Version 1.0.7 Available For Testing

[Jonas]

Hello. We've just uploaded update 1.0.7 for Expeditions: Viking to the beta branch. As usual we have some new features, some tweaks and improvements, and some bug fixes. The most important new feature is the Iron Man mode, which has been quite some time under way. We also have a bunch of new quality-of-life improvements.

Beta Branch Instructions

If you're willing to help us test the patch, you must change to the Beta branch if you haven't previously done so. Right-click on the game in your Library window and select Properties. Switch to the tab labelled "Betas" and type beta16Viking into the code field. Then click "Check code". A new option will appear in the drop-down called "beta - beta branch". Select it and the game will automatically update to 1.0.7.

Iron Man Mode

Now that the game is mostly stable, we've finally added Iron Man mode. If you start a game in this mode, you will be limited to a single savegame and the game will auto-save over it at regular points during play. We haven't quite gone full roguelike: the game will not delete your save if you die. However, Iron Man mode forces you to live with the consequences of your decisions. To activate Iron Man mode, you need to start a new game and check the Iron Man box in the new difficulty confirmation pop-up window.

Steam Workshop

This version of the game now supports the Steam Workshop. You can use the toolset that we released with 1.0.6 to create new random events, and we've added an uploader for you to submit your events, portrait packs, and fan translations. You can find the toolset in Steam under Library -> Tools -> Expeditions: Viking Editor.

New Options

We've added several new settings requested by players since release. The most important one is probably the ability to control the tilt angle of the camera a little bit. It was previously locked to 60 degrees, but now you can adjust it between 45 degrees and 80 degrees by moving the mouse up and down while holding the right mouse button (similar to how vertical movement controls rotation). You can also choose a fixed angle in the options if you prefer that.

Another addition you may appreciate particularly on subsequent playthroughs is the Combat Speed slider. Use this to speed up the game during combat so you don't have to wait as long for characters to run to their positions or for animations to play out. Finally, we've added a drop-down to adjust how automated camera control is during combat. This has three options: full automation, minimal automation, and enemy turn only. The latter will still focus on all actions during enemy turn but mostly leave the camera alone during your turn.

Change Log

As with patch 1.0.6, we're not going to include every fix and adjustment we've made for this update, but just the highlights.

Tweaks and improvements

• Updated the engine to Unity 5.6.3.
  
• Improved the smoke particles with new trails and tweaked some water particles in certain scenes.
  
• Enabled detail normals and static batching.
  
• Added Iron Man mode.
  
• Added Enemy Equipment difficulty option which makes the game way harder on Hard and Insane.
  
• Added Combat Speed slider to the miscellaneous options.
  
• Added camera tilt control and made the game save and load the camera angle/rotation.
  
• Also made the exploration camera framerate independent, faster, and a bit smoother.
  
• Updated the non-lethal toggle button to make it a lot more clear what mode you're in.
  
• Changed the Highlight All button into a toggle.
  
• Integrated Steam Workshop support.
  
• Improved the lighting in some of the Viking longhouses so it changes with the time of day.
  
• Added the weapon type to the item tooltips.
  
• Changed the Unstoppable special property description to be more clear that allies will take damage too.
  
• Optimized the tree setup in Skjern Forest.
  
• Made the player go first in the wolf fight in Skjern Forest.
  
• Made the palisades walkable during Hrodgærda's attack on Skjern.
  
• Added allies to the gate fight in Jelling and tweaked the equipment on Skule's personal guards.
  
• Made it so the kings' halls in York and Perth are emptied of characters after the betrayal or invasion, and made a few vikings show up there instead if you take the cities for yourself.
  
• Removed SSAA option from the game due to compatibility issues with the latest version of the engine.
  
• Changed Unbreakable items so they can now be dismantled like other items.
  
• The Ranged Shot animation is now 1 second shorter.

Major fixes

• Fixed some floating items if you looted the camp on the beach.
  
• Tweaked the lighting in skerninge, making the hill a bit brighter. Fixed being able to walk on things you shouldn't be able to walk on in Skerninge.
  
• Added missing names for the Wolves in the Danish forest campsite.
  
• Added wetness to the earth in York.
  
• Fixed some floating objects across various scenes.
  
• Fixed the camera going down through the ground if you pressed it forward against the cliff face in the Mountain Cave Entrance scene.
  
• Fixed missing materials on the male version of the Ancient Helmet and a bug that was resetting its model on load.
  
• Fixed an issue that was breaking the nighttime penalty to ranged accuracy as well as the illumination to counter it.
  
• Made the marsh campsite nearest to Skjern not show up until after the prologue so you can't wander off until you're meant to.
  
• Fixed issue when changing weapon while an ability is selected.
  
