Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Update 1.2.0
Dear Mages,
Some of you have noticed that it has been quite quiet here lately. No worries - we've spent the hot summer months tidying up the project to provide a solid base for upcoming updates and support for subsequent operating systems and platforms.
We want to thank all players❤️ who contacted us directly, sharing their ideas and reporting bugs that we immediately corrected in small, silent updates that extended the Community Update 1.1.25
Update Notes 1.2.0
Quick upgrade of buildings - instant upgrade of building with a single right mouse click. Works in both 3D view and map. Of course, you can also do it in the classic way - by entering the building menu and clicking the upgrade icon.
Unit List menu recruitment - is a new way of managing units and their recruitment directly from the Unit List menu in the upper left corner of the screen. It significantly expands and complements the existing way of managing units and allows recruitment without searching the map for a building in which we have a free slot.
minor bug fixes
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Update 1.1.25a
Dear Mages,
One of the advantages of being a small, independent team is the flexibility and close contact of developers and players. We talk, listen and draw conclusions used during the development of new game features.
In this update, we present features that we have developed based on your feedback, and even in a few cases with your active participation for which we thank you❤️
New Difficulty Levels
This is the most important change over which we have been working for several weeks.
Driftland is a complex and demanding strategy game. New levels of difficulty are to make new players smooth and enjoyable to learn and master the rules of Driftland.
On the other hand, those of you who have been with us for a long time and have mastered the game, ask for bigger challenges, especially in the end game, which we also took care of ːsteamhappyː
Apprentice Mage - For those who calmly want to learn the game or those who do not like to fight too much and prefer to focus on building their kingdoms
Brave Mage - New default difficulty mode. For magicians who are not afraid to face an opponent, but at the same time do not like to pay too much attention to balancing their economy...
Great Mage - For those who have learned the rules and are looking for new challenges. At this level, the players will face the ruthless enemy and at the same time will have to carefully look after their economy.
Archmage - For those who have mastered all the rules perfectly. Demanding economy and hostile AI, which is determined to destroy enemies and fiercely defend even in the face of inevitable defeat.
We made sure not to spoil the experience of players who have so far been satisfied with their previous levels of difficulty.
If you liked the EASY mode the most, choose Apprentice Mage.
If MEDIUM seems perfect to you, Great Mage will meet your expectations
For HARD, simply choose Archmage
Auto-Open ☑️
We have added the option of disabling windows that pop up after setting the flag, e.g. geology flag:
Experienced players who perfectly know the contents of these windows will definitely want to turn off the Auto-Open feature. By turning off the auto-opening of the flag windows, they will be able to put flags one after the other at a higher speed. Disabling this feature will also solve the problem of people who are irritated by pop-ups during the fight.
Other Improvements in 1.1.24
Resource Preview - when using the geology flag or spells extracting resources from the islands, information about available resources appears, making it easier to decide on the choice of island. The resource available to be extracted using the spell will be marked.
AI - the rate of repair of buildings adapted to the degree of difficulty: 30%, 50%, 70%, 100% respectively.
Multiplayer - data management optimizations that can potentially prevent disconnection in case of significant lags
Multiplayer - improved color reproduction to increase the readability of the chat
Multiplayer - after pressing ESC, accidental clicking on the screen will not close the menu window
Improved UI Scaling - applies to campaign windows
Optimizations and improvements in the structure of materials (normal maps)
Improved shader of the marked/active islands
Minor Animation improvements
Fixed - an issue with Ibaros making one tier 3 unit of each type ineligible to mount
Bug Fixes - a few rare and difficult to track bugs were found and fixed
Various minor fixes in campaigns
Hot Fix 1.1.25
released on Jun. 18th 2019
Fixed - incorrect total number of heroes given when buying skills in the library, blacksmith, etc.
