-free update [as usual], avoiding weird problems caused from the switch. The new version of Unity will make our work simpler and faster and it was necessary for the future console version. So the tech guys have been crazy busy with this and we took some time to think about the other stuff in progress [balancing, new features, quests and so on]. The work on dragons goes on, we are not still happy but we have some time for this. At this stage, we are basically drafting the new roadmap that will be built around the next free updates that will be used as foundations for bigger things to come. We are splitting systems and contents and we are going to work on different modules to build on for the future.

The map is going to be expanded as well, we are adding new territories making it bigger. New territories will be available out of The Four Kingdoms and the most important thing is that we are going to test a complete different game flow through this, to be able to add other campaigns in the future. These campaigns will not be connected to the main quest and will be stand alone, allowing us to add more variety in terms of combat, quests and so on. New traits and INT will be added as well, playing a bit with numbers right now to see if our idea work! These weeks have been important for other reasons as well. We can say we are seeding for the future and we are even focusing on all the important aspects of the work to approach the 1.0 at its best. You all know that we've basically had to squeeze months of PR work in a couple of weeks to release EA and we are not going to do the same for the full release. This means taking care of many different aspects of the development that are not actually directly connected with development itself! We are at work on a shop for whoever would like to support our job, buying cool physical handmande physical goodies as well as [very] limited editions of the game! Retail has always been in our radars [collecting stuff is a must for a RPG lover] and many interesting biz opps are in place for this too.

Handcrafted goodies while waiting for a proper Limited Edition? Why not!

We are celebrating our 6th anniversary as a studio next week and we are going to start many community-related events so keep an eye on our board here and on our Discord server[discord.gg] that stays as our main point of contact with the player base. And you know what? We are booking many different events all around the world for the next months, so you'll probably going to meet us both in US and Europe from March on! Details [and dates] to be shared soon but it will be great to meet you all around, finally in the B2C area, to chat about our adventures in the world of Plamen.

Share the love and have a great weekend!

 

[Atomic]

It's 60% off until Feb 13th

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/919360/view/3645137816258188313

Go finish your bounty quests!

Hello Champions!

We've been a bit late but here we are, once again. As you've just read, we finally completed the upgrade process of Unity [and of all our development tools], and this is a great news for us. We were still using an old version of the engine [2019], but it was time to move on considering what's coming-up next with the game. We'll be now able to work faster and the upgrade was scheduled since a long time, so we decided to move right now because it was the right moment! The upgrade was necessary to restart the works on the console version but even to set-up things properly considering the future localization of the game.

We were supposed to not release a new build for a while to check regression and issues due to the upgrade itself and it took some time. We can say that the big risk was to be forced to wipe saves [which is pretty normal in a standard Early Access progress] but our aim since D1 was to keep progresses safe at all costs and once again, we are happy to say that no wipe is happening. We've spent a few time with testing and we can say that the build is stable enough to be released. Of course minor bugs could happen but we'll fix at the speed of light as usual, in case. The only issue that players will have to face is that bounty quests will be erased on Monday so if you have bouny quests in progress, try to finish these quests before the next update or you are going to lost your progresses [which means that you'll have to visit city boards again and takes quests again restarting the hunt from the beginning].

Not a big issue of course but we thought it was worth informing you about this considering the week-end! Of course thw update will feature a new bunch of fixes and improvements as well, following your feed and suggestions on Discord[discord.gg]! New details about upcoming free updates will be shared next Friday, we are almost done with dragons and yes, we are adding some new areas here and there, quests and stuff as usual. More info to come!

P.S. Forgeback art is cool, isn't it?

Share the love and have a great weekend!

 

[cyborgboy95]

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming!

Hello Champions!

