Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Dev.Play 2022 – First Dwarf named the best game of the conference
Dear Mages!
Dev.Play is a yearly celebration of indie games and their developers. Game creators from all over the world come to Bucharest to present their titles and experiences. The event ended on Tuesday with an award gala. First Dwarf received 3 awards, including for the Best Game of the Show.
First Dwarf won prizes for Best Game of the Show, Best Visuals and Most Popular Game.
Our game is set in an open world that once was a whole planet, but a great war shattered it into drifting islands. Players will step into the shoes of Tru, a scouting engineer in a mech who is tasked to explore unknown lands in search of a new settlement for the fading dwarven civilization. Accompanied by his dear friend, female dragon Ragna, Tru will gather resources, collect mana to fuel and upgrade his mechanical armor, build bases, set up their defenses, and engage in close combat with local fauna to accomplish his mission.
See the full list of Dev.Play 2022 awards:
Best Game of the Show: First Dwarf / Star Drifters
Best Innovation: Liberte / Superstatic Studio
Best Visuals: First Dwarf / Star Drifters
Best Game Design: Bear and Breakfast / Gummy Cat Studio
Most Popular Game First Dwarf / Star Drifters
Outstanding Achievement for the Romanian Gamedev Industry: Mihai Pohonţu / Amber
But wait, before you go, visit the Discord 👾 server of the game and follow Star Drifters 🚀 on FB, Twitter 🐦 and Instagram. 📷
Star Drifters x PGA 2022 🕹️
Salute! 🚀
When we’re writing these words, we’re on our way to Poznań - one of the biggest cities in Poland. At the beginning of every Autumn, MTP Poznań Expo is transformed into the location of one of the largest computer, console, and multimedia entertainment trade show in Central and Eastern Europe…👀
Poznań Game Arena, here we come! 🎮
📅 Save the date: 07-09.10.2022
📍 Booth 23 at Pavilion 7
Be there with us for the whole weekend - from Friday’s morning till Sunday’s evening!
We’re so happy to be a part of it once again. So, without further ado - we would like to invite all of you to…
This year, we’ll be showcasing four games.
First Dwarf, our upcoming Action RPG ⚒️
This will be the first time we’ll be presenting the game in Europe! 💥 We truly can’t wait to see what you guys think about Tru and Ragna. Our team was polishing the build for the last few weeks especially for PGA. In case you missed the info - First Dwarf is our new game expanding the Driftland franchise.
Scorchlands, the adorable city-builder with bird-like characters (they’re actually called Giwis 🐦)
Just a reminder - the demo version of Scorchlands is now up on Steam - we submitted it to Steam Next Fest. Seems like everybody digs the cute Giwis communities. You’ve got to check Scorchlands out! Poznań Game Arena is a great place to do so.
Brewpub Simulator, the game for all pub enjoyers 🍻
Psst… That’s the sound of a beer can being opened. We’re more into taps and craft beers - you will be able to verificate our passion about the golden drink by playing the demo version of Brewpub Simulator! We never showed it to anyone, this will be the first time EVER. We can’t wait for your feedback about this project! 🍺
Lumencraft 🕷️
This is a project that we announced last year - a lot of things happened along the way. The game’s currently in Early Access, what’s more - feel free to download the demo version and see how much stuff was added, tweaked and re-shaped since the start of EA. Lumencraft looks great, runs smoothly, and feels just like we imagine it - it’s a little tricky and spooky. What’s more, if you own a Steam Deck - this is definitely a game you want to try on this handheld.
Oops, looks like we’re already in Poznań. It’s time to set everything before you visit our booth! See you on-site - don’t be shy and come say hi. 👋
Yours truly,
Star Drifters 🚀
First Dwarf ladies & gentlemen! 🍻 We were waiting to long to announce this game
Long time no see? 🤔
Not really. These past few weeks have been extremely busy for us. We announced two new games. You fell in love with Scorchlands 🐦, now it’s time to share with the world the project that we work on for the longest period of time.
First Dwarf is an immersive open world action adventure RPG with base building elements, set in the world of Driftland: The Magic Revival. 🧙♂️
Our new game will tell the story of Tru (the dwarf in a mech you see above) and his best dragon 🐉 friend Ragna (c’mon, you remember her from our previous Driftland games).
