We’ve had another exciting month in the development of Age of Darkness: Final Stand, so it’s time to shine some light on what’s been happening behind the veil.
A glimpse of what’s to come
Expect some explosive updates to be announced at Gamescom this week! We are excited to be announcing the title of our next Campaign update, revealing our latest Hero and much more.
For those of you who have not played the Campaign yet, a heads up, the upcoming announcements may include some spoilers, so keep your eyes peeled.
If you are joining the action at Gamescom this year, we will be presenting updates live at the Team17 booth (Hall 6, Booth B060) on Saturday 26 August, 4:10 pm CEST. Join Ryan McMahon, PlaySide Studios GM of PC & Console and Age of Darkness: Final Stand Game Lead, as he takes you through all the new details of the update.
For those who won't be in attendance, you will be able to view the new Campaign trailer online via IGN on:
27 August - Sunday 1:14 pm AEST
26 August - Saturday 8:14 am PDT
26 August - Saturday 5:14 pm CEST
Keep an eye out for a wrap up of the event shortly, including a stream on Steam showcasing the new Hero!
Developments of note
In our July update, we gave you some insight into what the next Quality of Life build would include, and now we’re happy to tell you that v0.10.0 will be available on Tuesday September 5, 2pm BST / 6am PDT / 11pm AEST.
Other feedback we’re addressing:
Skippable Cutscenes
We’re adding this feature in v0.10.0 to improve the playthrough experience for Campaign, especially for those who want to replay the Missions but would like to go through faster by skipping the cutscenes.
Quick Reload
When adventuring through the Campaign, should your Heroes fall and you find yourself defeated, players will now have the ability to immediately reload their progress.
This change is coming from feedback that we have received around not having enough checkpoints within Campaign, ensuring that players can get back in the fight as soon as they’re ready.
Formations
Although it won’t be present in v0.10.0, the Formations feature is still underway and will be polished and ready for release in a future update.
Here’s a little sneak peak of Edwin at the helm of his army in perfect formation.
Unit Pathfinding
This is a big one! We’re approaching this challenge from multiple angles, with a primary emphasis on enhancing both Long Distance Pathfinding and Combat Pathfinding.
Our aim is to prioritise stability by gradually releasing Pathfinding improvements over multiple updates after the release of v0.10.0.
Get excited for Act III!
On top of all the upcoming Quality of Life work, our designers are working on refining some of our upcoming missions – balancing difficulty, creating new systems and crafting distinctive set-piece moments that are sure to captivate players.
The upcoming Hero, who will be revealed very soon, is also being finalized as we speak. She is fast becoming a favorite within the team and we can’t wait to share more very soon.
Until that time comes, solidify your defences and prepare to protect Erodar from the evil that lurks behind the Veil.
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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.
Back in April, we proudly released Acts I and II of our Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign, in our biggest patch yet, Flames of Retribution. The introduction of the Campaign allowed us to expand the lore of Erodar and explore how the lands and heroes of Survival Mode came to be.
We know we’ve been a little quiet since our last update, but behind the scenes, we are continuing to work diligently on Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Since then, the team has been hard at work on a range of refinements to Act I and II of the Campaign, and Survival mode – as well as laying the groundwork for the coming Act III. Expect regular blogs as we share more information in these Dev Diaries moving forward.
V0.10.0 - QOL Update / Bug Fixes
One of our biggest priorities is ensuring the quality and experience of existing content. We’re always reading reviews, player feedback and know it’s important to have a polished experience on the content we release. Coming later in Q3, we will be releasing an update focused on Quality of Life improvements in the lead up to our next Campaign release. Our goal is to continue improving the stability across both Survival and Campaign and ensuring polish on upcoming content. In our upcoming update v0.10.0, you can expect the following improvements:
QoL
Skippable Cutscenes
Performance Optimisations
Save System Improvements
Quick Reload option on the Campaign EOR screen
Bug Fixes
Survival: Fishing Nets no longer display grey boxes
Survival: Farms now display the tile system when being placed
Fixed a crash where enemy units were sharing exact same space
Mission 2: Iron Talon Archers now placed in towers
Mission 2: Pikeman objective marker now disappears
Mission 3: Rescued unit now grant vision
Mission 6: Units no longer spawn infinitely from Weavers
Within this update, there will also be balance improvements to ensure a smoother Campaign experience, with a distinct focus on Mission 04.
