[p]This release adds Controller Support for the first time. The game should be playable with most controllers, although it might still receive further improvements. In addition, I am waiting for a Steamdeck to arrive, because I want the game to be fully optimized for this device.[/p][p][/p][p]While this update was beta-tested during the last weeks, I've been working on a new dungeon that concludes the main quest chapter II. That upcoming release should be out in a few weeks, and will be labeled as 0.9. At the same time, I'll publish and updated roadmap for the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Dual Wielding: You can now have characters specialized in fighting with two weapons. Ruffians will receive the 'Dual Wielding' Talent automatically as part of the career, but others can get it as an Open Talent, and then improve with the rest of the talents added. [/p][p][/p][p]In short: when you have this talent, you can select to attack with the main weapon, offhand weapon, or a 'dual attack' with both. This dual attack has a discount of 1AP, compared to attacking with each weapon. For instance, attacking with two daggers costs 5AP. Eventually the dual attack can be improved greatly with further talents.[/p][p][/p][p]Here is the complete changelog.[/p][p][/p]
Features & Improvements
[p]Added controller support. A few minor game functions may still not be available. If your controller is not autodetected by the game as XBox/PS/Nintendo, you'll have to set its type in the settings>input menu.[/p]
[p]Added dual-wielding combat for characters. Anyone can equip a light weapon on the offhand, which will receive a -20/-2 penalty, but to attack with both weapons a character needs to acquire specific Talents.[/p]
[p]Four new dual-wield related Open Talents added, starting with 'Dual Wielding' which enables 'Dual attack', and others that improve the attack and defense of the character.[/p]
[p]Ruffian career now has 'Dual Wielding' as its level 2 talent, instead of Dodge Expert. This change is applied to existing characters.[/p]
[p]New music tracks for Irampor Ruins, Port Galeb(night), and character creation(will begin after the 'main title' if you are creating characters).[/p]
[p]The following items are now stackable: Ironwood, Mirmek Carapace, Minotaur Horn, Preserved Skull, Mercian Silk. In addition, broken weapons and armor have increased stack size to 20.[/p]
[p]Added support for 3840 x 1080 ultrawide resolution.[/p]
Content adjustments & Balance
[p]Companions joining (or returning to) your party will now have a minimum XP equal to 75% of your less experienced party member, or 50% if the companion has the 'Unwilling Adventurer' negative talent.[/p]
[p]If you have failed other skill checks, you can still obtain certain information from Phadabar's innkeeper by paying him gold. You're not supposed to be locked out of the main quest by failing a check![/p]
[p]Ethereal creatures are now immune to stun, poison, prone and paralysis effects.[/p]
[p]Lifeless creatures now reduce any stun effect power by 3, instead of by 2.[/p]
Bug Fixes
[p]Fixed a visual glitch that could cause transparent materials such as water to shift as you move the camera (on lower graphic settings)[/p]
[p]Certain chest pop-up in Phadabar's warehouse has been fixed, this time for real![/p]
[p]There was a minor issue with random numbers generated for brittle weapons, Lesser Remedy spell and Acid Blood (random values were slightly lower than described). Solved.[/p]
[p]No item can be purchased for less than 1 gold, as intended.[/p]
[p][/p]
Controller support is in Beta
[p]After several weeks of hard work, the latest beta update 0.8.6 includes controller support for 99% of game functionality. There's wtill a few minor things (such as typing a character's name) which still require a keyboard, but I'll implement them soon.[/p][p][/p][p]Our Beta is open, so you can join it anytime and try it for yourself. Since I am not an expert at controller gameplay, any feedback is welcome.[/p][p][/p][p]This new Beta includes a few other interesting features and bugfixes. Here is the full changelog:[/p][p][/p]
Features & Improvements
[p]• Added controller support! a few minor game functions may still not be available. If your controller is not autodetected by the game as XBox/PS/Nintendo, you'll have to set its type in the settings>input menu.[/p][p]• Added support for 3840 x 1080 ultrawide resolution.[/p][p]• New music track in Irampor Ruins.[/p][p][/p]
Content adjustments & Balance
[p]• Companions joining (or returning to) your party will now have a minimum XP equal to 75% of your less experienced party member, or 50% if the companion has the 'Unwilling Adventurer' negative talent.[/p][p]• If you have failed other skill checks, you can still obtain certain information from Phadabar's innkeeper by paying him gold. You're not supposed to be locked out of the main quest by failing a check![/p][p]• Ethereal creatures are now immune to stun, poison, prone and paralysis effects.[/p][p]• Lifeless creatures now reduce any stun effect power by 3, instead of by 2.[/p][p][/p]
Bug Fixes
[p]• Fixed a visual glitch that could cause transparent materials such as water to shift as you move the camera (on lower graphic settings)[/p][p]• Certain chest pop-up in Phadabar's warehouse has been fixed, this time for real![/p][p]• There was a minor issue with random numbers generated for brittle weapons, Lesser Remedy spell and Acid Blood (random values were slightly lower than described). Solved.[/p][p]• No item can be purchased for less than 1 gold, as intended.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]
Archaelund on Steam's 'Daily Deal', and more.
