Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Exile’s Return update arrives 5th December
Protectors of the Light,
We are pleased to announce the much-anticipated Exile’s Return update will arrive at 4am PST on 5 December, available for all Age of Darkness: Final Stand owners.
Buckle Up
Exile’s Return includes:
Act III of the Campaign, encompassing the final three missions, a unique boss fight and a new cinematic
A new Survival hero, Aurelia
Various updates and fixes including: - Formations - Pathfinding improvements - Spanish localization - 3D Hero Select Screens
Multiplayer & Roadmap Update
In addition to the launch of Exile's Return, our full attention will now be on Multiplayer. Players can expect an update on Multiplayer development, and our updated 1.0 Roadmap, to be revealed in early 2024. We appreciate your patience.
Till next time, Protectors of the Light…
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Save 33% on Age Of Darkness: Final Stand during the Steam Autumn Sale
Prepare for battle, warriors! ⚔️🛡️
Age of Darkness Final Stand is now 33% off during the Steam Autumn Sale! Immerse yourself in this epic strategy game and lead your armies to victory. Don't wait, grab it now at a discounted price!
Now is the ultimate time for you to dive in, defend humanity, and experience Age of Darkness: Final Stand for yourself!
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Vote for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Steam Awards!
Greetings Defenders of Humanity!
The Steam Awards are rapidly approaching, much like the Nightmares who wish to destroy your keep! We need you to help bolster our chances of success in our fight (for a Steam Award 🏆)
Do your duty to your heroes, Edwin, Vizargo, Aelis, Cyrus and Merek by voting for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Labor Of Love category 🙏🏼
Age Of Darkness has come a long way since it launched into Early Access in 2021, and we're not done yet!
As always, if you come across any bugs or crashes, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘bug-reporting’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Hold the Line with Formations
Protectors of the Light,
While we have been focusing considerable resources on completing the Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign, it’s now time to talk about one of the major Survival updates coming up in Exile’s Return.
Fall In, Attention!
Formations is a highly requested feature allowing players more tools and flexibility to fine tune the positioning of troops. On the battlefield, this means the ability to move units together at a matching speed, and to more easily define the position of individual units without microing them on a per unit basis. Players can now move groups of faster, stronger units to defend slower more expensive units with a click, and guarantee they won’t be caught wandering alone. All this adds up to very bad news for Nightmares!
Form and Function
Players play as per usual, but can now right click-drag or click S (or the bind for Formation command) then right click-drag to perform a formation command.
To adjust orientation and size, simply click, hold and drag your mouse. To adjust the spacing of units, click, hold and use your scroll wheel.
Units will automatically sort into an order that benefits their combat role effectively, for example, melee units will take their place at the front of a formation, and ranged units will stay at the back.
Units in formations are given matched speeds, meaning if a faster unit and a slower unit are in a formation command together, their speed will be averaged as to ensure they approximately move and arrive together. Certain thresholds break the formation into small sub-formations, such as having a group of rogues (fastest) and catapults (slowest) in the same formation, or if they’re required to travel very long distances.
Hold the Line
We’re continuing to push towards the launch of Exile’s Return in 2023, creating new content and introducing new features, such as Formations. Much of the work we are doing also has the effect of improving other systems, for example Formations assisting with pathing updates, an ongoing effort for Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Expect more updates shortly.
Till next time, Protectors of the Light…
Next up, we will be deep diving on Aurelia…
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
It’s been a very busy month as our team has been both working to complete Exile’s Return and showcasing some of our most exciting progress to audiences at PAX Aus in Melbourne and SXSW Sydney, Australia.
If you weren’t able to make it to our Casting Back the Veil panel, don’t fret. We’ve got the biggest takeaways covered below, and the full presentation available here:
**Be aware, some spoilers below!**
Casting Back the Veil
Ryan McMahon, our GM PC and Console kicked off the panel by introducing himself and Age of Darkness: Final Stand, before celebrating two years to the day since the team launched the title into Early Access, and our incredible AGDA win for Studio of the Year 2023.
We couldn’t have done it without you!
Next, the panellists were introduced:
Mario Barone – Senior Designer, Age of Darkness Shane Dalton – Designer, Age of Darkness Guy Cunningham – Voice of Edwin Derek Pritchard – Lead Animator, Age of Darkness Ruby Trumble – Concept Artist, Age of Darkness Chris O’Neill – Senior Audio Designer, Age of Darkness
Mario kicked things off by discussing the story-so-far for Erodar and where our cast of characters find themselves at the end of Act II. Guy then spoke about how Edwin has evolved into a fully-fledged character. Many might not know it, but Guy is a Melbourne local who has been a huge part of the Age of Darkness: Final Stand journey, and helped shape Edwin to the character he is today.
