Hello everyone!
The game is 1 month old! Woohoo!
So we'll use this opportunity to take a look back at the release and what's to come for The Slormancer.
About the release:
We are very happy with the sales numbers of the game which are way above our expectations, so thank you to all the players who trust us by playing the game during Early Access! We hope you will continue to have fun for a long time!
We are also pleased with the overall feedback from players and the game's reviews in general, however we know that the game is far from perfect and we will work to correct the most important issues raised by the community.
Here are the different major points that drew our attention:
- The Mastery System is problematic because it discourages players from experimenting (same goes for Reapers and Equipment). It also creates an unhealthy meta of "afk-mastery farming".
- The lack of diversity of enemies and environments, but this was expected, and will be corrected throughout the Early Access.
- The Difficulty level and the speed at which players tend to reach the last level of Wrath, while the game is still far from offering all the content to improve his character.
- The Crafting System. We know that it is appreciated overall but we are aware that it is currently too easy to optimize your equipment, starting from any piece, and that it is possible to optimize Craft a bit too easily.
- Stats Generosity. We found that it was VERY easy to get several stats like Fork, and Pierce over 100% without any difficulty. This is partly due to the Crafting system, the Slormite bonuses, but also to the way our items are designed.
Apart from these points, we are very much aware of some technical problems:
- Performance Problems of some endgame builds which are partly related to the generosity of the game but also to optimizations issues.
- Some players still can't launch the game, or run into a black screen problem very quickly.
- The resolution is not suitable for all screen types.
- The Font is too small and can be difficult to read under certain conditions.
There are other problems in the game but these are our top priority.
What's to come:
1. Minor Update
We will make a Minor Game Update in the next few weeks, which will take care of :
- Balancing the game, in order to reduce the overall strength of most builds and to fall back to a difficulty level that suits us. Players are already able to easily complete Expeditions in Wrath 10 besides the fact that a lot of customization options are still missing. It is important to understand that as it stands, we have no interest in adding new content, such as new monsters with interesting mechanics, since they will get one-shot before their Breach even opens. This will be done by updating a number of Skills, and by making important changes to Equipment. Don't worry too much about balance and please note that our goal will never be to crush builds for absolutely no reason. It is a single-player game after all so fun is more important than a perfect balance. However, we know that players tend to do the most optimal thing even if it's not fun at all, so we have to be careful about that.
- An Equipment Overhaul. We want to put the Loot back into the center of the experience. It is currently too easy to find the right piece, and upgrade it through the crafting system, and never have the opportunity or the desire to change it. This is a fundamental problem in a loot game.
- The addition of some of the most requested Quality of Life features, especially in terms of inventory management.
2. Engine Migration
Now that the pace is a bit slower, we will take the time to migrate to a more modern Game Engine. This migration should solve a number of compatibility issues along with black screen issues. The operation should not take too long but requires preparation.
3. Major Update: The Prison Update
We're about to finish preproduction of the first Major Update of the game and we'll try to share exciting content when we have something to actually show. Right now, we're at the stage of Excel files and funky prototypes.
The addition of a Minor Update in the calendar and the Engine Migration may delay the release of this Update but we will try to meet our deadlines. Though right now, we feel that the game is not healthy enough to just add additional content on top of it, so the priority goes to stability and balance.
That's about it!
Thanks for reading!