in the recruitment window, a preview of the daily cost of the heroes and explorers has been added
minor language corrections in the English language version
Hot Fix 1.1.25a
<*> Fixed - eliminated the possibility of falling into a conflict within one team or co-op in a multiplayer type game
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Big Dragon Update🐉
Powerful mage, only you can decide the fate of Driftland! Shattered pieces of the planet await your ultimate power, and the helpless citizens of your Empire turn their eyes to you, trusting your guidance. You are their last hope - only a few have the power to break the chains that hold the mystery behind Driftland and to unite the planet! Yours sincerely,
Archseeker
Update Notes 1.1.17
There was no better time to claim your legacy - Driftland has just received 🐉 BIG DRAGON UPDATE that makes the story complete, poses new challenges to single player mode, and introduces new online game modes.
Final Story Campaign
This is it. After 3 story campaigns, here is the 4th and final one coming. You have met Emeric, a young reckless mage who dared to oppose Dark Elves. You saw Dark Elves’ leader Shalh’yra trying to make peace with Humans. You witnessed Dwarves looking for a magic artifact that will keep their race alive and you saw them struggling to accept a female as their leader. Now you will meet Wild Elves’ Lanahel,that protects his realm from the other races, who will suddenly discover the truth behind all conflict in Driftland. This is the story about tolerance and prejudice, friendship and loyalty, blind faith and open mind. Now this story is coming to an end...
The first three campaigns can be played in any order. The exception is the last one, which requires winning the previous three. Each of them unlocks one padlock on the chains blocking the final campaign.
New Multiplayer Modes
1) Co-op Mode Play together with a friend and fight the enemy. Brace yourselves, because they are coming for you!
2) Team Multiplayer Mode 2vs2 or 3vs3 - there are two ways to prove who has the better alliance out there. Grab your team, taunt the other, get your economy right and 4X them!
Discord
We've added support for Discord rich presence. Driftland is now visible in the "Now Playing" section of the User Profile, along with information about current activity in the game. We hope that thanks to this feature you will also make new friends and have a great time together in the new Co-op and Team Modes!
End Game AI is more efficient in rebuilding a destroyed army
AI uses a full range of spells
AI actively improves its capabilities using the Paths of Progress
proofreading of English and Russian and minor corrections in other languages
dozens of new animations (mostly Wild Elves)
a lot of new graphics related to the 4th campaign
Improved readability of the marked / active island (shader patch)
perfecting graphics - minor graphic improvements that we did not have time for
Driftland has come a long way and has become a complete and mature game. Our community❤️ played a huge role in development for which we are extremely grateful. 🤗 Your creativity and commitment has surprised us many times and that's why we're starting to work on an editor that will allow you to create your own maps. More details soon!
The last question that remains unanswered is "Why Big Dragon"? There are no shortcuts here - you have to discover it yourself by playing the final campaign ːsteamhappyː
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Update Notes 1.0.18
Dear Mages!
In this update, we focused on the features we have developed based on your❤️ feedback, comments and reviews. At the same time, we are approaching the release of the final campaign, so we want to prepare the game in advance.
Improved Campaign Mode
The most important change is the reconstruction of the Campaign mode. From now on, the first three campaigns can be played in any order. Their plot is designed so that the main threads fit together and complement each other regardless of the order in which they will be completed. The exception will be the fourth, final campaign, which will require the completion of the three preceding campaigns.
AI Improvements
Units in the camps respond more proportionally to the priorities of the flags. As a whole group they only react to the Raid flag.
Enemy AI actively buys upgrades from the Paths of Progress
Better management of gold, food and, respectively, cottages and farms in the middle and end game
Faster replenishment and treatment of units after losses in the end game
UI Improvements
Added description of game modes in the main menu
reworked Campaigns mode menu structure
better marks and new icons of locked buildings and spells in the initial missions
preview of the mission background in the campaign selection menu
Improved readability of the tooltips
Other Improvements:
Added Steam cloud multiplayer autosave automatically shared by the host. Now every player can load and continue the interrupted multiplayer game, invite other players or replace them with bots. Shared cloud multiplayer autosaves are marked with the icon -
The first mission of the first campaign (tutorial) can be skipped without any consequences.