• Added character blockers around the walls of every interior scene in the game that contains an encounter, to fix an issue where ragdolls could fall through the world.
  
• Made sure Torfinn gets removed as a follower if you lose any of the fights in Skjern Forest.
  
• Fixed some save/load inconsistencies with the treasure on the little table in the abandoned camp in Yngilwood.
  
• Fixed an issue where Area Map icons would be offset due to the UI Scaling setting.
  
• Fixed the player character's death not triggering the game over if it happens during camping.
  
• Fixed deteriorated injuries not showing the original severity correctly in the camping results screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where scouting would create no loot spots even if scouting has been successful.
  
• Fixed an errant one-liner for Magnus mac Certain and Wulfsige if you take the town for either of them without ever getting the quest to side with Aiblinn.
  
• Fixed the conversation after you fight Osred in his hall checking whether Æthelred was dead instead of Osred.
  
• Fixed issue with unique spear not deselecting Extend ability.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Spotted status effect would sometimes not be applied.
  
• Fixed some inconsistencies in the Cure ability that was letting you use it on characters who would not benefit, and the AI would sometimes do the same.
  
• Fixed characters playing the Bow Idle act holding the bow in the wrong hand.
  
• Reduced the problems with characters sinking into the ground in the mountain cave entrance fight.
  
• Tweaked some hex grids (primarily in York and Hadrian's Wall) so the hexes are better aligned.
  
• Fixed some skill tooltip error messages that weren't quite specific enough, and in some cases outright wrong.
  
• Fixed the skill description for Throwing not being parsed correctly.
  
• Fixed the wreckers in Scarborough showing up after killing everyone in the village, and disabled loot ownership in Maucolyn's house in the same event.
  
• Fixed the fight at the sacrificial glade in Skerninge triggering after Skerninge turns hostile even if there's nobody there.

[largepaw]

Great job!

[Commissar]

You actually added a camera angle setting. Many thanks!
That game has become really good now. I hope it will shine even more through mods!

[Jonas]

There are a few scenes that don't look quite right if the camera angle is very low, but it's quite nice to have the option, and mostly it looks great :)

[tubros]

Ok, I think it is time for a replay =)

[FireShark]

I'm ecstatic about the camera angle changes, thanks so much :)

[Jean-Luc]

I believe Puffball was supposed to be fixed in 1.0.7.

[Reaper]

Jonas, just finished it and wanted to let you know I loved this game. The story is excellent, the sound track is just as good and I loved the game play. Defnatley one of the best games I have played this year. I will be first in line to purchase the next game you develope. Well done guys I cant thank you enough for making this game a reality.

[Cao Cao Mengde]

Excellent! Any ETA on the official release for 1.0.7? :D

[Jonas]

Because of the addition of Iron Man mode, which we expect will take people a long time to test, we're leaving this version in beta at least until the 16th (next Monday). We may offer some kind of incentive to anyone who can prove they've completed it on Iron Man before then. I'll let you know in a separate thread if we go for it.

[Vektor T]

Not exactly where to report it since it's not exactly a bug but a text that feels out of place.

When I'm leaving Denmark and everyone is at the beach, when you talk to Roskva and ask how she feels, she says she never really left the village... well, it's awkward since she was running errants all over Denmark for a month together with my party. :v

[Commissar]

Originally posted by Vektor T:

Not exactly where to report it since it's not exactly a bug but a text that feels out of place.

When I'm leaving Denmark and everyone is at the beach, when you talk to Roskva and ask how she feels, she says she never really left the village... well, it's awkward since she was running errants all over Denmark for a month together with my party. :v

"Never really left the village" is still kind of true then. She never left until recently when you took her on your journey, and now on foreign lands, for her it all happened in the same time. I guess.

[Cutlass Jack]

Looking forward to this going live. Mainly for the camera angle thing. It was one of the few things I really felt the game needed. Very impressed the game is still getting major patches with new features and not just bug fixes.

[Vektor T]

Originally posted by Commissar:

Originally posted by Vektor T:

Not exactly where to report it since it's not exactly a bug but a text that feels out of place.

When I'm leaving Denmark and everyone is at the beach, when you talk to Roskva and ask how she feels, she says she never really left the village... well, it's awkward since she was running errants all over Denmark for a month together with my party. :v

"Never really left the village" is still kind of true then. She never left until recently when you took her on your journey, and now on foreign lands, for her it all happened in the same time. I guess.

Maybe... but I still think it would had being more proper if she said that line when you first recruit her.

[Cutlass Jack]

I took her line to mean 'before she joined your team' myself. So I didn't see anything wrong with the line.

But if you want to be really technical she lived her whole life outside the village. The swamp isn't the village. :P

[PVA]

So, what about Beowulf achievement — is it insane ironman, or just "Masochist"?