Prepare for Act III
From here, priority is now firmly on Act III. The team can’t wait to bring this final Act to you all as soon as we can. The thrilling finale to our Campaign will bring a lot of impactful moments not only to gameplay but also to the narrative.
Each portion Age of Darkness: Final Stand has been a collaborative effort between all dev team members, and Act III is no different. This ensures that players will enjoy every moment of their journey through the Campaign and that we can tell a story that everyone can engage deeply with. For example, our engineers are now working on creating new systems and gameplay mechanics that feature in Act III, while the artists are completing visually captivating landscapes for the action to take place in.
As a little sneak-peek, here’s a look at a new defensive tower used by the Alderin in Mission 8 and Order Knight statues used in later Missions.
After our v0.10.0 Update, we will share more on the release date for Act III, so there is a lot to look forward to! Although we would love to share every detail with you of what’s to come, we want to keep the story a surprise and we look forward to players uncovering the epic conclusion to Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Until then, we look forward to making more exciting announcements at Gamescom 2023 and showcasing what’s to come. See you there!
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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 Summer Sale
Prepare for battle, warriors! ⚔️🛡️
Age of Darkness Final Stand is now 33% off during the Steam Summer 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.
From the captivating voice of Edwin to the harrowing and ominous tones of Hector, the voices behind each and every one of the characters are what truly bring them to life. Within this blog, we wanted to highlight the incredible voice actors behind Age of Darkness: Final Stand who brought their electrifying performances to the Flames of Retribution campaign - as well as the Audio team who worked with them to create the captivating performances.
PlaySide Audio Team [I]Left to right: David, Tamara, Chris, Zach, Thomas, Talia
UNEARTHING THE CHARACTER
The search for the ultimate voice actor is an incredibly fun experience and the process starts with getting to know the ins and outs of the character. It begins with a massive deep dive into the character that is being cast and during this process, the Audio team actively brainstorms ideas with both Narrative and Design, as well as the casting specialist, Kevin Powe. There is so much that goes into finding the right actor to fit the role.
The aim is to achieve a point of difference for each character, allowing them to be brought to life in their own unique way, to this end their accent is a really important part. As with all of the Heroes and characters within the game, we lean towards a more English accent. Naturally there are many variations of the English accent, so from there, the team dive even deeper into each character by using their physicality, intentions, backstory, character arcs, personal bias and their region of origin which will determine their accent.
Narrative Lead, Patrick Kolan, noted that from the outset, even before the Campaign development began, it was important to have accent consistency for the Factions. This did not mean that they necessarily needed to be generically British, but regionalised to get the most diversity of sound. For example, our villagers will sound different to our Order Knights in a scene, which also makes it easier to differentiate the characters in a busy soundscape too.
After many ideas have been thrown around, the team can then form a really clear picture of the type of Voice Actor they are looking for. Casting calls are sent far and wide into the ether to find the most suitable candidates – from that, a shortlist of auditions are collated for the team to evaluate and used to pick the best fit for the character.
THE CREAM OF THE CROP
Putting some of the demo lines into the game engine for testing was something that the Audio team felt was of vital importance. Often just listening to an .mp3 file, as opposed to hearing the lines spoken by the character in the game, is not enough. Hearing the voice lines in context helps to gain an understanding of how the voice lines can be brought to life and really helps when selecting the best actor for the game!
This process assists the team to pinpoint the perfect actor for the role - and it's not always the one we initially thought would be the most suitable. There were a few instances where, when checked in context, the second or even third choice can unexpectedly surprise the team and hit the mark flawlessly.
Typically, the voice actors are given 3-4 lines to work with and use for their audition. This means they really need to hit the mark and showcase their abilities to portray a particular character in a really short snippet. So when selecting the perfect candidate, the team needs to bear in mind that often this can only give a limited snapshot into a talent's overall suitability or capabilities.
A truly talented actor has the ability to take the words from the page and turn it into pure gold in their performance. They don't just recite lines, they can bring a character to life in a way that is uniquely their own. By adding their own interpretation to the brief we provide, they can add depth and complexity to the character, which sometimes can reveal hidden breadth that might not have been apparent before.