At this moment, we’ll not share too much about the game, but we’ve got to share something, right? ✨
Here’s what you need to know at the moment (5 points):
there’s a trailer on IGN’s YouTube channel, watch it here
we’ll be showing First Dwarf on PAX West 2022, starting September 2 (tomorrow);
make sure to check out our Social Media: Facebook, Twitter 🐤, and Instagram 📷, will be posting there some fun stuff;
Main features of First Dwarf: 🍺 Explore the world in mana-powered mechanical armor. Upgrade it to unlock new exciting abilities that will help you with discovering new locations in the vast open world in the clouds. 🍺 Build various structures to defend yourself and to establish a new colony for your people. 🍺 Fight the numerous dangers of the Driftland’s wildlands: barbarian tribes, wild creatures, or natural disasters. Secure the area and make it more hospitable for dwarven settlers. 🍺 Unveil the mysterious secrets of the ancients, while unveiling the story of the hero’s family.
Here’s a nice screenshot from new build:
To unveil the mystery about the gameplay… 🗺️
Game pillars:
crafting (you’ll be controlling a dwarf engineer, not a warrior);
story (with an emphasis on…)
relationship (between Ragna and Tru, between dwarves in a clan, etc.),
exploration + movement + scavenging (the world you’ll be experiencing will be diverse),
freedom of choice (YOUR approach to the game is one of the most important aspects of us during the creation of First Dwarf).
That’s a wrap - welcome to the tale of Tru and Ragna! Now it’s time to fully unblur our cover photo on Facebook and Twitter, so…
Wishlist First Dwarf on Steam, join the game’s Discord 🎧 server, and follow us on Facebook 👍 and Twitter 🐦.
Scorchlands 🐦 - check out adorable new fantasy game published by us! 🚀
Hello Mages, 👋
gamescom 2022 is just around the corner, but we decided to show the world a new game published by us, Star Drifters 🚀, a few days before the event will start. When we saw Scorchlands for the first time, we knew right from the bat that this project was interesting. We felt that after the first chats with Jakub, the developer behind the name Ringlab, we were on the same page from the very beginning. What’s more, he told us that he admires Driftland - The Magic Revival 🐲 and is a fan of our game. Then we knew something was in the air, so today we’re here to announce to the whole world that:
🥁
1️⃣ Scorchlands by Ringlab will be published by Star Drifters 🚀!
2️⃣ The demo version will be available on Steam in just a few days! 💪
3️⃣ If you want to find out more about the gameplay and the lore (these running “birds” are not exactly birds, they’re Giwis! 🐦) - read the Steam News published on Scorchlands Steam page, clicking here.
Scorchalnds is a game in which you manage production of fantastic resources on a foreign, volcanic moon. Play at your own pace and relax in a setting that combines magic and science.
Main features of Scorchlands 👀
Hex grid-based city-building – construct various buildings in your colonies. Each structure's productivity depends on neighboring resources and other constructions.
Complex resource management – it’s not only about extracting materials. Scorchlands takes account of logistics – the movement of resources between colonies and combining them in robust processing chains. And yes, we move resources using LASERS!
Terraforming for the greater good – use magic and technology to change the biomes on procedurally generated maps and exploit the new environment to gain its unique resources
Technology designed to give fun – there’s no fun in a sandbox if you don’t have the toys to play with. The technology system in Scorchlands is key for player progression and new discoveries open up new ways to play with the game world
Minimalistic combat system – when you get into a fight, positioning will be the key. Destroy your enemies by surrounding them and placing your forces in optimal locations.
Remember: there’s one more blurred screenshot on our SM cover photos. Today we can say that everybody in our team likes un-blurring things. The last game will be a part of Drifltland franchise. 👀
Wishlist Scorchlands on Steam, join the game’s Discord 🎧 server, follow Ringlab on Twitter and us, Star Drifters 🚀, on Facebook 👍 and Twitter 🐦.
Your, Star Drifters 🚀
Star Drifters recap
Hello everyone, 👋
you probably wonder why there’s a graphic with a screen taken from the Nintendo Switch 🎮 version of Danger Scavenger. The answer is simple - we wanted to make an announcement summarizing our work done between January and July of 2022 - when we’re writing these words, Driftland is still our most popular franchise. 🌲
Unfortunately, nothing really happened during this period in Driftland camp. Nonetheless, you can get the game in many discounts that pop up every once in a while (usually during Steam/GOG offers/events). But, y’know, there’s always something cookin’. ♨ Be patient.