Shane then took over and looked at how Mission 6 evolved dramatically throughout production.
The Daughter of Ruin
Next, the discussion moved over to Aurelia. As many of you will know, Aurelia is a playable character in Act I and II of the campaign and people have long guessed that she would be appearing in Survival – but probably as an Order character, not as a Volatist. Accompanying her heel turn, she’s got a new, darker look.
Concept artist, Ruby, delved into Aurelia’s two designs and how they compare and contrast.
Before, as an Order Lightbearer.
After, as a Volatist Hero.
Derek then spoke about how he works with Ruby and other members on the team to create cutscenes and cinematics for the game.
Stormeye concept art by Ruby Trumble.
Finished Stormeye art
Derek continued to discuss how the title’s cutscenes have been improved and iterated on, sharing progress over time for Mission 3:
Finally, Chris spoke about the creation of an audio identity for Age of Darkness: Final Stand and how the Audio team strove to make the world of Erodar feel unique and grounded. He then related one of his favourite anecdotes of using the PlaySide team to make the Order feel richer and more menacing.
New Vizargo Intro
Eagle-eyed attendees would have seen the new Vizargo intro featured prominently. So here it is in all its glory! Enjoy!
Till next time, Protectors of the Light…
Next up, we will be deep diving on Aurelia and Formations…
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Save 33% on Age Of Darkness: Final Stand during the Steam Scream Sale
Prepare for battle, warriors! ⚔️🛡️
Age of Darkness Final Stand is now 33% off during the Steam Scream Sale! Immerse yourself in this epic strategy game and lead your armies to victory. Don't wait, grab it now at a discounted price!
Now is the ultimate time for you to dive in, defend humanity, and experience Age of Darkness: Final Stand for yourself!
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – September Dev Diary
Protectors of the Light,
As both winter and Exile’s Return approach, our team has been hard at work adding new features and content. Let’s take a look at what we’ve achieved.
FACTION KEEPS
As players have ventured forth in Erodar and learned more about the world, we’ve sought to represent each faction’s overall identity more and more in Campaign and Survival.
Alongside Exile’s Return, players will start to see Order- and Volatist-specific Keeps throughout the Campaign, with these being used by default for Survival when playing as those Factions. Our existing Keep will serve as the base of Operations for Queen Aelis, Cyrus and their loyal band of rebels.
Below is a sneak peek of the Keeps to come for both the Order and the Volatists.
Order Tier 1 Keep
Order Tier 4 Keep
Volatist Tier 1 Keep
Volatist Tier 4 Keep
VO RECORDINGS
Additionally all throughout September our Audio, Narrative and Design Teams have been hard at work ensuring we have all the remaining VO ready to deliver a gut-wrenching Act III with Exile’s Return.
Previously, we had recorded all our VO Lines upfront when developing Flames of Retribution, with VO lines for Exile’s Return being added in as we created the final missions. This has been incredibly beneficial at ensuring we can achieve the look and feel of missions (with the correct VO in place) as we develop, but it also worked well to highlight any gaps along the way.
Throughout the development of Exile’s Return, our Design and Narrative teams found areas we wanted to include additional VO pick-ups for. This includes narrative gaps that make sense contextually to us as developers, but may not be so readily understood to players who haven’t been entrenched in the lore of Erodar for years – like we have.
This has kept us busy with the team reuiniting with our main cast to record additional lines, all in our quest to ensure we’re delivering the best possible conclusion to our players. As a tease of what’s to come, here's a snippet of the ever talented Peter Wicks, voice actor for Vizargo Oriah.
For those of you interested in learning more about our VO Process and what it takes to bring a character to life, you can read more about this with our deep-dive into the Voice of Queen Aelis Syren.
FORMATIONS
Lastly, it’s high time we look at a feature that’s been long-requested by our players – and something we’ll have more to say about soon in its own dedicated blog post.
September has been a busy month for our Engineering Team as we look to further iterate and improve upon our Formations feature. This brings with it its own unique challenges due to the intricate relationship it has with unit pathfinding – another area that we’re actively working on to improve.
