Greetings, Kings and Queens!
Big changes are coming to ORX! And one of the areas we always found lacking, is the campaign map. Well, it wasn’t even really a map before. Which is exactly what we’re changing in the next update! Now, let’s go on a proper adventure, shall we?
An Adventure Song
What is the key component behind any adventure? A map, of course! And for strategy maps it’s doubly so. After all, nothing gives you a bigger high, than glancing over a global map and planning out your next step. This is why we’re adding a proper global map to ORX!
Each mission and even the shops are now separate regions of the map. And you’re free to pick any point of interest adjacent to you. Now your journey is no longer tied to an arbitrary path. Along with this change we’ve also increased the number of missions in each act. Which means this entire continent is just a single act!
However, if you could complete every mission and visit every shop on the map — as cool as it sounds, — the power creep would completely break the game by the end of your run. Of course, you can still technically do this. But… “Every action has an opposite reaction”.
Through The Fire And The Flames
As you begin your journey, the first couple missions go without much trouble. Once you finish the third mission, though, corruption begins to accumulate around the world. At this point, the longer you explore the same continent, the more corrupted it becomes. After venturing into the next continent, the corruption will subside, to a minimum threshold which rises with every Act.
As always, corruption increases the difficulty of the mission, which might become a much bigger deal in the upcoming update. We’ll go into details in another devlog, but let’s just say ORX are truly a threat now.
Each step increases the corruption level of all adjacent missions by a certain amount. And each mission or shop can have up to 5 of those levels. “Wait, shops?” Yup, you’ve read this right! Now even the shops feel the influence of the Void… but not in the way you’d think.
Keeper of the Royal Treasure
Firstly, all the shops are going to have all of their slots unlocked from the get-go — which should help immensely in building and managing your deck. Now, let’s talk about something spicier — the corrupted shops.
These shops are not meant as punishment, but a gamble. They won’t lock out their slots, but instead have them afflicted with corruption. Using those offers a unique opportunity to get the best deals available nowhere else.
For example, you could get the chance to upgrade a level 1 card to its maximum. Or a chance to get an extra enchantment. However, if you lose the bet, you will suffer from potent curses, like an increase to the gold cost of the upgraded card, or having its charges swapped for fragile ones. Remember: risk management is important!
Note: This feature will be added in a later update.
Change The Tide
Hopefully, we’ve provided a good glimpse at the big campaign overhaul. And in case you’re wondering, we do consider adding new mission types into the game. Actually, one of them will be included in the upcoming update! And it’s the type that many of you anticipated for a long time.
Also, as you might've guessed from the screenshots, the game's user interface and menus will get a complete overhaul. It will both make the game more accessible, clear and overall better looking. Hopefully you can already get the general feel of the UI rework from this devlog alone!
Speaking of the upcoming update: in our next devlog we’ll cover the biggest overhaul in ORX’s history — the archetype system, as well as a couple smaller, but very noticeable changes.
Stay tuned! See you in the next devlog.
For now, don't forget to follow us on socials and join our cozy Discord server!