Here we are, after a couple of weeks of hard work and very interesting meetings! We had spent a few time discussing next steps internally and as you already knew, we were at work on an updated roadmap for you. The good news is that it is ready now! We are going to give you an overview of things actually in progress now, going into details with the next updates here on Steam! Meanwhile, a new build will be released tomorrow with some fix and improvements. These days have been relatively quiet and we had the chance to monitor the game running with the upgraded version of the engine and we are happy to say that no issues have been recorded, just a few minor bugs we've fixed at the speed of light in hours, due to a bit of expected regression [i.e. two companions' timelines not working properly and some UI related glitches. Anyway, the transition has been a success and we are still moving on with a bit of cleaning and optimizations, code wise. As you can see, we have set things for the upcoming spring and in the next months, we are going to discuss [and share] plans about the full release, considering that we already delivered almost all the contents originally scheduled for the Early Access and probably doubled the amount of free stuff already released and on its way. No rushes for sure, so we'll take all the time needed to improve the game as we've always wanted since the very beginning. We would like to do things properly on the marketing side, to be ready to have a glorious D1 so we are going to start our world tour in March, attending a bunch of B2C events to let people play the game [and to meet you all IRL when possible!]. More about this in the next weeks with info about countries we are visiting! Back on the roadmap now!

GAMEPLAY ENHANCEMENT #1
First of all, we want to say that we are on numbers night & day while working on new contents. Improving the game is a huge work and we are slowly iterating every single system available, testing things and trying some magic. This patch has to be considered the first of many, just built around numbers. So we've put hands in our CSV and slowly modified values that are the fundations of all the things running. This means that we've touched parameters used for conditions, resistances, base actions etc. Something invisible for the players but we think that it is a good first step to create a better experience in the long term. Following the feed we've received, we have started to change the learning curve having a very simple objective in mind: a slightly easier experience at the very beginning and a harder challenge at the end. Nothing more to add, playing is the best thing to do to understand and of course, we are waiting for a new feed to build on it!

DRAGONHOLD
Four dragons, four battles, easy as it is. Dragons made their return to Plamen and you could help the Talons hunting them. United under one banner, with no king or kingdom to rule them, but all to revere them for their sacrifice and bravery as they face the most dangerous foes of all time. The Talons were formed during the Pantheonic War, when Dragons swarmed Plamen and rained down fire and death upon every mortal on the continent. With their lances aimed up high, the Talons will stop at nothing until all Dragons are nothing but bones. Just a few Talons remain now, leaving in Dragonhold, a massive keep built in a rock carved by the breath of Geis

Shadis...

...and Razen!

CRAFTING REWORK
It is completely bound to gameplay enhancement stuff we are working on, that's why we've put Spring. It is a day by day work, because all systems are directly connected and crafting in particular, is very important because it influences fights very much. We are reworking all the materials, cutting out procs [that were available only on crafted weapons and will be available on unique weapons only] and making changes to make crafted weapons and armors way more consistent with the general lore [it was not like this 100%]. This will make quest rewards way more important and in general, the progression will be smoother for many different reasons. Crafting is even bound to stats and traits and that's why it will take a bit to get its final shape. More on this too in the near future

THE PRINCIPALITY OF EHODRAN
A protectorate of Edherest, a small kingdom in the south which is suffering from The Tempest and from an internal conflict, seeing two of the most important houses fighting for the throne. A new ruthless enemy to fight for the champions of Plamen will be available, with a new mini-campaign we are using as a pilot for future DLC. Different flow, no artifacts to find, large scale battles.

Dragonhold already in place, Ehodran on its way but, hey! A huge island is here too!

MISC
As said previously, the focus right now is on the long term. Balancing stays as the prio but we are using free updates to test features we would like to explore in the future, setting the foundations for bigger DLCs and stand alone campaigns, following the full release. Of course even if it's not mentioned, the work on quests continues, aiming to literally fill every single area with stuff to do, slowly tweaking what is already in place [you could notice new assets here and there, we decided to switch or new NPC populating areas with new animations and dialogues]. World Updates will not stop as well and a new [bigger] map will be avaialable soon, aiming to add new kingdoms in the original map and to be ready to put in new FA and mobs, always looking at massive expansions through the outer world, which is already wrote [and had some pre-prod!]

Share the love and have a great weekend!

 

[KIss My Ass]

I wish early access would go away. It just decreases the odds I will ever play your game. I have zero interest in playing something unfinished and by the time it's finished I will most likely have forgotten it exists altogether.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

 

[Alienman]

Suddenly you can mention who-he-shall-not-be-named. Good to see.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Suddenly you can mention who-he-shall-not-be-named. Good to see.