We’ll deep dive into the challenges this feature has posed and how we have planned to attack them soon, but for now, let’s leave you with a look at the work-in-progress feature of Formations currently.
Below you can see an example of Formations collapsing in to attack and rush enemies once within range of them and commanded to attack. Specific care has been made here to ensure we’re keeping ranged units safely behind their melee counterparts to provide players with a more efficient and safer means of combating the Nightmare threat without sacrificing nearly as many of their units.
Your units will try to maintain their formation as they navigate around terrain together - naturally there are plenty of edge cases to this, but we’re working to ensure even if they break formation they can return to rank and order upon reaching their targeted location.
PAX AUS 2023 AND SXSW SYDNEY
We’re looking forward to getting in front of our Australian fans at two upcoming events.
Visitors to PAX Aus 2023 can check out our panel, entitled Casting back the Veil to learn more about making the Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign. Taking place on Sun, Oct 8, 2023 at 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM in the Dropbear Theatre, GM Ryan McMahon will host devs and VO talent as we uncover exclusive BTS assets and more…
Additionally, Age of Darkness: Final Stand has been selected to be part of the first ever SXSW Sydney 2023. Our showcase is taking place Friday, Oct 20, 2023 at 12:15 PM - 9:00 PM at the Eddy Multipace, so please come along and check it out if you can.
That’s all for today, but expect more info as Exile’s Return continues to near…
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – v0.10.1 Hotfix Update – Out Now!
Protectors of the Light,
Following our recent Quality of Life Update, we’ve shipped a new Hotfix to cover off several issues not already captured in v0.10.0. Our team is grateful to the positive feedback we’ve received from these changes and is looking ahead to bringing the Campaign to a thrilling close in Exile’s Return this winter.
The reports and feedback we receive via our Steam forums or through our Discord player support channel are invaluable, so thank you to our passionate community for having your say.
Check out the full patch notes and known issues below:
Release Notes
Crashes
Fixed a crash that could occur when a unit’s attack speed drops to zero while charging an enemy.
Fixes & Changes
SURVIVAL AND CAMPAIGN
Fixed an issue where Resource Pick-Ups would visually display incorrectly as Dark Essence.
SURVIVAL ONLY
Fixed an issue where the Final Keep visuals would not update when the player upgraded to the Final Keep.
CAMPAIGN ONLY
Fixed an issue where buildings would visually display as damaged or on fire, despite being at full health.
Known Issues
We're aware of the following issues and are actively working on solutions in a future update:
Fog of War being revealed for too long during a Death Night.
Issues with target priority not working correctly when enemies are on low health.
Cyrus’ Violent Volley Ultimate ability not always dealing damage correctly.
Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – v0.10.0 Update – Out Now!
Protectors of the Light,
Prepare your troops for a fight! The latest update to Age of Darkness: Final Stand is here, bringing with it a wide range of Quality of Life improvements ahead of the arrival of Exile’s Return this winter.
Many of these have been requested by our passionate community, so thank you all who provided feedback and bug reports.
Key Improvements
Campaign is receiving several Quality of Life changes to create a smoother experience for both new and experienced players.
The most major of these is the new Mission Reload feature, whereby players can load a Campaign Save File at the Mission Fail Screen and get back into the action more swiftly.
For players who are replaying Missions or would like to get through the Campaign at a faster rate, the ability to skip Cutscenes and Cinematics is now available.
Additionally, substantial efforts have gone into balancing, particularly Mission 4.
For Survival, we have fixed an issue where the Death Night Swarm would not correctly follow the lighting path shown in The Veil. As a result, this has made anticipating the swarm's point of attack more challenging than intended. Along with this, we have fixed a multitude of crashes at various points in the game.
Finally, this update sees the introduction of a new visual update for Edwin’s flame effects. May the Light illuminate your path to victory!
As always please continue to report bugs to our Steam forums or in the player support channel on our Discord, as we’re constantly monitoring those channels.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Release Notes
Features
Players can now load a save from the mission fail screen.
Players can now skip Cutscenes.
Players can now skip Cinematics.
City names in the World Map are now named.
Doors and Gates throughout the Campaign now have opening VFX.
Additional Changes
Edwin: Updated Edwin’s flame sword and ability FX.
Pathfinding System Improvements.
Cinematics subtitle string improvements.
Mission saves now include version numbers.
Outdated Mission saves will now prompt players to restart the mission.
Updated the Objective and Side Objective Minimap markers to be clearer.
World Map camera and FX improvements.
World Map faction territories have now been removed.
