Hello everyone - it has been a hell of a week, with our first community roundup and 3 patches culminating in Wednesdays first 'Large' update, and as we've hinted at a few times now there is PLENTY more to come, and reasons to be excited about the future of Bulwark.
Today I'd like to share with you the currently planned roadmap for what we are going to add to the game, spanning at very least the next year of development, before we begin though, a little look at the launch and what Bulwark means for me.
I have dedicated three years of my life to 'Bulwark,' and it is the incredible support of this community from the announcement, all the way through the evolving demo that has fuelled my journey every step of the way. The launch has surpassed my expectations, and I am delighted to pledge my commitment to furthering my work with Wired Productions on the game, inspired by the passion of you. My journey has been shaped by the collaborative spirit of our players, whose feedback and aspirations have guided the evolution of the game – it has been a spectacular launch, and we’re only just getting started.
So let's take a look at the Roadmap, and I'll break down what is included in the first two months in a little more detail :
The first two updates consist of feedback and requests from the community on launch for more ways to interact with the game world and its inhabitants, as well as providing additional challenges and combat scenarios for players to tackle - let's take a look at what is coming this month!
April - Trade, Tribute and Spoils Update
An update that allows players additional ways to secure and spend resources and interact with settlements in the Ursee which includes :
3 new captains Specialised in trading with other factions and then providing buffs on the output.
3 new diplomacy events.
Request Tribute (angry factions will reduce their unrest if you pay tribute)
Demand Tribute (a peace offering but at a price for the settlement)
Offer Tribute (a peace offering to other settlements)
Spoils After each victorious combat or certain world encounters players will receive spoils . Spoils are collected in the inventory and can be used to make a new extractor or repair your battlegroup. Spoils may also be gained from certain world events.
This is likely to be be released towards the end of the month, not pinning a specific date yet (after all, still plenty of patches and bug fixing and feedback to process too!) But as soon as I can see a suitable lock in date - you'll be the first to know.
Following this, we'll look at giving you some more challenges in May, and some new ways to tackle them...
May - Naval Command Update
The Naval Command Update adds the ability to create an independent naval task force of battleships and give it a destination independently of your surveyor taskforce - whilst also allowing players to declare a 'Total War' scenario.
The central core of this is a unique harbour, the Naval Command harbour to which you can assign up to three combat captains who will execute on your orders - it includes :
1 unique harbour The Naval Command HQ, that comes with mechanics to set a destination for your naval task force.
4 new carrier ships These come equipped with their own aerial escorts to protect the Naval task force from threats.
3 new naval events
Blockade (factions with high unrest might blockade an area near you, restricting access to trade routes.
Naval Fortress (an enemy takes up a fortified location at a strategic location)
Naval Manoeuvres (an enemy fleet takes up station at a strategic location)
Total War Scenario All out war comes to the Ursee, everyone is hostile, diplomacy holds no sway here - shore up your defences - utilise you new naval task force and attempt to strategically take out blockades, fortresses and raids as you attempt to expand your settlements.
The Future
This is only just the start of the continuing evolution of Bulwark, some of these concepts born from your feedback and requests, some of it long term additions that I've wanted to add to the game for a while. Whilst I'd love to break down every single update on the list (and show you the rest!) I feel like it's always fun to have a couple of unanswered questions on the horizon. What is a Mad Lector? What kind of modding will be supported? (This ones a bigger question I'm still figuring out at the moment, more on that later).
Don't take this as the ONLY updates coming though - as I'm sure you're all aware of with Bulwark - both with my own way of working and coming up with ideas, and of course interpreting your feedback, there is always the chance that other things not mentioned now could find their way into life!
Anyway - that's all for now, please keep your reviews and suggestions and feedback coming - tell your friends about the game and share your creations, and I'll be confirming the date for the first update on the roadmap very soon.
Bye!
Bulwark Community Roundup 1
Hello Surveyors!
It has been 9 days already since you began to build your settlements in the Great Ursee, and we've been taking your bug reports and getting some early patches in (the latest which went life yesterday if you missed it ) and making notes about what you like about the game, and what you would think would make it even better (More on this INCREDIBLY soon)
We've also been keeping an eye on all of your creations too, from epic map spanning constructions set to Daft Punk, to wallpaper worthy screenshots (and would you believe one particularly pacifist minded discord user even modded the game to allow all commanders to have a neutral allegiance, essentially unifying the Great Ursee).