This is the deal!
[p][/p][p]Greetings, adventurers! [/p][p][/p][p]Today, Archaelund has been listed on Steam's main page as "Daily Deal", a curated selection of great games offered at the best prices. It is the first time Archaelund goes on sale, and it is a great opportunity to buy it at a price very similar to the original Early Access release price. [/p][p][/p][p]Enough merchant talk, let's talk now about the good things to come.[/p][p][/p]
0.9 Release is around the corner
[p][/p][p]Most of the features listed on the roadmap for 0.9 are already released as of 0.8.5, past month. Only a few things are remaining, and we expect to have them out quickly.[/p][p][/p][p]Controller support is almost ready for the beta, and will likely be available to beta-testers next week, in release 0.8.6. A few weeks later, there should be another update with the conclusion of the main quest chapter 2, and some interesting new features, such as dual-wielding. [/p][p][/p]
Looking at the Horizon: 0.10
[p][/p][p]I can already disclose some news about the next major milestone, version 0.10. It is scheduled for the end of 2025 (estimated!), but it will likely be released in smaller installments; it will enlarge the world significantly, and expand character development through several levels, adding Advanced Careers to the game.[/p][p][/p][p]More importantly, 0.10 will also add detail to the existing areas, including dynamic quests and random encounters, and giving Companions a more active role at dialogues and other interactions. [/p][p][/p][p]Besides this, 0.10 will include localization to various languages, there will be more information about this during the summer. [/p][p][/p][p]If Archaelund's current content includes about 55h of unique gameplay, I expect 0.10 to reach 75-80h. [/p][p][/p][p]If time allows, I might also add some improvements to animations and UI redesign, but it is likely that I choose to delay these until 1.0 release is real close.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]
Update 0.8.5 released
Here's another small release that keeps paving the way for 0.9.
Some love for archers was due, and the new arrows also make the Crafting skill more useful. I am now working on adding dual-wielding and player-usable poisons.
I've begun experimenting with controller support in this update as well. For now, all you can do with a controller is to move and look around in exploration mode (using both sticks), and select objects with the "down" button (A in Xbox, X in PS). There is still no controller settings. But more will come in the next weeks, making the game fully playable with controller very soon.
There were still a couple lingering issues that needed fixing after the last content update. Find below the complete changelog.
Features & Improvements
Arrows implemented. You can still fire unlimited 'normal arrows' that don't show on inventory, but a new slot has been added to equip special arrows with bonuses that have been added to weapon vendors and also as loot.
Added 6 new crafting recipes for arrows.
When you 'browse all talents' from the Character Window, you can now see if the character meets the requirements, just like at level-up. In addition, the search function will also work on talent descriptions, not just titles.
Controller Support implementation has begun; for now it is very limited, allowing the player to move in exploration mode, and select objects (A in Xbox). I'll keep adding functionality and options on each update.
Adjustments & Balance
Talent *Gifted Pupil* now requires the character to be a spellcaster.
Mycora in Urendale are now slightly stronger.
All enemies will slightly increase their resistances per level; stronger creatures such as Helliants or 'named' beasts might get significantly more resistant.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a game 'freeze' that might happen after using Conduits, and in other dialogues that allowed the player to travel.
Fixed a rare crash that could freeze the loading screen when opening certain areas.
Fixed a rare crash that might happen when spells are cast from exploration.
Fixed a chest popup that could appear in Phadabar's basement.
Fixed many minor issues in Harlin Plains and Phadabar.
Certain group of Wild Geldryn in Galeb Peninsula had their detection disabled. Fixed.
There will be at least two more 0.8.x updates before we move into the 0.9.x development arc. They'll arrive relatively quickly since the two large outdoor areas (Urendale and Harlin Plains) are already out. I'll be posting about it soon.