Mission 1: Lumber Yard tutorial now includes an image.
Mission 4: Polished art set dressing.
Mission 4: Additional explanation and signalling during the first major fork.
Mission 4: Added 31 additional dialogue lines.
Mission 4: Increased clarity and direction for the main objective during the start of the mission.
Mission 4: Adjusted the sequencing during the Burster interaction.
Mission 6: Jail Cell VFX updates.
Control group numbers and tooltips are now localised.
Balancing
Vizargo: Buff: Health increased
Merek: Debuff: Lowered Armour gain per Level
Survival: Buff: Increased likelihood of Iron veins around players keep
Mission 5: Added more Resource Veins.
Mission 5: Lowered Death Night count from 1,500 to 1,000
Mission 6: Rebalanced final encounter
Mission 7: Made balancing adjustments addressing areas such as resourcing, enemy encounter and nightmare pathing to deliver an improved player experience.
Crashes
Fixed a crash related to transitioning from the Final Stand to victory screen
Fixed a crash that could occur when a friendly and enemy unit are in the exact same position.
Fixed a crash when using Alt+F4 while loading into the client.
Fixed a crash that could occur from the cutscene at the start of a Death Night
Fixed a crash in the Campaign when using the last save button into a manual save.
Fixed a crash that could occur around Death Night 1
Fixed a crash that occurred when moving the camera around in the Tier 3 arena in Survival.
Fixed a crash where if a player restarted a mission or escaped to the main menu when dialogue was playing.
Fixed a crash in the Prologue mission when skipping the first cutscene.
Fixed a crash in Mission 3 when the 6-wave Iron Talon attack cutscene started to fade-in.
Fixed a crash in Mission 3 that could occur when mass selecting Towers and selling them.
Fixed a crash in Mission 4 that occurred when transitioning out of a cutscene on the right-hand side.
Fixed a crash in Mission 4 around the Alderin Outpost on the left-hand side narrative.
Fixed a crash in Mission 4 that could occur after choosing ‘Side with the Rebellion’ choice during ‘Cornered Rats’.
Fixed a crash that could occur in Mission 4 when arriving at the Order Stronghold.
Fixed a crash that could occur in Mission 4 when arriving at the Quarry.
Fixed a crash in Mission 5 when fighting the second wave of the Iron Talon
Fixed a crash in Mission 5 when attempting to build a Tower through short cuts.
Fixed a crash in Mission 6 after the cutscene when completing the Hit Three Gate Switches objective.
Fixed a crash in Mission 6 that occurred during a cutscene transition.
Fixed a crash that could occur in Mission 7 when loading cutscenes.
Fixes & Changes
SURVIVAL AND CAMPAIGN
Fixed an issue where the in-game Menu was interactable behind prompts.
Fixed an issue where on 16:10 resolution, the Campaign menu UI buttons were showing during cinematics.
Fixed an issue where the Environment Detail grass could obscure the Building Grid.
Fixed an issue where Lightbearers couldn't push through units.
Fixed an issue where bringing up the Steam overlay with Shift+Tab did not pause the game.
Fixed an issue where Edwin’s Armour could be shredded through his Flame Shield.
Fixed an issue where Edwin’s Flame Shield FX and duration did not align.
Fixed an issue where Fishing Nets displayed grey squares when ready to collect.
SURVIVAL ONLY
Fixed an issue where the Death Night Swarming pathing did not follow the lightning path all the time.
Fixed an issue where there was a soft lock during the Final Stand in Survival.
Fixed an issue where the settings menu on 4K resolution would cause overlapping buttons.
Fixed an issue where clicking the ‘Default’ button in the settings would reset other pages to default settings.
Fixed an issue where the Flamer unit stats were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the front end UI disappeared after opening the Gameplay Tips in the Survival in-game menu.
Fixed an issue where the Harbinger unit stats were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the Hero health is not reflected correctly in the top left HUD UI.
Fixed an issue where the Hunter unit stats were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the increased build speed was not working.
Fixed an issue where the Lightbearer Armour stat value was incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the Death Night music was not adjusting to player sound settings.
Fixed an issue where new units trained didn't receive Veiled Coil buff on Death Nights.
Fixed an issue where Nightmare health bars would turn on and off.
Fixed an issue where Pikemen stats were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where incorrect notifications would display during a Final Stand Death Night.
Fixed an issue where units could clip through some terrain.