I can't find it but they had a tweet yesterday about how they have always kept Avellone in their credits and stood firm when people demanded they remove it.

e:
Here it is:

 

[Alberto Belli]

Suddenly you can mention who-he-shall-not-be-named. Good to see.

When the allegations were made, our former publisher [which is no more], sent out a neutral statement about the whole thing and we were not allowed to say anything as studio. What we've always said has been: the cooperation was already ended, Chris has always been professional with us, we are not removing him from credits unless allegations would have been confirmed.

We've got publishing rights back in May 2022, since then, we've always confirmed this and the game has been released EA with Chris in.

You can find interviews around, posts on our board on Steam and articles here and there confirming this

Cheers

 

[Salvo]

Suddenly you can mention who-he-shall-not-be-named. Good to see.

When the allegations were made, our former publisher [which is no more], sent out a neutral statement about the whole thing and we were not allowed to say anything as studio. What we've always said has been: the cooperation was already ended, Chris has always been professional with us, we are not removing him from credits unless allegations would have been confirmed.

We've got publishing rights back in May 2022, since then, we've always confirmed this and the game has been released EA with Chris in.

You can find interviews around, posts on our board on Steam and articles here and there confirming this

Cheers

Basato e rossopillato

 

[Abu Antar]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/919360/view/5358762517220787013

Dragons, reworked leveling sys, alchemy, new traits, new quests, and much more!

Hello Champions!

We're thrilled to announce the launch of Dragonhold, our latest and most ambitious update yet
! We've been hard at work gathering your feedback, testing, and adding new content to the game, with a focus on both expanding the world and reworking existing systems. We've added new boss fights, areas, quests, and items, all designed to enhance and expand upon the rich world we've created, Plamen.
But we've also taken the time to rework some of the game's systems, in order to improve balance and polish the overall gaming experience. We've listened to each and every one of your suggestions and our team has put in countless hours to make sure that every aspect of the game is optimized for your enjoyment
.

We've packed in way more content than we initially planned, and we know that you'll appreciate the attention to details that we've put into every new element of the game. We can't wait for you to dive into Dragonhold and experience all the new stuff we've added! Time to go into detail about each new feature than! So gear up, fellow adventurers, because
there's a whole new world of adventure waiting for you in Alaloth - Champions of The Four Kingdoms!

DRAGONHOLD AND DRAGONS
Dragons have always been a force to be reckoned with in the land of Plamen. Their power and majesty have captivated adventurers for ages, but their destructive tendencies have also caused great harm to the kingdoms and their inhabitants.
Four dragons have returned to the land and are more dangerous than ever
, causing chaos and destruction wherever they go. Each dragon has its own unique abilities and strengths, making each fight unique.

Hello Razen!

The Talons, a guild made up of heroes of all races, have been monitoring the dragons' activities for centuries. They're determined to put an end to the threat once and for all. Dragonhold is even the name of the keep in which the Talons reside, and the update introduces a new area for players to explore and experience. This area has been reworked and expanded to accommodate the new content, and it's located in the bottom part of the game map.

You can find dragon hunters here!

WORLD UPDATE
Exploring the world of Plamen has always been an exciting experience, and the Dragonhold Update adds new areas to explore, as well as new locations for players to discover. Of course we've added new dragons' lairs to be unlocked helping the Talons but new wandering Fighting Areas are now available as well for random encounters on the map. We are aiming to reach 4-6 variations per kingdom for this in the next updates. As you know, these areas are randomized, ensuring that players will never know exactly what to expect.

The southern region of Plamen is taking shape. An island emerged!

In addition to these new areas, we've also added new special places throughout the world. These locations are unique and offer their own set of challenges and rewards. Players will need to complete special quests unlock and conquer these areas. But the effort is worth it, as these locations offer rare items and valuable resources that can't be found anywhere else in the game.

NEW LEVELING SYSTEM
We understand how important it is for you to feel a sense of progression as you journey through the game, and
we've made some major changes to ensure that your leveling experience is both rewarding and fulfilling
. The leveling system in Alaloth has always been unique, because you don't level up through experience, but through battles and Fighting Areas cleared. We've always had a system of 4 levels to gain skills and traits while progressing, but with Dragonhold,
we've expanded this system to include 10 levels, as well as the introduction of proficiencies and new traits
.The new leveling system offers a more interesting and varied progression system. Instead of simply getting a Skill, a Trait, and a Stat point as a unique block, players will now gain Skill Points and Legacy Points in a more balanced way as they progress. Legacy Points can be used for both traits and proficiencies, allowing players to customize their character's abilities and skills in unique and exciting ways. Players can gain a maximum of 3 traits and 3 proficiencies on the way to the top level.

