Before we knew it, we're already well past the halfway point of our 90-Day Overhaul Plan.
If you've been keeping up with Soulmask lately, you've probably noticed that something is stirring once again deep within the Shifting Sands. A new region, new Masks, and the secrets still waiting to be uncovered behind that world floating in the sky... Honestly, Maggie has been holding back for a long time just to keep herself from spilling everything right at the start.
But before we venture farther, we'd like to pause and look back at the ground we've already covered. Over the past two months, we haven't just been adding more content to the world. We've also been working to remove, one by one, the everyday frustrations Chieftains encounter on their journeys.
Long story short, throughout June and July, we focused on several issues that repeatedly affected the day-to-day experience.
Tribesmen are no longer quite so obsessed with running back and forth between storage chests. You shouldn't have to keep wondering whether someone is contemplating the meaning of life at the foot of the stairs again.
World Portals now truly connect the two worlds, allowing you to travel freely between Golden Sands and Misty Forest.
Building has also become much easier. Pick up any building hammer, and you can build directly using raw materials from your inventory and camp storage chests.
We've reworked a range of attack animations, jumps, evade, stagger, and hit reactions.
Boss disengage timers, health regeneration rates, and certain values have also been adjusted. We want combat to be challenging, not unreasonable.
As for the HUD, we're still approaching it with care. We've started with status details, quest guidance, and control prompts, making sure everything appears where it belongs.
Alright, that's enough looking back for now.
Because in August, we want to tackle a different kind of problem: As your world grows larger, your tribe expands, and its systems become more complex, how can we make sure you can still understand your entire tribe at a glance?
Previously, pressing [ESC] brought up more than a dozen modules at once, including Character, Mask, Crafting, Technology, and Tribe Management. They're all important, and that was precisely the problem: when you wanted just one of them, searching through that wall of menus was hardly a comfortable experience.
This time, we've reorganized all of that content into a two-tier menu under the [TAB] interface. The first tier divides everything into broad categories, while the second opens the specific pages within each category. Whether you're checking character progression or handling crafting and tribe affairs, we hope this clearer structure will help you find the module you need as intuitively as possible.
The [ESC] screen is now a much cleaner function menu:
We prefer to think of this UI overhaul as tidying up a room. Nothing has disappeared; everything has simply been put back where it belongs.
Of course, redesigning the Main Menu is only the first step. Next, we decided to begin with the area that takes up the most time and causes the most confusion: assigning work to your Tribesmen.
When a tribe is first established, assigning jobs isn't complicated. With only three or five Tribesmen around, Chieftains generally know who is good at logging and who should be cooking.
But things change completely once your camp grows into a large settlement with fully loaded automation lines and warehouses overflowing with materials. You may have dozens of Tribesmen, each with different proficiencies, talents, and job statuses. Having to open their pages one at a time... well, we're sure the Chieftains who have been through it remember the experience all too well.
That's why we've created a new Tribesman Work Assignment UI. All Tribesmen and jobs are arranged in one clear matrix, where you can review their current assignments and quickly filter for Tribesmen with the right talents for each job. For example, when you need a truly reliable craftsman, candidates with a maximum proficiency of 100 or higher will immediately stand out from the crowd.
More importantly, job assignments are no longer a simple choice between "do" and "don't." Together with the camp inventory system, you can tell your Tribesmen what matters most right now and what can wait.
Perhaps you want your miners to secure the metal supply before hauling miscellaneous items. Or perhaps an experienced cook can tend the fields during quieter periods, but should return to the stove immediately whenever food stocks run low. We don't want Chieftains to have to watch every Tribesman's status like a babysitter, constantly reminding them what to do next.
The Training Ground now has a more important role to play.
You can assign mentors and trainees, allowing Tribesmen to learn any Weapon Mastery through training. The once rigid skill boundaries between different weapon proficiencies can now be broken here.
This means that when you meet a Tribesman truly worth bringing home, you no longer need to hesitate just because they're missing one powerful Mastery. You can preserve their strengths, then fill in what's missing through training, gradually shaping them into the warrior you truly need and a companion you can rely on.
Instead of endlessly searching for someone who was "born perfect," you can now tailor a warrior of your own.
In the world of Soulmask, a single lapse in judgment can bring you down in seconds.
Maybe the boss's next attack comes faster than expected. Maybe one roll is half a second too slow. Once your HP reaches zero, all you can do is watch everything start over.
That's why we've added a new ability: [Gene Recovery].
When the player-controlled character is Severely Injured or in Feign Death, you can use it to restore all HP. It has a 60-second cooldown and is unavailable in War Mode. In other words, it doesn't make danger disappear. Instead, at the worst possible moment, it puts the choice back in your hands.
Once you're back on your feet, whether you create some distance and make your escape or continue the unfinished battle is entirely up to you.
But we know that some Chieftains have been waiting since the beginning for us to talk about something else.
Deep within Golden Sands lie an entirely new region, brand-new Masks, the secret that allows this world to float in the sky, and the true nature of the Sun God... All of them are hidden among dangers no one has yet set foot in.
For now, please allow Maggie to keep this part a little mysterious.
We'll see you then