The tutorial elements in the second mission also can be skipped at any time.
Steam cloud support optimizations
FIXED human camp EXP bug
FIXED Tutorial completion achievement not working (campaign)
FIXED "deleting Combat PoI without an encounter" crash
FIXED "camp null poi" crash
FIXED random multiplayer crash
other minor bug fixes
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
OST Available Now!
We have a surprise for you ːsteamhappyː
Original Game Soundtrack🎧 is now available free for all Driftland owners❤️ You already have it! It has been downloaded automatically with the latest update.
Since the debut in Early Access, we have been regularly asked about the availability of the Driftland's soundtrack. And here it is.
The music in Driftland adapts to in-game events, it's mixed in real time, and consists of many layers (stems). Each of the four races has individual music that emphasizes its character.
The soundtrack was mixed so that it would be a musical🎵 journey through the moods that you can experience during the game.
How to play downloaded Soundtrack DLC:
1. Please select Music from the Library tab in the Steam client.
2. From the list of available albums, choose Driftland: The Magic Revival - Soundtrack.
3. Press the PLAY ALBUM button to start the Steam music player
How to find Soundtrack files:
1. Please select Music from the Library tab in the Steam client.
2. From the list of available albums, choose Driftland: The Magic Revival - Soundtrack.
3. Choose the SHOW IN SYSTEM below PLAY ALBUM button to open the folder with the Soundtrack files in mp3 format.
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Update Notes 1.0.10
This update primarily introduces the Steam Cloud support.
With this feature you can continue the mission of rebuilding the shattered planet on another computer while keeping all of your game progress.
Save games are still stored on the local disk but now also synchronized with the Steam cloud at the most appropriate moments. If you do not have access to the internet, everything will work the same but your progress in the game will be saved only locally.
Update Notes 1.0.10:
Added Steam Cloud support
Fixed - Heroes do not upgrade their base skills to higher tiers while mounted [Bug]
a few minor fixes
Meanwhile, our team is undergoing intensive work on a new campaign, full of mysterious and surprising events. At the same time, some of us are working on the further development of the multiplayer game mode and a completely new co-op mode.
When it would be nice to let go and relax a bit, then we refine the gameplay mechanic, fix bugs and listen to what you have to say about Driftland to make it better ːsteamhappyː
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Update Notes 1.0.8
Dear Mages,
The most important change to this update is balancing an easy level of difficulty. Mages who want to play in a more relaxed manner should choose this level of difficulty. The difference in the game's balance compared to the previous versions will be most noticeable in Skirmish mode. AI has become less aggressive, which allows players to focus on the development of their own kingdom.
The second significant change is the less intense narrative at the beginning of the first campaign. Because there were many dialogues mixed up with the tutorial, some of you considered it too much. We took it to heart and improved it.
The improvements we introduce are only active in the newly started game - loading the saved game will cause some rules to remain unchanged.
Updated Easy Mode:
Limited AI aggression which is slowly increasing in the middle and end game.
AI is less likely to attack players who do not form large armies
AI empires attack with fewer units at once.
AI empires are more likely to enter into peace / alliance with the player
Pax Barbarian in the progress tree is active without the need to purchase it in the progress tree.
Elementals defending forests and mountains appear in the game later and usually without the largest and most powerful units.
The player gets an extra progress point per day
⬆️The above changes apply only to an easy level of difficulty.⬆️
It's been a week since the release of version 1.0. Although we are focused on developing the first major updateːsteamhappyː, which will bring new content and the fourth campaign, we carefully follow the forum, we analyze feedback.
Improvements:
Less intense narrative at the beginning of the first campaign.
Improved sorting of units on lists in camps and raid flags.
Better selection of colors, icons and names of kingdoms in some campaign missions.
Units are more actively defending their own area if the threat is close.