It's been overwhelming seeing everyone fall in love with the Chaotic Creativity of Bulwark, so we've collected some of the things that have made us laugh, smile and applaud at your efforts.
Around The Wor... Ursee
Youtuber 'FearTheViking', asked the question nobody else thought to pose (except one INCREDIBLY dedicated QA member here during development), "What if I built in one continuous structure across the entirety of the map?"
The results speak for themselves, with a long chain of bridges linking the two furthest landmarks on the map, and crossing the mighty maw itself - interrupted with suitable clustered settlements on anything that would house a population - all synched to the head bopping beats of Daft Punk and (thankfully) sped up.
Cheers for your efforts Viking, (and for the earworm)
Let's do the Time Lapse again
One of the most satisfying features in Bulwark (besides, y'know - watching the little towers get LARGE) is the time lapse feature you can use in photo mode - and seeing creator 'MaddMilliner' discover it for themselves live was a joy unto itself.
Also, this is totally your reminder to go and do this on your biggest creations for that good Dopamine!
Peace Out
The Ursee is a tough and at times downright hostile place to try and rebuild a population. But that doesn't mean there aren't moments of peace to be found amongst the strife! If you've found yourself calmly watching a giant whale breaking the waves during sunset as the clouds disperse and your tower flags billow gently in the wind - then you'll know what we mean!
Creator 'Dracsfantastic' certainly understood the assignment, and after a lengthy first lets play session stream they took it upon themselves to put a little short together celebrating the peaceful moments between all the raiding parties and resource gathering.
Worth a Thousand Words
You know what they say about pictures - you should take them as often as possible and share them where we can see them on our socials! The photo mode built into Bulwark allows for some spectacular shots (especially when you can control the pass age of time, time of day, depth and all those other fun little things).
We've collected a handful of shots here taken from virtual photographers and hobbyist gamers from Tomas home in the Netherlands, China, and all over the rest of the world for your viewing pleasure.
Alright, that's enough for now - but PLEASE continue to submit your creations at our socials or discords all over the internet, we are watching and want to share your passion and creativity with the world - and please remember to drop a follow on any of the linked channels and creator accounts tagged above to let them know you appreciate their efforts as much as we do!
We'll be gathering and sharing these community round ups regularly as we find your creations - so whether it's fan art, live streams, clips from streams using the twitch integration, screenshots, impressive builds / artistic shots - or simply a youtube video sharing your own unique settlement - be sure to upload and tag us across the internet where possible on the links below.
As Tomas hinted at in yesterdays patch notes, there's plenty of reason to be very excited about the future of Bulwark, which we'll share very soon - but until then - thank you for a fantastic launch week! We can't wait to see what you do next :)
Our publisher Wired Productions is attending today's Debug Indie Games Awards 2024 where Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is nominated in the most anticipated category.
We are delighted to be attending the Debug Indie Games Awards 2024 and you may even spot us as the awards ceremony, Hosted by Trista Bytes ( https://twitter.com/TristaBytes ) is being streamed live on YouTube.
You can watch the event from 9pm on Friday the 2nd here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/-RomSWbAPF0?si=2TilwIn8u1gIzCUX Debug magazine is a brand-new publication focused exclusively on indie games and we have been fortunate enough to have 3 games nominated over the various categories.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles nominated in the most anticipated category.
The Last Worker has a stunning 5 nominations with: - Award for Mental Health - Best Art Direction - Best Narrative - Best VR Game - Physical Release for the Year
@INFO: We will update the news once we know who wins!
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles PC & consoles demo is now live!
Surveyors!
The Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles Demo is now LIVE on PC, Xbox and soon will be available on PlayStation! You can cast your net far and wide on the mysterious waters of the Great Ursee, as the Demo gives you the best overview and taste of gameplay for the upcoming open-world builder, releasing on the 26th of March.
The demo allows you to capture your favorite moments from the game thanks to added Photo Mode. You can stop the game, change the camera angle, set a day or night cycle to get atmospheric lighting, or even replay your builds to show off your creations.
Watch the Photo Mode trailer: Since Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is all about creativity and the stories you can experience and tell, we have a contest for you! We are giving one lucky creator the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be in the game and become a non-playable character, in-game, based on their name and likeness, and become part of the Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles lore forever.
We want you to create your own short "mini-film" or photo sequence within Bulwark, using the environment, units, structures, and characters. Show us how creative you are! All entries (one per person) must be submitted via X/Twitter using the hashtag #MyBulwarkLegacy. Feel free to tag Wired Productions (@WiredP) in your posts too, so we can share your art!