Once the actor has been picked, this is where it starts to get even more exciting. The voice actors will go through coaching sessions to really cement the voice of the character in the game. On occasion, even though the talent absolutely crushed their audition, when they were given more lines the performance wasn’t translating as strongly throughout the rest of the script. The coach can then assist them in consistently capturing the right tone and feel to really enhance their entire performance.
THE PERFORMANCE
The recording sessions are widely enjoyable and the entire team and the voice actor chosen really bring an amazing vibe to bolster the performance. Our voice actors are situated all over the world and it’s so gratifying to be able to work with such a diverse group of people.
Within the recording sessions, the Voice Coach, Audio Producer and Audio Engineer will be there to help guide the talent through the journey. The Voice Coach pays close attention to the performance, delivery and accent of the lines and the Audio Producer keeps track of the time and keeps the session moving. The Audio Engineer receives a remote feed of the recording from the talent and is there to make sure that the quality is up to scratch.
There is a lot of love for all our characters, so sometimes on really emotional lines it’s easy to get caught up in the moment!
It’s not just the voice lines that are recorded during this session, the voice actors also create the sound effects for the characters when they attack, get hit and even die. Sometimes, not every piece of audio can be used. Merek’s burps for example were so incredibly grotesque and confronting that, unfortunately, they were mostly removed from the game.
FLAMES OF RETRIBUTION
With so many of our Voice Actors being in completely different locations to each other, for all of the voice lines in Flames of Retribution, all characters were recorded separately. Although many of the characters interact with each other throughout the Campaign, especially in the cinematics this method worked incredibly well.
By recording each character separately, it gave the Voice Coach, Kevin Powe, the ability to give each of the talent the attention required to bring out the best possible performance.
With any part of game development, there will always be obstacles that you need to overcome. With the recording sessions, some of our actors were being recorded remotely via livestream from some really exotic places, such as The Isle of Man. We know how unstable the internet can be at the best of times, so if it happened to drop this meant that it was highly possible to lose some of the audio recorded – which is heartbreaking when the Voice Actor completely nails a line!
Apart from having all of our magnificent Voice Actors, the Age of Darkness: Final Stand dev team were able to join in on being a part of the Campaign! While creating the Dunstock cinematic, it became clear the team needed the help of the studio at large to truly capture the power and deliver a thundering rendition of The Order’s oath. This was a blast and something we will continue to do more of in the future… Not for my glory, for the Light!
IMPACT ON THE STORY
Voice acting is a vital component that can take a game from good to truly unforgettable. By giving voice to the characters and dialogue, this helps players connect with the story on a much deeper level, and can add so much more emotion to a story.
When it comes to a great campaign, voice acting is like the ultimate power-up that can elevate players' experience to the next level. Being able to hear your favourite characters come to life with their own unique voices and personalities, delivering lines of dialogue that can add layers of depth and richness to the story. Not only are you immersing yourself in a world that is visually captivating, but audibly as well.
With voice acting, you're no longer limited to just reading text on a screen and guessing how the character may deliver the line. Instead, you are able to experience a fully realised world that feels more authentic, as every line of dialogue brings you closer to the heart of the adventure.
The voice acting marries perfectly with the narrative to provide contextual clarity and ensure that the narrative beats expressed hit at the right times to amplify the strength of the story. It truly creates a memorable experience that makes playing Age of Darkness: Final Stand so much more fulfilling.
THE VOICES BEHIND IT ALL
We wanted to really highlight in this blog how much work goes into all of the impeccable Audio that you hear in Age of Darkness: Final Stand and also to take the time to feature all of the Voice Actors who have helped bring all of our characters to life.
Guy Cunningham - Edwin Everard Follow Guy on: Twitter and Linkedin
So make sure you take the time to listen to the captivating voices that have breathed life into Age of Darkness: Final Stand. ---
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 Team17 Publisher Sale
Prepare for battle, warriors! ⚔️🛡️
Age of Darkness Final Stand is now 33% off during the Team17 Publisher 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 – v0.9.1 Hotfix Update – Out Now!
