Hello everyone,

As you’ve probably noticed, we released the demo of the game in February. It was quite demanding to wrap everything up due to constant updates and improvements. In the end, we just couldn’t find the time to implement some features that really should have been in the demo.

Over the past month, we’ve been working on a new combat system. Initially, we aimed to create a lightweight RPG system for this game, with plans for a more complex combat system in a future title. However, as you’ll see below, that plan evolved a bit.

The first combat system used action points accumulated through hits, combined with precise key presses to perform different attacks. It sounded good in theory, but in practice, players ended up watching the progress bar for timing rather than focusing on enemies.

The second version introduced slow and fast attacks along with some special skills. It was more lightweight, using just five attributes. Unfortunately, due to a lack of animations, combat felt dull - players would stand in front of enemies and just keep clicking. Movement while in combat was also problematic, as pressing the left/right key would turn the player instead of strafing.

The new combat system is a bit more complex. We now use around 50 attributes to calculate things like health, stamina, damage, bonuses, resistances, and speed. Currently, there are about 75 different effects that can impact the player and enemies. Player locomotion has also been updated - when in combat mode (and not running), pressing the left/right keys now causes the player to strafe instead of turn. This makes moving around the target much easier.

We considered adding a leveling system but ultimately decided against it. We felt our original idea of defining the character by their equipment and runestones was solid. To expand on this, we introduced infused runestones. These are permanent, specialized runestones that significantly boost a player’s attributes. Infusions can be done at various trainers around the world. Now, character builds are determined through equipment, passive runestones, and infused runestones.

Weapons and skills now deal different types of damage such as physical, astral, fire, cold, and more. Wearable gear can boost resistance to specific damage types and improve other attributes. Stamina is now used for running, blocking, and attacking. Impact damage drains stamina from the target, and when stamina is low, the target can be stunned or knocked down.

Weapons have also been overhauled. Players and enemies can now use daggers, clubs, axes, swords, pistols, and rifles. We’re considering adding polearms and spears later. Each weapon type varies in speed, range, number of targets hit, damage types, etc. We’ve also added critical strikes and backstabs. Animations are still work in progress, and we hope to have them done by the end of May.

Enemy behavior has seen improvements too. One major issue was odd movement and stuttering when enemies were at the edge of the navmesh or trying to avoid each other. This was due to a combination of navmesh movement and a lack of proper animations. Enemies behave a bit better now, but it’s an area we plan to keep refining.

Items have been tweaked as well. Foods and drinks now provide smaller effects over longer periods. Cooking will yield more powerful food. We’ve added diseases, health/stamina drains (temporary reductions to max values), hunger and thirst, and similar effects. Diseases can evolve into more dangerous forms over time. Hunger and thirst will now drain both health and stamina and may be replenished by eating and drinking.

All of these changes will be included in the next big update, which we aim to release later this month or at the beginning of next month. We’d love to include split-screen in that update as well, but we’ll see how that goes.

If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions, let us know here or on our Discord!

Best regards,
Mihael