Hello everyone!
Long time no see, Cody here to get you up to speed with the dev side of things.
I want to kick off this post by apologising for the long silence — sorry, everyone!
A lot has happened in the last few months, but here's the good news: The Duel DLC is done.
Well… almost. I still have a few bugs to fix here and there but all the contents and features are in. Over the next few days I'll start sending out the backers’ keys!
If you supported this project through one of Cranio's Kickstarter campaigns, keep an eye on your inbox (and that pesky spam folder), you'll get your key soon enough.
As usual, early access for backers helps me smooth out the rough edges and fix the last few issues — your feedback is always welcome and appreciated.
For everyone else, the release date is just a few weeks away, so be sure to wishlist the DLC!
What's next?
Many of you have asked what’s coming next and when we can expect more content — new companies, new XOs, and so on.
Right now, there are no concrete plans to bring the latest board game expansions to Barrage Digital.
I know many of you will be disappointed to hear this, but as with many things, it comes down to financial reality: the game didn’t perform as well as hoped, and it's hard to justify new investments (especially in the current world climate where everything seems to get more expensive by the day). It’s harsh, because we truly would love to bring new content — especially me. But at the end of the day, the law of the market is what decides these things, and Cranio has to focus on what keeps the lights on: their core business of making board games.
What does this mean for Barrage Digital going forward?
Obviously, no new content doesn't mean that the game will be abandoned. Barrage Digital will move into a "maintenance" regime going forward.
I'll keep fixing bugs, ensuring long‑term playability, and improving the game where it's needed.
For example, I'll keep working on the Medium AI and finally implement the long‑requested feature of adding AI players to multiplayer games. Then more achievements, based on DLC mechanics this time.
I’ll also tackle smaller issues, like the fact that currently you can’t play a 5‑player game without The Leeghwater Project mechanics active or some “historical” bugs that, while minor, still need fixing. One example is the end‑round recap showing an incorrect preview of the next turn order when two or more players are tied.
I've also spoken to Cranio about the possibility of adding minor digital‑only content, developed free of charge using my free time.
They’re still unsure — digital‑only additions might rub the wrong way with the board game audience — but hopefully I’ll get the green light when the time comes.
Should I get the go-ahead, what do I mean by “minor content”?
Most likely small addition that won't change the core mechanics and are low‑effort development‑wise, like a new batch of contracts. For example, I always felt the "OR" mechanic on contracts rewards introduced in The Nile Affair wasn't fully taken advantage of and it would be nice to have a new set of contracts expanding on the concept.
I also have a few ideas for new private buildings.
At this point, some of you might be thinking:
"If you’re willing to pour more time into the project, why not just going with the new companies or XOs?"
Full disclosure: I’m a freelancer. I have a maintenance agreement with Cranio when it comes to the future of Barrage Digital, but my full‑time commitment to the project is ending, and I’ve taken another job that will require most of my time and energy.
So any extra work I do on Barrage Digital (outside what's covered by the maintenance agreement) will be in my free time — and I want to focus on things I can realistically complete without deadlines or pressure.
I'll be completely open and honest with you here, there is also the caveat that I would be doing for free something that it would most likely end up in a paid DLC. My issue isn’t that someone else would earn money from something I made — that part doesn’t bother me per se. The real problem is that, in a commercial project, unpaid work just isn’t fair. We work in an industry full of professionals trying to make a living, and free labour in that context is almost always bad for business and for the people involved.
Free contributions to open‑source projects are wonderful things — I genuinely believe the programmers who maintain and develop free software are the unsung heroes of our generation — but commercial projects are a completely different story.
Beyond that, adding new companies requires significantly more time and effort than adding something like 10 contracts. Take Japan for example. Leaving aside the new mechanics where elevations can be used as bases and productions can now be interconnected; out of a 5-page manual, 2 pages are exceptions and special cases (granted, Brazil is also present in the manual but my point still stands). It might not seem much but exceptions and special cases are what drive up development time — especially when it comes to the UI. Consider the amount of work that is needed to adapt the Production popup when using Japan and Dr.Octavious. I haven't done a deep analysis yet but I'm guessing the amount of interconnected sources of water would require a full rework of the layout of the popup just for that special case so that everything fits nice and clear.
Every new rule, or exception to a rule, creates ripple effects across the entire UI and requires extensive testing to catch edge cases.
Long story short: don’t get your hopes up about major new content, but at the same time don’t worry — the game isn’t going to be left to die.
Server Issues
Before I close this already long post, I want to talk about the multiplayer server issues we’ve been having over the last few months. As some of you might have noticed, multiplayer games tend to disappear every now and then.
This obviously isn’t intended behaviour, but it’s caused by power interruptions in the building where the server is hosted, combined with a bad UPS. We have plans to fix this, but I have to ask you to be patient for a bit longer.
That's all folks!
As always a huge thank you to everyone who bought and supported the game (and the DLCs), left positive reviews, shared feedback, reported bugs, and stayed with us throughout this journey. Your patience, support, and enthusiasm mean the world.
Have a great DAM week!
Cody