Play the demo and wishlist the game here: Steam Epic GOG Xbox PlayStation - demo and pre-order available soon!
Ye be wantin’ to know more about the Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles demo that is joinin’ the Pirates & Ninjas Fest on Steam, eh? Well, shiver me timbers, I’ve got some news for ye. 🏴☠️
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a game that lets ye build yer own pirate fortress in a vast and fantastical ocean world. Ye can explore the cliffs and waters, scavenge resources, trade with other factions, and wage war upon yer enemies. Ye can also fly yer own airship or giant warbird and engage in aerial combat with other ships. It’s a game of freedom and expression, where ye can create anything ye can imagine. 🌊
But that’s not all. The demo has been updated with some new features and improvements that make it even more fun and exciting. Here are some of them:
A political system that monitors which refugees ye bring into yer settlement and how they affect the balance of factions in yer settlement.
A dominant faction that in turn will allow more advanced captains and commanders of that faction to join ye.
Enroll aggressive Faction Leaders that unlock even more new building options and vehicles as well as inciting raids and combat encounters.
The introduction of new captains and combat captains with their own set of perks.
A campaign option to skip the tutorial and dive right into the action (for hardcore players).
New random events and encounters (Including Pirate Skullship Captains!).
An increased range for buildings to snap, allowing for larger sprawling constructions.
So what are ye waitin’ for? Go ahead and wishlist Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles on Steam now and get ready for launch on March 26th. Ye’ll get to try out the demo for free and see what adventures await ye in this pirate paradise.
Arrr! ⛵
Play Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles demo & wishlist the game now!
Carve your legacy in Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles releasing on March 26th 2024!
We, as publisher Wired Productions, are excited, with award-winning, solo developer, Tomas Sala, to reveal that the highly anticipated Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles will be arriving on PC, Xbox Series One and X|S and PlayStation 4 and 5 on March 26, 2024! In addition, a multiplatform demo across the same platforms will be available from January 30 – giving console players their first chance to see the game in action!
In the demo, you will be able to play with one complete scenario designed to show the ropes of Bulwark. Your settlements can grow to up to 15 buildings, while later-stage gameplay elements such as Wonder, Leaders and a variety of factions, will only be available at launch.
Wishlist the game today to get notified when the demo will anchor to Steam!
One of the most anticipated strategy games of the year and sequel to the beloved Falconeer, Bulwark is shaping up to be a defining title within the genre. You will be able to sample strategy, alliances, city building and so much more on January 30 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, ahead of the game’s full release on March 26, 2024.
Check out the console reveal trailer to see what Bulwark has to offer:
Learn more about Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles and The Falconeer universe by visiting thefalconeer.com and following the game on X/Twitter and its creator himself, Tomas Sala on X/Twitter to see some behind-the-scenes updates!
Check out also brand-new screens from the game!
Bulwark Nominated for Most Anticipated Game!
Good afternoon Surveyors - hope you've had a stress free start to 2024!
It's been pretty exciting round these parts, as Tomas moves through the late stages of development and gets to adding / finishing a lot of the features he hinted at in his blog at the start of the month (more on these soon, lots of HOT things to talk about in depth with you)
Debugging you for a second
On top of that however, this week the fine folks at Debug (connoisseurs and evangelists of all things Indie!) announced their 2024 Indie awards - and Bulwark was nominated in their 'Most Anticipated' category!
There are some amazing indies in every category that definitely deserve your awareness and attention - so be sure to go through and check them out and cast your votes (did we mention we kind of think indies are a big deal and you are superstars for supporting them? thanks!) - but if each of you could share your enthusiasm for Bulwark and get a shiny new award for us to stick on the Bulwark Steam page, Tomas would be overjoyed!
Debug aren't the only ones keeping their eyes firmly on Bulwarks sheer cliffs and mesmerizing oceans however - with the folks at PCGamer listing Bulwark alongside their most anticipated building games of 2024.
The article is great, and features some bigger games you're probably aware of, and one or two others that might tickle that building itch whilst you wait to build your bulwark, such as frostpunk 2 and kaiserpunk (lot of punk names in there... maybe we need to give the advisor a mohawk and rebrand as Bulwarkpunk?)
Right, that's the chest beating out of the way. Again, thank you for any and all votes you cast for us. I thought we'd wrap up with a little update on timelines and things to come.