Update 0.8.4 released
The may 1st update provided a lot of new content, but also new spells, talents and even mechanics or special status effects. This update provides further polishing, dealing with a lot of minor issues and raising the XP cap, which was never intended to be reached without 'grinding'.
Adjustments
Raised XP cap to 29,600, to better allow progressing through the new content.
Size of party inventory increased from 64 to 96.
Ethereal type enemies such as ghosts are now immune to 'Root' effects.
Potions of Deep Breath now last 10 rounds instead of 5, its purchase cost has been increased accordingly and the alchemy recipe will now produce one potion, not two.
NPC spellcasters have more willpower now.
Fixes on new content
Potion of Serenity now correctly reduces insanity, not poison.
Ebran will now grant several potions as reward for the 'Expedition to Hell' quest, as intended. This will be applied retroactively if you already completed it.
Solves a dialogue error with Legionaire Gerthe at the inn that could freeze the game.
Fixed a loop in the conversation with Lysael.
If you meet Centurion Goran on the square, you can now talk to him.
The option to conclude the 'Vow to the Fallen' quest at the stone altar will only appear if the quest has been properly initiated by talking to Dondra, and not if you simply looted the amulet without receiving the quest.
Certain door in the Legacy of War quest could be opened too soon, breaking the quest. Fixed.
Added the appropiate collision to certain wall in the Imperial Manor's library.
Fixed Unglar's dialogue to reflect correctly previous events in Urendale.
Solved a potential lock in the dialogue with Molvante.
Several wilderness camps in the Harlin Plains now are less "sensitive" to nearby enemies, the threshold distance was too high.
Solved combat graphical glitches that could appearin the Hall of Justice.
Solved a specific bug in Turkish language related to Greyward Potions.
Bug Fixes
While typing in the new 'search' button, key mappings will be ignored, so you can now search properly without other windows popping.
Amulet of Purification works properly now.
Solves a few 'exploits' related with game-reloading and pausing.
Dying by poisoning or disease was sometimes not correctly setting the dead status on characters, causing multiple issues.
During combat, closed doors will properly block the grid.
Requirements for learning Talents or entering a Career will now only take into account a character's 'natural' value, not including temporary modifiers or item bonuses to traits or proficiencies. Similarly, only temporary INT bonus will affect your maximum spells known.
Enemies that use any kind of teleportation will now remove any 'Root' status, as intended.
Improved the party spawn code to avoid party members to spawn in glitched positions.
Scrollbars on your party inventory and other places in the UI can now be scrolled faster with the mouse wheel.
The mouse tooltip will no longer linger around after hovering the journal or party options button.
Combat hotbuttons now correctly allow to assign items, since their position has been fixed.
The willpower cost of the spell 'Summon Void Spider' has been set to the intended value (19).
Added further checks to avoid dead enemies to stay in "running" animation.
The game can no longer be saved while the party is falling.
There will be at least two more 0.8.x updates before we move into the 0.9.x development arc. They'll arrive relatively quickly since the two large outdoor areas (Urendale and Harlin Plains) are already out. I'll be posting about it soon.
Update 0.8.3 released
After long months of work, update 0.8.3 is available on Steam. This update triples the content compared to the original EA release; playable time is currently 50+ hours.
Again, I must send a big thank you to our Beta Testers, which have navigated all kind of weird bugs through the last week, until the last of them were fixed.
New Content & Character Advancement
Added a new outdoor region to the south of Urendale, with several dungeons to explore.
12 new quests added, raising the total to 46. Chapter two of the main quest can be advanced significantly (but not yet concluded).
Level cap raised to 6! the new XP cap is 24,000.
New Open Talents: Second Skin, Gifted Pupil, Adept Student, Arcane Scholar. There's a total of 46 Open Talents in the game now!
Six new new spells added for the disciplines Conjuration, Gateway, Auspice (available at a vendor in the new area), and also for Order and Malediction (at the Urendale vendors). More spells coming soon.
Performance
Massive performance optimizations. Framerate should increase by around 25-40%.
Added a new option to set more exact framerate limits in Settings. Limit framerate can be used to reduce noise/heat in laptops and other systems.
Added an option to set a separate limit of 60fps in the game's main menu, enabled by default.
Removed quality setting for Sky & Clouds.
Balance
Characters gain 2 extra Skill Points at level 1 of any Career, be it at character creation or when a new Career is entered. The points are gained retroactively.
You can now redistribute your companions' skill points once.
