Hello guys!
First of all I'd like to thank all of you who downloaded and played Downfall. Release of this project was an important milestone on the road to HWR: Reforged — our most ambitious project. In this blogpost I'd like to address some of the criticism that we've received, talk about the upcoming patch and also share some important news.
Feedback and criticism
Let's start with the criticism. The first thing that has to be said here is that all the negative feedback that we've got after the release of Downfall is primarily focused around the game's difficulty rather than UI and bugs (which caused a lot of issues at the lauch of the original HWR). There are, of course, some bugs and there are indeed UI problems but it seems like we've definitely made some progress in this department. Hopefully Reforged's lauch will be even more smooth and its UI will be even more improved.
Now onto the criticism itself. The majority of negative reviewers complains that the game is too difficult and I do agree with the fact that some of the encounters are indeed unbalanced. I also agree with the fact that the game's overall difficulty curve is pretty steep. These problems will hopefully be remedied by the patch 1.8 which we'll discuss in detail a little later.
However I have to say that the overall direction of criticism seems to me largely misguided and I do not think that the game has a big problem with difficulty or a big problem with RNG or a big problem with enemies being too tough. There is a reason why almost every quest in the game has both good and bad outcomes (and sometimes even more that that) — I do that so you could fail them and still not have your immersion ruined. Same applies to battles — in pretty much all of them you don't even have to kill your enemies, you can always retreat to save your life and progress. Many of the tougher battles are strictly optional and you don't have to engage in them if you don't feel confident.
This, in my opinion, is what Heads Will Roll is about — making tough choices, surviving and adapting.
But then again — I always welcome any kind of constructive criticism even if your opinion vastly differs from mine. Because in the end — we're making this game for you and want you to enjoy it. So please feel free to speak out and let me know what you think.
Patch 1.8
Now onto the juiciest part. Patch 1.8 is currently in the works and should be coming either this Friday or early next week (Monday-Tuesday). Here is an INCOMPLETE changelog (the patch is still being worked on so chances are the final version will contain more changes).
Fixed:
1. Fixed quickswap interactions between two-handed weapons and shields.
2. Fixed a bug with tutorial images not disappearing.
3. Fixed a bug with battle interface icons hopping on top of each other.
4. Fixed a bug when comparing an equipped gorget\bracer\legarmor with one in shop would cause a crash.
5. Fixed a bug when an improved pen bolt could not be loaded into crossbow if it's the last one remaining in your pouch.
6. Fixed a bug when examining some two handed swords would cause a crash.
7. Fixed an error when visiting the tavern would sometimes trigger a blacksmith quest.
8. Fixed a bug when using face protection chops or attachable visor in crafting would cause a crash.
9. Fixed an error when trying to use recover action while at full stamina would cause bleedings and other effects to trigger for a second time in the same turn.
10. Corrected a bunch of errors and typos in translation.
11. Blue stone ring now properly displays its bonus in character tab.
Added:
1. Added an ally in the battle against Scottish spearmen.
2. Added a global limit for canteens and waterskins (restocked every chapter).
3. Added a global limit for arrows (restocked every chapter).
4. Added a bunch of new items in manual generation menu (including high level weapons — two-handed swords, halberds etc., trinkets and armor).
5. Added quickswap mechanic for trinkets.
6. Added a reminder that TAB button can be used to skip dialogues and text.
7. Added more frequent autosaves in combat on HWR difficulty.
8. On easy difficulty mode all enemies that spawn after round two would spawn fatigued.
9. Enemies in chapter three will spawn severely poisoned. On easy difficulty mode there will be fewer of them in the first two battles.
10. Profile progress can now be reset.
11. Character generation points can now be converted into gold.
12. Inventory size will automatically be updated after equipping or removing trinkets that increase strength (sustaining strength-reducing injuries would also impact the inventory size).
13. De Monfort now fully recovers stamina at the beginning of his phase two.
14. You can only swap weapons in combat if you've got enough stats to wield the weapon in scabbard (you can still freely put any one-handed weapon in scabbard).
15. Lowered base bleed chance for bludgeoning weapons.
16. Player can no longer use respite if he has zero fatigue.
17. Increased the gain of timidity points for using respite.
18. Recalculated the formula for overhead strikes (damage will be slightly increased).
Once again, this list is a work in progress and most likely will be expanded. If you think that there's something important that we've missied — now is your time to let me know.
News
And now onto the news.
To those of you who don't know 1917 Studios is just two people: one of whom does all the drawing and visual design while other (me) all the coding, writing and game design. We've got a publishing deal but the publisher's job is to help us with promotion and marketing while the financial burdens of the development iteself are still left on our shoulders.
Thus, as an experiment, we've decided to open up a Boosty page (an equivalent of Patreon since Patreon doesn't work with Russian citizens) where anyone (from any country), who has a desire to do so, can offer us some financial support for a bunch of rewards. This is strictly voluntarily. So, if you want to show your appreciation or to support the ongoing development of HWR: Reforged — you're welcome to do so.
Here's the link: https://boosty.to/1917studios
But, let me be maximum clear, HWR: Reforged will be properly finished and released no matter how successful or unsuccessful this Boosty campaign will turn out to be.
Don't forget to join our Discord!
https://discord.gg/6y2NjEpXWv
This is it for today. Stay tuned for some more news!
Cheers and thank you for playing our games,
1917 Studios