Protectors of the Light,
We hope you are enjoying Act I and II of the Campaign and the latest features from Flames of Retribution. This hotfix build will address some of the main issues that have arisen in the latest update to ensure that your playing experience continues to be as smooth as possible.
Eagle eyed players noticed that lightning within The Veil was not appearing correctly to warn players which direction a Death Night horde would approach from. This has now been fixed. Additionally, we have focused on eliminating game-breaking crashes during Campaign. As an added treat, we have also refreshed the main menu to highlight the visually captivating art that you see in the Campaign.
It’s time to jump into the latest update and defend Erodar from the ominous terrors that threaten its very existence.
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
New: Flames of Retribution Main Menu Visuals
Crashes
Fixed a crash related to Cutscene Characters not being in the correct position.
Fixed a crash related to loading Campaign Autosaves.
Fixed a crash that could occur after restarting M03.
Fixed a rare crash that could occur when two units - player and enemy - were directly on top of one another.
Fixes & Changes
Fixed an issue where the Death Night Path would not always follow where the Lightning Indicated during a Death Night.
Fixed an issue where the player would not correctly progress to the End of Game screen after defeating the Final Stand on all Survival Difficulties.
Fixed an issue where Edwin’s Level and XP would not carry over correctly to Mission 4 in Campaign.
Fixed an issue where there would be a Loading Screen tip that displayed as “Missing String”.
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 – Thank You and Upcoming Fixes
Protectors of the Light,
It’s now been a few days since Flames of Retribution has been out in the wild, so we wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your amazing support for Age of Darkness: Final Stand and talk about some upcoming fixes.
Since we launched into Early Access, through to the release of Flames of Retribution, our amazing community has been with us every step of the way. We’ve been wrapped with the reception to the first part of our campaign and are truly excited for things to come!
Our devs have poured their hearts and souls into Age of Darkness: Final Stand and are delighted to release the first part of the Campaign and an expanded vision for the world of Erodar. To you, our valued community, we can’t wait to bring Act III to life, and we hope you are all eagerly anticipating what happens in the thrilling crescendo of the Campaign later this year.
Hotfix Incoming
We are always listening to our community across all our social platforms, and with that, we are aware that some bugs are occurring throughout Campaign and Survival. We are actively working on a hotfix update that will address many of these issues and aim to share more information on this by the end of this week. Specifically, we are looking to address Death Night pathing, crash fixes, and Hero level correctly carrying over correctly between Campaign missions.
Skipping Cutscenes
One change that has been highly requested by our Discord community is skipping cutscenes. Cutscenes can be skipped in the current build by pressing “H”, however, players should be wary of intermittent issues. The main issues we have noted are instances where the In-Game Camera can invert, or the Cutscene Audio can play over the in-mission barks. The game autosaves before cutscenes, so should you encounter a crash, loading the autosave should resolve this.
Evaluating Resource Distribution
In the Flames of Retribution update, changes were made to iron, stone and gold resource veins to ensure that the advancement and upkeep have a more even balance when building out your base and army.
Gold has been lowered around the edge of the map but more has been added towards the middle as the value of getting to the perimeter of the map outweighed the risk. Some iron deposits have been swapped for stone as it was quite common for players to get bottlenecked by stone, especially as you need it to build T3 houses.
We will be monitoring how players adapt to the new balancing changes and will continue to adjust resource distribution in future patches if needed. For now, we hope you will embrace the new challenges and strategies these changes open up, and keep us informed of your experiences with them.
For the Light!
On behalf of the Age of Darkness: Final Stand team, we are honoured to continue building our title around the incredible community that has formed alongside it. Thank you once again.
PlaySide Age of Darkness: Final Stand dev team in Melbourne
Expect more announcements from us soon but until then, we hope you continue to enjoy the Campaign experience.
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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 – Flames of Retribution Update – Out Now!
Dear Protectors of the Light,
Brace yourself, as the Veil creeps in and cloaks the land in darkness. The time has come to step into the light and reveal our biggest update ever.
Welcome to Flames of Retribution and the first part of the epic and long-awaited Campaign for Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Flames of Retribution is free and available now to all Age of Darkness: Final Stand owners. The update includes Act I & II of Campaign, where players will embark on a perilous journey throughout the lands of Erodar – from its dark and bloody past through to present day. Comprising of the Prologue and seven uniquely captivating missions, players will bravely face not just the horrors that lurk in the darkness, but humans who have strayed from the Light.