Obviously you should all be following Tomas' social account on Twitter (not quite ready to call it X yet) to stay at the bleeding edge of the latest developments and ideas and additions as they fall from his brain onto his dev machine - but for those of you that aren't socially inclined - cast your eyes on his previous blog for the latest implementations that have been added since the end of the Evolving demo.
Whilst I'm not going to 100% drop the date just now - I'm happy to confirm that this month we'll be bringing the demo BACK - in a non-evolving form, with a ton of new features mentioned in that blog included.
The plan is for this demo to be THE demo, non-evolving - with no feature restrictions beyond building count (to control how far you can progress), left live from now all the way to launch and beyond. Naturally with the fact we announced Bulwark coming to Xbox and PlayStation, the demo will also be playable on these systems, allowing you to paint the landscape from your couch if that's how you prefer.
We'll be planning some talk throughs of the new features in the coming weeks to educate you in advance of how to make the most of your time with the new updated demo - as well as getting some competitions out there to encourage you all to get your creative side out and share the glory of Bulwark with the wider world - but for now, standby, be excited for a new demo and some VERY hot announcements off the back of it (someone say release date?),and thank you all for your support so far.
Right - that's gonna do it for now, have another nice new shiny screenshot as a thank you for making it this far, and don't forget to drop a wishlist if you haven't already - you'll secure a PWERFUL dreadnot naval unit to guard your waters - and of course, help the Steam algorithm gods spread the word of Bulwark far and wide.
Glad to close the book on this year, I have hopes for this new one. But if you need a virtual castle to hide away in, I'll have that for you in 2024.
Also I have been working very hard on the game and there are a ton of new features I want to talk to you about and with some luck the next few months or even weeks will be full of that. For now I'm still working on the final bits.
But hopefully we'll get to talk about :
Dangerous traderoutes
Resource depletion
Soultrees and commander/captain unlocking
inventory screens
Unit and surveyor experience
4 different surveyors
trade with faction settlements
war with other factions
Wonders!, Giant turtles, mawsprings and more!
An entire new additional set of command tower foundations
An entire new additional set of command tower balconies.
New encounters and tradesfolk that enhance your settlement with statues, taverns and shops.
New unique buildings!
All the other stuff I forget while I'm typing this.
Very soon in '24, as soon as I catch a breath (or the folks at Wired Productions start prodding me) I'll be back here to discuss all the work that's been done.
'24 is going to be the year for Bulwark, Exciting times! Have a good one and stay safe! Tomas Sala
Wired Steam Winter Sale 2023! ⛄
Our publisher Wired Productions is having a Winter Sale.
It's beginning to look a lot like... playtime! 🎮
There is something special in long, cold, frosty nights. Wrapped up in blankets next to a roaring fire. Winter is ✨magic✨, isn't it?
And ✨magic✨ simply fills our games! Enjoy the seasonal fun with Wired Steam Winter Sale 2023 and grab one of our Indie games, with up to an enormous 85% off!
Try Tin Hearts, the most cosy & Christmas game probably ever made. Now with 'Play Hard' free upgrade which contains Tin McClaine soldier skin! So if you really want to feel slow life vibes and winter spirit, this is literally ‘Die Hard’ of gaming. 🎅 Play now!
👇 Or simply explore the sale page to look at the all discounted games: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/WIRED/sale/wiredwintersale2023
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles Preview Round-up!
Yesterday we were thrilled to confirm that Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is coming to PlayStation and Xbox in 2024 with a trailer that unveiled brand-new gameplay features for the city-builder sequel to The Falconeer.
In case you missed it, you can watch the Platform Reveal Trailer Here:
Alongside this announcement, previews for Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles went live yesterday! Discovering the open world builder with freedom and expression at its core, here's a round-up of how they've found the game so far:
"A casual, easy-to-understand game that anyone can have a good time with, complete with addicting building mechanics and The Falconeer's gorgeous stylized art direction." - Windows Central
"Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is shaping up nicely, offering an abundance of creative and explorative freedom" said God Is A Geek, describing the game as "a rewarding experience".
"Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a very satisfying building game, a genre-bending experience that fans of both strategy games and builders will easily get obsessed with" - Niche Gamer
"It’s a unique take on the city-builder genre that prioritizes expansion over resource management" Said What If Gaming, describing the presentation as "excellent".
Don't forget to wishlist on Steam and PlayStation and be sure to follow the journey from idea to fully released game today!
