Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for playing the game and reaching out to us with your feedback – we've been reading everything you had to say and adjusting our plans for the future accordingly.
Some of you have been asking about a roadmap for the future, or at least what to expect in the upcoming months or from the final version of our game. We hope this update answers at least some of your questions on this topic!
But before we dive in, it's essential to keep in mind that the process of developing a game isn't set in stone, and it's impossible for us to foresee certain problems that we may encounter along the way.
We cannot say definitively that "this and that will happen FOR SURE."
The only thing we can tell you is that "we want to do this and that, and we assume that it is possible within a certain time period."
With that in mind…
FIRST MAJOR PATCH
IMPORTANT: THIS PATCH WILL ERASE YOUR SAVE GAMES
We estimate that we'll release the first major patch within the next 3 or 4 months.
This patch will focus on updating and polishing the game experience.
The main areas we'll concentrate on are:
Technical Issues:
- Further work on the game's performance
- Fixes for all (or at least 95%) bugs and outstanding issues (such as broken quests, etc.)
Gameplay:
- Improvements to enemy AI/behaviors
- Enhancements to general combat (more enemy behaviors to counter player behaviors)
- Significant balancing and changes to various numbers, skills, and the game's economy
- More possible playstyles (cloak & dagger characters, etc.)
New Features:
- Enemies patrolling the open world
- Thievery
- Faction reputation system (gating quests so that you're not overwhelmed by available quests in places like the Horns)
Quality of Life:
- Numerous new map markers and states of those markers
- Better indication of active statuses (and what they do)
General Polishing:
- More dedicated animations and VFX
- More music and improved sound quality
- Art and gameplay-related improvements
Story-related Additions:
- Working & finished quest in the Blood Lake
- Improvements to the ending of Chapter 1 (an option to speak with one of the more crucial NPCs and other fixes where needed :)
Possible Additions (if everything goes well):
- Horse riding
- Planting crops and fishing
- Player Housing
This isn't everything, of course – we're continually improving the game and adding numerous new features, some of which aren't precisely interesting to anyone except us and possibly the most hardcore players.
We're also clearing our backlogs from some easier stuff - for example: we're going to change the basic model used for our generic Undead enemies. We're also changing models for Drowners (and adding new behaviors for them but more on that later!) and they'll get a proper weapon ;)
AND WHAT NEXT?
Well, the most accurate thing we can say here is that the game's going to get… bigger.
Clearly, we will be working towards completing the whole story (no spoilers :D), but the exact amount of side content, map zones, and side quests are still very much a work in progress.
We don't want to promise anything – not before we're sure we're heading in the right direction – but we have some exciting plans for the future and can't wait to share them with you. However, we ask for your patience since we're not yet sure WHEN and HOW we'll share new content/zones with you.
One thing you can be 100% certain of - with your support (THANK YOU!), Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is happening big time. We will be putting in tons of extra work during this Early Access and creating the game we have always dreamed of.
Even if major patches will be rare (that's due to the nature of this game, being an open-world RPG and all), we will keep you in the loop with monthly updates to show you what we are working on.
We'll let you know the moment we have more information, and we're at least 90% sure that our planned features will work the way we want them to ;)
There are two spoilers of where we're going with the game, at least the ones we can share relatively safely – and they should be understandable for fans of the board game. You'll definitely be able to meet a couple of characters they should know very well from Cuanacht… And it should also be possible to get closer to the Forlorn Swords during our adventure! ;)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466060/Tainted_Grail_The_Fall_of_Avalon/