Greetings, friends!
It's finally time to unveil the February content update we discussed earlier. There are still quite a few kinks that need ironing out, so for now, the patch is being uploaded to the beta directory on Steam, with a proper release planned for a later date in March. But don't worry! A handy set of instructions on how to access and play the beta branches will be included in this thread.
Now, onwards to the most important question: what's new?
An entirely new region around Swordhaven City features mountain ranges, fields, plains, and forests packed with challenging encounters. New creatures, like wild boars and even wilder snapping turtles, will lie in wait as you traverse fresh maps filled with surprises, thanks to a new beta mechanic we're calling the Loot Point system.
The game now checks what type of random encounter map you're on and adds loot depending on the region. This system was also retroactively added to the previous random encounter maps. Even NPC behavior in random encounters has become more complex.
Swordhaven has become much closer too. While the city itself is still under development and not available yet, its outskirts are bustling with new characters, quests, and even a new follower.
Weapon Master is also added into the build, with his hut hidden somewhere in the dense woods of the new region, so prepare to receive a handy new skill... If you have the moxy to complete the master's challenge, that is!
Speaking of challenges, the dungeon we promised earlier has gotten a bit out of hand. The Forgotten Canyons is now our biggest location yet—two sprawling maps featuring an outdoor area, a giant cave, and a mysterious ancient complex.
The best thing about this dungeon, though, is that it inspired us to get more creative with the environment. We've added explosive gas barrels, visual puzzles that let you move parts of the environment to continue your exploration or earn special rewards, destructible environments, more types of hidden loot, and even more environmental and physics-based traps. There's a lot more in store!
We would love to hear your feedback.
The other locations that deserve a mention are the Pirate Bay area, which will continue a certain quest(s) from Grainhold.
We're closely following the wishlist stats to determine the order of localization. You can check out the latest additions to the language pool in the beta.
Thank you so much for your support! Here's hoping for a lot of valuable feedback on the quality of the ongoing translation projects! You can visit our Discord for that.
This month has also been great for the animation aspect of the game—we've gained even more unique animations than we hoped for. While this means that many of them still need tweaking, the end result will surely be worth the initial jankiness. Now, most of the special weapon techniques feature their own movements, including both the player and the enemies, as well as the monsters you've already encountered.
Speaking of combat, you'll now have a lot more options to choose from! We've sorted out the craftables, balanced existing weapons and skills, added new ones, unlocked the final level of combat techniques, and rebalanced the combat formulas and enemy stats. We took many of your suggestions into account to improve the overall battle experience.
Choose-your-own-adventure encounters got a fresh set of graphics, just like those NPCs that didn't have portraits before. A lot more items now come with unique icons and models. Plus, we've added a bunch of new musical tracks and various sound effects for the game!
All in all, a surprising number of improvements have been added to the game, including locations you already visited. Once all the bugs and kinks have been eradicated, we would recommend starting the game over instead of continuing via a save, since even the humble Clamreach village now hosts new secrets and extra fun stuff hidden in certain nooks and crannies scattered around the map.
First dungeons, like the Snatcher's lair received makeovers, the performance issues have been fixed, and various small but important quality of life upgrades have been added just like many of you suggested.
Now, here is how you can get into the beta branch to see it all for yourself:
We really hope you enjoy the fruit of our labour! However, we also understand if you'd like to wait some more until this update receives a proper mainstream branch release. As always, your feedback and support are greatly appreciated!
Yours truly,
Atom Team