The armor rating and critical defense provided by several pieces of chain and plate armor have been slightly reduced.
Geldryn now drop specific items.
A single Potion of Deep Breath now affects your whole party when consumed. The alchemy ingredients for producing it have been updated.
Summoned creatures will now despawn if their summoner is killed or incapacitated. Certain enemies can now summon creatures!
Mycora melee damage and avoidance(deflection) increased.
The fire vulnerability of certain monsters has been slightly toned down (Druant, Yaksa, Troll).
Gameplay Improvements
Added an option to order your party inventory and stash by item type. More order options will be added in the future.
Quests can now be filtered/searched by text.
Hotbuttons can now be correctly used during combat with keys 0-9.
You can now press 'Y' to delay your combat turn(can be remapped to any key).
Enemies aggro range is now variable, depending on their AWA trait.
Bugfixes
Attacks with 'Armor Piercing' were not correctly applying it. Solved.
Enemies with shields were in most cases not applying its avoidance bonuses. Beware, they may be harder to hit now, flanking them may be essential.
Unseal spells will now properly trigger traps in chests.
Charming an enemy with talents such as "Pack Leader" or "Petty Lord" will now remove the bonus he granted to its followers.
Fixed the 'Pink People' Bug in Port Galeb.
Solved an issue that could make most of the game UI texts to go blank, related to the pop up of tutorial windows.
'Minimal' quality settings should no longer cause strange displacement artifacts with combat grid.
Potion of Deep Breath didn't work correctly when a character drank it while already drowning. Fixed.
Potions capable of recovering willpower will now work correctly.
Fixed a visual glitch that allowed to briefly see enemies in other rooms when a battle started.
Essence of Darkness will now restore willpower as expected.
The game will no longer autosave during dialogues that teleport you, such as with conduits or mages, to prevent issues.
Screen resolution will no longer reset itself to the highest supported by the system each time the game starts.
Fixed a visual glitch that could cause dead enemies to remain 'running in place'.
Flammata Leaves description now correctly states it grants +1 Spellpower, not +2.
The 'Dodge' description on character window was not showing a correct calculation; fixed.
Fixed many minor map issues in Urendale and Galeb Peninsula.
Fixed dozens of small text issues with dialogues, such as typos or minor inconsistencies.
Pricing update
Following my policy of being transparent about the game pricing, I wish to announce a base price increase since May 3rd, going from $19.99 to $24.99 (may vary with different currencies/regions)
Of course this doesn't affect people already owning the game.
From now on, you might find Archaelund participating in Steam sales, but never with a discount that puts the price below the EA launch price ($19.99).
On the horizon
The milestones leading to 0.9 are mostly done with the two large outdoor areas released (one in november, one now), but we're not there yet. The finish line is the conclusion of the chapter 2 of the Main Quest, but also new functionalities such as dual wielding, crossbows, poisons, maybe new careers and character creation options.
The good news is these new additions will come in smaller, more frequent updates! Expect news soon.
Beta Update 0.8.3 is now available for testers
I'm excited to announce the next major update is already available for Beta Testers, and very soon will be released for everyone.
You can now travel south of Urendale, where you can explore a new town and complete 12 new quests. In addition the level cap has been raised to 6, and massive performance optimizations were added.
The complete changelog can be found here, in the steam forum Beta discussion. In the same post you can see instructions on how to join the Beta, everyone owning the game can join and start playing right away if they wish.
Please report any issues by replying to that same thread, if possible. In the same post you can find useful info about where to find log files.
Please keep a copy of your saves prior to the Beta, in case something goes wrong. I've been very careful and tested everything myself, but the update is huge and has tons of dialogue, some of it with complex scripted logic attached, and I am bound to make mistakes here and there.
Other than the new content, I'd like to comment on the optimized code, which should increase framerate by over 30% with zero sacrifices on visuals. This makes the game accessible for older systems, with is something I feel it's important. In the future I'll focus on improving loading times, which I know are longer than they should.
Thanks everyone for the patience, I can't wait to see what you think of the new content.
A few details about next update
Hello everyone!
In my last news post back in december I estimated update 0.8.3 would be released in late February at the earliest, and things are going as expected. All the new scenery is 95% ready (and that has been a huge amount of work). Coding required for this update is nearly done as well, including the QoL improvements, new level cap and other stuff.