Fixed an issue where the ‘Pan Speed’ and ‘Zoom Speed’ did not reset to default when pressing the ‘Default’ option in the settings.
Fixed an issue where the action grid would overlap the building icon when playing on half screen resolution.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect faction banners would be displayed in the Load menu.
Fixed an issue where in Edwins passive in the Hero select screen displayed the incorrect values.
Fixed an issue where in the load game panel ‘Autosave’ and ‘Manual Save’ titles were on the incorrect file type.
Fixed an issue where the Map Seed LOC did not fit within the UI in Russian.
Fixed an issue where the Unit Subgroup LOC did not fit within the UI in German.
Fixed an issue where the Map Seed would generate ground you could not path to.
Fixed an issue where unit health would not update correctly.
Fixed an issue where the Red Skull that tracks the Death Night wave did not appear on the mini-map.
Fixed an issue where the Research Ignite Walls action override the hotkey displayed in the wrong tab.
Fixed an issue where fire based abilities did not shred Armour.
Fixed an issue where the Spitter would attack even if it was stunned.
Fixed an issue where the Armour icon was displaying on the POI capture bar.
Fixed an issue where Resource Veins could spawn unbuildable terrain.
Fixed an issue where Loading in a save with a Market pre-selected would cause UI issues.
Fixed an issue where changing texture settings did not apply.
Fixed an issue where the ‘Defence is under attack’ icon on the mini-map was displaying a white square.
Fixed an issue where Elite enemies did not spawn during Death Nights and the Final Stand Night.
Fixed an issue where Archer units stats were incorrectly displayed.
Fixed an issue where pressing ‘Reset All’ in the ‘Action Grid Overrides’ would not work.
Fixed an issue where Cultist stats were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ priority targeting was not working.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ stats were incorrect.
CAMPAIGN ONLY
Fixed an issue where spamming the skip cutscene hotkey during mission loading would skip several important objectives and time of day triggers.
Fixed an issue where fire VFX flicker on camera movement.
Fixed an issue where damaged Towers had Fire Sconces overlapping.
Fixed an issue where the Main Menu music would playthrough the Dunstock Cinematic.
Fixed an issue where the subtitle bar would sometimes stay visible all the time.
Fixed an issue where repairing buildings did not display repair VFX.
Fixed an issue where the World Map Veil would clip.
Fixed an issue across Missions where some allied health bars were green instead of blue.
Fixed an issue where the player could select units through the FOW.
Fixed an issue where pausing the game during a cutscene would not pause the audio track.
Fixed an issue where if spamming clicks on a city or mission it stacked the VFX.
Fixed an issue where the ‘Act 3 Coming Soon’ screen would stop interaction with the World Map.
Fixed an issue when swapping Heroes to different teams would not work.
Fixed an issue where Merek’s Crushing Weight ability would be blocked by environments or objects.
Fixed an issue where Nightmares would grant player vision in Campaign.
Fixed an issue in Campaign where entities did not have collisions.
Fixed an issue where skipping one cutscene would skip all other cutscenes in Campaign.
Fixed an issue in Campaign where auto-save UI files were saved in the wrong location.
Fixed an issue in Campaign where after loading a save the map icons would not appear.
Fixed an issue that caused Tier 2 & Tier 3 Walls to appear incorrectly.
Fixed an issue that caused the Rippling animation on the World Map to pulse every three seconds.
Fixed an issue where starting a mission with a city selected would break the camera perspective.
Fixed an issue where Arrows displayed during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where Merek’s Holy Protector VFX displayed during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where looping battle SFX would play during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where Flame VFX could be seen through FOW.
Fixed an issue in Campaign when loading into a manual save, Fire torches on all buildings were not in the correct positions.
Fixed an issue in the Campaign World Map where the mission progression UI would not display correctly.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission Young Edwin used Old Edwins UI portrait.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission the HUD theme was Rebellion instead of The Order.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission the mission success screen had incorrect strings.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission Merek was not a playable character.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission you could not skip cutscene 3.
