Last weekend I sent out a preview release of Build 11 to the team and small council. They provided a ton of excellent feedback on how the game plays, what is wrong, and what is right. So thanks to those who played it.
The first step was to collate the feedback from the variety of sources: video recordings, steam threads, email comments, people talking directly at me while I’m trying to work (Nic).
I used XMind to group issues by topic and figure out what ones were related. Anything reported by 3 or more people was an instant high priority.
The single biggest issue was the save file system didn’t work. I knew that when I shipped it out, but i simply ran out of time and wondered who would notice or care. Apparently everyone.So I fixed that first. Then I just started working down the list. Here are some of the changes this week based on feedback and what I was able to do. It’s not everything, some bugs I fixed took 2+ hours to root out.
Progress since last week:
I will be pushing out a new build monday morning to the testing group again, for those who are interested in testing it. I’ll be proceeding with fixing as much as I can before the release on Nov 16
- Fixed file save/load - I think it works now, I haven’t tested it much
- Fix chat conversation crash
- Fixed map icons appearing above the fog of war. It’s been bothering me for months, glad it is finally resolved.
- Fixed a number of UI and quality of life issues
- Rewrote the encounter menus to solve bugs, confusion, and make them better
- Added confirmation dialogs to important things. For instance: attacking someone or stealing from them. Funny we didn’t have any OK/Cancel dialogs until this time.
- Fixed sleeping at Inn issue and added ability to sleep at anyone’s house
- Added running away from combat IN combat. Previously you could only run away before combat was engaged. Added the use of caltrops item to buff running away. Players will start with caltrops now.
- Added non-lair monster camps. These are monsters who don’t grow, or move around. They just sit there causing trouble in a hex until you wipe them out.
- Added additional races: wolves, spiders, and undead. The spawn based on the geography
I’m very happy to say my crazy plan of driving 4,000+ kms to live at Nic’s house for a month worked. Build 11 is now available to play for those who want to.
There are still many balancing issues, and a complete lack of tutorial, so I’ve released it for now to the Beta branch of Steam for all the veterans waiting to play it.
Here is How To Get It
Going Forward
- In Steam just right-click your Archmage Rises
- Select Properties
- Choose the Betas tab
- Put in the password: “password1234” - (the kind of password only an idiot would have on his luggage)
- Click Check Code
- Change to the testing - Build 11 Testing branch
- Click Close.
- It will now download Build 11
It’s been just over 18 months since Build 10. I don’t think I’ll do that again.
Now the one thing you don’t do is push out a build and disappear. So that’s what I’m going to do.
Its time for me to return home, which will take four 10 hour days of driving. So I’ll have no time and no internet until Wed Nov 21. That means no hotfixes. Isn’t that great?! You can’t buy support this awesome!
But once I do return to my home office I plan to spend the next 2 weeks fixing bugs, balancing the game, and filling gaps. So use the next few days to try out the build and drop some feedback into this new Steam sub-forum: Build 11 Issues.
Thank You For your Patience
Build 11 took too long to make. Thanks for sticking with the project, I look forward to your help in creating something we all enjoy playing!
Release Notes
- The whole game has been changed since build 10. No point in detailing what is different.
- There is a Mac Build 11 but I don’t have my Mac with me so I haven’t tested it at all.
- Mage Tower screen has poor performance
Someone has clearly read Warlock of the Magus World.
It has the same overmap and spawning system I believe. The towns are similar, although supposedly they are simulated much more.
Well this is it! Build 11 is going live to everyone on Steam. I delayed until the last possible moment in 2018 to do it. I am now going away for Christmas and providing no support until I return Jan 5. Maybe one day i’ll become a good, reliable, professional developer.
Super Secret Insiders-only 2018 VIP Feedback Survey
When I return in January the first update will be a “State of the Union” address with a road map of where this game is going. To do that, I would like to hear from you, anonymously, at this super secret insiders-only 2018 VIP Feedback Survey. The results of which I will share in the update. Thank you for your interest and support of this project!
11.3 Release NotesOh, and the reported NPC text was from RobotMinion and read:
- Updated existing tutorials and added 50% more to cover new features and concepts. I'd like to know if there is anything else you think needs to be explained.
- Added NPC detection of you dropping stuff in his home
- Fixed delivery/insult quest descriptions to be more detailed on who you have to find
- Fixed entering a town sometimes not working and having to pay double entrance fees
- Fixed "I have to go" message from the last NPC you spoke with when standing at someone elses home
- Fixed multiple quests from the same person for the same monster and quest icons piling up
- Maybe i fixed the menu weirdness. There was some old menu code that was still being called and broadcasting messages. Took it out. Everything still seems to work. Either I fixed the menu weirdness or I made it worse, but it certainly isn't the same!
- Monster camps can no longer spawn on lairs, solving lots of quest confusion
- If a soldier fights and kills a monster she doesn't then go and make a quest for it (there was nothing for you to fight so impossible to turn in)
- Fixed ability to complete quests that aren't finished or to the wrong person
- Fixed quest icons, they now appear above black indicating where you should go
- Fixed quest icons not disappearing once the quest was completed
- Fixed but removed Invite to Activity, needs more testing as it affects the simulator a lot to have you ripping townsfolk out of their jobs and homes
- Mostly fixed the missing person quest. If it spawns, you should be able to accept it and maybe even complete it. Missing person quests are the best example of the simulator at work because so many things have to happen to have it occur and to resolve it. That said, I haven't done sufficient testing on it so it may still be broken in some cases.
- Added showing of inventory tab if there is something on the ground
- Rewrote resources (trees, plants, fish) to have their own hidden inventories. This solved problems. Probably introduced some too.
- Stopped harvesting resources from showing up in fishing list
- Fixed fishing failure error
- Moved NPC's seeing each other from daily to weekly
- Fixed NPC's details not refreshing every time you do something with them
- Fixed AI stuck on map: turns out they were hurt and never seeking medical attention, just lying in a pool of their own blood waiting for a good Samaritan
- Fixed dead person haunting his home by still showing up and eating meals
- Fixed spouses from seeing their dead loved one's ghost and then auto-completing the missing person quest
“I don’t recall the time, afternoon maybe and I was on my way to my Market among the dunes. I went to relieve myself at something moving and spotted a skeleton! I was afraid they’d haul me back to their lair! ...