What remains to be done, then? writing dialogues, journal entries, planning and rigging encounters, and also implementing a few new effects and powers is, roughly, halfway done. Then doing internal testing of it all, and doing a full revision and adjustment of the new stuff. If nothing weird happens, a Beta will be out by late february or early march. If there's a delay, it shouldn't be significant.
Here is a provisional list of what will be included in 0.8.3.
-New outdoor region, plus several dungeons. -Level cap raised to 6, new Rank III spells added. -Balance adjustment: Characters gain 2 Skill Points at level 1 of any Career, be it at character creation or when a new Career is entered. The points are gained retroactively. -You can now redistribute your companions' skill points once. -A single Potion of Deep Breath now affects your whole party when consumed. The alchemy ingredients for producing it have been updated. -Added an option to order your party inventory and stash by item type. -Quests can now be filtered/searched by text. -Hotbuttons can now be correctly used during combat with keys 0-9. -You can now press 'Y' to delay your combat turn(can be remapped to any key). -Added a new option to set more exact framerate limits in Settings.
This only includes the main items on the list, because a dozen bugfixes have been included, as well as many minor balance adjustments.
It's important to remember that I take my time when writing, and I often rewrite dialogues or entire quests from scratch. That's why there's a little uncertainty in how long it'll take.
Can't wait to release all the cool new stuff. See you in the forums!
-- David
Merry Christmas and happy 2025 to everyone!
Hello everyone! I’d like to wish you all a joyful holiday season and an incredible New Year.
It’s been a while since the last update, 0.8.2, in November, and I haven’t been very active in the community since then. The reason? I’ve been working nonstop on the next big update! Once more, it's a big one that can't be released in small installments. While I’d hoped to deliver it as a Christmas surprise or in celebration of the Early Access anniversary this January, it’s definitely going to take longer; at least until late February.
Here are my main development goals for 2025:
Release Update 0.8.3: This will introduce a new map area, an increased level cap, and many QoL improvements (like inventory sorting, quest search filtering, and more). Similar to the previous map expansion, some areas and dungeons will remain inaccessible for now.
Reaching Version 0.9: Targeting a spring release, this update will bring the conclusion of the second main quest chapter, open some inaccessible dungeons, and gameplay improvements like dual wielding and new careers.
Second Half of 2025: updates will expand the playable area further, increase the level cap, and add a new main quest chapter. Alongside this, I’ll work on making the world more dynamic and alive, polishing graphics and animations, and introducing other improvements to elevate the game.
That’s the plan! Of course, these goals are subject to change, but you already know that. I deeply appreciate your patience and support; it means the world to me.
Here’s to another fantastic year of adventuring together!
-- David
Update 0.8.2 released
Thanks to the amazing Beta-Testers, a number of reported issues has been fixed through the last weeks. Some of these were old bugs present since the january release, but most were specific from the major update 0.8.1.
There's also a few adjustments and improvements related to poison status, and other minor changes.
Encounters will now correctly aggro all the creatures as intended, even if they are split.
Poison is now a bit easier to resist. Failing Vitality check by less than 25, will reduce poison power by 1. A successful check will reduce the poison by 2+, depending on the success margin.
Party members dying in combat by poison or other slow-damage effect, will now correctly receive wounds as per selected difficulty.
Poison resistance is now reported in your console, so you can see your chances and dice rolls and their effect.
When camping in the wilds, poison will now take effect and hurt characters until resisted. Vitality checks while at camp will receive a +25 bonus.
In certain dialogue (gate sergeant) you could try to attack and deal damage to the NPC, and it was not correctly applied.
Disease is now properly cured at the temples.
Solved a crash or game lock that could happen when you entered an area and immediately aggroed enemies. Could happen when getting out of Emerrand Fortress.
Hitting ESC while a mouse tooltip is being displayed could in some cases make the tooltip linger during exploration. Fixed.
Certain NPC in the quarry was supposed to give a 'warning' before aggroing, but it wasn't working as intended. Fixed.
Solved some aggro distance issues in the quarry final fight.
During 'Owed in Blood' quest, some NPCs were not supposed to keep spawning in the fortress' throne room after talking to them. Solved.
During 'Wild Ones' quest, finding the camp before talking to the captain could lock out certain dialogue options with a NPC in town. Fixed.
The battle grid was not correctly generated in the stairs leading into the fortress.
Several typos and odd special characters fixed in dialogues and journal entries.
Some containers in Medrin Forest had an empty name.
I am already working on the next areas to be released. Thanks everyone for the amazing feedback and reviews; it is a great contribution to the game.
