Hi Everyone,
It's been a tough year, but I have some good news. I know I've been quiet for a while, but I haven't been idle. The game is pretty close to finished now, and there's a lot of new content to experience.
I'll include a breakdown of all the changes below, but you can also just jump in and give it a try if you don't want any spoilers.
Thank you all for bearing with me, and I hope you enjoy the update!
-Daniel
Note: This update overhauls almost everything in the game, which unfortunately means that old saves are no longer supported. If you attempt to load an old save file, you will keep any acquired Glory, but your story progress and Lorebook unlocks will be reset.
Tiny Teams Festival 2021
Before we get into the game updates, I also wanted to mention that we're very proud to be included in the Yogscast Tiny Teams Festival 2021. The festival is a fantastic showcase of upcoming indie games with teams of five or fewer developers. It's definitely worth checking out, and it's starting tomorrow! As a bonus, Guile & Glory: Firstborn will also be available at a substantial discount on Steam for the duration of the event!
Early Access 8.02 Patch Notes:
Story:
Chapters 6, 7 and 8 have been added to the game, bringing the total number of story missions to 45. Chapters 1-4 have been tweaked and revised, and Chapter 5 has undergone a substantial overhaul. The final boss is also in the game, and it is TOUGH. Maybe too tough. You'll all have to play and let us know.
Characters / Progression:
Full character progression has been added for the three main characters. The full roster of ten playable characters is also now available, including four story characters and six unlockable Delve characters.
Delves:
Delves have been revised to offer better rewards and reduce the amount of grinding required to unlock additional upgrades. Note: You can definitely beat the game without any grinding, but you will probably have to play some Delves if you want enough Glory to unlock every upgrade for every character.
Dialogue:
All in-game dialogue is now skippable! (press Escape during dialogue, the Escape again when prompted)
Miscellaneous:
Tons of bugs have been squashed, many of the menus have been tweaked and revised, and the game should run better too.
What's Left To Do?
The game is pretty close to being finished, but there is always room to improve. Exactly how big the changes will be remains to be seen, but below are the areas we're currently looking at improving before launch:
Balance:
I think the difficulty curve is a lot smoother now, but there's still more work to do. I'll need everyone's help to make sure that none of the bosses are too hard or too easy, and that the Boon options for characters are at least somewhat balanced.
Bug Fixes / Polishing:
This is probably what most development time will be spent on in the next few weeks. There are still a few bugs and bits of jank, especially with the audio, and fixing those as best I can will be a priority moving towards full release.
Menu Design / Tutorials:
Playing through the game, I think some of the menus and systems are still a bit obtuse, and I'll be working to make everything a little more user friendly. I'll also be working with Jessie, our wonderful artist, on a bit of visual polish.
Narrative:
The story content is currently complete, although I'll probably give it at least one more pass to make sure that everything is explained adequately, and that there aren't too many plot holes.
Delves:
The Delves basically work and serve their purpose now, but I'd love to flesh them out a bit more with additional levels and bosses to pit your Delve heroes against. I don't know if a significant overhaul of the Delves will come before launch, or in a later patch, but I definitely have stuff in the works.
Boons:
It would be nice to add at least a few unlockable Boons for each of the Delve heroes, and I might add some more to the main characters as well.
The Lorebook:
The Lorebook already contains a lot of useful information about gameplay mechanics and the world of Guile & Glory, but I'll be looking to add more information on status effects, the different gameplay systems, and elements of the lore not covered in detail by the story.
That's all for now. Expect small updates and bug fixes in the next few weeks as we move towards full release. Our composer Landon Walter and I also have something fun in the works, so stay tuned for updates on that. Thank you for reading, and may your adventures in the Drowned Lands be Glorious!
