Hello!
Welcome to another edition of AM Devlog! AM Devlogs are weekly updates on the development progress of Adventurer Manager. These Devlogs highlight our philosophy of the importance of transparency and player feedback.
Hooray! We've released our first major content patch of Early Access last week! This was a big milestone for us as the Blacksmith system was something we had been working on for quite a while. We were very pleased with the end-result and according to your feedback, you like it too! Now that we've gotten our first big content release out of the way we are going to do our hardest to bring regular updates to you at generally two week intervals. We may sometimes release early, sometimes later, but we will do our hardest for two week patch timelines. That being said, let's move on to what's in store for our next update!
Our last patch saw the introduction of a beautiful, new UI scene for towns. Naturally I'm sure you were wondering why the Castle doesn't have it's own. Well wonder no longer, because next patch will see a new Castle UI scene brought to us by our incredible artist Amy Martins! Looking similar to the Town scene, the Castle will feature the Blacksmith, your Castle (where Castle Upgrades will be located), a Jeweler (not implemented yet), the Graveyard, and a brand new NPC who will be your Respec guide! With the new skill system coming soon he will allow you to respec your Adventurer's Skills and Attributes but for a hefty fee. In future updates the Castle in the background of the image will upgrade its appearance to reflect your upgrades. We're excited to continue to deliver regular art and UI updates alongside our major system developments.
Castle Scene Preview
Wait, that's not all! In addition to the Castle scene, there will be a brand new Graveyard scene created by our other amazing artist, Alannah Linkhorn! This scene will replace the boring list of Tombstones and deliver a beautifully crafted scene that will endlessly populate with your dead Adventurers. Right now the gravestones will all be similar in appearance, but eventually the quality of the marker will reflect the level of the Adventurer. When you click a Tombstone that shows a name and Adventurer Level, a pop-up marker will appear that will list information about the Adventurer as well as how he died. There will be buttons you may use to loot the Adventurer, Resurrect him, or remove him from the game permanently. This should make the Graveyard far more interesting and certainly more visually appealing.
Graveyard Scene Preview
While these features are awesome, I'm aware that most people are interested in the massive Skill changes we've been talking about. Here's a quick recap of what you can expect when these Skill changes hit in the next patch. First, there WILL BE A WIPE. Unfortunately due to the massive changes required for the new skills, we will have to wipe all data. We assure you it will be worth it though. Skills will have investable Skill Points that are obtained every Adventurer Level. You may invest up to 5 points in each Skill. There are 4 different themed Lines of skills you may invest per Adventurer with 16 total skills with 12 actives and 4 passives. Each Skill will cost Energy and every Adventurer will start with 100 Energy at the beginning of every Encounter. The lower tier Skills will be weak but cost little Energy whereas the higher tier abilities will be massive but with massive Energy Costs. It will be up to you to strategically use your damage, buffs, and debuffs while maintaining your Energy levels. Early on you will not see much Energy regeneration but in later levels on higher quality gear there will be Energy on Hit, Energy Regen, and other methods to regain Energy in fights. Lastly, all 8 base Classes will be hireable when this patch hits.
We have been hard at work getting these Skills ready to push to you and they are almost there. The skills will come in a two part release with the first on being the base Skills with the Energy and the following release two weeks after will contain the special Class and Party abilities that utilize Power generated from hitting and being hit. While we are trying our hardest to balance the Skills we are aware that we may not get it right, so we really need your help in figuring out which Skills work and which don't. With our new system of creating and implementing Skills, editing and updating existing Skills is a quick hotfix for us whereas our old system was complex and tedious. We personally cannot wait to play these changes ourselves and hope you feel the same way.
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AM Team Member Feature
AM Team Member Feature is a new segment in our weekly Devlogs. Every week or so I will feature one of our team members who is currently working on AM. Leading off the new segment is our Assistant Designer and Special Effects Artist, Michael Walker.
Who are you and what are your duties on Adventurer Manager?
My name is Michael Walker and I am the Special Effects Artist/Utility Guy on AM. I also work on the Class Skills. I fit into a bunch of different roles as I have a varied background. From 3D modeling and animation to special effects. I got my degree in Game Design and spend a lot of my time trying to learn every process of game development.
What are you working on right now?
Currently I am working on the re-imagining of the Class skills system as well as the continued implementation of the special effects (visual and sound) for AM.
What is a major feature that you have created or developed?
I, alongside Thomas, have helped created the class combat/skill systems. I am also in charge of the special effects systems, both visual and sound.
What are your favorite aspects of working on Adventurer Manager and with VAStudios?
My favorite aspect of working on Adventurer Manager is working on a game that I find interesting. Also being able to work on a project with like-minded individuals has been a dream come true.
Do you have anything else you'd like to share with fans and those who may be interested in AM but have yet to purchase it?
I would let fans and those that are waiting to purchase the game know that if you are waiting on a better combat system with special effects, you shouldn’t have to wait too much longer. We are working as quickly as we can to deliver something that is both fun and visually pleasing.
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That's all for this week's edition of AM Devlog! If you have any questions or comments about the game or these Devlogs, please leave a comment or post on our Steam Discussion boards or on our Studio forums at http://www.va-studios.com. Thanks so much for your continued support of Adventurer Manager. If you love the game, please tell a friend or twelve!
Happy Adventuring!
Thomas Spradling
Game Designer & Producer
VAStudios