Next step: portraits!

This means that players will need to make strategic choices about which traits and proficiencies to invest in
, and which ones to leave behind. It also means that players will need to carefully plan their progression through the game.
Overall, the new leveling system offers a more interesting and engaging way to progress through the game
. With more levels, more skills, and more choices, players will have a richer and more varied experience than ever before. Stats Points will be assigned as before, Hero Books will grant 10 extra Stat Points as before. So get ready to take your character to new heights of power and ability, and explore all the exciting new content that Dragonhold has to offer.

NEW TRAITS AND PROFICIENCIES
We're excited to announce that with the latest update, players now have access to a total of 18 unique traits.
This includes the addition of 6 new traits that have been carefully crafted to complement the existing ones
. We've also reworked some of the old traits to make them more balanced and exciting. With this new pool of traits to choose from, players will have even more options to customize their characters and create unique playstyles. In addition to new traits, our latest update also introduces proficiencies, which provide unique bonuses to players who decides to specialize.
Each proficiency provides a unique skill, with different bonuses available for each weapon, armor, or shield type
. For example, a player who specializes in swords may gain bonuses to their critical hit chance, while a player who focuses on shields may gain a boost to their blocking ability. Similarly, players who specialize in heavy or light armors may gain bonuses their speed and mobility.

Legacy Points will be used to acquire new traits and proficiencies for a maximum of 3+3

To unlock proficiencies, players must invest their Legacy Points in the specific weapon, armor, or shield type they want to specialize in, gaining access to new and more powerful bonuses, making them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
Overall, the introduction of proficiencies adds a new layer of depth and strategy to our game
. So whether you prefer to wield a sword, don heavy armor, or carry a shield into battle, there's a proficiency waiting for you in our latest update!

GRANDMASTERS AND RESPEC
We've heard your feedback on Grandmasters and have implemented some exciting changes to make this feature more meaningful and rewarding. Previously, Grandmasters simply granted a special item that was not particularly noteworthy or useful. We recognized that players were looking for something more impactful and engaging, so we went back to the drawing board to come up with a better solution.
Now, when you choose to train with a GM, you'll receive something much more valuable than a simple trinket.
You'll be granted the title of Master in your chosen profession and will learn a new, unique skill that only Masters can use
, along with other skills of the profession of choice. This skill will be specific to your profession and will give you a significant advantage in combat and other situations.

With the new patch you can train with a GM but you'll be able to respec anyway, changing traits and proficiencies

We understand that players may be concerned about respec options, but fear not, we've got you covered. While it won't be possible to respec your skills as before, you'll still be able to reset your traits and proficiencies using orbs. This means that you can experiment with different builds and playstyles without fear of making a permanent mistake. So just to recap: training with a GM will switch all your skills with the skills of the profession of choice, addin a unique one on top. You'll not be able to respec skills anymore as before
but you can still redisribute Stats and Legacy Points at will
, using the standard respec through shrines. We're excited to see how players respond to these!

CRAFTING AND ALCHEMY
Crafting is an essential part of any RPG, and we understand how important it is to our players. That's why we've completely reworked the crafting system to make it more immersive and enjoyable. First of all, we revisited the stocks to grant vendors and smiths the ability to sell items in a more lore-wise way, fitting with the history of the world [you can now find ingots here and there considering the merchants moving among kingdoms]. All the necessary items to craft can be found in one place, and crafting itself has become much more streamlined.

Workbenches allow players bot to repair equipment and to access the alchemy cookbook. You need to buy recipes to craft potions of course

In the past, smithing was the only way to get special procs on weapons and amors, but with the new leveling system, Grandmasters, and items rework, we removed procs from crafting entirely,
making gems more efficient
. This has allowed us to make socketable weapons and armor more meaningful, and players can now find them scattered around the world.

