KickStarter Stoneshard - open world roguelike RPG - now available on Early Access

[Abu Antar]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/625960/view/2939121650436372277

Devlog: Current Plans

Hello everyone!

The work on follow-up patches for the “Way Forward” update is complete, so in today’s devlog we’d like to give you more details about our future plans.

The current state of the game is such that we can no longer add new content to the existing map: there’s simply not enough space for it anymore. The small scale of the game world creates a number of temporary restrictions, which overall render the experience less enjoyable, such as randomized treatises, instantly respawning dungeons, skewed gear and character progression, sudden difficulty spikes, caused by the lack of area for more starting dungeons, and so on.

Therefore, our top priority is to expand the map and add the first major town, which will finally allow us to resolve most of these issues. This task will take a lot of time and effort, but it will most definitely pay off - our game will finally work as it was initially intended, paving the way for many long-awaited features, from the trait system and character generation to the improved economy and a new enchantment system. Other than that, the global map will also require implementing a large number of accompanying, closely linked systems: a foundation for the caravan system, new points of interests, new enemy factions, significant changes to the progression, and more. All of this will be a part of the next major update, “City of Gold”, which will be approximately released in Q2 2021.

In the meantime we also plan to release a large content update before the end of 2020, which will help you pass the time while waiting for the upcoming major changes. This update will include two new weapon types: two-handed axes and hammers, their skill trees, new gear, new traps, new combat consumables (including nets and placeable claw traps), and a few other things. There’ll be more details about these additions in the following devlogs.

For now, we’d like to share some of the results of our recent work:

Until next time!

 

[Reapa]

i don't see how this is a roguelike

 

[Fedora Master]

I am REALLY impressed with what's there already. The save system takes a bit of getting used to but works smoothly once you develop a good habit of gearing up and save-resting. The camps in the wilderness help as well.

The combat feels a bit simplistic at first but a few levels in and getting your first skill tree going shows that it is actually pretty involved.

Graphics, music and voice acting are all excellent.

 

[Fedora Master]

Here's a great example of the usual gameplay, packed within about a day in game time.
I wake up in Osbrook, hungry and thirsty as fuck. So I run down to the innkeeper and gorge myself on meat and water. Then I check around town to get my equipment repaired and in order and replenish my supplies (Mostly more MEAT and fresh water).
I have a contract to check out some crypt in the north so I head out through the forest. Along the way I find a wayshrine I can pray at that gives bonuses against undead. Neat! I carefully look around the crypt and loot as much as I can possibly carry. I cheese outsmart the boss by luring his minions up the stairs. Good old stair dancing is a thing! By this point my bags are overflowing with jewelry and other crap, my sanity and health are rather poor. To deal with the former, I snort some STAR DUST in the middle of the fucking crypt and of course get a horribly bad trip:

Don't ignore set and setting, kids! Still, I press on and clear out the ENTIRE dungeon, having to drop less valuable loot for better stuff along the way. By the time I get out it's almost dark and I'm hungry as fuck so I leg it back straight through the woods hoping to not run into a bear or an ambush. I rush into my bed at the inn and sleep until morning. I wake up nearly starved to death, but hey at least I saved. Just going down to the innkeeper took a third of my health away. Then at last it's MEAT TIME and also FUCKING CASH MONEY TIME:

 

[Fenix]

i don't see how this is a roguelike

It's roguelike because it's buzzword today (does buzzword already deprecated expression lol) and help sell game. Simple.

But what I do like and feel rigthfull proud of my Russian brotheren (lol) - is the aestetical charge they put into the game.
This is rare case today, look at fugly Solasta.

 

[Harthwain]

That's one way to use a poison bottle...

 

[Sykar]

That's one way to use a poison bottle...

 

[Tavernking]

Stoneshards? Sounds like what I just had to deal with on the toliet.

 

[Murk]

Got this over the weekend and been playing it a few hours and it's damn fun. The framework is really good, and the combat has some depth. The art style is wonderful and has a similar effect to Battle Brothers where good art style + good sound + minimalist animations pans out to something quite pleasant to see in action; the "missing" parts are easily patched in by your brain after you see things in motion for a while.