Fixed an issue where in the Prologue Mission you could not skip cutscene 4.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 Allowing the Keep to be destroyed during the ‘Protect Village’ Objective and then loading the autosave will cause the player to get stuck.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 the resource panel was not displaying during objective: Stolen Supplies.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 a Norfolk villager dialogue queue refers to his ‘Spear’ instead of ‘Sword and Shield’
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 the Build Tutorial was not triggering.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 one rescued Soldier doesn't swap teams.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 two Archers in the Norfolk village were controllable from the start of the mission.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 you could not skip cutscene 2.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 you could not skip cutscene 3.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 Edwin did not clear the FOW.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 Edwin was missing from the start area.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 the mission description and objectives were unclear.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 if the Villagers died during the ‘Noble Folly’ Objective the mission could not be completed.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 there were missing VO lines.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 1 the Camera Control tutorial tool-tip incorrectly stated ‘WASD’ can be used for map movement.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 skipping a cutscene would cause Heroes to be stuck in idle walking animation.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 pester waves did not spawn from the West.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 two enemy Dwellings were not attackable.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 the final cutscene triggered after two Training Halls were destroyed instead of 3.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 the Remaining Training Halls objective did not update properly.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 Iron Talon archers didn’t enter their towers at the north entrance.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 coordinate markers would persist after claiming.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 the Alderin Soldiers in cutscene 4 were Horrified.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 skipping the opening cutscene would cause the mission to not be completable.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 there was overlapping VO when heading towards the Quarry.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 2 Archers in a friendly Tower failed to attack the enemies within the range of the Tower.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the opening scenes had overlapping VO.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 you could not order Towers to target units.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the Skulls on the Minimap did not follow the attack waves.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 AI units would twitch when pathing around corners.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 fixed an issue where the Western Village Storehouse did not transfer ownership.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 units in the second Norfolk town spawn fire VFX.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 Iron Talon waves would not advance and attack.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 after killing the Iron Talon leader the VO plays twice.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 rescued units had no unit vision once acquired.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 prisoner units were dying before being rescued.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the final Talon wave did not spawn during the ‘Circling vultures’ objective.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the Iron Talon did not trigger an objective if killed prior to them reaching the wall.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the Map UI shows ‘Building Under Attack’ for the Norfolk Village.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 old VO dialogue was present during the mission.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the ‘Keep Iron Talon at Bay’ objective was not shown.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 skipping the opening cutscene would cause multiple VO to overlap.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the UI for insufficient resources was not correct.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 Talon Base 1 was getting attacked from the east.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the ‘Reach the Order Keep’ objective failed if you moved your Heroes around the trigger zone.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 the Elosan prisoners fail to get free from the cage after being rescued.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 3 friendly units at the ‘Slay the other Iron Talon Warlord’ objective fail to appear on visiting the location after avoiding the Norfolk Village.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 your Hero Level and XP did not carry across from Mission 3.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Aurelia turned mid-way through the fight with the Elite.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 abandoned quarry Rebels would not attack.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 during Rebellion Blockade, an Alderin Knight dialogue addressed “Sir Lamez” instead of “Sir Theobald”.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Edwin would reset his position at the start of the Alderin outpost cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 there was no dialogue from Aurelia after defeating the Nightmare breach.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Alderin and Rebellion units fight each other instead of just the two brothers
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Order Knight outpost was accessible when completing the right-hand side.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Mediate choice panel did not display in the Cornered Rats select choice screen.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the incorrect VO played in the first cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Heroes would get stuck on a rock.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 allies were attacking each other.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a cutscene failed to play on the right-hand side.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 units followed Aurelia.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a black screen could appear when loading the level.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 you could select units through the FOW.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 certain units were not commendable when they were unlocked.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the completed objective animation failed to appear on the HUD after completing some objectives.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 skipping the first cutscene would cause the player to get stuck.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Alderin units got stuck while attacking the Nightmares near the Gate of the Alderin Keep on the left-hand side.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Nightmares fail to spawn during the ‘Sanctuary in the Quarry’ objective.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 units and Nightmares are unable to attack each other when choosing The Order side.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 cutscene 2 momentarily struggled to render the map.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 alt-tabbing out of the client during a cutscene would break camera panning.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Dark Crystal Ground explosion FX textures were missing.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 during the ‘Sanctuary in the Quarry’ objective the Gate wasn’t blocked.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 an Elite Spitter would not attack Aurelia.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Gates for freed Rebellion units in The Order Stronghold did not open.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 leaving the game paused in cutscenes caused camera skips.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the left-hand side Bursters at the Alderin Keep were stuck on map assets.