Fixes:
Fixed - random failure to complete some missions
Fixed - a multiplayer crash (PlayerState = NULL fix)
Fixed - "heroes from captured structures not healing"
Fixed - random error of the camp number
Fixed - duplicate dialogues
Fixed - displaying an incorrect numeric value of the treasure content
Fixed - trimming a numerical value in the skill purchase menu
Fixed - minor typo corrections
We would like to thank all those who sent us emails or posted on the forum sharing their insights, remarks and bugs found with us.
For a small, independent team like Star Drifters, this is invaluable help, and whatever I write now I will not be able to express our gratitude.
❤️❤️❤️
- Star Drifters team
Patch Notes 1.0.3
Dear Mages,
The full release of Driftland was a huge challenge for our small, independent team, especially since each of us is very keen on making our game perfect. Unfortunately, there are some bugs in the game that you've reported to us, for which we are very grateful to you!
Patch Notes 1.0.3:
fixed - the use of ritual implosion spell to destroy the island with the castle of a hostile empire could cause a game crash
fixed - two randomly occurring crashes (fatal error) that were related to the AI fight
fixed - a random lack of possibility to finish 4th mission of the 1st campaign caused by a lost enemy unit
fixed - the player who lost and left the multiplayer game could cause the match to end immediately
improving the lobby screen - editing the player's name is not unnecessarily interrupted
fixed - a random lack of possibility to finish 2nd mission of the 2nd campaign caused by a bug in the script
We carefully analyze everything that you send to us and if a bug is detected, we fix it. For this purpose, we also follow our Steam Community.
If you notice any bug do not hesitate to use the instructions in this thread and send us an e-mail with information on this subject:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/718650/discussions/0/1680315447970599115/
Driftland 1.0 Released!
Dear Mages!
The day has come. We are proud to present you the officially released version of Driftland: The Magic Revival. After 4 years of hard work we are happy to share the final result with you. It is the game some of you already know, but now with key modes: multiplayer and 2 new campaigns. And just as we promised - it will leave Early Access once it is ready. We have a strong feeling it is now.
First of all, on behalf of our entire Star Drifters team, I would like to thank you, our wonderful community, for your tremendous support and lots of great ideas that you shared with us during the Early Access stage. Driftland debuted in EA over a year ago with the idea that it will help us test some of our original concepts. Never before have any of us done this, so we had no idea what to expect.
But reality has exceeded our expectations greatly. Already in its initial versions, most players understood the spirit of our game, and many of you began to support us with brilliant ideas. We have quickly expanded the scope of what we want to fit in version 1.0 and with following updates we added new features and content. Together, we've had an exciting journey from an early version 0.4 which was more of a manifesto of the idea than a real game, through numerous updates to a full-fledged strategy game.
We want to assure you that leaving Early Access does not mean the end of our working on Driftland. On the contrary - we want it to be bigger and better. The 4th campaign is already at an advanced stage of development, but that is just the beginning. Our list named "cool ideas to do after full release" was waiting for this moment, so expect many surprisesːsteamhappyː
So once again - THANK YOU! It was an amazing adventure and it would never happen without you❤️
But many of you still do not know Driftland: The Magic Revival. So what is it exactly? What can you compare it to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxgJGyRV3Yw
It does not cling only to one subgenre of strategy games, but boldly draws from all of them which we consider the best approach. The basis is the classic set of all 4 Xs: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. To expand the kingdom, the player joins islands with bridges. Driftland is a real time strategy game, but with adjustable time flow and a very extensive active pause system. The player manages the kingdom through magic and the economy, issues orders and sets priorities for heroes recruited from the kingdom's population. Each unit is endowed with free will, has a name, a level, experience and a set of parameters that can be developed. Land units can tame and ride flying beasts, thanks to which they will be able to explore more distant areas. And all that is just a glimpse of what the game is about.
