So it’s been about one week now since the Tempest was officially released! Things have been going pretty well - the numbers are looking good. She is definitely still on the stronger side of things, but not by too much. Minor adjustments will continue to be made as we keep an eye on things here moving forward (yes... we’re looking at you Overload).
I’ve also kept an eye on any crash reports etc that have showed up. Whilst I’ve been trying to take a little time away this week after the hectic schedule leading up to Tempest launch, I did jump in and work through a bunch of bugs that have been reported over the last little while, and some suggestions that were made as well. I’ll list those all at the bottom.
New Playmats!
Got a few thousand of those Void Points burning a hole in your pocket? Well you’re in luck, two new Battlefileds were added to this patch! You can now unlock Sands of Time and Haunted Past in the Unlocks menu!
500 Steam Review Plans
I wanted to take some time quickly to talk about the plans for the 500 Steam Review Commuity Reward. For those who are new, I like to try and give back where I can when it comes to the AWESOME reviews you are all so kindly leaving. At 250 reviews, I released a special animated cardback you can unlock with a code. At 500, I’ve been planning something even cooler. We’re still a little bit off, but I wanted to explain what I had in mind.
The first, interactive battlefield.
So I’ve been working on some ideas in my freetime and making sure this will work - things look good enough that I’m ready to share. My thoughts were to look into not just an animated background, but something that interacts as you perform things in game. Cracks in the ground will glow blue around your hand when you purge cards. The ground around the the middle will shake as streaks of lava cut through around your Threatstack when you take damage. Maybe even little things around when you kill monsters in different positions!
It’s all very experimental, but that's the plan so far! Again, I’ll probably toss this one behind a special code unlock - but I’ll wait to confirm that closer to the date!
But seriously, thank you to everyone for all the nice reviews you’ve all left!! It really helps with a small little project like this, I don’t have a huge marketing team or publisher to help spread the word, so Steam Reviews go a long way to making Vault what it is, and getting the word out there. I can’t begin to explain how much it helps, and gives Steam a reason to serve it up to more people! The more people who play - the more time I can dedicate as well!
The Future
I’m still trying to get a lay of the land when it comes to what is next. Discussion on the 5th class has already begun, but that will likely be Q1-Q2 next year. I think in the short term, I want to look at a few things;
- Optimization pass - just make things run nice and smooth again.
- Small content patches - more Artifacts for the Tempest is a big one here, along with a few more cards. Plus some new encounters as well !
- Statistics update! The Zeal stats stuff was something that everyone really liked. I’d love to create a full Statistics panel in run, with more wacky stuff to track (and of course, a few useful things as well). How many Hidden Blades do you play on average each turn?
- Deck Manager rework. It’s been on the cards for a while - time to redo that UI!!
- Combat Log pass. The combat log can really be flesh out a lot more, with a lot better options and features!
- Event UI’s. You've seen a few get their custom UI updates, (Soul Merchant, Rune Smith etc), need to start working through the others !
- Adding the Tempest to the Daily Draft
- New Events - this is always something I’m actively working to add more of, to give more variation!
- Challenge Coin rework.
- Translations!
I’m not sure the order yet to be honest! I’ll probably still keep a low profile for the next week or so as I recharge then get ready to start blasting through things again.
In closing - thank you everyone for making the Tempest launch what it is. So many runs, so much chatter around the different outlets. I’m so glad to hear it was well received, and can’t wait to add more :)
All for now!
- Josh
Change List
- 2 new Battlefields to Unlock!
- Big data cleanup on the Keywords script, which has now been exported to be used with Discord Bot (alongside Cards and Artifacts).
- Click and Hold to End Turn option added to the Options menu
- Pre-fight Preview now shows enemies HP & Battle Progress
- Resolved an issue with Discarded Totem working with every Purge
- Fixed some issues on the Deckback Unlock screen
- Fixed damage preview on Cursed Blade
- Once More With now has the correct image for its Buff
- Fixed Now We Wait bug when nothing is in your hand to Discard
- The Deep now has a Turn 0 ability for Ambush fights
- Time Warp will correctly deal Vulnerable 2 now
- Fixed an interaction with Emergency Button and Void Callers Immune
- Fixed some button on/off state issues around the place
- Fixed Blood Siphon and Aegis of Ifraem interaction
- Fixed a bug with Map Rewards on Fog of War 3
- Fixed Sneak Attack damage prediction with Shock
- Gathering Storm damage prediction changed to be Shock
- Fixed all the "equiped" typos
- Fixed an issue with multiple cards showing on the mini-map
- Fixed an issue when viewing Zeal in the Deck Manager screen
- Dolus HP Has been increased
- Dragon Whelpling has had a tickle up, with a few things being reduced to smooth his spike.
- Prime Quarry Shock value fixed.
- Fixed the Rebound/Clot on LIck the Knife