Hey Exanimates,
We've been steadily releasing patches since the update with many improvements and fixes, but the flow of patches has stopped over the last couple of weeks as we've been working on some bigger changes for a larger patch. This will include the post portal save system, but also a few other notable features. We're very close to completing this, hopefully within a week or so, and once this is done we can again make some general improvements.
The save system is fairly complex, but we've been past implementing that for some time and have been working on some other features that we want to add along with it. No doubt some of you will have a pretty good idea of what's coming given that we've been putting the pieces of these features in the game for some time, but we'd still rather you discover them and their nuances in game yourself, so we can't really talk about them in detail here without spoiling it. These features give importance and purpose to various things throughout the game, which we've been building up to, but have been sorely lacking in the game so far. These things give you objectives, more meaningful moments and introduce some strategy elements to how you approach the game.
This involved adding various new mechanics, interaction systems, effects and even some work on AI and roles. Individually these are not big additions, but they expand our engine's general capabilities and remove many roadblocks to adding more gameplay features. As we've touched on before, we've spent a long time building and polishing the core engine and gameplay, but the game still lacks the many small features and interactions that make for a richer and more varied experience. These kind of gameplay features are what we want to focus on from here on.
In our last diary we touched on some of the changes and additions we want to make to combat, and while we haven't made real changes yet we have refined our ideas somewhat and have a more specific plan of action. We've read your feedback and suggestions, and for the most part this is in line with what's planned, which shows we're all on the same page. The addition of new combat moves, new skills, emergent combat mechanics and general improvements should bring new builds and play styles which again is something that we feel is currently lacking. There are many ways to approach things in the game as it is and a lot of freedom from the dynamic nature of everything, but in terms of combat itself there's a lack of diversity in viable and interesting styles. We think that even some basic core mechanical improvements can go a long way to improving this.
There's a lot more of this sort of thing coming, fleshing out mechanics and gameplay features to enrich the overall experience, but we don't want skip too far ahead. Over the next few months we hope to gradually complete and introduce gameplay features in smaller updates. There's not that much more to talk about just now, as we should also be following up with some release notes for our first smaller update within a few days.
Best,
Bare Mettle