The campaign provides a landscape to expand on the intriguing story of our heroes and how they came to be, as well as their relationships with one another. Flames of Retribution weaves a web of rich lore for each Faction as well as new characters introduced throughout the storyline, with plenty more to come.
Discover the history of Erodar and the Elosa in the Flames of Retribution: Before the Darkness blog Part 1 and Part 2.
Helping Edwin herald the ranks of The Order, Merek Longhold is stepping in to take charge and show his strength in Survival. With his imposing stature, he’s a heavy-hitting hero who can smash through hordes of Nightmares while being able to bolster his fellow soldiers and lead them into battle. Read more about ‘The Bolstering Might’ in our Hero Deep Dive blog.
Although Campaign is the main focus for this update, there is no shortage of improvements made to Survival Mode – including damage and VFX fixes for current Hero abilities, improved AI pathing around buildings and a range of stability improvements.
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.
To ensure the smoothest experience for Flames of Retribution, the minimum and recommended specs have been updated and are as listed below:
MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-10600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT
Age of Darkness: Final Stand has received a Steam Deck Compatibility rating of 'Playable'. The game is functional, however, some UI and text may be harder to read and interact with.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Release Notes
Features
Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign – Flames of Retribution – Act I and Act II.
Three visually captivating Cinematics
Full VO across all Campaign Missions.
New Order Hero: Merek.
Localisation for New Features.
Additional Changes
UI & VFX Improvements and Optimisations.
Added Hardware Cursor to the game.
Credit Updates.
Balancing
Cyrus: Reduced Cyrus’ range from 7 to 6.
Lightbearer: Removed Gold needed to research, previously needed 500 Gold.
Lightbearer: Removed time needed to research, previously took 120 seconds.
Lightbearer: Increased the attack range from 0.4 to 0.75.
Sentinel: Increased Health from 200 to 250.
Catapult: Increased the purchase cost to now require 3 Food.
Catapult: Reduced the Shred while in Siege Mode from 50 to 25.
Catapult: Reduced the Shred while in Mobile Mode from 25 to 10.
Flamer: Reduced the knockback from 0.35 to 0.2.
Flamer: Increased the movement lock time from 0.75 to 1.75.
Impaler: Increased the attack range from 5 to 6.5.
Design Notes: The catapult is the absolute dominant siege weapon for Order defense, and the Flamer tends to do very well both defensively and during exploration. These changes are designed to slightly lower the Catapult's impact (no pun intended) in late Death Nights and make the Flamer less effective as an all-rounder.
Lodges: Increased the Gold earnings on Lodges from 18 to 20 Gold per Tick.
Houses: Increased the Gold earnings on Houses from 40 to 42 Gold per Tick.
Gold Veins: Decreased the size and quantity of the large Gold veins at the edge of the map.
Gold Veins: Increased the quantity of Gold deposits closer to the centre of the map.
Iron Veins: Decreased the quantity of Iron deposits to make the resource a bit more scarce than it currently is, whilst making room for Gold and Stone.
Design Notes: Gold accumulation from mines at the perimeter of the map usually greatly outweighs gold income from housing. This has led to the 'best' strategy being a focused push to the edge, followed by scouting for gold mines. With these changes, we hope to reduce the massive advantage that tactic provides and smooth out midgame income.
Stone Veins: Increase the quantity of Stone veins across the map.
Armor System: Buildings that regenerate unit’s armour have had their regen range increased from 6 to 14.
Armor System: Set armor regen time to be quicker and universal amongst all units. All units now regenerate from zero to maximum armour in 10 seconds once regeneration starts. Design Notes: The rate and requirements for recovering Armour were too stringent, and as a result a lot of players would never attempt to bring a lumbering Sentinel back to a workshop to recover. By upping the range and reducing (and standardising) the recovery time, it will feel like far less of a hassle to mend your military in the wild.
Triage Tent: Reduced the time it takes for units to be revived from the triage tent from 1.6x their training time to 0.75x their training time.
Triage Tent: Reduced the build time from 30 to 20.