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the left-hand side Norfolk units cannot be recruited or gained.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 some FX during cutscenes were grey.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Nightmare waves on the right-hand side took over a minute to trigger and spawn.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Nightmares used in Ralands cutscene could be seen before the cutscene was triggered.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the player could not place units inside the Towers during the final area of the mission.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a section of the map is unhidden in the centre of the map at the start of the mission.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the ‘Cornered Rats’ UI panel is darkened and greyed out.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 units failed to appear in cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a Burster would get stuck in the trees.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the FOW revealed too early during the ‘Cornered Rats’ cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 gained Norfolk units did not change to The Order faction colour.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the left-hand side of the map can be played in reverse.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 running past the objective Rebellion Blockade caused overlapping VO.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 you could not rescue Rebellion Soldiers during the Let Us Fight Knight objective.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 you could not control Order units in the villager’s Farm.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 attack-move allowed players to kill captive units.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 changing attack priority had no effect.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 Nightmares stuck in trees, a dirt Bridge and T1 Walls were present.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Dark Crystal ground explosion FX textures were missing.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 during the Sanctuary at the Quarry objective Player controlled Hunters would run to a rally point.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the right-hand side was blocked under certain conditions chosen prior.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the fail state did not trigger when Edwin died.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 cutscene 3 had the incorrect dialogue line.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Light in the Dark ll objective caused VO overlaps and dialogue skips.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Light in the Dark ll objective had no fail state.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a Soldier and Wraith became unresponsive after a Cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 a Rebel group had old VO lines during cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 units would be stuck in a formation.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Player could reach The Order prisoners captured by the Volatists.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 the Crossroads cutscene did not show scenery assets.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 gained Rebellion units from the Order base encounter were not able to attack.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 during the Cornered Rats ll cutscene there was a missing Sentinel.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 after the Cornered Rats ll cutscene Crawlers and Wraiths spawned without a breach.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 during the Quarry objective Bursters were spawning outside of Nightmare waves.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 skipping the Crossroads cutscene prevents the Moral Choice pop-up.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 two models of Aurelia were present in the final cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 4 crossroad sequences players could break mission flow and prevent progression.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 no Nightmares spawned from the first Breach.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 set dressing items had no collision.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 after skipping the cutscene at a village the next cutscene would automatically skip.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 the Farm in the Norfolk Village could not be interacted with.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 returning to the world map after losing, the Storm Eye cinematic would play.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 Edwin’s experience would not carry across.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 where prop entities would stop the Veil.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 cutscenes would fail to play for any Norfolk village if the user selected any visible location from the map.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 ‘Horrifying’ VFX appeared during the cutscene when completing the ‘None Left Behind’ objective when under the ‘Horrified’ status effect.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 5 Nightmares were stuck and failed to attack during the ‘Darkest Hour’ objective.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 reloading AutoSaves would prevent Volatist waves from spawning.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 Weaves continuously spawned Nightmare units.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 an Order Archer was controllable during moments they shouldn’t.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 summoned Loyal Guards are left behind during cutscenes with gates.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 Aelis had a missing dialogue line after the first cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 players would get stuck after reaching the first playable section as Cyrus and Aelis.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 military units failed to open the prison Gate when moving near the Gate.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 you could not trigger the Gate House cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 Volatists spawned from a destroyed Weaver.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 there were extra VO lines during the first cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 Vizargo flickers during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 music did not play after cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 6 Edwin could not take or deal damage to Cultist enemies.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 Walls did not have the correct health.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 skipping cutscene 3 would cause the cutscene Heroes to remain idle.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 Halberd Hurricane did not consistently hit enemy units.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 skipping cutscene 2 would cause the gates to never open.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 Vizargo would flicker during all cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 there was a missing cutscene after completing the Alderin output.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 the first cutscene had mission visuals.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 flags were not displayed as The Order flags.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 Merek spawned in fighting animation state after skipping a cutscene.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 an objective was marked ‘Optional’ when it was required.
Fixed an issue where in Mission 7 you could not see Vizargo stab Merek during a cutscene.
Fixed some VO lines accompanied with the incorrect Character Dialogue Portrait.
Fixed an issue where the player could skip a cutscene using unintended debug functionality that may cause unintended Mission behaviour or crashes.
Fixed Saving and loading back into a mission creating strange behaviour such as seeing Campaign triggers, gaining vision or possession over buildings or units, or in-game mission timers not working correctly.
Fixed an issue where in the mission fail state the ‘Last Checkpoint’ button LOC did not disappear during the transition.
Fixed an issue where in the World Map the ‘Act III coming soon’ UI did not display.
Fixed an issue where the FOW would mask VFX during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where Batch Entities were causing an additional 15-20 frames.