Dicked around a while on different characters then made the dwarf dual wielding 2 axes because muh flavor.

Took a contract to go into the less dangerous of the two nearby forts (as best as I can tell, there's two near town and one is always more dangerous than the other).

Walked in, and with in 5 tiles, stepped on a trap and injured my leg. Pain ensues. Chug mead to reduce pain because I have no splint, and proceed to drunkenly tumble around and axe-charge then use the double-double slash from the dual wield tree. Find more mead on an enemy, chug it down, reducing pain but being very drunk. End up with other leg injured in a fight against a guy with a greatclub and a guy with a spear. Drink rest of mead, pain rising, constantly clumsy/stumbling around. Clear out most of dungeon and barely get back to town where I go to herbalist and buy two splints.

Headline: Drunken Dwarf possessed by rage and pain drags back missing shipment of grain and assortment of looted falchions from dead bandits. Proceeds to put both legs into splints then sleep.

I give it a

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Seigneur Locklear]

Man, I like the art design in this game so much, but I'm so wary of early access titles I'm reluctant to start actually playing it and burning myself out before an adequate amount of content is placed in.

 

[Farewell into the night]

I love those helmets, man. Never played the game.

 

[Abu Antar]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/625960/view/2898592423870529207

Devlog: Skinning & New Traps

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll tell you about some new features of the Equipment Update II, planned for this December (and which ended up containing more than just new equipment).

Harvesting meat and pelts

Since the game was first released, pelts had been dropping with a random chance. It was meant to imply that sometimes pelts are way too damaged, and that there was no use harvesting them. However, this mechanic wasn’t well-explained - unsurprisingly, it was only confusing players when they weren’t getting any loot after killing an animal.

To resolve this issue (and to increase immersion), we’ve added a new mechanic - skinning. Killing an animal is now just a first step: in order to get pelts, meat, antlers etc, you’ll need to harvest them. To do so, you’ll need something sharp in your inventory: a dagger, an axe, or at least a sword.

For the time being, skinning is implemented as a basic skill with 100% efficiency, but once Survival skill tree is in place, you’ll need to spend some Ability Points to learn how to do it properly.

The way an animal is killed is an important factor. You’ll get the best outcome with piercing weaponry, which won’t damage pelts too much. If you score a kill by primarily using Piercing Damage, the chance to get a pelt will be the highest.

On the other hand, Slashing damage types fare much worse, as cuts won’t do any good to a pelt’s condition. As for using Pyromancy, you can imagine the outcome... Naturally, the market adjusts accordingly: since harvesting pelts is harder now, their value has been greatly improved.

Certain damage types can also affect the harvested meat. Animals killed with Fire Damage get well-cooked in the process, while Poison, Caustic, or Cursed Damage might cause the meat to spoil.

Traps

In addition to skinning, we’ve also implemented more dungeon traps. Let’s start with pressure plates, which, for the time being, will have two variants:

The first one is a fire trap. It will ignite the floor and deal heavy damage once triggered.
The second one has a twist: it creates a cloud of poisonous gas, slowly filling the surrounding area. Staying in this cloud will deal Poison Damage with a chance to cause violent coughing, which reduces Accuracy, increases Fumble Chance, and generates lots of noise.

At the same time, certain traps will be available to players as well.

For instance, claw traps can now be disarmed, stored in the inventory, and then placed.

Caltrops are light enough to be thrown right in front of the approaching enemies.

Nets will help dealing with particularly agile foes (although they won’t help much against ghosts, for obvious reasons).

And finally - smoke bombs, which function similarly to poison traps, capable of ruining the day for enemy archers: the smoke obscures vision, triggers coughing, and deals a small amount of Poison Damage.

That’s all for now. Until the next devlog!

 

[Ezeekiel]

Hmm, I got some 40 or 50-ish megabyte update to stoneshard yesterday. No patch notes and no mention of it anywhere.
Just some steam shenanigans or actual update?