All you need to craft potions is now available through General Vendors but you can find alchemists around, selling recipes and unique stuff

Additionally, we have added new NPCs who specialize in alchemy, a new feature accessible at benches in safe zones. Alchemy works through recipes and ingredients, all of which have been added to vendor stocks around the world.
Players can now craft potions and other consumables from a variety of ingredients, each with their own rarity and properties
. With these changes, we hope that players will find even more reasons to explore and craft.

INTELLIGENCE
Many of our players have been asking for more magic in the game, and we're excited to announce that we're taking the first steps to make that a reality. With the introduction of the Intelligence stat, players will now have the ability to increase their magical aptitude for the future. While this is just the first step in bringing more magic to the game, we want to make sure that we're doing it right. We've been carefully balancing these new changes to ensure that they fit within the lore of the game. Spells and new professions are actually under discussions, by now Intelligence will be used to make resistances, cooldown and INT related skills more meaningful. Intelligence replaces Luck as stat, that is still present in a revisited version of Lucky trait [now Lucky Bastard]. More to come!

Luck has been switched with Intelligence as a first step to introduce new magic professions

NARRATIVE ENHANCEMENT
We will be adding new timelines and cosmetic items to enhance the narrative aspect of our game and provide a more immersive experience for our players. We understand that many of our players enjoy playing our game in a more RPG style, and we want to ensure that Plamen is as rich and detailed as possible. With the addition of new timelines, players will have the opportunity to learn more about the history of the world they are playing in. These timelines will show events happening in specific locations, giving hints about quests, chars and events [
Primal
anyone?]

We are slowly filling all the locations with narrative timelines to know more about the world lore and about things going on. And even to avoid issues...Primal anyone?

We are also introducing new cosmetic items that will allow players to personalize their characters and further immerse themselves in the game. From unique armor sets to new weapon VFX, these items will provide players with even more ways to make their characters their own.

VOICE OVER AND DUBBING
Voice over and English dubbing are directly connected with narrative-related content. These elements can greatly enhance the immersions by providing a more complete audio-visual storytelling experience. In recent months, we have been working hard to integrate VO into our game, with the ultimate goal of adding English dubbing to our game's narration, main quests, and companion interactions. This has been a complex and time-consuming process, but we believe that the end result will be well worth the effort. Narration is now in and we've added VO to vendors and a few char all around the kingdoms

Hey you, listen!

This adds a new layer of immersion by giving players a more complete audio experience. Instead of just reading text on the screen, players will now hear the characters and world of our game come to life through spoken dialogue. Additionally, the use of voice overs allows us to deliver more nuanced and detailed storytelling. This is particularly important for the main quests and companion interactions, where players will be heavily invested in the narrative and character development and that's why we are trying to find a way to include all of this with the next updates!

COMING UP NEXT
We are thrilled to have shared with you all the amazing things that are happening in our studio. Our team has been working tirelessly to bring you the best gaming experience,
and we're excited to announce that we've surpassed our expectations in delivering new and exciting content to you
. When we released Alaloth in EA, we planned to roll out new content over the course of the year, but we've accomplished this in half the time, and we couldn't be happier with the results. As we continue to move forward, we are faced with the challenge of keeping up with the pace that we've set for ourselves.
The full release of the game is the next big thing we'll have to talk about, and we want to ensure that we continue to deliver content at the same high-quality standard
.

We didn't forget the Arena Mode. And you can find something related to this in-game already...

We have been brainstorming and strategizing on how to move forward wisely while keeping in mind all of the work that we've accomplished thus far, along with the business-related opportunities that have arisen.
As we move into the summer months, we have some exciting announcements to share with you about the Alaloth's future
, but we will keep them secret for now. We promise you that this summer will be hotter than 2022, filled with surprises you won't want to miss. We want to thank you all for your continued support and patience. Our small team of 7 has poured their hearts and souls into this project, and we can't wait to share more of it with you.

We hope you're as excited as we are about Dragonhold.
It's important to note that these new features are just the first in a series
, and we'll be continuing to add and refine content in the future. Your feedback is crucial in helping us balance and improve the game, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think.

Also: once again we've kept saves safe but if you want to get the full cake as intended, you should probably restart a new char. Up to you! Full changelog to follow as usual.