Known Issues
We have observed an issue where destroyed buildings will display the damage FX on new buildings.
When pressing the ‘Load’ button in the pause menu multiple times the ‘return game’ button will not always work.
Some dialogue throughout Campaign is missing VO, this is being added with VO Pick-Ups in a subsequent update.
When using a v0.10.0 save file for v0.8.4 this may cause the save file to corrupt, or a number of unintended Campaign related issues.
Loading a v0.9.1 Campaign Save in v0.10.0 will result in the player having to restart their most recently unlocked mission.
During Campaign cutscenes, enemies can still attack allied units and building structures. This will be fixed in the next update.
When failing the 'Sanctuary in the Quarry' objective in Mission 4, the next cutscene may not play and units may not trigger. This will be fixed in the next update.
We have observed when arriving at the ‘Rebellion Quarry’ there is a cutscene where if the player skips between Edwin and Aurelia VO lines the nightmares will not spawn for the ‘Sanctuary in the Quarry’ objective.
We have observed that if a manual save is created before the ‘Crossroad’ UI screen and loads that save to play the ‘Rebellion Quarry’ the game can softlock. This will be fixed in the next update.
We have observed that after selecting the 'Rebellion Quarry' option at the 'Crossroad' objective, two units are present that cannot be controlled.
Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.
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Till next time Protectors of the Light…
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Exile’s Return coming this winter!
Protectors of the Light –
The moment you’ve been eagerly awaiting is almost here… we’re thrilled to announce the impending release of Exile’s Return this winter, including the intense final Act of the Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign.
A CLIMACTIC CONCLUSION
We were thrilled to debut the Exile’s Return announcement trailer at Gamescom 2023, via an IGN Exclusive and a presentation on the Team17 booth. Watch it now!
Exile’s Return is our second major free update of the year, providing a fitting crescendo to the heart-pounding twists and turns you experienced in Flames of Retribution. Act III will allow players to experience the culmination of the intricate storyline played out in Act I and II of the Campaign. Exile’s Return will feature:
The final three missions of the Campaign
A unique boss fight
A new cinematic to bring a dramatic close to the final Act
A new Volatist Hero, Aurelia Pelegren, the Daughter of Ruin joins the fight in Survival
Quality of Life updates, including Formations, Faction Specific Keeps, 3D Hero Select Screens (and more).
The Daughter of Ruin
Players were initially introduced to Aurelia Pelegren in Flames of Retribution – Act I & II of the Campaign. Aurelia began as a member of The Order under the tutelage of Edwin Everard, an exemplary model of what The Order stood for.
Finding her own way in the world and deciding where her path would lead, Aurelia’s lust for power began to grow and the influence of the Volatists started to corrupt her.
Now, joining the ranks of the Volatists as their second Hero, Aurelia has learned to harness the force of Dark Essence in her own formidable way.
Powerful Hero introductions
This update will include incredible 3D Hero Select moments for each character. Aside from highlighting the meticulously crafted artwork for each Hero, players will get a glimpse of each Hero’s unique ability before choosing where the allegiance will lie.
Boss incoming
With the last three Missions being released in Exile’s Return, it was important to to end the Campaign with a bang and provide players with a new twist and an extra challenge.
Players will be going into battle against one of their biggest threats so far. Age of Darkness will be adding in a wholly unique boss fight to bring Exile's Return to a heart-pounding conclusion.
It’s time to fall in line
Throughout our journey in Early Access, it has always been important for us to listen to the loyal community that we have cultivated for Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
One feature that has been heavily requested is Formations in Survival Mode, which will be released alongside Exile’s Return. Formations will allow players to have greater control and fine tune their Unit positions when heading into battle.
Strategically position your more vulnerable Units to help keep them safe, such as Archers behind Soldiers – ensuring you have the upper hand when taking on the Nightmares that plague Erodar.
STEAM STRATEGY FEST SALE
There has never been a better time to prepare to save Erodar from the brink. From August 28 at 10am PDT through September 4 at 10am PDT, Age of Darkness: Final Stand will be 33% off ($14.73 USD/$21.40 AUD) on Steam, as part of the Steam Strategy Fest.
WHAT’S TO COME
Leading up to the thrilling release of Act III, keep your eyes peeled for plenty of blogs providing more information on Exile’s Return, as well as unveiling more secrets behind our new, enigmatic hero.
So, prepare for an unforgettable ending to the Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign. The anticipation is palpable… are you ready for your Final Stand?
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
