March is here! We received our Kickstarter funds last Wednesday and are getting aligned with our development goals.
We apologize for the late update. There were a lot of things to consider and discuss internally before we reached out to you this month. We’ve also hit a few technical snags along the way. While the realities of software development mean we can’t always hit our targets to release an update on a specific date, we can be a lot more communicative about the process, our frustrations, and the path-forward. These monthly progress reports, along with weekly updates, are important to us, as well as you.
Additionally, we want to be good stewards of our backer’s money (and our player’s patience :)). In order to help the team focus on what’s important to our players, we will be running a survey to find out what you’d prefer us to work on, next.
Here are some examples questions our official survey will be asking. Feel free to comment below, although we’ll be collecting official responses, later.
• What does Dragon: The Game offer, or could offer, that no other game does?
• What 3 things NEED to be great, for you to love D:TG?
• What is missing in the current game, that is driving you crazy?
• What drew you to Dragon: The Game
Story & Lore Update
Starting this month we are showcasing a story, plot arc, quest, or other narrative from our collection. These teasers are meant to give you a new glimpse of the world and the dynamics of play. This month’s story is a tale of caution to ostentatious mortals.
The Sovereign's Gold
"Once, there was a king who wished to gild every building in his kingdom’s capital. He’d worked for years to secure his fortune, and it seemed a waste to leave it hidden behind locked doors. Why shouldn't he take pride in his wealth? His advisers protested vigorously. After all, there were dragons in the area. If one of them saw the gold, they would surely be drawn to claim it…"(Click here to read on)
Development Plans v8.4.3 to v8.5
+We’re adding a new dragon type for you to choose from. This dragon will be demoing our modular anatomy features with customizable heads, horns, and other body parts.
+Individual dragons will save and load. Currently, all dragon’s share the same attributes and upgrades. We’ll replace this with individual character files for each of your dragons. This is important now that you can upgrade you dragon.
+Fix GUI flickering issue when naming dragons.
+Enable additional upgrades such as armor, health, and breath weapon improvements.
+A new quest type or monstrous threat.
+Deploy and test new cities system. Instead of spawning small clusters of houses, we’ll soon be able to spawn in large, random and pre-generated groups of building. This will create a lot more opportunities for mayhem, quests, and danger.
Current Version 8.4.3 Patch Notes & Known Issues
Patch Notes
+Co-op multiplayer is back on, but buggy.
+Turn Shadows On/Off and Render Grass Distance options can now be adjusted.
+Fog is in and terrain streaming distance have been adjusted
+New Treasure Collect Quest
+Fixed a crash bug, dragon persistence bug, and a QuestGiver bug.
Known Issues
+Purple Screen of Death (for Linux users)
+Text Flicker: When naming your dragon, the GUI will cycle between menu background and large white text.
Other News…
+Business Accelerator: We’ve enrolled Red Level Games in a regional business accelerator program. This program will help us hone in our vision, develop our business plan, learn new organizational skills, and culminates with a pitch in front of a group of potential investors. Completing this program will be a significant step toward bringing in additional capital and refining RLG into a more effective, professional, and lean studio.
+New livestream schedule coming out. We’re coordinating with the team to set dates for our March livestream events. These are one-hour sessions with one of three formats.
1) Developer blog. Meet the Devs and chat while we build the game and work on code. Great for those curious about game development and what goes on behind the scenes.
2) Play testing. Hang out with us as we play D:TG. We show off the latest features, level up our dragons, and talk about what you'd love to see in the game.
3) Office hours. Join us for a light-hearted, anything goes discussion about D:TG, running a game development studio, life, or whatever else is on your mind.
+Webpage Update. Our webpage will be undergoing some major changes as we move toward a more engaging and conventional website.
Thanks everyone. We're working on a hotfix this week with additional content and features coming next week. Check back here for our end of the week update, and March's livestream schedule.