Triage Tent: Selling the building now recoups the entire cost.
Triage Tent: Will now also regenerate unit armour.
Triage Tent: Adjusted the placement within the UI to reflect its place within the build order.
Design Notes: The Triage Tent has struggled to find a comfortable role in the meta. These changes are designed to make building and utilising a Triage Tent significantly faster, cheaper and easier, and reduce the penalties of progressing beyond the range of a tent.
Treasury: Increases the player’s gold cap by 1000 Gold on placement.
Treasury: Reduced the research cost of the Treasury from 1400 Gold to 1000 Gold.
Treasury: Reduced the purchase cost of the Treasure from 2000 Gold to 1500 Gold.
Design Notes: The Treasury is another building that, outside of its passive income effects, sees very little use, and rarely sees more than one built per game. By moving some of the Warehouse's storage utility into the Treasury and lowering the upfront costs, it will be easier to feel like you're getting your money's worth, and less punishing to build it anywhere but in the middle of your housing mass.
Storehouse: Reduced the Gold cap provided on placement from 1000 Gold to 500 Gold.
Braced Wall: Increased the health of the Braced Wall from 500 to 750, and the armour from 50 to 75.
Braced Gate: Increased the health of the Braced Gate from 1000 to 1500, and the armour from 80 to 125.
Braced Tower: Increased the health of the Braced Tower from 600 to 900, and the armour from 65 to 100.
Fire Sconce: Added 3 Wood upkeep to the cost of the Fire Sconce.
Fire Tower: Added 5 Wood upkeep to the cost of the Fire Tower.
Design Notes: Wood is a resource that tends to require very little thought after the opening few days of a Survival match. Building fire towers tends to also be a fairly safe place to put resources during exploration and expansion. With this change, we are aiming to stretch Wood's relevancy later into the game, and make Sconce and Tower building a more thoughtful decision.
Crashes
Fixed a crash caused when Vizargo would use Claw Dash.
Fixed a crash when Vizargo would attack enemies during Serenity.
Fixed a crash caused by Cyrus’ Splintering Shot.
Fixed a crash that could be caused from Units having their Armour regenerated.
Fixed a crash related to losing a Survival Game with the Mortal Coil Hardship active.
Fixed a crash related to selecting the Nightwatch Blessing when playing Survival on the Nightmare Difficulty.
Fixed a crash related to killing Elite Nightmares when playing Survival on Nightmare Difficulty.
Fixed a crash related to having too many resource drops onscreen at once during Final Stand.
Fixed a crash related to starting a Death Night.
Fixed a crash that could occur on the start of Death Night 4.
Fixed a crash related to having ranged units target dead enemies.
Fixed a crash related to loading specific Saves.
Fixed a crash that could be caused related to Auto-Saves.
Fixed a crash related to loading save files while Alt-Tabbed.
Fixed a crash caused by Ballista Towers completing construction.
Fixed a crash caused by selling a Training Hall while training a Unit.
Fixed a crash related to the Fog of War being updated.
Fixed several crashes caused by the Mini-Map being updated.
Fixes & Changes
Implemented a new Load Game Menu to accommodate Loading Campaign Saves in addition to Survival.
Edwin’s Enlighten Ability now lists full percentage points rather than decimal places, and updates as he levels up.
Fixed an issue where Edwin would not gain armour as he levelled up.
Fixed another instance where Edwin could get stuck after using Crackfire.
Fixed an issue where Aelis’ Loyal Guards could not damage enemies after the Royal Decree Ability was triggered.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Caltrops ability could cause a performance hitch.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Violent Volley VFX would not appear during the ability being cast.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Violent Volley ability would play while the game was paused.
Fixed an issue where Vizargo could appear invisible while Serenity was active.
Fixed an issue where units could not move around buildings and would get blocked by collision.
Fixed an issue where some research options would still be missing when selling the Wood Workshop.
Fixed an issue where in some cases repairing a building would not deduct the correct resources.
Fixed an issue where the player can pause during the end game Victory / Defeat Screen.
Fixed an issue where Edwin would not enter combat when getting attacked by a Spitter.
Fixed an issue where the player could still see a Point of Interest radius ring during a Death Night.
