Greetings friends and fellow managers!
Just like we said in our last update this is a major update containing a bunch of new features, content, fixes, balancing, and more!
Since we are pushing so many changes to the game, all previous save games won’t be compatible with this version of Epic Manager.
Although the game still contains some placeholders here and there, we are very happy to report that all the main features are now in place.
This means we are putting the final touches to the game, gathering last minute feedback on any issues you guys report, and getting the game ready for its official release.
Let’s jump right into it!
*NOTE* The following notes are by no means an exhaustive list of everything new in this massive patch, but rather a more concise keynote of the major changes.
Difficulty Settings
Here it is folks! By popular demand we created difficulty settings for Epic Manager. Now, newcomers wanting to familiarize themselves with the game, without having to worry too much, will be able to, while more advanced players will be strongly challenged by our Hard difficulty setting! Now, choose your destiny…
New Prestige Classes and Combat Skills
On top of the 16 Basic Classes already present in the game, we added 13 new Prestige Classes. You will have to experiment with different builds to find out exactly what career paths will open these opportunities, but the potential rewards are worth it! Will you be able to unlock the famous Shovel Knight, the sneaky Stalker, or the feared Bardbarian? Each of the 13 Prestige Classes can use 2 unique skills. That’s 26 new skills added to the game on top of the 32 adventurer skills already there!
Adventurer Trading Block
After unlocking it in the Research Panel, players will now be able to trade adventurers with other agencies from their current league. Teams will have potential candidates on a trading block and a series of specific demands. Meet those demands to lower the cost of the transfer and build your dream team! Make sure to keep in good terms with your rivals to get the best deal possible.
Merchant - Alchemist
Two new merchants are now available to be unlocked in the Research Panel. The first one is the Alchemist. This weird fellow can help you add and remove traits for your favorite adventurers.
Merchant - Enchanter
The second new merchant is the Enchanter. This magic-wielding merchant can help you tweak the special effects of Kits and Accessories so your adventurers are always well geared when the rumble begins.
Skill Quests
To mix things up a bit, some Quests (about 10 to 15%) can now be resolved using a series of Skill Checks reminiscent of having a skill tested in a D&D campaign.
Ironman Mode
For those of you who don’t find the game challenging enough, we added a new Ironman mode. With this option ticked from the beginning of your campaign, you will not be able to manually save your game. You are stuck with the consequences of each action, so tread carefully.
New Recruitment Campaigns
We created new campaigns and tweaked the existing ones so players could access the entire scope of character levels and Epicness easily. These campaigns will be unlocked as your Agency gains in levels.
New Enemy Race - Lizardmen
A new end game enemy race joins the fray! The lizardmen are here and they’re a mean bunch of hard-hitting cold blooded killers!
New Unique Enemies
Meta races and human unique characters have been added throughout the game! Each one has a unique set of skills and with our new enemy AI, managers better be prepared!
Final Boss Fight
The bravest players who actually manage to finish first in the last leg of the game will be presented with a new challenge: an epic new final boss fight! Should you prevail against this unique foe, you’ll be rewarded with the “real” ending which comments on your accomplishments during your campaign. Good luck!
New Random Encounters & Quests
As promised we created a bunch of new random encounters and a series of new storylines and miscellaneous quests to make sure there’s enough content to cover the entire span of a campaign. In fact, it is impossible to see the entire content of the game within a single playthrough! In total, we added over a hundred new stories for you to discover.
Integrated user Created Content
Some Kickstarter backers had the opportunity to create some in-game content with us. It’s with pleasure that we integrated unique adventurers, random encounters, quests, and more in collaboration with them. Their creations are now available for all to enjoy.
Game Balance Rehaul
All enemy race stats have been revised and the general game progression was revised. According to the feedback we gathered during the Early Access, we made the game progression faster and combat tighter. Let us know how the game feels for you in the comment section below.
Improved Enemy AI
Enemies will no longer be as passive as they tended to be before. Beware as changes we made to the AI strongly affect the deadliness of the combat.
Quest Simulation Balance
We made some changes to the balance of the combat simulation. We made sure there was always a chance to succeed or fail a simulated Quest. At the same time, we tweaked the simulation to better replicate success chances and added some feedback.
Faster Combat Animations
In order to make the general game feel faster we accelerated all combat animations and enemy reaction times. Over the span of an entire campaign, it ends up making a difference.
Added Combat Feedback
- New Combat Icons show Contextual Racial Traits, Landtype Traits, and God alignment Trait bonuses.
- Updated Combat Tooltip.
- Added Feedback when no legal target is available.
Multiple Minor Bug Fixes
We corrected a bunch of minor issues like animation clipping, dodged attacks still landing, HP and XP bar refresh rate, Kit sprites, tooltip issues on level up, portal destruction cost computation, different renegotiation fringe cases, negotiation chances shown VS what was under the hood, locked contract termination, stats effects calculation, Font and Text issues, UI fixes on different panels, fixed some broken random encounters, and many other minor things. If you see something that does not seem right, please leave us a comment and we’ll happily look into it as soon as possible.
Multiple Typos Corrected
We went over our tables of random encounters, quests, and other text-heavy documents to purge the typos reported and those we could find during our multiple playtest sessions. Hopefully, we got them all, but feel free to let us know if you spot something we missed.
Remastered Soundtrack and SFX
The hard-working guys at GeekSound Factory remastered most tracks from Epic Manager’s soundtrack and pretty much all SFX in the game. They’re just awesome like that!
Multiple UI Panel Visual Improvements
Simon went over multiple panels, basic adventurer classes, and other visual elements of the game during the last months to make everything look beautiful. He also created new hairstyles, beards, and skintones for the adventurers of Astraeus.
In-Game Manual - Epicopedia
The in-game manual is still a work in progress. We are uncertain exactly what format it will take in the end, but most of the content is written for it. More on that later folks.
A small list of Cheat Codes
We added a “Cheat Code” button to the Main Menu of the game. We still have to implement the codes themselves so it’s a bit of a tease, but the wait will not be long.
Official Release
We will take a few days to see how you guys like the game with its latest balance and new features and to make sure nothing is broken. From there, if everything goes smoothly, the full release of the game should come pretty quickly. Of course, we will get back to you with detailed information and a date when things are settled.
As always, thank you all for taking the time to read this and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any comments, questions or feedback you might have. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you!
Until next time friends,
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
ːsteamhappyː