That’s where the fun starts. First of all - we’re flattered that DS is featured on the back of the Atari VCS box. Ta-da! 🎉
When Steam Deck was on its way, we did everything to make sure that the game would run perfectly on the “second” handheld from day one. After that, we received an official Steam Deck verification in May. Speaking about the “first” handheld, just a reminder - Danger Scavenger is available on PC, PS4, XONE, Switch, VCS and XSX.
We’re always looking for new ways of approaching the titles that we already published. When we started talking with the Tilt Five team, we knew that their Holographic Gaming System would be a great place for a skyscraper-based roguelike. That’s why we made a dedicated DLC to bring the catchphrase “a new level of the 3D vibrant holographic environment" to DS rooftops! 🌆
Lumencraft
When devs from 2Dynamic Games started the playtests, we were convinced that approx. 200 people will check out the game during the two weeks of that phase. Well, there were 1312 participants. The feedback submitted by playtesters gave us a new perspective on the game. We knew that we chose the right project for publishing.
The Lumencraft section of this Steam announcement will be the longest one, because the game’s still in Early Access and currently it’s a project no. 1 in our catalog.
After the first week of EA we reached the 20k copies milestone. None of us expected that this will happen so fast, so Kuba Wójcik came up with a meme idea.
We won’t share how many copies were sold, but we can say that as the indie publishers - we’re satisfied. 😏
Today, exactly 3 months after the start of Early Access (which happened April 13th, 2022) we would like to thank everyone who wrote a review on Steam. The numbers speak for themselves.
During the playtests, “2Ds” organized the MAKE A MAP, WIN A PRIZE contest. 10 maps were published via Steam Workshop - 3 guys won Danger Scavenger and Driftland: The Magic Revival Steam keys. The ideas behind the contest were continued in the Maps Shootout series. When we’re writing these words there are 123 maps submitted to the Workshop. 🤯
Lots of them are truly pieces of art that reshape Lumencraft’s gameplay. The summary of all Maps Shootouts installments can be found in our Stories highlights on our Instagram.
What’s more, the game was shown at this year’s:
- European Game Showcase during GDC;
- PAX East;
- Digital Dragons 🐲.
To this day, the 2Dynamic Games team is working closely with the game’s community. When Early Access starts (after the playtests), the developers published:
- 3 hotfixes;
- 4 small updates;
- two major updates;
- and we’re pretty much sure we forgot about something. 💊
They added new weapons, buildings, monsters, maps and scenarios, textures, new UI, and fixed A LOT. Lumencraft is now more approachable to semi-casual players, but it does not collide with the hardcore players - there are extremely hard maps available to enjoy (or suffer a bit). 😈
That’s all for today.
The second recap will be published at the end of 2022.
Or maybe at the beginning of 2022?
Let’s see what happens. Great things are here, but also great things are yet to come.
Support the IndieDev!
Star Drifters 🚀
Vote for Magic! Vote for Driftland!
Dear Mages!
We have two things to discuss with you today. First, something strange and malicious is going on on one of the Driftlands archipelagos. Be sure to keep an eye on our social media channels as we will give out some hints 😉
Second thing is that Steam Awards are back! And if you think that Driftland: The Magic Revival deserves LABOR OF LOVE AWARD feel free to nominate. We would greatly appreciate it❤️
May your lands remain unshattered! Star Drifters team
Patch notes 2.0.112
Patch notes 2.0.112
This update consists of small but important fixes:
AI upgrade to improve the attacking of flying units
minor tweaks to the tutorial
owners of The Forgotten Passage expansion for Nomads of Driftland will gain access to them from Driftland: The Magic Revival
fixed cursor (pencil) hot spot for island drawing
visual improvements to the Map Editor windows
2 rare fatal bugs fixed
minor bug fixes
If you find a bug or have ideas for new game features or improvements, be sure to let us know on the Steam Community or Discord!
Thank you for all the feedback you send us. It is precious, inspiring for us, and allows us to develop the game further.