Fixed an issue where arrows and bolts would fire off in random directions if a targeted enemy was killed mid-flight.
Fixed an issue where the Fearless & Stability Perk Tree Traits would not function correctly.
Fixed an issue where Enemy units would also receive Perk Tree bonuses.
Fixed an issue with the Hazy Skies Malice not functioning correctly.
Fixed an issue where Nightmares would twitch when getting too close to the player’s base.
Fixed an issue where the Middle Mouse Button would not work correctly after having the player Attack Move.
Fixed an issue where buildings were being constructed rotated by 180 degrees.
Fixed an issue where Ballista Towers were not aiming at enemies when firing.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect tier of Nightmares could spawn in the outer perimeter of the map within Survival.
Fixed an issue where the Mini-Map would not update vision as the player explores.
Fixed an issue where the Gameplay Tips button would not function properly.
Fixed an issue where the game could lose functionality when a Gameplay Tip appeared on screen.
Fixed an issue where the player would still see a Gold Quarry Income bar when they had no Gold Quarries active.
Fixed an issue where the maths for the Earning / Upkeep of Food could be incorrectly calculated.
Fixed an issue where the player’s units would disappear from the Unit Count in the top left of the screen if garrisoned in a Tower.
Fixed an issue where the Death Night Horde would stop before reaching the player’s Keep in Survival.
Fixed an issue where the game could soft-lock after winning the Final Stand.
Fixed an issue where the Burster’s VFX would not display in Survival.
Fixed an issue where being defeated in Survival would not trigger the Keep Destruction Animation.
Fixed several instances where Hero Ability VFX would remain on the ground after being cast.
Fixed an issue where UI elements were not displaying correctly on the 1280x1024 resolution.
Fixed several instances of missing Localisation.
Fixed several instances of Crash Analytics not being reported correctly.
Fixed instances where gates would not function as intended.
Known Issues
We have observed an issue with Death Night Swarming pathing not following the lightning path all the time. This will be fixed in a subsequent update.
Potential for the game to soft lock during the Final Stand in Survival.
We have observed an issue that in rare cases the game will not end after defeating the Final Stand in Survival. This will be fixed in a subsequent update.
If the player attempts to load a Campaign save file made in v0.9.0 within the roll-back version of v0.8.4 this may cause the save file to corrupt at worst, or a host of unintended Campaign related issues if it does in fact load.
Allowing the Keep to be destroyed in the Mission 1 ‘Protect Village’ Objective and then loading the autosave will cause the title to soft lock, please use a Manual Save in this instance.
Control Groups will be reset during Cutscenes. These will have to be manually re-added post in-game cutscene.
Hero Level and XP does not carry over from Mission 3 to Mission 4.
In Mission 7, the Playable Hero’s Third ability may not consistently deal the correct amount of damage.
Mission 7 starts with an increased amount of repairs due to walls not starting at correct health.
Some VO lines within Campaign will still contain temp VO. These will be removed within subsequent updates.
Some VO lines can be accompanied with the incorrect Character Dialogue Portrait.
If the player manages to skip a cutscene using unintended debug functionality this may cause unintended Mission behaviour or crashes. This will be fixed in the next update.
Saving and loading back into a mission may create strange behaviour such as seeing Campaign triggers, gaining vision or possession over buildings or units, or in-game mission timers not working correctly.
Enemy archers ejected from destroyed towers may become invisible and will continue to attack player units.
Fishing Nets display grey squares when ready to collect.
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.
Continue the journey from our last entry as we learn more about the history of Erodar and its ongoing tensions, glorious triumphs, bitter failure, haughty greed and noble sacrifice – along with its heroic struggles against the unrelenting Nightmares of The Veil.
THE ELOSAN WARS - PART 2
In an effort to secure more secret Elosan technologies and blood rites for himself, Ezekiel bargained with the Elosan lords, offering resources, crafts, weapons – even human slaves. The Elosa rejected them all. Nothing could be done to sway the Elosa to give up more sacred knowledge.
Increasingly frustrated by what he perceived to be a slight against humanity and an undermining of his own sovereign authority, Ezekiel began to quietly amass weapons of war, training conscripted soldiers from across Erodar in secret in a vicious attempt to usurp the Elosan power structure.