A new roadmap will be shared soon!

CHANGELOG
Added

• Added Dragonhold with new locations, quests, items.
• Added dragon boss fights: Pyre, Shadis, Viainne and Razen.
• Added The Moon Inn tavern in Doh’Alran.
• Added Alchemy: potions can now be crafted using a new version of the workbench in Safe Zones, accessing a special UI.
• Added Alchemy table to players' Stronghold
• Added Alchemists selling herbs and goodies
• Added new stocks to general vendors all around the world, with alchemy-related items [herbs, mortar & pestle, bottles] and new unique weapons and armors
• Added 6 new traits: Bastion, Duelist, Tactician, Runner, Evasive, Keeper
• Added 11 weapon proficiencies for daggers, swords, maces, battleaxes, warhammers, greatswords, mauls, great battleaxes, spears, halberds, quarterstaffs unlocking unique proc
• Added 4 armor proficiencies for light, medium, heavy and tank armors unlocking unique proc
• Added 2 shield proficiencies for light and heavy shields unlocking unique proc
• Added many different narrative timelines in certain locations, intended to give a deep overview of the world lore
• Added Intellect [INT] stat influencing items repair, resistances and spellcasting builds [more to come in the following updates].
• Added 4 new wandering Fighting Areas for random encounters on the map.
• Added English Voice Over for narration books.
• Added new VFX on existing unique weapons
• Added Mark all as seen in CharacterUI Equipment tab and Journal.
• Added icons representing interactables in each location to the infobox in the World Map [Shops, taverns, vendors, sailors, etc].
• Added Ice Stalker Armor Set to wearables
• Added 5 new achievements

Changed

• Revised player progression and leveling system: 10 levels are now available. Skill Points to be spent at level 1, 4, 7, 10. Legacy Points to be spent at level 2,3,5,6,8,9, Stat Points assigned each level as usual [Hero Books stay to get 10 more Stat Points]
• Trait Points are now Legacy Points and have been increased to 6 [to be spent on Traits and Proficiencies for a maximum of 3 each]
• Removed procs from craftable materials: due to current usage pattern procs have been re-distributed as traits, proficiencies, effects on equipment. Gems and enhancing have been adjusted to be consistent with the new proc sys
• Blacksmiths will now sell ingots and crafting materials available in their kingdom according to lore
  with renewed stocks
• HP Regain % changed to +35%/LVL0 and then +30%/LVL1 decreasing 3% up to LVL10
• Reworked Grandmaster specialization: Grandmasters’ will now unlock a passive ability upon acquiring their specialization [Mastery]
• Respec for Stats and Legacy Points (traits, proficiencies) won’t be locked out anymore. It is now possible to train with a GM using orbs to change stats, traits and proficiencies
• Removed Luck stat: its effects have been conflated in the Lucky Bastard trait [former Lucky trait]
• Revised deities passive buffs.
• Reworked game bootstrap: start-up is now more responsive and should take less time overall [improvements vary according to PC specs]
• Changed the polearm weapon name The Malice to Valkat.
• New patrolling enemies in the boss area in Krazurag.
• New patrolling enemies in the outside area in Silvermoor; also change aggro parameters of enemies at the top of the settlement.
• Moved companions from Doh’Alran location inside the new tavern.
• Elemental Aegis
  skill will no longer buff Acid Resistance.
• Summon Familiar
  skill limited to 3 uses per FA, familiar base HP changed from 825 to 1300.
• Healing Spring
  skill use limit changed from 5 to 3 per FA.
• Vampiric Touch
  skill limited to 4 uses per FA.
• Boahi’s Hand
  skill description changed to better describe the Bleed condition application.
• Summon Undeads
  skill now summons different sets of minion types based on the caster’s skill level.
• Revised stamina and damage bonus on successful enemy poise break.
• Change subnames of Hashak and The Bleeding sub area.
• The special vendor Yumuil will now appear also in Bardushel,Coldwood,Mayfalls beside Na'Kazkadden, at different periods across one year calendar.
• Updated tutorials following UI and features changes [texts and images].
• Revised World Map geography [added new locations at the bottom, for future updates]
• Increased World Map texture resolution.
• Improved Lindorwin lighting
• Revised World map location sprites for Goldport, Withewind, Lindorwin, Forlariath, Na’Nardur, Ballek’Mahl, Bardushel.
• Reduced Fire Condition damage spread range between player’s party members.
• Companions are now able to interact with health pools, traps and can help other companions while playing coop with other players.

