Ash & Rust 1.0!!!
I honestly can't believe we're here. Seven years in the making to bring this vision of a new ARPG to life. Like many of you, I often found myself saying, I really like X game but I wish it had this, or more of that. Way back in 2018, I whispered that familiar thought: I love [particular game] but I wish it had a more creative and modular character build system, methodical strategic combat, and more playstyle roles, such as dedicated healers or tanks that would facilitate a better multiplayer experience.
Except this time, instead of just being a thought, I downloaded a game-engine, and immediately dove in. Thousands of hours later, I'm ecstatic to launch version 1.0. Even though Multiplayer is not ready yet, as a single-player experience the game is so far beyond what I initially set out to create. Thirteen unique regions each with their own enemies, side areas, and secrets. Hundreds of gear pieces, augments, character traits, and crafting items allow endless build possibilities in a completely modular and creative way. Weighty animations, spell indicators, non-multiplying stat values, and carefully tuned defenses all contribute to a slower more strategic and rotational combat flow style that I craved. Even QoL features I never would have imagined, such as "twin-stick" WASD and Controller support made their way in.
There's still so much more planned for the coming months and years, especially Multiplayer and it's associated end-game modes. A huge thank you to all the supporters; providing valuable feedback, tuning suggestions, and bug reports. I hope everyone feels that satisfying dopamine hit when you fit together new augments, discover wombo-combo gear combinations, and overcome the world's monsters. May your creative juices flow and your fingers twitch fast! THANK YOU!
New in 1.0:
Over a dozen new Dungeons attached to all the major regions to explore, with their own unique progression system, enemies, and bosses.
A new campaign progression system tied to all the branching quest decisions you make along your journey, accompanied by a refresh of the Dialogue system.
World improvements such as dozens of new enemies, waypoints for convenience, and exploration rewards.
Performance improvements, especially the implementation of "Dynamic Resolution."
UI, animation, and vfx improvements.
A Dye system to change outfit colors.
Unique minion visuals for all the different types of Summons.
Many more Hand items, such as rings and quivers.
Balance changes and fixes.
Dozens of new enemy types and enemy abilities added throughout the world.
Improved a bunch of WASD and move-while-casting animation jankiness.
Ailment (Bleed, Poison, Ignite, Corruption) refactor and tuning.
Current dash replaced with a Dodge roll, which can be augmented by various items, such as Boots that change it back to a dash that deals damage to those you dash through.
Inventory expanded again by adding 5 sub-tabs to "Other" to store the new Campaign items, Dungeon items, Crafting items, Keys, and Ingredients.
World Map and Atlas improvements, including that they now track and show your completion of each Region, such as if you did the attached Dungeons, found the Secret Boss, etc.
Regions now remain open with a portal back to your last location, such as after teleporting back to the Hub, or entering a Dungeon.
You can now create additional items in your Player's Discovery Panel "Other" tab, such as Crafting Items and Dyes.
Leaderboard reset!
As mentioned earlier, 1.0 does not include multiplayer or its associated end-game mode. These are being prepared for the next major release!
Localization and voice acting are also not included. Due to the large size and nature of the game, I did not have the budget or time to satisfactorily execute it. The game has lots of procedurally generated augment descriptions that were proving difficult to localize, as well as over a hundred dialogue trees, massive menus and UI, achievements, tooltips, and just so much text. I will definitely continue trying to rework the text systems so they can better handle localization, but mostly it will depend on if I earn enough money to afford the translations and voice-overs.
Happy gaming and see you all on the Leaderboards!!!