A bloody and prolonged war ensued, plagued by indiscriminate waves of Nightmares that spewed forth from the Veil. Amidst the chaos of battle, Dark Crystals fell into disrepair – and through this neglect, Nightmares took hold once more. Fighting against enemies that vastly outnumbered his army, once more King Ezekiel was humbled in the face of superior Elosan technology and strategy.
The Elosan rulers captured Ezekiel, dragging him in chains to the abyss in the desolate lands of Erodar’s Northeast. It was here that Ezekiel was cast down into The Veil. The fissure was sealed, along with Ezekiel’s fate.
Rather than quelling the ongoing war with Ezekiel’s defeat, the King’s fanatical loyalists were incensed by the death of their leader. The Elosa were wise and powerful, to be sure – but humans were low, cunning and desperate to prevail.
War ravaged Erodar. Human soldiers from far shores and distant lands joined forces to push back the duplicitous Elosa in a final climactic battle that would spell the ultimate downfall of the Elosa and the end of their bloodlines.
From the ashes of the Elosan empire, The Order was formed; Brothers and Sisters were enlisted based on strength and aptitude. Order acolytes were trained to maintain public peace in a post-war land – and do what little they could to repair the Dark Crystals that remained. Without the Elosa, it soon became clear that such repairs were temporary at best. Certain teachings and techniques had gone to dust with the Elosa themselves, despite the late King Ezekiel’s best efforts.
Many thousands of years later, Elosan ruins still dot the landscape, but stories of the Elosa are treated as little more than a creation myth. However, one thing is clear: much sacred Elosan knowledge was lost in the aftermath of the Elosan wars, never to surface again.
Today, the Alderin Empire rule much of Erodar, despite the pressing threat of Nightmares, alongside competing Houses and other factions. Now there are whispers that brush across tongues beside hearthfires and in the halls of power. Dark times bring dark thoughts; without the Elosa, can humanity put an end to the Nightmares of The Veil.
WARDEN OF THE LIGHT
In the Prologue cinematic trailer, we are met with the commanding voice of Bishop Hector Greymont.
Hector sought out orphans to shape into initiates and teach them the ways of The Order. He would assign them under the guidance of one of his prestigious Order Knights to further develop their skills and knowledge. Once they were trained and had come of age, they would continue their studies and fill one of the many Order postings. Under this initiative, Hector has developed a new generation to serve and protect The Order.
As the esteemed Bishop of The Order, Hector’s influence dwindles as his morals and the values of The Order are called into question.
THE BATTLE FOR ERIN’S CROSSING
In previous blog entries, the relationship between Edwin and Aelis as teacher and protege has been hinted at, so let us tell you a story of how they came to be in each other's lives.
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The Battle for Erin’s Crossing is where the fall of the Syren empire transpired. At that time, Sir Edwin Everard was sent by The Order to be a part of the Syren King’s Guard, to help fend off impeding forces from the Alderin Empire’s tactical warriors – The Aldegard.
The loss of the Syren’s power would disrupt the balance of power for the entire continent and beyond…
Edwin and the King’s Guard were preparing their defences for the Aldegard to strike, in hopes that they would gain the upper hand. In a desperate attempt to gain the element of surprise, Edwin gathered his own troops to stage a strategic attack. Among his company was his Squire, the youngest Princess, Aelis Syren.
In the heat of battle, the Princess was critically injured. Presumed dead, Edwin reluctantly left her behind. With the fall of House Syren, the Alderin Empire claimed all their lands and people.
After the devastating loss of Erin’s Crossing, Edwin was recalled to High Keep – where he was given the news that there were no surviving heirs to the Syren throne. The loss of Aelis felt like a dagger to the heart for Edwin, he felt a strong paternal bond for her, now carrying the guilt of her death around with him…
A new age was beginning, House Alderin had won the battle for power and began ruling with an iron fist.
Aelis’ apparent death created a sense of longing and emptiness in Edwin..
FOR THE LIGHT?
As the world spirals deeper into darkness, the lines of morality are blurred. Navigate the darkness of Erodar for yourselves, on April 19th, and see how the story unfolds in Flames of Retribution.
Please report bugs or crashes 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.