Fixed

• Fixed incorrect mace weapon name
  Malis
  to
  Malice
  .
• Fixed sheathed position/orientation and size of various shields/weapons.
• Fixed typos of different locations, items and dialogues.
• Fixed daytime icon displayed in top left UI not updating if resting at a bed without reaching the midnight mark.
• Fixed World Map locations not turning on nightlights if the map was loaded in-between midnight and dawn.
• Fixed
  Affliction
  ,
  Curse
  ,
  Boahi’s Hand
  skills descriptions showing some incorrect values.
• Fixed weapon
  Bones of the Thirst
  omitting the special effect
  Curse
  in item stats view.
• Fixed typo in enemy champion
  Bhavuk
  description.
• Fixed companions controlled with M&K ignoring input to move towards the mouse direction (Left ALT hold).
• Fixed edge case that could leave save in an invalid state when all Investigate tasks of a quest entry were already completed upon entry activation.
• Fixed combat consumable hint for player 3 not displaying correctly the relative button.
• Fixed darts trap in
  Temple of Virtues
  not triggering for companions.
• Fixed a bug that could lead to multiple side notifications when in World Map

Share the love and stay tuned!

 

[vitellus]

not long dead post, is this game worth $10 usd or is it some shovelware bullshit to skip? is it good as of mid 2023?

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

not long dead post, is this game worth $10 usd or is it some shovelware bullshit to skip? is it good as of mid 2023?

Think you will get your moneys worth for 10 bucks

 

[Feyd Rautha]

not long dead post, is this game worth $10 usd or is it some shovelware bullshit to skip? is it good as of mid 2023?

It's not entirely done yet though. Still in EA

 

[Higher Game]

Early access is AIDS, but this game really looks good.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

 

[ArchAngel]

Lol he needed almost 2h to make a character

 

[Robber Baron]

What a strange but amusing game. Something like a mix of Warband Fantasy mod(Perisno, Pendor), Sacred and Souls games - from the people who really really liked Baldur's Gate but decided to make something completely unrelated. The main story is go collect 4 dragon balls so you just travel around the world map, leveling up and cleaning up dungeons to with increasing difficulty. Dungeons are not very big for the most part - think Nashkel mines but only the very first floor - is the entire dungeon. And you can't leave them until you either complete them or die(and then respawn at the nearest shrine, but you can leave into main menu and the game will return to the dungeon entrance on continue) A lot of lore dump. Like A LOT. Countries this, houses that, wandering named heroes(that do nothing? except dump more lore) all of that is very hard to follow and care. Quests are Sacred like, fetch this kill that. All in all a very mixed but enjoyable 7 hours I had in a "Wow that game is much better than I expected" way

 

[Orud]

Weird how this didn't appear on my radar until now.

I can't fond it but they had a tweet yesterday about how they have always kept Avellone in their credits and stood firm when people demanded they remove it.

e:
Here it is:

Well, they just got my money.

 

[Alberto Belli]

What a strange but amusing game. Something like a mix of Warband Fantasy mod(Perisno, Pendor), Sacred and Souls games - from the people who really really liked Baldur's Gate but decided to make something completely unrelated. The main story is go collect 4 dragon balls so you just travel around the world map, leveling up and cleaning up dungeons to with increasing difficulty. Dungeons are not very big for the most part - think Nashkel mines but only the very first floor - is the entire dungeon. And you can't leave them until you either complete them or die(and then respawn at the nearest shrine, but you can leave into main menu and the game will return to the dungeon entrance on continue) A lot of lore dump. Like A LOT. Countries this, houses that, wandering named heroes(that do nothing? except dump more lore) all of that is very hard to follow and care. Quests are Sacred like, fetch this kill that. All in all a very mixed but enjoyable 7 hours I had in a "Wow that game is much better than I expected" way

Glad you enjoyed! A lot of stuff in the work! Consider to drop a review on Steam if you want to support us, best way to do this now