Now let me list the main features of Driftland, so that the new Mages would also know what to expect from our game:
Build a kingdom you want to rule - city building and upgrades of its buildings, expanding their capabilities - economic, military or their magical power
Dynamic topography - Move and terraform floating islands of the shattered planet
Get to know the rich lore - 4 different races with unique skills, each one speaking their own language, and different points of view on the Driftland’s story. One player to bring them all and in the darkness bind… oh, you know the drill.
Paths of progress - Economy, Warfare and Magic upgrades purchased for progress points
Economy is key - Resources, population and magic-based economy
Don’t forget about Diplomacy - Reputation system, alliances, wars and everything in between
Face various Victory Conditions - Extermination, Domination, Expansion
Give your citizens Orders - Setting goals instead of micro-management units
Development of units - Units have names, gain EXP, levels and unique skills
Flying units - Enhance units by bonding them with tamed flying beasts including dragons or Dwarven-built aerial machines
Game Modes - Skirmish, Campaign and Multiplayer
In addition to the new content, this update introduces many improvements and fixes. The most important of them relates probably to the balance which we introduced to the game during the testing of the multiplayer mode.
Update Notes 1.0:
Two new campaigns - further stories, a lot of new graphics, animations, etc.
Multiplayer - 2-6 players, chat, time flow set by voting, bots, load/save, friends invitations
AI improvements - artificial intelligence becomes cleverer and a little more... human - better manages its army, interrupts attacks doomed to failure, smarter issues orders, avoids overspending building maintenance eg. is not spamming towers on distant islands
Dialogue log in the Campaign - the record of past dialogues has been added in the Mission Objectives window
Improved dwarfish balance - reduced costs of buildings closer to other races, slightly reinforced units, construction of castle III requires "blacksmith" instead of "fortifications_I", slightly faster movement of units (still the slowest race in the game)
Balance adjustments and fixes - skills have become more effective (especially for the heroes of the human race), and other small adjustments that improve gameplay balance.
Set of new and reworked animations.
4 new achievements🏆
bug fixes and many smaller improvements
We are greateful for your continuous help and looking forward 🧐 to your feedback on this and subsequent updates.
May your lands remain unshattered,
- Star Drifters Team
Update Notes 0.8.30
Together with version 0.8.30, we introduce the first, Human Campaign. We invite you to participate in the struggle of the four races with the challenge of rebuilding Driftland - their home planet.
Get to know the story of two brothers who have a unique opportunity to unite the conflicted empires and rebuild the shattered planet! Is a brotherly bond strong enough to cope with such a challenge and resist destructive forces?
Human Campaign:
extended tutorial during campaign missions
6 unique maps
custom-shaped islands
new unique mage-rulers
campaign-specific units and buildings
https://youtu.be/9A06VNGtrBs
General Improvements:
new destruction and falling of bridges
Tellurions and Mausoleums have gained a magical range for their owners
reworked enemy units/buildings window
injured units fleeing (running) from the battlefield to be cured
designation of resources with additional colors: purple for unexplored geology and gray for lack of resources (red, yellow and green invariably indicate the amount of resource)
further AI improvements
improving the balance, e.g. Ritual of Avulsions (Dark Elves) rips out only one resoruce at a time
additional UI and in-game sound effects
additional visual FXs
additional units animations
optimizations, including LOD for subsequent groups of buildings
bugs fixes
What's next?
In the coming weeks, we plan a few small updates, but let's focus on the most important ones. First of all, in a few weeks we will publish 0.9.xxːsteamhappyː, which will introduce a multiplayer mode. At the same time, our team will continue to develop subsequent campaigns and version 1.0.xx ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː
I would like to emphasize again how grateful we are to our creative, helpful, and supportive community❤️. I am glad that together we have reached this point and I hope for further support in the coming weeks, which promise to be particularly intense.
It’s my pleasure to end the notes with another good news - Driftland has been officially selected and will be presented during EGS at GDC 2019 in San Francisco ːsteamhappyː