 

[Murk]

Likely steam; I didn't get anything in the last few days.

 

[Harthwain]

Looks like the game has features (for the base version) planned as far as "2021-2022"? Holy... I am really looking forward playing this once it releases, but I had no idea it's THAT far off.

Still, it's one of these projects I think are worth supporting, considering how frequently the developers keep updating stuff.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Abu Antar]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/625960/announcements/detail/2921111689921055553

Deblog: Two-Handed Axes

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll tell you about the second new ability tree of the Equipment Update II: two-handed axes!

As always, let’s start with a general overview. This ability tree consists of 5 Actives and 5 Passives, focused around the same thing as 1h axes - damage, Bleeding, and Injuries.

Active Abilities

Wide Cut - the opening skill of the ability tree. It performs a strike with bonus Weapon and Armor Damage. Additionally, it affects three body parts upon a successful hit.

Dismember performs a strike to a random Body Part affected by a Minor or Medium Injury (or a random Body Part if the target is uninjured) with a huge bonus to Bodypart Damage and Crit Chance.
If this strike worsens an Injury or applies a new one, it causes Bleeding, and the target itself loses 9% Max Health.

Reign in Blood performs a strike which prolongs active enemy Cooldowns by 1 turn for each Injury and 20% missing Health affecting them. Also has a chance to cause Bleeding on each Injured Body Part, replenishing 5% Max Energy for each Bleeding caused.

Rampage - a traditional stance-based skill. It grants stacking bonuses to Crit Efficiency, Bleed Chance, Bodypart Damage, and reduces Cooldowns Duration.

Just like with other 2h weapon stances, every 3rd attack with two-handed axes is granted a special effect: it deals bonus damage equal to 15% of the target’s Max Health (the damage has a threshold tied to the character’s level).

Make Space performs a strike on three adjacent targets with bonus damage for each degree of Injury affecting them. If this strike kills at least one target, performs a second strike on the same area (this effect can only trigger once).

Passive Abilities

• Finish ‘Em - attacks against targets with more than 50% Health gain bonus Bodypart Damage. Attacks against targets with less than 50% Health gain bonus Weapon Damage.
  
• Shieldbreaker - 2h axe attacks decrease their target’s Block Chance and Block Power for 5 turns. This effect stacks.
  
• Maim and Kill - applying Injuries and Bleeding grants bonus Weapon Damage and Crit Chance for 4 turns.
  
• Fatal Strike - while under the effect of “Rampage”, Critical Hits grant an additional stack of it and apply their target with extra Damage Taken.
  
• Tool of Execution - activating “Rampage” grants bonus Crit Chance for each enemy within two tiles.

And finally, here are some of the two-handed axes which will be added to the game:

That’s all for now. Until the next time!

 

[vazha]

It's just so good. Even the pixel art is not annoying which is an anomaly by itself.

 

[moraes]

BoooOOooOring

 

[jungl]

Its a diablo skyrim clone in rogue like format. Tired of all these fake casual roguelikes like caves of qud and stoneshard. Spelunky more of a roguelike that these games.

 

[moraes]

This one is all style and little substance, at least for now. Itemization is junk, health system is poor mans CDDA, attributes are inconsequential, dungeons are not really interesting, movement is clunky with inconsistent diagonal movement, interface relies heavily on inferior mouse support, your mercenary doesn't have a lot of options outside 'go to the lowest level dungeon and hope to survive' because the world is not really fleshed out.

Qud is the whole package.

 

[kreight]

This one is all style and little substance, at least for now. Itemization is junk, health system is poor mans CDDA, attributes are inconsequential, dungeons are not really interesting, movement is clunky with inconsistent diagonal movement, interface relies heavily on inferior mouse support, your mercenary doesn't have a lot of options outside 'go to the lowest level dungeon and hope to survive' because the world is not really fleshed out.

Qud is the whole package.

trolls place is in the cage. no feeding allowed.