May your lands remain unshattered - Star Drifters Team 🧙🏼♀️🧙🧙🏿♀️🧝
3rd Anniversary Update
Yes! It's been 3 years since Driftland debuted in Steam Early Access ːsteamhappyː
When we reach for the memory for the game that we dared to present to you in Early Access three years ago, we can't believe how long we've come with you - our great community. We spent countless hours discussing new game features that we later implemented in Driftland: The Magic Revival. Simultaneously, we worked on complex, game-deepening mechanics and simplifications for those entering the world of strategy games. We were constantly struggling to create an original game with pioneering solutions and simultaneously understandable and similar to what we all know and like in strategy games. During these three years of development, we released dozens of updates that introduced hundreds of new features and improvements to make Driftland: The Magic Revival the game it is today.
All this makes us feel great pride and, at the same time, grateful that we can enjoy the world of Driftland together with you for 3 years.
Thank you!
The Anniversary Update introduces some important new features while also correcting minor bugs you have reported to us.
Map Editor and Workshop integration
The most important new feature of the Anniversary Update is the first public version of the Map Editor, which will allow you to create your own maps with islands of unusual shapes and arrangements. In turn, thanks to the Workshop, you will be able to easily share your maps and download maps created by other players.
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Minimap
You asked for a minimap, and here it is! You will find it in the lower-left corner, along with an icon to minimize it and toggle how it works - it can be independent of the main view or follow the main view.
Trading Cards
We added Steam Trading Cards. They are collectible cards you can get by playing Driftland. By collecting the entire set of cards, you can earn items that help customize your profile and show off gameplay.
Nomads
We added Nomads as an experiment, and there was still a lot to do to enjoy the game in this mode. Most Nomads' ills are gone with this update. The AI behavior and unit management have been improved, grouping and assignments to key groups have been added, and polished gameplay's overall flow in this mode. Besides, we released Nomads of Driftland as a standalone free add-on that includes the Driftland The Magic Revival demo, Map Editor, and Workshop support. If, however, it was not enough for someone, we also created a paid DLC with new scenarios - Nomads of Driftland: The Forgotten Passage.
This update includes several minor fixes, including increasing the stability of the game.
If you find a bug or have ideas for new game features or improvements, be sure to let us know on the Steam Community or Discord!
Thank you for all the feedback you send us. It is precious, inspiring for us, and allows us to develop the game further.
May your lands remain unshattered - Star Drifters Team 🧙🏼♀️🧙🧙🏿♀️🧝
Winter is coming...
Dear Mage-Rulers!
It's been quite a while since we spoke to you. During this time, we have been working hard on the next update, which will bring many small fixes as well as significant new features.
Probably the most important will be the integrated editor that allows you to create maps, design custom-shaped islands, and arrange them with vegetation, mountains, rocks, buildings, etc. as you see fit.
Another new feature is Steam Workshop support and integration, which will allow you to share your own maps with other players.
An equally important new feature will be a dynamic mini-map that complements the unique strategic map that has always been available in Driftland and will be available regardless of the main view.
The Nomads with their classic RTS controls aroused extreme emotions. So we decided to separate them as a standalone expansion and make them available to all players for free in Nomads of Driftland. The Nomads themselves will also get a lot of improvements.
Along with the update, we will also release a demo version of Driftland: The Magic Revival.
We will make it all available in the second half of November, for free.
Thank you for all the feedback you send us. It is very valuable, inspiring for us and allows us to further develop the game.
May your lands remain unshattered - Star Drifters Team 🧙🏼♀️🧙🧙🏿♀️🧝
Update Notes 2.0.39
Update Notes 2.0.39
We get a lot of feedback on the Nomads. To be honest, we didn't expect such a big response, especially since this is an expansion with a different type of gameplay than the main game. We would like to thank you very much for that!
In this update, we focused on giving Nomads an AI that, despite direct player control, will allow them to have a bit of their own will, which will allow them to automatically engage in combat at key moments.
Other Nomad improvements we are currently working on are the minimap, improved camera, and map/scenario editor. Stay tuned for these features in future updates, and don't hesitate to send us more feedback!
May your lands remain unshattered - Star Drifters Team 🧙🏼♀️🧙🧙🏿♀️🧝
