Dear Pioneers,
it is time for another Dev Blog! What news washed up at the Pagonian shores? What fabulous tales traveled to your ears? Or did the Tavern's innkeeper let you in on a little secret of what's coming next in Pagonia? Let us dive right into the juiciest bit of news:
Open Beta – Mining Update
As some of you might already know, the open Beta of our upcoming Mining update is live! If you like to test all the upcoming features, you are more than welcome to do so! All Early Access players are eligible for the Open Beta. Just right click on "Pioneers of Pagonia" in your library, click "Properties". then "Betas" and choose the Beta branch from the dropdown menu. We are happy to receive your feedback on our Discord server or in the Open Beta Steam Forum. Have fun testing!
For all of you who are waiting for the update release in main, you don't have to wait that much longer!
The Mining Update will be released next Tuesday on June 25th!
Watch the recording of our latest Dev Live Stream on YouTube featuring everything that is new for the upcoming Mining Update:
Sneak Peek: New Enemies called "Scavs"
Next to the Geologist and Subsurface Mining we would like to introduce our new enemy unit: The Scavs! These guys will definitely change up the game and cause some trouble! Here is all you need to know:
The Scavs are a new and challenging enemy type completely different from the Pagonian faction!
They will expand their territory and exploit mining resources. Yes, you read this correctly: If you don’t defeat them fast enough, they will spread like wildfire! Not only do they claim neutral territory, they will also compete for mining resources above and below ground! Their base is called Grimy Bulwark, and it serves them as a smithy to craft their tools, weapons, and armor. It also stores all their mining resources.
There are three main types of Scavs:
Creepers
- These bulky units with their frog-like helmets use stone to extend the Scav territory. If Scavs find copper, they can produce more tools and armor for new Creepers and expand faster!
Stonebreakers
- Watch out for these guys! They harvest any stone and metal resource available on the surface! (Yes, they take all the good stuff!) Both coal and iron is needed for their tools, but they are weak in combat.
- If the Scavs find silver, they can produce sophisticated tools to equip an Orescraper. They can build a Pit and harvest metal resources below the surface. (And they are also quite weak in combat.)
Pit Watchers
- They are in charge of defending the Grimy Bulwark and protect the weak Stonebreakers because they are specialized in combat. Their weapons and armor also need iron and coal.
- Greedy Watchers use steel weapons and will only appear if the Scavs get their hands on nickel. Be careful because they are serious enemies to overcome!
- Vicious Watchers need both steel and gold for their armor and weapons and are the strongest enemy in Pagonia for now. Send only your best units to defeat them!
You can’t let the Scavs roam freely on the island for too long. You must be quick and plan your attack carefully. Because if the Scavs find and harvest enough limestone, they can raise a new Bulwark within their territory. Stop them before they become too strong!
How to defeat the Scavs
Most Scav units wear thick armor and are hard to defeat, but there will be a new player unit type which move swiftly as a cat and target their weak spots! Drumroll please for … the Blade Dancer !
As their name already suggests, Blade Dancers are skillful fighters which are best answer to the well protected Scavs. They can be recruited in the Adventurer’s Guild. Depending on their tier-level, they need light armor, padded armor, and steel-padded armor as well as iron daggers and steel daggers.
If all units of a Grimy Bulwark are defeated, the base will collapse. All nearby territory will become neutral again and all resources that were still stored in the base will be on the ground for you or other Scavs to take.
What do you think of the Scavs? We hope you enjoy the new challenge!
Gronkh & SodaPoppin as Geologist
We are so excited that two great streamers lend their voice to our iconic Geologist! For the German version you can hear the one and only Gronkh voicing the character and for the English version it is SodaPoppin's voice travelling through Pagonia. We think both did an amazing job!
Geologist finding coal
If you want to know how the Geologist sounds in German you can watch this little clip on YouTube
In the future we are planning to record a lot more voices also for our female characters. If you have suggestions who should be voicing one of our characters, please let us know! In the next update we are implementing the feature that you can choose which voice for which character you would like to hear in the game. So you can always have your favorite "Yippie"-sound playing in the background.
Throwback to the OTK Games Expo 2024
Our Art Director (2D-)Timm interviewed by OTK host Ovilee
On June 4th we were on the edge of our seats! (well, Timm was definitely at the edge of his!) Pioneers of Pagonia was part of the OTK Games Expo 2024. It was so much fun to see our city builder made in Germany being showcased to soo many people around the world! We were honored to be mentioned next to so many other amazing indie games!
You can watch the recording of the OTK Games Expo 2024 on YouTube including the interview with our art director Timm. (Time Stamp for the Pagonia Showcase is already linked)
For the OTK live stream we updated our Early Access Release Trailer with a few scenes from our upcoming Mining Update. You'll also find the new trailer on YouTube. Enjoy!
What comes next for Pioneers of Pagonia?
Magic Update
Last but not least we would like to give you an outlook on our future plans! The current roadmap is still active. After the release of the Mining Update next week, we will shift our focus on the upcoming Magic Update. This will be a major content update with lots of new features and we are so happy to finally be working on all the ideas we've been bottling up for ages!
New Enemy Type: "The Cursed" and Magical Unit "Warlock"
What's to come:
- New Enemy Type: "The Cursed"
- Arcane Academy
- Warlock & Sorceress
- Gem Mine & Jewelry
- Magical Weapons
- New Iconic Building "Gigantic Sanctuary"
- Treasure Hunter
The unit names are still working titles. If you have a cool idea for naming the magical player units as well as the new enemy type, please don't hesitate to drop a message on Discord or on Steam. We would love to read your ideas!
Mark your calendars, Pioneers! Because the Magic Update will be released in September 2024! We can't wait to show you everything we are working on. There will also be a Beta test before the release, stay tuned!
Finally, we can confirm, that we will be at Gamescom Cologne this year! Are you planning to go, too? We are thinking about a little community gathering during Gamescom including a meet-and-greet with our Dev Team. Please let us know, if you would be interested in something like that.
As always thank you so much for following our journey so far! We can't wait to read what you think of our new update launching next week! Let us know what you are looking forward to the most.
To end this Dev Blog we have a little quote from our Creative Director Volker Wertich for you:
Only the Treasure Hunter can find things that have long lain hidden and undiscovered ...
See you in Pagonia!
Your Envision Entertainment Team