Hello Administrators! Sintopia’s live playtest is coming on November 28th, and now is the time to share specifics about the new tools you’ll play with. As we’ve shared with you before, there is no 12 days limitation in the build, but that’s not all. Below are listed a few additions which we hope you’ll find cool.In case you did not see our previous news, here’s a reminder that the playtest build is available in English only and that language selection is disabled. A lot of the new stuff is fresh from the oven (or, hot?), so the translated text looks like Swiss cheese right now. As a compensation, we can now confirm that the game will be translated to 7 new languages at 1.0, making a total of 13!
In our previous demos, you could test 3 Role Models out of 8. We’re adding a 4th one: Ozhumandias, the Archduke of Envy. With his traits, you’ll focus on a civilization relying on a caste system which makes housed Humus and Cultists super powerful, but also implies a lot of newcomers on the streets, so you’ll have to do a lot of things “by hand” in the Overworld to compensate for the lack of specialized lifepaths.We also upgraded existing Role Models to make them more consistent, and create unique ways of playing. To help you experiment and refine your builds over the limited time of the playtest, we’re providing (almost) infinite Prestige Points, so you can unlock everything from the start. Please note that some of these traits, especially combined together, make the game harder if you don’t know all the systems well.Go nuts!
A brand new Spell can be unlocked in the Liber Administratum: Helltunes! It essentially gives you the power of the Pied Piper. You can cast it on the spot to act as a stun area, but you can also move it around and its targets will follow the flute and dance, whether they’re Humus, Guacas, Zhumbies, Wargs or Sin Spawns. Demons are immune, because they value wrecking the place above dancing.Characters lured by Helltunes won’t fight while you control them, and will pick up priorities depending on where you release them. For example, rangers will flag a resource node if you drag them to it, and doctors will bury corpses or heal Humus nearby when released. Even builders can be told which worksite to work on, or which ruins to remove. As for enemies, nothing prevents you from dragging them in water to drown them, pit hostile factions against each other, or even have them fall at the edge of the world… Just note that stronger enemies take longer to control, so they require more Faithcoins. Like other Spells in Sintopia, Helltunes can be used in a lot of different ways.
Get ready to build new stuff in Hell:
In past demos, Deviants were annoying already, as they cannot be punished in regular Omnisin Doctors (you need specialized buildings instead). Now, they’re really enjoying their Sin! While in the Overworld, Deviants have a chance to trigger alternative behaviors instead of working, which can create unique game situations and opportunities. For example, Wrath Deviants may undergo a killing frenzy in town, and Envy deviants can stalk other Humus, kill them and take their place (lifepath, house, etc.). All the more reasons to give them Hell before they cause too much mayhem!
In Hell or the Overworld, you will find new elements which are randomly generated when creating a Challenge Mode map, and which create opportunities. Toxic mushrooms that spew toxic spores which you can control with Force Push, black holes which reduce upkeep around them in Hell, or even tiles which earn money every time a Soul walks on them. This is a first batch of random elements, but we’ll be adding more of these as we move forward in production. We hope you’ll put them to good use!
Without going into an exhaustive changelog, here’s some extra stuff you can expect in this playtest:
We hope you’ll like what you see in this build, and that you’ll complete a lot of mandates for Hell Inc. You’ll see a short feedback survey accessible in the game, if you’re interested in giving your opinion (don’t hesitate to, this is golden to us). And if you want to see new features as we work on them, join our Discord server! We post sneak peeks in there every week, and we’re always available to discuss and get feedback.